Seta Sōjirō
Seta Sōjirō is a male anime and manga character who features in Rurouni Kenshin.
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Biography
Seta Sōjirō (瀬田 宗次郎) was the illegitimate son of a rice businessman and was left in the care of his much older half-brother. He was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in September of the first year of Bunkyū in 1861. As a child, Sōjirō was abused and beaten by his family as he was a constant reminder of his father's infidelity and the shame he brought upon his family. Sōjirō's father was never punished or shamed for it personally by his wife or adult children, and Sōjirō was an easy target for their anger since he was a defenseless child, and he would smile instead of cry to make them stop temporarily. One night, he ran into Shishio Makoto, who sliced a government official in half. Instead of killing Sōjirō, Shishio took shelter in a shed, and Sōjirō would bring him food and bandages. He gave Sōjirō a wakizashi to protect himself by killing his family, but he thought being killed by a sword would hurt too much, so he hid it under the porch. When his 'family' found out Sōjirō was harboring a wanted criminal, they planned to kill the boy and turn Shishio in, causing Sōjirō to snap and he had no choice but to kill his abusers before they could kill him. Sōjirō ended up slaughtering the five adults with great speed and strength, the result of believing what Shishio told him; 'The strong live and the weak die'. Afterward, when he stood in the rain, he seemed to be smiling about it, but he was crying and was angry with his family where in the aftermath he decided to go with Shishio.
Later on, Sōjirō killed Okubo Toshimichi under Shishio's order; his abilities made his presence unnoted. After Kenshin defeated Senkaku, Sōjirō engages in a fast duel with him, resulting in a tie. Then, Shishio ordered Sōjirō to bring him The Ten Swords from the East side of Japan. Sōjirō was the last member of Juppongatana that Kenshin must defeat before facing Shishio. He used Shukuchi's less potent forms to move fast enough to hit Kenshin, both managing to dodge the Kuzu Ryu Sen and slash him in the back using merely the second step behind the true Shukuchi. As the fight dragged on, however, Kenshin made Sōjirō question the reasons that made him fight alongside Shishio, and this made Sōjirō release his true emotions, allowing Kenshin to predict his moves and discover his advantages. Sōjirō got mad and rendered his emotional blankness null; the battle reaches the climax when Sōjirō challenges Kenshin to do the last technique to put an end in the duel, Sōjirō used Shuntensatsu, the combination of the full Shukuchi and his Battōjutsu against Kenshin's Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki. The two attacks were comparable in overall speed, but Kenshin's ōgi was far stronger and instantly broke Sōjirō's sword and left him battered. Sōjirō declared that his loss showed he had been wrong, but Kenshin instead said that the victor isn't right by default, and he must discover his own truth before leaving the room to face Shishio. Sōjirō discovered the key to Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki and informed Yumi to tell Shishio. Sōjirō asked for Yumi to return the Wakizashi given to him by Shishio. Then, he left the Juppongatana and became a traveler once Shishio died, intending to travel the next ten years to discover his true self while being on the run as a fugitive. Cho stated his confidence that Sōjirō would never be caught.
Overview
Personality and attributes
He was shown to typically be smiling but that there was no emotion behind it. In actuality, he subconsciously suppresses his emotions, making him difficult to read in combat, as stated by Kenshin. This façade gradually erodes when he realizes how strong of an opponent Kenshin is. He also adheres to the philosophy of "the survival of the fittest" and believes it to be an absolute truth. His dedication to this belief, however, leaves him emotionally vulnerable and naive when another's differing ideology conflicts with his own. When his true emotions surface, he appears to be unnerved, infuriated, and almost insane. This is a direct result of spending over a decade suppressing his feelings due to the trauma and abuse he suffered as a child.
Sojiro had a cold-blooded mentality who believed that the strong will live and the weak shall die (弱肉強食, jakuniku kyōshoku, an idiom for "survival of the fittest" or "law of the jungle").
Powers and abilities
A skilled swordsmen, he knew the following techniques:
- Shukuchi (縮地しゅくち Reduced Earth?) :
- Shuntensatsu (瞬しゅん天てん殺さつ Blinking Heaven Kill?) :
He was a member of the Jūppongatana (十じゅう本っぽん刀がたな, Ten Swords?) that were a special attack force of elite warriors assembled and commanded by Shishio Makoto for the purpose of leading his revolutionary army against the Meiji government.
Notes
- Seta Sōjirō was created by Nobuhiro Watsuki and featured in the setting of the Rurouni Kenshin universe.
In other media
Television
Films
Appearances
- Rurouni Kenshin:
External Links
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