Ban Mido

Infobox animanga character
name = Ban Mido
series = GetBackers


caption = Ban Mido by Yuya Aoki and Rando Ayamine
first = "GetBackers" manga chapter 1
"GetBackers" anime episode 1
voiced by = Japanese
Nobutoshi Canna
Naomi Shindou (as child)
age = 18 in the manga- 21 in the anime
born = nihongo|Ban Mido|美堂蛮|Midō Ban is a fictional character in the manga / anime series "GetBackers". Known variously as nihongo|"The Man with the Evil Eye"|邪眼の男 and "The Genius of Battles", he is the "B" in the Get Backers. He is 21 years old in the anime (18 in the manga)

Creation and conception

Personality

The first impression one usually gets of Ban would be that he is a rude person with a great sense of pride. With his unruly hair (he's often called "Urchin Head or Snake Bastard") and sunglasses, people immediately judge him poorly (it doesn't help that he gives unflattering nicknames to almost anyone he meets, e.g. "monkey trainer" Shido Fuyuki and "thread spool" Kazuki Fuuchouin). Despite this, he is actually a kind person with a strong sense of leadership and a very talented person. He is one quarter German and the grandchild of the "Last Witch of the 20th Century" which might refur to his name Ban translated means final.

He's also a brother-like figure to Himiko Kudo after she has gotten over her brother's death. Later, it is found that Ban is Himiko's real brother. Himiko's average fighting skills meant that she often bites off more than what she can chew. In such situations, Ban can be counted on to come to her aid (though it must be noted that she does return the favour at times). On another note, he picked up smoking from Yamato (Himiko's brother), and his favourite brand is Marlboro.

In the GB duo, he's often the one who thinks of plans for their moves. Initially, Ginji Amano was seen to be a sidekick to him (in fact, when they first formed their partnership, Ban insisted that Ginji was only his sidekick). As the story progresses, Ginji gradually held his own in their missions, and Ban acknowledged him as an equal.

Although seemingly rude, impatient, and cocky, Ban is decidedly a mysterious person behind his less eloquent personality. As a "combat genius", Ban is very intelligent, having studied fighting techniques, science, history, and magic from a very young age as a result of being hunted in Europe by shamans during childhood, and surprises everyone with his knowledge more often than not. Meanwhile, Ban is often quite sentimental to even the people he's rude with. He decided to help out Shido Fuyuki, who hardly gets along with Ban, after Madoka Otowa was kidnapped by the Kiryuudo 7; when Shido sacrificed his life for Madoka, Ban screamed at Shido's corpse, questioning him as to how Madoka will be able to live without him (thankfully, Shido was later resurrected by Amon Natsuki, who died in turn). He has also helped the "resurrection" of Natsuki in the Infinity Fortress as a favor for MakubeX to cheer up Haruki Emishi, who had grieved the most for Amon's death.

Also, he bears a striking resemblance to his father. In fact, in the arcs where his hair is "down" (Venus de Milo and Kiryuudo arcs), he looks like der Kaiser during his GB days with Paul. Another trait which both father and son share is that while they may appear cold and ruthless on the surface, they were actually very warm and caring to their friends. Fittingly, before his father disappeared (for the second time), his last wish was for Ban to help light his cigarette. In the anime, Ban is shown to be an excellent violin player as well.

Abilities

It was also his grandmother who passed on the powers that Ban has today. Ban basically has two main powers. Firstly he can utilize the Evil Eye (邪眼, "Jagan"), a power which allows him to make anyone he makes eye contact with watch a one minute long illusion, though it can only be used a maximum of three times per day. It should be noted that Ban never uses his illusion of the Evil Eye/Jagan to defeat his opponents but rather uses it to get back a client's memory or to complete the objective of his job. His second ability, and more important power, is the Snakebite. Because of his being a direct descendant of the Witch clan and being born under the star of Asclepius, he possesses incredible superhuman strength, which gives him a gripping force of 200 kgf (2 kN) in each hand. Also, as shown in several part in the series, he is strong enough break open the doors of armored steel trucks and punch hard enough to create large craters in the ground or break walls, and occasionally even collapse multistoreyed buildings. Though it is never mentioned, feats of physical strength such as this mean that Ban is strong enough to lift up a few hundred kilograms with each arm easily, even when he is not using 100 percent power. At full power, his right hand becomes a snake's jaw that can crush anything. Also, while powering up to 100 percent, the ghost-like outline of a giant snake can be seen surrounding him. The general impression of people when taking their first look at him is of a skinny or ordinary person; however, a close look will reveal that he is of a fair height and has solid shoulders and large, muscular and solid arms. His ordinary looks often deceive enemies and they don't expect his level of metahuman super strength.

In the "Get Back the Lost Time" arc, his skills have grown by leaps and bounds due to his learning abilities. Against Natsuhiko, he managed to execute a new move, "Snake Kill", using his "left" hand (his right hand is his main attacking hand). Also, the apparent penalty of using the Jagan a fourth time within the 24 hour limit was for the user to disappear both from the physical world and from the memories of all who know him. With that in mind, Ban requests one final duel with Akabane Kurodou, the dreaded Dr. Jackal. After an intense struggle, the two manage to strike each other, causing Ban to collapse and Akabane to disappear. However, Akabane had not died, as assumed, but, instead, implanted a surgery scalpel into Ban's chest as a "final favor", given to Ban for allowing Akabane to see his own limits. Akabane later explained to the Specialist that, as having Ban disappear would be a pity, he attempted to fool the Archive by faking Ban's death just long enough with the scalpel, delaying Ban's disappearance from using his fourth Jagan, for Ginji to reach Babylon City and resolve everything, thus saving Ban from disappearing.

Note: The force was measured in kilograms force, rather than the modern SI units, newtons. So since his hands can generate 200 kilograms of force, that is 1,960 newtons or 1.96 kilonewtons (kN).

Asclepius

In order to summon Asclepius, Ban must say a chant, of which there are three versions:

Version 1: (Now, by your right hand)...Before the end of this cursed fate, I shall be the one to embody Asclepius as he descends from the high heavens. Now, I shall state my request: Attack with your fangs of venom!"

Version 2: "Now, in thy right hand... Thou whilt host Ophiuchus, who comes from the cosmos... until thy cursed fate ends. Now be devoured... by the poisoned fangs of the serpent!"

Version 3: "Even now, at thy right hand, until this cursed fate is spent. Is the one who houses, Asclepius, who descends from the milky way on high, Therefore I invoke thy. Feed with your fangs of poison!"

While he's saying the incantation, the outline of a snake's scaly body can sometimes be seen around him. Ban has never lost a fight after invoking the incantation even without using the Evil Eye (as was the case in his IL battle with Fudou). Often, his opponent will get the VERY short end of the stick. Due to its overwhelming results, some fans have jokingly called this move "Ban's winning speech".

The Car

Ban drives a Volkswagen Beetle that is constantly being towed away due to Ban's refusal (and inability) to pay parking fees coupled with his tendency to constantly "invent" parking spots. This causes the two to not only temporarily lose their car, but they often lose their money to release (they are in this situation at the start of the manga). At that point, they go to the "Honky Tonk", a bar that they go to cadge free food and run up their tab. Their little car would not normally be a powerhouse, but this particular VW Beetle has a 1200 cc engine tuned to 195 horsepower (145 kW) with nitrous. The car, in real life, only weighs 900 pounds, thus making it extremely fast. The car also features a soft top, which is used mainly to make their jobs easier. Ban drives his car like a madman, with many scenes of him sliding the car around corners, or going down the sidewalk on two wheels. He claims to have an extremely good driving technique.

Plot overview

Reception

Anime News Network praised the style of the Jagan in the manga to be a "horrifying nightmare". The Tokyo Pop translation of the Ban Mido dialogues has been criticized for making him sound like gangsters.cite web |url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/getbackers-gn-1|author=Cooper, Liann|date=2004-04-27|title=GetBackers G. Novel 1: Vol. 1 |publisher=Anime News Network |accessdate=2008-04-30] Ban has ranked highly in the popularity polls of the series, continuously placing in the top ten and ranking third once. [cite book |title=GetBackers volume 14 |last=Aoki |first=Yuya |coauthors=Ayamine, Rando |year=2006 |publisher=Tokyo Pop |isbn=1-59182-976-3 |pages=p. 94 ]

References