Mukuro Rokudo
Encyclopedia
is a fictional character
in the Reborn!
manga
and anime
series created by Akira Amano
. Portrayed as the series' first primary antagonist
, Mukuro Rokudo is introduced as a 15-year-old Mafia criminal who is the leader of the Kokuyo Gang, which consists of heinous criminals who have recently escaped from prison
. However, later on in the series, after possessing the body of Chrome Dokuro, he takes on a more supportive role for the series' main characters, becoming somewhat of an ally rather than an enemy, though he prefers to not want to associate with them. Apart from the manga and anime, Mukuro has also appeared in other media from the Reborn! franchise including video games and novels.
Mukuro's character has been well-received by readers since his introduction, ranking as one of the most popular characters in every official Shonen Jump
poll of the series. Also, his and Kyoya Hibari
's character CD
entitled "Sakura addiction", peaked at seventh place on the Oricon
charts
. Their performance earned each of their voice actors
a Seiyū Awards
' nomination for "Best Musical Performance", in addition to Toshinobu Iida being nominated as the "Best Rookie Actor" for his portrayal as Mukuro Rokudo. Numerous anime and manga publications have commented on Mukuro's character, mostly receiving positive reviews. Merchandise based on his appearance has also been released including key chains and action figures.
, which is reserved for the most dangerous of Mafia criminals, who have even committed crimes against the Mafia itself. He cares little for others, and simply considers people to be "toys" he can sacrifice in order to get to what he wants. However, despite claiming this, he seems to tolerate both Ken and Chikusa, and even protects them, as well as sacrifice himself for them, when need be, though does not do so in front of them. To keep his identity hidden, Mukuro periodically controls
several people, most notably Lancia, whom he uses as a "fake Mukuro". He also seems to care for Chrome, though he hides it in front of others, as in chapter 354 he told Tsuna to 'take good care of her'.
Mukuro is implied to have a strong dislike for the entire Mafia underground, due in part to the experimentations he suffered as a child at the hands of the Estraneo Mafia family. When Mukuro killed his captors, he offered Chikusa and Ken, who were also victims of experimentation, a chance to join him in his quest to destroy the world. However, not only does he want to take revenge on the Mafia by destroying it, he also wants to cleanse the world of its filth by invoking universal suffering through a world war
. Even after becoming the Vongola's Mist Guardian, Mukuro still claims to no longer be part of the Mafia, having been exiled from it, and continues to view the organization with great contempt.
, and is capable of using combative skills, he is first and foremost a master of illusion
s, thus he is not easily deceived by illusions that are cast by others. His abilities lie in his , six different skills which he claims has been carved into his memories by having had his body go through all six paths to Hades
. When using his skills, a Japanese numeral
, corresponding to the realm he has entered, appears in his right eye. The skills granted from the individual paths varies from enhancing his physical and mind-controlling abilities, as well as his power of his illusions, to enabling him to control and summon animals.
Mukuro also possesses the Estraneo Family's Possession Bullet, a forbidden bullet which enables a person to possess the body of another person when the possessor is shot with it. With this, Mukuro is able to possess and control the body of anyone that he has cut with his trident. He can possess several bodies simultaneously, and he is also still able to enter the Six Realms, granting him the ability to use a different skill for each body.
After arriving in Japan from Italy, and enrolling in Kokuyo Middle School, ten days prior to their first appearance, Mukuro, Chikusa, and Ken, started a gang made up of Mafia criminals, and began their quest to find the Vongola's tenth generation boss. After having his subordinates attack the strongest students in Namimori Middle School, he successfully draws out the tenth boss, Tsunayoshi Sawada., A.K.A Tsuna.During Mukuro's fight with Tsuna, he reveals his plans of taking over Tsuna's body in order to take revenge on the Mafia. However, he loses the battle to Tsuna and he and his friends are imprisoned by the Mafia's guardians, the Vendicare.
They later attempt a breakout, but Mukuro uses himself as bait, and ends up being thrown into a lower level jail cell. Whilst strolling in his illusions, he comes upon Chrome Dokuro, who was on the verge of death, and possesses her, saving her life with illusionary organs. He then makes a bargain with the Vongola to become one of the ring guardians in exchange for Ken and Chikusa's safety. Now sharing an existence with Chrome, Mukuro later helps her defeat Mammon after he emerges in his own form.
In the story's alternate future
(nearly ten years later), Millefiore member Glo Xinia gloats about having defeated him to a displaced Chrome, who had been transported into the future by the Ten-Year Bazooka. However, the future Mukuro had possessed Glo's owl and helps Chrome defeat him in battle. While spying on the Millefiore Family, Mukuro engages Byakuran in battle but is severely wounded. He reappears as an illusion during the Vongola's battle against the Six Funeral Wreaths fighting Byakuran in order to give the Vongola enough time to escape. He is later able to assist them in person after his apprentice, Fran, frees his body from the Vendicare's Prison.
After Tsuna's group returns back to the past, Mukuro is lured into possessing Chrome when Daemon Spade endangers her life. Mukuro seemingly defeats Daemon, but the latter is able to take over Mukuro's imprisoned body before Mukuro's spirit can return to it and breaks out of prison to confront the group shortly after. He is later restored to his physical form after Tsuna defeats Daemon and expel his spirit. As Vendici acknowledge Mukuro's efforts in his fight with Daemon, he was freed and returned to Namimori.
Several weeks after the battle with Daemon, Mukuro left Chrome alone on Kokuyo Land, leaving a note that telling her to depart from there and a Namimori uniform. Afterwards, he convened Reborn to talk about Chrome and told him that he and his gang will go to France to recruit Fran into their team and meanwhile, he leave Chrome in Namimori but didn't tell him his reason for leaving her. In countryside of France called Jura, they found Flan along with Varia who also wanted to recruit Fran into their team. However, both sides quickly refused to take him into their custody once Fran mocked them (referring Mukuro as "pineapple fairy" and Varia as "tooth decay fungis") and knowing that Fran had lost his memories of the future. After they came back from France, Verde requested for Mukuro and his gang to fight for him in upcoming Arcobaleno battle. The next day, Mukuro and his gang declared war against Tsuna and his Family, saying that he had swore to himself that he will defeat Tsuna after he was freed from Vendice Prison, and to fulfill this, he accepted Verde's proposal.
, Hidden Bullet: Mukuro's Illusions, where the events of how Mukuro took over Kokuyo Middle School are revealed. Also, in the series' character book, Vongola77, there is a short story of how Mukuro uses his spiritual powers to control the body of a small boy in Japan in order to once again try to take over Tsuna's body despite being imprisoned in Italy. After failing and realizing that he is incapable of residing in his host body for a long amount of time due to their unstable "connection", he thought of later taking Chrome's body instead.
On November 7, 2007, Pony Canyon
released a character CD entitled "Sakura addiction", which features both Mukuro and Hibari. It contains duets and individual songs sung by both voice actors: Toshinobu Iida and Takashi Kondō
. The song "Sakura addiction", which was sung by both voice actors, is used as the fifth ending theme
for the anime series.
poll of the series, which was divided into heroes and villains. In the third poll of the series, Mukuro ranked as the third most popular male character, losing to Tsunayoshi Sawada and Kyoya Hibari, who took second and first place, respectively. Mukuro then placed in both popularity polls the fourth time around, which was divided into current characters, where he placed fourth, and as characters who fans would most like to see in their future forms, where he placed fourteenth. In the fifth poll, he ranked as the fourth most popular overall character. The Japanese music distributor Recochoku has made two annual survey of which anime characters that people would like to marry. In both years, Mukuro ranked fourth in the category "The Character I Want to Be My Groom." In an Animedia character popularity poll, Mukuro has been featured as the 11th most popular anime character. In the latest Animedia character popularity poll, Mukuro has been featured 21st. A plethora of merchandise has been released in Mukuro's likeness including key chains, plush dolls, and action figures.
Mukuro and Hibari's character CD, "Sakura addiction", became the most successful Reborn! character CD, debuting in ninth place in the Oricon
charts. The single reached its peak at seventh place, but remained in the chart's Top 40 till mid-January 2008. The second annual Seiyū Awards nominated both Toshinobu Iida and Takashi Kondō for "Best Musical Performance", and Toshinobu also received a "Best Rookie Actor" nomination for his portrayal as Mukuro Rokudo, but he did not win either.
In publications focused on manga and anime reviews, Mukuro's concept has received praise and acclaim. Leroy Douresseaux of comicbookbin.com views him as "murderous and supernaturally powerful," as well as being a "slippery and formidable villain" by the way he attacks Tsuna and his friends. Sam Kusek of Manga Recon likes Mukuro as the enigmatic villain, though believes him to be a "big creep". He also praises Akira Amano for the originality of Mukuro's techniques, viewing it as "one of the most interesting ideas I've seen," and making him, along with Tsuna, the "real winners overall" of volume 9. However, David Rasmussen from mangalife.com commented that the fight against Mukuro in the manga is a "long, long, DragonBall-Z
-sized struggle". As such, he mentioned that the fight is very likable for readers who enjoy "super-powerful people" and long fights.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Reborn!
Reborn!
Reborn!, known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Akira Amano. The plot revolves around the life of a young boy named Tsunayoshi Sawada, who finds out that he is next in line to become the boss of the most powerful Mafia organization called Vongola, the Vongola Family...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series created by Akira Amano
Akira Amano
is a female Japanese manga artist known for the shōnen manga series Reborn!.Early versions of Reborn! were published in seinen manga magazines. In late 2003, the series, a stand-alone short story at the time, was published in the Weekly Shōnen Jump. After the success of the short story, the series...
. Portrayed as the series' first primary antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
, Mukuro Rokudo is introduced as a 15-year-old Mafia criminal who is the leader of the Kokuyo Gang, which consists of heinous criminals who have recently escaped from prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. However, later on in the series, after possessing the body of Chrome Dokuro, he takes on a more supportive role for the series' main characters, becoming somewhat of an ally rather than an enemy, though he prefers to not want to associate with them. Apart from the manga and anime, Mukuro has also appeared in other media from the Reborn! franchise including video games and novels.
Mukuro's character has been well-received by readers since his introduction, ranking as one of the most popular characters in every official Shonen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
poll of the series. Also, his and Kyoya Hibari
Kyoya Hibari
is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Reborn! created by Akira Amano. For the most part of the series, Hibari is portrayed as an anti-hero, taking little to no interest in the events that surround the main protagonist, Tsuna Sawada. He is introduced as the leader of the...
's character CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
entitled "Sakura addiction", peaked at seventh place on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
. Their performance earned each of their voice actors
Seiyu
Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...
a Seiyū Awards
Seiyu Awards
The are award ceremonies for the recognition of voice acting talent for outstanding performance in anime and other media in Japan...
' nomination for "Best Musical Performance", in addition to Toshinobu Iida being nominated as the "Best Rookie Actor" for his portrayal as Mukuro Rokudo. Numerous anime and manga publications have commented on Mukuro's character, mostly receiving positive reviews. Merchandise based on his appearance has also been released including key chains and action figures.
Personality
Mukuro is often seen with a playful smile and seems apathetic to the suffering of others. Appearing as the series' first antagonist, Mukuro is not averse to disposing of those who get in his way, and is not easily intimidated, usually speaking to others in a very direct and arrogant manner. Prior to his first appearance, he, along with Ken Joshima and Chikusa Kakimoto, is mentioned to have been locked up in a high security Italian prisonPrison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, which is reserved for the most dangerous of Mafia criminals, who have even committed crimes against the Mafia itself. He cares little for others, and simply considers people to be "toys" he can sacrifice in order to get to what he wants. However, despite claiming this, he seems to tolerate both Ken and Chikusa, and even protects them, as well as sacrifice himself for them, when need be, though does not do so in front of them. To keep his identity hidden, Mukuro periodically controls
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
several people, most notably Lancia, whom he uses as a "fake Mukuro". He also seems to care for Chrome, though he hides it in front of others, as in chapter 354 he told Tsuna to 'take good care of her'.
Mukuro is implied to have a strong dislike for the entire Mafia underground, due in part to the experimentations he suffered as a child at the hands of the Estraneo Mafia family. When Mukuro killed his captors, he offered Chikusa and Ken, who were also victims of experimentation, a chance to join him in his quest to destroy the world. However, not only does he want to take revenge on the Mafia by destroying it, he also wants to cleanse the world of its filth by invoking universal suffering through a world war
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
. Even after becoming the Vongola's Mist Guardian, Mukuro still claims to no longer be part of the Mafia, having been exiled from it, and continues to view the organization with great contempt.
Weapons and abilities
Known as someone who has driven both the Mafia and police into dangerous and desperate of situations, Mukuro is a deadly opponent. Though Mukuro's main weapon is a tridentTrident
A trident , also called a trishul or leister or gig, is a three-pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and was also a military weapon. Tridents are featured widely in mythical, historical and modern culture. The major Hindu god, Shiva the Destroyer and the sea god Poseidon or Neptune are...
, and is capable of using combative skills, he is first and foremost a master of illusion
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people....
s, thus he is not easily deceived by illusions that are cast by others. His abilities lie in his , six different skills which he claims has been carved into his memories by having had his body go through all six paths to Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
. When using his skills, a Japanese numeral
Japanese numerals
The system of Japanese numerals is the system of number names used in the Japanese language. The Japanese numerals in writing are entirely based on the Chinese numerals and the grouping of large numbers follow the Chinese tradition of grouping by 10,000...
, corresponding to the realm he has entered, appears in his right eye. The skills granted from the individual paths varies from enhancing his physical and mind-controlling abilities, as well as his power of his illusions, to enabling him to control and summon animals.
Mukuro also possesses the Estraneo Family's Possession Bullet, a forbidden bullet which enables a person to possess the body of another person when the possessor is shot with it. With this, Mukuro is able to possess and control the body of anyone that he has cut with his trident. He can possess several bodies simultaneously, and he is also still able to enter the Six Realms, granting him the ability to use a different skill for each body.
Plot overview
They later attempt a breakout, but Mukuro uses himself as bait, and ends up being thrown into a lower level jail cell. Whilst strolling in his illusions, he comes upon Chrome Dokuro, who was on the verge of death, and possesses her, saving her life with illusionary organs. He then makes a bargain with the Vongola to become one of the ring guardians in exchange for Ken and Chikusa's safety. Now sharing an existence with Chrome, Mukuro later helps her defeat Mammon after he emerges in his own form.
In the story's alternate future
Alternate future
In science fiction stories involving time travel, an alternative future or alternate future is a possible future which never comes to pass, typically because someone travels back into the past and alters it so that the events of the alternative future cannot occur.An alternative future differs from...
(nearly ten years later), Millefiore member Glo Xinia gloats about having defeated him to a displaced Chrome, who had been transported into the future by the Ten-Year Bazooka. However, the future Mukuro had possessed Glo's owl and helps Chrome defeat him in battle. While spying on the Millefiore Family, Mukuro engages Byakuran in battle but is severely wounded. He reappears as an illusion during the Vongola's battle against the Six Funeral Wreaths fighting Byakuran in order to give the Vongola enough time to escape. He is later able to assist them in person after his apprentice, Fran, frees his body from the Vendicare's Prison.
After Tsuna's group returns back to the past, Mukuro is lured into possessing Chrome when Daemon Spade endangers her life. Mukuro seemingly defeats Daemon, but the latter is able to take over Mukuro's imprisoned body before Mukuro's spirit can return to it and breaks out of prison to confront the group shortly after. He is later restored to his physical form after Tsuna defeats Daemon and expel his spirit. As Vendici acknowledge Mukuro's efforts in his fight with Daemon, he was freed and returned to Namimori.
Several weeks after the battle with Daemon, Mukuro left Chrome alone on Kokuyo Land, leaving a note that telling her to depart from there and a Namimori uniform. Afterwards, he convened Reborn to talk about Chrome and told him that he and his gang will go to France to recruit Fran into their team and meanwhile, he leave Chrome in Namimori but didn't tell him his reason for leaving her. In countryside of France called Jura, they found Flan along with Varia who also wanted to recruit Fran into their team. However, both sides quickly refused to take him into their custody once Fran mocked them (referring Mukuro as "pineapple fairy" and Varia as "tooth decay fungis") and knowing that Fran had lost his memories of the future. After they came back from France, Verde requested for Mukuro and his gang to fight for him in upcoming Arcobaleno battle. The next day, Mukuro and his gang declared war against Tsuna and his Family, saying that he had swore to himself that he will defeat Tsuna after he was freed from Vendice Prison, and to fulfill this, he accepted Verde's proposal.
Appearances in other media
Besides his appearance in the original manga series and its anime adaptation, Mukuro has appeared in other Reborn! works, including all of the series' video games. Mukuro also appears in the first light novelLight novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
, Hidden Bullet: Mukuro's Illusions, where the events of how Mukuro took over Kokuyo Middle School are revealed. Also, in the series' character book, Vongola77, there is a short story of how Mukuro uses his spiritual powers to control the body of a small boy in Japan in order to once again try to take over Tsuna's body despite being imprisoned in Italy. After failing and realizing that he is incapable of residing in his host body for a long amount of time due to their unstable "connection", he thought of later taking Chrome's body instead.
On November 7, 2007, Pony Canyon
Pony Canyon
is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
released a character CD entitled "Sakura addiction", which features both Mukuro and Hibari. It contains duets and individual songs sung by both voice actors: Toshinobu Iida and Takashi Kondō
Takashi Kondo
is a Japanese voice actor represented by Vi-vo.-Anime roles:Lead roles are in bold.*Beyblade - Miguel*Bleach - Di Roy Linker, Findor Carias, Narunosuke*Captain Tsubasa - Pepe*Chocotto Sister - Awara in episode 3*Fairy Tail - Hibiki...
. The song "Sakura addiction", which was sung by both voice actors, is used as the fifth ending theme
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
for the anime series.
Reception
Mukuro has been highly popular with the Reborn! reader base, having ranked as the most popular villain in the second official Shonen JumpWeekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
poll of the series, which was divided into heroes and villains. In the third poll of the series, Mukuro ranked as the third most popular male character, losing to Tsunayoshi Sawada and Kyoya Hibari, who took second and first place, respectively. Mukuro then placed in both popularity polls the fourth time around, which was divided into current characters, where he placed fourth, and as characters who fans would most like to see in their future forms, where he placed fourteenth. In the fifth poll, he ranked as the fourth most popular overall character. The Japanese music distributor Recochoku has made two annual survey of which anime characters that people would like to marry. In both years, Mukuro ranked fourth in the category "The Character I Want to Be My Groom." In an Animedia character popularity poll, Mukuro has been featured as the 11th most popular anime character. In the latest Animedia character popularity poll, Mukuro has been featured 21st. A plethora of merchandise has been released in Mukuro's likeness including key chains, plush dolls, and action figures.
Mukuro and Hibari's character CD, "Sakura addiction", became the most successful Reborn! character CD, debuting in ninth place in the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
charts. The single reached its peak at seventh place, but remained in the chart's Top 40 till mid-January 2008. The second annual Seiyū Awards nominated both Toshinobu Iida and Takashi Kondō for "Best Musical Performance", and Toshinobu also received a "Best Rookie Actor" nomination for his portrayal as Mukuro Rokudo, but he did not win either.
In publications focused on manga and anime reviews, Mukuro's concept has received praise and acclaim. Leroy Douresseaux of comicbookbin.com views him as "murderous and supernaturally powerful," as well as being a "slippery and formidable villain" by the way he attacks Tsuna and his friends. Sam Kusek of Manga Recon likes Mukuro as the enigmatic villain, though believes him to be a "big creep". He also praises Akira Amano for the originality of Mukuro's techniques, viewing it as "one of the most interesting ideas I've seen," and making him, along with Tsuna, the "real winners overall" of volume 9. However, David Rasmussen from mangalife.com commented that the fight against Mukuro in the manga is a "long, long, DragonBall-Z
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
-sized struggle". As such, he mentioned that the fight is very likable for readers who enjoy "super-powerful people" and long fights.