Azuma Genkaku

Azuma Genkaku

“	We don't think twice about putting a wounded animal out of its misery; why are people any different? Until I'm saved, this is what I do. Releasing my fellows from the bonds of fear and oppression, from the shame of betrayal; I'm a saint, man! I erase contempt; regret, sorrow, insanity; all the burdens of life! I just wish someone would be kind enough to do as much for me.	„
	~ Genkaku, explaining his idealogy.

                                                                            Azuma Genkaku (a.k.a. Uber Monk) was the leader of the Undertakers (an elite anti-Deadman task force consisting of the worst prisoners Deadman Wonderland has to offer). He is a deranged Buddhist monk who believes that death is salvation from a world full of pain and darkness. He is one of the main antagonists of the manga/anime Deadman Wonderland.

He was voiced by legendary voice actor Jason Douglas.

Appearance

Genkaku is a young man in his mid 20s. He is tall and lean, and has reddish shoulder-length hair (though he wears it in a ponytail when relaxing). He dresses in the garb of a Japanese monk and wears Buddhist prayer beads with a skull attached to it. When he is not working, he wears a violet tank top and black jeans with a red belt. He is almost always seen with a guitar.

Personality

As a boy, Genkaku was a peace-loving young man who felt no hate or anger for the horrible apprentice monks that abused him. He even provided for an injured kitten, showing his compassion for others.

All of Genkaku's weapons are guitars

As an adult, Genkaku initially appears to be a laid-back, irreverent, and blasphemous man at first glance. However, this exterior masks an extremely brutal, impulsive, spontaneous, and violent personality and an frighteningly unstable mind. He is very sarcastic, blunt, sadistic, manipulative, and traitorous. He is shown to take pleasure in killing his enemies. He believes that life is nothing but pain and misery and that death is the only salvation, even smiling before his presumed death at the hands of Nagi and Ganta.

He also appeared to like rock and roll music very much, so much so that his preferred weapons were actually all guitars that had been weaponized to function as guns. He also plays them as normal guitars whenever he isn't fighting, and when his guitars are being repaired, he pretends to play on an air guitar, further showing his love of the genre of music.

Background

As a child, Genkaku was part of a Buddhist Temple where befriended an injured kitten, attempting to nurse it back to health. The other monks-in-training often harrased him; they would beat him, molest and even rape him.

When he returned to the temple, the Bhikku (ordained Buddhist monk) asked Genkaku how it is that despite being such a peaceful boy Genkaku manages to attract violence and trouble. Genkaku says that he has no hatred in

Genkaku as a boy

him, but rather pities his antagonizers, believing that they are suffering by living in a world of illusion. 

Genkaku begins to question Buddha's teaching regarding death. He questions how Buddha could have known death to be suffering without having experienced it himself

After the Red Hole (a massive earthquake in that killed over 140,000 people ten years prior to Deadman Wonderland's plot) , Genkaku comes across the corpse of the kitten he had been taken care of. He next comes across one of the monks that tormented him trapped under a pile of debris. He begs Genkaku to pull him out. Later, the Bhikku (now injured) returns searching for survivors. Instead, he finds Genkaku sitting under a shrine composed of the mutilated bodies of the monks that abused him. Genkaku turns to the Bhikku and tells him that he has saved the other monks from evil. In this moment, Genkaku was convinced that the only way to escape the evil of the world was to be taken away from it through death.

Genkaku loses sanity

Some time after these events, Genkaku is sent to Deadman Wonderland where he eventually became an Undertaker, rising through the ranks to become the leader of the task-force.

Two years prior to the events of Deadman Wonderland, Genkaku killed Nagi's (a.k.a. Owl's) pregnant wife. Nagi went insane and slaughtered 22 of Genkaku's underlings, which both astonished and horrified Genkaku. Genkaku developed an interest in Nagi after this, hoping to one day convert him to the Undertaker's cause.

Plot

Genkaku makes his first appearance accompanying Tamaki who encounters Yoh Takami in G-Block (where Deadmen are housed). Yoh asks if Genkaku is really a monk, to which he responds that he's an "uber monk" ("uber" is the German word for "super"). Tamaki tells Yoh that he cannot buy his sister's freedom with his many

Genkaku prepares to repel Ganta's Branch of Sin

Cast Points (Deadman Wonderland's currency) as Deadmen are not eligible for release under any conditions. Yoh angrily tries to attack Tamaki, realizing that all of his hard work has been for nothing since he cannot help his sister. Genkaku steps in and stops Yoh with the projectiles that launch from his guitar. As Tamaki leaves, Gengaku follows.

Genkaku next appears in Scar Chain's meeting room. Genkaku attempts to instigate a fight with Ganta, Nagi , and Karako. Ganta tries to hit Genkaku with his Branch of Sin, but he dispels it with his Worm Eater (anti-Deadman technology which negates Branch of Sin powers). Shiro then intervenes, dropping down from the ceiling and destroying Genkaku's guitar, genuinely surprising the deranged monk.

Genkaku is later seen annoying Hibana with his impersonation of an air guitar while waiting for his actual guitar to be repaired.

When Scar Chain put their escape plan into motion they arrive at the elevator. However, Genkaku and his subordinates are there to greet them when they reach the top. He quickly kills several of them before allowing his

Genkaku and his men ambush Scar Chain

men to finish the rest off. Genkaku corners Ganta and prepares to kill him, but one of his lieutenants (Mozuri) inform him that they have to retreat. Genkaku reluctantly complies, but promises Ganta that he will soon give him a "private show".

He is next seen injecting Nagi (who was captured during the escape) with drugs to force him to remember his repressed memories of violently killing a large amount of Undertakers after his wife was killed by Genkaku. Genkaku succeeds in breaking Nagi's spirit and filling his soul with rage and a desire for retribution.

He then captures Karako and Shiro (Karako was disguised as an Undertaker in an effort to find and save Nagi and Shiro exposed them both after drunkenly crashing through a vent right next to her).

After Ganta arrives to try to save Karako and Shiro , Genkaku reveals Nagi to them. Nagi has now been driven insane and indiscriminately launches his explosive Bloodshot Eyes of the Owl Branch of Sin around the room, violently killing many Undertaker soldiers. Genkaku is pleased by this, as he sees it as Nagi fulfilling his destiny as a destroyer and bringer of "light" (even though it is his men who are being massacred).

Karako manages to break through toNagi , reminding him of his dream to live as a free man again. Genkaku stabs Karako, hoping that this will cause Nagi to revert to the homicidal monster that he preferred. Karako survives, and Genkaku reveals that he intentionally meant to wound her as he wanted Nagi to be the one to kill her (Karako is in love with Nagi ). Nagi protects Karako and renounces Genkaku's ideology, saying that his salvation is his life with the people he loves. Genkaku, furious that his work is undone, blasts a hole through Nagi's stomach, detesting that the destroyer he desired is sane again. Genkaku goes insane, killing all of his subordinates (laughing maniacally as he does so) believing that he is saving them by delivering them from the burdens of life. He misses Hibana, though this was likely unintentional as he was too far gone to care at this point.

At this point, the only ones left alive from Genkaku's murderous rampage are Ganta, Karako, Shiro , and Ganta. Ganta tries to beg him to stop his actions. Here Genkaku reflects on his miserable life at the Buddhist temple, and how he awoke to the true nature of salvation through death. Genkaku's shrine to the Buddha is then shown, which is decorated with the heads of the Scar Chain members who were killed in the attempted escape. 

Genkaku then moves in to finish off Ganta and his friends, but Ganta manages to get up and activate his advanced Branch of Sin, the Ganbare Gun, and launches it at Genkaku. Genkaku attempts to flee, but a dying Nagi grabs him, preventing him from escaping the full force of the Ganbare Gun. Before it hits the two of them, Nagi tells Genkaku that the two of them are in this together. Genkaku is happy, as he sees this as Nagi owning up to his

Genkaku meets his fate

feelings. Genkaku and Nagi are both hit. Nagi later succumbs to his injuries and dies with Karako and Ganta at his side.

It is later revealed in the manga that Genkaku did not die. Rather he is in a coma and in critical condition. It is mentioned that he will eventually die, however, as his chances of survival are slim.

Trivia

• Genkaku could be seen as a Satanic figure of a sort, with G-Block functioning as the Hell over which he presides. This is most notable in his name Azuma, which, when the "zu" is swapped out for "ku," becomes Akuma, the Japanese word for "devil."