Kojirō Sasaki

Kojirō Sasaki is a swordsman who is thought to have existed during the early Edo period. Not much is known about his true identity or history, an enigma with scholars to this day. In contemporary fiction, he is immortalized as Musashi's greatest rival. His final duel at Ganryūjima remains his most famous exploit.

He is first introduced in the Samurai Warriors series in its second entry as a unique NPC and bodyguard. Like Katsuie, he is playable character with a mixed moveset in its Empires adaptation. He gains a new moveset, weapons and story by Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends. His character's height for this franchise is 194 cm (6'4").

Role in Games
"Why do you do this? Think of how many people you could help with your sword."
 * ―Cao Ren; Warriors Orochi 2

Samurai Warriors
In Samurai Warriors 2, Kojirō appears as reinforcements for the Eastern army at the Battle of Kuzegawa. He is one of the generals who guards their escape point. During Ginchiyo's story mode, he also appears to reinforce Yoshihiro and traps Sakon at Shōryuji. He also appears in various other scenarios, mostly limited to dream stages. In Musashi's story mode, he acts as his rival's foil and taunts him at any given opportunity. He is killed in their duel at Ganryu Island. If he is impressed during Musashi's dream mode, he will appear as the stage's last challenger. When he's defeated, he dubs his rival as the land's greatest warrior with his dying breath. His recruitment mission in Survival Mode is an open call for a sword instructor, an opportunity he will take if the objectives are completed successfully.

His story in Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends explains how the two swordsmen meet one another. Kojirō, after witnessing villagers being slaughtered by pirates, decides to satisfy his boredom by defeating the brigands. During his unintentional rescue, Musashi appears to help him. At the battle's conclusion, Kojirō sees Musashi as his greatest opponent and becomes obsessed with showing his rival a "truly beautiful" death.

After the other swordsman flees, Kojirō's talents were scouted by the Tokugawa clan. He fights for the Eastern army at Kuzegawa and Sekigahara. After scoring the victory at Sekigahara, the Tokugawa clan hire him to frame Hideyori for scheming to take Ieyasu's life in Kyoto. Unexpectedly, an assassination was actually planned and Kojirō is ordered to kill Hideyori instead. Yukimura, Kiyomasa, and Musashi help the young heir safely escape. More interested in dueling his rival, Kojirō's focus shifts to Musashi and he beats him. Curious to know how a sword can move people, he gives Musashi a year to hone his craft. Kojirō later duels Musashi at Ganryujima and miraculously survives his defeat. He then joins the Tokugawa ranks to destroy Osaka Castle. Once the Tokugawa army claims victory, the two swordsmen have one last match together. In his ending, Kojirō is thrilled to finally achieve his goal but is simultaneously stricken at losing his greatest rival.

In his dream mode, Kojirō and Musashi work together to defeat many of the land's greatest swordsmen at Komaki-Nagakute. They additionally compete with one another to see who can score the most fame.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi 2, Kojirō plays a small role in the Samurai story mode. He was on Da Ji's side but after he was defeated by Xu Huang and Musashi, he decides to fight along side with them. In his dream mode, he joins a mock battle with Taishi Ci and Wei Yan. In it he confuses Musashi by helping the peasants. He also appears in as an enemy in various dream modes, such as the Itsukushima dream mode where he teams up with Kotarō to try and kill Liu Bei, and the dream mode in Rescue at Nan Zhong to harm peasants.

Having lost sight of Musashi in the dimensional realm, Kojirō wanders the land for his rival in Warriors Orochi 3. He happens to be in Nanzhong when it is invaded by a large serpent army battalion. As he satisfies his bloodlust, he and Zhang He share an understanding with one another regarding the beauty in battle. When the battle ends, Kojirō joins the coalition as an excuse to properly sate his murderous desires.

He also appears in the downloadable scenario Phantoms of Nanzhong, where he assists Kanbei Kuroda and Zhou Tai in rescuing the wrongly assumed phantom Guo Huai from Meng Huo's army.

Personality
Kojiro appears as a sadistic narcissist, who loves to kill and prove his strength with his sword. Most of his appearances have him talk about him enjoying the opportunity to kill, and he is easily angered by the thought of someone better than him. He becomes intrigued by Musashi's skill and is motivated to outdo him and prove himself as absolute best swordsman.

Aside from obsessing over Musashi, he offers special praise to Zhang Jiao, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Meng Huo, and Wei Yan in the Warriors Orochi series. He shares the interest of finding beauty in battle with Zhang He.

Character Symbolism
He's symbolized by the kanji for "sword" (剣) and "swallow" (燕) and by camellia petals for his Samurai Warriors counterpart. Kojirō's fourth weapon for his Empires appearance is named after his swordsman's name, Ganryū. The original name implies it's forged from diamond.

Kojirō's titles in Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends are "Stick Wielder", "Painted Clown", "Aesthete", "Flashing Blade", "Mortiferous Grace", "Netherworld Swordsman", and "Musashi's Conqueror".

His first two blades for his playable appearance are named after twilight. The first sword is literally named "Child of Darkness" while his second sword describes a gust of wind blowing from the shadows. Drying Pole (物干竿) is actually his third weapon in Asian ports.

The Asian name for his fourth weapon is named after Tajimamori, a person found within Japanese mythology. On the order of the Emperor Suinin, Tajimamori was ordered to search for Tokijiku-no-Kagu-no-Konomi. Crossing to the great unknown lands of Tokoyo-no-Kuni, Tajimori spent ten years on his journey. He successfully found and collected two branches and one had fruit. By the time he returned to Nakatsu Kuni, the emperor had long passed away. He presented one branch to the empress and the other at Emperor Suinin's grave. Tajimamori spent his remaining days feeling hollow and depressed, weeping every day until he died shortly after his return home. The fruit he returned with eventually became a snack for the gods and were named after him.

Kamimusubi forms the namesake for Kojirō's fifth weapon. The Japanese god is one of the Three Pillars within Japanese mythology and existed before Izanami or Izanagi. Kamimusubi is said to have been a "sole god", or a being that was created without the need of a male or female entity. Neither a female or male, the god is one of creation who gains its power from the shadows. With the ability to create anything from nothing, Kamimusubi is sometimes romanticized as a goddess of Izumo. According to their legends, she rebuilt the land from nothing and is a mother-like entity. When joined with Takamimusubi, they represent masculine and feminine traits.

Voice Actors

 * Maxime Mensah - Samurai Warriors 2 (English)
 * Antoine Yared - Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends (English)
 * Johnny Yong Bosch - Warriors Orochi 2 (English) (Uncredited)
 * Yuuji Ueda - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)

Quotes

 * See also: Kojirō Sasaki/Quotes


 * "...I smell strength. Ah, now here's someone worth chopping to pieces."
 * "Look out! The spirit of a dead woman walks among the enemy!"
 * "Are you trying to insult me, or are you just stupid?"
 * Nagamasa and Kojirō; Samurai Warriors 2: Empires


 * "Do it. Kill me now. I want you to be the one."
 * "What!?"
 * "Can you really deny what I'm saying? You've trained your whole life to kill. That's what a sword is for."
 * "You...You...You're wrong! You...You don't see it yet. But I'll show you. Then you'll see... A sword; it can do a lot more than just kill!"
 * Kojirō and Musashi, Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends


 * "I sense nothing but madness in your blade."
 * "You truly flatter me. I thank you."
 * "Well, I didn't mean for you to take it that way..."
 * "(chuckles) Ah, I feel so good right now I just have to chop you up. Now, come to me."
 * "(laughs) I may be old, but don't think I'll be an easy win."
 * "Oh, I won't. Because I'm facing you, I'll make you my finest kill."
 * Nobutsuna Kamiizumi and Kojirō; Hyakumon-nin no Sengoku Musou


 * "It is not too late! Repent, and you will be saved."
 * "It's you who'll be saved - from this nasty world, by me ending your life."
 * Zhang Jiao and Kojirō; Warriors Orochi 2


 * "Poor thing, you've been waiting for me to give you a beautiful end haven't you?"
 * "Thank you, you saved us! We owe you our life!"
 * "I'm warning you, don't make me have to cut you down."
 * Talking with peasants; Warriors Orochi 2


 * "If you want to be surrounded in beauty until your dying breath, I could cut you down in a most elegant manner."
 * "You would even consider the manner of my death? You are a great seeker of beauty!"
 * "Then I will not kill you. I cannot even bring myself to pity you."
 * Kojirō and Zhang He; Warriors Orochi 3

Samurai Warriors 2: Empires

 * undefined: Kojirō swings his sword back then delivers a powerful diagonal slash
 * undefined: An upward slash that launches the enemy up.
 * undefined: Kojirō swings his sword back then delivers a powerful downward slash
 * undefined: A shockwave that knocks enemies away
 * undefined: Jumps in the air making multiple tornadoes circle Kojirō
 * undefined: Grabs the handle, and back of the sword and drives it forward in a charge
 * undefined: A grab attack that impales the enemy, Kojirō then throws them forward, dashes up to them before they hit the floor and slashes them
 * undefined: Kojirō holds his sword to the left then jumps forward and spins around hitting enemies in a 360 area with great range
 * Kojirō does slow upward slashes while advancing on the enemy
 * R1 + : Braces himself then quickly dashes through the enemies with a slash to the right
 * R1 + undefined : Whistles for his horse

Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends

 * R1 + : Kojirō charges for a moment and performs his Tsubame Gaeshi(Swallow Return). He does an unblockable upward cut.
 * R1 + undefined : Using a bit of Musou, Kojirō can temporarily make himself invisible. If he attacks, the effect will wear off but his attack will be stronger.
 * Personal Skill : (Intimidation) Shockwave produced when entering special stance.


 * Warriors Orochi


 * R1: Another form of his Tsubame Gaeshi. Spins his broadswords in front of him in a manner similar to two windmills next to each other(along with ripples from his C7 flashing on his blades), grinding his foes in between. Launches foes upward.


 * R1(Counter): All in one quick move, Kojirou rears back to summon his broadswords as they spin like a windwill to knockback foes in a similar manner to a shield or barrier of sorts.


 * R1 (Warriors Orochi 3): Creates a large projection of his nodachi and makes a large two-handed slash to the left.

Samurai Warriors
His Empires moveset combines elements from Mitsuhide, Ranmaru, and Kenshin's movesets. His chain is based on Kenshin save for the last 4 hits which are Mitushide. Of his charges, his C1 is borrowed from Nagamasa Azai's C1 and uses Sakon Shima's C3 as his C3. His C2, C4, C6 and Musou are all Kenshin's moves while his C5, C7, and C8 are all Mitsuhide's. His R1+ and his ending stance after finishing his Musou attack are like Ranmaru's.

His moveset is flexible and rather plain with few really flashy moves, but useful in many situations, as most of his attacks hits large groups, but also tend to break defense, making them good against general and crowd alike. C4, C5, and C8 hit large areas in a 360 degree area making them ideal in dealing with crowds quickly. As for generals all three of his last charges break guards, with the last two even damaging blocking generals. C7 is a grab attack with a small area, but as it is a grab a guard is useless if it connects, and C8 is an attack that breaks guard on impact and hits twice, so if a general guards, his block will be broken in the first swing, and he'll be open for the second. Another note is his R1 + does a lot of damage to its target (about twice that of an average charge attack), which means while it is easily guarded against it is also recommended for generals

As far as what works best with Kojirō, Ice is one recommended element for the fact that it doubles the damage of his special making it very potent, doing 4 times the damage of what Kojiro's Charge attacks would do. Another recommended element is the death element, as some of his charges hits large crowds it kills a large portion of them. Everything else on a weapon boils down to personal preference.

In the Xtreme Legends expansion, Kojirō's fighting style differs in regards to which of his two weapons he is using; his nodachi or his two magic broadswords that can appear in place of his nodachi and sending in the air by distance control. When using his nodachi (mostly in his regular attacks) he attacks with reasonably wide sweeps and very precise attacks, this gives him an overall good range but makes it hard to hit with some of his attacks, particularly when he is using thrust attacks. When using his magic broadswords (only in charge attacks) his range becomes exceptional, hitting both far out in front of him and far around him.

His nodachi attacks could be compared to fencing as he does do a lot of thrusting attacks with it, but typically he uses it like any other sword-user uses their swords. His broadswords cannot really be compared to a fighting style as he never actually wields them; they appear trans dimensionally and he simply moves his hand to move them, as if he is directing them with his hands.

Overall, Kojirō is very versatile due to his two weapons but his precise attacks can make him difficult to master, however, as this only applies to a few of his moves he is a great crowd clearer and suitable for most players.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi 2, Kojiro makes an appearance with his Xtreme Legends style moveset. He is largely the same, but relies even heavier on his charge attacks. His new special attack is not too useful, so Kojiro has a chance to use his musou often which is still as powerful as in Xtreme Legends. In his weapons however Range is worthless, as with Oichi, Kojiro's attacks aren't considered within the length of his weapon, and so none is adde to his charge attacks. Ice is debateable to add, some players like the improvement it brings to Kojiro, some however don't like to not make use of Kojiro's Critical hit with him being a technique character, and add Air instead.

Weapons

 * See also: Kojirō Sasaki/Weapons

Personal Info
Sasaki Kojirō was a supposedly talented swordsman who is best known in modern times as Miyamoto Musashi's ultimate rival. While fiction commonly portrays him as a handsome and young prodigy, not much is personally written on Kojirō's life to suggest that this is true. Each source that does mention him states conflicting accounts from one another, mainly due to the fact that each record was written during the early to mid Edo Period (long after Musashi's death). One of the glaring faults with relying on the popular opinion about him is that there are no written records that actually name him as "Kojirō". At most, these records only vaguely mention Sasaki or Kojirō's assumed alternate name, "Ganryū" (巌流). His possible grave even states "Sasaki Koshirō" or "Sasaki Koshirau" (佐々木 古志らう).

With many facts regarding his early life left unknown, skeptics are questioning if a man actually known as Sasaki Kojirō truly existed. There are several theories suggesting that Kojirō could have possibly been an entity completely different than the one known in fiction. One plausible theory about the real Kojirō was that he was much older than Musashi and could have actually have been in his fifties or seventies by the time their duel took place. This theory mainly plays on the idea that Kojirō was Toda Seigen's student, who was said to have had taught an elderly man around the time of the Ganryūjima duel.

Another proposes that the Koshirau inscribed on his grave is linked to the alleged Christians living in the area. After he lost to Musashi, this story states that the dying Kojirō converted to Christianity before his final moments.

Life and Death
Legends state that he was born in either Buzen or Echizen Province. The Nitenki, which was authored by Toyota Kagehide from the Kumamoto Domain and published in 1776, supports the latter and states that a swordsman with the swallow cut resided near Ichijōdani. He was either taught under the Chujōryu by Toda Seigen or the Kanemakiryu under Kanemaki Jizai's tutelage. Both of his "masters" have unknown death dates, which presents the perplexing question if Kojirō was taught by either one of them. The Bukōden, a supposed biography surrounding Musashi that was published in 1755, writes that Kojirō earned the swordsmen alias "Ganryū" when he was eighteen. On the other hand, the Nitenki claims that Kojirō was at this age when he encountered Musashi at Ganryūjima. It remains unknown if Kojirō's alias has any relation to the Ganryū sword techniques found within the Tottori Domain.

He first served under the Mōri clan in Aki Province. He eagerly trained and studied history while in this vicinity, eventually living up to his "Ganryū" name. Kojirō apparently invented his original sword technique, the Swallow Reverse Cut (燕返し, Tsubame Gaeshi). The details regarding the move are vague at best, but it is roughly described as a strategical maneuver that would lure an opponent to attack the user's front. Moments before the attacker's blow connects, the user of the technique evades and counters with a single, precise and lethal cut. Since the timing is very strict, it is famed as a technique that requires great skill to perfect. According to legend, Kojirō mastered this technique in a short time and then proceeded to teach sword fencing in the Kokura Domain.

In the Nitenki, he reportedly wielded a nodachi named "Bizen Osafune Nagamitsu" (備前長船長光), which was approximately one meter in length, by 1612. After Musashi insulted his sword with the derogatory "Drying Pole" name, implying that the blade wasn't made for cutting, he went to Ganryūjima and faced the other in a duel. The popular opinion assumes that Kojirō missed his pivotal strikes and died in their fateful duel.

Numata Nobumoto, a vassal of the Hosokawa clan at the time, wrote an entirely different account. According to his records, the disciples under Musashi and Kojirō bickered over who was the superior master. When the students' arguments became violent, both masters decided to settle the matter once and for all at Ganryūjima. Both men desired to not fight to the death and, when the duel was over, the defeated Kojirō was given a reprieve. As he was recovering, however, Musashi's disciples killed him. Kojirō's students were outraged by the result and held a grudge against Musashi for their loss. As they began to attack the swordsman, Nobumoto saved Musashi and they safely escaped the island together.

Whether Musashi cheated in the duel or not remains a heated debate to this day.

Trivia

 * Bizen Osafune Nagamitsu is an item players can collect in Uncharted Waters Online.
 * In Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends, when playing with Kojiro's 4th weapon, even though the katana shown in the picture of Kojiro's 4th weapon is unique, the katana that he uses during gameplay is the same as the katana he uses for his 3rd weapon, though his super-dimensional broadsword are unique during gameplay. This is fixed in Warriors Orochi 2. It is unknown whether this was a mistake, or that the game developers decided to use the same katana for both weapons.

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