Giichi is a legendary Mugai-ryū executioner with a mysterious past—the specifics of why he was sentenced to death remain unclear, though hints suggest it involved his son Tojiro, who dies during the story. He's genuinely one of the series' most formidable fighters, having personally killed 59 Ittō-ryū swordsmen, which is exactly why he's the only Mugai-ryū member who earns his freedom through accumulated kills. He stays loyal to Kagimura Habaki and looks out for his fellow executioners, even attempting to buy Hyakurin's freedom (unsuccessfully).
When Habaki dissolves the Mugai-ryū, Giichi vanishes. Rin and Hyakurin eventually track him down living among the burakumin, where he helps them locate Manji. By that point he's a broken man deliberately keeping distance from Hyakurin to spare her more suffering. He knows she's pregnant and, when she attempts to kill the baby, he stops her and convinces her to have the child, promising to raise it himself afterward.
His weapon is instantly recognizable—a massive chain-linked handcuff blade adapted from old farming tools, originally called Kanetsura's Mito-no-Kami (Guardian of the Three Paths). The design lets him sever or entangle limbs, necks, and weapons from distance, and it's frustratingly hard to block since the cuff-like head wraps around whatever it hits. Manji manages to break it in Volume 14: Last Blood. Giichi first appears in Dark Shadows part 1.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
