Otsuru (大鶴 Ōtsuru) was once a young woman who lives under the pseudonym "Okiku" (お菊) given to her by the Empty 7 and a violent religious organization she was once an agent of.
She later died by her contractor's hands after meeting Afro later in adulthood.
Appearance[]
As an adult, Otsuru appears as a traditionally beautiful(Yamato nadeshiko style) and slim and curvaceous fair-skinned young Japanese woman with butt-length black hair (it appears purple in the lighting) that is usually tied up in a ponytail by a dark purple scrunchy accented by kanzashi with bangs hanging on the side/over her face and a single lock of hair feathering her nose,pink lipstick, black eyes and a pair of gold 40mm hoop earrings. her height is 158cm (5'2) and she weighs 52 kg (115 lbs) her very pint sized height makes her one of the most shortest than Sio.
Otsuru's attire is a magenta kimono and a unique violet Obi which splits into two knee-length sashes, her footwear is of a traditional tabi along with a pair of high-heel/geta hybrid.
Under her clothing is a long, giant scar that serves as a reminder of the damage she received as a child during the raid on Sword Master's dojo.
Personality[]
Otsuru was a kind, gentle and compassionate woman who healed the sick and injured. She's also shown to have a very deceptive personality due to the fact that she was ordered to copy Afro's sword skills and assassinate him, but she exhibits extreme reluctance in carrying out her mission due to her love for Afro. In spite for her gentle nature, she has proven herself to be lethal and merciless in a battle.
Background[]
Otsuru started off as a young orphan of an unknown age living within an orphanage that doubled as a kenjutsu school for young men and boys. She was the only girl living in building and her prior history of birth, abandonment, or how she got there is currently unknown. After the defeat of the former number one, Otsuru and Jinno, another resident at the school came across the blooded road of child Afro's fight against a group of headband hunters, it is then after seeing the destroyed shrine on the side of the path that Otsuru notices the boy lodged inside the splintering ruin. Playful and naive, Otsuru takes it for a joke and says Afro is simply sleeping, unaware of the dire injuries he sustained prior. He was later rescued by Jinno and brought to the orphanage.
Through the passage of time, Otsuru grew up alongside Afro, Jinno and the rest of the children at the kenjutsu orphanage, truly it was a life filled with laughs and happy times up until one fateful night. Word had gotten out about a legendary swordsman whom teaches the way of the sword and that he alone possess the Number Two headband. That fateful rumor sparked a raging sea of blood that consumed all children of the orphanage and their cries echoed across the mountain tops. They live no longer as the raid on the school attracted scores of skilled killers, murders, and thieves all of which had no qualms about killing children, the surrounding field around the school had turned into a total war zone.
Blades and blood both drenched in pain stuck in the ground alike, Otsuru was shot with multiples arrows in several fatal areas where each one coming out of the opposite side of its entry point.
The loss of blood signaled her death and Jinno, a man who has looked after Otsuru as if they were flesh and blood marveled in agony at the sight before him, her lifeless body formed a figure of pain before death. Blue tears fell from his face and red streamed from his own injuries of battle and with one final questioning of Afro's lust for the revenge and the headband itself, he collapsed over the edge of the steep cliff from wince they were speaking only to fall into raging waters, taking Otsuru with him never to be seen again.
History[]
Past[]
Otsuru is the one who discovered Afro in the shrine after he lost the Number Two headband as a boy, and took him to Sword Master's dojo where he befriended Jinno.
Afro Samurai[]
When Otsuru is introduced, she has once again found Afro in a near-death state (having been blown off a cliff by an RPG fired by Brother 6 and badly poisoned by an arrow in a fight with Soshun); she bandages him and takes him to her home to heal. She and Jinno survived the attack that was meant to claim the Number Two headband from Sword Master, and they were both saved by the Empty Seven.
Apparently, some time after the events at Sword Master's dojo, Otsuru became an agent working for Brother 1 of the Empty Seven Clan. She possesses the unique ability to siphon memories from people as they dream and used this ability to copy down Afro's sword style, which was used to complete the Afro Droid. Otsuru/Okiku was also supposed to kill him should the opportunity ever present itself, but she found herself unable to while having sex with him. She remarks that she still thinks of him as the same innocent boy she knew so long ago, revealing to him that she is actually Otsuru. Brother 2 of the Empty Seven then kills her for failing to carry out her mission and betraying the Empty Seven by angrily impaling her from behind.
Abilities[]
Healing Specialist: Otsuru is a young woman who specializes in the art of healing and she is an excellent cook.
Dream Reading: Otsuru also possesses the unique ability to siphon memories from people as they dream and used this ability to replicate Afro's sword style.
Martial Arts: Otsuru has also shown to have considerable martial art skills as she easily dispatched a pair of Empty Seven clan ninjas when they raided her home.
Relationships[]
Afro and Jinno[]
Otsuru was a childhood friend of Afro and Jinno.
As an adult, she developed romantic feelings for Afro after she brought him into her home and healed his wounds which conflicted with her mission. This culminated in her having sex with Afro and was about to kill him during the act when she found herself unable to.
When Afro found out she worked for the Empty Seven Clan, she tearfully begged for his forgiveness before helping to fight off some Empty Seven clan assassins, but was killed by Brother 2 for her betrayal of the clan while distracted by Afro calling for her.
Otsuru apparently had a strong emotional effect on Afro as he kept her hairpin as a memento, brutally avenged her death by gouging out Brother 2's eyes and shoving his binoculars into them, and in Episode Five Afro calls out her name twice in his grief over the friends that he has lost.
Etymology[]
Trivia[]
- Otsuru adores fireworks. She is stated to like a certain type of fireworks, but the type itself is currently unknown.
- Otsuru's attraction to Afro may go back further than as adults. For much of the first film, she was shown to be close to Afro as a toddler when he was found by Jinno. And in his teen years, Otsuru continued to grow fond of him. She even went as far as to point out what Afro would want on his last day. In the manga, their love and attraction is prominently shown as the two of them were already a couple as teenagers before he left Sword Master's dojo.
- Her English-language voice actress Kelly Hu also voiced Stacy Hirano from Phineas and Ferb and D'Vorah from Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11.