Charisma Justice

"'*J' on the left for Justice! Jushoon! 'C' on the right for Charisma! Charoon!! Here it comes! My special move!!! Justice Blade!*"

**Charisma Justice**, also known as **C. J.** or **Justice**, is a famous superhero. Initially thought to be only a fictional character in the television series *Justice*, he is shown to be a real-life superhero when he attacks the Fear Robot in I. C. Prefecture's Fighting Robot Tournament. He is idolized by Shotaro, who copies Justice's signature attack, the Justice Blade. It is not known at this time whether Justice is a Dokeshi.

## Appearance

Justice wears a traditional superhero costume, consisting of a mask, a long cape, and a full-body suit. Justice's attire has two motifs: sharp angles and stars. These sharp angles appear in the horned tips atop his mask, his cape arranged around his neck to create a pointed collar, and his distinctive facial hair pointed and designed so that it looks like a star. As well, the Younger Tast Brother, when disguised as Justice, wears tipped shoes.

The star motif also appears on Justice's pants: in his first appearance, when used as a disguise by the Younger Tast Brother, his jeans are ripped revealing a star-spangled fabric underneath,and when the real Charisma Justice appears, the knees, thighs, and shins of his jeans are decorated with stars, and the jeans are not ripped, only scuffed at the hems.

Along with these traditional pieces of the superhero costume, Justice also wears gloves with thick wrist cuffs. Initially, when the Younger Tast Brother was disguised as Justice, he wore a studded belt atop a regular belt; the real Charisma Justice wears a belt whose buckle has his initials, "CJ."

Although wearing a mask, Justice is also easily recognized by his distinctive facial hair, combining a mustache resembling a Franz Josef, a petit goatee, and similar petit tipped facial hair along the left and right sides of his chin.

In his last appearance, Justice's attire now has kanji on his left shoulder, left glove, and cape clasp, as well as a large "J" on his mask. The cuffs on his gloves are thicker and metallic, and the gloves are now fingerless, and his cape looks tattered.

## Personality

The formulaic structure of his television program can bore some children audience members, although Shotaro seems excited each time Justice performs his Justice Blade despite such repetitiveness.

## History

### Children's Television Idol

Charisma Justice's exploits on television have been known to the viewers for years, even among those without television. When they were children, orphaned and living on the street, Shotaro and Emine were living as orphans on the street, imitating his Justice Blade technique during their play. Although Justice is referred to as a children's idol, he is famous among some adults as well: Yohei Nanami watches his television show, *Justice*. However, some adults, such as the Vice President of Fear Factory, Rodigy, do not seem to recognize Justice in-person, perhaps because they do not realize he is a real-life superhero and not merely a fictional one for television.

### Identity Stolen by the Younger Tast Brother

When Mana Hinoki arrives in Chinjuku and first meets Shotaro, he is watching Charisma Justice in *Justice* on a television set in a shop window. After Mana and Shotaro introduce themselves to each other, they see what they assume is the real-life Justice, accompanying the Governor of Japon. Justice is carrying a man over his shoulder, whom he claims kidnapped the Governor. Unknown to others, including Shotaro and Mana, Justice and the Governor are actually the Tast Brothers in disguise. Upon learning this truth from the Vice Governor, Shotaro and Mana were able to unmask the Younger Tast Brother when he, disguised as Justice, was unable to form the Justice Blade correctly.

### Confronting the Fear Robot

   In I. C. Prefecture, during its Fighting Robot Tournament, Fear Factory reveals its Fear Robot, piloted by the Dokeshi NoFix and who uses uses to attack attendees and participants, injuring Mana and kidnapping Yohei. Survivors of the Fear Robot's attack look helplessly at the attacking machine, wishing that someone like Charisma Justice was present to save them. As the crowd begins to chant "Justice," Shotaro and his new acquaintance Tool try to stop the Fear Robot, to no avail. The robot manages to know out Shotaro. As Tool holds Shotaro and sees the Fear Robot's fist about to come down upon him, he hears someone shout "Justice Blade." Instantly, the Fear Robot's right arm has been shattered. Nofix, Rodigy, and Tool are shocked, and Shotaro is too dazed to respond. As the smoke of the broken arm clears, Tool is surprised to see standing before him is the television superhero himself, Charisma Justice. Justice yells for Tool and Shotaro to retreat--then repeats his order more quickly and politely. While Justice admits Tool and Shotaro have the strength and courage to face large opponents, they are missing something: "Haven't you realized it in your souls?" As he thinks the duo fail to understand yet, Justice tells Tool to get Shotaro to safety.

While Tool escapes with Shotaro, Justice and the Fear Robot face each other. After this stand-off, Justice disappears, and the Fear Robot is downed, forcing Fear Factory Vice President Rodigy to direct employees to hoist the robot onto a big rig to return to headquarters for repairs. Irritated by Justice's intervention, Rodigy seems to fail to recognize the superhero by name, wondering who he is.

That night, Justice stands far from Tool's house, standing atop garbage while he and Shotaro determine how to rescue Mana and Yohei, both captured by Fear Factory.

### Justice and Shotaro versus the Masked Assembly

With assistance from Zuno and Assi, Shotaro and Tool manage to infiltrate Fear Factory, rescue Mana and Yohei, defeat the Fear Robot, and destroy Fear Factory as an organization. A local I. C. Prefecture newspaper praises Shotaro as its hero, referring to him as being as much a superhero as Justice and housewives' idol Vector Jibako.

Some time later, Shotaro has begun working with Charisma Justice, the two joining Vector Jibako outside the location of the meeting of the Masked Assembly, a collection of Dokeshi intent on fighting against humans. While waiting with Shotaro on a hill near the Assembly's meeting place, Justice asks where Vector Jibako has gone. Shotaro refers to Vector as "a pretty direct guy" who already entered the Assembly. Justice complains while Shotaro giggles. While Shotaro thinks he is about to reunite with Emine, he directs Justice to head to the building. As they leap towards the building, feathered wings flutter from Shotaro's back as he thinks, "Emine, I will always be on your side."

## Abilities

**Strength**: Justice is able to stand alone against the Fear Robot, shattering its right arm before Nofix can use the robot to crush Shotaro and Tool. In comparison, a Dokeshi such as Shotaro was unable to even dent the Fear Robot.

**Speed**: Justice is able to attack the Fear Robot before he is discovered by Nofix.

## Trivia

### Connections to Okubo's Later Works

* Charisma Justice appears in both the manga and the anime of Soul Eater in a comic book read by Black Star. Like Shotaro, Black Star seems to be a fan of the character. Episode 9 of the anime shows Black Star reading a scene that resembles panels from *B. Ichi* Chapter 1 when the Younger Tast Brother, disguised as Justice, fails to perform the proper Justice Blade.
	+ Justice and Shotaro appear on a poster in the living room of Maka Albarn and Soul Eater in Episode 12 of the *Soul Eater* anime.
* Justice's appearance and personality are similar to that of certain North American superheros.
	+ The horned tips atop Justice's mask resemble those atop the masks of various superheros, including the DC Comics superhero Batman and the Marvel Comics superheroes Wolverine and Daredevil.
	+ Justice's distinctive facial hair somewhat resembles that of the DC Comics superhero, Green Arrow, alias Oliver Queen.
	+ His name alludes to the concept of justice, frequently invoked by various superheroes. For example, the slogan associated with the DC Comics superhero Superman is "Truth, Justice, and the American Way," and the name of one of DC Comics' most famous superhero organizations is the Justice League.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 *B. Ichi* Manga: Chapter 1
2. ↑ *B. Ichi* Manga: Volume 1, Chapter 15, Yen Press English eBook, Page 15
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 *B. Ichi* Manga: Chapter 10
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *B. Ichi* Manga: Chapter 20
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *B. Ichi* Manga: Chapter 19
6. ↑ *B. Ichi* Manga: Chapter 2
7. ↑ *B. Ichi* Manga: Chapter 3