An old friend of Akagi. He joined the Prajna at Akagi's request. He is a deadly swordsman but not meant to be a leader. As stoic as Akagi, able to maintain a cool demeanor even in the most taxing of situations. Also an unfailing opportunist.
-short description about Jinrai Kogure
Jinrai Kogure is a swordsman and a close friend of Akagi, the leader of the Prajna. He serves as Akagi's right-hand man and is a member of the Prajna, an anti-foreigner group who doesn't approve of letting British Foreigners to enter into Japan and will stop at nothing to drive them out of their country. He fought by Akagi's side in order to protect Japan from outsiders who would do anything that would bring harm to their country. Even if it's for good intention, the Prajna would use extreme force or any method to keep the British (who they refer to as the Barbarians) out of Japan. Kogure is very loyal to Akagi and would do anything to protect him. He follows Akagi's orders and does not listen to anyone else.
Appearance[]
Kogure has a calm and somewhat indifferent looking face sporting a short haircut with bangs that hides his right eye. He wears a bluish-purple yukata with both fading yellow and violet lotuses and 3 white swirling lines that move side to side on the bottom of his clothes, giving this design a theme-like river flowing down in a path with lotus floating in the moving river. Inside his yukata is another layer of clothes; light colour blue that has no pattern on the left side of his body where he pulls down his yukata to reveal it. He seems to be wearing some bandages wrapped around his chest of the same colour, along with two beaded necklaces in front of it. He also wears a red beaded bracelet on his left hand and a leather glove on his right hand that he uses to draw his sword out from it's sheath when he enters into combat. He wears a black scarf with a yellow pattern design around his neck to cover his face. He also wears a pair of black tabi and sandals designed for assassins to wear.
Overview[]
Not much is known about Kogure's past, except he apparently is Akagi's childhood friend and was an assassin once. This bond is proved in his dying words, if you let Akagi die during the hidden path story, where he reminds Kogure on how they used to play together in a river and his promise to return to their old village together once the British are driven out of Japan completely. During his attempts to assassinate Moro near the language school, to redeem himself for failing to be a fitting leader of the Prajna in Akagi's absence due to his injuries in the shoulder from a gunshot, he explains that he lives his life that way and he only knows how to live that way and it's because he grew up only knowing how to kill, he grew accustomed to it. Eventually, he grew up to become an assassin and that's how he got his title: Assassin Jinrai Kogure.
Kogure has a silent personality and isn't much of a talker. He doesn't speak with anyone unless they talk to him, which he replies back in one or two sentence shorts. He is not a good leader because of his lack of conversation skills, poor ability to make the smartest choices or make a quick plan for the group as he mostly lets Akagi do all the planning and decision making. Kogure may not be smart, but he is strong and wiser than Akagi. He takes risks if it is necessary to accomplish the mission or to save Akagi's life from certain death, even so far as to take him to the British Hospital against his will.
Kogure use two types of sword depending on the current difficulty level. He wields the Longshaft or Soul Culler as his weapon of choice.
The style he uses is the Kasshin Iai Jutsu, which can be obtained through any difficulty by killing him and then picking/kicking his dead body.
In Combat[]
As an enemy, fighting against Kogure is a so-so experience which is only fair both on Easy or Normal difficulty. On Hard and Harakiri however the longer the fight goes on the more cumbersome and dangerous it will become as players have to deal with his fast attacks and counters which is not only draining vitality quickly, but also weapon durability and life, not to mention his Corpse + Preta and Amaterasu countermove that can sometimes lure players into attacking before getting one hit kill in the end on the last two difficulties. This, however can be offset by consuming vitality and life boosting items, using durability and sharpness items, packing some medicines, wielding stronger and sturdier weapons, and/or using charms on their weapon of choice such as Fortune, Big Shot, Life and Death, and Squall.
As an ally, Kogure is proved to be a strong reinforcement. His combat characteristics aside, in a rumble he can dispatch his opponents relatively quick and sometimes give players with vitality restoring items usually radishes. He also appears to be quite durable. Excluding Moro Shigeru, this feat along with his combat abilities allows him to stand his own against the merciless Kinugawa Sisters.
Fighting Style[]
Kogure uses Kasshin Iai Jutsu as his fighting style. Like the rest of the other Iai styles this style consists of short fast combos, combinations of hilt-and-sheath strikes, quick slashes, sword thrusts, in addition of flashy strong moves, and cinematic grapple and countermoves. Though, Kogure frequently uses the thrusts and hilt-and-sheath strikes, utilizing the "flashy" moves only rarely.
Unlockables[]
| Items | How to unlock | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Kogure's Face | Achieve 100 kills using Kasshin Iai Jutsu | 200 points |
| Kogure's Hairstyle | Achieve ending Fevered Spirits | 100 points |
| Kogure's Outfits | Defeat Kogure on Hard or higher difficulty | 200 points |
Trivia[]
- Kogre is maybe inspirerd that Izo Okada. Izo was a Japanese samurai of the Tosa Domain and Assassination.also called ''Assasin Izo''. Moro called to Kogure ''Assasin Kogure''.
- Although Kogure is said to be a silent person, on several occasions he can be quite talkative. The player can also exploit this via dialogue interactions.
- Kogure said that no matter how much he drinks, he can't get drunk. The hiccuping sound following this however belies that.
- Kogure likes the Ochazuke from Akemi's Toasty Truth Bar saying it's superb.
- He is also one of the partners in Nightcrawling list.
- If the player decides to spare Kogure in the Tournament, he will reappeared as an ambush during Foreigner vs Prajna skirmish slaying one of the marines from behind when Melinda de Cameron and the player attempted to escort Laura Rita to safety.
- Although Kogure initially only listen to Akagi and strict to his way of the sword, in the Hidden Path story he listens to Moro and obeyed not to interfere with the execution and joined force with him to rescue both the player and Laura. This indicates that Kogure is finally reconsider to change his perspective and strive to do his best to save Japan even if he has to save a foreigner, further emphasizing his opportunistic trait.
- Among the eight Iai styles, his Kasshin Iai Jutsu is the only one that has both Gun Parry and Toughen passive skills on Expert. However, along with Victorious Iai Jutsu it doesn't have the Renki Koho passive skill.
