Nakao is a Yakuza character who appears in Yokusaru Shibata's manga "Toshima Tanzaburo wa Kamen Rider ni Naritai." The story follows a 40-year-old delusional protagonist, a Kamen Rider OTAKU whose dream is to become a Kamen Rider.
Nakao is a villain in the story. His dream is to become a Shocker (the evil antagonist organization from the original Kamen Rider). He is a delusional 44-year-old Yakuza man who, along with his underlings, plays the role of Shocker and commits robberies.
Even a man like him has a sad past. When Nakao was a child, his mother left home. To win his wife back, his father tried to strike it big with a new business and started a Taiyaki shop. However, his father's Taiyaki shop failed to attract customers, leaving behind a 7 million yen debt from startup costs. Eventually, his father brought home a wealthy-looking, fat, middle-aged woman and said to young Nakao: "I am going to live with this woman from now on. You go to your grandfather's house."
Young Nakao was left speechless, not understanding what was happening. Then the woman said: "Your father had to become my fifth lover (dog) to wipe out his debt. But I figured it would be pitiful for you as a son to suddenly have your father disappear, so I thought I'd at least let you say a final goodbye and clear things up." With that, his father and the woman left.
Nakao was taken in by his grandfather, but his mother never came to visit him. One day, young Nakao saw children his own age playing "Kamen Rider" by the riverbank. Everyone was fighting over who got to play the Kamen Rider. Seeing that sight, young Nakao thought: "My father was saddled with debt and taken away by a mysterious woman. No one helped us." "Does a hero of justice even exist in this world?"
Young Nakao approached the children playing Kamen Rider and called out to them: "I'll play Shocker all by myself, so all of you come at me as Kamen Riders." The children were dumbfounded by this incomprehensible proposal, saying, "Huh?" Weeping and sobbing, young Nakao declared, "If I live as Shocker (evil), I'm sure I can survive," and then attacked the children, only to be beaten to a pulp. Ever since that day, Nakao continued to live with the dream of becoming a Shocker, and since Shocker doesn't actually exist, he settled for becoming a Yakuza as a compromise.
***
As a side note, Nakao's syndicate is attacked by a mysterious force, and the boss is assassinated. Nakao gives money to his underlings to let them escape while he faces the enemy, miraculously surviving a near-death experience. When he reunites with his underlings, he urges them, "The syndicate is going under, so you guys should go back to being ordinary citizens." "An 'end' comes for everyone. There are guys who despair at that point and truly meet their end." (Thinking of his father). "But you guys are still young. An 'end' can also mean a 'beginning.' Life starts from here."
At that moment, Yakuza from another syndicate start going on a rampage in the town. Because the boss of Nakao's syndicate—which controlled this territory—was assassinated, leaving the syndicate practically on the verge of collapse, a rival syndicate invaded to expand their territory. The Yakuza from the rival syndicate attack a Taiyaki shop that happened to be right there. Nakao is stunned when he looks at that Taiyaki shop. The owner of the Taiyaki shop, though aged, was unmistakably Nakao's father. What kind of hell did he experience, and through what twists and turns did he manage to fulfill his dream of running a Taiyaki shop?
Given hope by the sight of his father, Nakao shouts, "The syndicate isn't over! I'm still here!" He challenges the rival Yakuza, wipes them all out, and walks away dashingly. As Nakao walks away, his father calls out to his back: "Who on earth are you?!" Tears and snot streaming down his face, Nakao answers: "Just a passing Shocker combatant."
Comments (-)