➥ application for soul_campaign

[tabasco]

[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]
Name: Mitsuba Okita
Age: It’s never specified, so just going to go with somewhere in her mid-twenties (24-25).
Gender: Female
Canon: Gintama
Timeline: Post-Mitsuba Arc (episodes 86-87).
Character History: Gintama wiki

Character Personality:

Mitsuba was conceived as a character who represents the traditional feminine virtues of olden Japan. This is to say that she is to seem like the nurturing female who is left behind but who accepts her fate with elegance and a smile, rather than with tears and regret. She is quiet and solemn, hardly ever reaching out to voice her thoughts especially if it goes against the popular opinion; Mitsuba is constantly on the lookout for the happiness and well-being of those around her, thus she will invariably correct herself so that what she does say is in accordance with what her loved ones desire (such as the move of the members of Kondo’s dojo to Edo to make a name for themselves, leaving her behind in the process).

Nevertheless, she is not someone who gets walked over. On the other hand, due to her abundant kindness and amicable, silent company, many have come to respect her authority as both an older, wiser person and as a woman. There is something about Mitsuba which simply manages to make the individuals around her want to help her instead of taking advantage of her trusting nature (though it is not to say she won’t fall for misleading words if someone does take advantage of her).

She will trust anyone, regardless of who they are or how they present themselves, until they give her a very good reason not to. No amount of shady past references or biased judgement from others will taint her opinion of a person. Take for instance Hijikata, whom she loves despite his past as a troublemaker; her brother Sougo, whom she turns a blind eye for whenever he misbehaves or lies about his friends; even the dramatic, overbearing Kondo, to whom she is eternally grateful for taking Sougo under his care and providing him with the fatherly figure so necessary in the growing boy’s life. In this way, she is wise in her judgement and keeps firmly to her convictions; granted, she hasn’t seen much of the terrors of the world, what with coming from a small, peaceful village and being shielded from such horrors by her brother and other members of the Shinsengumi (whom she considers as second family).

In this sense, her kindness is one of her main character traits. She respects everyone as they are and never makes a negative remark towards any one individual. She shows her appreciation by giggling behind a hand, smiling brightly, and wanting to share with everyone her love for large amounts of spicy sauce in food. Her concern for the well-being of others is typical of a mother-hen sister border lining on motherly affection. Despite her friendly smiles and polite words, however, she is very similar to her brother when it comes to showing signs of a sadistic streak. Though not as strong in her as it is in Sougo, Mitsuba goes as far as guilt-tripping people into eating her food drowned in hot sauce, as she is found to cough and hack half a lung under the “stress” of someone not appreciating her gesture. Not just that, but her kindness makes her oblivious to the fact that not everyone is into hot food as she is (read: sending the Shinsengumi bags of ultra hot! hot! rice crackers as opposed to the sweet ones).

Mitsuba is soft-spoken, someone willing and ready to sacrifice her own happiness so long others can achieve their own. After her parents died, leaving her and Sougo alone, she worked so hard on caring and providing for her little brother that she neglected looking after herself--and thus her health deteriorated in the later years of her life. This is, however, in no way reason for her to regret what she did, as she ultimately acknowledges that having her brother grow up to be a strong and honourable young man, surrounded by splendid people who she can trust will look after him, makes her incredibly proud. Her brother and the others with whom she spent the halcyon days of her life are, after all, doing what they have always desired, following their own path without being intimidated by anything; being able to meet such outstanding people, in the end, was what made her happy.

Usually she is not one to speak her mind and hardly is she selfish enough to ask for individual requests that would inconvenience others, excepting the one time where she gathered her courage and took the first step to confess her feelings to Hijikata--telling him that she would like to go with him to Edo; him, and not necessarily the other samurai training under Kondo, nor because she was the legal guardian of her young brother. Here she breaks away from the traditional female role in olden Japan and decides to confront her own desires straightforward, biting through the fear of being left behind without expressing her feelings. Ultimately, she was rejected on the spot, but Mitsuba did not grief over this (as far as we know) and simply accepted the terms given out by the man she loves; it is tacit that she realises his harsh words are to save her the pain of a broken heart and the fact that someone like him leads a life so full of danger that he could not make her as happy as she deserved to be. It is implied that for many years she remained single past her marriageable age in hopes of Hijikata reconsidering his choice.

She is a proud older sister and a nurturing person--definitely to a fault. Mitsuba bombards her younger brother with questions such as ‘do you sleep enough even while you’re working when you get a chance?’, ‘do you eat all your meals?’, ‘do you get along with everyone?’, and some of Sougo’s bad habits could even be traced back to her educating him and pampering him so (point in case, Sougo sleeping in the middle of work and being called on it on several occasions).

Still, there is also the fact that Mitsuba can be brave enough to recognise her flaws and admit that it is her fault that her younger brother grew up to be so conceited and stubborn. She is modest and never angers, and it is not in her nature to do so (thus it doesn’t take a genius to imagine all the things Sougo got away with--and thinks he still has the right to get away with). There are even situations where she feigns ignorance so as to not make others be in awkward positions, such as when Sougo lied to her about Gintoki being his friend (while obviously bribing him right in front of her). Not wanting her brother to think she didn’t believe him, she simply played along--even as he, too, threatened his Shinsengumi co-workers in front of her. She definitely knows more than what she lets on, but hardly makes a point of showing so.

Bright, beautiful, and wise were the three words Kondo used to describe Mitsuba. She is humble and is easy to please with the smallest of things in life. She represents for many the days when life was happier and less complicated; for others, she is the silent presence on the sidelines, cheering them on.

Character Abilities you would like to expand on further:

There isn’t really much on Mitsuba to go on about what kind of ‘abilities’ she has (zero fighting abilities) without straying into headcanon territory. So aside from domestic activities she most definitely must be familiar with, nothing particular comes to mind.

Character Weaknesses you would like to expand on further:

Her poor health deteriorating gave her weak lungs (while it isn’t specified what disease she has, if going by references of the historical Okita, tuberculosis is the best bet). Whenever stressed, Mitsuba would fall victim to an uncontrollable coughing fit which, if too severe, could cause her to fall unconscious (whether this is medically accurate or not, blame Gintama).

[ SOUL CAMPAIGN SECTION ]

What abilities will your character retain in Soul Campaign?

Considering her lack of abilities of the fighting type, all of them!

What weaknesses will your character lose or gain in Soul Campaign?

Mitsuba will arrive post-death, having died from the disease plaguing her lungs. However, assuming it is TB what she had, I would like it to be dormant. She will not show any symptoms for it though any tests made will show positive for the disease. She will gain allergies! Her allergies will be caused by the sudden environmental change (having lived in a rural village all her life), which will trigger bouts of coughing and sneezing but without any actual real consequence to her health.

The wish Death the Kid made to the BREW in 2009 was to “rescue Death City and stop the waves of Madness from overtaking the world.” By whatever means necessary. Pretend you are the BREW. Why would you choose to bring this character to Death City?

Mitsuba may seem like an odd choice of a person to be brought to Death City, considering there is naught she can do to help in the front lines of battle or even inside smaller frays. Nevertheless, for all those who are capable of fighting there should be those who can nurture and help them forget about their fighting fate, to feel that they’ve come safely back home and that there is a reason that makes it worth it. She is the sister (and the figure-of) for some already in Death City, and for one in particular she is a pillar of stability. While she cannot aid in the battlefield, she can do all those other things often forgotten to give way to the bigger picture. She’ll be the big sister of those who are weary and need a spot of genuine kindness after a long day.

If your character has difficulty verbally communicating or can’t verbally communicate at all (mute or non-humanoid), elaborate on how this will be treated in the game. n/a

[ MEISTER ONLY SECTION ]

Why is your character a Meister and not a Weapon?

Again, Mitsuba isn’t particularly fighting material but she’d be a Meister because while her sadism isn’t manifested in a physical way like Sougo’s, in canon she’s still able to “use” people--sort of like having her younger brother protect her from harm (both of the ridiculous and serious type) and having people do things to please her (like chugging down a parfait drowned in hot sauce).

What is your character’s Meister Ability? Why?

Calming Wavelength

[ SOUL INFORMATION ]

Describe your character’s soul with six adjectives.

Nurturing, loving, gentle, kind, devoted, calm.

What does your character’s soul look like? Be creative.

Her soul will be cherry blossom pink with a soft, smiling expression. It’ll also have the shape of her hair.