Sugimoto's Group | The Abashiri Convicts (Hijikata's Group) | The Hokkaido 7th Division | The Ainu | Barato's Mob | Others
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General
The elite Hokkaido 7th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army, a renowned unit lauded by the populace for their bravery. However, because they weren't given their due reward after the Russo-Japanese war, a secret part of the 7th Division led by First Lieutenant Tsurumi has gone rogue and is looking for the treasure in order to finance a coup to take over Hokkaido. Because of the 7th Division's resources and superior numbers, as well as the high quality of their soldiers, none of the other factions can hope to directly confront the 7th Division and will sneakily act around them.
- Anti-Villain: Most of the soldiers aren't evil per se. They plan to betray their government but only after a lot of mistreatment from their superior's part and the lack of reward for their sacrifices. In fact, they are polite toward civilians and can even lend help to them, as seen when a disguised Kiroranke asks them to help him clear some rubble and they accept; moreover, they were fooled by Tsurumi into thinking their commander committed seppuku because of the treatment. That doesn't mean that they don't obey orders to kill, and if some poor schmuck is given a gun and is pitted against them, they don't think twice before shooting.
- Badass Army: Overlaps with Elite Army. They were at the forefront of the Russo-Japanese War and are tasked with protecting the northern territories of Japan.
- Back for the Dead: Inverted; several soldiers who get gruesomely Killed Off for Real in an early episode are featured in a much later flashback.
- Determinator: Whoever fails to score an instantly fatal wound on one of them quickly regrets it, as even serious stab, gouge or bullet wounds will only make them more determined to kill you.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: The 7th Division grew dissatisfied with the lack of gratitude from the Japanese government. The humiliations culminated in their Commander Hanazawa committing seppuku. Tsurumi channeled the resentment and pushed them to secretly revolt against their government.
- Elite Mook: A foot soldier is an already tough opponent. Although they aren't as famous as Sugimoto, each of the 7th Division soldiers is a hardened veteran who has also survived the war. More than two of them is enough to beat Sugimoto.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: Sugimoto's main enemy had to be the most elite military unit of Hokkaido, of course.
- Empty Eyes: All soldiers from the Division are drawn with big black dots for pupils, making them look creepy.
- Fan Boy: While not all of them go that far, a distressingly high number of soldiers take their devotion to First Lieutenant Tsurumi a bit too far. A large bit.
- Hourglass Plot: At their introduction, Tsukishima is a Straight Man bothered by his colleagues' and superiors' eccentricities and fully aware that, Tsurumi is a shady character that is manipulating him and those around him; meanwhile, Koito is Tsurumi's number one admirer, worships the ground he walks in to such a degree that he is shy to even talk in his presence. At the very end, Tsukishima is too steeped in his own dedication to Tsurumi to realize that he is a disposable pawn to him, and that following him will kill him; meanwhile, Koito gets a clearer picture of Tsurumi and realizes the ways in which they're both being taken advantage of, and is trying to save the lives of the men of the unit. During the final confrontation, Tsukishima is seriously wounded but still trying to get back up and fight for Tsurumi, while Koito holds him and tries to help him and begs Tsurumi to leave them alone and spare Tsukishima.
- Last-Name Basis: Every member of the 7th Division are called by their surnames. Tokushirou Tsurumi, Hajime Tsukishima, and Otonoshin Koito and Tokishige Usami don't reveal their first names until much later.
- Made of Iron: Shockingly and consistently resistant to pain and injuries that would disable a normal person, an extreme example is a soldier killing a bear after it ripped his face off, including an eye ball and his jaw.
- Military Coup: Part of the 7th Division wants to secede from Japan and take over Hokkaido.
- More Dakka: Tsurumi has been buying all kinds of weapons in preparation for his war. Among those used by the 7th Division are several Hotchkiss and Nambu machine guns, and even several destroyers, with full artillery bombardment, to break Abashiri Prison's walls.
- Red Baron: Among the populace, the 7th Division is also respectfully referred as the "Hokuchin(北進) Unit", which means "Defenders of the North", in homage to their performance during the Russo-Japanese War.
First Lieutenant Tokushirou Tsurumi
Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese), David Wald (English)
- Arch-Enemy: He's eventually revealed to have seen Wilk as this, having deduced from the calibre of bullet that he dug out of Olga and Fina's corpses that they were killed by a stray shot from Wilk's handgun, and is implied to have blamed him for the situation escalating to a firefight in the first place. Whilst he had pragmatic reasons to inform the Ainu of Wilk's true identity, it's implied that it was secondary to him having the opportunity to spite Wilk by ruining his attempts to build a united Ainu alliance. His tenancy in chasing Wilk was such that he had no choice but to inter himself in Abashiri Prison in order to get solid enough defenses between himself and Tsurumi, and even then Tsurumi breached the walls anyway once he had the right excuse to bring sufficient enough manpower to bear. Ironically, Wilk was killed by Ogata on Kiroranke's orders just as Tsurumi was on the verge of getting his hands on him. It's afterward heavily implied that he's shifted the focus of his obsession to Asirpa, to punish her in Wilk's place now that he's forever lost the opportunity to take revenge on the man himself, although Tsurumi himself personally denies then when asked about it.note Nonetheless, he has a noteworthy break in composure when first meeting Asirpa and seeing how her eyes are an exact replica of Wilk's, one severe enough to unnerve even Usami, and the watching officers, and whilst he needed to break Asirpa in order to force her to surrender the code, it's clear that he took a great deal of pleasure destroying her idealization of Wilk during his chat with her and Sofia. When he mortally wounds Sofia, he tells her that he forgives her for her self-perceived role in his wife and daughter's deaths as she's bleeding out, only to finish her off by firing three shots through the image of Wilk on Sophia's old photograph and into her chest to finish her off, repeating that he forgives 'her'.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: Played With. As an army lieutenant, he's understandably more skilled a fighter than the average man, but it's repeatedly demonstrated that Tsurumi's talents lie in information gathering, deception, manipulation and charismatic leadership, with his fighting skills being below-par when compared to absolute beats like Sugimoto, Hijikata or Ushiyama. However, he's smart enough to be well aware of this, and thus recruits soldiers with exceptional fighting skills into his division, like Tsukishima or Usami, and stacking any confrontation he participates in himself with as much tactical advantages in his favour as he can possibly manage. The final fight with him comes down to him manipulating the poor footing and limited space to attack on the front of a moving train whilst exploiting the fact that neither Sugimoto nor Asirpa can recklessly attack him without potentially losing the land deed they're fighting over if his body falls from the train, all whilst stealthy backing away from them towards a concealed handgun he'd planted at the front of the locomotive as he gives the illusion they're cornering him.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Tsurumi is an intelligence officer, and pretty quickly deduces a Wounded Gazelle Gambit from Sugimoto's part.
- Ax-Crazy:
- When one of his superiors is announcing that he intends to fire him, Tsurumi bites his fingers off then has his men shoot the guy.
- His massacre of the staff and prisoners of Abashiri prison is done with utter glee and much laughing.
- Badass Boast: I am your shinigami. Your life is a candle, and I can blow it out any time I choose.
- Beard of Evil: A classic moustache and goatee combination.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Alongside Hijikata Toshizou. They're both competing for the gold for opposing reasons, but Tsurumi is presented as the overall more dangerous of them in a long-term basis, having connections to resources and the use of military facilities to co-opt for his search for the gold that Hijikata can't utilise, though he's clearly not as dangerous as the latter in a fight. When the Final Battle for the gold comes around, Hijikata and Sugimoto strike an alliance of necessity against him and the small army of soldiers he commands, and the conflict soon turns into them both doing their best to get Aspira and the land deed that confirms ownership of the land bought with half the buried gold away from him. As of chapter 308, Hijikata's death means Tsurumi is now in the sole title of Big Bad of the narrative, and his death shortly afterwards spells the end of the gold hunt and the conflict over it..
- Book Ends: As covered under Badass Boast above, when they first meet, Tsurumi claims himself to be Sugimoto's personal Shinigami, swearing that if the flame of his life won't be snuffed out with a breath, then he'll bite the wick down, emphasised with a particular biting motion. He repeats this same motion right as Sugimoto has fatally shot him through the heart as they're both in a death grip with each other on the front of a derailing train heading straight into the ocean, demonstrating his willpower to keep fighting Sugimoto until he dies, even with the latter's penchant for improbable survivals.
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: The Captain Smooth to Tsukishima's Sergeant Rough.
- Connected All Along: He met Wilk and his companions in Russia, where they inadvertently blow up his spy cover as they were the actual ones that the Okrana came for. In fact, the stray shot that killed his wife and baby daughter came from Wilk. He had a grudge ever since and as soon he heard that Wilk resurfaced as the leader of the seven Ainu men out for the gold, Tsurumi - in his own words - shot a single poisoned arrow aimed at Wilk. The men had a tenuous relationship that only Wilk could contain and Tsurumi gave their mole something that could incriminate Wilk. The event that created Noppera-bou ensued.
- Crazy-Prepared: As a spy sent in Russia pretending to be a photographer, Tsurumi keeps a machine gun disguised as a camera in case the Okrana come for him.
- Creepy Souvenir:
- Tsurumi keeps a pair of finger bones with him and occasionally toys with them. These bones belonged to his late wife and child.
- After Wilk cut his face off in order to fake his death, Tsurumi kept and preserved it, and later uses it as a mask to taunt Asirpa and Sofia.
- Establishing Character Moment: He bites off an angry superior's fingers but justifies himself with all the calm in the world. He then has that same officer shot and recites how the 7th Division was wronged, stating that their war isn't over.
- A Father to His Men: Strangely, yes. Not so when they turn against him.
- Firing in the Air a Lot: He introduces himself to Sugimoto like this to stop his men from killing him.
- Flower Motifs: He often has the background break out in white poppies.
- Gatling Good: Though he doesn't end up in combat very often, he'll frequently pull out a Gatling gun when he does.
- Genuine Human Hide: He wears the skin of the convicts he's caught on himself.
- Notably, he found and preserved Wilk's face and uses it as a gruesome mask at the climax of his speech to Asirpa.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: In case you thought he might be a good guy, just look at his handlebar mustache and goatee.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: A huge scar around his eyes that is partially covered by his porcelain enamel plate, as a result of receiving an explosion to the face.
- Good Weapon, Evil Weapon: An evil looking Borchardt C-93 pistol.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He admits to having trouble controlling himself since he's got a piece of shrapnel in the head. He mixes that with Tranquil Fury.
- The Heavy: It's eventually revealed that Tsurumi was on the hunt for the Ainu gold long before the actual hunt started in earnest, following rumours of a group of Ainu who knew it's location to the back woods of Hokkaido in an attempt to find it 'for the government'. Upon finding the sole member of their band that had left due to idealogical differences and realising that the leader of these men was Wilk, he informed the remaining Ainu about Wilk's true origins, planning to follow him once he returned to his allies to confront Wilk, only to lose track of him in the dense woods. The Ainu resultantly turned on and mutually killed each other off, save for Wilk, who attempted to fake his own death through Tear Off Your Face to obscure his survival, only for Tsurumi to easily see through the deception and pursue him regardless. Wilk was ultimately forced to flee to Abashiri Prison and 'confess' to the murder of the Ainu in order to get protection from Tsurumi, making Tsurumi indirectly responsible for a large portion of the plot, albeit by accident, as he clearly didn't plan on Wilk managing to escape to the prison, nor his method of informing Asirpa about the Gold's location.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: Played with. His plan to throw a military coup in Hokkaido using the Ainu gold as coffer is told pretty early on, what muddles the water is his motivation. Tsukishima and Koito start doubting why he has these plans, whether it is truly born from a desire to help Japan, revenge against the country for the way it treated his comrades, whether it is just a personal plan to feel closer to his deceased family by annexing the part of Russia where they died to Japan, or even a mix of these. Tsurumi states that this is genuinely born out of the first one, but Koito doubts when he realizes he might have been lying to keep them satisfied by the motive.
- Hidden Depths: Tsurumi is introduced as a mad officer, but he can also play the piano.
- Holding the Floor: When telling Tsukishima that he's taking Tsukishima out of death row to go with him because of his fluency in Russian, he talks and talks and talks and talks... about Tsukishima's linguistic skills and their usefulness for the country, at some length, to keep Tsukishima from objecting that he doesn't speak a word of Russian.
- Incoming Ham: Reveals his ambush of Keiichiro and O-Gin by taking an entire page to dramatically push back a small curtain with both of his hands.
- Karmic Death: Tsurumi's end comes from Sugimoto blinding him at a crucial moment with a handful of the gold dust from the treasure trove he'd been tracking down, enabling him to land a slice with Hijikata's katana that cuts free both the Aniu land deed and Fina and Olga's finger bones at once, with both threatening to fall off the train. Tsumuri choosing to save the land deed and the bones' destruction under the train wheels clearly breaks him emotionally, and he becomes too focused afterwards on emotionally tormenting Asirpa — or 'Wilk' as he sees her — taking his focus off Sugimoto, enabling the latter to overpower him and shoot him through the heart with his own gun.
- Kubrick Stare: can pull off some quite creepy ones with his Empty Eyes, especially because it's usually a sign that he's planning to somehow makes things worse for the heroes in some fashion.
- Large Ham: An extremely dramatic man. At one point he yells so hard over the telephone he starts biting the transceiver.
- Living Lie Detector: As an intelligence officer, Tsurumi is quite skilled at noting deception and half-truths spoken by those around him, and even better at playing along until the time is right to reveal his hand and put his enemies in a bind. Nagakura uses this against him at one point, as whilst Tsurumi mocks him for thinking he could convincingly lie about his true intentions to peacefully surrender to him, he retorts that Tsurumi would therefore know that he wasn't lying about The Land Deed hidden inside Fort Koryokaku that certifies that half the gold was used to buy vast swathes of fertile Soil for the Ainu's use, and which Tsurumi himself could use for his plans. Resultantly, Tsurumi cannot continue with his long-range bombardment of the fort with the cannons on the small fleet of destroyers he brought with him, lest he blow the deed to hell, which is what Nagakura wanted all along. Tsurumi can only remain silent in the face of this.
- The Lost Lenore: Before the war, he was a deep undercover spy in Russia. He married a Russian woman, was actually in love with his wife and had a child. When his cover was blown because of someone else's failure and the Okrana came for him, his wife and baby daughter were killed by a stray bullet in the ensuing firefight. This was the start of his deep disenchantment with the Japanese government.
- Man Bites Man: Regularly bites off people's fingers.
- Manipulative Bastard: Tsurumi is really a smooth-talker. He has manipulated his whole entourage and unit to further his plans, murdering his superior and pinning the responsibility on the government to goad his soldiers to revolt; Ogata notes how Tsurumi has been lying through his teeth about him being a worthy son to his father (said murdered commander); and he has lied to Tsukishima to recruit him. Several flashbacks show him going to great lengths in order to secure the loyalty of some of his subordinates like Tsukishima and Koito (he even staged a kidnapping on Koito just so he could evoke Rescue Romance later). In a flashback to a conversation with his sensei, Tsurumi says he does this because the best way to convince people to kill is to make them love you.
- Outliving One's Offspring: When his cover was blown because of someone else's failure and the secret police came for him, his wife and baby daughter were killed by a stray bullet in the ensuing firefight.
- Pragmatic Villainy: While Tsurumi holds a grudge against Wilk for killing his wife and child, he refuses to take actions to fulfill his desire for revenge, like killing Asirpa, that would conflict with his larger goals of taking over Hokkaido. On the other hand, it's implied that this might simply be because he intends to take a more complete idealistic victory over Wilk first by finding and using the gold he hoped his Daughter would use for the Ainu to fund his revolt against the government and also destroy Wilk's dreams of a land for the Ainu at the same time.
- Riches to Rags: His family was wealthy but fell on hard times.
- Slasher Smile: Tsurumi sports his bloodthirsty grin a lot of the time.
- Sociopathic Soldier: Was once a worthy officer in the Army, receiving a piece of shrapnel in the head and the poor state his unit's been left in made him bitter and violent. Though at least part of this seems to actually stem from him losing his russian wife and child on a long-term spying mission for the government, as he partially orchestrated the poor state of the 7th division to make them easier to convince to join him in rebelling against the government.
- Sweet Tooth: Spends a lot of the early parts of the manga eating dango.
- Torture Technician: Notably for this trope, he'll stop and take another tack if his torture isn't working. After cutting off Kouhei's ear fails to get him to name the other traitors in the 7th division, he wins him over by promising him that he can kill Sugimoto.
- Visionary Villain: Tsurumi's end game is to take over Hokkaido and have a haven for the veterans of his Division.
- We Can Rule Together: Tsurumi proposes Sugimoto to join his military coup, offering sound reasons that should resonate with a veteran like him. But Sugimoto refuses anyway.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Wanting his men to receive their just compensation? Admirable. Take over the island he's supposed to protect and kill anyone in his path? Not so admirable anymore.
Superior Private Ogata Hyakunosuke
For Ogata Hyakunosuke, see Hijikata's group.
Private First Class Nikaidou Kouhei (and Youhei)
Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Both twins in Japanese), Stephen Sanders (Kouhei Nikaido, English), Stephen Fu (Youhei Nikaido, English)
Youhei or Kouhei, there's no distinction...at first
A private who harbors an immense hatred for Sugimoto after he killed his twin brother Youhei. Kouhei's sanity and body become less intact over the course of the story. Though Youhei is mentioned a few times, the surviving twin makes up most of these examples.- Angsty Surviving Twin: The brothers' initial feud with Sugimoto causes them try to kill him despite it going against their orders. This results in Sugimoto killing Youhei and setting Kouhei on the path of vengeance.
- An Arm and a Leg: Kouhei losing parts of his body has practically become a Running Gag.
- A bear attacks him from behind and tears off one ear with its paw.
- Tsurumi cuts off his remaining ear during a short torture session.
- Hijikata cuts off one of Kouhei's leg during a fight.
- Sugimoto turns Youhei's leg shotgun against him, and his right hand is blown off.
- In their final fight, Kouhei's attempt to blow himself up with Sugimoto backfires on him, blowing his lower half to pieces and sending a bayonet implied in his chest straight up through his head, slicing him in two.
- Arm Cannon: Arisaka stops by Kouhei's hospital room with a new prosthetic hand similar to the leg cannon he gave him previously, and reveals its secret compartment...that can hold chopsticks! Koito fills it with jelly as a prank later.
- Asshole Victim: Kouhei and Youhei plot to kill Sugimoto whilst he's tied up and stage it to look like he died trying to escape. It's hard to feel bad when instead Sugimoto kills Youhei and uses his death to facilitate his real escape.
- Avenging the Villain: Kouhei wants to avenge his brother Youhei by any means.
- Book Ends: their first introductory appearance had them getting slammed in the face by Sugimoto's surprise flying kick together when they entered into the shop he was in looking for him. Kouhei's final confrontation with Sugimoto has him returning the favour, using the opportunity to fire his shotgun leg at the same time, grazing Sugimoto's cheek with the buckshot in a near-miss.
- Consulting Mister Puppet: From a combination of the physical trauma and loss he endured, Kouhei went crazy enough to keep his brother's cut-off left ear and talk to it as if it was his brother Youhei, as a coping mechanisms for his grief and desire to keep his brother beside him..
- Creepy Twins: The introductory scene (pictured above) showcases this by giving them a creepy appearance alongside them sharing the same Dissonant Serenity expressions, though this gets lost pretty quickly when Sugimoto attacks them, and shortly afterwards kills Youhei.
- Descent into Addiction: Kouhei ends up addicted to morphine after getting his leg cut off. Then he's introduced to a new medicine called methamphetamine. This is all Played for Laughs.
- Determinator: Kouhei doesn't cooperate with Tsurumi even when threatened with having his nose cut off. It takes an offer to kill Sugimoto get him to reveal who the traitors within the Division are.
- Ear Ache: A brown bear tears off his left ear, and then Tsurumi cuts off the remaining ear for insubordination.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The twins loved each other. When Youhei is murdered by Sugimoto, Kouhei dedicates his every moment seeking revenge on Sugimoto.
- Genuine Human Hide: Kouhei has been given a leather hood made of human skin, with his cut off ear stitched near the mouth and acting as a pseudo-speaker, so Kouhei can talk to his ear.
- Gutted Like a Fish: Youhei's fate: Sugimoto cuts open his stomach with a bayonet, killing him in the process, and uses the intestines to fake being mortally injured. Kouhei somewhat ends up this way as well, getting impaled in the stomach by Sugimoto's Bayonet and him preparing to rip out his intestines, but he tries to blow him and Sugimoto up together with some russian grenades he found before Sugimoto can pull away, forcing him to chuck him and the rifle together down a nearby hole instead.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Kouhei gets a rifle bayonet stabbed clean through him by Sugimoto during their final fight. He attempts to use the opportunity to blow Sugimoto up together with him using a Russain grenade he had on him, only for Sugimoto to chuck both him and the rifle straight down a hole together to get away from the explosion. The blast, when it detonates, blows Kouhei's lower half to pieces and pushes the impaled bayonet straight upwards through his torso, slicing his upper half in two. This allows him to die happy, as his severed head ends up gazing at each half, allowing Kouhei's last sight to metaphorically be his beloved brother's absent face.
- Handicapped Badass: Despite his heavy injuries, Kouhei can still give Sugimoto a lot of trouble. He almost stabs the latter in the mouth during a fistfight and if not for several reflexes, he would have shot him dead.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Kouhei ends up mortally wounded this way, with Sugimoto jamming a rifle's bayonet straight through his stomach and preparing to gut him like his brother, only for Kouhei to use the opportunity to attempt to blow the both up together.
- Leg Cannon: Kouhei is given a brand new prosthetic leg from Lieutenant General Arisaka. As a bonus for short-range battles, it incorporates a shotgun.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: They planned to kill Sugimoto and pass it out as an escape attempt gone wrong, likely because both were part of the faction of the 7th that were planning to betray Tsurumi, and wanted to get Sugimoto's information about the gold out of him before Tsurumi could. This did not pan out well for either of them
- Rasputin Death: Everything under An Arm An A Leg above shows that Kouhei gets a lot of abuse heaped on him throughout the story. It takes getting simultaneously blown to pieces and sliced in two to put him down in the end.
- Revenge Before Reason:
- Defined the both of the brothers. The 7th division has captured Sugimoto and need him alive to learn where he stashed the copies of the tattoos. But the brothers, feeling slighted over injuries and insults Sugimoto has thrown their way, decide to disobey direct orders and kill him. This only helps Sugimoto escape and ends up getting Youhei killed.
- Following this incident Kouhei becomes further obsessed with getting revenge on Sugimoto above all else, throwing his loyalty blindly behind whoever offers him a shot at vengeance. This has resulted in him leaving himself open to attack by others whenever he gets tunnel vision from seeing Sugimoto nearby, such as Hijikata slicing off his leg when he's distracted by seeing Sugimoto
- Wrath: Following Youhei's death, Kouhei becomes consumed by the desire to kill Sugimoto to avenge him, to the point of Sugimoto becomes a Living Emotional Crutch to him and him becoming an Empty Shell when he thinks Sugimoto died from getting shot in the head. He throws his loyalty behind whomever promises him the best chance to kill him and develops severe tunnel vision whoever Sugimoto's around, ignoring anything else in favour of attacking or killing him, allowing him to be blindsided by others in a pitched battle. Ironically, Kouhei was the one who showed more restraint and calm fury towards Sugimoto when they first fought him, and Youhei was the more violet and aggressive one, only for the dynamic to get flipped around as Kouhei starts losing more and more thanks to Sugimoto.
Sergeant Hajime Tsukishima
Voiced by: Eiji Takemoto (Japanese), Quinn Angell (English)
- Broken Pedestal: Though he's well aware of Tsurumi's manipulations, Tsukishima chooses to stay by his side as he sees him as a great man capable of accomplishing great things. When he learns of Tsurumi's late wife and daughter and begins to suspect his lofty ambitions were all just a way for him to mourn them, he's outraged, as he was expecting him to be motivated by something more grandiose than that. However, hearing Tsurumi privately admit his main goal is to strengthen Japan's military and that he would never prioritize his own "personal memorial" over that is enough to put Tsukishima's mind at ease and restore his faith in him.
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: The Sergeant side. While not exactly "rough", he is blunt, stoic, and comparatively so when Tsurumi is around. None of the other members of the 7th fawn after him like they do with Tsurumi, either.
- Chekhov's Skill: A rare case of it being an Invoked Trope, as part of Tsurumi's plan to save his life from death row. Tsurumi (headed to Russia to act as an intelligence oficer) stated (at quite some length) that his trusted subordinate and talented interpreter Tsukishima's high skill and fluency in Russian made him vital for the country, so he was taking Tsukishima out of death row to go with him. Tsukishima knew not a word of Russian, and was told to learn it right away.Tsurumi: Tsukishima... you're fluent in Russian, right?
Tsukishima:[surprised] Huh? No sir... I can't speak Russian at all...
Tsurumi: [long monologue over multiple panels] Soon there will a war between Japan and Russia. Yet we don't have nearly enough Russian interpreters. A man with your level of ability in Russian will surely be treated with compassion. After all, our country's very existence is on the line. (...) I'll be headed to Russia as an intelligence officer. You're my trusted subordinate and a talented interpreter, so I'll be taking you along.
Tsukishima: Sir, I can't speak a word of Russian! And I'm on death row!
Tsurumi: THEN YOU'D BETTER STUDY LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! - Childhood Friend Romance: Tsukishima was a friend with a girl, who was the one who called him by his name "Hajime" while everyone would use insults. The friendship eventually became a romance, with her and Tsukishima agreeing to marry each other after the Sino-Japanese war.
- Cunning Linguist: Tsukishima is fluent in Russian, which made him indispensable during the Russo-Japanese war. When he and Sugimoto go after Asirpa, his Russian helps to ease the search for her in Sakhalin.
- Empty Eyes: Averted, being the only 7th Division member of Tsurumi's circle to not have them, as befitting his Only Sane Man status.
- Facial Markings: Tsukishima has two lines on his face resembling under eye wrinkles.
- Genius Bruiser: He was able to learn Russian when in death row to make himself indispensable for the war, and in the unknown but necessarily short time between Tsurumi ordering Tsukishima to learn Russian right away, and Tsurumi's request to free Tsukishima being granted.
- Hidden Depths: It's shown in Chapter 140 that besides his career as a soldier, Tsukishima is also fluent in Russian. Chapter 149 shows he learned it in a shockingly short time.
- The Lost Lenore: Tsukishima was in love with an unnamed girl whom he promised to marry after the Sino-Japanese war he went to. However when he returned to his hometown, he discovered that she came to believe that he dies and killed herself (however, he never saw her corpse). Subverted when he met Tsurumi, who discovered it was all a ploy to persuade the girl to move out to Tokyo and said girl even sent him a lock of hair. Then Double Subverted when he discovers that his love was really dead all along and Tsurumi lied to him. Triple subverted when he's told Tsurumi faked the girl's death to help Tsukishima off death row. Zigzagged to we don't even keep track of the number when it's heavily implied that the person who told him was working for Tsurumi, to begin with. While the audience do eventually learn her fate; Tsurumi was telling the truth and she really is alive in Tokyo, Tsukishima himself never receives any closure, but decides that in either case it's better for him to let go and move on.
- Motivational Lie: Was on the receiving end of this, when Tsurumi told him that the girl he loved was alive, pushing him to learn Russian and avoid the death sentence. He later learns that Tsurumi indeed lied, and confronts him, furious.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Sure, he is aware that Tsurumi is at the very least, unstable. However, he's also a loyal soldier and obeys his every order. Chapter 149 shows that he is aware that Tsurumi is a Manipulative Bastard.
- Only Sane by Comparison: He may be the least eccentric of the 7th Division and has his own doubts about Tsurumi, but at the end of the day, Tsukishima will do anything that the 7th needs of him out of a desperate desire to have some direction in life after losing the woman he loved.
- Only Sane Man: Among his quirky and downright psychopathic colleagues, Tsukishima stands out by being a model of professionalism and overall normalcy.
- Patricide: Tsukishima already hated his father, but when the latter spread rumors about him being dead, leading to the suicide of Tsukishima's girlfriend, he beats him to death.
- The Reliable One: Tsukishima does what he's told, is loyal to Tsurumi and condemns traitors, and is the most competent subordinate in the 7th.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Tsukishima was ostracized and bullied as a child because of his father. Although nothing is specified, Tsukishima was called a murderer's son.
- Straight Man: His Only Sane Man status overlaps with The Comically Serious whenever he witnesses some of his colleague's hijinks, with a deadpan but clearly annoyed expression on his face. The most annoying out of them all for Tsukishima seems to be Koito.
- Trading Bars for Stripes: Although he was already a soldier, Tsukishima briefly went on death row for murdering his father. However, thanks to/because of Tsurumi lying about Tsukishima being fluent in Russian, and Tsukishima's efforts to actually learn Russian; he became part of Tsurumi's staff during the Russo-Japanese War.
Second Lieutnant Otonoshin Koito
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Daman Mills (English)
- Ambiguously Brown: Koito is noticeably tan for a Japanese person (presumably because he's from sunny Satsuma), making him stand out among characters.
- Animal Motifs: Monkeys. Koito screams like a monkey in combat and has remarkable acrobatic skills.
- Anti-Nepotism: His father is an Admiral, who also directly recommends him for the probably dangerous expedition to Sakhalin. When asked, he admits that even if he loves him, he can't in good faith both protect his son and ask his countrymen to send theirs to die.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Koito uses the Jigen-Ryu sword style, which is so aggressive is it said that the Shinsengumi commander only advised dodging the first blow of its practitioners. Trying to block it results in the swordsman smashing the sword into his opponent's forehead.
- Broken Pedestal: Zigzagged. First, it's subverted, as Koito learns that Tsurumi has manipulated him and his father into becoming loyal to him by staging his kidnapping when he was young. His admiration for Tsurumi only grows because it means Tsurumi values him greatly. He does have questions about Tsurumi's goals but prefers to keep working for him with an optimistic mindset. Double Subverted later. As Tsukishima notices, Koito no longer needs him as a middle man when trying to talk with Tsurumi, which Tsukishima takes as a sign that he may not be as capable of trusting the people of the 7th division anymore. Subverted again when Tsukishima and Koito overhear Tsurumi's full plan as told to Asirpa, revealing his plan is founded on the basis of his desire for Japan's safety and power, rather than a personal vendetta. And the double subverted again when Koito realizes that Tsurumi must have realized they were there because they both reeked of alcohol at the time from getting doused in beer, and at least some of what he said might have been intentionally misleading and aimed at keeping Tsukishima and Koito's trust in him rather than the actual truth of his plan.
- Calling Your Attacks: Played for Laughs; The Jigen-ryu style's first blow is also famous for its specific and impressive Kiai, called Enkyō (monkey's scream), that goes with it. He often uses it as his Catchphrase very often. Not just when he should (when using his first blow), he also uses it whenever he is surprised, excited, confused, or simply in any situation where him "screaming like a monkey" would be funny.
- Genius Bruiser: Koito is a force to be reckoned with, as he's really fast, agile, and is a seasoned sword practitioner with an aggressive style. Upper-Class Twit moments aside, he's quick to formulate simple plans to outsmart enemies, like when he tricks Suzukawa Kiyohiro into giving away his disguise or keeps shooting Keiichirou while pursuing him just to give away his position and trajectory to Tsurumi.
- The Gift: Parodied during the Circus Arc. He's got an exceptional talent for acrobatics, in a circus in which 90% of the shows are acrobatics. Sugimoto develops a petty rivalry over this and tries to outdo Koito with a magic trick.
- Hair Color Dissonance: Is meant to have black hair like everyone else, but it's presented as dark purple hair in the anime and dark blue hair on the cover for Volume 16 of the manga.
- Japanese Dialects: Koito speaks the Satsuma dialect, a near-incomprehensible dialect to most Japanese.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Whenever he loses his calm, and somehow whenever he wants to talk to Tsurumi, Koito slips into his Satsuma dialect.
- Precious Photo: Has one of his idol First Lieutenant Tsurumi. In fact, he has several of them and has glued his face over anyone who's shared photography with Tsurumi.
- Silly Reason for War: During the Yamada's show arc, Koito's gift in acrobatics threaten to overshadow Sugimoto's harakiri's trick (the whole reason of them being in the show, to begin with). A subplot develops with Koito refusing to tone down his performance and Sugimoto trying to outdo and eventually ruin Koito's show.
- Sycophantic Servant: Koito is his First Lieutenant's number one fan. He saved his life after all.
- Upper-Class Twit: Downplayed. When he's not fighting, Koito proves to be rather out of touch with reality. He expects someone to carry his six large suitcases (one of which was occupied by two stowaways) in Sakhalin, and unlike his wiser companions, underestimates a wolverine that just took down a bear because of its size.
Superior Private Usami Tokishige
Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese), Kyle Igneczi (English)
- Animal Motifs: Horses.
- Ax-Crazy: Even in a cast full of unstable, violent, and ruthless characters, Usami stands out by being a complete psycho. While other unstable characters were afflicted with mental illness and had some Freudian Excuse who pushed them over the edge, Usami has absolutely none and is naturally a violent killer. For instance, he committed his first murder as a young boy by crushing the throat of his "friend" because he was jealous for Tsurumi's attention. Tsurumi later describes Usami as a "wolf among sheep", someone who has no compunction about taking a human life unlike the vast majority of soldiers. His craziness is put to use when he and Kikuta must track a serial-killer and Usami can easily get into his mind.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Murdered his former friend for spending too much time with his idol Tsurumi.
- Creepy Doll: His (7th division-standard) Empty Eyes plus his moles give him a very creepy and doll-like appearance.
- Facial Markings: When Tsurumi drew running stick men onto his face using his moles as heads, Usami had the drawing tattooed. Kadokura is totally freaked out by this.
- A Good Way to Die: He bleeds out in Tsurumi's arms as the lieutenant calls him his most valuable soldier.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: When Usami is found to be a spy and then tricked into going into a prison pigsty unarmed, he shows that even unarmed he can kill two unruly prisoners by stealing their hammers and beating them to death on the spot. Kadokura, who stole his saber and intended that he die at the hands of prisoners, wisely decides not to attempt to kill him.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Treats his murder of his friend as a sexual experience. Tsurumi assigns him to the Jack the Ripper case because they think the same way.
- Sycophantic Servant: Just like Koito, Usami is practically in love with Tsurumi.
Yasaku Edogai
Voiced by: Yūma Uchida (Japanese), Brandon McInnis (English)
- Abusive Parents: His mother apparently castrated him at one point. His father was not abusive, but he was murdered by Edogai's mother.
- Ax-Crazy: Averted! Yasaku, despite being mad, only uses the skin from already dead people, and doesn't want to participate in fights.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Sure, he may have an obsession with creating clothes with human skin or outright playing with corpses, but he sure knows his business when taxidermy or skin tanning is concerned.
- Buried Alive: Edogai is caught in a mine tunnel cave-in after an explosion and eventually dies from his wounds.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Yasaku gains the courage to talk back to his "mother" for all of the abuse he received from her.
- Cool Mask: A creepy but awesome mask made out of several hands and ears (their shape is visible).
- Cute and Psycho: A good looking fellow, but also a crazy one.
- The Dog Bites Back: Years of abuse pushed Yasaku to murder his mother (figuratively speaking, he, in fact, murders a voice in his head that represents her).
- Eccentric Artist: After he's given the assignment to make fake skins, he spends a lot of time throwing tantrums about how he can't get it quite right and constructing a fake Tsurumi to console him.
- Expy: Yasaku takes from many famous serial killers, such as Ed Gein, Leatherface, and Norman Bates. However, it's subverted since he's never actually kills anyone. His "mother"'s voice in his head pushes him to commit murder (similar to Norman Bates) but instead he figuratively "murders" her, silencing any murderous impulses.
- Facial Markings: Two vertical lines going from under his eyes are visible.
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Fashion-Victim Villain: Even besides the fact that they're made of human skin, Edogai's handmade clothes demonstrate an...interesting sense of design. - Genuine Human Hide: Yasaku creates clothes out of corpses' skins.
- Gollum Made Me Do It: His "mother"'s voice pushes him to murder. However, Edogai never acted on these impulses.
- Hearing Voices: Yasaku can still hear the voice of his parents and many others and has conversations with them. Tsurumi's influence has at least suppressed his mother's voice.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When a mineshaft Edogai's in becomes filled with smoke, he tells Tsukishima to flee with the skins, sacrificing himself to Tsurumi's cause.
- Instructional Dialogue: Gives several lengthy speeches about tanning to Tsurumi.
- Matricide: Figuratively speaking. Tsurumi pushed him to shoot her corpse, so he doesn't hear her voice anymore.
- My Beloved Smother: Yasaku's mother was so controlling (and crazy) she killed Yasaku's father for taking his side and castrated Yasaku when he became "too much like his father". All for his own good of course. Even after she died, Yasaku kept hearing her domineering voice in his head.
- Punny Name: His name "Edogai" is a play on "Ed Gein," a famous killer.
- Villainous Friendship: Yasaku and Tsurumi become excellent friends over a mutual interest in human skin.
Warrant Officer Mokutarou Kikuta
- Catchphrase: He's "got VIP seats on the train to Hell". This is how Sugimoto is able to recognise him when they end up fighting, and he even manages to adapt it into a "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner after he suffers an Agonizing Stomach Wound at Tsurumi's hands, telling him he'll leave the next seat over open for him.
- Connected All Along: Once he gets into a fight with Sugimoto and sees his face up close, he recognises him as a "vagrant boy" he'd met in the past. As it turns out, Kikuta was the one who inspired Sugimoto to join the military in the first place.
- A Death in the Limelight: The Sapporo arc gives him a lot of focus, with him taking part in the Ripper investigation while also revealing that he's a spy for Central and that he and Sugimoto had met in the past. This culminates in an extended flashback to his first meeting with Sugimoto in Tokyo, after which he's outed as a spy and Tsurumi and Tsukishima shoot him dead.
- Guns Akimbo: Almost always fights with a pistol in each hand.
- Gun Nut: Kikuta has a collection of Nagant M1895 pistols he has looted from dead Russian soldiers. He keepts several of them on him at all times on holsters tied around his chest, providing some degree of protection too.
- Killed Off for Real: Ends up getting killed in Chapter 280 after being found out as a spy, courtesy of a bullet to the head by Tsukishima.
- Pocket Protector: Blocks a bullet with one of the many Nagant M1895 pistols he had hidden under his coat.
- Straight Man: Is paired up with Usami to find Jack the Ripper. He spends most of the mission being disgusted by Usami's... peculiar investigation methods.
Private First Class Rikimatsu Ariko
Ariko is an Ainu who was recruited into the Japanese Army and became a member of the 7th Division, also participating in the Russo-Japanese War. He was wounded and hasn't recovered until recently but he now takes part in the action.
- Connected All Along: While the fact that he's Ainu is not in itself all that important, the fact that he's the son of one of the seven men who gathered the gold is actually very important in the whole narrative.
- Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: Is introduced turning traitor on the 7th Division and stealing some skins for Hijikata's group. Then it's revealed that he's secretly a mole for the 7th Division that nobody knows about except for Tsurumi and Usami.
- Pocket Protector: Ariko's unfinished makiri ends up blocking a lethal shot from Tsukishima. A Flash Forward reveals that he finished carving the knife out of gratitude and included a circular design around the bullet hole.
- Only Sane Man: Ariko is seemingly the most normal member of the 7th Division, even more so than Tsukishima or Tanigaki
Lieutenant General Narizou Arisaka
A genius weapons engineer who regularly turns up to supply Tsurumi with new arms.
- Be All My Sins Remembered: He deflects Tsurumi's compliments by bemoaning the fact that his life's work is inventing things that kill people in more efficient ways.
- The Engineer: His inventions range from the conventional, like heavy artillery, to the deeply eccentric, like Kouhei's Leg Cannon and chopstick holder.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Based on Arisaka Nariakira, a real lieutenant general in the Japanese army whose most notable invention is the Type 38 rifle used during the Russo-Japanese War.
- No Indoor Voice: Years of weapons testing have destroyed his hearing to the point where he has to shout everything he says.
