Lady Masako Adachi (安達政子;あだち まさこ; Adachi Masako) is an ally of Jin Sakai and the sole survivor of Clan Adachi. She is voiced by Lauren Tom.[note 1]
Biography[]
Masako is a member of Clan Adachi. When she was a teenager, she was able to fend off a group of bandits on her own to defend her family's home. This impressed the head of Clan Adachi, Harunobu Adachi, enough that he wished to marry her. This made her older sister, Hana, jealous of Masako's success. Aware of her sister's envy, Masako arranges Hana to be married to a retainer of a smaller samurai clan, Clan Kikuchi. Unbeknownst to Masako, however, Hana did not enjoy a happy life under Clan Kikuchi, being constantly abused by her drunken husband, Ikeda. This deepened the envy and hatred Hana had for Clan Adachi.
Masako's intentions of carrying out justice and honor in Clan Adachi's name resulted in the Clan making more enemies than just Hana. Masako dismissed one of the clan's retainers, Kajiwara, after she had caught him beating his wife and daughter. She and Clan Adachi also cut ties with one of their suppliers, Omura, after he cheated them out of their supplies and tried to blame one of her sons, Yasunari. Masako also suspected the Kuta Farmstead headman, Sadao of hoarding rice for himself, and Sadao was removed as headman. While Masako loved Harunobu, she also fell in love with a thief named Mai. Masako was eventually forced to banish her after Harunobu caught her stealing and wanted her flogged as punishment. All of this provided Hana more allies for her conspiracy to wipe out Clan Adachi.
Harunobu was later killed by Khotun Khan on the night of the Mongol invasion at the Battle of Komoda Beach. Her sons, Yasunari and his brother Shigesato, were also killed on the night of the invasion, hung from a tree by the Mongols. The rest of her family was then attacked by Hana's assassins. While Hana ran with the children to 'safety', Masako stayed behind with her sons' wives to fight the attackers. They were outnumbered, and before long Masako was the only one still alive. When she escaped, she found the children killed and a mutilated body that she assumed was Hana, unaware she had faked her death to avoid suspicion. Thus, Masako comes to the realization that she is the only survivor of Clan Adachi.
When Jin Sakai finds her, Masako is burying her dead relatives while going to the Golden Temple to settle temporarily. Jin seeks help to rescue his uncle Lord Shimura from Khotun's clutches, and Masako agrees to help in exchange for Jin's aid in avenging her family. Unaware of Hana's involvement, she suspects one of the monks, Sogen, of conspiring against her clan, and has Jin provoke him into leading them to the bandits that killed her family. After dispatching the bandits, Masako confronts a cornered Sogen, who expresses no remorse for his involvement. Out of anger, she executes Sogen before they can question him further, but Jin is able find a list Sogen was keeping detailing the identities of four other conspirators: Sadao, Omura, Kajiwara, and Mai.
Masako first finds Sadao's brother, Hachi, who runs a supply convoy for Sadao. On the way, Jin and Masako find Sadao's wife, Hina, and brings her to the Adachi Estate for questioning. As Masako and Jin are distracted, however, Hina is murdered by Hachi in order to silence her. Hachi was then fatally wounded by a group of Mongols, but the two manage to find papers that detailed Hachi's supply routes. With the help of Junshin, a Golden Temple monk responsible for setting up the camps in Izuhara, they corner Sadao at Ariake Lighthouse. Masako is again angered into killing the conspirator before they can question him.
Masako goes to Komoda Beach to find her sons and bury them, but is soon attacked by some Mongols. Jin saves her, and the two proceed to search the beach for her sons. Masako and Jin find them strung up on a tree by the Mongols, and two cut them down. They decide to bury Shigesato and Yasunari at Komoda Lighthouse, which they used to play at. After clearing out the Mongols there, they perform the burial. Masako thanks Jin for being a good friend, and he gives her some time alone to mourn her sons. With these favors completed, Masako repays Jin by aiding him in the assault against Castle Kaneda and the rescuing of his uncle. Afterwards, Masako resumes her search for the remaining conspirators in Toyotama.
Masako and Jin learn that Omura had died since the twenty years Masako had seen him, and that his two sons attempted to carry on his desire for revenge against Clan Adachi. While trailing the brothers, Masako and Jin learn that Omura's sons supplied the weapons for the massacre, although one is more guilt-ridden in the other. The other son has blackmailed the conspirators' leader for more money in exchange for their discretion, exchanging letters for a meeting Umugi Cove. Masako and Jin follow the brothers to this meeting to gain information, only to witness the conspirator leader's men double-cross the brothers and kill them, preventing them from gathering new information.
Masako asks Junshin about the location of the fourth conspirator, Kajiwara, but Junshin vouches for his morality, fearing that Masako is blinded by rage. Jin arrives and convinces Junshin to tell them that Kajiwara is a fisherman who lives on a nearby beach, after Jin promises they will just talk to him. On the way, Masako informs Jin that Kajiwara was a retainer for her clan, but they kicked him out after they caught him beating his wife and daughter. They arrived at Kajiwara's home, but finds that the Mongols have gotten there first. After clearing out the Mongols, Masako and Jin enter the hut and find Kajiwara's wife and daughter dead, and proceed the track down the fleeing Kajiwara. and Masako and Jin promptly learn that Kajiwara had killed his family out of cowardice to prevent them from dying to the Mongols. Disgusted, Masako executes Kajiwara. Jin theorizes that connections the conspirators had to Clan Adachi means the attack was personal, probably organized by a rival samurai clan, although Masako cannot think of which one.
Upon liberating Koshimizu Farmstead, Jin learns from Junshin that Masako is there searching for the last conspirator, Mai, and meets with Masako. Masako explains that Mai is a former servant who was dismissed after Masako's husband caught her stealing. Mai also looted Adachi estate after said estate was attacked, and stole valuable items from it. Masako is particularly upset by this betrayal, as it is heavily implied that Mai is her former lover. They find Mai with a group of Straw Hats, planning to sell the heirlooms at the right time, but Mai learns that the head conspirator wants the heirlooms for themselves. As Mai is forced to lead them to the heirlooms, Masako and Jin quietly assassinate the Ronin, leaving only Mai alive. Mai admits that she felt betrayed when Masako banished her and that she still loves Masako, who spares her life after she leads them to her buried family heirlooms. Mai also tells them that, while she did not know the conspirator's leader directly, the leader wrote through notes on how they wanted to start their own clan and implies that they were somehow related to Masako due to the possessive language used in regards to the heirlooms.
Jin later finds Masako interrogating some monks and learns that she suspects that Junshin is connected to the conspirators' leader, having found a letter bearing writing similar to the leader's writing, asking for Masako's whereabouts in exchange for supplies. Jin expresses skepticism at the minor connection and is firm on wanting to calmly talk to Junshin, who is dealing with a Mongol attack at Red Leaf temple. Jin defeats the Mongols and saves Junshin from execution but the rage-blinded Masako is intent on killing him rather than talking. Sending Junshin to run for safety, Jin reluctantly duels Masako so that she will not harm Junshin. After defeating her, they fend off Mongol reinforcements. Jin berates Masako for her temper and recklessness, telling them that they cannot let anger consume them, and warns her not to try to kill him again. They then catch up to Junshin, who reveals he never worked for the conspirator and that the one who sent him the letter was named Lady Hana, whom Masako realizes is her sister, the true mastermind behind Clan Adachi's destruction. Sending Junshin away, Masako is distraught at the revelation and vows to confront her sister.
With most of her family's killers dealt with, Masako aids Jin again in the assault on Castle Shimura, and later assists Jin and Yuna in attacking Fort Kaminodake. There, Jin finds Masako praying, asking her ancestors for forgiveness for what she is about to do. Jin joins Masako, who informs Jin that her sister has taken Clan Kikuchi's estate in Sago for herself, as Kikuchi's men fell at Komada beach, and their emblem matches the one on the notes. Masako notes that during the attack, Hana took the children and ran to the stables for 'safety', which was simply a cover to kill them. Certain of her guilt, Jin and Masko arrive at her estate and begin to drive inwards to locate Hana. When Hana sees them coming, she openly admits to her involvement and sends her samurai at them. Jin confronts and defeats the samurai, while Masako chases down and corners her sister in one of the estate rooms.
Masako demands to know why Hana did what she did to her family, and Hana recounts that Masako sent her away with her husband Ikedi, who later turned out to be an abusive drunk. Hana does not show remorse for her actions and justifies the drastic measures in her revenge as necessary, stating that Masako would have to feel an eternity of pain to know the life Masako had forced on her. Masako refuses to kill her sister and instead allows Hana to commit suicide with her tanto, later giving her sister a funeral in respect. Lamenting the loss of her family and having no path, Masako decides to leave once the battle is over.
Seeking to avenge the rest of her family, Masako aids Jin in the final assault on Port Izumi. In a final battle, Jin kills Khotun Khan, avenging Harunobu and his sons, the people of Tsushima, and crippling the Mongol invasion.
Legacy[]
Masako, as the last of Clan Adachi, passes away peacefully after the Mongol invasion and its past aftermath. Even after the beginning of Edo Period, Masako and her clan would be remembered as one of the legends who fought for Tsushima and its people.
Personality[]
Masako Adachi was a wise, loving, and kind-hearted woman, with the poise and composure of any Samurai; however, many of these traits were suppressed by grief and rage following the horrific murders of her entire clan and family. Masako was quick to slay those involved in her family's murders; she even kills those who proudly admit the deed in a fashion unfit to a proper Samurai. The monk Junshin nearly became a victim of Masako's wrath and survived only because Jin Sakai was able to fend her off in a duel until she came to her senses. These emotional outbursts override any tactical planning that Masako might listen to in different circumstances. She wouldn't bother strategizing and simply rushed into battle when a conspirator was within her reach; however, in other occasions like the reclamation of Castle Kaneda, she was calm and willing to follow Jin's preferred approach to the mission.
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Masako's gift of a comb to Mai, her banished extramarital lover, is a reference to a taboo in Japanese culture that giving combs as gifts is an omen of separation, or a statement of bitter goodbye.
- This is largely because the Japanese word for "Comb", "Kushi" sounds like the merging of the words "Ku" (Pain) and "Shi" (Death).
- Masako carries her bow and quiver pointing the opposite direction on her back from all other characters, with both pointing above her right shoulder. Carrying the quiver in this way was incorrect in Japan at the time period.
- One of the tips screens states that Masako once got a bandit to stand down merely with kind words.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ Ghost of Tsushima credits