Nagamitsu

Nagamitsu Sakonshougen is a character that appears in the eighth episode The Art of Altercation in Samurai Champloo/Anime. He is voiced by Kouichi Yamadera in the Japanese dub, and Tony Oliver in the English dub.

History
Nagamitsu and his followers find a samurai with glasses, and attack him, mistaking him for Jin. After the fight, Nagamitsu is walking around the city when he is infatuated with Fuu who is accompanied by Mugen and Jin. He sends his underling to try and break the ice, but this doesn’t work, eventually needing to step in himself. Nagamitsu gets called out to fight a man that fits his target description and promptly leaves.

Nagamitsu confronts a possible “Jin” (a samurai who has glasses) on a bridge, with a massive crowd watching (Fuu included) and him making as unsubtle an entrance as possible. The other samurai lunges at him as Nagamitsu pulls out his sword, but the other samurai knocks the sword out of his hand. In a humorous twist of fate, the sheath comes down and nails him in the head, making Nagamitsu the victor. Fuu meets Nagamitsu, and agrees to talk with him.

Nagamitsu and Fuu are up on a grassy hill where he starts to monologue about himself and his obsessions. Evidently, he wishes to take over Edo castle and become the most powerful and recognized name in all of Japan, having journeyed from the Aki province and fought many samurai in his travels to get there. He eventually got word of a skilled swordmaster named Enshiro Mariya, undefeated in a thousand duels, and decided to take him in battle, but he arrived too late. Enshiro had already been slain by his top student, and so Nagamitsu vowed to kill this samurai as part of his personal legend. As it turns out, it is indeed Jin that he’s looking for, so Fuu changes the topic and nervously leaves.

Later at the pawn shop, the trio meet Nagamitsu and his followers trying to sell his litter. As Jin recovers his glasses he is instantly recognized. However, one of Nagamitsu's followers, Ogura, challenges Jin instead, revealing himself to be a student of Mujushin who wants to avenge Enshiro, traveling and promoting Nagamitsu as a ruse. After the duel, Nagamitsu is scared of Jin's swordsanship until Budokiba (his wife or girlfriend) arrives and berates him and drags him away. In the unforeseen future, Nagamitsu is on a boat with Budokiba and his children as he starts rapping with hopes of finding a worthy foe.

Personality
Nagamitsu is an extravagant and loud individual who likes to show off. He often relies on his friends to hype him up and make him look amazing. He is deluded to the point of challenging skilled opponents just to make a fame for himself, even though he can barely fight at all. His most common topic of conversation is himself and his delusions of grandeur.

Appearance
Nagamitsu is a tanned man in his 40's, with a hairstyle resembling Elvis Presley, as his hair is gelled up. He wears a purple cloak with fiery details at the bottom, and a katana that has a pommel end shaped like a microphone, which he uses when promoting himself.

Trivia

 * It is unknown if Budokiba is his wife or girlfriend. It seems they have a polygamous relationship, as even though they are together they can still flirt with other people.
 * Nagamitsu seems to have won all of his previous fights by sheer luck.
 * Though not openly stated in the episode, it is highly likely that it was Ogura who manipulated Nagamitsu into searching for Enshiro and then for Jin, so he could travel with Nagamitsu and wait until the moment to strike.
 * Nagamitsu is unskilled with a sword, however he is proficient at beatboxing/rapping.