Seishiro Katagiri

Seishiro Katagiri (片霧 清四郎, Katagiri Seishirō) is the main antagonist of Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 6. He serves as the main avatar for the narrative's main threat.

Background Story
Seishiro began his life as an impoverished commoner in Tokyo. Swept in by idea of Japanese racial superiority, he enlisted into the military at a young age. His early activities are not detailed, but it's hinted that he at least served in the parallel world's First Sino-Japanese War. When Seishiro finished his service, he returned to his hometown.

About twenty-seven years before the main narrative, the patrolling Seishiro caught the eye of a noblewoman named Mayuko (真佑子). She confessed her infatuation to him. Although he didn't want a family, Seishiro agreed to their marriage. Shuhei believes for most of his life that the marriage was a sham and his father was exploiting his mother's wealth for his own benefit.

In reality, Seishiro loved Mayuko but felt unworthy of her affections due to his lowly origins. He also worried that his military career –which he swore to never abandon– would cause her relentless hardship. Mayuko's charm and dreamlike optimism likely hushed his discomforts enough to reconsider. They lived together in her mansion within the Kanda district.

Seishiro stayed with his family until he was called away to enlist in what is implied to be the parallel world's First World War. He served as a lieutenant and his exceptional leadership led to his rise to his current rank. Seishiro returned home with dozens of scars and high honors; he learned then that Mayuko passed away from illness nearly a year before his arrival.

Unable to cope with his grief and hating himself for Mayuko's lonely death, Seishiro shifted the blame to the foreigners who kept him from her. His discrimination strengthened and mixed with his military experiences, turning into a mad resolve to start a world war in the pretense of national security. Well aware that his secret doctrine would be inevitably frowned upon if it were exposed, Seishiro abandoned his humanity. He swore to use anything and anyone for his anti-foreigner hostilities, including his own son.

Using his position to meet these ends, he organized a search unit for the Demon Clan's nearest hidden village. His group found them three years before the main story. Seishiro personally approached Darius with a proposal: guide the military to the clan's forbidden flowers and become government spies for foreign countries in exchange for the village's peaceful coexistence. Darius was enticed with the promise and agreed.

Seishiro told the demon he only meant to observe and study the flowers, but he ordered many flowers to be smuggled back to the capital. With his scientific know-how, Seishiro set up a laboratory. He ordered scientific researchers to extract the flower's essence for human experiments on new recruits. Due to the experiment's spiritual defilements and Kagutsuchi's growing influence, vengeful spirits and the spiritually possessed began to emerge within the capital.

Sometime after the first set of experiments, Darius became suspicious and confronted Seishiro on the matter. He reacted with horror upon learning of the mechanical contraptions Seishiro had built and immediately annulled their partnership. In retaliation, Seishiro called for his conspirators and exposed Darius's demon origins to them. He laid the blame for every spiritual pestilence entirely on the Demon Clan. Racial discrimination against the demon overruled Darius's protest.

With Darius's retreat, Seishiro ordered for a public notice repeating his accusations in the capital. He announced that the spiritually possessed were the result of a disease spread by the Demon Clan. His baseless claims were swallowed up as the truth and acted as military propaganda. During this time, Kagutsuchi tempted Seishiro to act as its host and he accepted on his own will.

Kudan pestered Seishiro to form a military unit to combat the vengeful spirit threat two years before the main narrative. Seishiro initially dismissed the Star Clan as a capricious hindrance. Kudan's perseverance led to Seishiro giving in to the concept. In an unprecedented turn, ranks within this new military unit were decided solely on a person's spiritual capabilities. During the recruitment training phase, Seishiro sensed Arima's connection to Kagutsuchi. He immediately dubbed the country boy the squad's captain and made Shuhei the vice captain of the unorthodox Elite Squad.

Seishiro ordered Kudan to repay his debt to him by creating a seal around Ryounkaku with the Four God talismans. Lying that the barrier was necessary for protecting central operations, it actually shielded the renovated adabana laboratory within the skyscraper's basement from spiritual detection. It kept the Demon Clan and anyone else with spiritual capabilities at bay.

Through Kudan, Seishiro was informed of the legends surrounding the Dragon Gods. His interests were instinctively focused on the Black Dragon Priestess who had the potential to hasten Kagutsuchi's rejuvenation. With the interest of using them for his plans, he coolly arranges for their summoning rituals. When he isn't busy keeping his civil image, Seishiro is pressuring his son to take an arranged marriage within the nobility.

Story Events
Foiled when the Demon Clan kidnap Azusa, a bored Seishiro leaves the search for her to the Elite Squad. He continues authorizing the media's misinformation of the vengeful spirits and spiritually possessed. Seishiro permits propaganda for the Dragon Priestesses, making them out to be divine matriarchs.

When both priestesses are under military control, he assigns them to the Elite Squad. He orders them to patrol the streets for vengeful spirits to strengthen their credibility, combat paranoia caused by the prophecy of the capital's end, and lower negativity for Azusa's past association with the Demon Clan. With their positive reputation established, it appears to the public that the priestesses sanctify the country's military.

Throughout the main narrative, Seishiro states he is dealing with foreign operations during his absence from the Elite Squad. He is really intensifying the adabana experiments. Once he has enough "successful" subjects, he issues a public notice of the Force Protection Squad, a military unit which purportedly uses the power of the gods to protect the nation.

Unaffected by the civil riot that ensues, Seishiro orders the Force Protection Squad to deal with it. During his nightly rounds at Ryounkaku's laboratory, he finds an exhausted Chiyo. Her local celebrity prevents her disappearance so he arranges for her to be sent to the local hospital under the watchful eye of his agents. He lies to a concerned Azusa about the circumstances of her collapse to avoid further questioning.

His conspirators inform him one day that Tomobe overheard his superiors talking about the laboratory. After he personally tests the ensign's knowledge, Seishiro silences him by having him sent to the adabana experiments. His sudden disappearance from the Elite Squad is covered up with an honorary transfer out of country.

Seeking to build public support for the Force Protection Squad, Seishiro dubs Azusa a captain. He stages a military ball for her promotion, announcing to the nobility that the Black Dragon Priestess can tame the multiple gods used by the new questionable squad. The results are mixed, as some people still fear the soldiers.

Kagutsuchi alerts Seishiro to the Demon Clan's infiltration of Ryounkaku. He halts his late night meeting to organize a task force to the skyscraper's basement. In many story lines, he also orders the Elite Squad to arms. Seishiro expects his men to detain the intruders, but they change their mind upon seeing the laboratory. With the truth in the open and Seishiro defeated by Azusa and company, Kagutsuchi emerges from his host. Surviving the pain of the evil god's resurrection, Seishiro falls into a deep slumber due to his soul's extended corruption. His final act in the story is altered during Shuhei's route.

Development
Seishiro was developed after his son. The two major goals for his design were to make him resemble Shuhei and to present prim-and-proper military attire from the Taishō period. His earlier concepts followed these ideas too closely, as his facial expressions and uniform were deemed "too gentle" for approval. Ruby Party altered his stately image by striving to make even his idle silhouette appear intimidating. They increased the black on his uniform and later added a cloak to make him stand out from the other military characters.

Personality
Seishiro is known to everyone in the capital as a local and national hero. His name alone can break through any door in the capital, and his proud stature towers over his men. Efficiency is in his blood. The veteran phrases his wants with blunt precision and expects them to be carried out immediately to the letter. For as strict as his conduct can be, Seishiro wins the hearts of the public with his silver tongue. He charms the nobility with his poise and always has a resounding speech prepared to restore morale. His understanding smile welcomes others to agree with him.

Any amenity he displays is a heartless act. Broken by his past guilt and remorse, Seishiro willingly damns himself and others. He feels he truly died with Mayuko, deciding that she would be the last person to know of his past kindness, clumsiness and insecurity. His desire for war is considered antiquated by the capital residents; Seishiro doesn't care. He only values the control he has over them. Anyone who no longer serves his purposes may as well be dead to him.

Shuhei is invalidated to him in most scenarios. It's rare for the father and son to share a conversation that doesn't concern their military ranks or Shuhei's arranged marriage proposals. Blinded by his self-loathing, Seishiro believes his son could never fathom his loss and insists he has no sentimentality for him. Whether he realizes it or not, he keeps Shuhei away to protect his son from his inevitable fall. The father may have a chance to remember his warmer paternal days during Shuhei's route. If he does, Seishiro briefly regrets how much his convictions have ruined their time together.

Character Symbolism
Seishiro's symbolic item is the Kamchatka lily. The flower has two major and polarizing interpretations within the Japanese flower language. Either meaning suggests the flower was known for having mystical properties.

The flower is infamously attributed to the legend of Sassa Narimasa and his fictional lover Sayuri. In a variation of the tale, the once white lilies that peppered her manor were blackened the instant Narimasa cut Sayuri down. With her dying breaths, Sayuri hatefully swore that he would meet failure and misery for the rest of his life. Hideyoshi later tried to give the black lilies to Kita no Mandokoro as a gift. Once she saw them within her quarters, she was reviled by Hideyoshi's disrespect for Sayuri and demanded their removal. Hideyoshi ordered Narimasa to redeem himself by giving Sayuri proper funeral rites, but he was too frightened by her apparition near the black lilies to try. His cowardice was considered treason and he was condemned to suicide. It's due to this story that the flowers can symbolize "curse".

By contrast, the Kamchatka lily has been treasured by the Aynu people for countless generations. It is one of the flowers that bloom naturally within Hokkaido's harsh winter conditions. The bulbs are a traditional Aynu dish. Aynu black dye can be made from using this flower. An Aynu legend uses it for matchmaking. If a person has two people of their affections, the person should secretly place a single lily near the two people. Whoever subconsciously reaches for the flower first is the person's soul mate and the one they are destined to marry. The legend was immortalized in the Japanese entertainment industry with the 1953 song Kuroyuri no Uta, which continues to be performed and reinterpreted to this day. Their values for the flower is the commonly attributed base for the flower's other meaning: "love".

Black is Seishiro's symbolic color. During the Meiji period, the color began to be used for formal wear and uniforms due to growing acceptance of Western practices. Common color choices for military uniforms were dark colors such as navy blue or black, and white gloves became the standard. Darker hues were eventually deemed to be too noticeable for practical use; by 1923, they were replaced by duller browns or greens.

Quotes

 * "You needn't be afraid to confess. The Imperial Army shall take full responsibility. Besides... It has come to my attention that the incident at Mount Atago has the capital in a state of panic. Should we leave the demons be, I have reason to suspect they would do something similar again. For the people in the capital and for the good of peace, could you be brave for us?"
 * "You're a fine adult. You can have your fun. But choose your courting partner with discretion. The partner of the Black Dragon Priestess will be surrounded by unsavory rumors. If you're doing this to protect yourself, then tell me. I'll arrange someone for you who matches the Katagiri name."
 * "While we're dragging our feet through this sludge, outside powers are steadily gaining influence. We can't afford to waste a moment. Should we let the offensive slip by, we will lose our means of defense."
 * "Good... That's all I needed to know."
 * "...Worthless fools. Then, I'll dispose of them myself."
 * "Won't you please tell me where you're leading the military? I want to be your strength, as a member of the military and as your son. I'm not a child anymore. Shouldn't it be about time for us to share the same view?"
 * "Dad..."
 * "...Laughable. I am commander in chief before I am a father. A mere lieutenant couldn't possibly be capable of my work."
 * "...Well, that drivel spoiled the mood. Takatsuka, you can entertain him."
 * Shuhei and Seishiro
 * "...Well, that drivel spoiled the mood. Takatsuka, you can entertain him."
 * Shuhei and Seishiro

Fighting Style
His battle AI is a watered down Kagutsuchi with high health and attack. Face him with any Water talisman and avoid using Metal against him. If the levels for these elements are too low, try to have Arima or Darius absorb hits for the party. Summon Genbu if he is still too difficult.