autumnleaf16

Hotohori- voiced by Koyasu Takehito.
Hotohori is my favourite character in the story by far so I am going to start talking about him first even though he is not the most important character, actually the ironic bit is that he started off as a major character, then had to shift to being a minor character. That is one thing about the story that really really pisses me off. It is just not fair. I’ll be using some quotes and unless specifically mentioned, the quotes are said by Hotohori.

Hotohori is the emperor of Konan (the country of Suzaku) and his story is a very sad one. He is only eighteen years old but has been the emperor for the last four years (he is also known as Saihitei, which is his tittle), having reign at fourteen. The main reason that he came to the throne is due to his mother, the empress, as he is not the eldest son of the last emperor, but the third eldest son. His mother had made his early reign rather stained as she killed many people in order to ensure that he is on the throne. As a young boy he had been rather meek as he had let his own mother manipulate him “I become the emperor due to my mother, I was like a puppet”, but he is regarded as a very good ruler by his officials, as he clearly loves his people very much. “His majesty truly was a good man, he was so considerate of all of his people even though he was so young.” ~official

However, being a good emperor becomes his main chain. As an emperor, he owns great responsibility to his people because he is in charge of their life, as a result, he really has little say in his own life. Likewise, being an emperor almost made him an object instead of a person, and he become very lonely despite being surrounded by people- as he described himself, he was like a bird trapped in an elaborate cage, unable to fly. It is due to this loneliness that caused him to idolize and eventually fall in love with the priestess of Suzaku even before he met her, “You are my ideal, I have no interest in any other girls.” because he strongly believes that she would be able to love him as a person, instead of simply idolizing him as the emperor. “Perhaps she can save me from this live, and love me as who I am, not as the future emperor of Konan.”

Initially he has problems travelling with Miaka in search of the rest celestial warriors of Suzaku as he had to attend to the state, but this was solved due to Chichiri, but later on- when the others left to go to the other countries, he has to stay behind, which cause him to become a minor character. “I am the emperor, I can not just go to another kingdom so easily. Also, I have many jobs that I must do.” This is really sad because Hotohori really wants to travel with them in order to protect Miaka. (Initially he was only meant to be the heir instead of the emperor, but apparently the editor of Watase Yuu said ‘Why don’t you just make him the emperor?’, and that was what happened. I really wished the editor had shut up because as the author her self admitted, by making him into the emperor she really limited his character.) Likewise, because of his position he remains an outsider to the rest of the celestial warriors of Suzaku, a really sad thing as he regards them as his equal- following companions. “There is no need to be so formal with me, afterall, we are all celestial warriors of Suzaku who had travelled together.” But the rest does not because they always address him as ‘Hotohori-sama’, the sama being a very formal and polite suffix. I noticed that with the exception of Miaka, everyone calls him Hotohori-sama, although there are times when the others call each other by abbreviated nicknames and even joke around- but Hotohori is usually treated with the ultimate respect.

Throughout the story he constantly thinks of what to do that would be the best for his people. It is revealed that he has signed many treaties with Kutou (the country guarded by Seiryuu) to make peace, although there are some people who regard this as being a sign of weakness. His main wish of having Suzaku summoned is to protect Konan, he doesn’t want to fight because of the lifes that would be lost. “It is not that I am afraid of war, but rather because I don’t want to waste all these lives.” Although he later on regards this as a fault, because he said that he and the people of Konan over-relied on the strength of Suzaku, instead of their own strength. “Since the very beginning we relied too much on the strength of Suzaku and the priestess, we never once thought about using our own strength.” He seems very devoted as we see him praying in front of the altar of Suzaku many times. In the end, he chose to lead his army himself, although he could have got a general to do it, but he did is because he insisted on fighting with his people. “Konan is my kingdom, so I must protect it personally.” Another example of how he sacrifice his own interest for the sack of his people, and this turns out to be the cause of his death. “It is admirable that you, the emperor of a kingdom, has come to battle yourself. Had you stayed in the palace, then you would have been completely safe.”~ Nakago. In fact, the only thing he did wrong as an emperor is probably that he delayed his marriage due to Miaka, even though it is really important for him to have an heir.

Hotohori fell in love with Miaka and unlike Tamahome, he is not afraid of admitting this. He actually declared this out soon after he met her, but unfortunately, his love is never requited. But for a very long time, he continued staying beside Miaka and protecting her even though he understands that she does not and will not love him. “Hotohori…you know about how I feel about Tamahome and yet you still offer to protect me.” ~Miaka. Some people dislike Hotohori on the basis that there is a time when he kissed Miaka against her will, “Do you truly love Tamahome so much? I know that you don’t have me in your heart at all, and to kiss you now…it is wrong. But I…I love you the first time I met you!” as well as proposing to be with her after she believed Tamahome would no longer love her, and being jealous of Tamahome. I think his actions are very normal considering that he is a man who is in love with a woman he know does not love him back. What he did is not fully wrong, and he never did anything that is unhonourable. In the end, Hotohori gives up on Miaka very graciously, wishing the two of them happiness.

I think that he is one of his very good qualities- he is very considerate. Despite how occupied and upset he was throughout the story, he still managed to not only think of his people, as well as ways of helping the rest of the celestial warriors. He does not let his own problems affect anyone else. Even though he must have been upset to know that Miaka will never love him back, he does not usually let that influence in his treatement towards Tamahome, he was the first to welcome Tamahome back after the period which Tamahome was controlled by Nakago. Likewise, he told Tamahome that he would provide for his family. When he and Chiriko (as spirits) visited Chiriko’s family, we discovered that he had actually sent a message to Chiriko’s family to inform them of Chiriko’s death, as well as declaring out that Chiriko is regarded as a hero of Konan.

Hotohori ends up marrying another woman, and I think this bit is very interesting. My own opinion is that there is a bit of a contradiction in the story due to the slight gap between the time volume 14-18 was written. I think initially, in the first story arch, the author made him marry his wife for the sake of marrying her. I think he married her (Houki) for the sake that he need to, which makes him really tragic as he is marrying another for the sake of his duty, as he is unable to abandon his duty for the sake of the one he love. I think this seems a very in character thing for him to do, as even though there are many times when he wants to abandon his duty, he never does. The reason I think that he did not love his wife that much (I think he is fond of her, but does not love her) is because when he is dying, his last words are how happy he is to have meet Miaka and the rest, and his dying last words are, once again, wishing for Miaka to have happiness. “Yes, Houki is waiting for me…and my child…I must at least see my child…before I die…Miaka…there will be a way when we will all meet again…beyond the worlds…beyond time…we will meet again…I am so happy…to have been able to meet you all…Miaka…I am so happy to have meet you…may you have happiness…” As shown, he does think about his wife and their unborn child, but the last words are not of or to her, but of and to Miaka, him attacking Nakago (who kills him) is also mainly due to Miaka, not just because of his kingdom. “I will not allow you to interfere in their (Tamahome and Miaka) lives anymore!” His death is truly one of the saddest and yet most beautiful death in the whole story, but yet there is a sense of him finally having achieved the freedom he always longed for. As he dies, we see a bird flying towards the sky, a suggestion that the bird trapped in the cage is finally free, then we see everyone kneeling down in grief.

But then in the second story arch, the volumes drawn much later on, my views changed when Hotohori (as a spirit) sees Houki and his son, and his guilt at leaving them behind seem to be more then just a guilt caused by not fulfilling the duty of being a husband and father. “I am a bad father as I am not beside you and your mother, but know that I am always thinking of the two of you.” So I think the author initially did not make him love Houki, but then somehow changed her mind. His reasoning for marrying and falling in love with Houki is elaborated in the novel and sadly, their marriage only lasted a month. It really seemed that he gave up on Miaka but he still died, when it seems that he could have been relatively happy with his wife and son. (Personally I think Houki is much better for him then Miaka, I truly think he deserves better, and unlike Houki, Miaka would not make a good empress at all.)

Unlike the rest of the celestial warriors (with the exception of Tamahome and Miaka who married in the very end of the story) Hotohori is actually the one who had married and even had a son. I think this bit is quite symbolic as it made him more mature then the rest, having a family is also a sign of responsibility. From the brief moment he had spent with his son, it seems clear that he would have been a very loving father had he the chance of being one: he obviously loves his son very much. “You are my most precious treasure in this world.” I also feel that he displays a rather fatherly attitude towards Chiriko. He had gently touched the dead Chiriko’s face in a very fatherly way, and also later on, in the second story arch, he was also the one who found Chiriko. He actually brought Chiriko to his family and as they listened to what his family was saying about him, he actually patted Chiriko’s head even as he smiled in a way at chiriko that I could only describe as fatherly-very much like the way he smiled at his own son. I feel that unlike the others, Hotohori was acting more as a fatherly figure to Chiriko- instead of an elderly brother figure. So I think it is a really big pity that he didn’t get raise his own son up, as he would have been such a good father, unlike his own father (from the novel, we find out that his father had been so occupied that he never really focused on his children.)

Hotohori is one of the most beautifully drawn characters I have ever seen in any manga, and the funny thing is that he is also highly vain. I think the reason of his vanity is because it is the only thing he can be certain of, perhaps he does not know whether he truly is a good ruler or so because he can never be sure of whether people is telling the truth or not- but his appearance might just be the only thing he is sure in. I don’t know for sure, that’s just my own interpretation. As I said before, the main reason I don’t like the anime that much greatly relates to him, although Koyasu Takehito is the perfect voice for him. I honestly just can’t stand how they made his hair brown, and he lacks the beauty he has in the manga. But on the other hand, Koyasu Takehito’s performance made it really worthwhile to watch the anime- because he really brought Hotohori alive, his voice is just perfect! That’s what I imagined Hotohori’s voice would be like when I watched the manga! (A funny side-note. After I read the manga my sister told me that Koyasu Takehito is in it, and ask me to guess who he did. My first guess is Hotohori but due to a slight misunderstanding she told me he voiced Nakago and I was really heartbroken because I thought it’ll be such a pity. The reason we made this mistake is because in Chinese, Hotohori and Nakago’s name are pronounced in an almost identical way. )


This seems a very long character profile but I want to let him have a really good one! Hoepfully this one isn’t bad. Onto the others…don’t worry, it would be nowhere near as long as this one.