Katahara Retsudo (片原 烈堂, Katahara Retsudō; "Retsudo Katahara") is the son of Katahara Metsudo, the younger half-brother of Katahara Sayaka and the captain of the Extermination Force.
Appearance[]
Retsudo is a good-looking young man with condescending look in his eyes, neatly styled red hair that falls over the right side of his face and is tied into a single distinct braided plait (which was done by his sister Sayaka),[2] thin dark eyebrows, a lack of facial hair and a distinguishing tattoo of Hebrew script that runs down the left side of his face, running over his left eye.
Like the Bodyguards that serve his father, Retsudo is always seen wearing a smart formal black suit leaving the top buttons of his white shirt undone.
Personality[]
Retsudo is a man who is fully confident in his own abilities as well as the abilities of his peers and colleagues. To this end, he can come across as seeming very arrogant and condescending. However, he has a fierce loyalty to his fellow Bodyguards and appreciates when actions are made in their favor, as shown when he rewarded Tokita Ohma for subduing Kiryu Setsuna after the latter had killed some of the Bodyguards.[3]
He is incredibly protective of his half-sister Sayaka, and disapproves of her revealing outfits and her naiveté with men. This leads his teammates on the Extermination Force to speculate that he has a sister complex; he does indeed have a severe sister complex.[1][2][4][5][6][7]
Retsu's most prominent trait is his ambition to one day take over the Kengan Association. Like his father, he is very cunning and inteligent, being able to outsmart Gaoh Mukaku and make him give away his affiliation to the Worm.
Plot[]
Kengan Ashura[]
Retsudo was first seen briefly telling the Fang to show them what true strength looked like. With the Kengan Association members arriving at Ganryu Island, Retsudo told his father that all their bases were covered.
With the first round of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament already underway, Retsudo contacted his sister in order to reach his father, before letting him know their were intruders on the island. Later on during the day, Retsudo lead the Extermination Force through to forest to deal with the appearance of the Black Messengers. Quickly subduing them, Retsudo realised there was a mole among them.
At the end of the first round, Retsudo was doing security at the after-party and put his blazer jacket over Sayaka's dress (because it was too "revealing").
After the second round, during Hayami Katsumasa's attempted coup d'etat, Retsudo lead members of the Kure Clan out to deal with the Guardians surrounding the Kengan Dome (earning Kure Raian's irritated ire in the process).
On the final day of the tournament, during an intermission between the quarter-finals and semi-finals, Retsudo came across the corpses of some of his fellow Bodyguards and vowed to find the culprit. Later, after coming across Tokita Ohma and Yamashita Kazuo and finding out about Kiryu Setsuna, Retsudo repaid Ohma for subduing Kiryu by getting the intermission period extended an extra two hours.
Kengan Omega[]
After Tokita Ohma stopped Kure Raian from killing Xia Ji, Retsudo appeared behind Yamashita Kazuo. After calming the two fighters he reassured Yamashita that Narushima Koga was saved by the Bodyguards. Then he started investigating with Ohma and Raian, making it obvious to Kazuo that the Kengan Association foresaw the Worm's attack, and noticed that Xia Ji escaped without any of them seeing him. He then went with Raian at the "meeting point" while Ohma and Kazuo went their way. Retsudo phoned his father soon after, informing him that all the captives who survived were all dying or already dead.
When he and Raian joined Ohma and Yamashita at Kure Village, he organised Ohma's comeback to Tokyo with the Kure Clan (not before asking Kure Fusui how his sister was doing).
While on flight to Mt. Godslayer Retsudo discussed with Kanoh Agito the choice of having Misasa as the new Fang of Metsudo.
After the first round of the competition Retsudo was shown in the VIP room complaining about Gaolang's loss with Rama XIII. Later the two joined Metsudo and Nogi during the Kure Raian vs Alan Wu match.
Power & Abilities[]
Retsu Katahara is immensely strong, being the only one to come between Kure Raian and Tokita Ohma when they fight. He was able to easily out-do a Bodyguard captain. He effortlessly subdued the Black Messengers with the rest of his squad without breaking a sweat. Even one of the Black Messengers thought that he and the Extermination Force were not even human.[8] Even Kanoh Agito acknowledges Retsudo's strength, stating that he thought Retsudo should have succeded him as Fang of Metsudo.
Retsu is very proficient in both armed and unarmed Silat, having the same movements as his martial arts teacher Misasa. He was able to easily defeat a man from the Inside with ease, who was stated by Rei Mikazuchi to be very skilled and could take out an average fighter. However, Retsu views himself as a "Jack of all Trades" and a master of none. He also states that he could never beat anyone who's mastered fighting bare-handed.
Etymology[]
- Katahara means "single, piece" (片) (kata) and "field, plain" (原) (hara).
- Retsudo means "ardent, violent, vehement, furious, severe, extreme" (烈) (retsu) and "hall" (堂) (do).
Notes & Trivia[]
- He plays the bass.[1]
- The tattoo on Retsudo's face is a Hebrew phrase automatic-translated from "to wish upon the fist", a rough translation of the word "Kengan".[1]
- Retsudo was omitted from the anime adaptation.
- Misasa is Retsudo's martial arts master and taught him how to use his power to its full potential.
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