Seta Soujiro

Seta Sojiro
Smile in the Freezing Rain...


Age : 18
Height : 163cm
Weight : 51kg
Date of birth : 18 September 1861
Zodiac sign : Virgo
Place of birth : The Kanagawa Prefecture
Blood Type : AB
Weapon : Nihontou [Japanese Sword]
Skills :
- Tenken [Heaven's Sword, Skills from Heaven]
- Shukuchi [Reduced Earth]
- Shun Ten Satsu [Instant Heaven Kill]


Click HERE to Read more about SETA ^^


Comments on Seta by his creator, Watsuki Nobuhiro!

“The model for Sojiro's personality--I shouldn't say this--is the captain of the Shinsengumi first unit, the handsome swordsman who died young, Okita Soushi. Even the name Seta Sojiro is a parody of Okita's childhood name Okita Sojiro. There have been a lot of people reading too much into that, asking "Since he has the same name, Sojiro, could Seta be any relation to Okita?" I'll say it now, the answer is no. Okita is just Seta's model.

Okita Soushi is famous enough that I don't need to write about him here (Those who want to know more should go to a bookstore; I'm sure they'll have good books about him. He's very famous and popular. In the first Ruroken character poll, even though he only appeared in a couple of frames in a flashback, he came out of nowhere to take seventh.) I'm taking the Okita that Mr. Shiba Ryoutarou wrote about in his novel as my model. But not the Okita from "Burning Sword," but from "Record of the Bloodshed of the Shinsengumi", in which Okita's utter lack of human emotion causes great fear in his enemies. I know there are Shinsengumi fan angry with me for putting a character based on Okita on the enemy side, but since he's based on "Records"'s Okita, Seta seems more like a strong bad guy to me.

Other than this model I didn't have any particular design. Instead of Okita's topknot I saw him with a cropped head, so I drew him like that. Other than that, to go with the ever-smiling face, he looks a little like a girl.”

“Sojiro was really popular, but in the end, he caused me a lot of grief. I used Okita Soushi of the aforementioned "Record of the Bloodshed of the Shinsengumi" by Shiba Ryoutarou as the basis of his character, but when it came time to draw him, expressing his personality was really, really difficult, and on top of that it came just at the busiest time of the year, the year-end advance. I didn’t have time to consider the problem seriously, and my assistant ended up coming to my rescue. (My assistant understands Sojiro a lot better than I do).

Since Okita Soushi died young, a lot of fans were worried that Sojiro would see the light and then die. But actually I had decided he would survive from the beginning. Because of his painful experiences Sojiro left everything to Shishio and gave up thinking for himself; he couldn’t finish off his life and escape into death, but had to live on even in pain and atone. It’s a rejected, harsh way of thinking, but it’s a choice one should make as a human being. (If you replace Sojiro’s relationship with Shishio with that of a fanatical believer who entrusts his mind to the leader of an extremist religious cult, I think you’ll understand my reasoning.) No matter how harsh the external influence of family or society, no matter how bitter your life, I believe that the one thing you can’t do is give up thinking for yourself.
Well, no matter how much of this I write, because of Sojiro’s personality, he’ll go on smiling and looking innocent as always. Like Anji, he’s a character I feel I didn’t use as much as I could have, and I’d like to bring him back at some point. Maybe it’s a false hope, but . . .”

 

His swords by name are the Nagasone Kotetsu wielded by Kondo Isami during the Bakumatsu. this is the sword that gets shattered after destroying the Sakabatou. his second sword is called the Kiku Ichimonji Norimune which was wielded by Okita Soushi during the Bakumatsu. this is the sword Soujirou uses in his final fight against Himura.

unfortunetly, during the fight in the TV series, it shows Himura moving at the same speed as Soujirou which is in all rights, incorrect. Soujirou is infinitly faster than Kenshin. the speed of the Amakakeru Ryuu No Hirameki is what brought their speeds, even. although Kenshin was slower his technique was much more powerful than the Shunten Satsu.

the main reason why Soujirou's Shunten Satsu was slower was because the Amakakeru Ryuuno Hirameki is a nidan battou-jutsu. after the initial strike, the user of the Amakakeru Ryuuno Hirameki spins on his left foot which allows the user to spin around completely adding to the speed and strength of his swing. in my personal oppinion is Kenshin had used a ichidan battoujutsu, the force of his cut would have been halved allowing Soujirou to win.

 

Yes! That's true! I realized these things after several times watching the anime and reading the manga !