Shichinintai

"There were only seven of them, but their strength was incredible. They could do the work of a hundred men, and their raids were unnecessarily savage; those who were slain by the Band of Seven were sliced to pieces and burned alive. The only people capable of such atrocities are those with a real penchant for murder."

The, or Band of Seven, were seven powerful mercenaries brought back to life by Naraku using the Shikon Jewel shards.

All of their names end in "kotsu," (骨) meaning "skill." However, it is often mistaken for meaning "bone," because the kanji "骨" can also be read as "hone," which means "bone."

Bankotsu (蛮骨)

 * Japanese Voice Actor: Takeshi Kusao (草尾 毅)
 * English Voice Actor: Matt Hill
 * Spanish Voice Actor: Gerardo García, Igor Cruz
 * Portuguese Voice Actor: Márcio Araújo (Brazil)
 * First Anime Appearance: Episode 103
 * First Manga Appearance: Volume 26
 * Age: 17 (See Character Ages for more information.)

It's hard to judge by looks alone, but Bankotsu is the leader of the Shichinin-tai, and the most powerful. His weapon of choice is an enormous halberd named Banryū (蛮竜). Although he is the youngest of the seven men at just seventeen years old, he appears to have a good handle on things and keeps his army organized and efficient. He tends to be carefree and laid back outside of battle, and has a generally optimistic attitude towards life. In the anime he reveals his philosophy of life and death, declaring that he does not believe in an afterlife and that we should enjoy our lives while we can. He may be naive, but more likely he is just too generous and trusting, believing that his "family" would never try to harm or betray him. He is forgiving towards his friends, but not so much towards his enemies.

Bankotsu's fighting skills are nothing short of amazing considering that he is completely human. He is surprisingly strong for his stature: he is able to lift Banryū and wield it with a single hand, while it took three huge, muscular men to even move it. When he is unable to use Banryū, he can hold his own with punches and kicks, proving himself to be quite the match in battle regardless of method. Banryū itself is a demon sword, and once it has taken the lives of 1,000 demons and 1,000 humans, it can reach its ultimate power without external contribution.

Judging by Bankotsu's clothing, one could guess that he was either raised in a wealthy family or that he was able to steal from a wealthy family. He wears a white shirt that has a patch of blue on the left shoulder, which is partially covered by a piece of armor. His shirt cuts off at mid-forearm and the remainder of his arm is protected by gray guards that leave only his fingers exposed. His armor is uniform with a blue fern design and black rims. A bit of red cloth of some sort ties his shoulder armor to his chest armor. His chest armor is tied with a red obi around his waist just above his hips. A long piece of cloth with the same design as his armor flows in front of his legs along with the obi. His pants are long and bell-shaped, cutting off at mid-calf. In the manga, his pants have splotches of blue at the very bottom that are not found in the anime. The remainder of his leg down to his feet is protected by the same type of guards on his forearms and hands, exposing only his toes. His hair is worn back in a long braid that drops below his waist, tied at the end with a piece of white cloth.

His best friend is most likely Jakotsu, a fellow member of his army. They share a lot of their opinions and likes and dislikes with each other, and they obviously have a very close relationship, though he had called Jakotsu weird.

Bankotsu's name comes from two kanji (蛮, "ban"; 骨, "kotsu"), and is translated as "Barbaric/Brute Skill". Though when both "ban" and "kotsu" are put together, it means "Reckless Courage." Since all of the Shichinintai members' names end in the same -kotsu, it can be assumed that they created these names for themselves upon the creation of their army, possibly in an attempt at uniformity. It is highly unlikely that such a similarity in names could have simply been a coincidence. If they indeed had original names given to them by their parents, they are as of yet unknown. Another theory is that these names are merely pseudonyms that they use for their army personas and did not abandon their original names at all.

Renkotsu (煉骨)



 * Japanese Voice Actor: Tomokazu Sugita (杉田智和)
 * English Voice Actor: Brian Drummond
 * Spanish Voice Actor: Jorge Ornelas, Ricardo Mendoza
 * Portuguese Voice Actor: Fadu Costha (Brazil)
 * First Anime Appearance: Episode 103
 * First Manga Appearance: Volume 25
 * Age: 24

Renkotsu is second in command, and presumably he and Bankotsu are the only literate members. He was most likely added to the team for his intelligence and literacy, as well as being a rather good handler of fire. He takes most things seriously and is inquisitive, always trying to find out what is really going on and seeing things in the big picture. He is always wearing his signature blue bandanna, various shades of blue, and brown armor. After his fight with Kōga, he changes to black and flame-decal armor.

One of Renkotsu's ultimate goals, at least in his post-resurrected life, is to destroy Bankotsu and lead the Shichinin-tai himself despite Bankotsu's kindness toward him. However, he is fully aware that Bankotsu's strength is vastly superior to his own, so he realizes his only chance of defeating Bankotsu is to collect as many Shikon shards as he can to increase his power. This leads to issues in the trust department, and although Bankotsu forgives him the first time, Renkotsu's greed proves fatal after he sets up Jakotsu to fight Inuyasha and steals his jewel shards.

The closest person to him seems to change throughout the story arc. In the beginning he seems fine with following Bankotsu's orders and repairing his best friend, Ginkotsu. However, after Ginkotsu is killed, he later to realize that the Seven-Man Army is slowly being picked off and resents the young leader for leading them into the situation.

Renkotsu is skilled in manipulating fire and explosives. He knows his chemistry and physics, which allows him to build advanced (for the time period) machinery like Ginkotsu's body. He spits fire, throws fire nets from his gloves, and has a variety of dynamite and cannons.

There is some speculation that before his life in the Seven-Man Army that Renkotsu was a monk, due to his shaved head and ability to read and write in a time when only the rich and holy knew how to.

Renkotsu's name comes from two kanji (煉, "ren"; 骨, "kotsu"), and is usually translated as "Refined Metal Skill."

Jakotsu (蛇骨)



 * Japanese Voice Actress: Ai Orikasa (折笠 愛)
 * English Voice Actress: Jenn Forgie
 * Spanish Voice Actor: Rocio Prado
 * Portuguese Voice Actor: Tatá Guarnieri (Brazil)
 * German Voice Actor: Johannes Raspe
 * First Anime Appearance: Episode 102
 * First Manga Appearance: Volume 24
 * Age: 21

Jakotsu's name comes from two kanji (蛇, "ja"; 骨, "kotsu"), and is usually translated as "Snake Skill." Jakotsu's name can also be spelled "Jyakotsu," as in the English version of the manga.

Jakotsu is the cross-dressing, somewhat hyperactive, openly gay member of the Seven-Man Army. He wears make-up and a pastel-colored Yukata, a type of female clothing, along with a purple scarf. Along with Renkotsu, he is the only member of the group to change outfits. He is often seen trying to seduce Inuyasha, and regularly whines about when he may see him again. He's slightly the "jealous type"; this is evidenced by an outburst towards Sango when she tried to jump in between him and Inuyasha. He also is a bit dimwitted, as shown in episode 104, when he couldn't subtract 2 from 7. However, he is also lacks in greed, as shown when he gave up his jewel shard to Bankotsu, as supposedly planned. This also applies to his second life, in which he died happy after getting the fight he wanted; Renkotsu claimed his shard.

His best friend out of the group is Bankotsu, and Jakotsu is shown to be very loyal to him. After Suikotsu dies, Jakotsu delivers the Shards to Bankotsu which causes the young leader to put an arm around around Jakotsu, tear up and say: "You're the only one I can really trust." When Jakotsu is killed by Renkotsu, it is Bankotsu who avenges him.

His choice weapon seems to be his expandable "snake" sword, Jakotsutō, which is presumed to be named after himself.

Suikotsu (睡骨)



 * Japanese Voice Actor: Hiroaki Hirata (平田広明)
 * English Voice Actor: Michael Donovan
 * Spanish Voice Actor: Jose Luis Orozco, Roberto Mendiola
 * Portuguese Voice Actor: Alex Wendell (Brazil)
 * First Anime Appearance: Episode 103
 * First Manga Appearance: Volume 25
 * Age: 26

Suikotsu's name comes from two kanji (睡, "sui"; 骨, "kotsu"), and is usually translated as "Sleeping Skill." It is often assumed that Suikotsu is his birth name, since all his personalities seem to share the same name. Either Suikotsu constantly fears/is annoyed by the fact the other personality could take over at the worst possible times. Suikotsu has two, definite split personalities. One, a gentle, philanthropist doctor who looks after orphans; the other is a sadistic killer that earns him spot in the Seven-Man Army. When his evil side takes hold he seems to possess a dry sense of humor and an insatiable desire for blood, while when his good side is in control he often hallucinates that he has blood on his hands. However, the evil side is shown to be mellow when sharing conversations with the others members of the Shichiintai.

He may have a third personality, as shown after he falls off a rope-bridge; this personality seems to be a combination of his other two. However, it's also possible the evil side learned to take control without going through the changes in appearance; he hated the "good" Suikotsu and worked with Jakotsu. Doctor Suikotsu develops a close, empathic relationship with Kikyō.

Ginkotsu (銀骨)



 * Japanese Voice Actor: Hisao Egawa
 * English Voice Actor: Mark Gibbon
 * Portuguese Voice Actor: José Parisi Jr. (Brazil)
 * First Anime Appearance: Episode 103
 * First Manga Appearance: Volume 25
 * Age: 30-40

Ginkotsu is Renkotsu's assumed best friend, since the two are hardly ever apart. Renkotsu built Ginkotsu's mechanical body and kept it running throughout the time that Ginkotsu had it before it was blown up by Inuyasha. Jakotsu was also looking at the new guns, thinking they might be good additions to GInkotsu's body. Renkotsu then rebuilt Ginkotsu's tank body in a cave with a whole new variety of weapons, making Ginkotsu a walking arsenal.

Ginkotsu seems to be loyal to Bankotsu and Renkotsu, which would cause problems were he able to talk, but he is sadly limited to only a small "gesh" after his dangerous encounter with Inuyasha. At one point in the series, he says a sentence or two. He also provides transportation to the group by being able to roll on gigantic wheels. He generally does not move very quickly, but he could outrun an enemy any time.

In his fight with Kōga, Ginkotsu had his cannons jammed with pieces of Renkotsu's armor; the cannons exploded, with the effect of the explosion differing between manga and anime. In the manga, the blast killed Ginkotsu while in the anime, he only lost his cannons and Rekotsu was injured. Ginkotsu used every weapon Renkotsu gave him to fight Kōga before self-destructing; his last thought was to protect Renkotsu, so his shard created a shield to keep him safe from the blast.

Ginkotsu's name comes from two kanji (銀, "gin"; 骨, "kotsu"), and is usually translated as "Silver Skill."

Mukotsu (霧骨)



 * Japanese Voice Actor: Tetsu Inada
 * English Voice Actor: Trevor Devall
 * Portuguese Voice Actor: Wellington Lima (Brazil)
 * First Anime Appearance: Episode 103
 * First Manga Appearance: Volume 24
 * Age: 60-70

Mukotsu is commonly assumed to be the oldest member of the Shichinintai, mostly because of his elderly appearance. He first appears during a battle between the Inuyasha group and Jakotsu, releasing his poisonous gases into the valley where the battle is taking place as a way to allow Jakotsu to escape quickly and safely. Later on, Jakotsu comes across Mukotsu in the shallow forest where he is mixing up some potions and talking to himself. Mukotsu is instructed to go after Kagome and poisons her near a little hut, dragging her inside and proceeding to try and marry her. He drapes a white blanket over the half-conscious Kagome and does a little marrying ritual, singing and holding her hands. Inuyasha fans and innocent onlookers alike both called this little situation "very creepy." He gets on top of her, some say in an attempt to rape her, but Kagome thinks fast and stabs him in the throat. He becomes enraged, yelling that she doesn't love him because of his hideous appearance. Kagome listens but doesn't speak, and he slaps her hard across the face. He is about to kill her when Sesshōmaru suddenly appears and slashes Mukotsu across the back.

Mukotsu and Sesshōmaru leave the hut and go outside where Mukotsu pompously attempts to suffocate Sesshōmaru with his poisonous gases, but to no avail. When Mukotsu realizes that Sesshōmaru is impervious to his attacks, he hastily drops his weapons and cowardly hides behind the bushes, pretending to surrender. Sesshōmaru approaches more, but Mukotsu suddenly draws out another weapon and blasts more gas at Sesshōmaru. This time when he surrenders, Sesshōmaru kills him on the spot. Meanwhile, Jakotsu has been watching the entire time and runs off with news of Mukotsu's death.

Mukotsu was very similar to Jakotsu in the fact that he was constantly looking for a potential partner, only in Mukotsu's case his "victims" were women. However, he couldn't stand rejection, mostly because of insecurity about his appearance. Any time a woman rejected his affections he automatically assumed it was because of looks, which was probably a large contributing factor.

Mukotsu's name comes from two kanji (霧, "mu"; 骨, "kotsu"), and is usually translated as "Misty/Foggy Skill."

Kyōkotsu (凶骨)



 * Japanese Voice Actor: Daisuke Gouri
 * English Voice Actor: Mark Gibbon
 * Spanish Voice Actor: Carlos del Campo
 * Portuguese Voice Actor: Antônio Moreno (Brazil)
 * First Anime Appearance: Episode 102
 * First Manga Appearance: Volume 24

Kyōkotsu is the first to appear in both the anime and manga and is the first sign of the existence of the Shichinin-tai. He is presumably the weakest of the seven despite his abnormal size. His appetite for human flesh makes him a cannibal, but he eats yōkai flesh as well. His weapon is a chain ball before it is destroyed by Kōga after which he uses his bare hands, and can usually crush an enemy within seconds. He's not the smartest of the army either, and is the first of them to die off for a second time.

In his short appearance in the post-Kagome era, he manages to infuriate what remains of Kōga's wolf tribe and proceeds to die by Kōga's hand. His Shikon shard was located in his forehead, where Kōga pulled it out. Because of this it has been questioned if he was actually shot in the head in his first life rather than being beheaded like his comrades. Another theory for why his shard was located in his forehead was the flexibility of his neck, as displayed when Kōga twirled Kyōkotsu's head around and failed to remove it. The placement in his forehead could have been a preventive measure from having it crushed. He also had a short meeting with Kohaku shortly before his death.

Kyōkotsu's name comes from two kanji (凶, "kyou"; 骨, "kotsu"), and is usually translated as "Aggressive/Dark/Evil/Bad Luck Skill."

Trivia

 * When the resurrected Shichinintai were being killed off one-by-one, Bankotsu buried his comrades. However, Bankotsu, Renkotsu and Jakotsu's remains were buried in the rubble of Mount Hakurei.
 * The Shichinintai are only seen together in flashbacks; after their resurrection, they are never all together at once.

Episodes
These are the episodes that make up the Shichinin-tai arc in the anime with their English titles and [adult swim] release dates.


 * 102: Assault on the Wolf Demon Tribe! :: 5/28/2005
 * 103: The Band of Seven, Resurrected :: 6/4/2005
 * 104: The Stealthy Poison User, Mukotsu :: 6/11/2005
 * 105: The Ghastly Steel Machine :: 6/18/2005
 * 106: Kagome, Miroku & Sango in a Dangerous Situation :: 6/25/2005
 * 107: Inuyasha Sheds his Tears for the First Time :: 7/2/2005
 * 108: The Secret of the Pure Light :: 7/9/2005
 * 109: Hidden in the Mist: Onward to Mt. Hakurei :: 7/16/2005
 * 110: Enter Bankotsu, the Leader of the Band of Seven :: 7/23/2005
 * 111: The Big Clash: Banryū versus the Wind Scar :: 7/30/2005
 * 112: Afloat on the Lake's Surface: The Barrier of Hijiri Island :: 8/7/2005
 * 113: The Sacred Vajara & the Mystery of the Living Buddha :: 8/14/2005
 * 114: Kōga's Solitary Battle :: 8/21/2005
 * 115: Lured by the Black Light :: 8/28/2005
 * 116: The Exposed Face of Truth :: 9/4/2005
 * 117: Vanished in a River of Flames :: 9/11/2005
 * 118: Into the Depths of Mt. Hakurei :: 9/17/2005
 * 119: Divine Malice of the Saint :: 9/24/2005
 * 120: Fare Thee Well: Jakotsu’s Requiem :: 10/1/2005
 * 121: Final Battle: The Last and Strongest of the Band of Seven :: 10/8/2005
 * 122: The Power of Banryū: Duel to the Death on Mt. Hakurei :: 10/15/2005
 * 123: Beyond the Darkness - Naraku Reborn! :: 10/22/2005

In Music
The Shichinin-tai have been featured in some InuYasha merchandise.


 * 地獄で待ってた七人塚 Jigoku de Matteta Shichinin-tai (The Shichinin-tai Who Waited in Hell) - Drama CD
 * 暴れろ!! Abarero!! (Get Wild!) - Character single featuring Bankotsu & Jakotsu
 * Music from Inuyasha Original Soundtrack 3:
 * 1. 七人塚の亡霊 Shichinin-zuka no Bourei (The Zombies of the Shichinin Graves)
 * 2. 重戦車 銀骨 Juusensha Ginkotsu (Heavy Tank Ginkotsu)
 * 3. 邪心 煉骨 Jashin Renkotsu (Wicked-Hearted Renkotsu)
 * 4. 斬りこみ隊長 蛇骨 Kirikomi Taichou Jakotsu (Hidden Bladed Commander Jakotsu)
 * 5. ふたつの顔 睡骨 Futatsu no Kao Suikotsu (Two-Faced Suikotsu)
 * 6. 七人隊首領 蛮骨 Shichinin-tai Shuryou Bankotsu (Shichinin-tai Leader Bankotsu)
 * 7. 無気味な兄弟 Bukimi na Kyoudai (Ominous Brothers)
 * 10. 我ら七人隊 Warera Shichinin-tai (We, the Shichinin-tai)
 * 11. 炸裂蛮竜 Sakuretsu Banryuu (Explosion, Banryū)
 * 12. 激突 Gekitotsu (Clash)
 * 13. 死人の臭い Shibito no Nioi (Scent of the Dead)