FULL LIST OF THE KNOWN TATTOOED PRISONERS (23 OF 23)
1. Gotō Takechiyo (後藤 竹千代): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He murdered his wife and son while he was drunk.
2. Kasahara Kanjirō (笠原勘次郎) Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 “Prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Ogata) - Crime: Unknown.
3. Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三) aka Oni no Fukuchō (鬼 の 副長 “Demonic vice-commander”), Bakumatsu no Baragaki (幕末 の バラ餓鬼 “Lingering ghoul of the Bakumatsu”), Baragaki (バラガキ “Brat with a thorny personality”): Status: Alive - Crime: He was on the enemy side in the battle of Hakodata and therefore is considered a political prisoner.
4. Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹) aka Datsugoku-ō (脱獄王 “Escape king”): Status: Alive - Crime: Robbery was what put him in juvenile prison but due to his many escaping from prison to prison he ended up in Abashiri.
5. Tsuyama Mutsuo (津山 睦雄): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: He killed 33 people.
6. Ushiyama Tatsuma (牛山 辰馬) aka Fuhai no Ushiyama (不敗 の 牛山 “Ushiyama the Undefeated”): Status: Alive - Crime: He killed his master, wounded several of his master’s students causing one to remain bedridden for the rest of his life.
7. Nihei Tetsuzō (二瓶 鉄造) aka Kumauchi (熊撃ち “Bear hunter”) and Tōmin-chū no higuma mo unasareru akumu no kumauchi (冬眠中 の 羆 も 魘される 悪夢 の 熊撃ち “The bear hunter who gives hibernating bears nightmares”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Retar’s mate) - Crime: Murdered three thieves who stole prey from hunters and also killed them when they threatened to do the same with him.
8. Henmi Kazuo (辺見 和雄): Status: Deceased (Killed by Sugimoto Saichi) - Crime: Murdering over a hundred of people around the country.
9. Ienaga Chikanobu (家永 親宣) aka Ienaga Kano (家永 カノ): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsukishima Hajime) - Crime: Killing a bunch of patients in order to get their blood and, from it, their youth.
10. Takara Tetsuo (宝井 哲夫) previously just known as Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin (茨戸 で 刺青 人皮 のみ 取引き さ れて いた 囚人 “Prisoner whose tattooed skin was traded in Barato”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Wakayama Kiichirō) - Crime: Unknown.
11. Wakayama Kiichirō (若山 輝一郎) aka Oyabun (親分 “Boss”) and Wakayama no Oyabun (若山の親分 “Boss Wakayama”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He’s a Yakuza boss who makes his living with gambling and clearly has killed other people… though we don’t exactly know why he ended in the jail.
12. Funabashi Sōroku (船橋 荘六) previously just known as Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin (夕張 の 炭鉱 事故 で 死亡 した 囚人 “Prisoner who died in an accident in the coal mine in Yubari”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a mining incident) – Crime: Unknown.
13. Suzukawa Kiyohiro (鈴川 聖弘): Status: Deceased (Killed by Koito) - Crime: Being a con artist.
14. Sakamoto Keiichirō (坂本 慶一郎) aka Inazuma Gōtō (稲妻 強盗 “Lightning Bandit”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: Thief sentenced to life prison in Kabato. He escaped and was captured and sent to Abashiri.
15. Anehata Shiton (姉畑 支遁) aka Anehata Sensei (姉畑 先生 “Professor Anehata”): Status: Deceased (Died of heart attack while having sex with a bear) - Crime: Animal rape and animal slaughter.
16. Toni Anji (都丹 庵士) aka Mōmoku no tōzoku-dan no oyadama (盲目 の 盗賊団 の 親玉 “Leader of the Blind bandits”): Status: Alive - Crime: Unknown.
17. Gansoku Maiharu (岩息 舞治): Status: Alive - Crime: He was initially imprisoned for dojoyaburi (t/n: challenging dojo masters and bringing them to ruin) and his crimes got heavier while in prison because he kept causing mayhem.
18. Doi Shinzō (土井 新蔵) aka Hitokori Yōichirō (人斬り 用一郎 “Yōichirō the Manslayer”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: We know he was a hided assassin who killed countless people for a samurai who served the emperor but what caused him to end up in prison was merely the fact 8 years ago he murdered a man to get his wife back.
19. Sekiya Waichirō (関谷 輪一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: He killed 30 people with strychnine.
20. Matsuda Heita (松田 平太) aka Dōtō no higuma otoko (道東 の ヒグマ 男 “The Bear Man of East Hokkaido”) and Heita Shishō (平太 師匠 “Master Heita”): Status: Deceased (Suicide) - Crime: He was discovered while murdering and eating a man while wearing a bear pelt… but actually he had killed way more than just one man.
21. Ōsawa Fusatarō (大沢 房太郎) aka Kanbō no kaizoku (監房 の 海賊 “Pirate of the prison”) and Kaizoku Bōtarō (海賊 房太郎 “Pirate Bōtarō”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō and Kikuta Mokutarō) - Crime: 55 known cases of robbery, murders, injury, arson, theft plus many more still unknown.
22. Michael Ostrog (マイケル・オストログ) aka Jack the Ripper (ジャック ザ リッパー): Status: Deceased (Killed by Sugimoto Saichi) - Crime: around 10 years ago he stabbed multiple times a prostitute in Yokohama. He’s also responsible for murdering prostitutes in London.
23. Ueji Keiji (上エ地 圭二): Status: Deceased (He slipped from a high chimney) –Crime: he’s a murderer who abducted tons of kids and buried them in his garden.
24. NOT A CONVICT: It turned out that the 24 tattooed convict is actually not a convict but Kadokura Toshiyuki (門倉 利運) former Abashiri head jailer, currently Hijikata Toshizō’s loyal ally, whose tattoo is however incomplete. The image above doesn’t include him because this was meant to be a list of convicts and Kadokura isn’t.
THIS LIST DOESN’T INCLUDE THE SITUATION BETWEEN THE THREE MAIN GROUPS CHASING THE TATTOOED SKINS UPDATED TO CHAP 263
That’s because:
- Tsurumi handed Hijikata some real skins among the fake ones, but we don’t know which they are.
- the tattooed skins entrusted to Kadokura has partly ended in Tsurumi’s hands and partly in Sugimoto’s hands.
Long story short, we don’t know anymore which skins has Tsurumi, which skins has Sugimoto and which skins has Hijikata.
FULL LIST OF THE KNOWN TATTOOED PRISONERS (23 OF 24)
1. Gotō (後藤): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He murdered his wife and son while he was drunk. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
2. Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 “Prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Ogata) - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
3. Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三) aka Oni no Fukuchō (鬼 の 副長 “Demonic vice-commander”), Bakumatsu no Baragaki (幕末 の バラ餓鬼 “Lingering ghoul of the Bakumatsu”), Baragaki (バラガキ “Brat with a thorny personality”): Status: Alive - Crime: He was on the enemy side in the battle of Hakodata and therefore is considered a political prisoner. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō (copy).
4. Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹) aka Datsugoku-ō (脱獄王 “Escape king”): Status: Alive - Crime: Robbery was what put him in juvenile prison but due to his many escaping from prison to prison he ended up in Abashiri. - Skin owned by: Shiraishi Yoshitake, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy), Sugimoto Saichi (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sugimoto made a copy].
6. Ushiyama Tatsuma (牛山 辰馬) aka Fuhai no Ushiyama (不敗 の 牛山 “Ushiyama the Undefeated”): Status: Alive - Crime: He killed his master, wounded several of his master’s students causing one to remain bedridden for the rest of his life. - Skin owned by: Ushiyama Tatsuma, Hijikata Toshizō (copy).
7. Nihei Tetsuzō (二瓶 鉄造) aka Kumauchi (熊撃ち “Bear hunter”) and Tōmin-chū no higuma mo unasareru akumu no kumauchi (冬眠中 の 羆 も 魘される 悪夢 の 熊撃ち “The bear hunter who gives hibernating bears nightmares”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Retar’s mate) - Crime: Murdered three thieves who stole prey from hunters and also killed them when they threatened to do the same with him. – Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
8. Henmi Kazuo (辺見 和雄): Status: Deceased (Killed by Sugimoto Saichi) - Crime: Murdering over a hundred of people around the country. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
9. Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (家永 カノ/親宣): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsukishima Hajime) - Crime: Killing a bunch of patients and transfusing their blood into himself. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).
10. Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin (茨戸 で 刺青 人皮 のみ 取引き さ れて いた 囚人 “Prisoner whose tattooed skin was traded in Barato”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Wakayama Kiichirō) - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Wakayama Kiichirō, Hidoro Tamotsu, Ogata Hyakunosuke, Hijikata Toshizō.
11. Wakayama Kiichirō (若山 輝一郎) aka Oyabun (親分 “Boss”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He’s a Yakuza boss who makes his living with gambling and clearly has killed other people… though we don’t exactly know why he ended in the jail. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
12. Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin (夕張 の 炭鉱 事故 で 死亡 した 囚人 “Prisoner who died in an accident in the coal mine in Yubari”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a mining incident) – Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Edogai Yasaku, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
13. Suzukawa Kiyohiro (鈴川 聖弘): Status: Deceased (Killed by Koito) - Crime: Being a con artist. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō, Hijikata Toshizō (copy).
14. Sakamoto Keiichirō (坂本 慶一郎) aka Inazuma Gōtō (稲妻 強盗 “Lightning Bandit”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: Thief sentenced to life prison in Kabato. He escaped and was captured and sent to Abashiri. - Skin owned by: Tsurumi Tokushirō.
15. Anehata Shiton (姉畑 支遁) aka Anehata Sensei (姉畑 先生 “Professor Anehata”): Status: Deceased (Died of heart attack while raping a bear) - Crime: Animal rape and animal slaughter. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
16. Toni Anji (都丹 庵士) aka Mōmoku no tōzoku-dan no oyadama (盲目 の 盗賊団 の 親玉 “Leader of the Blind bandits”): Status: Alive - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Toni Anji, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).
17. Gansoku Maiharu (岩息 舞治): Status: Alive - Crime: He expressed himself through violence so likely he was sent in jail for brawling and since he kept on doing it even hen in jail his sentences piled up, in fact, he says he spent most of his life incarcerated but never that he murdered someone. - Skin owned by: Gansoku Maiharu, Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy), Sofia (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sophia mande a copy].
18. Yōichirō/Doi Shinzō (用一郎/土井 新蔵): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: We know he was a hided assassin who killed countless people for a samurai who served the emperor but what caused him to end up in prison was merely the fact 8 years ago he murdered a man to get his wife back. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō.
19. Sekiya Waichirō (関谷 輪一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: He killed 30 people with strychnine. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō, Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).
20. Matsuda Heita (松田 平太) aka Dōtō no higuma otoko (道東 の ヒグマ 男 “The Bear Man of East Hokkaido”) and Heita Shishō (平太 師匠 “Master Heita”): Status: Deceased (Suicide) - Crime: He was discovered while murdering and eating a man while wearing a bear pelt… but actually he had killed much more than just one man. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi.
21. Ōsawa Fusatarō (大沢 房太郎) aka Kanbō no kaizoku (監房 の 海賊 “Pirate of the prison”) and Kaizoku Bōtarō (海賊 房太郎 “Pirate Bōtarō”): Status: Alive - Crime: 55 known cases of robbery, murders, injury, arson, theft plus many more still unknown. - Skin owned by: Ōsawa Fusatarō, Sugimoto Saichi (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sugimoto made a copy].
22. ? (?) aka Jack the Ripper (ジャック ザ リッパー): Status: Alive - Crime: around 10 years ago he stabbed multiple times a prostitute in Yokohama. – Skin owned by: Michael Ostrog.
23. Ueji Keiji (上エ地 圭二): Status: Alive – Crime: he’s a murderer who abducted tons of kids and buried them in his garden. - Skin owned by: Ueji Keiji.
24. ?
AT CHAP 240 THE SITUATION BETWEEN THE THREE MAIN GROUPS CHASING THE TATTOOED SKINS IS AS FOLLOW
Sugimoto (3 skins?)
Gotō
Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin
Nihei Tetsuzō
Henmi Kazuo
Wakayama Kiichirō
Suzukawa Kiyohiro (copy)
Anehata Shiton
Toni Anji (copy)
Gansoku Maiharu (copy)
Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sugimoto made a copy]
Heita Matsuda
Ōsawa Fusatarō (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sugimoto made a copy]
Hijikata (9 skins)
Hijikata Toshizō (copy)
Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy)
Ushiyama Tatsuma (copy)
Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (copy)
Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin
Suzukawa Kiyohiro (copy)
Toni Anji (copy)
Yōichirō/Doi Shinzō
Sekiya Waichirō
All the 6 fake skins
Tsurumi (15 skins)
Tsuyama
Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin
Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy)
Sakamoto Keiichirō
Gotō
Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin
Nihei Tetsuzō
Henmi Kazuo
Wakayama Kiichirō
Suzukawa Kiyohiro
Anehata Shiton
Toni Anji (copy)
Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (copy)
Sekiya Waichirō (copy)
Gansoku Mahiru (copy)
Sophia (1 skin?)
Gansoku Mahiru (copy) [We don’t know if Sophia made a copy]
FULL LIST OF THE KNOWN TATTOOED PRISONERS (20 OF 24)
1 . Gotō (後藤): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He murdered his wife and son while he was drunk. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
2. Sugimoto Saichi-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 “Prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto Saichi”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Ogata) - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
3. Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三): Status: Alive - Crime: He was on the enemy side in the battle of Hakodata and therefore is considered a political prisoner. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō (copy).
4. Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹): Status: Alive - Crime: Robbery was what put him in juvenile prison but due to his many escaping from prison to prison he ended up in Abashiri. - Skin owned by: Shiraishi Yoshitake, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).
6. Ushiyama Tatsuma (牛山 辰馬): Status: Alive - Crime: He killed his master, wounded several of his master’s students causing one to remain bedridden for the rest of his life. - Skin owned by: Ushiyama Tatsuma, Hijikata Toshizō (copy).
7. Nihei Tetsuzō (二瓶 鉄造): Status: Deceased (Killed by Retar) - Crime: Murdered three thieves who stole prey from hunters and also killed them when they threatened to do the same with him. – Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
8. Henmi Kazuo (辺見 和雄): Status: Deceased (Killed by Sugimoto Saichi) - Crime: Murdering over a hundred of people around the country. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
9. Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (家永 カノ/親宣): Status: Alive - Crime: Killing a bunch of patients and transfusing their blood into himself. - Skin owned by: Ienaga Kano, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).
10. Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin (茨戸で刺青人皮のみ取引きされていた囚人 “Prisoner whose tattooed skin was traded in Barato”): Status: Deceased (Cause unknown) - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō.
11. Wakayama Kiichirō (若山 輝一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He’s a Yakuza boss who makes his living with gambling and clearly has killed other people… though we don’t exactly know why he ended in the jail. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
12. Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin (夕張の炭鉱事故で死亡した囚人 “Prisoner who died in an accident in the coal mine in Yubari”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a mining incident) – Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Edogai Yasaku, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
13. Suzukawa Kiyohiro (鈴川 聖弘): Status: Deceased (Killed by Koito) - Crime: Being a con artist. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (original), Hijikata Toshizō (copy).
14. Sakamoto Keiichirō (坂本 慶一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: Thief sentenced to life prison in Kabato. He escaped and was captured and sent to Abashiri. - Skin owned by: Tsurumi Tokushirō.
15. Anehata Shiton (姉畑 支遁): Status: Deceased (Died of heart attack while having sex with a bear) - Crime: Animal rape and animal slaughter. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.
17. Gansoku Maiharu (岩息 舞治): Status: Alive - Crime: He expressed himself through violence so likely he was sent in jail for brawling and since he kept on doing it even hen in jail his sentences piled up, in fact, he says he spent most of his life incarcerated but never that he murdered someone. - Skin owned by: Gansoku Maiharu, Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy), Sofia (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sophia managed to make a copy].
18. Yōichirō/Doi Shinzō (用一郎/土井 新蔵): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: We know he was a hided assassin who killed countless people for a samurai who served the emperor but what caused him to end up in prison was merely the fact 8 years ago he murdered a man to get his wife back. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō.
19. Sekiya Waichirō (関谷 輪一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: He killed 30 people with strychnine. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō, Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).
20. Matsuda Heita (松田 平太): Status: Deceased (Suicide) - Crime: He was discovered while murdering and eating a man while wearing a bear pelt… but actually he had killed much more than just one man. - -Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi.
21. ?
22. ?
23. ?
24. ?
AT CHAP 222 THE SITUATION BETWEEN THE THREE MAIN GROUPS CHASING THE TATTOOED SKINS IS AS FOLLOW
Sugimoto Saichi (2 skins)
Gotō
Sugimoto Saichi-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin
Nihei Tetsuzō
Henmi Kazuo
Wakayama Kiichirō
Suzukawa Kiyohiro (copy)
Anehata Shiton
Toni Anji (copy)
Gansoku Maiharu (copy)
Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy)
Heita Matsuda
Hijikata Toshizō (9 skins)
Hijikata Toshizō (copy)
Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy)
Ushiyama Tatsuma (copy)
Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (copy)
Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin
Suzukawa Kiyohiro (copy)
Toni Anji (copy)
Yōichirō/Doi Shinzō
Sekiya Waichirō
All the fake skins
Tsurumi Tokushirō (15 skins)
Tsuyama
Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin
Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy)
Sakamoto Keiichirō
Gotō
Sugimoto Saichi-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin
Nihei Tetsuzō
Henmi Kazuo
Wakayama Kiichirō
Suzukawa Kiyohiro
Anehata Shiton
Toni Anji (copy)
Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (copy)
Sekiya Waichirō (copy)
Gansoku Mahiru (copy)
Sofia (1 skin?)
Gansoku Mahiru (copy) [We don’t know if Sophia managed to make a copy]
Now that you mention the skin from barato, I happen to have a theory of my own. As we know, prisoner number one claimed "the convicts started killing each other". Which should by all means leave at least ONE dead convict right off the bat. Also we know Oyabun has been in barato and even left underlings there. And he has killed people. So my little theory here is that Oyabun got one of the skins, trusted it to an underling, and it was "lost" as payment in barato.
Many, many apologies for my lateness in replying but I somehow missed that message.
Now... for your theory...
...the possibility Oyabun/Wakayama Kiichirō had been the one leaving the skin to Barato is rather interesting but now let’s dig into it in details.
To be honest Oyabun doesn’t say he went to Barato, but just that he sent his men there... but it’s possible he went there as well and then left but his men remained there...
If we look at Hidoro Shinpei’s tale though I’m not sure he would play this part.
I mean... not only the guy who lost the skin doesn’t really resemble him but I would expect Oyabun not to get himself in such situation and, in case he were, not to surrender so easily the skin.
On the other side we can speculate one of Oyabun’s men was in charge of holding the skin for him and bet it... but it seems the situation between Hidoro and Umakichi escalated DUE to the skin as both Shinpei and Yamamoto (the barber), think the skin is the main reason for Umakichi’s moves.
It’s hard to say but it’s sure an interesting possibility so thank you for suggesting it.
On the other side regarding Prisoner number 1′s words we get into a situation that’s a real mess... both for your theory and in general... but let’s check them first.
A bloodbath implies that one or more convicts were attacked by one or more convicts.
The image implies convicts jumping on convicts with one convict being stabbed through his eye.
This however generates any sort of troubles.
For start let’s check the possible reasons for which one or more convicts would attach the others.
First of all there’s the reason Sugimoto suggested, wanting to skin them. Not all the convicts though were interested in the skins so let’s divide the convicts in 2 groups, interested and disinterested.
I’ll consider ‘interested’ those who right from the bat started pursuing the tattooed skins or remained in Otaru/very close to it as Nopperabou told them to go there. Those who left for other destinations or only grew an interested when contacted by Hijikata will be labelled as ‘disinterested’.
I’ve placed 3 convicts in the unknown section because Heita seems to be forced to cooperate with Boutarou so I don’t know if he’s genuinely interested in getting that particular type of gold, I’ve no idea if Tsuyama was catched near Otaru or not and/or if he expressed interest into the gold and we’ve no idea from where the skin in Barato came.
Everyone else was minding their own (often murderous) business until one of the groups searching for the gold found them.
The result is... basically we have only 4 people who could have started attacking the others for the gold because they possessed the necessary viciousness for it as well as the fighting skills, Hijikata (who so far has proved he was more interested in cooperating and only takes copies of the skins), Ushiyama, Sakamoto (who likely took so long into getting in the gold hunt because first he spent time with O-gin and ended up getting her pregnant) and Boutarou (who, we just learnt, is searching the gold through means different than the skins but this could be an idea that came to him afterward).
As you can see I didn’t place Oyabun in the ‘interested’ group, as not only he leaves Otaru to handle his business but he doesn’t search for the skins at all. Even if we assume yur theory is correct and he got the skin of a convict who died in the massacre or managed to escape to it but died due to his wounds or was even killed by Oyabun for some reason, later Oyabun handed his skin off to pay a debt and didn’t bother to try his hardest to retrieve it, a sign he wasn’t really involved in the gold hunt.
So let’s go to look again to those 4 people.
Could one of them have started a bloodbath?
Highly unlikely.
First of all the idea of a bloodbath would involve people seriously wounded or murdered. So far we only have one known deceased who might not even have died in such a circumstance.
none of the overmentioned 4 at the time was in an allegiance with other people so if he wanted to attack it would be 1 against everyone else... and many of the convicts are seriously dangerous.
We know Nihei got his hands on a rifle and with or without one he’s a dangerous foe. If Henmi were to put his hands on one wof the soldiers weapon (we don’t know if he did or not) he would be equally dangerous in a fight. Oyabun also is someone you don’t want near to a sword and the same goes for Youichirou. There’s Gansoku that’s pure brutal strenght.
If one of the overmentioned 4 would attack the others the others would likely gang up on him not escape. And if a fight among such powerful guys were to ensure yes, we would have had a bloodbath but also more than 1 dead convict.
Overall I think the whole thing ended up being retconned, in fact he doesn’t come up again in the following volumes, Noda introduced the idea the convicts didn’t see each other faces and didn’t know each other except for some guys who were popular or were closed in a jail together and so on (not even Hijikata knew them even if according to Shiraishi HE was the one who passed down the plan to them all).
This of course allows things like Shiraishi not realizing Wakayama was a convict or Hijikata having to ask Kadokura info about the convicts so the retcon wasn’t a bad idea... but when we go and try to figure out what happened during the convicts’ escape of course we get stumbled because the bloodbath got somehow erased.
Retcons happen, especially in works like GK and this one is a minor one.
At least this is the most likely Doylist explanation.
A Watsonian one can be that Prisoner number 1 misunderstood the situation.
If they actually ganged up on a single convict because that one was dangerous, he might have assumed the convicts were brutally slaughtering each other when instead they were attacking just one convict in self defence. The guy would be the one who ended up as a skin in Barato. The problem with this theory is it wouldn‘t explain why the convicts then escaped in different directions, if they had murdered the threat and it was more convenient for them to stay together. Surely, even if they didn’t want the gold, Hijikata would have demanded a copy of their skin before letting them go.
Another possibility is Heita lost it, the convicts knew he wasn’t responsible for his actions so, although he managed to kill a convict, he ended up not murdered by the others but just knocked out... or he went back to normal. Again we stumble back in the same problem as before. Once gotten the situation under control, why escaping? If Hijikata had exposed his plan Ushiyama and Toni would have joined him as they did later.
Last but not least, it’s possible the convict starting the fight is one we hadn’t met yet.
Still, with only 1 convict ending up dead, I find calling it a bloodbath was an huge exaggeration.
We’ll see... but so far I tend to think Noda just retconned the bloodbath and we’re meant to suspend our disbelief and just pretend to forget it... still thank you for your interesting suggestion! I’ll look forward to see if it’ll be proved to be true!
