Kagetora, or just Kage, is a main character in Ginga Densetsu Weed and a background character in Ginga Densetsu Weed: Orion and Ginga: The Last Wars.
He is the son of Kurotora and is the first-born brother of Harutora and Nobutora. As well he is the nephew of Akatora and Chūtora and the cousin of Buru, Dodo, Shigure and Shōji.
Appearance[]
Kagetora is a Kai Ken with dark fur and black stripes. His eyes are often colored either brown, yellowish, or greenish.
Earlier in the series, Kagetora gets scars on the left side of his muzzle from Kaibutsu.
Personality[]
Kagetora is brave and loyal dog.
He is somewhat laid-back, but also a bit short-tempered and impulsive like the other Kai dogs, sometimes wishing to make reckless and not very wise attacks.
He shows helpfulness and courage as he "saves" Weed from Ken's minions and says that he will save GB as well.
He is rebellious as he believes that rulers of Ouu cannot do their work well. He started to dislike his old friend Ken who blindly followed the rules. He tends to snap at him at the times and get annoyed by him, but after the defeat of P4, they start to put their quarrels aside for good and become good friends again.
As a Kai dog, he is always ready to die for his friends and honors the memory of his deceased uncle. More or less jokingly, he once said that suitable deaths for him would be either dying for his friends or falling in love and committing a suicide with a female.
Ginga Densetsu Weed[]
Manga[]
He is the leader of a small rebellion group just outside the borders of Ohu.
As a pup, he was best friends with Ken and also played with George. However, as humans started to attack and Ken blamed him, their friendship broke for some time. Also, they had different opinions about the governance.
Monster Arc[]
Kagetora meets Weed and later he sees P4 with Ken, seeing the real reason behind the chaos. P4 slaughtered most of his followers along with the ones of Ken. Kagetora attacked P4 only to get scratched on his face badly that he tumbled off the cliff, Ken not willing to let his friend die went after to grab him with little success. Thankfully, they survived the fall and later on, they fought the monster again with Weed's group with the help of Smith, Mer, Jerome's squad and the humans (Daisuke and Hidetoshi).
Hōgen Arc[]
Later, Kagetora follows Weed to rescue his father from Hougen's fort. He and the Great Dane mix Ken are sent out to Kofu to find their relatives to make them join Weed. When they return with reinforcements, Kagetora and Ken reunites with Weed again. His brothers, Harutora and Nobutora, joins Kagetora’s group while his father and his nephews run to the fortress Gajou to defend it against the Great Dane, Genba. Kagetora stays a loyal fighter in Weed’s pack throughout the series.
Russian Arc[]
Kagetora was seen among with Gin's pack who move off to Hokkaido as Weed was too busy spending time with Koyuki.
Anime[]
Kagetora is the son of Kurotora and brother of Harutora and Nobutora.
He grew up in Kofu with his father and many other Ohu soldiers who for unknown reasons had left Ohu and lived there, he became close friends with Ken, son of two other famous Ohu leaders Ben and Cross. He and Ken decided to leave Kofu when they turned three years old and went to Ohu to become soldiers, they lived in relative peace in Ohu, that is until Kaibutsu launched his attack. Kagetora and Ken were two of the last surviving Ohu soldiers after Kaibustu massacred anything that stood in his way, he even reduced some parts of Ohu to rubble. Kagetora is very impulsive, loyal, and proud. When he and Ken went to find their family and packs, Kagetora's brothers joined his pack, while his father, Kurotora, defended the fortress Gajou with his nephews from the evil Great Dane, Genba.
In the near finale of Hougen Arc, Kagetora and Ken were chosen to lead some of Weed's troops to fight Batto's group. With the help of Ben and Kurotora, he and Ken defeated Batto, he also assisted greatly in the final battle and was one of the rescue parties who rescues Weed from the ice.
Ginga Densetsu Weed: Orion[]
When the volcano erupts, Kagetora gets caught in the smoke with the others and passes out. When he comes to, he sees the Ou dogs are in a shed in the mountains, saved by Kurohabaki Jinemon. They stay there until they are rescued by Daisuke and Hidetoshi. Kagetora follows the group back into the mountains to find Weed.
Final Battle[]
He participates in the final battle Kurohabaki Masamune against the packs.
Ginga: The Last Wars[]
Kagetora is among the dogs when Monsoon attacked. He manages to help protect Weed when he is badly injured by the bears, but is injured himself when he attacks Monsoon to protect Gin. He continues to fight bravely but as with the others is badly injured and placed in a makeshift prison by the bears who have now claimed Ou for themselves.
Many days later, Kagetora and the rest of the dogs are rescued by Mole and his group. Barely able to walk due to injuries and being cramped in the prison for so long.
Shortly after, Kagetora and other Ou army are resting in the grass during a storm.
He tells Kurotora to leave it to him and will act as decoy. Kagetora tells everyone to get out while he get eaten and will not die at once. Kurotora tells him that's stupid and he's not getting eaten. Kurotora says that he's prepared to die but he's speaking with spirit.
Kagetora knows that and tells Kurotora that he's son of Tora-ge after all. He say that he's just not gonna die. He tells Monsoon that his uncle, Akatora took Akakabuto's eye and gave his own life for that. Hook talks to Kagetora saying it's no use doing it alone and go for him all at once and he's not afraid of anything.
Kagetora charged at Monsoon and bit Monsoon's left eye. Monsoon hit Kagetora, he fell on ground and Monsoon run away. Mel and Akakamakiri ask Kage if he's alright and he says yes.
Then, Kagetora begins to hears the victory howls of their comrades proud of their success they begin to join in too.
Next, Kage is seen sleeping in the grass unaware how much time has passed and he goes to see if everyone is alright to which they are. Then, he is alerted by his father that someone is coming thinking it was Monsoon and Akakama stands up to defend them which leaves the kai ken surprised that he could stand up and used his strength fighting the bear when he was here. It turns out it was Orion and Tesshin who tells them that they found Monsoon again but he got away. He her Orion says he'll never forgive Monsoon for what he did and won't let him get away
Kagetora and the others see the hunters searching for any remaining bears, and his father tells them not to be afraid and that these humans are they can trust. He tells them not to bite the humans, especially Akakama, he warns him that it makes enemies they can't work together.
Later, he is treated by Daisuke for his injuries, along with his father and the others Hidetoshi couldn't take in. With his wounds healed, Kagetora and the other injured dogs regroup and are joined by Gin, who left Daisuke's care to check on them. Feeling defeated over their losses, the army spends their days and nights cuddled together for comfort, before Andy, Yamabiko, Bon and Orion leave to find Sirius.
When morning comes Kagetora hears Kyoshiro chew Orion out for sending his friends away. Having enough of Orion's attitude Kyōshirō decides to giveOrion a thrashing and Gin gives the okay. Then, Kagetora watches Kyōshirō challenge Orion to a fight even though he lost. He saw Orion crying in tears saying that he stayed behind for the sake of everyone because the Ohu Army needs a true leader.
Sometime later, Kagetora sees Orion go crazy and purposely fall into the valley, which he and the others are running after him. Kage's father shouts at Orion, calling him a fool and if he wanted to die. But he hears that Jerome is going to bring him back and sees Jerome falling after him.
After Orion's returning visit from Akame and the others, he hears that everyone is doing well. Kage goes with everyone to search for the lost sickle but after days of searching it's no where to be found. With Kyoshiro thinking that Orion isn't leader material anymore they all choose Cross to be the new boss with Kuro agreeing and when Orion returns. He hears Orion say that he is going to learn some new secret ninja techniques he picked up from Akame. Believing in the young pup he follows the others to watch Orion.
Seeing the young pup's skills Kage and the others want to try too but when kai ken takes a swing but he doesn't do the same as Orion. He hears from Orion what he learned in a day took Akame two years to learn as the training continues he becomes impressed with Orion's progressed and gets encouraged to keep training. Then, he hears that Rigel and Rocket have returned but bring a bear cub and charges at it with the others when Kyoshiro goes to attack the cub he becomes astonished that Rigel flipped the kishu over with ease after Rigel explains everything the kai ken becomes surprised that Sirius wants them to raise Chibi until he becomes an adult.
Kagetora watches Rigel and Rocket convince Orion not to kill Chibi. Then, when his father hears Orion talk disrespectfully towards his comrades and calls the pup a brat with his father reminding if he wants to be a good solider he needs to watch what he says. When he hears that Orion is trying to protect him and everyone in Ohu Kage hears his father say that he doesn't need protecting from Orion. He also sees Orion pointing his bamboo stick at his father convincing the pup to attack him but is stopped by Jerome and watches in horror as Orion almost attacks the shepard. He watches Kyoshiro give Orion a beat crying in tears but soon the tears turn into laughter as everyone runs back up the hill.
Ginga Densetsu Noah[]
Trivia[]
- In the Ginga Densetsu Weed Gengashū Kagetora is stated as a purebred Kai Ken.
- In the GDW Finnish And Swedish Collectors Booklet this statement was approved.
- Although often treated like a youngster, Kagetora is actually only a little younger than Gin, thus making him one of the older dogs.