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Kotaro Ushiwaka is an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant, able to hold his own in battle barehanded and may even disarm his opponents. Kotaro is also incredibly agile, able to perform flips and high jumps, such as to land on the branch of a tree. While in the air, he may also perform a downward slicing attack with his naginata or a strong '''Hurricane Kick''' {{Nihongo|ハリケーンキック|Harikēn Kikku}} to an enemy's head. Kotaro demonstrates his physical strength in episode 87, when he shatters a stone with a single chop of his hand.
Kotaro Ushiwaka is an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant, able to hold his own in battle barehanded and may even disarm his opponents. Kotaro is also incredibly agile, able to perform flips and high jumps, such as to land on the branch of a tree. While in the air, he may also perform a downward slicing attack with his naginata or a strong '''Hurricane Kick''' {{Nihongo|ハリケーンキック|Harikēn Kikku}} to an enemy's head. Kotaro demonstrates his physical strength in episode 87, when he shatters a stone with a single chop of his hand.
===Weapons===
===Weapons===
Kotaro Ushiwaka uses a long staff with a bladed tip as his weapon of choice, called a [[wikipedia:naginata|naginata]], and keeps a shorter dagger-like weapon, called a [[wikipedia:wakizashi|wakizashi]], as a sidearm. He also keeps a number of small throwing dagger-like projectiles tucked beneath his belt. The blade of Kotaro's naginata is detachable, and can be thrown like a boomerang. He may also throw his wakizashi as an additional ranged weapon. In episode 12, Kotaro vaults himself using his naginata to repeatedly kick the Mountain Spirit.
Kotaro Ushiwaka uses a long staff with a bladed tip as his weapon of choice, called a [[wikipedia:naginata|naginata]], and keeps a shorter dagger-like weapon, called a [[wikipedia:wakizashi|wakizashi]], as a sidearm. He also keeps a number of small throwing dagger-like projectiles tucked beneath his belt. The blade of Kotaro's naginata is detachable, and can be thrown like a boomerang. He may also throw his wakizashi as an additional ranged weapon. In episode 12, Kotaro vaults himself using his naginata to repeatedly kick Yamasei.


If disarmed, Kotaro may also wield the weapons of his allies or opponents, such as [[Coonjo]]'s sword or Nyudo's club.
If disarmed, Kotaro may also wield the weapons of his allies or opponents, such as [[Coonjo]]'s sword or Nyudo's club.

Revision as of 18:41, 1 April 2020

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Kotaro Ushiwaka
Kotaro Ushiwaka in Go! Kotaro Ushiwaka
Subtitle(s) Child of the Sun (太陽の子,   Taiyō no Ko)
Allies Nyudo, Uragira
Enemies All Go! Kotaro Ushiwaka yokai
Played by Ryoichi Tanaka (voice)
First appearance Go! Kotaro Ushiwaka episode 1:
"The Birth of Kotaro"
Latest appearance Go! Kotaro Ushiwaka episode 156:
"Possessed by Shirei"
I am Kotaro Ushiwaka, I come from the land of light. (光の国からやってきた、牛若小太郎だ。)
„ 

— Kotaro Ushiwaka introduces himself (Go! Kotaro Ushiwaka episode 1, "The Birth of Kotaro")

Kotaro Ushiwaka (牛若小太郎,   Ushiwaka Kotarō) is a ninja character that appears in the 1974 Toho tokusatsu series, Go! Kotaro Ushiwaka.

Design

Kotaro Ushiwaka wears yellow ninja garbs, red fingerless gauntlets, and a white mask over his mouth. He has a red rope tied around his waist, presumably functioning as a belt, and as a holster of sorts for his dagger which is tucked underneath it. He also wears a pair of sandals which resemble the Japanese zōri with long blue tabi socks.

Origins

Kotaro Ushiwaka is a mysterious figure, said to have been born from light itself. In his first appearance, he alludes to having come from a "land of light" while pointing to the sky.

History

Go! Kotaro Ushiwaka

To be added.

Abilities

Physical capabilities

Kotaro Ushiwaka is an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant, able to hold his own in battle barehanded and may even disarm his opponents. Kotaro is also incredibly agile, able to perform flips and high jumps, such as to land on the branch of a tree. While in the air, he may also perform a downward slicing attack with his naginata or a strong Hurricane Kick (ハリケーンキック,   Harikēn Kikku) to an enemy's head. Kotaro demonstrates his physical strength in episode 87, when he shatters a stone with a single chop of his hand.

Weapons

Kotaro Ushiwaka uses a long staff with a bladed tip as his weapon of choice, called a naginata, and keeps a shorter dagger-like weapon, called a wakizashi, as a sidearm. He also keeps a number of small throwing dagger-like projectiles tucked beneath his belt. The blade of Kotaro's naginata is detachable, and can be thrown like a boomerang. He may also throw his wakizashi as an additional ranged weapon. In episode 12, Kotaro vaults himself using his naginata to repeatedly kick Yamasei.

If disarmed, Kotaro may also wield the weapons of his allies or opponents, such as Coonjo's sword or Nyudo's club.

Eight-Phase Slash

Though scarcely used, Kotaro Ushiwaka's signature finishing move is the Eight-Phase Slash (八相斬り,   Hassō Kiri), performed by assuming the Eight-Phase Light stance (光八相の構え,   Hikari Hassō no kamae). Kotaro projects a number of reflections of himself to confuse the enemy, before attacking with a barrage of slashes from his naginata. This was used to great effect in his first battle against Coonjo's Dark Clan, dispatching four yokai at once.

Light abilities

Being an individual born of light, Kotaro often harnesses sunlight as a weapon against his opponents. In episode 1, Kotaro's appearance caused blinding flashes of light and lifted the area of a thick haze, while in episode 2, he used his Eight-Phase Light stance to blind Coonjo. Beginning with episode 4, he demonstrated the ability to reflect sunlight off of the blades of his naginata and wakizashi by crossing them over each other. This is referred to as the Light Sword Cross (光十字剣,   Hikari Jūjiken). In episode 67, he performs this using Coonjo's sword in place of his wakizashi, and in episode 82, he reflects sunlight directly off of Coonjo's sword to ward off the Darkness Yokai.

Teleportation

In episode 44, Kotaro appears to demonstrate some manner of teleportation; after being double-crossed by the Deceptive Yokai and blinded by a noxious gas, he leaps into the air and disappears into clothing, only to reappear a short distance away.

Weaknesses

Kotaro Ushiwaka's primary weakness is a lack of access to direct sunlight. Over the course of the series, he was also weakened or incapacitated by:

  • Poisonous gas hidden in a scroll in episode 5
  • A voodoo doll-like drawing of Kotaro used by the Hannya to inflict pain on him in episode 9
  • Shokera's venomous claw in episode 13
  • Lord Kanen's hypnotic koban coin and garment in episode 18

Filmography

Gallery

Main article: Kotaro Ushiwaka/Gallery.

Trivia

  • Kotaro Ushiwaka was the last tokusatsu hero to appear on Nippon TV's Good Morning! Children's Show block. He was the only of Toho's contributions to the segment to not transform into a giant.

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