Master Asia
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Master Asia (東方不敗 Tohofuhai?, meaning "Undefeated of the East") is a fictional character in the anime series Mobile Fighter G Gundam He is Domon Kasshu's teacher, the former King of Hearts of the Shuffle Alliance, and known as the Undefeated of the East. He is also the Gundam Fighter of Neo-Hong Kong and a winner of the previous Gundam Fight who defeated the likes of Gentle Chapman and Ulube Ishikawa during the 12th tournament. Master Asia's seiyuu is Yōsuke Akimoto and his English voice actor is Dave Pettitt. His Japanese name "Tohofuhai" is taken from Dongfang Bubai, the transsexual leader of the Sun-Moon Sect in Jinyong's wuxia fiction, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.
Master Asia initially appears as a hero; first he saves Domon and Rain from the Death Army drones, and helps Domon in the fight against them. It is here he shows his extraordinary martial arts skills in his Gundam, Kowloon Gundam; he and Domon are successful in defeating them.
However, all is not as it seems. Rain uncovers Master Asia's secret agenda, when she saves the crews of Chibodee, George, Sai Saici, and Argo from being infected by the Devil Gundam. He is the one who took control of the aforementioned fighters, and he piloted the mysterious Gundam that attacked Domon (Master Gundam). He is in league with the Devil Gundam, but reveals he is not controlled; he willingly joined the cause to destroy humanity.
The betrayal of Master Asia was a heavy blow to Domon; the old man was one of the few people left that he truly loved. He tried to stop Master Asia without hurting him, convinced the Devil Gundam was controlling him, but ultimately, he realized the truth and denounced Master Asia during their battle in the Guyana Highlands that he is no longer his master.
Despite his evil deeds, Master Asia is still an honorable man and does not use dirty tactics to win a fight. This would put him at constant odds with his future "partner", Wong Yunfat, who would stop at nothing to make sure things went in his favor. Indeed, the only reason he did not stop Wong's cheating was to see how Domon would respond, and because by that time, a terminal illness was limiting his health.
During the Final Rounds of the Gundam Fight, Master Asia was only to be placed in the final rounds. This was to motivate Domon to win, and he vowed he would win all his matches so he would fight his old Master (a vow he upheld). Master Asia's goal was to have Domon become the new life core unit for the Devil Gundam since Kyoji was weak from the battle in the Guyana Highlands and Master Asia's failing health had made him unsuitable to be able to replace him.
However before Domon's battle against Schwarz Bruder, Master Asia fears that Domon may not be ready to fight Schwarz. He calls Domon to a rundown section of Neo-Hong Kong in order to train him further. However Wong found about the meeting and sent the Gundam Heads to deal with them. During their intital escape Master Asia is able to save Domon from falling when he was knocked into the air but when they fall into an underground cavern Master Asia had injured his leg. During their escape, Master Asia explained that the reason for the rundown city is that many places around the world were falling into ruin just like it, but the people who are too absorbed in the Gundam Fight aren't showing any concern to care about the Earth's condition. Master Asia is able to teach Domon his most powerful technique the Sekiha Tenkyoken which Domon uses on the Gundam Heads after their escape.
Master Asia's plan to use Domon as the Devil Gundam's life core unit was ruined when Domon reluctantly killed his brother, seemingly destroying the Devil Gundam. Master Asia challenges Domon to a final battle and reveals his reason for siding with the Devil Gundam. After he won the last Gundam Fight, Master Asia looked back in horror at the desolation of the planet-damage he helped cause. In a fit of madness, he decided humanity was destroying the planet, and when the Devil Gundam arrived, he saw its actions as necessary to save the Earth.
Master Asia goes all out to fight Domon and the two settle it by using using their Sekiha Tenkyoken attacks against each other. But just when it looks like Master Asia is going to win Domon explains this is the day that he would surpass his master and combines the power of his God Finger attack with the Sekiha Tenkyoken which results in fatal injuries for Master Asia and Domon emerges victorious. However, the fight opens Master Asia's eyes, and he acknowledges his foolishness; humanity is a product of the Earth, and to destroy it would be just as harmful as harming the Earth itself. Master Asia revealed to Domon by exposing his chest he had not once allowed himself to be exposed to the DG Cells. In his final moments, he and Domon recite the motto of the School of the Undefeated of the East one last time, before Master Asia perishes.
Master makes one final appearance in the battle against Grand Master Gundam along with Kyoji, Schwarz, and Domon's mother, in a vision, where they urge Domon not to give up.
[edit] Fuun Saiki
Master Asia owns a horse named Fuun Saiki (風雲再起 Fu'un Saiki?), who appears in the later arcs of the story. Like the other participants in the Gundam Fight, Fuun Saiki uses the Mobile Trace System to enter a mobile horse of the same name. The mobile horse is able to assume both a normal, horse-like form, and one that resembles a flying platform. After Master Asia's death, Fuun Saiki travels with Domon.
[edit] Further media
- The non-canon manga series "Mobile Fighting Sidestory: Fight 7th" depicts a young adult Master Asia as Neo-Japan's Gundam Fighter in the 7th Fight, at which time his name was Shuji Kurosu. His Mobile Fighter was the Yamato Gundam, which was made to be an obvious precursor to both the Shining Gundam and God Gundam. During the events of the 7th Fight, Shuji meets the pilots who would go on to join him as the Shuffle Alliance, develops the Sekiha Tenkyoken, and defeats a terrorist group named Chaos. However, he and his friends were disqualified from the Gundam Fight Finals as they failed to arrive in the host nation by the specified time limit.
- Master Asia has appeared in a number of appearances in other Gundam works outside of the G Gundam canon. He has appeared consistently in the SD Gundam G Generation games, where he was once shown to be able to fight all five of the Gundams from Gundam Wing at once. He again encounters Heero Yuy in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam where the youth's talent impresses him enough to take him under his wing, wanting to teach Heero Tohou Fuhai Style Martial Arts (though Heero remains skeptical). In Musha Generation, he appears as the leader of an evil clan. His character has also inspired interpretations of the Gundams he pilots. In SD Gundam, a living Master Gundam first appears in a Kowloon form as a seemingly loyal lord to a Devil Gundam-like deity. However, he subsequently reveals his true Master form and his plans to pervert the deity for his own schemes. In SD Gundam Force, he is reflected in two characters- Ashuramaru, who reflects Master Asia's deeper motives, and Bakuhamaru, who resembles Master Gundam and also uses the Undefeated of the East title.
- Master Asia frequently appears in the Super Robot Wars and SD Gundam G Generation series along with the rest of G Gundam's cast. One noteworthy twist on this formula was Super Robot Wars R, which is set after the events of the 13th Gundam Fight. The game's primary antagonist Duminuss revives Master Asia with DG Cells and uses him as the Core Unit of a reproduced Devil Gundam. Eventually, the team saves Master, and if the player re-creates the climax of Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo, the super-powerful Shin (True) Getter heals Master of his infection, restoring him to perfect health. Shortly afterwards, Rain constructs a copy of the Master Gundam, allowing Master to join the protagonists as a powerful ally. It is in SRW F, A and R where powerful combination attacks by Domon (in God Gundam) and Master Asia (Master Gundam) can be performed, including the Kyuukyoku Tenkyoken which even rivals the five-unit combination attack "Shuffle Doumei Ken" in attack power.
- Many sidestories imply that the various "Finger" techniques most commonly associated with Domon are a part of the Tohou Fuhai Style, and possibly invented by Master Asia in the first place. In the afforementioned Fight 7th, Yamato Gundam possesses the Shakunetsu Sunshine Finger. In its sole playable appearance in G Generation F, the Shuffle Heart's attack list includes the Heartful Finger. Similarly, G Generation Neo gives the Kowloon Gundam a Kowloon Finger attack.
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