Tsugio Bandō (坂東次男 Bandō Tsugio) was the wakagashira (underboss) of the Washimine Group. Since the position of boss of the Washimine Group was left vacant by the death of Ryūzō Washimine, Bandō became the de facto boss of the Washimine Group.
Appearance[]
Tsugio Bandō was a 46-year-old[1] man of Japanese descent with a skinny build and pale skin. He had short, gelled black hair and wore a thin, green, double-breasted jacket over a pink dress shirt and dark necktie. He carried a tantō for a weapon.
History[]
Bandō was very loyal to the memory of Ryūzō, who had protected him after he had arrived in Tokyo from the Kansai region. After Ryūzō's death, Bandō volunteered to financially take care of Ryūzō's daughter Yukio Washimine so that she could finish her schooling and normal life.[2] Additionally, Masami Kōsa of the Kōsa Council treated the lower-ranking Washimine Group degradingly due to his hatred of both the Washimine Group and his elder brother, the previous leader of the Kōsa Council. When Masami used one of his own men to serve as a replacement boss for the Washimine Group, Bandō decided to step up and become the de facto boss, shoving out the hostile Kōsa Council elements.[3]
Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise[]
Three years had passed after Ryūzō's death, and Ginji had already quit being an assassin for the group due to Bandō keeping the group alive through unsavory means (prostitution and drugs). Due to Bandō's hatred of the Kōsa Council stemming from the Council's ill-treatment of the Washimine Group for the past several years, Bandō resorted to seeking out help from Hotel Moscow in order to coerce the Kōsa Council to treat his group as equals. At first, he reached out to Vasili Laptev, the leader of the Russians' Japanese branch, and successfully secured a meeting with Balalaika. In Tokyo, he welcomed her to one of his clubs and spoke with her via Rock as an interpreter. Bandō recalled that Chinese gangsters were gaining turf from Hotel Moscow in Kabukicho, declaring that he could help the Russians regain their territory in exchange for controlling the Kanto Peace Council, who wanted to deport foreigners (including Russians) from Japan. Though Balalaika wondered why he sought out the request given the Washimine Group's membership in the Peace Council, Bandō clarified that the Kōsa Council, with their higher authority, had bullied his yakuza into paying hefty tributes. Smoking a cigar, Balalaika nonchalantly agreed that Hotel Moscow and the Washimine Group's goals were mutually compatible. Pleased by the deal, Bandō complimented her forces for being adept among the Russian mafia.
Replying that he had no need to show concern about her power, Balalaika stated that her henchmen were a military force not comparable to anything in Japan. As she called one of her men to set off a bomb, Bandō asked Rock what she was saying, but Rock merely answered that she was speaking in Russian. Immediately, the building shook slightly, alarming the yakuza. When Balalaika gleefully said that her men just bombed a Kōsa Council club, Yoshida berated her for such an open action, but Bandō, in contrast, appreciated her gesture to violently intimidate the Kōsa Council. Some day later, Bandō met with Ginji Matsuzaki at the latter's festival stand. He informed Ginji about his new alliance with Hotel Moscow, asking him why he wanted to continue doing meager festival work. Ginji reminded him that he abhorred their yakuza's recent dealings (drugs, prostitution, etc.) as dishonorable.
Bandō responded that he did not engage in prostitution and other crimes because he wanted to, but because he aimed for the Washimine Group's survival first and foremost. Wanting his help, Bandō proudly requested Ginji to work for him one last time with his superhuman "Manslayer" katana skills. Although he expressed his thanks to Bandō for financially taking care of Yukio, Ginji rejected the idea, reminding him that he took up the scabbard for their old boss since his mission had honor. Seeing that he would not persuade Ginji, Bandō put out his cigarette and bid goodbye, but not before Ginji asked him what Balalaika's interpreter looked like. Slightly smiling, Bandō recalled that he (Rock) seemed like an ordinary guy while his guard (Revy) was an angry woman.[4]
A speechless Bandō listens to Balalaika's declaration
At the second meeting with Hotel Moscow, Bandō apologized for the strip bar's scenery, though Balalaika only said that her problem was the place's noise. He elaborated that their meeting place was ideal because foreigners like herself would not stick out in Roppongi. To his confusion, she claimed that they needed to shift their operations since the Kōsa Council was quite a large organization that would only crumble by crippling the leadership. When she advocated to abduct the head of the Kōsa Council and his family, Bandō exclaimed his contempt for the proposal since the move would easily grabbed the attention of Japanese Metropolitan Police. As she sternly explained that Hotel Moscow, not his group, made the final decisions of crushing the enemy, Bandō was left speechless by her candor until they were interrupted by Chaka's cellphone call. Subsequently, a few of the Washimine gangsters yelled at Chaka to quiet down, so Bandō apologized for Chaka's behavior and asked Balalaika to discuss his agreement with her later, to which she agreed. After Chaka beat up Rock in the hallway, Yoshida held back the former while Bandō apologized to the interpreter, telling him that Chaka would be severely reprimanded.
That night, Ginji and Bandō discussed how the Kanto Peace Council would ostracize the Washimine Group if they learned about Bandō hiring the Russians to intimidate the Kōsa Council. Yukio Washimine had quietly arrived home and entered the room to their surprise, and she politely asked them to let her in on what they were just speaking about. Although Ginji was hesitant to talk about it, Yukio said that it was her business as well because she was Ryūzō Washimine's daughter. Accordingly, the two men told her that after her father's death, the Kōsa Council sneakily agreed to work on equal terms with the Washimine Group if the latter provided a direct descendant as successor, which could only be the teenager Yukio. To Yukio's surprise, Ginji informed her that Rock, whom she met earlier, was the Russians' interpreter. Leaving the residence that night, Bandō got a call from Yoshida about how Hotel Moscow escalated their brutality by assassinating a Kōsa Council member who tried to turn himself in to the police. Saying that he was being followed by a Peace Council spy, Bandō told Yoshida that he would get to a hideout and call him back, preparing for trouble.[5]
With Ginji still refusing to help him and the burden of his group's decline, at sunset the next day, Bandō prepared his tantō and left his place to kill Balalaika. On the way, Yoshida found him, causing Bandō to calmly claim that he was just taking a walk. Worried, Yoshida asked his aniki (elder brother) if he saw the Russians, making the nostalgic Bandō remark that it had been a long time since he called him aniki. Yoshida pleaded with Bandō to let him come with, but he took off his wristwatch and tossed it to the former, advising him to get along with Ginji and serve him well. In tears, Yoshida called for Bandō to stop, but the latter only waved goodbye as he walked away, much to the latter's great sadness.[6]
In his desperate attempt to assassinate Balalaika and protect the Washimine Group, Bandō confronted her in an underground parking lot. He asked her if she was truly going to continue carrying out such "dishonorable" and violent methods, but she did not heed his response. Angered, Bandō attempted to stab her with a tantō. Turning around, Balalaika dodged his swing and elbowed him in the face. Picking him up from the ground and wrapping her arm around his neck, she joked in Russian that it had been a while since she fought someone in hand-to-hand combat. Looking at Rock, Balalaika furiously ordered him to translate her words. As Bandō was stuck in Balalaika's chokehold, he listened to her proclaim that the truth was that she had no need to work with others, explicating that she only lived to bring destruction and to see how long she could dance on the bottom of hell's cauldron. Bidding him farewell, Balalaika cracked his windpipe, killing him. After his death, Balalaika had her men stuff a note written in Russian stating "Yellow is the color of cowards" into Bandō's mouth, then putting his corpse into a suitcase and dropping it off at the Washimine Group office.[7]
After Bandō's death and disheartened at discovering the suitcase with his corpse, the Washimine Group still struggled to pick a successor since Yukio Washimine, the daughter of Ryūzō, was just a schoolgirl, but the student decided that she would volunteer to succeed her father as the group's kumichō.[5] Because of Bandō's attempt to kill her, Balalaika decided to have the Vysotniki attack the Washimine Group instead, including their bases of power.[8] In turn, Yukio wanted to kill Balalaika to gain closure and avenge Bandō's murder.[9]
Trivia[]
- In a popularity contest released for the May/June 2008 issue of Monthly Sunday Gene-X, Tsugio Bandō ranked 20th (tying with Garcia Lovelace, Maki, and Benny) with an unspecified number of votes.[10]
- In a popularity contest during the 10th manga collection release, Tsugio Bandō ranked 30th with 24 votes.[11]
- In a popularity contest during the 12th manga collection release, Tsugio Bandō ranked 41st (tying with Rowan and Isaac) with 13 votes.[12]
- In Episode 21, the Russian transcription of Tsugio Bandō's given name is incorrectly spelled as "Цугуо" (Tsuguo), which should be spelled as "Цугио" (Tsugio).
References[]
- ↑ Episode 21: Two Father's Little Soldier Girls
- ↑ Chapter 23: Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 32: Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise Part 11
- ↑ Episode 19: Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Episode 20: The Succession
- ↑ Chapter 26: Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise Part 5
- ↑ Chapter 27: Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise Part 6
- ↑ Episode 22: The Dark Tower
- ↑ Chapter 36: Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise Part 15
- ↑ https://sundaygx.com/blacklagoon/contest/
- ↑ http://sundaygx.info/blacklagoon_contest/
- ↑ http://sundaygx.info/blacklagoon_contest_12/