[Honey's Crush Wednesday] 5 Heizou Hasegawa Highlights - Onihei

onihei-Wallpaper-500x500 [Honey's Crush Wednesday] 5 Heizou Hasegawa Highlights - Onihei

Men Can Engage In Evil, While Doing Good!

  • Episodes: 13
  • Genre: Historical, Seinen
  • Airing Date: January 2017 – April 2017
  • Producers: M2


Onihei Preview (No Spoilers)

It's 1783, Tenmei era. The city of Edo is threatened by criminals, thieves and all sorts of scumbags. In order to guarantee the safety of the region, the Arson Theft Control division does its best; the chief is Heizou Hasegawa – a feared man called “Devil Heizou (Oni-hei)”, who is feared because of his blade skills. Hasegawa and his men try to keep the peace in the city, stopping the criminals at night, barging into the most dangerous situations at the last minute, fighting fearlessly and head on. But aside the facade of the “Devil Heizou”, and behind the role of the Arson Theft Control chief, who is the very man who swings his blade so skillfully?

Heizou Hasegawa Bio

Seiyuu Name: Kenyuu Horiuchi

As we already mentioned, Heizou Hasegawa is known as “Devil Heizou”, and is the chief of the Arson Theft Division. Throughout the show, step by step, his true personality unfolds and we discover the man in all his respects. Heizou Hasegawa is depicted as a very deep character, with a dominant, charming and elegant personality: a true leader. With his clever remarks and good advice, he shows a sharp mind and a very good instinct at deciphering every kind of situation. With his sword, Heizou Hasegawa proves to be worthy of the epithet “Devil”, as his swordplay is really something else. Yet, the flip side of this amazing character, is that of a caring husband and, unexpectedly, a loving father: with his firstborn he shows a certain attitude that usually starts gags, while with his adoptive little daughter, he shows an affection that is almost out of his character.

Heizou Hasegawa Highlights (Spoilers beyond this point)

1. A Compassionate Man

From the beginning of the show, we can clearly see how Heizou Hasegawa is depicted as a devil, but is actually a very compassionate man. In fact, he is not up to shed blood as a real devil would; on the contrary, Heizou is open to dialogue with the criminals he catches, and is willing to pay attention to what they have to say. In the first episode, he believed the word of a man – Kumehachi – he had just put in jail, and went as far as to free him. Not only did he free Kumehachi, but Heizou collaborated with him in order to catch the real Tanbei of Chigashira, who had wreaked havoc in Edo.

The trust placed in Kumehachi proved Heizou's good instinct, leaving even his underlings with their mouths open. Kumehachi lived up to Heizou's expectations, and helped him; from that moment onward, the compassion Heizou had showed to Kumehachi, made him gain a new important pawn who, from time to time, would lend a helping hand.

2. A Man With A Past

As we already said, Heizou Hasegawa has a sharp mind, and he is a man with good instincts. What's more, he seems very composed and nothing seems to faze him, but was it always like that? There's a certain episode 9 where we discover who was Heizou Hasegawa, before turning into the feared “Onihei”.

Back in the days, when Heizou attended lessons at the Takasugi Dojo, he had a fated meeting with a skilled man – Jyubei Matsuoka. We find a totally different Heizou Hasegawa, whose younger version is hot-tempered, impatient and foulmouthed. Basically, the exact opposite of what he will become later on. What's more, we discover the relationship he had with his father's legal wife, who considered Heizou unable to become the heir.

After arguing with his father's wife, a dispirited Heizou was on the verge of becoming a criminal: he accepted an assignment to rob with one of his best friend, but it was Matsuoka, the man he had met in the Dojo days before – who was actually a thief – who opened his eyes and made him step back. A lesson that cost Heizou Hasegawa dearly, making him realize later on the seriousness of the situation, and what consequences it would bring.

3. A Loving Father

While Onihei, which is episodic, unfolds, we realize some of the sweet traits of Heizou Hasegawa's personality. Heizou and Hisae have one son, whose name is Tatsuzou, and an adoptive daughter, the little Ojun. To show you once again Heizou's compassion, we need to say that Ojun was the daughter of a theft he previously arrested, and he loves her as if she was his actual child.

When Heizou interacts with Tatsuzou, there are a lot of gags because he tries to play the strict father, while in the past he was just as unruly as his son. When Tatsuzou can't see, Heizou expresses how proud of him he actually is. As for his relationship with the little Ojun, they are very close. It's impossible to forget the 7th episode, when Gohei Ishikawa revealed to Ojun the truth about her real father and she ran away. It was about to end in a tragedy, but when Heizou managed to save Ojun, he kept apologizing, and kept repeating how for him, she is like a real daughter.

4. A Devilish Swordman

We can't avoid mentioning Heizou Hasegawa's skills as a swordsman. For what we see through the show, we realize that he has always been fond of the blade arts, and from the beginning – when he attended lessons at the Dojo – he showed his talent and loved showing off.

Heizou Hasegawa proves to be a skilled swordsman in more than one occasion; in fact, he is the most feared man in Edo, and even outside Edo his name is very well known. It's interesting to see how even the biggest, and strongest man, grow pale at the mention of the name “Onihei” or “Heizou Hasegawa”. His fame grew up step by step, deed after deed he became the respected man every underling venerates.

5. A True Leader

The 4th point brings us directly to the 5th, as a consequence. Heizou Hasegawa is a charismatic man and a born leader. What is interesting, is that he doesn't really have to struggle to be obeyed. His compassionate attitude, his sword skills, his way of interacting with his underlings is what makes the magic. This is so true that even though Heizou is the chief, his underlings admire him and almost treat him as a friend, and so does Heizou Hasegawa with them.

He likes drinking, and doesn't blame his underlings if they drink; he loved women when he was younger, so he doesn't blame an underling who messes up because of a woman. Heizou Hasegawa has always interesting remarks over the situations, or meaningful comments, and even some jokes. As he is admired by both friends and foes, feared by even the strongest men, and loved by his family, we thought he deserved even the viewers' admiration!


Final Thoughts

We end this article hoping you enjoyed Heizou Hasegawa's personality, as much as we did. This multifaceted man intrigued and amused us all along the wonderful journey called “Onihei”. Sadly, this show went a bit unnoticed, and it's a pity because its plot and art style are really something else. And didn't we just give you another reason to watch it? Heizou Hasegawa, the chief of the Arson Theft division, is there and awaits you. This charming man, and all the other characters and deeply touching stories are worth it. Now please, for those who watched and appreciated Onihei and Heizou Hasegawa, let us know how enthusiastically you loved him in the comments below!

onihei-Wallpaper-500x500 [Honey's Crush Wednesday] 5 Heizou Hasegawa Highlights - Onihei

Writer

Author: Mari Mari

An italian girl currently living the Japanese Dream. I'm an anime and manga enthusiast (I mean... very enthusiast. XD), and my other hobbies are writing, reading, playing volleyball, listening to good music and thinking about pointless things.

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