Sakutarou Sakurai

Sakurai is disciplined, courageous and deeply shaped by his life as a wartime pilot. He retains the mentality of a soldier even after entering the spiritual world, focusing on his aircraft and mission rather than questioning the larger supernatural circumstances around him.

His outlook is not simply one of blind militarism. Sakurai understands fear, loss and the reasons people fight, and his conversations with Hana challenge the younger boy to consider what he is actually fighting for. His own experiences give those questions weight beyond abstract advice.

His earlier life shows a gentler man. Before military service, he frequented a café where he fell in love with Chiharu. The promise that he would return to her remained an important emotional connection through the upheaval that followed.

Sakurai was an exceptional fighter pilot. During operations around Papua New Guinea, he is credited with single-handedly shooting down roughly one hundred enemy aircraft, earning the name Death Zero. His greatest strength is not supernatural power but extraordinary skill in aerial combat.

As a spirit, Sakurai can be incorporated into Hana's Over Souls. O.S. Death Zero uses Sakurai's Zero fighter itself as a medium, restoring the aircraft's ability to fly and allowing his piloting expertise to become part of Hana's supernatural arsenal.

Hana later develops O.S. Zero Fighter Man using Sakurai's Nambu Type 14 pistol as the medium. The manifestation creates a smaller Zero fighter that can convert into humanoid armor. Its weapons include the Type 99 20 mm Possessed Demon Gun and Spirit Launcher, which transforms the spirits of Sakurai's fellow soldiers into spiritual ammunition.

Sakurai's life begins far from the supernatural conflicts of the Shaman Fight. He grows up in Satoya-mura during the prosperity of the 1920s, befriends Oume Kaizou and develops a relationship with Chiharu. The Great Depression destroys many of the opportunities available to young men of their generation, and Sakurai enters military service.

He becomes a feared Zero pilot during World War II, with his extraordinary aerial record producing the Death Zero legend. His past is later intertwined with Kaizou's own experiences of war and the economic forces that shaped both men's lives.

Sakurai is ultimately shot down by Kaizou during the war. He bears no hatred toward his former friend, instead recognizing Kaizou's resolve and urging him to confront the people responsible for creating the conflict. Sakurai's spirit becomes trapped in a Mini Ashura Hell, where he continues rebuilding his damaged Zero under the belief that the war is still being fought.

Hana encounters Sakurai there during Flowers. Their time together turns the dead pilot into an important figure in Hana's development, while The Super Star expands the story of Sakurai, Kaizou and the forces that shaped their generation.

Sakurai eventually becomes one of Hana's spirits, allowing Death Zero to return not as an ordinary military aircraft but as an Over Soul used in the coming supernatural conflict.

Hana Asakura encounters Sakurai in the Mini Ashura Hell. Their initially difficult interaction develops into an important spiritual partnership, with Hana eventually using Sakurai in his Over Souls.

Oume Kaizou knew Sakurai before the war. Their lives eventually place them on opposing sides of a wartime encounter in which Kaizou shoots Sakurai down, yet Sakurai does not blame his old friend.

Chiharu is Sakurai's beloved from his youth. Before he leaves for military service, she asks him to return to her, and that promise remains one of his strongest ties to the life he lost.

Yohsuke Kamogawa encounters Sakurai during Hana's experiences in the afterlife. Yohsuke uses his time-manipulating powers to mortally wound Sakurai's spirit during their confrontation.

Anderson recognizes Sakurai's feared Death Zero reputation. His hesitation when confronting the legendary pilot gives Sakurai the opening to kill him.

Hao Asakura oversees the circumstances surrounding Hana's journey through the afterlife, with Sakurai becoming part of the power Hana brings forward from that experience.