The introducing of Hakkenshi/The Eight Dog Warriors in Nanso Satomi Hakkenden -Inukawa Sosuke’s Edition-

At first, I decided to introduce Hakkenshi, the eight heroes of Hakkenden.

Second, I'll introduce Inukawa Sosuke, the warrior of Gi（義）/justice.

 

 

・Inukawa Sosuke's character

He has an orb written with the word "Gi（義）" (justice)

He has a peony birthmark on his back (left arm in the OVA "The Hakkenden").

 

Inukawa's family had served to Ashikaga Masatomo, Horigoshi Kubo.

But Sosuke was 7 years old, his father did hara-kiri because his father made his lord angry, and his family was demolished.

He went to Awa with his mother, relying on Satomi, but on the way there, his mother collapsed in Otsuka, where Inuzuka Shino had lived.

After that, under the name of Gakuzo, he worked as a servant for the greedy village headman who was his mother's enemy.

 

 

At the age of 12, Sosuke surveiled Shino, a relative of the greedy village headman.

At first, Shino didn't open up to Sosuke.

But when they discovered they shared the same pearl and birthmark, and the same unfortunate fortune, they sympathized with each other and swore to be blood brothers.

After that, he competed with Shino, and in his free time working as a servant, he learned martial arts and studied from Shino's books, but...

 

 

He is the hardest worker of the Eight Dog Warriors.

Although he was a former servant, he trained while playing the fool under his greedy master.

So, he is surprisingly skilled in both the arts and martial arts.

This is one of the reasons he was chosen as the commander at the final battle.

He appears generous, but actuallly he is suspicious.

And this personality led to him clashing with Inuyama Dosetsu and Inusaka Keno.

He has a stable personality, but perhaps because of this, he is often portrayed as the most plain and quiet of the eight.

Incidentally, he's good-looking, being described in the original work as "long-bodied with bald temples", but in fan fiction he is often described as "plain-looking but with a sharp gaze".

 

 

・In the Kadokawa film "Satomi Hakkenden/Legend Of Eight Samurai"  in 1983 (Actor: Fukuhara Takuya (child actor). For some reason, the character on the pearl is written as "Chi（智）" (wisdom).)

He's a legendary tribe that live in a cave, and appear as a pair with Inuta Kobungo.

As he is a child, he fighting ability is low.

But he seems to have a great deal of knowledge and intelligence, as shown by his knowledge of Satomi.

During the final battle, when Kobungo is nearly crushed by a boulder, Sosuke fights bravely with his small knife to protect Kobungo.

And together with Kobungo, he shows off a "the certain technique."

 

 

・In the TBS New Year's Special Drama "Satomi Hakkenden" in 2006 (Actor: Sato Ryuta)

"The cautious man who grew up undeterred by repeated hardships"

Considering a former servant, he uses polite language and be able to interact frankly with new people.

There were no clashes with Inuyama Dosetsu and Inusaka Keno, as in the original work.

And instead he triesd to recruit Keno, who is burning with a desire for revenge, by comparing him to Dosetsu, who is also seeking revenge.

He is a good friend with Nui(Kurokawa Tomoka), Kobungo's younger sister,  and is often teased by Kobungo.

As an aside, some people said that "there was no one else fittable for the role of the Eight Dog Warriors other than Sato Ryuta."

 

 

In the OVA "The Hakkenden" (Character Voice:: Yamaguchi Kappei. He is the voice of Tombo in Kiki's Delivery Service and Usopp in One Piece. He has appeared in many of Takahashi Rumiko's works.)

"Of the Eight Dog Warriors, he is the most familiar, childlike, and easiest to empathize with."

"He's a plain, unrewarded child who has had the experience of working menial jobs ingrained in him. He's trying his best, though."

This is the closest setting to the original,

But in this opus, he is portrayed as secretly and passionately in love with Inuzuka Shino's fiancee, Hamaji.

His inferiority complex and jealousy towards Shino, who is good-looking and skilled with the sword, are also emphasized, and these feelings explode in the 4th episode of the new chapter.

His fighting ability is not very high, and he is often saved by Shino.

But in the fourth episode of the new chapter, he even defeated Shino after Shino has just recovered from an illness.

He has just the right amount of inferiority complex and jealousy, a boyish cheerfulness and positivity, and sincerity that lives up to his "Gi（義）/justice" orb.

All of which, combined with Yamaguchi's voice quality, makes him the most childlike and easy to empathize with of the Eight Dog Warriors.

(Of all the fan fiction works based on Hakkenden, I like "The Hakkenden" the best, and of those, I like Inukawa Sosuke the best.)

 

 

I introduced both “Harem Protagonist as Hakkenshi” and “Garupan Captain Group as Hakkenshi”.

Needless to say,

"The Harem Protagonist as Inukawa Sosuke ": Manaka Junpei (Ichigo 100%))

 

 

"The Garupan Captain Group as Inukawa Sosuke ": Nishizumi Maho (Kuromorimine Girls’ School)

 

 

I never have thought that Junpei is officially recognized as plain. (I thought he was good-looking)

But He can get along so frankly with 4 heroines , so he's generous, I think.

As for Maho... she's the final boss in the original, but this time, she's sadly given that she's the plainest character.

However, Kuromorimine's clothes tend to be rather plain in color, and considering "quiet," I think Maho would be the perfect fit.