Ikkaku

"Even immediately after creation, you were the only one that died. After shamelessly leeching off our power like that… Look at it like that if you will. Compared to the us seven, you clearly didn’t turn out a success. We need to eliminate you… because you’re the only thing standing between us and the plan’s success."

- Samurai 8 chapter 14 – Ikkaku to Hachimaru

Ikkaku is a major antagonist in Samurai 8. He is the eldest brother to the main protagonist Hachimaru. Ikkaku along with his six other siblings intend to murder Hachimaru and reclaim the energy that he has so that they can unlock Mandala’s box and destroy the galaxy. Ikkaku works with Ata and works under Kala.

Personality
Ikkaku is calm and matter-of-fact. He does not express too much emotion and is clear and direct with his intentions. Ikkaku is open to disclosing his plans to his youngest brother and his allies. Ikkaku feels that he cannot achieve the power he wants and blames Ikkaku for being born. Ikkaku wants to murder Hachimaru as he would get back the power that was given from him and achieve his life-long goal of unlocking Mandala’s Box. Ikkaku shows detachment from his youngest brother and views him as an outsider to his other siblings. Ikkaku also shows that he is loyal to Kala in their mission to unlock Mandala’s Box.

Past
In the past, Ikkaku and his six youngest brothers were created in a lab by Dr. Furuta. Furuta wanted to use his seven creations who were keys to unlock Mandala’s Box. However, Hachimaru, the eighth brother was born. As a result, the quantity of energy that was evenly distributed among the seven brothers to ensure their full power in finding and unlocking Mandala’s box was also distributed to Hachimaru. Dr. Furuta chose to keep Hachimaru alive and raise him as his own son. Because of the distribution of power in this manner, Ikkaku and his brothers are not suitable to unlock Mandala’s Box. Over the years, Ikkaku collaborated with Kala and Ata in finding Hachimaru and Mandala’s box. He devised a plan to kill Hachimaru and reclaim the energy that was taken from him and his brothers.

Plot
Ikkaku and his six other siblings along with Ata first appear on a monitor projection message after Ata’s clone was destroyed by Daruma. During the message, Ikkaku greets himself to Hachimaru and explains his backstory and his goals to his younger brother. Ikkaku tells Hachimaru that because of his birth, he and his brothers were deprived of the necessary amount of power needed to unlock Mandala’s Box. Ikkaku tells Hachimaru that he will have to kill him to get back the power that he needs before closing out the message.

Ikkaku later appears alongside Ata and Viri. Ikkaku says that he wants to go after Hachimaru himself. Ata also remarks about how he wanted to tear Hachimaru to pieces and his pieces back. Kala states that they should go after Hachimaru in person.