Makintaro (魔金太郎 Makintarō, translated as Evil Kintaro by VIZ?) was a member of Team Uraotogi, during the events of the Dark Tournament Saga. His name and appearance, as well as his fighting style are all loosely based on the legends about Sakata no Kintoki, more commonly known in Japanese folklore as Kintaro.
Appearance[]
According to Heian period folklore, the original Kintaro is the Japanese equivalent to Hercules. Since birth, he possessed superhuman strength, and during his childhood Kintaro had killed large, imposing beasts by using only his bare hands. He had golden colored skin, long black hair, and was affiliated with royalty. Some legends even mention that he was the son of a princess of the medieval region of Sakata, near Mt. Kintoki, hence the character's name of Sakata no Kintoki. Kintaro's weapon of choice was a traditional Japanese battle axe, called a masakari. As such, Makintaro is a direct parody of Kintaro in nearly every aspect.
Makintaro is the tallest, largest and physically strongest member of Team Uraotogi. He has dark skin, pink lips and short, wavy, jet-black hair (dark blue in the anime), which is held up by a thin, red colored headband, which makes him resemble the stereotypical portrayal of a huge and muscular 1930s African-American man. His large eye pupils are minuscule in size, with no irises around them, or even eyebrows to speak of, and his teeth are like that of a lizard's (manga only). The only articles of clothing he is ever shown wearing consist of a black mawashi around his waist, similar to a sumo wrestler, and a red bib with some kanji writing on it. His right arm (left arm in the anime), which can be morphed into an axe, serves as his primary weapon in combat.
Personality[]
Overconfident, short-tempered, and aggressiveness are Makintaro's basic traits. He possesses little strategy in his fighting style, a characteristic shared by Kuwabara. At the beginning of a battle, Makintaro enjoys immediately charging his opponents with speed and aggression; though successful in his third round match, this decision yields him a fatal loss in the semifinals. He is usually seen with a naive smirk on his face, often underestimating his opponents by their appearance. However, when he gets into the ring, he puts on an angry yet completely unintimidating expression towards his adversaries. Despite all his "muscle bravado", Makintaro apparently had a very weak nervous system, as he started screaming frantically in horror as he saw his own left arm swiftly amputated by Hiei.
Synopsis[]
Dark Tournament Saga[]
Makintaro makes his debut in the anime, during Team Uraotogi's fight against Team Gokai Six, alongside his teammates Kuro Momotaro and Onji. The abominable warrior is first seen during his team's three on three match against their opponents, where he quickly slices through Gokai 2 by means of his trademark attack, the Axe Blade Fist. After the fight, he is seen alongside the rest of Team Uraotogi in the tournament's locker room, where they formally introduce themselves to Team Urameshi. Soon after, they taunt their next adversaries and express overconfidence in themselves, claiming that Team Urameshi will lose to them.
At the start of the semifinals, Makintaro, through the rolling of dice, is chosen to fight Hiei in the stage's first match. After listening to Hiei's words of trash talk, Makintaro responds by stating, "You talk way too big, little man." Following this less-than-friendly exchange, the two fighters take their places in the ring, and the match begins.
As the match begins, and Hiei draws out his sword, Makintaro stands motionless, urging Hiei to give him his best shot. Unbeknownst to the big demon, Hiei has already dealt a quick yet critical blow, severing Makintaro's left forearm. Makintaro, apparently possessing a weak nervous system, looks down at his arm with both horror and bewilderment, while Hiei, disgusted with such a weak and unworthy opponent, tosses Makintaro's arm at Juri who catches it and disgustingly throws it on the stadium floor, and walks towards the edge of the ring, slowly exiting the fight. Makintaro, outraged at such humiliation and disrespect, quickly regrows his left arm, this time into the shape of an axe. He aggressively charges at Hiei, who is seemingly shocked and caught off guard. Finally, as his axe slices fully through Hiei's black robe, Makintaro realizes that Hiei has somehow vanished from his clothes. Hiei, however, appears on Makintaro's shoulder, apathetic
Makintaro's end.
, and completely impales him with a vertical thrust of his sword through his foe's head and mouth, thus leaving the muscular demon slaughtered on the stadium floor. To make matters worse, Makintaro's dead carcass is later kicked off the ring by Kuro Momotaro, fellow member of Team Uraotogi. This repulsive action exemplifies the common team disloyalty displayed by opposing teams throughout the Dark Tournament.
Techniques/Attacks[]
Axe Blade Fist
Axe Blade Fist (Masakari Ken, 魔唆狩拳; lit. "Demon Instigating-Hunt Fist"): This basic attack consists of Makintaro morphing one of his hands into a powerful axe, which he then uses to sever his opponents during a rage induced charge. The axe-blade-fist attack method is used by Makintaro in both of his fights during the Dark Tournament, being able to slice directly through flesh, within a single swing of the weapon. It is first used against a member of Team Gokai Six: a demon serpent; however, it was completely useless against Hiei.
Regeneration An anime-only technique used to regrow his left arm after Hiei's sword previously cut it off.
- This attack is a play on words in Japanese, since the kanji "ken" can be translated as both "fist" and "blade".
- Makintaro's battle axe power is also a parody of Kintaro's own masakari axe, but according to folklore Kintaro simply carried his axe around on his back.
- In the manga, Makintaro simply transforms his right hand into an axe, while in the anime he grows his left arm back and morphs it into an axe after Hiei had sliced it off.
Trivia[]
- The name Makintaro literally means: Demonic Golden Boy.
- Makintaro is slightly chubby in the manga version, notably having a rounder head and sharper teeth.
- Makintaro's English performer, Shane Ray, mainly worked at Funimation as an audio engineer. He is arguably best known to most for providing the roaring vocals of the Saiyan Great Apes in Dragon Ball Z and its various spinoffs until 2009.
References[]
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| e v | Team Uraotogi | |
| Members: | Makintaro | Kuro Momotaro | Ura Urashima | Shishiwakamaru | Suzuki | |