Movie
Description
Shunsaku Ban, widely recognized by his nickname Higeoyaji, recurs across Osamu Tezuka's works as a middle-aged Japanese private investigator or detective. His distinctive appearance features a bald head, prominent mustache, and portly physique. Ban blends comical panic in perilous situations with underlying competence and courage, often shifting from alarm to decisive confrontation. Beyond detective work, he demonstrates versatility in roles such as Astro Boy’s school teacher and mentor. His background includes expertise in martial arts—judo, boxing, karate, pro wrestling, and aikido—alongside practiced flower-arranging skills.
Operating within Tezuka’s "Star System," Ban retains core traits while adapting to varied narratives. He appears in titles like *Metropolis* (as Detective Higeoyaji), *Jungle Emperor Leo*, *Nextworld*, *Black Jack*, *Buddha* (as Detective Pampas), and *MW*, assuming roles ranging from adventurer to authority figure.
In *Undersea Super Train: Marine Express*, Ban is hired to investigate suspicions of criminal activities during the train’s test run. Discovering his client murdered, he glimpses the fleeing assailant, Skunk Kusai. Shot while pursuing Skunk, Ban receives life-saving treatment from surgeon Black Jack but abandons recovery upon spotting Skunk boarding the Marine Express via broadcast. Infiltrating the train, he evades Black Jack’s pursuit for unpaid fees and methodically uncovers Skunk’s smuggling operation: experimental disintegration weapons hidden within test dummies. Ban confronts Skunk and accomplices, collaborating with passengers like swordsman Kojiro Sasaki to thwart a hijacking amid broader crises, including sabotage and undersea volcanic eruptions threatening the transit tube.
After neutralizing the criminals, the train transports passengers 30,000 years into the past to Mu. Ban witnesses the conflict against sorcerer Sharaku but participates minimally. As the sole primary character returning to the present, his account is initially dismissed as delusion until archaeological evidence corroborates his testimony, cementing his role as a survivor bridging extraordinary events with reality.
Operating within Tezuka’s "Star System," Ban retains core traits while adapting to varied narratives. He appears in titles like *Metropolis* (as Detective Higeoyaji), *Jungle Emperor Leo*, *Nextworld*, *Black Jack*, *Buddha* (as Detective Pampas), and *MW*, assuming roles ranging from adventurer to authority figure.
In *Undersea Super Train: Marine Express*, Ban is hired to investigate suspicions of criminal activities during the train’s test run. Discovering his client murdered, he glimpses the fleeing assailant, Skunk Kusai. Shot while pursuing Skunk, Ban receives life-saving treatment from surgeon Black Jack but abandons recovery upon spotting Skunk boarding the Marine Express via broadcast. Infiltrating the train, he evades Black Jack’s pursuit for unpaid fees and methodically uncovers Skunk’s smuggling operation: experimental disintegration weapons hidden within test dummies. Ban confronts Skunk and accomplices, collaborating with passengers like swordsman Kojiro Sasaki to thwart a hijacking amid broader crises, including sabotage and undersea volcanic eruptions threatening the transit tube.
After neutralizing the criminals, the train transports passengers 30,000 years into the past to Mu. Ban witnesses the conflict against sorcerer Sharaku but participates minimally. As the sole primary character returning to the present, his account is initially dismissed as delusion until archaeological evidence corroborates his testimony, cementing his role as a survivor bridging extraordinary events with reality.