Genichi Sojo

Overview

Synopsis

Gallery

Genichi Sojo
Japanese	双 (そう) 城 (じょう) 厳 (げん) 一 (いち)
Rōmaji	Sōjō Gen'ichi
Biographical Information
Age	30 (Age at Death)
Status	Deceased
Birthdate	June 6th
Species	Human
Physical Description
Gender	Male
Eye Color	Black
Hair Color	Black
Professional Information
Previous Occupation	Weapons Dealer Enchanted Blade Wielder
Debut
Manga	Chapter 5

“He gave birth to the enchanted blades, the ultimate weapons of slaughter! Their only purpose...is to kill!” ― Sojo to Chihiro Rokuhira as he talks about Kunishige Rokuhira's Enchanted Blades.

Genichi Sojo (双 (そう) 城 (じょう) 厳 (げん) 一 (いち) , Sōjō Gen'ichi) was one of the biggest names in Japan's underworld as a prominent weapons dealer and was also the leader of a group of sorcerers pursuing Char.

Sojo was also the former owner of one of the Enchanted Blades, Cloud Gouger (刳雲 (くれぐも) , Kuregumo), and had supposedly submitted another of the Enchanted Blades, Shinuchi, for sale at the Rakuzaichi; though this was later revealed to be a cover for the Hishaku.

He is the titular main antagonist in the Vs. Sojo Arc, making him the first major antagonist in the series to be confronted by Chihiro and his allies in the story.

Appearance

Sojo was a tall man with a lean and muscular build. He had long, messy neck-length dark hair and noticeable dark circles under his eyes with visible stains beneath his eye bags for unknown reasons.

Personality

Sojo, despite his outwardly casual demeanor, primarily operated with a strict and no-nonsense attitude. He maintained zero tolerance for subordinates who disappointed him, going as far as to torture one of his dispatched informants for failing to capture Char and executing numerous sorcerers in his employ for the same reason. Overall, Sojo believed strongly in individuals staying committed to their chosen life paths. Additionally, he displayed immense mental strength by enduring past traumas forced upon him without showing any apparent effects.

However, upon encountering Chihiro, a different aspect of Sojo emerged. He seemed enthusiastic and almost frenzied at the prospect of facing off against Chihiro's Enchanted Blade, Enten. This was revealed to be a result of his admiration for Kunishige Rokuhira and the weapons he created, with Sojo viewing them as perfect instruments for killing and nothing more.

Despite his enthusiasm in combat, Sojo was still able to calmly analyze the events unfolding around him, rapidly pinpointing his opponents' moves and strategies.

Relationships

Non-Familial

Kunishige Rokuhira: Sojo perceived Kunishige as a guiding influence shaping the convictions that had taken root within him. He greatly respected the older Rokuhira's skill in blacksmithing; he felt an ecstatic, dreamlike joy when he got hold of Cloud Gouger. He envisioned Kunishige's blades as instruments of relentless killing—an ideology starkly contrasting Chihiro's principles. Sojo's ultimate aim was to surpass Kunishige and also craft weapons like the Enchanted Blades using Datenseki; to this end, he would kidnap and experiment on two members of the Kyonagi Clan, and would achieve a partial success in stabilising one of the two pieces of Datenseki in his possession. Sojo holds an intense curiosity to find out what Kunishige was truly like, but ultimately values his own view of the blades over the truth.

Chihiro Rokuhira: Sojo strongly disliked Chihiro because of his beliefs about the purpose of Kunishige's katanas, thinking that they were only meant for killing, and Sojo displayed a particular disgust at Chihiro's altruistic desire to 'defeat evil and protect the weak'. This fundamental disparity in beliefs was the primary cause of Sojo's intense disdain for Chihiro's convictions. Following their first battle, Sojo expressed awish to talk with Chihiro more after learning of his lineage, and did so in a form during their second clash at Kaburato Castle. There, he acknowledged Chihiro's altriusm but ultimately dismissed it in favour of his own beliefs. Sojo would state both he and Chihiro could speak on behalf of Kunishige, and the one who won their clash would be hold the correct belief, holding great confidence that it would be himself. In Sojo's dying moments, Chihiro told Sojo he would never measure up anywhere near his father, prompting Sojo to attempt to resonate with the Datenseki piece in his lab and fail, blowing himself up and cursing the name 'Rokuhira'.

Abilities

Overall Abilites: Sojo is a powerful yet shrewd individual, capable of evading the Kamunabi for over a decade despite being on their blacklist. His resulting combat experience rendered him superior to even a prodigy like Chihiro during their first battle. Once he obtained Cloud Gouger, Sojo was able to master its techniques in only a single week, and after a single battle with Chihiro he had adapted the latter's 'cloaking' into his own skillset using Mei and was able to access Cloud Gouger's True Realm; something that took fellow Enchanted Blade wielder Chihiro three years to accomplish. With Cloud Gouger, Sojo's confidence grew, openly placing a bounty on Char and believing himself capable of fighting multiple elite Kamunabi enforcers and succeeding.

Sojo has accomplished the first stage of spirit energy usage, being able to use his spirit energy to strengthen his body to superhuman levels. Due to having formed a Lifelong Contract with the Enchanted Blade Cloud Gouger, he is unable to use sorcery.

Sojo has been referred to by Yura, the leader of the Hishaku, as a genius for his ability to modify a piece of Datenseki to be temporarily usable rather than simply cause the user to explode immediately upon inputting spirit energy into the stone.

Enhanced Durability: Sojo performed a backflip off a multi-story building and landed on the road without sustaining any damage or injuries. In addition, he was able to endure his own charged Mei attack as well as a metal-enforced high-speed railgun-like strike from Hajime Kugara and still remain able to defeat the Anti-Cloud Gouger Special Forces and battle Chihiro.

Sojo counters Chihiro's fastest technique.

Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Sojo could move at speeds faster than the trained eye could see. He could easily keep up with the attacks of Chihiro Rokuhira, parrying the wakizashi he threw at Sojo and later blocking his katana without having to turn around, both feats performed while he wasn't moving at his top speeds according to Chihiro himself. Sojo was also not only able to react to the speed of Chihiro's Nishiki, but even prepared a counterattack which caught Chihiro off-guard.

Combat Prowess

Master Swordsman: Sojo was highly proficient in the art of swordsmanship, easily keeping up with the attacks of Chihiro, a trained and seasoned swordsman himself, even being capable of blocking an attack from behind with his katana without needing to turn around, surprising Chihiro. This was all done with only a week spent learning how to use Cloud Gouger, with Sojo himself stating he had yet to master the Enchanted Blade due to its significantly different performance in actual combat, making his bout with Chihiro, who had spent much longer learning how to use Enten, all the more impressive.

Equipment

Cloud Gouger

Cloud Gouger (刳雲 (くれぐも) , Kuregumo): One of the seven enchanted blades forged by Kunishige Rokuhira, Cloud Gouger is a special katana infused with sorcery that possessed supernatural powers. Upon activation through calling Cloud Gouger's name, up to two clouds shaped like Eastern dragons emerge out of the blade and fly around the wielder. Its special effects are deactivated when the katana is sheathed. Following Sojo's duel with Chihiro in the courtyard of the Kaburato Castle, the blade was severed in two, with the pieces taken by Chihiro. Chihiro would later make use of the blade himself when he attacked the site of the Rakuzaichi.

Sojo wielding Cloud Gouger

Sojo backflips off a roof while charging Mei

Cloud Gouger in its sheathe

Techniques

Mei (鳴 (めい) , Mei) - Sojo unleashes a powerful lightning bolt that blasts targets with tremendous force, enough to create holes in buildings and burn and electrocute those that are directly hit by it. Uniquely, Cloud Gouger is also capable of 'charging' Mei through manifesting lightning around the blade for several seconds before unleashing the attack, with more time spent charging corresponding to a greater buildup of power. A fully charged Mei was so powerful that Sojo used it in an attempt to kill around a dozen civilians, and even after most of the attack was absorbed by Chihiro Rokuhira, the attack was strong enough to gouge out a path in the road and caused considerable damage to Chihiro himself. However, highly-charged Mei attacks also disable the usage of Mei for an interval of 10-20 seconds; though this limit can decrease as the wielder of the blade increases their understanding of Cloud Gouger.

Cloaked Mei* - An extension technique of Mei created by Sojo after deepening his understanding of Cloud Gouger. Sojo applies the principle of Enten's Nishiki by cloaking himself in Mei instead of releasing it, enabling him to perform tremendously powerful bursts of speeds akin to a lightning bolt.

Yui (結 (ゆい) , Yui) - Sojo generates ice in the direction that Cloud Gouger's blade is pointing, which can be used to freeze targets in place, form chains of spiked ice around the user or create huge columns of ice to overwhelm opponents. The freezing is so instantaneous that Norisaku Madoka didn't realize he had been frozen and ended up inadvertently exploding the car he was in after Sojo had already left and dispelled the ice.

Kou (降 (こう) , Kō) - Sojo utilises Cloud Gouger to create an enormous amount of water which can form clouds of mist to disorient enemies and obscure the wielder or be used to conduct the electricity generated by Mei, massively increasing its area of effect. Similarly, it can also be used in conjunction with Yui to generate more ice. Unlike Mei, Kou requires little to no charge to reach its full strength.

* Cloaked Mei has no official name and is named solely based on conjecture.

Etymology

The name Sōjō Gen'ichi (双 (そう) 城 (じょう) 厳 (げん) 一 (いち) ) suggests the idea of "strictness" or "severity" paired with the concept of a "twin castle," possibly symbolizing duality or strength in his character.

• Sojo (双 (そう) 城 (じょう) ): 双 (Sō) and 城 (Jō) together can be interpreted as "twin castle," which might symbolize duality or a strong, fortified presence.
  • 双 (Sō) means "pair" or "twin."
  • 城 (Jō) translates to "castle."
• Genichi (厳 (げん) 一 (いち) ): 厳 (Gen) suggests a stern or severe demeanor, highlighting a strict attitude. While 一 (Ichi) signifies "first" or "number one," possibly reflecting a position of importance or prominence.
  • 厳 (Gen) denotes "strictness" or "severity."
  • 一 (Ichi) simply means "one" or "first."

Trivia

• During an interview with Takuro Imamura (Kagurabachi's editor), it was revealed that in early stages of Sojo's character concept, he was meant to be one half of a duo. This may be the inspiration behind the kanji 双 in Sojo' name, which translates to "pair" or "twin".