Basho

"What's the point of holding back all the time? My dream is to ride my bike around the world. It's a sin not to enjoy life." — Basho to Melody in "September 3rd: Part 10"

Basho
Kana	バショウ
Kanji	芭蕉
Rōmaji	Bashō
Signature
Portrayal
Japanese Voice	Hidenobu Kiuchi (1999) Tōru Nakane (2011)
English Voice	Adam Hunter (1999) Jake Eberle (2011)
Debuts
Manga Debut	Chapter 67
Anime Debut	Episode 48 (1999) Episode 39 (2011)
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eye Color	Black (1999; 2011)
Hair Color	Brown (1999; 2011)
State	Alive
General Status
Affiliation	Hunter Association Nostrade Family Kurapika Luzurus Hui Guo Rou
Occupation	Hunter Royal Bodyguard for Prince Luzurus
Previous Occupation	Nostrade Family Bodyguard
Nen
Type	Unknown
Abilities	Great Haiku

Basho (バショウ, Bashō) is a Hunter from Jappon and one of the bodyguards working to protect Neon Nostrade.

Appearance

• 2011
• 1999
• Manga

File:Basho 2011 Design.jpg

Basho's 2011 anime adaptation design

Basho's 1999 anime adaptation design

Basho's manga appearance

Basho normally appears bare-chested, and he is very muscular with prominent abdominal muscles. He sports a pompadour, and his mustache and sideburns are joined, similar to a Franz Josef style. As a Royal Bodyguard, he dresses in a black suit and tie, like the other bodyguards.

Personality

Basho has a casual attitude and is rather outgoing and talkative. He also has some sense of humor, laughing off Kurapika's brutal request to never speak to him again. Although he is confident in himself, he can understand when he has no way of winning a confrontation. He believes that life should be lived to the fullest; however, he does not criticize Kurapika's willingness to forfeit his life for his cause, even if he does not agree with it. He has a habit of whistling when he is impressed.

Background

Basho claims to have tried all manners of drugs, although his own recipe, Clean Leaf, is what he always goes back to. According to him, all his heavy-smoking friends who tried it became addicted to it, which caused them to become healthy.

Plot

Yorknew City arc

Basho caught off guard by Kurapika's response

Basho, along with five other applicants for the bodyguard position, awaits, in a room in the Nostrade's Mansion. The butler in the room plays a video introducing the supposed boss who details the requirements of the position. The applicants are given a data card with specific items listed on it and are instructed to retrieve one of the items on the list to get the bodyguard position. Basho notices Kurapika becoming pale after looking at the list, so he tries to initiate a conversation with him, going as far as to detail one of his previous employer's sickest requests, but Kurapika stops him and requests that he not talk to him. Basho then tries to open the door out of the room, but to no avail. The boss appears again on the screen informing the applicants that the minimum requirement for the job is to be tough and to make it out of there alive. Eleven hooded assailants wielding guns and swords charge through the door and start attacking the applicants.

File:Basho fight.jpg

Basho retaliates against the assailants

Basho and Squala are astounded by how Kurapika managed to stop the spray of bullets shot at him with his chain. Amid the confrontation, Basho is confronted by two sword-wielding assailants. He punches one of them directly in the face and realizes what they really are. After Kurapika scopes the area from above a chandelier, he leaps down and restrains the applicant Tocino, threatening him with a pin-shaped knife to stop the assailants. Tocino complies with Kurapika's demand, and the assailants deflate into the ground. Basho claims he figured out the assailants were made of Nen after hitting them, but never guessed they were under the control of Tocino. After being told how Kurapika figured out it was him, Tocino introduces himself and hints at another plant in the room. So Kurapika uses his Dowsing Chain to figure out who is the plant and it leads to the applicant Squala. Squala defensively denies he's a plant, but the applicant Melody confirms that he is by the sound of his heart.

File:Nostrade Bodyguards.jpg

Dalzollene informs the new group of bodyguards about their first mission

Basho states that since 2 out of the 5 applicants say Squala's a plant, he believes it has to be true. Squala continues to deny he's a plant, so Basho showcases his Nen ability Great Haiku, to interrogate everyone to figure out who the plant is, and Squala finally admits he's a plant as well. However, before Squala divulges any more crucial information, the final applicant Baise uses her Nen ability on Squala, forcing him to reveal everything, making Kurapika and Basho fearful of her ability. Basho along with Melody, Baise, and Kurapika return to the mansion each with a body part from the data card. Basho chose to retrieve the "Mummified Right Arm from an Egypersian Tomb" and deliver it to Dalzollene, who officially hires the four as bodyguards. Dalzollene then instructs the group about their first job escorting their boss to the Hotel Beitacle located in Yorknew City. After instructing the group, Dalzollene leads them to their actual boss, a young girl.

Dalzollene assigning the bodyguards their jobs during the Underground Auction

On August 31^st Neon is picked up from the Lingon Airport and is driven in a car by Basho to Yorknew City with Kurapika beside him and with Neon and superior Dalzollene in back. While driving, Basho and Kurapika talk about how Neon's father used her Nen ability to rise to power within the Mafia community, and why they were hired to be her bodyguards is because her father is paranoid of losing her to jealous enemies he's made. On the night of the Underground Auction in the Hotel Beitacle, Dalzollene instructs the bodyguards what items they'll have to buy no matter what the cost and what each of their respective jobs will be during the said auction. Basho was assigned to guard the back of the auction house with Linssen. After items and attendees in the Underground Auction go missing and the blame is put up on the Phantom Troupe, the Nostrade Family locate and arrive at the location where the Phantom Troupe were detained by a large number of the Mafia community, but the member Uvogin massacres them all.

Witnessing Uvogin's brute strength, Basho believes they had no chance of winning against him. It's at that moment four Shadow Beasts appear before the group and confronts Uvogin, but are annihilated him. This makes Kurapika want to confront them himself, making the bodyguards go into a panic as they try and stop him, so Melody uses her Nen ability and plays A Field In Spring to alleviate their anxiety. Although Kurapika regained his composure, he still insisted and managed to capture Uvogin with his Chain Jail Nen ability. With Uvogin captured, Basho drives back to Yorknew City with Linssen who notices a car is following them. However, Linssen loses sight of the car after the remaining Shadow Beasts confront the car, so Basho continues to drive back to Yorknew City and participated in interrogating Uvogin about where the auction items and attendees were, but to no avail.

With Dalzollene presumed dead, after Uvogin was rescued by his Phantom Troupe allies, Basho along with the other Nostrade bodyguards all agree that Kurapika should become the new head bodyguard, so he can contact and inform their real boss Light Nostrade of the situation at hand. When Light arrives in Yorknew and is brought up to date with the situation at hand, he thanks the bodyguards for their work and after he has his daughter out of the picture, he divulges important information to the group about the Underground Auction, Shadow Beasts, and how the Ten Dons plan to deal with the Phantom Troupe. That evening, Basho and Melody accompany Neon with her attendants on a small shopping trip at the Lingon Airport. As Neon goes to use the restroom, Melody, and Basho talk about Kurapika and Basho's dream. After Basho notes Neon has been in the restroom for a long period of time, her attendant Eliza checks up on her and comes to realize she's gone missing.

Melody then contacts Kurapika to inform him that her and Basho have lost sight of Neon. After the rescheduled Underground Auction was held and Neon wakes up from her unconsciousness in a local hospital in Yorknew City, also now the proud owner an of a pair of Scarlet Eyes. Light thanks the bodyguards for all of their hard work and orders Melody and Basho to take her shopping the next day as well, much to their dismay. However, both Basho and Melody appear worried for the well being of Kurapika as he leaves the group. The next day Basho sits next to Squala, overseeing Neon admiring her new pair of Scarlet Eyes. Basho later goes on another shopping trip with Melody, Neon, and her attendants and is increasingly aggravated by Neon's shopping spree.

13^th Hunter Chairman Election arc

Basho taking part in the election

Basho appears again at the Hunter Association's headquarters to vote in the first round of the 13th Hunter Chairman Election. During the eighth round, Basho seated next to Linssen in the Hunter Association auditorium, watching as the remaining candidates gave their opinions to the audience on who they should vote for and held a debate with one another after their speeches.

Succession Contest arc

The recruited Hunters to become bodyguards

Basho is recruited by Kurapika to be hired by one of the Kakin Empire Princes, as a bodyguard. He and Hanzo decide that Prince Tserriednich is not among the princes hiring, as only naive princes would use money as a reward. He is employed by Prince Luzurus.

After Kurapika makes the emergency announcement, Basho and Scairt reveal to Luzurus what Nen and his Guardian Spirit Beast, though Luzurus has no interest in learning Nen as to it takes too long to master.

Four hours after departure, Luzurus and Basho smoke the latter's Clean Leaf together. Luzurus is surprised that it is legal, to which Basho replies that the recipe can be found on his home page, the license he owns protecting him, adding that his heavy-smoking friends who tried it ended up becoming addicted to it and became healthy. Luzurus becomes pensive so Basho asks him what he is thinking about, to which the prince responds that he was wondering if Clean Leaf could be used to rehabilitate drug addicts, although Prince Benjamin, who, as the head of the military, is in charge of drug control, would never support it. He asks Basho how he would feel about publicizing the results of a clinical trial. The Hunter gives his permission, but asks if it would not be quicker if Luzurus just became king, which prompts the prince to retort that it is not that easy.

Ridge raps against Basho

On the day of the banquet, Basho participates in a freestyle rap battle against Ridge. The following morning, he feels the rumbling aura from Prince Halkenburg's room surge again. He confirms its provenance to Luzurus and claims that whatever ability it is, it is an extremely powerful one. When the doorbell rings, Basho tells Luzurus to stand back and asks Rice who it is. Upon learning that it is "Shikaku" and that Kanjidol had not been informed of his arrival, he demands to know what he wants, but the soldier kills himself in front of the door. Basho's confusion is furthered by the rumbling stopping shortly afterward. He theorizes that Halkenburg enlisted Queen Duazul's help to have her guards currently protecting Luzurus kill him by taking action while Shikaku's suicide served as a diversion, but Luzurus dismisses the possibility on account of his mother's inactive stance as concerns the succession contest.

Basho thus begins to suspect that Shikaku had a Nen ability that would activate after his death. When Kanjidol requests his help to figure out what happened, Basho states that he intended to change his shifts because he is wary of Odessa and Gadeau, who might covertly be skilled Nen users. Kanjidol reveals that he had reached the same conclusions. However, Basho keeps his real suspicions for himself.

Equipment

Writing Equipment: Basho carries a calligraphy brush and a stack of thick sheets of paper in his breast pocket. He uses them to write down the haiku for his Nen ability.

Abilities & Powers

Basho has all the benefits granted by his status as a Hunter. He has considerable prowess as proven by the fact that he successfully retrieved rare and even illegal items for his employers. He is agile and endowed with quick reactions. He can also acquit himself well in a melee fight. He claims he has no need of Nen to defeat even armed men, as he proved against Shachmono's puppets. However, he was convinced that not even if all of Neon's bodyguards fought Uvogin together, they would be able to defeat him, suggesting that he viewed himself as far weaker than the Spider. Basho also appears to have some degree of knowledge in pharmaceutical chemistry, coming up with the recipe for a legal drug that is more effective on heavy smokers and has no or negligible side effects.

Nen

Basho has enough skill in Nen to have created a Nen ability and to recognize a Nen puppet upon hitting it.

Template:Basho/Nen ability

Battles

Battles
Yorknew City arc: Basho, Kurapika, Baise, and Melody vs. Shachmono Tocino and Squala

Quotes

• (To Kurapika) "You look pale. Getting queasy? That's only the beginning. They're all legal to own. It'll get worse once we're officially hired. Think preserved corpses carrying the deadliest pathogen."
• (Haiku) "My hand makes a punch / and whatever I hit will / burst in flames a bunch."
• "It's not burning as well. That was a dud."
• (Haiku) "If you are a liar / your painful death will be swift / in a trial by fire."

Trivia

• Basho is likely named after Matsuo Bashō, the famous Japanese poet recognized as the greatest master of haiku.
• Basho is classified as a Conjurer in Hunter × Hunter Battle Collection and Battle All-Stars.
• Basho's Nen ability could actually be to summon fire, as shown when he used his power as a demonstration setting fire to a chair and then suggested as a threat of "trial by fire".
  • A hint might have been given when he accompanied Neon in a mall: on that occasion he wore a jacket with flame symbols, although this could just be Basho's personal preference or bias for a motif/theme.

Anime and Manga Differences

• In the 2011 anime adaptation, Basho's first appearance occurs earlier in a filler passage portraying him as a thief: he stands on top of a building writing a haiku but is approached by police officers who order him to return the corpse samples that he stole; the policemen shot him and Basho reacts, attacking and beating them; then he continues his haiku.
  • Despite being an extra addition, the scene ties in with what Basho says to Kurapika (in the manga) later about body part items, implying that he has experience in "acquiring" such things.
• In the 2011 anime adaptation, Basho claims to be a Conjurer.

Basho watching the election

• During the eighth round of the 13th Hunter Chairman Election, in the anime Basho sat next to Linssen in the Hunter Association auditorium and watched the remaining candidates advise the audience on who they should vote for and held a debate with one another after their speeches.

Miscellaneous

• Basho's 1999 Japanese voice actor Hidenobu Kiuchi also plays Majtani in the 1999 anime adaptation, and Franklin and Leech in the 2011 anime adaptation.

Translations around the World

Language		Name
Arabic		باشو (Bashu)
Chinese		芭蕉 (Bājiāo)
French		Bashô
Russian		Бащо (Bashcho)