Kazuma Asogi

Age : 23 years old (same as Ryunosuke Naruhodo)
Occupation : Prosecutor
height : 5'9
Nationality : Japanese

Kazuma is noted to struggle with tongue twisters, and although not stated to be his least favorite food, he appears to have a strong dislike for chicken to the point where he ate none of it when it was served for dinner. In terms of hobbies, he is stated to practice archery with Naruhodo alongside other martial arts, speech and debate. As his conversations in the Prosecutor's office show, he is implied to have an interest in arts and crafts.

clothing//Military-style uniform: A double-breasted white coat featuring black trim, structured shoulder straps, and prominent black frogs or horizontal fasteners across the chest.Red ascot tie: A voluminous, red cravat or neck scarf tucked into the high, stiff collar.Double sword belt: A complex, crisscrossing dark brown leather belt system complete with metallic gold buckles and loops.Handwear: Fitted white gloves covering both hands.Footwear: Sturdy, knee-high dark brown leather riding boots worn over matching white trousers.
Weapons: A ornate gold-hilted rapier or saber on his right hip and space for his traditional Japanese katana, Karuma, on his left hip (He doesn't have it since he gifted it to ryunosuke naruhodo)
Physical Appearance//Hairstyle: Neat, dark black hair parted straight down the middle, slightly flaring out at the sides.Face: A stern, serious facial expression with focused, dark eyes and sharp eyebrows.Build: A tall (5'9) slender, and athletic physical frame with upright, formal posture

However, said determination and loyalty leads him to go to terrifying lengths, which can harm both others and himself. Such is shown by how Jigoku used this determination against him, as his condition to participate in the exchange program was to murder Tobias Gregson; and, later on, how he forces Daley Vigil to recall a traumatic memory in order to find the truth. His anger and determination towards van Zieks for the apparent use of forged evidence also leads Kazuma to be set on convicting him of Gregson's murder along with the Professor killings despite the evidence to the contrary.

Kazuma is also noted to be very closed-off about his problems and past, which becomes more apparent after the regaining of his memories. This is displayed by his closed-off body language in his sprites, along with his eventual breakdown: trying and failing to keep himself composed. That aspect of his has also been a long-running one, as Naruhodo notes that he has brief moments where he has a dark expression regarding his mission, yet says nothing; furthermore, Yujin Mikotoba states that he never knew that Kazuma had known about the Professor killings and his father's involvement, which ultimately motivated him to travel to Britain.However, Kazuma still retains his strong sense of justice, along with his love for his friends. He is ultimately able to see past his anger thanks to Naruhodo's words, and eventually assists in exposing the truth behind the Professor killings. He also displays strong consideration towards his friends: seeing Susato's hope of continuing to be a judicial assistant at Naruhodo's side, Kazuma encourages Susato to accompany Naruhodo back to Japan in order to aid him in his work, giving up the opportunity of having his adopted sister by his side for his own trials as a prosecutor.

Kazuma is introduced as a composed yet hot-blooded and outspoken youth with a strong sense of justice. He's well-known around his university for his accomplishments in both academics and martial arts, and despite his young age, he was chosen to participate in an exchange program to travel to the Great British Empire and earn the qualifications to become a defense attorney.

He possesses a sharp tongue, and is quick to challenge or defy authority figures; a point of contention from local bailiffs and later, Mael Stronghart. This extends to a strong hatred for corrupt authority as well, as Kazuma displays contempt not only for the Japanese government attempting to use Naruhodo as a scapegoat, but for the British government having done the same thing to his father Genshin.He can overdo things to a fault, as displayed by how he practiced the tongue twisters he struggled with until his tongue bled. Kazuma is also willing to go to great lengths in order to help his friends, even if it means risking his career and aspirations; and despite his acerbic nature, he is deeply respectful to those he cares about, and never failing to encourage them. It is because of these traits that Kazuma is set up to be an ideal, one that his best friend Ryunosuke Naruhodo would think of in times of need.Following his return, however, Kazuma's initially "good" traits are now taken to harmful extremes, with the most glaring being his determination. Even without memory, he was so determined that he traveled to the Great British Empire through working on steamships while relying on his knowledge of the English language, along with his skill in lawyering. As Naruhodo later discovers, this is all done in the name of avenging his father, displaying a strong dedication to filial piety.

As the day came when Naruhodo was to leave, Kazuma approached him and thanked him for everything. He revealed that during his confrontation with Gregson he had felt a murderous rage, and understood that there was still a darkness within him that he had yet to defeat. He also told his friend he would be studying under Barok as a prosecutor in order to be able to conquer the darkness within others as well. Believing he was not yet deserving to hold the sword, he entrusted Karuma to Naruhodo until the day he could overcome his faults. Declaring the two would meet again in court one day, Kazuma watched as Naruhodo and Susato departed for their home country.

After the trial, Kazuma declared he would never forgive Barok, but admitted he was a man who sought justice. When Barok declared he would have to leave the country when word of his brother got out, Kazuma chastised him, claiming that now that the Reaper was gone, his work had only just begun. Barok begrudgingly accepted this. Later that evening at the prosecutor's office, Susato approached Kazuma, asking if it would be okay for her to return home with Naruhodo instead of staying as Kazuma's judicial assistant. Kazuma accepted, asking her to watch over his friend.

However, Herlock Sholmes soon appeared and convinced the gallery that the trial must continue, giving Kazuma one more chance. It was revealed in the following testimonies that Genshin was targeted by Gregson's men in order to steal his ring and frame him for the crime; Barok had believed he was the target at the time. Kazuma still struggled to believe that Barok had nothing to do with framing Genshin, until Naruhodo snapped him out of it: he told Kazuma that if Kazuma held onto his hatred of Barok van Zieks, he would never be able to find the truth. Seemingly enlightened, Kazuma decided to let go of the past and help his friend. It was eventually discovered that the true identity of the Professor was that of Barok's brother himself, Klint van Zieks, and that Klint's death — formerly believed to be the last attack of the Professor — was actually during a duel between Genshin and Klint, since Genshin wanted his friend Klint to die with honor. It was subsequently revealed that Stronghart was also responsible for the killings of the Reaper and the assassination program, and had been blackmailing Klint to continue his killings as the Professor.Stronghart was almost able to get away with his crimes, as no proof existed that he acted directly, and due to the nature of the secret trial, everything was to remain classified. Kazuma almost lost his last change at revenge until Sholmes appeared through hologram, revealing that Queen Victoria had been watching the whole trial and had stripped Stronghart of his powers. At last, Kazuma was able to achieve the justice he had looked for for so long.

Despite this, Kazuma still wanted to convict van Zieks of being the head of the Reaper conspiracy. He requested that van Zieks give testimony about it, but van Zieks denied any reason to plot the assassin exchange. Naruhodo then remembered about Klint's autopsy report, causing Kazuma to reveal what had happened with Kazuma and Gregson before he left for Dunkirk. He concluded that since Barok van Zieks was the prosecutor for his father's trial, only he could've had detective Gregson and Dr. Wilson forge that autopsy, then had them killed to keep them from talking. But to his surprise, Kazuma found out that Mael Stronghart was the original prosecutor in charge — it was only at the last minute that Stronghart allowed van Zieks to take over the trial, due to van Zieks's insistence on avenging his brother Klint. Judge Stronghart denied forgery being involved in any way in Genshin's trial, stating that there was no way to prove that what Gregson told Kazuma was true because Gregson was dead now. After denying Yujin Mikotoba's testimony, Stronghart told Kazuma to surrender himself and that his "little play at revenge" is over. This made Kazuma slam his fists on the stand and scream in despair.

When Kazuma confronted Gregson, however, he instead insisted that the inspector explain what really happened at Genshin's trial. Gregson revealed that forged evidence had been used to convict Genshin, though he refused to say anything more and continued to insist Genshin was guilty. Enraged by this, Kazuma drew his sword and swung it at Gregson, but hit his trunk instead, chipping the tip off Karuma. Shaken at his own actions, Kazuma decided to leave it at that, disembarking at Dunkirk harbor and signing the guestbook at the inn to stay for the night, leaving Jigoku to assassinate Gregson in his place. Though Jigoku tried to pin the crime on Daley Vigil, van Zieks stumbled upon the inspector's corpse and took the fall instead.Kazuma would later be the one to prosecute his mentor facing off against his friend, Naruhodo, in the trial. He saw this as an opportunity to get his revenge against Barok van Zieks for his father's conviction, since van Zieks had been the prosecutor for that trial. His case was that van Zieks was the head of the Reaper of the Bailey conspiracy, an organization originally thought to be a curse where Gregson and Asa Shinn, the assassin who killed John Wilson, would carry out the deaths of each of the defendants that escaped van Zieks's trials. Their headquarters: an abandoned apartment just outside of London. The most recent Reaper mission was to kill Seishiro Jigoku, but since Gregson failed at this mission, Kazuma believed van Zieks had shot Gregson as retribution when he returned to Fresno Street. Originally, Kazuma's theory was that Gregson was merely investigating van Zieks, who shot him to silence the investigation. However, Naruhodo eventually proved that Gregson's killer was Jigoku himself, who had to act to complete Kazuma's mission.

In order to cover up his past misdeeds to ensure his promotion to Attorney General, Mael Stronghart decided to have Tobias Gregson, the coordinator of the Reaper's operations, killed. To accomplish this, Stronghart decided to give Gregson a sham "Reaper" mission for the date of October 31st aboard the S.S. Grouse as it headed for Dunkirk, France. Kazuma was sent with him as the assassin. The ostensible purpose of this mission was to assassinate Seishiro Jigoku, as he had technically been prosecuted by van Zieks for remarks made against the British Empire at the Professor's trial ten years ago, but Stronghart's true intent was for Kazuma to kill Gregson.

Under the guise of the "Masked Apprentice," Kazuma assisted van Zieks in the prosecution of Albert Harebrayne. During the course of the investigation, Naruhodo and Susato deduced that the Apprentice was Kazuma, though had no way of confirming nor denying that fact.

After the trial's conclusion, Kazuma regained his memories upon seeing a wax sculpture of his father, Genshin Asogi. Naruhodo, grateful to see he was alive, returned Karuma to him, which Kazuma proceeded to use to slice his father's wax figure in half. He thanked Naruhodo for taking care of Karuma and thanked Susato for taking care of Naruhodo, but declared that this was not the time to talk more. After their reunion, Kazuma departed from the courtroom.

Though Kazuma had survived the events on the steamship, the ordeal rendered him amnesiac, with his only clue to his past being an intense desire to reach England. After docking in Hong Kong, Kazuma escaped from the steamship, and gradually made his way to his destination by acting as a crew member aboard cargo ships. He eventually reached England, but because he had no identity and no memory, he was immediately taken to Scotland Yard where he met Mael Stronghart for the first time.

Using his remaining knowledge of law, Kazuma impressed Stronghart enough to instate him as the disciple of Barok van Zieks. However, Stronghart ordered that he must wear a mask and cloak at all times, causing him to adopt the identity of the "Masked Apprentice". Kazuma was instructed not to speak to anyone outside of the Prosecutor's Office, and served under van Zieks for three months.

On January 9th, Kazuma encountered a ballerina named Nikolina Pavlova and learned that she was trying to escape from Russia. Realizing that she had been smuggled onto the ship, Kazuma decided to let her meet Naruhodo, who was fast asleep in the wardrobe. However, when he turned to his right, Pavlova panicked, assuming he was looking at the nearby calling bell and was going to call detective Satoru Hosonaga. Scared she would be found and sent home, she pushed Kazuma suddenly, accidentally knocking him out against his bed post. Terrified, Pavlova proceeded to cover up the incident with the help of Strogenov, framing Naruhodo for it by using blue ink to make it look as if Kazuma had written "wardrobe" in Russian, pointing to his assailant.

Knowing of Kazuma's connection to the assassination program from his surveillance of government correspondence, Sholmes took the opportunity to fabricate the incident as a "death" upon being made aware of the crime and hid the fact that Kazuma had survived the assault from Naruhodo and Susato. After Naruhodo and Susato realized that Pavlova was the one who had caused Kazuma's "death" and Naruhodo himself was cleared of suspicion for the crime, With Sholmes's prodding, Naruhodo decided to continue his friend's dream of becoming a worthy defense attorney so that he could change Japan's justice system for the better. Susato also gave Naruhodo Kazuma's sword, Karuma, to which Naruhodo wrapped his friend's hairband around.

Though the exchange program only provided tickets to Kazuma and Susato, Kazuma smuggled Naruhodo aboard the SS Burya as a stowaway. Kazuma only told Naruhodo that he had a mission in London and wanted his friend to see it through with him, but did not divulge any details about what his mission actually was. Still, Naruhodo agreed. For two weeks, Naruhodo stayed in Kazuma's cabin's closet, and the two shared the meals meant for Kazuma. This left both of them hungry.

On January 6th, there was a power outage aboard the ship. Naruhodo took the opportunity to steal a single steak from the kitchen, with Herlock Sholmes spying him fleeing back to Kazuma's cabin. When the theft was discovered, Sholmes asked Kazuma for permission to search his room. Kazuma could not dissuade Sholmes, who heard Naruhodo sneeze. Sholmes searched the closet where Naruhodo had been hiding first, but discovered the bones from three steaks instead. The sailor Bif Strogenov accused Kazuma of the theft, to which Sholmes explained that Kazuma couldn't be the thief because his stomach would not be growling from hunger if he had eaten the steaks. Satisfied of Kazuma's innocence, Strogenov left to pursue the thief. Sholmes then warned Kazuma to hide the "animal" under his bed better. After Sholmes left, Naruhodo confessed his theft of the one steak to Kazuma and explained how he moved from the closet to the bed while everyone was distracted. Kazuma then realized that Sholmes had stolen the other steaks and had dumped the bones in his closet.

Kazuma then stood by Naruhodo's side when the latter was put on trial after being accused of murdering visiting forensic professor John H. Wilson. Kazuma had intended to advocate for Naruhodo as his defense lawyer, but his mentor, Yujin Mikotoba, intervened on his behalf, instructing Naruhodo to advocate for himself to ensure Kazuma would not risk his spot in the student exchange program. Naruhodo agreed, representing himself with Kazuma behind the bench as his adviser.

After the trial, Kazuma commended Naruhodo's ability, stating that he believed Naruhodo had all the makings of a good defense lawyer. They decided to go to La Carneval, the place where Wilson had been shot, alongside Kazuma's mentor, to celebrate the victory.

Later in the defendants' antechamber, Kazuma recounted the speech competition. He learned that he had remembered the tongue twister incorrectly. It was actually "Red bread pan, lead bread pan, dead bread man". Kazuma was unable to say this new tongue twister and had a breakdown out of sheer frustration.

Kazuma met Ryunosuke Naruhodo during Imperial Yumei University's speech competition. Naruhodo gave a speech that, while shallow, wound up winning the audience over through his ferocity and passion. That speech kindled a spirit of rivalry in Kazuma, who lost to Ryunosuke. His persuasive speech about how the Japanese social system needed to change went perfectly until the end when he meant to say "So arise, ladies and gentlemen, and applaud our forefathers' plight and the fight for filial piety". Kazuma could not speak this final tongue twister, failing for five minutes until he collapsed to his knees on stage and was booed off.

Humiliated, he caught up with Naruhodo afterwards and asked how he overcame tongue twisters. Naruhodo replied that it was his hobby to speak fast and taught Kazuma one, which Kazuma heard as "red headband, lead headband, dead headband". The shame of the failed speech and the equal desire to overcome his weakness prompted Kazuma to practice that particular phrase until his tongue bled. Kazuma began wearing a red hachimaki headband as a symbol of the hardship he had overcome. Kazuma and Naruhodo quickly bonded afterwards.

Around November of that year, Kazuma applied for a study tour of the United Kingdom, seeing it as his chance to finally get answers concerning his father's supposed crimes. To his surprise, however, Minister of Justice Seishiro Jigoku told him, as a condition to be accepted to go on the tour, to assassinate Tobias Gregson, a detective involved in the Professor case. Kazuma agreed to this but did not actually intend to go through with it, only using it as an opportunity to accost Gregson and learn from him the truth about his father. He was willing to go so far as to accept the role of an assassin, but would still rather be guilty of betrayal than murder.[4]

One day, though, Kazuma received a hateful letter from what he would later presume to be a relative of one of the Professor's victims. The letter informed him that his father had been sentenced to death for the killing spree, and cursed the Asogi name. This was the first time Kazuma had ever heard of the Professor Killings. Knowing that Mikotoba had lied out of consideration for his feelings, Kazuma chose not to tell him about the letter, instead showing it Jigoku. Though Jigoku laughed it off, Kazuma was struck by the initial shock on his face. Jigoku's shock and the letter's contents led Kazuma to the realization that there was more to what happened than what he was being told.

A year later after Mikotoba and Jigoku's return from England, Kazuma's mother would pass away from grief. Kazuma states that the death of his mother was when he decided he would someday travel to England and seek out the truth of what happened. The suffering his father's death had caused, and his belief in his innocence, ultimately motivated Kazuma to become a defense attorney and pursue a trip to Great Britain.

After the death of his mother, Kazuma was taken in by Mikotoba and raised alongside his daughter, Susato. Mikotoba funded Kazuma's university education, and continually pushed the government to allow Kazuma to study overseas.

Kazuma Asogi was born the only son of Genshin Asogi and hailed from a long line of swordsmen. When he was eight years old, his father departed for the Great British Empire as part of a student exchange program.

Six years into his stay in London, Genshin would be arrested for the death of Klint van Zieks. Needing a scapegoat for the series of murders known as the Professor Killings, Mael Stronghart approached Genshin while he was in jail with a proposal: should he consent to being framed as the Professor, he would be allowed to return home to his son Kazuma and the rest of his family. Genshin agreed. Years later Stronghart would describe Kazuma as Genshin's "only weakness."

Genshin was permitted to compose a will, of which he wrote three pages. In the first two pages, Genshin accepted his fate and requested that all of his personal effects were to be sent to his son in Japan upon his death. However, the last page contained hidden instructions for Kazuma to find the evidence that would unveil the truth of the Professor Killings (Klint van Zieks's Will). The existence of the last page had been concealed by Stronghart.

Genshin was permitted to compose a will, of which he wrote three pages. In the first two pages, Genshin accepted his fate and requested that all of his personal effects were to be sent to his son in Japan upon his death. However, the last page contained hidden instructions for Kazuma to find the evidence that would unveil the truth of the Professor Killings (Klint van Zieks's Will). The existence of the last page had been concealed by Stronghart.

After his fraudulent execution, Genshin was betrayed and murdered by Seishiro Jigoku after Enoch Drebber stumbled upon him escaping his grave. Months after Genshin's death, once Jigoku and Yujin Mikotoba had returned to Japan, Mikotoba visited the Asogi estate to inform Kazuma and his mother of Genshin's passing, telling them that he had died due to a fatal illness.