Oboro (Basilisk)
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Oboro (japanese: 朧, hiragana: おぼろ, rōmaji: Oboro) the primary heroine of the Japanese anime Basilisk Kouga Ninpou Chou (known in English as the Kouga Ninja Scrolls).
As the beautiful young princess of Iga Tsubagakure, Oboro was selected to be one of ten ninja to represent her clan against the ten chosen fighters of the rival Koga Manjidani clan. Born with 'Mystic Eyes,' Oboro has the power to neutralize the techniques of any ninja that meets her gaze directly. After the death of her grandmother Ogen, Oboro ascends to take leadership of the clan, but due to her passive demeanor soon finds her authority usurped by Yakushiji Tenzen.
Among the Iga, Princess Oboro is something of an oddity. Sweet natured with a gentle disposition, Oboro lacks any real talent for either martial arts or ninjutsu and is also a bit of a clutz. This, along with her love for Gennosuke of the rival Koga clan has caused most of Iga to view Oboro as something of a black sheep, a fact she is painfully aware of. When the Hattori truce is lifted, the other Iga ten are quick to take advantage of Oboro's feelings for Gennosuke, tricking her into inviting him and Udono Jousuke into their compound where the Iga can keep them under surveillance.
Although hurt and betrayed by their actions, Oboro remains loyal to her clan and is greatly torn between her duty and her feelings when the truth of the renewed conflict is finally revealed to her. Ultimately, she makes the decision to temporarily seal her eyes shut with a potion given to her by Ogen called the Seven Days of Darkness, knowing that if she saw any of her clansmen attacking Gennosuke, she might be tempted to use her powers against them instead.
Prior to the lifting of the Hattori truce, Oboro was engaged to Kouga Gennosuke in an attempt to bring a lasting peace between both clans. The two had known each other since childhood and were anxious to spend their lives with each other. In the anime, Oboro would frequently meet with Gennosuke along their clan's borders to practice a Japanese fan dance which they planned to perform for their guests at their wedding.
In the anime, she is voiced by Nana Mizuki (Japanese) and Laura Bailey (English)
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[edit] Battles
Oboro VS Jingoro (episode 4): While not a match in the traditional sense, the scene is notable as it's the first time the audience witnesses Oboro's stronger and borderline ruthless side. After breaking up the fight between Akeginu and Udono Jousuke, Oboro came across a trail left by Amayo Jingoro in his transformed state leading from the clan's salt shed to the guest house where Gennosuke was staying. Upon confirming her lover's safety, Oboro located Jingoro skulking in the rafters of the guest house's veranda and promptly used her Mystic Eyes to cancel his technique and forcibly revert him into a semi-solid state. Despite Akeginu's pleas for Oboro to give him water so Jingoro could safely resume him human form, Oboro ordered Jingoro to be left alone and sent him crawling in agony toward a nearby spring as punishment for his transgression.
Oboro VS Tenzen (episode 14): In perhaps the series' darkest moment, Oboro was confronted in her cabin by Tenzen while she and the remaining Iga were travelling by boat to Sunpu to intercept the Koga. Tenzen again attempted to convince her to fight alongside her clan and eliminate their remaining enemies but Oboro stated that even if her eyes weren't sealed by the Seven Days of Darkness, she was unable to physically or mentally stand against Gennosuke and had already accepted that she would die by her lover's hands, to which Tenzen claimed left him with only one choice as he menacingly caressed her cheek. When Oboro nervously asked if he intended to kill her, Tenzen replied that he was going to make her forget about Gennosuke by filling her with the Spirit of Iga (IOW-he was going to have sex with her).
Outraged and frightened, Oboro attempted to slap him away but Tenzen grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him, his hand slipping inside her kimono to roughly fondle her breast. Oboro screamed in terror as Tenzen then wrestled her to the deck; pinning her beneath him as he pulled open her robe and told Oboro the others knew what was occurring and had agreed not to interfere. (In truth, Tenzen had sent Akeginu and Jingoro under false pretenses to the other side of the ship while Chikuma Koshirou stood guard outside the cabin.) As she turbulently struggled beneath him, Tenzen reminded Oboro as he clutched at her bosom that the only men left in Iga who could possibly qualify for her husband was himself, Koshirou, and Jingoro. Oboro desperately screamed that she would rather die than be with anyone besides Gennosuke and begged Tenzen to kill her; but Tenzen sinisterly answered that her bloodline was far too important to do so as he attempted to force her legs open.
Outside, Koshirou covered his ears to block out Oboro's cries for help; his mind torn between his devotion to his princess and loyalty to his sensei. Although he knew Oboro was the rightful leader of Tsubagakure and didn't deserve to be treated so cruelly, he was unable to stand against his mentor's orders as Tenzen was the best chance the Iga had of obtaining victory. It was only until after Oboro began screaming for him specifically, causing images of her innocent smiling face to flash in his mind that Koshirou was unable to bear it any longer and he frantically stumbled into Oboro's cabin begging Tenzen to stop; but someone else had beaten him to it. From out of the deck, Kasumi Gyoubu had materialized behind Tenzen and strangled him before Tenzen could achieve penetration; his powerful hands crushing Tenzen's throat like a paper cup. As both were blind, neither Oboro nor Koshirou understood what had occurred and unbeknownst to her, Gyoubu had materialized behind Oboro and was seconds away from killing her in the same manner when Akeginu and Jingoro stormed into the cabin. Although safe for the moment, the event traumatized Oboro into staying as far away as she could from Tenzen for the rest of the series.
Oboro & Gennosuke VS Tenzen (episode 22-23): The climactic fight of the series. Unable to bear the agonized screams of Kagerou, Oboro begged Tenzen to cease his torture of her but found herself the target of his sadistic intentions as Tenzen attempted to rape Oboro a second time; only to be interrupted by Gennosuke who had come to rescue Kagerou. Tenzen charged Gennosuke and following a vicious duel through which Tenzen had the advantage (due to Gennosuke's eyes still being sealed by the Seven Days of Darkness) Gennosuke tricked Tenzen into overextending himself which gave Gennosuke the opportunity to decapitate him with his sword.
Shortly afterward, members of the Takechiyo sect discovered Tenzen's remains and put them back together. But just as Tenzen began to regenerate, the Seven Days of Darkness potion Oboro had used on herself finally wore off and she stared at him with her Mystic Eyes. With his technique being neutralized, Tenzen struggled against her until Oboro greatly overpowered him and his head was blown into pieces; finally killing Tenzen once and for all. But even though she was justified in doing so (Tenzen had manipulated the whole war between the clans, used her feelings for Gennosuke to lead him into a trap, tortured Kagerou to borderline death in front of her, sacrificed innocent bystanders, and even attempted to rape her twice), Oboro bitterly cried as she killed him. In the manga, right after that, Oboro dragged Gennosuke's injured body behind a stair and waited for the arrival of Lady Kasuga, managing to manipulate the situation into staging a fair last duel.
Oboro VS Gennosuke (episode 24): The final battle of the series. After being in the presence of Hattori Hanzo the 4th, Gennosuke and Oboro stood facing each other on the banks of the same river their grandparents had killed each other on so as to finish the war between the clans. Oboro knew about this beforehand after she was approached by Hanzo Hattori's adopted son and right hand, Hattori Kyouhachirou, who provided her with the sword she'd need to face Gennosuke.
Oboro knew however that she wouldn't be able to kill Gennosuke so when the time came, she stabbed herself through her chest with the sword that Kyouhachirou gave her. Oboro's actions were not only a testimonial to her love for Gennosuke despite all that had occurred; but was also an offering to the Koga as compensation for those who had died as well as a way of striking back at the Takechiyo sect for using her clan in its bid for power.
When Gennosuke's eyes finally became unsealed, Oboro's dead body lying at his feet was the first thing he saw and he grieved deeply. After enacting a small measure of retribution against Okufu, Gennosuke wrote in blood that Oboro was the survivor of the War; thereby abdicating the Koga's victory to the Iga. Gennosuke then carried his lover's body into the river and fatally stabbed himself, drifting away with Oboro tightly clasped against him as the current bore them both away from the petty bickering of the human world to a place where they could finally be together for all eternity.
[edit] Manga
Oboro in the anime is slightly more fatalistic, mature and down-to-earth than her manga incarnation. After learning of the Hattori Truce's nullification in the manga, Oboro decides that in order to show her regret to Gennosuke for her clan's actions she will allow him to kill her and then wait for him in the afterlife. In contrast, Oboro in the anime is doubtful that Gennosuke would ever forgive her even if she allowed him to kill her, but accepted it as her fate due to the devotion she felt for him as well as the hope her sacrifice would move him to not seek any further retribution upon her clan. Oboro in the anime also tends to be somewhat more self-conscious of her shortcomings as a ninja than she is in the manga.
Additionally, while Gennosuke and Oboro first met in the anime when they were both children; in the manga they don't meet until adulthood when Danjou and Gennosuke meet with Ogen and Oboro to discuss a possible marriage between them as a way to dispel the animosity between their two clans. In both versions, Oboro is so flustered upon meeting her future fiance that she trips and winds up spilling a tray full of hot tea right on Gennosuke's head.
[edit] Alternate information
Oboro is also featured as a character in the live-action movie known as SHINOBI Heart Under Blade, being played by actress Yukie Nakama. Like her anime/manga incarnation, Oboro in the film is a below average fighter who neither excelled in kenjutsu nor dexterity, but instead of disabling other ninjas' abilities, her eyes sent a crippling pluse throughout the body of anyone who met her doujutsu, effectively mutilating them. Gradually she became less conflicted between her feelings for Gennosuke and her duty to the Iga. Following the deaths of all their comrades, during their last duel Gennosuke allows Oboro to kill him, in order to save their clans and keep their hope for peace. Later, when Tokugawa Ieyasu sent troops to destroy the Koga and Iga villages, Oboro begs him to spare them, blinding herself as a proof of her sincerity. Ieyasu accepts, thus the villages are saved.
In the original novel; Oboro is described as having a face like the sun with large, round, mesmerizing eyes. Her personality is closer to the manga than the anime and comparatively speaking; receives noticeably less attention in the novel than either the manga or anime. As with the manga and anime, Oboro lacks martial ability and her only skill is her mystic eyes.
[edit] Reference
Basilisk - the anime
