Takeshi Murakami

WARNING! This article may contain major spoilers from the Dandadan manga series. Please read at your own risk.

Takeshi Murakami
Japanese	村上剛史
Rōmaji	Murakami Takeshi
Characteristics
Race	Human
Home Planet	Earth
Gender	Male
Personal Status
Status	Alive
Classifi-cation	Power User (Formerly)
Occupation	High School Teacher (Formerly) Power Collector (Formerly)
Affiliation	Kami High (Formerly) Enenra (Formerly)
Residence	Kamigoe City
Combat Style	Severed Head Dribblers (Formerly)
Debuts
Manga Debut	Chapter 121

Takeshi Murakami (村むら上かみ剛たけ史し, Murakami Takeshi^?) was a teacher at Kami High.

He was one of Enenra's many agents tasked with stealing powers from Power Users and was set on stealing the powers of Momo Ayase by blackmailing female student Koki Yukishiro into doing his bidding, bestowing upon her the Lord of the Flies ability via a white kozuka knife for the task.

In Dandadan, he serves as an overarching antagonist during the Kozuka Knives Arc.

Appearance

Murakami is an older man with short dark hair who wears a tracksuit. He is seen wearing a matching long-sleeve sweatshirt and pants when informing Momo and Okarun of Sanjome's agreement to become the History and Culture Research Club.

Personality

On the surface, Murakami is a man who is friendly towards his coworkers. However, his true personality is a manipulative individual, using the reprehensible tactic of extorting female students, such as Koki Yukishiro, to force them to do his bidding. Along with this, he used mind games by sweet talking Koki that her mission can benefit her as well. While acting as a high-ranking subordinate of the Orchestrator, he is very cautious about keeping his identity a secret, having communicated to Koki inside a locker despite there being no one around at the time.

Synopsis

Kintama Hunt Saga

Onbusuman Arc

At the faculty office, Murakami becomes confused about where his seat is, not realizing that Sanjome is occupying it right in front of him. He turns to Adachi for an answer, only to hear from her confusion as well as to where his seat is as well. When Murakami finally notices Sanjome, he is convinced of his claim to the seat after Sanjome states his name, which leads Murakami to recognize him as the deputy head teacher. Later, after Momo. Okarun, Kinta, and Bamora decide to establish the History and Culture Research Club, Murakami introduces them to Sanjome as their faculty supervisor.

Current Saga

Kozuka Knives Arc

At some point, Murakami was persuaded by the Orchestrator to work under him, obtaining lots of money and steroids. He was given the Severed Head Dribblers power and worked until he was granted the possibility to acquire subordinates for his own, which he sought to do so by extorting female students through their social media accounts. Upon discovering a photograph of a half-naked young girl on social media and recognizing her as Koki Yukishiro, Murakami confronted her and issued a threat to reveal her image unless she acquiesced to his demands to strip Momo's psychic power for him, assumingly ordered by the Orchestrator. To accomplish this, Murakami gave Koki one of his Asura knives and used one on her to grant her the Lord of the Flies power, although the newly achieved spiritual sensitivity allowed her to see the pygmies who always followed her around and assisted her, making her believe that was the power given to her through the kozuka.

After Koki's initial failure to steal Momo's power, Murakami, while inside a locker, clarifies Koki's mistake in wielding the knife, explaining that it necessitates the victim's submission before they can be stabbed. He then proceeds to tempt Koki into giving into the power he gave her in order to become the type of person she desires.

In the faculty office, Murakami inquires with Sanjome about Adachi's whereabouts. When Sanjome questions the reason for his inquiry, Murakami shares that he and a few colleagues intend to go to a singles mixer and invites Sanjome to accompany them. Intrigued by the idea, Sanjome consents to join. Later, Murakami sees Adachi seemingly coming back to the school and asks if she had been somewhere. Adachi responds that she had temporarily left to look after her sick mother. After offering his sympathies, Murakami invites her to a singles mixer with the staff. Adachi politely refuses the invitation and walks away, while he continues to encourage her to join.

After school, Murakami meets Koki at the gym, where he notices Rin watching them from a distance. He then subjects the two female students to his Severed Head Dribblers power at the Kami High gym before relocating to his apartment building. There, he monitors the gym from an exercise bike and invites Adachi over, enticing her to please him by wearing a revealing bunny outfit in exchange for him keeping his promise. concerning her mother. Around the time Okarun, AIra, and Kinta arrive to rescue Rin and Koki, Murakami takes pleasure in watching the events in the gym unfold, knowing that it is futile for Aira, Rin, and Koki to attempt to find him to stop the Severed Head Dribblers since he is elsewhere. He then approaches Adachi, becoming displeased with her lack of enthusiasm, and threatens to withdraw his promise to her. Following this, he prepares to sexually harass her on the couch, prompting the jiangshi to appear without his awareness after sensing their master in danger, which Adachi finds is not the right moment to confront him. In an unexpected turn of events, Murakami finds himself being attacked by a swarm of flies, much to his distraught. Seeing this as an opportunity, Adachi pulls out a kozuka knife and demands that Murakami yield and willingly give up his powers, revealing to him that she is also collecting powers like him and makes him believe that the flies attacking him are her doing. Murakami then reaches for the knife to cut himself and admit defeat, resulting in his Severed Head Dribbler powers being extracted and sealed within the blade. Following this, Murakami is carried by the flies to the gym. Upon his arrival in front of Aira, Rin, and Koki, he strives to keep his composure and feign ignorance, asserting that he was on the verge of taking a bath at home when the strange occurrence took place. As he attempts to depart, suggesting that the girls should do the same, Aira retaliates by kicking him in the face, insisting that he address them concerning his misdeeds. Aware that he cannot easily extricate himself from the predicament he finds himself in, Murakami consents to erase the compromising photos of Koki but arrogantly advises them not to exaggerate the situation, as it would reflect poorly on them as long as he possesses the images. Aira promptly corrects him with another kick, making it clear that what they desire is for him to acknowledge that he is a reprehensible individual.

The police is called to the school following their fights and they arrest Murakami after Koki reveals what he did to her.

Former Abilities and Powers

Supernatural Abilities

Severed Head Dribblers Control
Murakami possessed the power to summon and control severed head dribblers. Due to his association with the orchestrator who is in possession of kozuka knives, it can be implied that he had acquired this power through them.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This power allowed Murakami to summon an army of severed head dribblers and command them to fight on his behalf using their floating heads as projectiles and dunking their enemies into hoops to detach their heads from their bodies. These humanoid creatures also had the ability to augment their size and shift the surrounding environment to crush their targets. Furthermore, their bodies were invulnerable as long as Murakami maintained them active and easily regenerated if struck. Their only notable weakness was that the targets' floating heads could be reattached to their bodies if they were inserted from the opposite side of the hoop in which they were previously dunked into.
Usage
Murakami had the severed head dribblers engage in battle while he stayed in his apartment and monitored the situation through a tablet, although the humanoids could attack independently.

Equipment

Asura (阿修螺, Ashura?)
Murakami was in possession of an Asura kozuka knife that possessed the power of the Lord of the Flies, which granted the user control over any small living creature.
Capabilities
Power Absorption and Bestowal
Like its parent, the Asuras are capable of extracting powers from individuals, under the condition that the wielder's target admits defeat before being cut, and bestow the power onto themselves or someone else by cutting themselves.
Usage
Murakami used the Asura on Koki to grant her the power of the Lord of the Flies for her mission to steal Momo's psychic powers using the same knife. However, she believed that the Pygmies were the ability given to her instead as they stuck to her side and helped her out.

Chapter Appearances

Kintama Hunt Saga

Onbusuman Arc
121. Who's This Person?	Debut
122. Let's Form a Club	Absent
123. The Class Rep's Secret	Absent
124. Ombusman	Absent
125. Let's Do an Exorcism	Absent
126. It's a Parade Float. It's a Festival. It's Ninomiya	Absent
127. Float Performance Face-Off	Absent
128. Let's Be Idols	Absent

Battles & Events

• Kozuka Knives Arc
  • Kami High Ambushes
    • Aira Shiratori, Rin Sawaki, Mai Kawabanga, Koki Yukishiro and Pygmies vs. Severed Head Dribblers

Current Saga

Kozuka Knives Arc
166. Is This a Little Fairy?	Absent
167. Hey, There's Something There	Absent
168. There's Someone Here	Absent
169. Find The Culprit!	Absent
170. A Suspicious Woman	Flashback
171. Corner the Perp!	Absent
172. Those Pygmies Are Scary	Absent
173. Corner the Criminal!	Absent
174. Queen Sensei's Infirmary	Mentioned
175. So Who's the True Perp?	Mentioned
176. Scattering the Bait	Mentioned
177. Let's Do Some Kung Fu	Absent
178. The Power of a God	Absent
179. This Seems Kinda Deadly	Appears
180. The Owner of the Kozuka Knives	Appears
181. Must Be the Influence of a Curse	Absent
182. Something's Taken the Bait	Appears
183. So It's You!	Absent
184. The Class Rep's Head!	Absent
185. So You're The Perp!	Appears
186. Kouki Yukishiro's Power	Appears
187. Kick the Crap Outta Murakami!	Appears
188. Okarun and Kinta	Absent
189. Jumping Granny and Kung Fu Alien	Absent
190. Merging Is What Makes Us Strong!	Absent
191. The Mistake	Flashback

Typhoon Human Arc
192. Departing for Shimane	Absent
193. You People?!	Absent
194. We've Been Hijacked	Absent
195. It's a Typhoon Direct Hit	Absent
196. Let's Blow Away That Typhoon	Absent
197. Earthworm! Go!	Absent
198. Smash the Typhoon's Eye!	Absent
199. Clear Skies After the Storm	Absent
200. Everyone's Whereabouts	Appears

Bonus Appearances

Volumes Omake
1. Volume 1	Absent
2. Volume 2	Absent
3. Volume 3	Absent
4. Volume 4	Absent
5. Volume 5	Absent
6. Volume 6	Absent
7. Volume 7	Absent
8. Volume 8	Absent
9. Volume 9	Absent
10. Volume 10	Absent
11. Volume 11	Absent
12. Volume 12	Absent
13. Volume 13	Absent
14. Volume 14	Absent
15. Volume 15	Absent
16. Volume 16	Absent
17. Volume 17	Absent
18. Volume 18	Appears
19. Volume 19	Absent
20. Volume 20	Absent
21. Volume 21	Absent

Etymology

• The name Takeshi means "strong, sturdy, tough" (剛) (take) and "history, chronicle, annals" (史) (shi).
• The name Murakami means "village, hamlet" (村) (mura) and "up, above, top" (上) (kami).

Trivia

• Momo connects Murakami to the mystery person who gave Unji the mission of conquering the cursed trunk that sealed the Fairy-Tale Card.
• While she remembers meeting him, Koki finds it hard to recall Murakami's appearance to identify her blackmailer. Momo speculates that this may derive from a power Murakami possesses to avoid the worst-case scenario of Koki failing her mission.
  • Interestingly, this phenomenon is also the case with two other individuals who are also in possession of an Asura knife.
• According to Dandadan Daizukan:
  • He likes passive income.
  • He dislikes cockroaches.
  • His hobbies are muscle training.