Banzaburo

Of ordinary stature, Banzaburo wore his purple hair swept into a puffy pompadour leaning to the right, gathered into a topknot behind. Orange-tinted spectacles sat on his face beside small hoop earrings. His clothing paired a navy kimono with a pale blue vest, the latter bearing the Kouzuki crest on each side of the chest. The fine hairs above his lip seen 41 years ago had filled out into a full beard two decades later, though the anime keeps his look consistent across both eras.

Gratitude defined him. Taken in as a boy by the shogun Kouzuki Sukiyaki, Banzaburo repaid that kindness with unwavering loyalty to the family. He held Oden's daring deeds in great admiration, recounting them with genuine excitement even when the shogun himself was unimpressed. When the Kouzuki lost their standing, his devotion did not waver; he risked himself to serve and guard them, sampling their meals to detect poison, and ultimately surrendered his life shielding the family during Kaidou's assault.

Raised under Sukiyaki's care, Banzaburo served him out of deep thanks. Forty-one years before the present, he reported to the shogun on the antics of the eighteen-year-old Oden, including 38 failed attempts to slip out of Wano illegally, prompting Sukiyaki to send word disowning his son. Banzaburo delivered that notice just as Oden had rescued the Flower Capital from the Mountain God, regretting the timing but completing the duty. Two years on, he hurried to tell Sukiyaki that Oden had tamed the lawless land of Kuri. When Kurozumi Orochi took the shogunate, Banzaburo left that post to serve Oden's household instead. Twenty years before the present, he watched over Oden's wife Toki and their children Momonosuke and Hiyori, tasting their food for poison while Oden and the Nine Red Scabbards marched against Orochi and Kaidou. He brought Toki the news of Oden's death, and soon after the Beasts Pirates set Kuri Castle ablaze, killing Banzaburo, the other servants, and Toki.