Karo Yoshinari (賀露 吉成, Karo Yoshinari; "Yoshinari Karo"), also known as "The Giant of the Sea of Japan" (日本海の大人道, Nihonkai no Taijinji), is a fisherman who works for Ajiro Fisheries. He represented Ajiro Fisheries as their affiliated fighter during the Kengan Annihilation Tournament.
Appearance
Karo is a bulky heavy-looking older gentleman with an experienced, world-weary expression on his face. He is bald, with many scars littering his dome, has prominent cheekbones and has a thick white moustache which somewhat merges into his thick white beard. Karo wears fisherman's dungarees over a white short-sleeved t-shirt and a rope hachimaki on his head.
Personality
Karo is a polite, quiet man who seems to have a relaxed outlook on life. He is highly protective of the harbor and will do anything to protect it.
History
Karo is a man of legend among the men of the sea, with incredible stories surrounding him including: strangling a great white shark to death in the sea, single-handedly saving a crew from a sinking ship whilst in a rainstorm, sinking an environmental activist ship that trespassed into Japanese waters by himself and capturing the international terrorist Paul Manson.[2]
Prior to the tournament, Karo found out about Toyo Electric Power Co.'s plans to close down Ajiro Fisheries and build over their harbour. Being informed of the deal Toyo had given them, Karo was told by Hayami Katsumasa that if he threw his match he would leave their harbour alone. However, later on, an unmarked envelope was delivered to Karo and the despairing man discovered Toyo's true plans for their harbour.[4]
Plot
Kengan Ashura
Representing Ajiro Fisheries, in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament preliminaries, Karo swatted away the men that challenged him until Harada Tokujiro arrived. Taking everything Tokujiro threw at him without batting an eyelid, Karo then swatted him away too. As such, he was one of the five successful fighters to progress through the preliminaries.
Once arriving on board the S.S. Kengan, he accepted Sekibayashi Jun's offer to drink with him.
On the first day of the tournament, Karo informed his employer, Ajiro Korinmaru, that he'd be making some trouble and to allow him to see through his only self-indulgence: this self-indulgence came in the form of allowing Karo to fight properly instead of throwing the match like had been agreed beforehand. Not long later, representing Ajiro Fisheries in the first round, Karo fought Yoroizuka Saw Paing. Despite putting up a strong effort and almost defeating him, he was eventually defeated by Saw Paing, who struck Karo's cervical vertebrae with a strong elbow strike.
Recovering later, Karo assisted Katahara Metsudo in stopping Hayami's "revolution", defeating some of the Guardians. He was later seen watching the final matches of the tournament along with the fighters who had lost.
Kengan Omega
Karo is known to not have fought in a single Kengan match since the Kengan Annihilation Tournament.
Power & Abilities
Karo is man who possesses extreme raw power and durability, being able to nonchalantly take all of Harada Tokujiro's blows before swatting him away[5] and tanking the heavy blows of a powerful Lethwei practitioner of Saw Paing's level.[6] He admits to not being a martial artist and, utilising his 40 years of fishing experience, fights in the same manner he would fish and fight creatures of the sea;[2][6] as a result, Karo launches attacks from unpredictable angles with his huge power. Karo is also a composed and pragmatic combatant, willingly taking a strong blow to the head in order to temporarily 'cure' the landsickness he was suffering from and thus enabling him to fight at full capacity.[7] By Jerry Tyson's judgement, he possesses a trunk on Adam Dudley's level and a sense of balance rivaling that of Sawada Keizaburo. This was shown when he threw a deceptively powerful punch from an unnatural posture on which he was balancing solely on his big toe and, later in the same fight, he moved incredibly quickly using a handstand flip and kicked Saw Paing in the face while in a handstand position, despite being over 165kg.[7]
Technique(s)
- Bear Hug:[4] He squeezes and crushes his opponent with a powerful bear hug. Karo used this against Saw Paing as his finishing move but was taken down before he could fully execute it.
- Whale Burial (鯨葬, Geisō):[2] Taking on a stance resembling the stance a person would be in before throwing a harpoon, Karo throws a vicious punch reminiscent of him throwing a harpoon.
Notes & Trivia
- His favourite song is "Brothership".[1]
- Karo is based on the archetype of "good old fishermen" as seen through Sandrovich's eyes.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Karo Yoshinari's profile
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Chapter 84
- ↑ After defeat to Yoroizuka Saw Paing during the Kengan Annihilation Tournament(Ch87)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 87
- ↑ Chapter 29
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 85
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 86
