septh-1-s

[septh-1-s]

Band of Seven Analyses and Speculation: Bankotsu’s past

For the other members of the BO7, here.

Companion piece: Abarero!! Lyric Analysis

Despite being the leader of the band of seven, Bankotsu’s backstory is left largely up to speculation. However, I think there are a few key moments that hint towards how he ended up where he did.

Most of these moments are revealed during his fights with Inuyasha. Directly before telling him how he met Naraku, he says this:

Inuyasha: So you’re old pals, then?

Bankotsu: Ha! I don’t befriend demons.

Bankotsu is established to have little to no moral compass. What he values in an ally and opponent is the same: strength. He’ll fight alongside anyone if they’re strong enough, regardless of their quirks or ideologies. Plenty of humans in the series have shown a prejudice towards demons, but those are usually humans who are weak and/or ill-prepared for battle. To me, that suggests a jealous resentment or personal history.

Bankotsu: Back then, I was always looking for a challenge. Always looking for strong opponents to beat.

Bankotsu: I didn’t care if they were demons, as long as they were strong.

Bankotsu: If you’re telling me you’re strong, then I wish to fight you.

Naraku: Oh? You want to test your strength?

Bankotsu: One like you who possessed demonic powers from the moment he was born couldn’t possibly understand!

Another example of his bias:

Bankotsu: Humans can’t possess demon powers, and I didn’t care for spiritual powers. And I wasn’t born with the power of the divine!

Bankotsu: I always thought that to become powerful, you had to make yourself stronger. However, there was one other way. And that’s to put power into an object.

Inuyasha: You were resurrected by Sacred Jewel shards, all right, but you’re still human. That sword is surrounded by a demonic aura— get rid of it for your own good!

Bankotsu: Go to hell, half-breed! 

Bankotsu: A demon could never understand my desires! 

Bankotsu: Or maybe you think you understand because you’re half-demon, is that it?!

Bankotsu: You can’t understand man’s world, where strength is your only hope of survival!

This line establishes Bankotsu as someone who might’ve started his quest for strength out of fear— a stark contrast to his confident demeanour and attitude.

He feels like demons, with their inherent strength, have an undeniable leg-up over humans and he resentfully believes that a demon couldn’t understand him because of it. He’s stubbornly against believing that Inuyasha could relate, and I think it scares him to think he could.

He and Inuyasha have a lot of similarities, but Inuyasha never threw away his morality in exchange for survival. He stuck to it and survived anyway, never completely compromising on it. Bankotsu was not so lucky.

A theme that comes up during the Band of Seven arc is conscription. Specifically, it comes up in Bankotsu’s debut episode.

One thing Bankotsu cares deeply about, as well, is choosing your own path. Making your own choices. 

In the English subtitles, Jakotsu’s line to Bankotsu here is: “I thought you never wanted to listen to samurai again.”

This implies that Bankotsu was in the military— quite possibly because he was conscripted.

My theory is either his village or family were hurt by demons, giving him an admiration and fear of demonic powers and a desire to be strong enough to survive, then he was conscripted into the military to fight in the war. Bankotsu didn’t care about the cause and wasn’t interested in dying for someone else’s fight, so he deserted. 

(I’d also like to note that the reason I believe Bankotsu most likely had a good relationship with his parents is he is very comfortable expressing his emotions and is surprisingly level-headed. In contrast to his character foil, Inuyasha, the loss of his village/family wouldn’t mean being shunned completely, which is where they differ.)

Still, he’s not the type to be able to live a quiet life, and sought out battles looking for a challenge so he could feel alive, and more importantly, feel like he was strong enough. Seemingly along the way, he met the like-minded Jakotsu. The two formed a friendship, got matching names, and decided to get tattoos together. Normal bestie activities, obviously.

Despite the fact Bankotsu is a villain, there’s one thing he values above all else, even power— friendship. 

Bankotsu: The difference is, I would never betray my friends.

Power and his life comes second in this regard. When Bankotsu goes to fight Inuyasha, he isn’t expecting to survive.

Bankotsu: This will be the final battle of the Band of Seven.

And true, Inuyasha didn’t kill any members of the Band of Seven, so it’s a questionable choice that Bankotsu chooses him as his final battle for vengeance. But I think it’s more of a symbolic gesture than a literal one, as well as just Bankotsu being somewhat petty.

Because he’s jealous of Inuyasha. Inuyasha is essentially his character foil, and he feels threatened by that. Moreso, he’s also jealous that Jakotsu likes Inuyasha— at least in the manga.

(In the interest of not repeating myself, I suggest you read my post on tumblr on why this panel indicates jealousy.)

While Bankotsu has accepted that their second life is impermanent, he still mourns his friends and comrades. Most noticeably Jakotsu, but he also seems to have buried Kyoukotsu and Mukotsu, as implied by this scene.

Which, given Kyoukotsu’s size, shows incredible dedication to his friends. He has a drink in their honour and reflects.

I bring this up to show Bankotsu’s dedication to his friends establishes him as a loyal person (though he does threaten Renkotsu, but that’s because he’s aware of Renkotsu’s shady behaviour) who, despite recognizing from the get-go that their second life is temporary, is still bummed out by the loss of his friends. After killing Renkotsu, he even remarks that it’s sad he’s the only one left.

Which means he was likely extremely devastated when they were initially killed. (see: this separate analysis where I touch on that briefly)

This could very well mean that if Bankotsu did have people he loved and lost, like his family, that he wouldn’t have been able to move on. The fact he doesn’t believe in the afterlife means that he never would’ve been comforted by the “they’re at peace” mentality. 

Bankotsu: I have no interest in the so-called other worlds. I do as I please with no fear of the afterlife!

Kikyou: You say that to convince yourself, don’t you? Pathetic.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking moment we see with Bankotsu is this scene,

Bankotsu never felt like he was strong enough. He wanted to prove to himself that he was, or that he could become it. But in the end, it didn’t work out for him. He died alone, without his friends, still fearing the afterlife and knowing nothing waited for him. 

[septh-1-s]

[septh-1-s]

quick kagukik for @inuyashapridemonth !

[septh-1-s]

I DESPISE alpha dom Inuyasha in fics, because who tf is that?

But to each their own I guess.

[septh-1-s]

Screencap redraw ✨️🩷

It was fun seeing these two freaks come to live in my style, but in the original scenery 🥹

(I need ti work on my values and shadows but eh I still like them....)

[septh-1-s]

Seeing the prominence of AI art and content in the Inuyasha community—both in TikTok and Tumblr as well as Ao3—is suffice to say...dissapointing.

Please. COMMISSION an artist. PICK UP A PEN if you have to. REQUEST AN ARTIST FRIEND to draw it for you. Literally, there are numerous alternatives other than AI🤦🏻

[septh-1-s]

blessing my fav character with bad things because i love him

[septh-1-s]

that one popular selfship meme except I made it more accurate

[septh-1-s]

things you DO NOT need to be a man

a dick

he/him pronouns

XY chromosomes

things you DO need to be a man

the swiftness of a coursing river

the force of a great typhoon

the strength of a raging fire

the mysteriousness of the dark side of the moon

^this post was brought to you by LGBT^

Let's

Get down to

Business

To defeat the huns

[septh-1-s]

i don’t like certain ships with my f/os not because they’re problematic or anything but because i am a hater and they’re supposed to be with ME. hope that helps <3

[septh-1-s]

you never know how unwell you are about The Character until you see them shipped with a canon character or/and you see someone's headcanon about them that you don't agree with. either of these things could turn you into a snarling biting dog.

[septh-1-s]

I am crying, throwing up, and screeching because WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT COSTS ME AN ARM AND A LIVER TO BUY A MERCH OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTER???!!

(15 usd is approximately ₱800+...that's basically my allowance, for like, two weeks.) AGHHHHHHHHHHHH

That's not even the worse part, most shops don't ship to the Philippines and it's only ruining my entire year.

Fuck you mean "Sold Out". Nuh uh. I'll rip my hair out.

At this point, I'll just make my own😒

[septh-1-s]

born to draw ocs 2 trillion times. forced to not have energy to do so

[septh-1-s]

If The Character won't let me stop thinking about them during class then they better make themselves useful and help me with my fucking math

[septh-1-s]

"The Power of Banryū: Duel to the Death on Mt. Hakurei" Inuyasha: Season 3, Episode 35 (2003)

[septh-1-s]

born to marry him, forced to read fanfics about him

[septh-1-s]

how it feels to stop denying that you're genuinely attracted to fictional characters like others are to real people and to start taking your f/os seriously like you always wanted