Application for Holly Heights
Jun. 1st, 2013 03:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keepcalmandbombIC INFORMATION
Characters Name: Kotarō Katsura
Age: never specified beyond "in his 20s". Most likely 24-26.
Canon: That Canon where the main character spends at least two chapters with a sword stuck in his arsehole up to the hilt while his minor friends make dick jokes. In short,Balls Gintama.
Canon Point: start of ch415, where he's just been made redundant in his organization by the amnesia-Shogun and is wailing to Gintoki behind the bars (and gets a boot to the face).
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Orientation: He prefers women - well, widows and middle-aged unfaithful wives, to be exact. Also, his shown love interest is a female ramen-shop owner, Ikumatsu. However he does seem rather fluid about gender roles and has no qualms about dressing up and posing as a woman, not to mention the timeskip arc where he sorta shacks up with a man, so there's a chance that a person's sex/gender isn't the most important thing to him.
History:
[link] Not much is really known about any of the characters' history (aside from the guys who die, I guess). Still, there are bits and pieces that let us get a general picture.
Katsura's parents are never mentioned, however since he was among the children taken in by Yoshida Shouyou and formed a great bond with him, he may be presumed to have been an orphan. At that time, the Amanto war – samurai trying to resist the aliens taking over Japan, while the government eventually gave up – was going strong, and many children were left without families and homes. Shoyou-sensei was a kind-hearted man who ran a sort of a school; the kids had shelter and he taught them many things, including the way of the sword. That must have been why the new-found Amanto government saw him as a threat and ordered him executed.
That didn't sit in well with the students. They picked up their swords and their knowledge and joined the losing war against the Amanto. Three of them had become particularly feared warriors, able to tip the scales of a fight; those three were Sakata Gintoki, Takasugi Shinsuke and Katsura Kotaro. They have also befriended another young idiot genius, Sakamoto Tatsuma (the four of them is frequently called „the old Joui“ or „the Joui Four“ by the fandom). Katsura adhered strictly to samurai ideals at that time; when cornered by a massive number of enemies with Gintoki, he suggested they commit seppuku and „die with honour“. Gintoki, however, insisted that if he has time to think about beautiful death, he should „live beautifully“ instead, and urged him to fight until the end. They ultimately won that battle, and Katsura started valuing tenaciousness more, willing to run and get back into a fight another day rather than fruitlessly die trying.
Not many details are given on how exactly the war was lost in the end, but the four friends separated. Sakamoto went on to become a star merchant with his own fleet, now working together with the very same Amanto he fought. Gintoki remained in Japan, settling in Edo and trying to lead a civilian life as an odd-jobs guy, his past unknown to the people. However, Katsura and Takasugi refused to lose and continued pursuing their war, moving underground and effectively becoming terrorists, hunted by the police and the government forces. Still, while alike at first, their views differed a little. Takasugi remained completely grief-struck almost to the point of insanity, seeking to destroy the government and the whole country, not caring whom he allied with or went against on the way. Katsura's way was different.
At first he was similarly lead by the belief that the government is rotten, and the aliens needed to GTFO. He engaged in a number of terrorist activities, including sending bombs to agencies and ambassadors, generally little concerned if his actions hurt innocent bystanders. Being charismatic and a good strategist, he quickly gathered a band of like-minded followers, the new Jouishishi. He also continuously harrassed Gintoki to join them, believing that if the legendary White Demon was going to give them a hand, they will actually succeed this time. It's during one such time when Gintoki finally explains some of his motives to Katsura, essentially giving him The Speech about how he needs to stop because there's no need for any more dead comrades. It's at this point that Katsura finally abandons the suicidal part of his ideals, and agrees that it's good when some people won't change their ways, admitting that destroying the world may not be the answer they're looking for.
However, his bigger change of heart happens later, when he meets a ramen shop owner named Ikumatsu. She hides him when he's injured during a police patrol, without knowing his full identity, and the two develop a bond. At some point she confesses that her late husband was killed by people calling themselves Joui patriots, and she despises them since then. As it turned out, said people (including her brother in law) were indeed quite despicable, mostly using the name of freedom fighters for their own gain. Katsura spectacularly helped her get rid of them and made sure they would never dirty the Joui name again. From this point on, he started seeking more peaceful ways to change the situation that he loathed, keeping the well-being of ordinary people in mind. Instead of bombing, he turned to political activism, and various often harmless plots aimed against the government or the police, also spreading the word and recruiting new people. His people, now considered a moderate faction, separate from Takasugi's extremists, were no longer hunted as intensely. However, despite of becoming a somewhat-pacifist, Katsura still had no qualms about plotting (or trying) to kill the Shinsengumi, the Shogun or other government officials.
Another rather influental event occured during the „Benizakura arc“, when one of Takasugi's hired men (who admittedly went loose canon but w/e) attempts to kill Katsura, and for a while everyone (including the readers) is lead to believe that he was successful. When Katsura finally returns (finding Yorozuya, his men and all other Joui factions being enraged by his demise and declaring war on Takasugi's group), he tries to talk to Takasugi, confirming that he hadn't stopped thinking of him as a comrade and asking what the hell he was doing. The response, however, is an ambush from the alien space pirates. It is made clear that Takasugi has no qualms about selling out his old friends so long as he can destroy everything in the end. Katsura and Gintoki escape narrowly after making a promise to cut him down next time they meet.
For the rest of the series, Katsura is mostly seen tangled into various shenanigans with either the Yorozuya or the Shinsengumi, some more ridiculous than others, also experiencing an unrequited love for Ikumatsu and helping her meet her father. He has also spent lots of quality time with the Shogun recently, gaining respect (and jealousy) for his leadership abilities, both of them implying they'd have to kill each other next time.
At some point early in the series, Katsura receives a present from Sakamoto which turns out to be a duck-penguin-Amanto-Thing that he takes in as a pet and names Elizabeth. Since then, the two of them are rarely see apart. While there are multiple hints at Elizabeth being an old man in a sheet throughout the series, Katsura remains ignorant of it and continues doting on the eccentric avian.
Appearance:
Katsura has shiny and smooth long black hair (cut with bangs and sidelocks) and dark brown eyes. He's Japanese, mid-sized (height 175cm) and rather light-weighted (56kg). He commonly wears a blue kimono with a yellow sash and a light blue (or white or dark blue) jacket-thing („haori“?), complete with traditional white socks and sandals. He is normally well-mannered and serious, and talks formally like an old man. He carries a sword around and keeps things (like bombs, letters and coupons) in his sleeves. He is also prone to wearing various (sometimes ridiculous) disguises.
[picture] [closeup] [matsukooooooooo]
Personality: Probably the first thing to note about Katsura is that he is 100% earnest about everything he does. Whether it's commanding the patriots, playing a game or trying to become the lead female character, he takes it seriously (and often to the extreme). In addition to his vivid imagination, this often results in strange (at least to others) behaviour, such as rescuing a traffic cone from fake train tracks, or carrying around two plates of curry. Unlike the rest of the characters, he is rarely seen joking, too, and that just adds to it.
Despite his illogical or outright dumb actions and decisions that lack any sort of common sense, Katsura is rather intelligent and well-read, capable of coming up with (mostly) effective strategies or escape routes, and on a couple occasions quoting national history figures or classic literature. He's also supposedly quite charismatic, continuously managing to gather people around himself and lead his faction against impossible odds, while maintaining complete loyalty and adoration of his men (although they do occasionally call him out on his shit or ditch him for the newest TV drama novella discussion). In fact, he's highly regarded by the whole patriot movement, even being called „the hope of the jouishishi“, as seen when the other factions rise to war upon hearing he was presumably killed.
Katsura seems to be very old-fashioned. Most of the time, he's seen wearing traditional clothes, and speaking in the formal manner of an old man. It's also a trending occurrence that he keeps falling behind the times, referencing shows that are no longer aired, video game consoles that are no longer in production, or celebrities that are no longer popular. Despite all that, he does seem relatively knowledgeable of some aspects of pop culture, and spends more time watching television (mostly soaps) than one would expect out of a rebel leader who isn't a desperate housewife. Thanks to his knowledge of TV-novel plots and his own giant dramatic streak, on occasion he tends to overreact to details and come up with elaborate, irrelevant stories that can move people to tears, not to mention he usually ends up believing it completely himself.
He is usually polite and gentle-mannered, but he is ridiculously stubborn and has an unexpectedly short temper, as well. Depending on the circumstances, it could take one sentence to have him screaming and smashing something, although at times he's even oblivious to direct insults. His biggest annoyance is being called anything else than 'Katsura', and he will correct anyone to a comical extent (like answering completely unrelated questions, like „are you okay?“, with his name).
Overall, Katsura is an idealist. He wants to believe the best about the world and the people, and he's set out to cleanse it from social injustice. He's not all sunshine and rainbows either, though; he knows that change includes sacrifices, he's willing to kill the officials whom he believes are corrupted beyond saving, and he might even be aware of how almost-hopeless his fight is. Nonetheless, he carries on, because he believes in the dream of a new world, where the humans are once again in control of their land and corruption doesn't run rampant. He can be quite ruthless when it comes to handling important situations (like suggesting going after the child princess' head to eliminate the government, or plotting his escape from the prison while convincing everyone else they were there rightfully and had to right their wrongs, even going for a kinda-evil laugh while sinking into an escape tunnel), and that's because this new world is the most important thing, which simply must be accomplished. That's also why he's a famous escapist, what doesn't exactly go with the samurai stay-and-fight code; in order to bring about the revolution, he must be alive for it, so it takes priority over foolishly engaging in unnecessary combat for honour (with the exceptions when he's promised to protect someone or it's people important to him).
Katsura's overall appearance is quite similar to Shouyou-sensei's, including the clothes and hairstyle. I don't think it's a coincidence; everyone copes with a dear person's death differently. It's possible that this way, Katsura feels like some part of Shouyou will be around to see their dream of war-free, better future come true once he accomplishes it. Of course, he may simply show his respect this way, too, or his strive to gain similar wisdom and serenity that he so adored. Or maybe all of it; he still carries around his old textbook. Either way, Shouyou was and still is a major part of his student's lives, and while their memories are most likely idealized, his classroom was shown to be a truly peaceful and serene place, where all of them would return if given the chance.
Finally, an interesting and once again lighter shade to Katsura's personality is his vicious love for furry animals, especially cats and dogs and especially their paw pads. He goes to great lengths for fluffy things, like snooping around houses that have lots of pets, willingly becoming a cat scratchpost, and actually blushing whenever the prospect of petting something arrives. It probably borders on a fetish, too. His own pet, Elizabeth, doesn't have fur nor feathers, but he still loves it a great deal and dotes on it, completely unaware of its suspicious nature.
Abilities:
Zura's a samurai and a war veteran, so he's an expert swordsman, not to mention packs a pretty mean kick and punch (also, as most JUMP characters, he can bleed, be beaten up, kicked in the face or smashed into the ground without lasting consequences). However, his weapon of choice are various bombs and grenades, which he handles with scary accuracy (most of the time). He can pretty much pull out a bomb at any given moment (even if him having it makes no logical sense). He also seems to turn random objects into explosives, for example, using a corn bar snack as a smoke bomb.
He was also shown to use food as a weapon, most notably fried rice and curry, which are soaked in something that makes those who eat it suffer from severe stomach ache and diarrhea. However, it was never shown if he can actually make food, so there's the possibility that he just sucks at cooking.
He is also capable of changing his voice and masking his presence, owning a wide variety of disguises (most of which are pretty obvious, really, but the police rarely seems to catch on). He tends to be ready for everything, to a comical extent (which is perhaps part of the point). He can also move people to tears with his elaborate storytelling (yes that's an ability).
His hair also grows back really quickly when cut, and the author's explanation for it is that he has a lot of dirty thoughts. He also seems to have the ability to absorb viruses and therefore never gets sick, although prolonged exposure to flu turns him into a black man (who goes by the name *ill Smith). (This, along with his trans-dimensional pocket for endless bombs is probably closest to 'special powers', but I have no idea if it should be nerfed since a big part of it is just the series' overall bizarre.)
Other:
His birthday is 26 June, making him a Cancer. His hair is also exceptionally pretty and well cared for (to the point of an asshole character mockingly inquiring if he was actually a woman).
SAMPLES
First Person:
[meme link, dead man warning]
Third Person:
There were supposed to be pictures of cute fluffy kittens. That was what the subject line was saying, at any rate. That was the only reason why Katsura agreed to have a small break from his hard work spreading patriotic ideals on the widths of Internet and click on that new inbox item from an unknown sender.
Nothing about kittens could ever be suspicious in any way, after all. While pictures were nothing next to the actual cute, fluffy, warm animals, it was better than nothing, and since the day had been spent on serious work, so far it was nothing. Not that Katsura wasn't proud of his business day, anyway; new public posters and personal messages have been sent, and with any luck, the Joui would be getting a whole bunch of new members soon. Nonetheless, such a great deed called for a small celebration, and this was just about the right thing. Kittens always made a day brighter.
Unfortunately, what appeared on his screen a moment later, was something entirely else. Huge, glittering Comic Sans letters announced:
"You have received a cursed Hello Kitty! Forward this message to twenty friends today or suffer the furry consequences! ♥"
"What?!" Katsura shouted at his screen, scandalized to the depths of his proudly Japanese bones. "What sort of a despicable person could have ever cursed Hello Kitty, and then tried to trick respectable citizens with promises of sweet paws?!" There had to be a special divine punishment meant for people like this. Or a special place in Hell. There would better be, or they'd end up homeless when Katsura figured out their address. Such evil! The next thing you know, someone will curse baby sloths, Mickey the Mascot, and Leo*ardo DiCaprio. Corruption had to be cut out at its roots in the best interest of everyone --
Right. The letter. He knew better than to take a cat curse lightly. Last time he's dealt with one, he ended up buried in some deep shit (literally) and it had been none too pleasant, even if the idea of always having a paw at hand to rub his face into was sort of nice. It was not a convenient form here, and while he had no idea what this particular curse was about, it was obviously better to do as it said. Ah, it was already late; he had been so busy enlightening the youth and the computer-literate elderly that he didn't even notice the time passing. There was still time, though, and he was going to make the most of it.
"I must focus on this task at once!"
A little more hysterically than most people dealing with spam chain letters, he went through the contact list, sending the email off to whomever he could find, racing the clock to midnight. With the last click, he held his breath and waited.
Did it work?
OTHER
Housing Request?: would love to be spouse'd with Isao Kondo, please!
Did you read the rules and FAQ?: yep!
Would you like your application to be unscreened?: Y sure
Characters Name: Kotarō Katsura
Age: never specified beyond "in his 20s". Most likely 24-26.
Canon: That Canon where the main character spends at least two chapters with a sword stuck in his arsehole up to the hilt while his minor friends make dick jokes. In short,
Canon Point: start of ch415, where he's just been made redundant in his organization by the amnesia-Shogun and is wailing to Gintoki behind the bars (and gets a boot to the face).
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Orientation: He prefers women - well, widows and middle-aged unfaithful wives, to be exact. Also, his shown love interest is a female ramen-shop owner, Ikumatsu. However he does seem rather fluid about gender roles and has no qualms about dressing up and posing as a woman, not to mention the timeskip arc where he sorta shacks up with a man, so there's a chance that a person's sex/gender isn't the most important thing to him.
History:
[link] Not much is really known about any of the characters' history (aside from the guys who die, I guess). Still, there are bits and pieces that let us get a general picture.
Katsura's parents are never mentioned, however since he was among the children taken in by Yoshida Shouyou and formed a great bond with him, he may be presumed to have been an orphan. At that time, the Amanto war – samurai trying to resist the aliens taking over Japan, while the government eventually gave up – was going strong, and many children were left without families and homes. Shoyou-sensei was a kind-hearted man who ran a sort of a school; the kids had shelter and he taught them many things, including the way of the sword. That must have been why the new-found Amanto government saw him as a threat and ordered him executed.
That didn't sit in well with the students. They picked up their swords and their knowledge and joined the losing war against the Amanto. Three of them had become particularly feared warriors, able to tip the scales of a fight; those three were Sakata Gintoki, Takasugi Shinsuke and Katsura Kotaro. They have also befriended another young idiot genius, Sakamoto Tatsuma (the four of them is frequently called „the old Joui“ or „the Joui Four“ by the fandom). Katsura adhered strictly to samurai ideals at that time; when cornered by a massive number of enemies with Gintoki, he suggested they commit seppuku and „die with honour“. Gintoki, however, insisted that if he has time to think about beautiful death, he should „live beautifully“ instead, and urged him to fight until the end. They ultimately won that battle, and Katsura started valuing tenaciousness more, willing to run and get back into a fight another day rather than fruitlessly die trying.
Not many details are given on how exactly the war was lost in the end, but the four friends separated. Sakamoto went on to become a star merchant with his own fleet, now working together with the very same Amanto he fought. Gintoki remained in Japan, settling in Edo and trying to lead a civilian life as an odd-jobs guy, his past unknown to the people. However, Katsura and Takasugi refused to lose and continued pursuing their war, moving underground and effectively becoming terrorists, hunted by the police and the government forces. Still, while alike at first, their views differed a little. Takasugi remained completely grief-struck almost to the point of insanity, seeking to destroy the government and the whole country, not caring whom he allied with or went against on the way. Katsura's way was different.
At first he was similarly lead by the belief that the government is rotten, and the aliens needed to GTFO. He engaged in a number of terrorist activities, including sending bombs to agencies and ambassadors, generally little concerned if his actions hurt innocent bystanders. Being charismatic and a good strategist, he quickly gathered a band of like-minded followers, the new Jouishishi. He also continuously harrassed Gintoki to join them, believing that if the legendary White Demon was going to give them a hand, they will actually succeed this time. It's during one such time when Gintoki finally explains some of his motives to Katsura, essentially giving him The Speech about how he needs to stop because there's no need for any more dead comrades. It's at this point that Katsura finally abandons the suicidal part of his ideals, and agrees that it's good when some people won't change their ways, admitting that destroying the world may not be the answer they're looking for.
However, his bigger change of heart happens later, when he meets a ramen shop owner named Ikumatsu. She hides him when he's injured during a police patrol, without knowing his full identity, and the two develop a bond. At some point she confesses that her late husband was killed by people calling themselves Joui patriots, and she despises them since then. As it turned out, said people (including her brother in law) were indeed quite despicable, mostly using the name of freedom fighters for their own gain. Katsura spectacularly helped her get rid of them and made sure they would never dirty the Joui name again. From this point on, he started seeking more peaceful ways to change the situation that he loathed, keeping the well-being of ordinary people in mind. Instead of bombing, he turned to political activism, and various often harmless plots aimed against the government or the police, also spreading the word and recruiting new people. His people, now considered a moderate faction, separate from Takasugi's extremists, were no longer hunted as intensely. However, despite of becoming a somewhat-pacifist, Katsura still had no qualms about plotting (or trying) to kill the Shinsengumi, the Shogun or other government officials.
Another rather influental event occured during the „Benizakura arc“, when one of Takasugi's hired men (who admittedly went loose canon but w/e) attempts to kill Katsura, and for a while everyone (including the readers) is lead to believe that he was successful. When Katsura finally returns (finding Yorozuya, his men and all other Joui factions being enraged by his demise and declaring war on Takasugi's group), he tries to talk to Takasugi, confirming that he hadn't stopped thinking of him as a comrade and asking what the hell he was doing. The response, however, is an ambush from the alien space pirates. It is made clear that Takasugi has no qualms about selling out his old friends so long as he can destroy everything in the end. Katsura and Gintoki escape narrowly after making a promise to cut him down next time they meet.
For the rest of the series, Katsura is mostly seen tangled into various shenanigans with either the Yorozuya or the Shinsengumi, some more ridiculous than others, also experiencing an unrequited love for Ikumatsu and helping her meet her father. He has also spent lots of quality time with the Shogun recently, gaining respect (and jealousy) for his leadership abilities, both of them implying they'd have to kill each other next time.
At some point early in the series, Katsura receives a present from Sakamoto which turns out to be a duck-penguin-Amanto-Thing that he takes in as a pet and names Elizabeth. Since then, the two of them are rarely see apart. While there are multiple hints at Elizabeth being an old man in a sheet throughout the series, Katsura remains ignorant of it and continues doting on the eccentric avian.
Appearance:
Katsura has shiny and smooth long black hair (cut with bangs and sidelocks) and dark brown eyes. He's Japanese, mid-sized (height 175cm) and rather light-weighted (56kg). He commonly wears a blue kimono with a yellow sash and a light blue (or white or dark blue) jacket-thing („haori“?), complete with traditional white socks and sandals. He is normally well-mannered and serious, and talks formally like an old man. He carries a sword around and keeps things (like bombs, letters and coupons) in his sleeves. He is also prone to wearing various (sometimes ridiculous) disguises.
[picture] [closeup] [matsukooooooooo]
Personality: Probably the first thing to note about Katsura is that he is 100% earnest about everything he does. Whether it's commanding the patriots, playing a game or trying to become the lead female character, he takes it seriously (and often to the extreme). In addition to his vivid imagination, this often results in strange (at least to others) behaviour, such as rescuing a traffic cone from fake train tracks, or carrying around two plates of curry. Unlike the rest of the characters, he is rarely seen joking, too, and that just adds to it.
Despite his illogical or outright dumb actions and decisions that lack any sort of common sense, Katsura is rather intelligent and well-read, capable of coming up with (mostly) effective strategies or escape routes, and on a couple occasions quoting national history figures or classic literature. He's also supposedly quite charismatic, continuously managing to gather people around himself and lead his faction against impossible odds, while maintaining complete loyalty and adoration of his men (although they do occasionally call him out on his shit or ditch him for the newest TV drama novella discussion). In fact, he's highly regarded by the whole patriot movement, even being called „the hope of the jouishishi“, as seen when the other factions rise to war upon hearing he was presumably killed.
Katsura seems to be very old-fashioned. Most of the time, he's seen wearing traditional clothes, and speaking in the formal manner of an old man. It's also a trending occurrence that he keeps falling behind the times, referencing shows that are no longer aired, video game consoles that are no longer in production, or celebrities that are no longer popular. Despite all that, he does seem relatively knowledgeable of some aspects of pop culture, and spends more time watching television (mostly soaps) than one would expect out of a rebel leader who isn't a desperate housewife. Thanks to his knowledge of TV-novel plots and his own giant dramatic streak, on occasion he tends to overreact to details and come up with elaborate, irrelevant stories that can move people to tears, not to mention he usually ends up believing it completely himself.
He is usually polite and gentle-mannered, but he is ridiculously stubborn and has an unexpectedly short temper, as well. Depending on the circumstances, it could take one sentence to have him screaming and smashing something, although at times he's even oblivious to direct insults. His biggest annoyance is being called anything else than 'Katsura', and he will correct anyone to a comical extent (like answering completely unrelated questions, like „are you okay?“, with his name).
Overall, Katsura is an idealist. He wants to believe the best about the world and the people, and he's set out to cleanse it from social injustice. He's not all sunshine and rainbows either, though; he knows that change includes sacrifices, he's willing to kill the officials whom he believes are corrupted beyond saving, and he might even be aware of how almost-hopeless his fight is. Nonetheless, he carries on, because he believes in the dream of a new world, where the humans are once again in control of their land and corruption doesn't run rampant. He can be quite ruthless when it comes to handling important situations (like suggesting going after the child princess' head to eliminate the government, or plotting his escape from the prison while convincing everyone else they were there rightfully and had to right their wrongs, even going for a kinda-evil laugh while sinking into an escape tunnel), and that's because this new world is the most important thing, which simply must be accomplished. That's also why he's a famous escapist, what doesn't exactly go with the samurai stay-and-fight code; in order to bring about the revolution, he must be alive for it, so it takes priority over foolishly engaging in unnecessary combat for honour (with the exceptions when he's promised to protect someone or it's people important to him).
Katsura's overall appearance is quite similar to Shouyou-sensei's, including the clothes and hairstyle. I don't think it's a coincidence; everyone copes with a dear person's death differently. It's possible that this way, Katsura feels like some part of Shouyou will be around to see their dream of war-free, better future come true once he accomplishes it. Of course, he may simply show his respect this way, too, or his strive to gain similar wisdom and serenity that he so adored. Or maybe all of it; he still carries around his old textbook. Either way, Shouyou was and still is a major part of his student's lives, and while their memories are most likely idealized, his classroom was shown to be a truly peaceful and serene place, where all of them would return if given the chance.
Finally, an interesting and once again lighter shade to Katsura's personality is his vicious love for furry animals, especially cats and dogs and especially their paw pads. He goes to great lengths for fluffy things, like snooping around houses that have lots of pets, willingly becoming a cat scratchpost, and actually blushing whenever the prospect of petting something arrives. It probably borders on a fetish, too. His own pet, Elizabeth, doesn't have fur nor feathers, but he still loves it a great deal and dotes on it, completely unaware of its suspicious nature.
Abilities:
Zura's a samurai and a war veteran, so he's an expert swordsman, not to mention packs a pretty mean kick and punch (also, as most JUMP characters, he can bleed, be beaten up, kicked in the face or smashed into the ground without lasting consequences). However, his weapon of choice are various bombs and grenades, which he handles with scary accuracy (most of the time). He can pretty much pull out a bomb at any given moment (even if him having it makes no logical sense). He also seems to turn random objects into explosives, for example, using a corn bar snack as a smoke bomb.
He was also shown to use food as a weapon, most notably fried rice and curry, which are soaked in something that makes those who eat it suffer from severe stomach ache and diarrhea. However, it was never shown if he can actually make food, so there's the possibility that he just sucks at cooking.
He is also capable of changing his voice and masking his presence, owning a wide variety of disguises (most of which are pretty obvious, really, but the police rarely seems to catch on). He tends to be ready for everything, to a comical extent (which is perhaps part of the point). He can also move people to tears with his elaborate storytelling (yes that's an ability).
His hair also grows back really quickly when cut, and the author's explanation for it is that he has a lot of dirty thoughts. He also seems to have the ability to absorb viruses and therefore never gets sick, although prolonged exposure to flu turns him into a black man (who goes by the name *ill Smith). (This, along with his trans-dimensional pocket for endless bombs is probably closest to 'special powers', but I have no idea if it should be nerfed since a big part of it is just the series' overall bizarre.)
Other:
His birthday is 26 June, making him a Cancer. His hair is also exceptionally pretty and well cared for (to the point of an asshole character mockingly inquiring if he was actually a woman).
SAMPLES
First Person:
[meme link, dead man warning]
Third Person:
There were supposed to be pictures of cute fluffy kittens. That was what the subject line was saying, at any rate. That was the only reason why Katsura agreed to have a small break from his hard work spreading patriotic ideals on the widths of Internet and click on that new inbox item from an unknown sender.
Nothing about kittens could ever be suspicious in any way, after all. While pictures were nothing next to the actual cute, fluffy, warm animals, it was better than nothing, and since the day had been spent on serious work, so far it was nothing. Not that Katsura wasn't proud of his business day, anyway; new public posters and personal messages have been sent, and with any luck, the Joui would be getting a whole bunch of new members soon. Nonetheless, such a great deed called for a small celebration, and this was just about the right thing. Kittens always made a day brighter.
Unfortunately, what appeared on his screen a moment later, was something entirely else. Huge, glittering Comic Sans letters announced:
"You have received a cursed Hello Kitty! Forward this message to twenty friends today or suffer the furry consequences! ♥"
"What?!" Katsura shouted at his screen, scandalized to the depths of his proudly Japanese bones. "What sort of a despicable person could have ever cursed Hello Kitty, and then tried to trick respectable citizens with promises of sweet paws?!" There had to be a special divine punishment meant for people like this. Or a special place in Hell. There would better be, or they'd end up homeless when Katsura figured out their address. Such evil! The next thing you know, someone will curse baby sloths, Mickey the Mascot, and Leo*ardo DiCaprio. Corruption had to be cut out at its roots in the best interest of everyone --
Right. The letter. He knew better than to take a cat curse lightly. Last time he's dealt with one, he ended up buried in some deep shit (literally) and it had been none too pleasant, even if the idea of always having a paw at hand to rub his face into was sort of nice. It was not a convenient form here, and while he had no idea what this particular curse was about, it was obviously better to do as it said. Ah, it was already late; he had been so busy enlightening the youth and the computer-literate elderly that he didn't even notice the time passing. There was still time, though, and he was going to make the most of it.
"I must focus on this task at once!"
A little more hysterically than most people dealing with spam chain letters, he went through the contact list, sending the email off to whomever he could find, racing the clock to midnight. With the last click, he held his breath and waited.
Did it work?
OTHER
Housing Request?: would love to be spouse'd with Isao Kondo, please!
Did you read the rules and FAQ?: yep!
Would you like your application to be unscreened?: Y sure
