Kōtatsu

Kōtatsu (紅達, こうたつ, "Red Master") was an ink painter who used a fragment of the Shikon no Tama with his ink that contained his blood.

History[]

Kōtasu killed a band of soldiers by using his magic ink to create an army of yōkai.

He later fell in love with a princess who ordered her guards to stop beating him. Kōtatsu summoned many yōkai from his Hell paintings during his confrontation with Inuyasha. Some of them were killed by Inuyasha, and the rest were absorbed by Miroku's Kazaana. Kōtatsu summoned and rode a three-headed snake yōkai to escape, but Inuyasha was able to slice the ink container, which contained the Shikon Jewel shard. Without it, his snake yōkai was destroyed. Kōtatsu was killed when the ink devoured his blood.

Personality[]

Kōtatsu is seen as a very obsessive person. He is willing to kill people to use their blood and guts for his magic ink. He will also do anything to get to the princess to be his woman. He is also very vengeful. He desires to kill all those that he feels have done him wrong. has a fondness of seeing death in artwork.

Kōkatsu is also a coward due to his inability to fight by himself.

Physical description[]

Kōtatsu is a skinny human male with thick lips and large eyes that only show pinpoint pupils. He has black hair that shows signs of thinning around the temples and ties it back in a traditional Japanese knot.

Powers & Abilities[]

He could summon a demon brigade using his paint art. This demon painting came alive and was controlled by him. He used these demon paintings to destroy an army.

Manga vs. Anime[]

His name is not revealed in the anime.
His origins are revealed in the manga. He is a foreigner who originated from the capital. He is particularly fascinated with paintings of Hell. He goes so far to gain his inspirations for his painting from the corpses on a battlefield. It is then that he comes across a shard of the Shikon no Tama. He discovers that his paintings can come to life after dowsing the shard in ink. He leaves the capital after killing some villagers to use their blood for his ink.
In the manga, Kōtatsu kills an entire band of soldiers with his magic ink without any provocation. It the anime, the soldiers first chase after him because he has a shard of the Shikon no Tama.
In the manga, he is beaten up along a path by the lord's vassals for looking at the princess. In the anime, he is beaten at the palace gates for his claims of killing the band of soldiers, which everyone believes to be false. Furthermore, in the anime, he is tied up and thrown into a river after he is beaten up. In the manga, he is left alone afterwards before a brief interaction with Miroku.
In the manga, Kōtatsu uses his magic ink in an attempt bewitch the princess to become his. In the anime, the ink obeys Kōtatsu's subconscious desires while he is asleep by manifesting as the Ox-Head and Horse-Face yōkai in order to capture the princess and kills the guards that beat him up earlier.
In the manga, Kōtatsu unleashes is yōkai army to capture the princess. In the anime, he unleashes them to attack the army of the princess's father who are planning to steal his shard of the Shikon no Tama.
In the manga, he begs Inuyasha to spare his life and offers to give him his ink pod that contains the jewel shard. This is a trick to lower Inuyasha's guard so his snake yōkai can attack him while he escapes. In the anime, Inuyasha cuts the ink pod from his waist and destroys the pod afterwords.
In the manga, Kōtatsu's ink devours him of its own accord. He begs Inuyasha to save him before he is completely absorbed by the ink. In the anime, he willingly offers his blood to the ink in the hopes of fusing with it before he realizes that the ink is devouring him.

Trivia[]

Kotatsu is one of the rare cases where the antagonist carrying a jewel shard is human.
- Kotatsu also serves as an example of just how dangerous and uncontrollable demonic objects can be in the hands of humans. His use of the jewel shard which granted the ink its power ultimately became his undoing, as his evil nature tainted it, along with causing the ink to turn against him and kill him.
His seiyū, Bin Shimada, voiced several characters from Rumiko Takahashi's previous series. They include Tobimaro Mizunokōji from Urusei Yatsura, Sentaro Daimonji and The Oni Priest from Ranma ½, and Hazuki's father from the short story Aberrant Family F as part of Rumiko Takahashi's anthology series Rumic Theater.

Media appearances[]

Manga

Anime

Episode 17 (First appearance)

References[]

↑ The Art of InuYasha, page 156

[1] The Art of InuYasha, page 156

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