Disclaimer: I own none of the Boshi quintuplets.
The Boshi Quintuplets - Five Sides
It's true. Look at it logically: There's Amiboshi, Suboshi, Koutoku, Shunkaku, and Kai-Ka, and they're all different people.
In the beginning, there was Koutoku and Shunkaku. They were children, who trusted each other completely. They loved each other, because there was no one else to. Koutoku and Shunkaku were very much alike; they both were gentle and loving, frightened to be alone, and overall dedicated to one another.
When Nakago got hold of them he induced Amiboshi and Suboshi, two warriors, to the children who had never dared fight before because they were too scarred from it. Amiboshi and Suboshi were supposed to be cruel, heartless, made for Nakago's usage.
But Amiboshi and Suboshi couldn't get rid of Koutoku and Shunkaku. So these warriors had the same strong love for one another as the children did. And they were still caring, which Nakago really didn't want. So he went all out to get rid of Koutoku and Shunkaku. He told them about the Suzaku team causing the war, and about how there would never be peace as long as Suzaku could be summoned. Amiboshi and Suboshi lived.
There were problems, though. He really still hadn't been able to shake the little twins away from his warriors.
When Amiboshi went to the Suzaku side as an infiltrator, he was gotten rid of. Koutoku let himself out again. He realized the good of the Suzaku team. But he couldn't deal with Amiboshi, who got out at the summoning, and attempted to kill the Suzakus. However, Koutoku came back into strength and threw himself into the river, at the realization that he could stop the war and get rid of Amiboshi at last.
The death of Amiboshi/Koutoku was all it took for Suboshi to kill Shunkaku. Because of Suboshi's lack of love for anyone but his twin, he was able to kill Tamahome's family without regret. Afterwards, Shunkaku was horrified, but he was dead insofar as Suboshi was concerned, and he had no more power.
There was one problem, however. Yui. Suboshi brought a part of Shunkaku back to life because of the one other person who'd ever cared. Yui had held Shunkaku when he cried; before he was killed off, she'd told him she understood his pain, she'd allowed him to cry in her arms. Shunkaku had fallen in love with her. Gentle little Shunkaku with his soft touch and his loving heart; Suboshi could not get rid of the tiny child deep inside. Thus, Shunkaku's love lived on.
So Suboshi was not yet able to become Nakago's perfect warrior, because he didn't get rid of all traces love. He also had come to hate Nakago, for the way he was betraying Yui, and she sinking deeper into the betrayal.
When Amiboshi/Koutoku fell into the river, they did die for a while...because they made way for the last of the Boshi five - Kai-Ka.
Kai-Ka was scared of war, because he still carried Koutoku inside him. Koutoku was terrified. He was unable to kill himself and Amiboshi, and let Kai-Ka live on in their place. Instead the two lay sleeping deep inside of this new boy. So there was always the danger, always the chance...
Finally, Miaka came. Kai-Ka fell in love with her. Koutoku would have been pleased, because with love his new side could flourish, but Miaka was Suzaku no Miko. She would bring Amiboshi back to life if she wasn't careful.
And she almost did. She awakened all of the old Amiboshi memories, and Kai-Ka was put away for a time. Koutoku, though, found he could control Amiboshi slightly. Telling Miaka all about what had happened to Shunkaku and himself kept Amiboshi at bay. And the using of Amiboshi's life force to save Miaka? He could work in Kai-Ka's love, so that it wasn't Amiboshi using his own chi, but Kai-Ka drawing power from him instead.
This would have worked, but then there was the Kuto attack on Makan in Sairou. Amiboshi had to come out, no matter what, so that he could kill these men and save Miaka without Koutoku's fear of killing. And he did.
Koutoku worried that now, since Amiboshi was really and truly awake, he would destroy the girl Kai-Ka loved. Then Koutoku discovered something amazing to him - in the way that Shunkaku had worked his love of Yui into Suboshi, Koutoku himself had managed to project his desire to protect Miaka into Amiboshi.
Amiboshi used his power to sense Tamahome, and following Koutoku's rule of giving Miaka happiness, went to find him, to bring them together.
Amiboshi also used his power to fight Tomo. At that time, though, he let all of Amiboshi's fighting instinct loose; that is, he became the Amiboshi Nakago had wanted. Unfortunately for the Shogun, he was using that Amiboshi to destroy one of Nakago's warriors.
Once Tomo had him tied up, however, Amiboshi went away, because Koutoku needed Kai-Ka and his love to help Miaka. When Koutoku saw his chance, he broke his own finger to give Amiboshi the burst of painful, awakening strength he needed to tear Miaka from the illusion. When he brought that and Kai-Ka's love together, they created a form of Amiboshi so powerful that it was easy to call Miaka back.
But when she returned from the illusion world, she was powerless, and had to be protected. He fought Tomo, using his form of Amiboshi. The problem was, that pain-induced Amiboshi was fading a bit, and the pain was also taking his strength now. He began to slow down. Soon Amiboshi, Koutoku, and Kai-Ka would die.
Help came. Suboshi, feeling Amiboshi's life force earlier, and also the pain that he now owned, rushed to save him. His love for the older twin motivated him, and giving his weapon all the power he possessed, he killed Tomo.
Running to the fallen boy's side, he became little Shunkaku, who had burst back to life at that moment, and tried to make his twin comfortable, to pay him back for the kindness and protection he'd had from the older twin all those years.
Koutoku pushed out. He could pull his little brother from the war. He could prevent all harm ever coming to the one he loved like no one else. He offered Shunkaku the chance to forget.
But the gentle Shunkaku realized that Suboshi had had an influence on him. He could no longer leave Yui by herself, to cry alone, to have no one to trust. He loved Yui, and he couldn't abandon her. He was going to have to kill himself again, and make sure that Suboshi was there to always protect her. He said goodbye to his beloved twin, and gave him back Kai-Ka.
The bokyakuso was actually able to do what all Koutoku's efforts couldn't - the bokyakuso finished Amiboshi. It also got rid of Koutoku, and left nothing but the peaceful, soft Kai-Ka, who needed happiness more than anything else, and could have it now. Shunkaku had finally repaid Koutoku the years of protection and love, in the most wonderful way he could.
Shunkaku hurt, though. He knew (or thought he did) what had happened to Yui; he knew the way Miaka had betrayed her, hurt her, and ruined her life. He, Shunkaku, was deeply in love with Yui, but too much of a child to get back at Miaka. He finally killed himself and gave Suboshi total control.
Suboshi's anger and hate was amazing, frightening and terrible. Suboshi couldn't stand Miaka. Suboshi attempted to do to Miaka what had been done to Yui - the thing that had caused her so much pain and suffering.
Tamahome stopped him. Suboshi knew he wouldn't have his revenge then, so he gathered Kai-Ka into his arms, and brought him to the place he'd be happy at. He gave him back to his parents, and allowed him the life he needed.
Suboshi released his brother from the war, in the way Koutoku had tried to do to Shunkaku.
Now there was no one to tell Suboshi what was right, only people like Nakago who didn't care what was. Now Suboshi was allowed to let hate for Miaka and Tamahome consume him, and he did. He lived to kill the ones who had so hurt the only person he had to love now.
Suboshi needed love, but he was never given it. With Koutoku gone, there was no one to care for him. So he never learned Shunkaku's gentle love, which Koutoku could have inspired. Instead, he had Suboshi's nervous, harsher love, where he didn't know how to really make Yui happy, and tried to kill her enemies as gestures of affection. It wasn't his fault; it was all he knew.
Finally, Suboshi's anger was his downfall. Trying to do what he thought was right, what he thought would let Yui's angry heart be at rest, he died on the streets of Tokyo, where no one knew his name, and no one cried for him.
Only Kai-Ka felt himself filled with sorrow, and it was an odd kind.
The Boshi quintuplets had all shared one soul. Kai-Ka had regained parts of this soul when Koutoku and Amiboshi died, but he couldn't get Shunkaku's part - Shunkaku's was sleeping in eternal rest in the bottom of Suboshi's heart. When Suboshi died, the parts of the soul he had owned were given to Kai-Ka. Their soul was finally complete, and Boshi five were actually one.
(This is the reason Kai-Ka and Su were able to share a body in the OVA - it already contained a bit of Suboshi, making it easy for him to share it with Kai-Ka, and resurrect Amiboshi, and all sorts of stuff that shouldn't have happened)
Therefore, in conclusion, I think there were actually Boshi quintuplets. Sound likely? Essay convincing? Send in your reviews please, they'll help my grade and tell me exactly how bad my convincing skills actually are. C'mon, review, people!
~Korin
The Boshi Quintuplets - Five Sides
It's true. Look at it logically: There's Amiboshi, Suboshi, Koutoku, Shunkaku, and Kai-Ka, and they're all different people.
In the beginning, there was Koutoku and Shunkaku. They were children, who trusted each other completely. They loved each other, because there was no one else to. Koutoku and Shunkaku were very much alike; they both were gentle and loving, frightened to be alone, and overall dedicated to one another.
When Nakago got hold of them he induced Amiboshi and Suboshi, two warriors, to the children who had never dared fight before because they were too scarred from it. Amiboshi and Suboshi were supposed to be cruel, heartless, made for Nakago's usage.
But Amiboshi and Suboshi couldn't get rid of Koutoku and Shunkaku. So these warriors had the same strong love for one another as the children did. And they were still caring, which Nakago really didn't want. So he went all out to get rid of Koutoku and Shunkaku. He told them about the Suzaku team causing the war, and about how there would never be peace as long as Suzaku could be summoned. Amiboshi and Suboshi lived.
There were problems, though. He really still hadn't been able to shake the little twins away from his warriors.
When Amiboshi went to the Suzaku side as an infiltrator, he was gotten rid of. Koutoku let himself out again. He realized the good of the Suzaku team. But he couldn't deal with Amiboshi, who got out at the summoning, and attempted to kill the Suzakus. However, Koutoku came back into strength and threw himself into the river, at the realization that he could stop the war and get rid of Amiboshi at last.
The death of Amiboshi/Koutoku was all it took for Suboshi to kill Shunkaku. Because of Suboshi's lack of love for anyone but his twin, he was able to kill Tamahome's family without regret. Afterwards, Shunkaku was horrified, but he was dead insofar as Suboshi was concerned, and he had no more power.
There was one problem, however. Yui. Suboshi brought a part of Shunkaku back to life because of the one other person who'd ever cared. Yui had held Shunkaku when he cried; before he was killed off, she'd told him she understood his pain, she'd allowed him to cry in her arms. Shunkaku had fallen in love with her. Gentle little Shunkaku with his soft touch and his loving heart; Suboshi could not get rid of the tiny child deep inside. Thus, Shunkaku's love lived on.
So Suboshi was not yet able to become Nakago's perfect warrior, because he didn't get rid of all traces love. He also had come to hate Nakago, for the way he was betraying Yui, and she sinking deeper into the betrayal.
When Amiboshi/Koutoku fell into the river, they did die for a while...because they made way for the last of the Boshi five - Kai-Ka.
Kai-Ka was scared of war, because he still carried Koutoku inside him. Koutoku was terrified. He was unable to kill himself and Amiboshi, and let Kai-Ka live on in their place. Instead the two lay sleeping deep inside of this new boy. So there was always the danger, always the chance...
Finally, Miaka came. Kai-Ka fell in love with her. Koutoku would have been pleased, because with love his new side could flourish, but Miaka was Suzaku no Miko. She would bring Amiboshi back to life if she wasn't careful.
And she almost did. She awakened all of the old Amiboshi memories, and Kai-Ka was put away for a time. Koutoku, though, found he could control Amiboshi slightly. Telling Miaka all about what had happened to Shunkaku and himself kept Amiboshi at bay. And the using of Amiboshi's life force to save Miaka? He could work in Kai-Ka's love, so that it wasn't Amiboshi using his own chi, but Kai-Ka drawing power from him instead.
This would have worked, but then there was the Kuto attack on Makan in Sairou. Amiboshi had to come out, no matter what, so that he could kill these men and save Miaka without Koutoku's fear of killing. And he did.
Koutoku worried that now, since Amiboshi was really and truly awake, he would destroy the girl Kai-Ka loved. Then Koutoku discovered something amazing to him - in the way that Shunkaku had worked his love of Yui into Suboshi, Koutoku himself had managed to project his desire to protect Miaka into Amiboshi.
Amiboshi used his power to sense Tamahome, and following Koutoku's rule of giving Miaka happiness, went to find him, to bring them together.
Amiboshi also used his power to fight Tomo. At that time, though, he let all of Amiboshi's fighting instinct loose; that is, he became the Amiboshi Nakago had wanted. Unfortunately for the Shogun, he was using that Amiboshi to destroy one of Nakago's warriors.
Once Tomo had him tied up, however, Amiboshi went away, because Koutoku needed Kai-Ka and his love to help Miaka. When Koutoku saw his chance, he broke his own finger to give Amiboshi the burst of painful, awakening strength he needed to tear Miaka from the illusion. When he brought that and Kai-Ka's love together, they created a form of Amiboshi so powerful that it was easy to call Miaka back.
But when she returned from the illusion world, she was powerless, and had to be protected. He fought Tomo, using his form of Amiboshi. The problem was, that pain-induced Amiboshi was fading a bit, and the pain was also taking his strength now. He began to slow down. Soon Amiboshi, Koutoku, and Kai-Ka would die.
Help came. Suboshi, feeling Amiboshi's life force earlier, and also the pain that he now owned, rushed to save him. His love for the older twin motivated him, and giving his weapon all the power he possessed, he killed Tomo.
Running to the fallen boy's side, he became little Shunkaku, who had burst back to life at that moment, and tried to make his twin comfortable, to pay him back for the kindness and protection he'd had from the older twin all those years.
Koutoku pushed out. He could pull his little brother from the war. He could prevent all harm ever coming to the one he loved like no one else. He offered Shunkaku the chance to forget.
But the gentle Shunkaku realized that Suboshi had had an influence on him. He could no longer leave Yui by herself, to cry alone, to have no one to trust. He loved Yui, and he couldn't abandon her. He was going to have to kill himself again, and make sure that Suboshi was there to always protect her. He said goodbye to his beloved twin, and gave him back Kai-Ka.
The bokyakuso was actually able to do what all Koutoku's efforts couldn't - the bokyakuso finished Amiboshi. It also got rid of Koutoku, and left nothing but the peaceful, soft Kai-Ka, who needed happiness more than anything else, and could have it now. Shunkaku had finally repaid Koutoku the years of protection and love, in the most wonderful way he could.
Shunkaku hurt, though. He knew (or thought he did) what had happened to Yui; he knew the way Miaka had betrayed her, hurt her, and ruined her life. He, Shunkaku, was deeply in love with Yui, but too much of a child to get back at Miaka. He finally killed himself and gave Suboshi total control.
Suboshi's anger and hate was amazing, frightening and terrible. Suboshi couldn't stand Miaka. Suboshi attempted to do to Miaka what had been done to Yui - the thing that had caused her so much pain and suffering.
Tamahome stopped him. Suboshi knew he wouldn't have his revenge then, so he gathered Kai-Ka into his arms, and brought him to the place he'd be happy at. He gave him back to his parents, and allowed him the life he needed.
Suboshi released his brother from the war, in the way Koutoku had tried to do to Shunkaku.
Now there was no one to tell Suboshi what was right, only people like Nakago who didn't care what was. Now Suboshi was allowed to let hate for Miaka and Tamahome consume him, and he did. He lived to kill the ones who had so hurt the only person he had to love now.
Suboshi needed love, but he was never given it. With Koutoku gone, there was no one to care for him. So he never learned Shunkaku's gentle love, which Koutoku could have inspired. Instead, he had Suboshi's nervous, harsher love, where he didn't know how to really make Yui happy, and tried to kill her enemies as gestures of affection. It wasn't his fault; it was all he knew.
Finally, Suboshi's anger was his downfall. Trying to do what he thought was right, what he thought would let Yui's angry heart be at rest, he died on the streets of Tokyo, where no one knew his name, and no one cried for him.
Only Kai-Ka felt himself filled with sorrow, and it was an odd kind.
The Boshi quintuplets had all shared one soul. Kai-Ka had regained parts of this soul when Koutoku and Amiboshi died, but he couldn't get Shunkaku's part - Shunkaku's was sleeping in eternal rest in the bottom of Suboshi's heart. When Suboshi died, the parts of the soul he had owned were given to Kai-Ka. Their soul was finally complete, and Boshi five were actually one.
(This is the reason Kai-Ka and Su were able to share a body in the OVA - it already contained a bit of Suboshi, making it easy for him to share it with Kai-Ka, and resurrect Amiboshi, and all sorts of stuff that shouldn't have happened)
Therefore, in conclusion, I think there were actually Boshi quintuplets. Sound likely? Essay convincing? Send in your reviews please, they'll help my grade and tell me exactly how bad my convincing skills actually are. C'mon, review, people!
~Korin