Mako
Summary
Mako is a frail young boy who relies on the care of his younger brother, Aki. The siblings reside in a village situated close to Jagi’s hideout. The tragedy begins when Mako accidentally collides with one of Jagi’s underlings. In an attempt to appease the attacker, Aki offers to sacrifice one of his own legs to save Mako. Enraged by this profound display of sibling devotion, Jagi, who is currently impersonating Kenshiro, abducts Aki. He leaves Mako chained to a massive concrete block in the middle of the desert. Later, the real Kenshiro arrives at the village carrying Aki’s corpse. Consumed by grief and rage, Mako attempts to assassinate Kenshiro using a bowgun. Kenshiro calmly takes the arrow to his chest. He subsequently uses that same arrow as a tool while inflicting fatal torture upon Jagi. In the anime adaptation, Mako is depicted as being ill rather than physically crippled, and he appears thinner than his manga counterpart. Before abducting Aki, Jagi strikes a vital point on Mako, brainwashing him into attacking Kenshiro. The only method Kenshiro finds to reverse this vital point technique is to allow himself to be struck by Mako’s arrow; failing to do so would have resulted in Mako’s death. Because Aki survives in this version, the two brothers are eventually reunited with their grandfather.
