Aahana SwrupIn ‘Last Samurai Standing,’ Shujiro Saga faces adversaries of many kinds. The Head of the Police Bureau, Toshiyoshi Kawaji, remains an overarching antagonist as the real mastermind behind the central killing game, Kodoku. As an extension, everyone involved in facilitating the game, from the wealthy investors to the agreeable guards, also fulfills fundamental roles of the villains. On the other hand, the former samurai goes up against a more personal and imminent threat when he clashes with his fellow participant and longtime nemesis, Bukotsu Kanjiya. Yet, one of the most intriguing villains who clashes blades with Shujiro proves to be Sakura. He’s initially introduced as a leader of the guards who keep an eye on all the participants during their journey through the Tōkaidō route. His exceptional swordsmanship, reflexes, and position of power, paired with the unique scar on his face, make him an inevitable person of interest. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Sakura’s Real Name is Nakamura Hanjiro
In the beginning, Sakura’s character comes across as a hired hand working for the Kodoku host, Enju, and his higher-up, the actual organizer of the competition. When police officer Jinbe Ando, who has infiltrated the meeting at the Tenryu-ji temple, tries to shut down the entire game before it even begins, he meets his end at the hands of the swift warrior. As such, an air of mystery and danger surrounds his character from the get-go. Afterward, he’s seen leading a group of guards, overseeing the journeys of the participants to ensure they’re following all the rules of the game. Notably, he seems to retain a particular focus on Shujiro. This is because, much like the latter himself, Sakura is also a former samurai. In the past, Sakura was known as Nakamura Hanjiro, a skilled warrior of the samurai class.
However, it seems that in the days of the Heiji Restoration, when the warriors were displaced from their place of class privilege, Sakura decided to align himself with the new people in power. Unlike Shujiro, Bukotsu, and the other samurai who participate in the Kodoku in desperation as a result of their financial and social ruin, Sakura sheds his previous identity and adopts a new persona. This casts him in a starkly unique light than the other characters, who seem to hold great respect and pride for their identities as former samurai. Even in the face of destruction, they refuse to give up their old ways and learn the new form of firearm warfare. Even so, despite Sakura’s decision to abandon his identity as Samurai Janjiro, it seems there’s a part of him that is still attached to the old days, as evidenced in his brief but personal interaction with Shujiro, wherein he challenges the latter to a duel of the blades.
Sakura Likely Got His Scar in the Boshin War
As it turns out, Sakura’s backstory doesn’t simply connect him to the samurai class as a whole. Instead, he shares a much more personal connection to Shujiro Saga. The duo fought together in the Boshin War, specifically in one of the final battles that led to the death and ruin of their fellow samurai. On the battlefield, hundreds of samurai from both sides became victims of heavy artillery attacks even after Shujiro defeated the enemy’s leader and secured his side’s victory. In fact, it was his side, under the command of Toshiyoshi Kawaji, that launched the attacks.
While the warriors were facing the brunt of the firepower, Shujiro watched his fellow comrade, Nakamura Hanjiro, succumb to the attack. However, unbeknownst to the protagonist, Hanjiro actually survived the brutal day. As he walked away from the battlefield with his life, his injuries likely left behind a prominent scar on his face, one that runs from the tip of his ear to the corner of his lips. The scar is thus most probably a bitter reminder of the horrendous day. In the present timeline, where Hanjiro has reinvented himself as Sakura, the scar presents an indelible token of his past life, constantly reminding him of his previous identity as a samurai.
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