hot take: hideo was also to blame in the daisho caper let me explain
shadowsan was in the wrong, he did many things such as abandoning his only family, his brother but at the same time hideo was wrong for his neglect.
why didnt hideo get involved, why didnt he interfere with suhara at all? well, 2 ways this could have gone is the fact that hideo knew shadowsan was involved with criminal activity and ignored it or not. meaning he was neglecting. yes he wouldve punished him for making that action but at the end it is neglectful, he should have said something. secondly, its a possibility did he not know he was engaging in criminal activity, but how??? hideo is a responsible figure to shadowsan, but why is he not involving himself thats quite irresponsible.
this is not to shade hideos character but to just point out not ALL carmen sandiego characters are perfect and whatnot.
shadowsan stole the daisho for his status, a bit crass but one of the lines he says 'I boasted stealing something valuable'. he just wanted to steal this sword only to gain a higher status because in the yakuza, the higher valuables u steal u are worthy of being one of the big guys and intimidating.
hideo used the sword as a situation to be against shadowsan, he threatened him in fact. he also values the family name and not just the family itself provided with the quote "And bring further shame on our family name?!" because this implies he cares more about the family name then getting shadowsan in trouble. thing is though, why would hideo care about the family name now when he simply ignored that shadowsan was a criminal
there are polarities with the two holding the sword, shadowsan wanted status but hideo only held it when suhara took it and hideo said: "He said I would have to take it from him"
hideo wanted to attack suhara but suhara fled as he did not want to fight, suhara had no murderous intentions just bad intentions. this shows hideo escalated in his words so he is also in the wrong.
shadowsan afterwards went on to self-villainize and self-victimise himself but he doesnt want to put the blame on hideo too much as he did scare him when he was younger.
self villainisation is not to be confused with accountability at all but rather just an unhealthy attenpt of accountability
in some shadowsan voicelines, shadowsan seems to think hideo is up at a higher class.
"Hideo is a scholar of samurai history, he always possessed discipline. While I did not." "Hideo held sacred the idea of Bushido, or the way of the samurai warrior. While I did not." "And Hideo was content living on a scholar's wages. While I was not." this symbolism of repetition shows that he looked up to his brother as a studious, disciplined person but he also compares himself to him. its expected also that the youngest must always look up to the oldest as they have more discipline. its a pattern where hideo ia xyz, shadowsan is not.
a final conclusion is that both were also in the wrong here, hideo needs to also be held accountable in this situation too not just shadowsan himself. this is a theory and its meant to neutralise these characters too.
and im not saying shadowsan, hideo and the rest are imperfect, it just shows how there are flaws in these characters too! im very neutral towards the two and this is seen from my perspective.
