Youichirou

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**Youichirou** (用一郎, *Yōichirō*) was a manslayer of the Bakumatsu Period who became an Abashiri Convict. He later took up the name of **Shinzou Doi** (土井新蔵, *Doi Shinzō*).

## Appearance

Youichirou is a frail elderly man with wild shaggy light hair, liver spots on his face, and a very decrepit face due to old age. Despite his age and health, Youichirou still possess sharp eyes. He has a tattoo all over his upper body due to being one of the Abashiri convicts and wears Ainu clothing.

In his youth, Youichirou's features remained mostly the same with a full head of dark hair, no wrinkles and cheekbones less prominent. He also wore a kimono with a sleeveless haori tied together by a string.

## Personality

Youichirou appears to suffer from dementia as he often wanders or stands around mumbling to himself. He also suffers from memory issues as his memories tends to overlap with the present. Youichirou has also shown himself to be rather fearless and merciless, as seen when he taunts his enemies and didn't flinch even when being attacked. He has a tendency for yelling "tenchu" (*heaven's punishment*) when slaying his foes.

Youichirou seems to care for people born into a lower social class as he was willing to do dirty work for them, and even lambasted his own master when he betrayed Youichirou's trust. He also has quite a distaste for the act of committing seppuku as he views it as a horrible way to die. Youichirou also has a sense of guilt as he has killed numerous people, and to commit seppuku would be an easy death that he cannot forgive himself for. He also desired to be "human" but feels terrible for having that privilege while others could not.

## Background

Youichirou was born in Tosa province, modern day Kouchi prefecture. Once he was a hired killer known as the *Manslayer* who assassinated countless important figures and other people during the Bakumatsu period. Around this time, Youichirou met the Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshizou in Kyoto. Sometime during this era, Youichirou killed a man named Magoshichirou Ikeda, for which Ikeda's son has held a grudge against him since then.

Thirty years prior to the current storyline, Youichirou wandered into an Ainu kotan in Nemuro where he met and married an Ainu woman. She gave him the beak of a tufted puffin so that he would always remember Nemuro. He lived together with his wife in peace for twenty-two years until a Japanese man who held a grudge against Youichirou showed up and took his wife hostage. As a result, Youichirou killed the man and was sent to Abashiri Prison for the murder. During his stay in Abashiri Prison, Youichirou became acquainted with Wilk and received a tattoo from him. Upon hearing that his wife had fallen ill and did not have much time left, Youichirou broke out of prison to be with his wife until her final moment. After she had passed away, Youichirou left the kotan and began working at a nearby fishery in Nemuro.

## Plot

### Youichirou the Manslayer Arc

Youichirou was working at the fishery in Nemuro when he collided with another worker and fell down. As the worker began to yell at him, another worker came and helped Youichirou up, who just apologized and walked away. He then sat down to take a rest and the worker who had helped him approached him, asking questions about him but Youichirou says that he cannot remember. He then wandered about mindlessly as the other workers showed concern about him. Later, Youichirou was eating at a restaurant when a couple of restaurant workers walked up to him, asking him to leave while he can still walk.

Just then, a group of men in suit entered the restaurant and one of them asked if he was Youichirou the Manslayer, to which the other fishery workers scoffed at. The man with the hat grabs Youichirou's collar, revealing his chest covered in tattoo and asked if he remembered the assassination plot against Magoshichirou Ikeda. He then drew his blade, preparing to strike Youichirou down but Youichirou disarms one of the hitmen, grabbing his axe which he slammed down on his assailants' feet. He then told them to line up as there are plenty of people who wants to kill him. As one of the hitmen attempts to attack Youichirou, he is shot in the head and Youichirou recognizes the Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi, Toshizou Hijikata.

Youichirou asked if Hijikata was doing the patrols for the night by himself, noting that he was normally with Kondou or Okita, strutting around as if all of Kyoto belongs to them. Just then, several hitmen came into the restaurant and identied Youichirou before being killed by Hijikata. As his memories became fragmented, Youichirou grabbed a sword and cut down a hitman before escaping outside. Reliving his youth, Youichirou slew several more hitmen before noticing Hijikata had followed him, so he fled the town of Nemuro.

As he ran out of breath, Youichirou noticed his master and that he had been tied up. He screamed at his master for betraying him, not realizing that his dementia had changed the likeness of a deer to that of his former master. He then noticed Hijikata approaching him before getting up to his feet. Hijikata then gave a lecture about Youichirou's idealogy, Japan's state of affairs, and that he would keep fighting for Japan. Youichirou notes that Hijikata is still young as time has stopped for him, but says that he is tired as he has been alive for too long. He then took up his blade, attempting to strike down Hijikata, however his foe was much faster, swiftly slashing Youichirou's body.

Having lost the duel, Youichirou slumps to the ground as Hijikata stood before him. Hijikata then gives Youichirou the item that Inudou held onto, which Youichirou comments that his wife gave to him so that he would always remember Nemuro. Youichirou then declines Hijikata's offer to end his suffering, saying that he cannot forgive himself for an easy death. He laments his past as an assassin and having the privelege of being a "human" while others could not. Youichirou then sees a vision of his wife smiling at him before passing away.

## Abilities

* **Manslayer**: Youichirou was renowned as a manslayer during the Bakumatsu Period and thus has powerful assassination techniques capable of killing countless people. He still retained his skills even well into old age as seen when he was able to defend himself against and easily kill assailants that were much younger than him.

## Trivia

* Youichirou's title as the *Manslayer* (人斬り, *Hitokiri*) is a reference to the Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu who opposed the Tokugawa shogunate and later supported the Meiji Emperor.
* Youichirou liked citatap but disliked mandarins.
* Satoru Noda said that one should read about Okada Izō if they'd like to understand Youichirou better.

## References

1. ↑ Character profiles from the Golden Kamuy fanbook
2. ↑ Character profiles from the Golden Kamuy fanbook
3. ↑ Character profiles from the Golden Kamuy fanbook