Movie
Description
Rakucho Takeda is the youngest member of the elite Yamainu Squad, dedicated to combating supernatural threats. He possesses short, messy dark green hair, green eyes, light skin adorned with dark freckles across his nose, and typically wears the Yamainu uniform with a peaked cap. He is also seen in black pants paired with a white dress-shirt or a yukata.
His personality blends bluntness, pride in his work, and occasional arrogance about his abilities. He demonstrates strategic thinking and situational analysis but is prone to hotheadedness. Strict adherence to rules and superiors defines him, coupled with a competitive drive that ensures he never backs down. A softer side surfaces during moments of panic or distress, especially when those he cares about are endangered, like his visible terror when Takamine is nearly killed. He holds protective views toward women and children, believing battlefields are unsuitable for them and that men must ensure their safety.
Takeda's childhood trauma shapes him: at age eight, his sister was taken hostage by ronin after the implied death of their parents left him responsible for her. The Yamainu's rescue sparked his ambition to join them. Despite repeated rejections, he persisted through extreme measures—waiting outside headquarters day and night, enduring rain, and climbing walls to observe meetings. After inadvertently causing Takamine’s injury during one attempt, he confronted his helplessness and trained relentlessly to never be a hindrance again, officially joining the Yamainu at sixteen.
Throughout the main series, Takeda serves as a rival to Soramaru Kumo. He first appears commanding soldiers to detain Tenka Kumo, an effort ending in Tenka easily defeating him. Takamine then reprimands him for pointing a blade at a civilian. Later, Takeda observes Soramaru’s infiltration of Gokumonjo prison as punishment, intervening to subdue escaping prisoners. A competitive yet comradely relationship develops, marked by arguments over training and lighthearted jealousy about Soramaru’s cohabitation with Nishiki, contrasting Takeda’s self-admitted lifelong single status.
Fiercely loyal to the Yamainu, Takeda tearfully reports Takamine’s attack to Sousei and initially struggles to accept Soramaru as the Orochi vessel, citing duty to eliminate the threat. He participates in the final battle against the Orochi alongside Soramaru and Chuutaro.
In the Gaiden storyline, set one year post-Orochi and the Yamainu’s disbandment, Takeda rejects military job offers and remains unemployed. Soramaru notes he spends a month "loafing around" before they encounter a survivor of Orochi experiments resembling Tenka. This discovery spurs Takeda and Soramaru to investigate ongoing experiments, joined reluctantly by Nishiki and Chuutaro. His protective instincts persist, particularly in disapproving of involving non-combatants like Nishiki.
Takeda’s relationships reflect loyalty and rivalry. He views Soramaru as both competitor and ally, clashing frequently but fighting alongside him. He deeply respects his superior Seiichiro Takamine, training under him in exchange for three jugs of sake and reacting with profound distress to his injuries. His interactions with Nishiki underscore his belief that women should be shielded from battlefields, though he begrudgingly accepts her assistance.
Key trivia includes his favorite food—seafood, especially Atka mackerel—his hobby of reading, his dislike of animals, his Virgo zodiac sign, and his lifelong single status, a point of personal frustration. His physical measurements are B94/W73/H92, and he sleeps in a yukata.
His personality blends bluntness, pride in his work, and occasional arrogance about his abilities. He demonstrates strategic thinking and situational analysis but is prone to hotheadedness. Strict adherence to rules and superiors defines him, coupled with a competitive drive that ensures he never backs down. A softer side surfaces during moments of panic or distress, especially when those he cares about are endangered, like his visible terror when Takamine is nearly killed. He holds protective views toward women and children, believing battlefields are unsuitable for them and that men must ensure their safety.
Takeda's childhood trauma shapes him: at age eight, his sister was taken hostage by ronin after the implied death of their parents left him responsible for her. The Yamainu's rescue sparked his ambition to join them. Despite repeated rejections, he persisted through extreme measures—waiting outside headquarters day and night, enduring rain, and climbing walls to observe meetings. After inadvertently causing Takamine’s injury during one attempt, he confronted his helplessness and trained relentlessly to never be a hindrance again, officially joining the Yamainu at sixteen.
Throughout the main series, Takeda serves as a rival to Soramaru Kumo. He first appears commanding soldiers to detain Tenka Kumo, an effort ending in Tenka easily defeating him. Takamine then reprimands him for pointing a blade at a civilian. Later, Takeda observes Soramaru’s infiltration of Gokumonjo prison as punishment, intervening to subdue escaping prisoners. A competitive yet comradely relationship develops, marked by arguments over training and lighthearted jealousy about Soramaru’s cohabitation with Nishiki, contrasting Takeda’s self-admitted lifelong single status.
Fiercely loyal to the Yamainu, Takeda tearfully reports Takamine’s attack to Sousei and initially struggles to accept Soramaru as the Orochi vessel, citing duty to eliminate the threat. He participates in the final battle against the Orochi alongside Soramaru and Chuutaro.
In the Gaiden storyline, set one year post-Orochi and the Yamainu’s disbandment, Takeda rejects military job offers and remains unemployed. Soramaru notes he spends a month "loafing around" before they encounter a survivor of Orochi experiments resembling Tenka. This discovery spurs Takeda and Soramaru to investigate ongoing experiments, joined reluctantly by Nishiki and Chuutaro. His protective instincts persist, particularly in disapproving of involving non-combatants like Nishiki.
Takeda’s relationships reflect loyalty and rivalry. He views Soramaru as both competitor and ally, clashing frequently but fighting alongside him. He deeply respects his superior Seiichiro Takamine, training under him in exchange for three jugs of sake and reacting with profound distress to his injuries. His interactions with Nishiki underscore his belief that women should be shielded from battlefields, though he begrudgingly accepts her assistance.
Key trivia includes his favorite food—seafood, especially Atka mackerel—his hobby of reading, his dislike of animals, his Virgo zodiac sign, and his lifelong single status, a point of personal frustration. His physical measurements are B94/W73/H92, and he sleeps in a yukata.