Kojiro Sasaki

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Plot

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Kojiro Sasaki
Name
Kanji	佐々木 小次郎
Romaji	Sasaki Kojirō
Aliases	History's Strongest Loser Humanity's Strongest Swordsman
Personal Description
Species	Human
Age	400+
Gender	Male
Origin	Fukui (Japan, Earth)
Status
Status	Alive
Affiliation	Humanity Einherjar Hrist (Valkyrie)
First Appearance
Manga Debut	Chapter 13
Anime Debut	Episode 8
Portrayal
Voice Actor	Kazuhiro Yamaji 日本語 Takuma Terashima (Young) 日本語 Keone Young English Griffin Burns (Young) English

“	For ages, men waged their lives upon those forged hunks of iron. To all those before me that formed the history of the blade...thank you.	”
	— Kojiro Sasaki to himself in The Swallow Gazes into the Abyss

Kojiro Sasaki is Humanity's representative in the third round of Ragnarok, going against Poseidon.

Kojiro is a famed swordsman hailing from feudal Japan, being referred to as "History's Strongest Loser" (史上最強の敗者ルーザー, Shijōsaikyō no Rūzā) and later "Humanity's Strongest Swordsman" (人類史上最強の剣士, Jinrui Shijōsaikyō no Kenshi).

Appearance

Kojiro takes the form of a tall and muscular old man with silver hair, wrinkled skin, sharp eyebrows and brown colored eyes. Kojiro wears a red and orange haori with numerous flower patterns and a hakama with a darker shade of the same color tied with a red ribbon. He also wears toe-less leggings that are black in color. Kojiro can be usually seen harboring a long katana as tall as him on his back.

Young Kojiro Sasaki

Adult Kojiro Sasaki

Kojiro's outfit during his duel against Musashi Miyamoto

Kojiro's appearance after third round

Personality

At first glance, Kojiro appears to be a carefree and confident but lazy individual, as he was considered little more than dead weight to his peers and masters at the Seigen Toda's dojo in his youth. He was also seen as a coward sometimes, always surrendering before a match was complete whilst stating it was to prevent injuries that may damage his future growth and skills. However, Kojiro is actually a diligent and hardworking person, as seen when he struggled constantly trying to defeat various swordsmen but managed to surpassed them in due time through rigorous training.

Kojiro Sasaki decides to continue his duel with Musashi Miyamoto for fun, knowing he has no hope of victory

He has a great fighting spirit and enjoys fighting against powerful opponents. Even after being killed by Musashi Miyamoto, his only regret was not being able to fight against Musashi more.

Kojiro also harbors great respect for the swordsmen he's fought, unwilling to let himself lose his fight against Poseidon as to not bring shame upon their names. During his fight, he showed utmost gratitude for his rivals for molding him into the person he is today.

He only fights in order to increase his own strength and has no interest in acquiring wealth or fame which is probably the main reason why he never fought any of his previous opponents after surpassing them since, from his point of view, winning against an opponent he's already "defeated" would be meaningless.

Kojiro is also not a fussy eater as during his time on Earth, he would eat snakes and frogs without actually preparing them, simply cooking them over the campfire. He's also eaten Brunhilde's salmiak pies, which were stated to have a horrible taste, without any hesitation and even complimented it on the flavor.

Abilities

Overall Abilities: Kojiro possesses incredible innate talent in the sword, eventually becoming the greatest swordsman in existence, surpassing even Poseidon in combat. He also has an innate talent of evolving and improving whenever he loses, which was the main factor which allowed him to surpass the likes of the Gods with his mortal body.

Physical Abilities

Godlike Strength: Kojiro possesses immense physical strength, matching that of Poseidon as shown when he could block and parry a majority of his trident attacks with the strength he channeled into his blade, even slicing his divine trident in two. One of his techniques: Tsubame Gaeshi, takes advantage of his phenomenal strength and experience, allowing him to stop the descent of a falling blade and swing it back up at speeds exceeding 200km/h (124mph), a feat considered nigh-impossible in accordance with the laws of inertia. While on Earth, Kojiro was able to cause an enormous slash in a wall, possibly by only using a wooden sword.

Godlike Speed & Reflexes: Kojiro can move at speeds matching the likes of Gods, as shown in his fight against Poseidon where he could keep up with his countless afterimages and blinding speeds, even managing to overwhelming him. With the help of his innate ability, Senju Musō, Kojiro can predict his opponents movements with extreme accuracy, allowing him to evade attacks even faster. During his time on Earth, Kojiro was shown to be capable of killing a bird in mid-flight. During the final stages of round 3, he was able to barely parry Poseidon’s Medusa Alope Demeter, but with Manju Musō, Kojiro managed to dodge and counter Medusa Alope Demeter.

Godlike Endurance & Stamina: Kojiro possesses immense stamina, being able to keep up with Poseidon during their fight despite having to dodge countless attacks moving at blinding speeds. He also seems to be capable of training for long periods of time, presumably from sundown until sunrise.

Enhanced Hearing: Kojiro has displayed an extremely accurate hearing. During his fight with Poseidon, he was able to hear and analyze the vibrations that travelled through the air.

Mental Abilities

Strong Willpower: Kojiro possesses immense willpower, despite being told by his peers that he does not have talent for swordsmanship and losing multiple times, Kojiro never gave up and always learned from his mistakes. Despite having a moment of doubt during his fight with Poseidon, Kojiro managed to regain his spirit through the support of his friends and rivals.

• Accelerated Development: Due to his immense willpower and his innate Senju Musō ability, Kojiro is constantly improving his skills. Each time that Kojiro is defeated, he learns from his mistakes and create a new training regimen to further improve his swordsmanship. In fact, he is even capable of using Senju Musō to simulate fights with opponents that he's faced before in order to train with them.

Kojiro Sasaki using Senju Musō to predict Poseidon's movements

Senju Musō (千せん手じゅ無む双そう, lit. "Thousand Image Defense"): Kojiro's innate ability and talent which allows him to memorize and analyze his opponent's moves to form a simulation of them inside his mind, visualizing and battling said opponent until he finds a way to defeat them. Kojiro often uses this ability to predict his enemies movements via mental simulations, creating and breaking down their thousands of possible attack patterns they might have by analyzing their constitution, gait, breathing and blinking all before the fight even begins. However, this ability isn't perfect, since using it puts a burden on Kojiro's body and the predictions themselves aren't 100% accurate, especially if his opponent's holding back.

• Image Training: Kojiro has memorized the attack patterns of all the people he's ever faced throughout his life and, because of this, he can simulate fights with his previous opponents at anytime in order to train with them and become more powerful. After doing this process for a certain period of time, Kojiro can even copy his opponent's techniques and integrate them in his own fighting style.
• Manju Musō (萬まん手じゅ無む双そう, "Infinite Image Defense"): During his fight with Poseidon, Kojiro was able to improve his Senju Musō ability to the point where not only could he analyze his opponent's movements but also the information present in his surroundings using the vibrations travelling through the air and the ground, allowing him to predict his opponents movements even further and make his movements comparable to that of a Supreme God.

Fighting Abilities

Master Swordsman: Kojiro possesses a godly swordsmanship prowess, even at a young age, he possessed innate talent in swordsmanship (though some people claimed otherwise) as he was able to block the opening strike of Kagekatsu Toda without prior training. Throughout his lifetime, Kojiro has fought a myriad of prominent and legendary swordsman in feudal Japan, surpassing all of them one after another. During Ragnarok, Kojiro displayed his swordsmanship skill when he unsheathed his sword, which calmed the raging tides in an instant, a feat that Musashi Miyamoto remarked as a form of enlightenment. Even after his death, all of the opponents he's fought in the span of his lifetime (and later the entirety of Humanity), all acknowledge him as the most powerful swordsman in existence in his fight.

Supernatural Abilities

Golden Age: As a Human soul in the afterlife, Kojiro possesses the appearance and skills that he had during his Golden Age, the age in which he was at his peak. However, unlike most Humans, Kojiro continues to grow after his death, becoming stronger and getting older as a consequence.

Miscellaneous Abilities

Survival Skills: Kojiro is very skilled at wilderness survival. After being defeated by Kagekatsu, Kojiro spend half a year in the wild all by himself. During this period of time, he was able to easily catch wild animals and build campfires.

Techniques

Ganryu Style: Kojiro's main form of swordsmanship, which involves standard but skillful movements and techniques with using the "Monohoshizao", an ōdachi which (despite having being unruly due to it's length and weight) Kojiro wields using incredible speed and precision.

Tsubame Gaeshi (燕つばめ返がえし, lit. "Swallow Reversal"): Kojiro's most powerful technique back when he was still on Earth. First, Kojiro swings his sword downwards with his entire might. Due to the weight of Monohoshizao and the sheer power of the attack, most opponents can not block it, forcing them to dodge. However, if they manage to dodge, Kojiro is then able to immediately halt the descent of the blade, reverse it, and switch the direction of his swing, striking upwards at supremely fast speeds while simultaneously targeting the opponent's blind spot (eliminating all his opponent's defensive options). This technique has said to be able to catch a swallow, with speeds exceeding 200km/hr (124mph).

Torakiri (虎切とらきり, lit. "Tiger Claw"): A sword technique Kojiro developed from training at the Seigen Toda dojo. Kojiro holds his sword with a one-handed reverse grip and delivers a powerful sideways slash. Due to its nature, Kojiro can use this technique in order to catch his opponent off-guard by suddenly changing his grip and the position of his sword.

Kojiro using the Niten Ganryu Style which combines all the styles of his previous opponents

Niten Ganryu Style (二天岩流): Kojiro's true swordsmanship style which infuses the Niten Ichi-ryū of Musashi Miyamoto and his initial "Ganryu Style", which was used after his "Monohoshizao" was broken in two and reformed into two different blades. Kojiro uses all the swordsmanship techniques and forms he's amassed and perfected over the centuries and infuses them all into a single all-encompassing fightning style. This form mainly combines the masterful kodachi wielding of Seigen Toda, the graceful footwork of Sekishūsai Yagyu, the brute strength of Ittosai Itto, the smooth combinations of the "Sword Saint" Nobutsuna Kamiizumi and finally, the dual-wielding of Musashi Miyamoto.

Sōen Zanko Banjin Ryōran (双そう燕えん斬ざん虎こ万ばん刃じん撩りょう乱らん, lit. "Swallow Tiger Combo, Thousand Blades"): Kojiro's final sword technique of the Niten Ganryu Style. Kojiro holds his left sword in a reverse grip, delivering a swift strike akin to Tsubame Gaeshi. Kojiro then immediately uses his second sword to deliver an even swifter sideways slash similar to Torakiri. Finally, he uses both swords at once, slicing in a "X" pattern with so much force, it split Poseidon's torso completely.

Equipment

Völundr Re Völundr

Monohoshizao (物干し竿, "The Drying Pole"): A Divine Weapon in the form of an ōdachi (a longer sword that possesses a weight 1.5 times greater than the average katana), provided by the Völundr of the 2nd Valkyrie, Hrist. Due to Hrist's unique nature, Monohoshizao can be reformed into a Daishō set of katanas when broken.

Quotes

• (To Brunhilde, Hrist and Göll) "It's been some 400 years since I ascended. And yet I continue to endlessly pursue the way of the blade. Ganryu's evolution is far from over. In other words, this is my golden age."
• (To himself) "Now then! How do I win this time?"
• (To himself) "Ah... This is it, huh... I wanted to fight more..."
• (To Poseidon) "Have you ever lost yourself, and found you trained until the sun rose? Have you ever cried, tears of gratitude for those that made you stronger? Have you ever felt, love towards your opponent in a fight to the death?"
• (To Poseidon) "The sword is our history. The hearts from idiots all across time. There's just no way that I'm losing to a guy that's never considered the hopes and dreams of others!"
• (To himself) "My path has always started with a loss. Once... just once... I... you know, I want to win too!"
• (To himself) "For ages, men waged their lives upon those forged hunks of iron. To all those before me that formed the history of the blade...thank you."
• (To himself) "I guess winning for once... feels pretty good, huh?"
• (To the Seven Lucky Gods and Loki) "Guess you Gods are just selfish to the end, eh... No matter the time, you always think it'll go your way."

Etymology

• The name Kojiro means "small" (小) (ko), "next" (次) (ji) and "son" (郎) (ro).
• Kojiro's surname Sasaki means "help, aid" (佐) (sa) and "tree, wood" (木) (ki).