Takechi Hanpeita (武市 半平太, Takechi Hanpeita) is the main antagonist of Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin!/Like a Dragon: Ishin!. He is based on the real-life historical figure Takechi HanpeitaWP. He is the adoptive brother of the game's protagonist, Sakamoto Ryoma, and the founder of the Tosa Loyalist Party.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
In Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin!, Takechi's appearance is based on his actor, Katsunori Takahashi, with some additions based on the real-life Sakamoto Ryoma. During the first part of the game in Tosa, he styles his hair in a in a traditional samurai topknot. Later on in his safehouse in Mukurogai, he has loose shoulder-length hair. When Ryoma finds him in Omiya, he is seen with long graying hair and darkened features, aging significantly. He is later seen exactly as he was in Tosa.
In Like a Dragon: Ishin!, Takechi's appearance is instead based on Hideo Nakano as Keiji Shibusawa. In Tosa, he retains his topknot hairstyle. In his safehouse in Mukurogai, he has a shaved head. When Ryoma finds him in Omiya, he is seen with shaved gray hair and darkened features. Takechi gains a buzzcut hairstyle in the final fight and as "Yamauchi Yodo" in the epilogue, with it being short in the top and shaved close to the sides.
Attire[]
Takechi is seen wearing several different outfits throughout the game. In the first and last chapter of the game, he wears a white nagajuban underneath a grayish blue kimono and a slate grey hakama, matching the color scheme of the standard Tosa Loyalist Party attire. When he meets with Sakamoto in the safehouse at Mukurogai, his clothes are shabby and faded, consisting of an army green kimono, a brown hakama, and a black nagajuban.
During his time posing as Sakamoto Ryoma, Takechi changes his attire to match the former's: a black Tosa kimono with a white hakama and nagajuban. When disguised as a komusōWP, he wears a tengai straw hat, a black kimono with a dark brown obi, an orange o-kuwara on his left shoulder, white tekou hand-and-forearm covers, white kyahanWPshin covers and tabiWP socks, and warajiWP sandals. Lastly, in the epilogue, he wears a navy blue nagagi with a dark brown obi around his waist, and is also barefoot.
Personality[]
Takechi is a calm, calculating man who almost never loses his temper. He is deeply motivated and politically ambitious, wishing to completely re-shape Japanese society in order to ready it for resisting Western colonialism. Given the massive amount of change Takechi considers necessary, he believes that radical, immediate action is the only viable way to save Japan, even if means resorting to violent and immoral methods, as it is all for the greater good. This commitment to change at all costs is such that Takechi is willing to orchestrate the assassination of his own foster father in order to take over leadership of the Tosa Loyalist Party and steer it towards the more radical action he is in favor of implementing.
Background[]
Like Ryoma, he also grew up with the support of Yoshida Toyo, owing to him the advanced studies he took.
Involvement[]
Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin!/Like a Dragon: Ishin!: 1866-1870[]
Takechi is first seen in his dojo, training newly recruited Tosa Loyalists on using firearms when he finds Ryoma coming to visit him. The members leave, as he discusses with Ryoma about their upcoming invasion on Kochi Castle, before handing him a pistol. Takechi is seen later with Ryoma at said castle, and both go to see and talk with Toyo. The talk is interrupted when a mysterious ninja appears to mortally wound Toyo, putting Takechi in shock and forcing him and Ryoma to escape the castle.
He is seen before the fight with the ninja, wounded and laying with the other Loyalist Party members. As Ryoma and Takechi leave the castle wounded and tired, Ryoma decides to hide the wounded Takechi inside a nearby shrine, making sure he is safe from the oncoming troops. He hides while Ryoma jumps off the hill, only to be seen one year later.
He is seen a year later in a safehouse in Mukurogai, seemingly healed and aged slightly. He tells Ryoma that he never escaped Tosa, but was sent to Kyoto by the Tosa Loyalist Party. According to him, he had now become a joshi, which was a much higher class than goshi. After an argument about Ryoma's decision on joining the Shinsengumi to find who killed their adoptive father, Takechi stays behind.
He is seen later, though hidden, during a scene with Katsu Rintaro and Saigo Kichinosuke. Katsu claims that Takechi is Sakamoto Ryoma, and that he is willing to give more than enough weapons to the Satsuma Domain, in order to take down Edo castle.
After this brief appearance, Ryoma is given the revelation that Takechi is dead, and before his death, had told Katsura Kogoro to help Ryoma out on finding out who the fake Ryoma is.
Takechi is seen later disguised as a monk, watching the body of Inoue Genzaburo float along the river in front of him, before he walks away.
A while later, Ryoma and Okita Soji get a report that Sakamoto Ryoma is located at the Terada Inn on the 2nd floor. Once there, Ryoma confronts the komusō, as Tosa Loyalist members join him in the oncoming fight. Once they are beaten, Takechi is questioned on why he is taking Ryoma's name, before attacking Ryoma once more. Okita comes to defend Ryoma before slicing a piece of Takechi's clothes off, revealing his burn mark on his back. He flees out the window before the Kyoto Patrolling Group arrive.
Whilst at Omiya, Ryoma reaches the top floor, where he meets and kills a presumed soldier. Beside the soldier is an injured Nakaoka Shintaro, who tells Ryoma that their plan was used against them. Takechi appears once again, covered in shadow alongside Ito Kashitaro and Sasaki Tadasaburo. Ryoma angrily questions Takechi on why he used Ryoma's name and attempted to destroy his life. Takechi tells Ryoma before leaving that he will be waiting at Tosa, and that he "has one last job for [Ryoma] to do."
He is found at the end of the game, in the room where Yoshida Toyo was murdered. Takechi laments that he and Toyo had opposing views on Ryoma inheriting the Tosa Loyalist Party, and that in order to really change Japan, "blood has to be spilled" and he "must use every means possible" in order to make it happen. He also hands Ryoma the revelation that he had hired the ninja, revealed to be Serizawa Kamo, to assassinate Toyo and several other members. He had later used Ryoma's name in order to make the real Ryoma decide which Ryoma was the right one, or the more just one. During Ryoma's time as Saito Hajime, Takechi had been getting details of his every move from Oryo. He had also ordered Okada and Ito to light Kyoto ablaze, making the fire seem like it was ordered by Kondo Isami.
After Takechi reveals his ideology to Ryoma, the two begin their final duel, one that would take them to the higher floors of the castle. Takechi is beaten. He orders Ryoma to deal the finishing blow, but Ryoma refuses, stating that Sakamoto Ryoma had died back at Omiya, and that Yoshida Toyo and his brother are more important. Takechi, confused, soon realises that he never had the potential to change the country, stating that there was something someone needed to have instead of cold-heartedness; love. Instead of being the one to change the country, he had been used by the system he tried to destroy. He tells Ryoma about how he had always taken care of him during their youth, and even up till now. Takechi and Ryoma decide to share a view of the sun rising from the edge of the sky. With the sun in full view, Takechi tells Ryoma that he'll bring down Tosa, as it had become an injust weapon. He also reveals that he had been used by Yamauchi Yodo, alongside Katsu, to order weapons from England, more prominently from Thomas Glover, to hatch a civil war in Japan. This was so Japan would become available for England to colonize, and give Yodo the emperor's seat. Before Takechi can tell more about Yodo's plan, he spots Yodo aiming for Ryoma with a pistol, and covers him as he is shot in the shoulder. Yodo taunts at the brothers, and exclaims his plans of expanding Japan before firing more shots at Ryoma. Takechi watches from afar as Ryoma, alongside the recovered Okita Soji, Nagakura Shinpachi and Hijikata Toshizo, trap and execute the now cowardly Yodo for his crimes against his country, exclaiming that despite a person's mistakes, they must continue moving forward to see the sun rise in their country.
During the epilogue, which flashforwards two years later in Tokyo, it is revealed he started using Yodo's identity after a year of seclusion in order to fill in Yodo's place, presumably cutting ties with outside interactions to Japan.
Fighting Style[]
Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin![]
Takechi is fought twice in Ishin!: once in Teradaya whilst disguised as a komusō and assisted by goons, and again alone at Yodo Yamauchi's palace, as the final boss. He is quite the formidable opponent, possessing two fighting styles that are both counterparts to Sakamoto's Swordsman and Wild Dancer styles respectively. His aura in Heat Mode is pale purple with a white hue.
Swordsman[]
Takechi's primary fighting style, which he uses in both his first fight and the first and third phases of his last. As a disciple of Nakanishi-ha Ittō-ryū, Takechi is an elegant and refined swordsman who mostly utilizes smooth, coordinated slash attacks. Similar to Sakamoto, he takes a hassō-no-kamaeWP with his blade tilted down, but held higher with his bottom hand open. His moveset is listed as follows:
- a Rush Combo comprising a leftward horizontal slash, an upward diagonal right slash, an upward diagonal left slash, and a spinning leftward horizontal slash;
- a second combo made up of an upward diagonal left slash and a rightward horizontal slash (2nd fight only), followed by:
- a downward vertical slash, or
- a downward vertical slash into a spin, a spinning one-handed straight thrust, and a one-handed upward diagonal right slash;
- a spinning leftward horizontal slash,
- a running upward diagonal left slash (unused),
- a back flip before executing a running one-handed thrust as knockdown reversal (unused),
- quickstep attacks (2nd fight only), including:
- a downward diagonal left slash after frontstepping,
- a running rightward/leftward slash after sidestepping right/left respectively (Heat Mode only), and
- an upward diagonal left slash after backstepping; and
- a hopping one-handed straight thrust command grab, followed by him pulling out of Sakamoto's chest, causing him to fall to the ground; and
- a health-recovery stance where he holds his sword in the air before swinging it back down (unused).
Wild Dancer[]
Used by Takechi in the second phase of his final fight. In this style, he pulls out a Model 2 pistol and fights in a similar fashion to Sakamoto's own Wild Dancer style, but with a greater emphasis on sword attacks than shooting. His stance is the opposite of Sakamoto's, holding his sword up and his pistol at waist-height, instead of the other way around.
He has three unbroken combos, including:
- one consisting of a leftward horizontal slash, a spinning leftward horizontal slash, and a downward left diagonal slash before spinning around and firing his pistol;
- a second one consisting of a downward left diagonal slash, a downward right diagonal slash followed by three gunshots in the same direction, a leftward pirouette slash while firing his pistol rapidly, and a 360° jumping rightward slash followed by a three-shot burst; and
- a third one comprising an underarm sword thrust, a spinning rightward horizontal slash, a leftward horizontal slash, and a sword thrust command grab from behind his back (2nd fight only), followed by him pulling out his sword and flourishing it behind his back, before shooting Sakamoto in the chest (unused).
His sword-based attacks include:
- a lunging rightward horizontal slash,
- holding his sword out and performing multiple flourishing slashes (unused),
- dodge attacks, including:
- a leftward slash while jumping right,
- a spinning rightward slash while jumping left, and
- a leaning upward diagonal left slash while backstepping (unused); and
- a 360° jumping sword plunge as a downed attack.
His pistol-based attacks are listed below:
- standing in-place with sword behind his back while firing his pistol repeatedly,
- stepping back with sword behind his back while firing his pistol (unused),
- a back flip before firing his pistol while kneeling as a knockdown reversal (unused),
- diving right/left into a side roll while firing a three-shot burst, and
- running right/left in a crescent and firing a two-shot burst.
He will often follow up his running shot attacks with another in the opposite direction. He only performs his diving shot attacks after the former.
Takechi will enter Heat Mode early into his second phase, and will remain in it for the rest of the fight. A glitch may occur in this phase where he performs Sakamoto's Rain of Steel and Fire Heat Action.
Takechi's Wild Dancer moveset is reused by the Kazuma Kiryu-esque Man in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
Like a Dragon: Ishin![]
In his Like a Dragon: Ishin! boss fights, Takechi's attack animations are sped up, making him faster than he was in the original. He also starts his last boss fight in Heat Mode.
Takechi has access to his unused Swordsman attacks in his second fight, as well as his sword flourishing and walking-backward pistol shot attacks in his Wild Dancer phase. However, his running-while-shooting attacks and downed attack have been removed from said moveset.
Takechi can also use Sakamoto's Essence of Lightning's Spear ability in his Wild Dancer style, as well as his own version of Essence of Crimson Cuts during his last Swordsman phase.
He is given various different Heat Mode auras: in his first boss fight, he has fiery orange attack trails, although he remains in his calm state like in the first game. During his final fight, he emits a white aura in his first phase, a pale yellow aura in second, and a pinkish red aura with purple highlights in his third.
Trivia[]
- During Chapter 13, Nakaoka shows the remaining Shinsengumi members a photograph of Takechi impersonating Sakamoto Ryoma. This photograph is based on a real historical photograph of Sakamoto Ryoma.
- As stated in the epilogue, his favorite drink is sake.
Gallery[]
Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin![]
.png "RGGI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Dojo).png (106 KB)")
.png "RGGI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Mukurogai).png (122 KB)")
.png "RGGI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Sakamoto Ryoma).png (115 KB)")
.png "RGGI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Komuso).png (103 KB)")
.png "RGGI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Omiya).png (117 KB)")
.png "RGGI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Yamauchi Yodo).png (96 KB)")
Like a Dragon: Ishin![]
.png "LADI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Tosa).png (2.06 MB)")
.png "LADI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Mukurogai).png (2.4 MB)")
.png "LADI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Sakamoto Ryoma).png (1.42 MB)")
.png "LADI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Komuso).png (2.18 MB)")
.png "LADI! - Character Render - Takechi Hanpeita (Omiya).png (1.88 MB)")
Ryu Ga Gotoku Online[]
.png "RGGO - Card - SSR Takechi Hanpeita (Decisive Battle).png (386 KB)")
.png "RGGO - Card - KSR Takechi Hanpeita (Ishin Kiwami).png (394 KB)")