Kouga Danjo
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Kōga Danjō (japanese: 甲賀 弾正, hiragana: こうが だんじょう, rōmaji: Kouga Danjou) a character featured in the Japanese anime Basilisk Kouga Ninpou Chou (known in English as the Kouga Ninja Scrolls). As lord of Koga Manjidani, Danjo was ordered by retired shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu to lead nine other warriors besides himself against the chosen ten of the rival Iga Tsubagakure clan to determine a successor to the shogunate. Danjo greatly specializes in the use of poisoned throwing needles, which he can spit from his mouth with lethal precision.
As a young man, Danjo fell in love with the Iga leader Ogen whom he sought to marry in order to bring peace between their clans until a surprise attack on Tsubagakure by the combined forces of Oda Nobunaga and the Koga made it impossible. Despite the fact the attack had occurred without his knowledge or consent, the crushed Ogen was unable to forgive Danjo for his clan's actions and their hopes for peace and happiness with each other were lost forever.
Although denied his chance with Ogen, Danjo never gave up his desire of one day bringing peace between Koga and Iga and even permitted his grandson Gennosuke to become engaged to Ogen's granddaughter Oboro until Ieyasu's decree forced him to bring a decisive end to the longstanding feud by any means necessary.
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[edit] Battles
Danjo VS Oda clan (episode 1): This battle occurs exclusively in the anime. Set many years before the start of Basilisk, Danjo had gone to meet with his then-lover Ogen to officially set a date for their wedding when Nobunaga's forces launched a sneak attack on Tsubagakure village in an attempt to wipe out the Iga. Danjo and Ogen arrived to help and Danjo slew many of Oda's soldiers with his needles and blindingly fast sword play but was forced to retreat after Ogen suffered a bullet wound to her right shoulder. The Koga were quick to take advantage of the Iga's weakened state and launched their own assault to eliminate any who escaped Nobunaga's raid; one of their group attacking Danjo and Ogen after they fled to the safety of the nearby woods. Danjo threatened his kinsmen that he wouldn't allow them to go through with it, but the damage to his relationship with Ogen was already done.
Danjo VS Ogen (episode 1): The first true battle of the Basilisk series between the selected Koga and Iga ten. Following their meeting with Ieyasu and Hattori Hanzo, Ogen and Danjou charged the fighters who had accompanied them to deliver the battle scrolls to their respective clans. As he and Ogen discussed their situation, Danjo capitalized on her dropped defenses to shoot a needle out of his mouth to pierce Ogen's throat. Danjo then used his blood to cross her name off the Iga's scroll (which he had silently lifted off of Yashamaru) before firing a second needle into Ogen's mouth, piercing the back of her neck and supposedly killing her. As he knelt down to close her eyes, Ogen's hawk made a loud noise to distract Danjo, allowing the dying Ogen to deliver a killing blow to her former lover with the very needle he had struck her down with. This led to Danjo and Ogen sadly dying by each other's side, although their corpses were smiling when later discovered by Hattori Kyohachiro.
[edit] Manga
In the original manga, Danjou's backstory regarding his relationship with Ogen isn't fully explained and is suggested that the reason their love ceased was due to pressure from both their respective clans to end the affair. Danjou in the manga is also depicted as being more ruthless as he coldly grins after swiping the Iga's battle scroll from Yashamaru while in the anime, his face remains grimly expressionless.
[edit] Altenate Information
Danjo is also a featured character in the Japanese live-action film SHINOBI Heart Under Blade. He does not appear to have had a past affair with Ogen of Iga; thus, the most plausible reason for their hostility towards each other was their loyalty to their respective clans. He enforces a ban among the Kouga to interact with the people of Iga despite the no-hostilities pact set by Hattori Hanzo, frowning upon Gennosuke's relationship with Oboro.
[edit] References
Fumitoro Kizaki (Director). Basilisk-Koga Ninpocho [TV-Series] GONZO/Kodansha/Japan Digital Concepts: Japan. 2005
Masaki Segawa (Manga-Ka). Basilisk-Koga Ninpocho [Manga] Kodansha: Japan. 2003-2004
Futaro Yamada (Author). Koga Ninpocho [novel] Japan. 1958
Ten Shimoyama (Director) Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (DVD) Japan. 2005
