Han'nya

Han'nya (般若 (はんにゃ) ^?) is an Oniwabanshū Ninja, under the command of Shinomori Aoshi. His specialty is espionage and disguises. His fighting style makes use of steel gloves and horizontal stripes on his sleeves, as well as hidden tekkō-kagi(clawed gauntlets). The stripes create the illusion that his arms are shorter than they actually are, allowing him to hit master evaders such as Kenshin. He has crushed his cheek bones and removed his nose, lips, and ears, giving him a monstrous appearance. This is to allow him to "wear any face atop [his] own." He was defeated and spared by Kenshin after his "arm stretching spell" was figured out and his claws failed to land a blow. He was later gunned down by Takeda Kanryū while assisting Kenshin rescue Takani Megumi. His head is buried on a remote, dangerous mountain along with those of his comrades.

Appearance[]

Hanyaface — Han'nya's face after being intentionally disfigured

Han'nya always keeps his face hidden by a traditional hannya mask when not wearing a disguise. His actual face is disfigured, though for differing reasons in the manga and anime. In the manga, he purposefully disfigured his own face, making it as flat as possible so as to enable him to wear any facial disguise perfectly over his own.

Download — Han'nya in his traditional hannya mask

In the anime, however, no reason is specifically given for his facial deformity, although when his mask does break, he states that he was involved in many hell-like battles all for the sake of the Oniwabanshū, suggesting that this may have been the underlying reason for his facial mutilation. Underneath the mask, he looks similar to the way he does in the manga, though his face partially obscured by the remnants of his broken mask in the anime. His arms are either painted or tattooed with horizontal red and black stripes so as to give the illusion that they are shorter than they are when he is fighting. He wears a sleeveless blue shinobi outfit with a skin tight black hooded shirt underneath and gloves which conceal long metal claws, as well as his namesake mask, colored white with a red tongue and yellow teeth and horns. He appears to have no pupils.

Personality[]

He is very loyal to Aoshi as seen when giving his life to protect him. In combat, Han'nya is very honorable to his enemies, commending Himura Kenshin for his skill, when the latter defeated him and later informing him where Megumi Takani was held so that he can rescue her. He also seemed to have a strong bond with Misao, as he appeared to her in a daydream, saying Aoshi would return to them.

Relationships[]

Shinomori Aoshi: The Oniwabanshū okashira and the person who gives commands to Han'nya. He highly respects Aoshi and arrived to protect him from Takeda Kanryū's Gatling Gun, sacrificing his life for Aoshi.
Tokyo Oniwabanshū : Beshimi, Shikijō and Hyottoko are his teammates under the command of Aoshi. Han'nya respects his teammates and they work together as Aoshi orders.
Makimachi Misao: The grandaughter of the previous Oniwabanshū okashira. She loved Han'nya (alongside all the Tokyo Oniwabanshū), and cried a lot when they left the Aoiya to search for work as shinobi.
Takeda Kanryū: The employer of the Tokyo Oniwabanshū, who grew dissatisfied by the way Shinomori Aoshi treated him and decided to kill him using a Gatling Gun. Han'nya sacrificed his life trying to protect Aoshi from the Gatling Gun.

Abilities[]

Han'nya is described as adept at ninjutsu. He is able to provide Kenshin with a tough challenge, having learned all his skills from Aoshi. He fights with the claws in his gloves, which are usually kept hidden until he strikes. The unusual stripes on his arm are used for deception when he attacks - it makes his arms look shorter than they really are when he strikes, causing his opponent to misjudge his reach. Han'nya is second only to Aoshi, when it comes to power and skill level among the Tokyo Oniwabanshū. It is suggested in the manga that Han'nya may have taken some of the same muscle enhancer as Shikijō, as Shikijō claimed that if Sanosuke took it, he could become as strong as Han'nya or himself.

History[]

Han'nya was born in an extremely poor village where there was scarcely any food, and so it was common for villagers to kill their own children to avoid starvation. He managed to evade this fate, but still was abandoned by his own parents and was left in the slums to rot. Aoshi took him in as his own pupil and raised him to be an elite ninja and spy. In strict adherence to his duties, Han'nya willingly disfigured his own face. Having learned kempo from Aoshi, he in turn taught it to Misao.

At the end of the Bakumatsu Shinomori Aoshi and 4 of his followers (Han'nya included) decided to leave the Aoiya in Kyōto to work as shinobi by themselves, because they felt they couldn't get accustomed to the new era of peace where the Oniwabanshū Onmitsu where no longer neccesary. Eventually they ended up in Tokyo working for Takeda Kanryū.

Tokyo Arc[]

Han'nya's voice is first heard when Aoshi notices he must have followed Kenshin and the others to the execution site of a pair of gangsters that Kanryū hired to capture Megumi, but he does not have a role until a bit later when Beshimi and Hyottoko are both defeated and he comes to their aid after Kenshin and Sanosuke defeated both of them. He manages to block a swing from Kenshin's swift sword, but Kenshin in turn uses the recoil of his counterattack to strike for his side, hurting his liver and leaving him unable to battle for a few days.

Han'nya later reappears disguised as an old man looking to sell trashy books and manages to take Megumi back to Kanryū. When Megumi shows up, she makes it clear that she has no intention of going along with his evil schemes and nearly kills him (Kanryū is saved by Han'nya's quick Ninjitsu skills). Han'nya is assigned by Aoshi to defend the frontline post, but is beaten by Kenshin, paving way for Sanosuke to fight and (barely) defeat Shikijō. All three later regain consciousness, and hearing the sound of gatling gun fire, both Shikijō and Han'nya fall before Kanryū's gun alongside their comrades Hyottoko and Beshimi in order to protect their master, Aoshi. Afterwards, Aoshi cuts off his allies' heads and runs from the mansion when the police arrives. Aoshi then buries their heads in the mountains and plans to place flowers on their graves when he defeats Kenshin.

Kyōto Arc[]

Han'nya later appears as a supernatural vision before Misao when she is knocked down by Honjō Kamatari's attack, addressing her as "Lady Misao" and informing her that the Battōsai had kept his promise, and Aoshi would finally return to her.

Development and Reception[]

Han'nya was based on Yamazaki Susumu, who was the spy for the Shinsengumi. Han'nya is described by Watsuki as "not really being a villain". His steel gloves and hidden tekkō-kagi(clawed gauntlets) are a direct reference to the Wolverine, a character from the Marvel Comics.

Trivia[]

He may wear dentures with his disguises as he has sharp, filed teeth, though in his old man disguise, they appear normal.
Han'nya's name is derived from the mask he wears, one of the archetypal masks of Noh theater called the "Hannya" mask.
There are differences in the graphical depiction of Han'nya in the different itterations of the story:
- Han'nya's depiction in the 1996 anime is closer to his original manga appearance.
- In the 2023 anime Han'nya is depicted with their graphical appearance as illustrated in the 22-volume kanzenban edition and 14-volume bunkoban edition of the manga covers (with a slighly different clothing color palette and more ellaborated clothing than normally).
In the manga, Han'nya's entire mask falls off revealing his whole face, however in the 1996 anime only a portion of it breaks off, and a small part of his face can be seen.