Who Is Takeda Katsuyori (Suwa Katsuyori)?
Takeda clan lord struck by Fuma's night raids
Takeda Katsuyori was a Warring States lord of Kai Province (present-day Yamanashi Prefecture) and the head of the Takeda clan, succeeding Takeda Shingen. He suffered a crushing defeat by the armies of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, and in 1582, under attack by Oda and Tokugawa forces, he took his own life. With that, the Takeda clan fell as a Warring States power.
He appears in episodes 3 and 4 of this manga as the enemy commander facing Hojo Ujinao across the Kise River, and in episode 4 he is on the receiving end of Fuma's night raids. Night after night his horses are set loose and fires are lit, until his troops lose track of the enemy in the dark and fall into chaos, fighting one another.
Katsuyori was Shingen's fourth son. Because his mother came from the Suwa family, he was positioned to inherit that house and for a time used the name Suwa Katsuyori. The Kise River flows along the border between Suruga and Izu Provinces and became a scene of conflict with the Hojo clan.
Episodes featuring this character2
NEWEpisode 3
Summon the Seven-Foot Ninja With FangsFuma Kotaro
With the vast Takeda army camped across the river and a decision due by dawn, young commander Hojo Ujinao summons the Fuma, men his retainers sneer at as common thieves. Out of the dark steps a man over seven feet tall, with four fangs and a voice said to carry for miles.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
No Swords Drawn. An Army Fell.The Fuma Night Raids at Kisegawa
Night after rainy night, Fuma Kotaro's ninja cross the river, set horses loose, light fires, and raise war cries. They never draw a single sword, yet the great Takeda army crumbles. On the final night, a young soldier driven mad by fear turns his blade on the man who looked out for him. Then, bare-handed, he steps between comrades about to cut each other down.
20 pages