Zakuro Custard

Zakuro Custard
Kana	ザクロ＝カスタード
Rōmaji	Zakuro Kasutādo
Debuts
Manga Debut	Chapter 390
Characteristics
Gender	Male
State	Alive
General Status
Affiliation	Xi-Yu Family
Occupation	Mafioso
Nen
Type	Manipulation
Abilities	Bloody Mary

Zakuro Custard (ザクロ＝カスタード, Zakuro Kasutādo) is a member of the Xi-Yu Family.

Appearance

Zakuro is a fair-haired youth with notably large oval eyes that sag at the corner. His hair is short on his nape and shoulder-length almost everywhere else, the exception being a few locks above his forehead, and it is gathered in six bunches: four that curl up around the height of his ears, and two shorter ones that do so at the height of his eyebrows.

Zakuro's attire of choice consists of light-colored clothes: baggy pants and a jacket with a high collar and very large sleeves that narrow at the wrist. He is always carrying around an I.V. infusion set and two bags filled with blood.

Personality

Despite being a prominent mobster, Zakuro appears to be very mild-mannered. When his throat was slit by Bille, after the first few moments of shock Zakuro thanked him for facilitating the use of his Nen ability since he lacks the courage to cut himself.

Zakuro appears to enjoy listening to music in his free time.

Plot

Succession Contest arc

Zakuro attacked by a Heil-Ly member

On the tenth day of the voyage Hinrigh has Lynch and Zakuro accompany him to Tier 3 to search for Hisoka and Morena. Right after they pass the checkpoint, Hinrigh notices Perigord and a female Heil-Ly Family member looking at them and has his two underlings go after the man. They confront Perigord to question him, but immediately Bille cuts Zakuro's throat from behind; however, he quickly incapacitates the attacker with his Nen ability. After killing two soldiers to whom he promised they'd leave, Hinrigh begins searching the deck with Lynch and Zakuro.

Zakuro awakening by a pile of rubbish and is found by Lynch

In an empty hallway on Tier 3, Zakuro uses his Bloody Mary as a means of reconnaissance to track down Hisoka. Zakuro identifies sufficiently tall men and Lynch approaches them to identify them, but Lynch gets knocked out during one encounter. Feeling the pressure and aura exuded by the man, Zakuro guesses he's the real deal and fearfully asks if he is Hisoka. The man does not answer and says that he was asking the questions. Zakuro sees Lynch groan at his feet and quickly tells him that the mafia is looking for him, inviting the man to follow him.

Zakuro is knocked out and woken up later by Lynch, who asks if he is alright. He hears Lynch say that it was definitely Hisoka, then ask if they had talked after he was knocked out. Zakuro lets her know that Hisoka was on the way to see a movie and had asked him what he wanted to see, but tells her that he looked away and was knocked out. Lynch says that they will have to let Hinrigh know right away, and stresses that he was more dangerous than anyone they'd ever met.

Later, Zakuro finds Hinrigh and leads him and some Xi-Yu members to the cineplex where Hisoka had said he would be. He then leaves to join Lynch and find the Phantom Troupe leader.

On the twelfth day of the voyage, Bonolenov unexpectedly spots Hisoka in the Tier 1 casino. He momentarily wonders if the Hisoka he sees is another person like him disguised as Hisoka, before heading to the bathroom and transforming into someone else. Bonolenov thinks back to his encounter with Lynch and Zakuro where he had killed Lynch, and wonders if the mafia would think Hisoka killed her if they found her body. In his flashback, Bonolenov transformed himself into Zakuro after knocking him out to speak to Lynch and check whether she had discovered his identity. After he heard that Lynch knew he was a fake, Bonolenov killed her and transformed into Lynch to lead the mafia to the movie theatre.

On Tier 3, Hinrigh reunites with Zakuro after his visit to the Heil-Ly secret hideout. Zakuro comments about how crowded it was getting, and Hinrigh explains that they were here to send off 9^th Prince Halkenburg who was popular with the people, after hearing the announcement of his death and the funeral procession at noon that day. Hinrigh asks him where Lynch is, and Zakuro tells Hinrigh that Lynch had something to do back at the office. They make plans to make up for their messed-up plans earlier because of the intervention of the military, but a Xi-Yu underling runs up to them and lets them know that they had found Lynch's corpse.

Zakuro watches as Hinrigh bribes the soldiers and takes her corpse in a body bag he carries on his shoulder. As they walk away, Hinrigh asks to clarify the timeline of events. Zakuro tells him that Hisoka knocked them both out, and suggests that if Hisoka had killed her, he would have killed both of them then. Hinrigh asks if it was possible that Lynch went after Hisoka on her own. Zakuro disagrees and says he would have been able to tell, since she was really transparent in intents that way. Hinrigh watches as Zakuro continues to recount the events, explaining that he had just woken up and was woozy, but changes his mind and comments that Lynch was uncharacteristically calm and wasn't the type to be worried about his well-being after someone knocked her out. Hinrigh wonders if the real Lynch was already dead, and if the one who woke Zakuro up was someone else. Zakuro asks to clarify if Hinrigh was saying that someone was disguised as Lynch, and Hinrigh affirms that before wondering why Hisoka would disguise himself as her. Zakuro begins to get confused at the idea that Hisoka was disguised as Lynch, before dismissing it because of Hisoka's height, then dismissing his dismissal because he and Lynch had talked about what they would do if his ability lets him shrink. Zakuro says it would make more sense if Lynch were being manipulated and Hinrigh agrees, saying that he had never met anyone who could change their height. Still, Hinrigh brings up that if Hisoka was indeed a manipulator, it was seemingly pointless to get her to wake Zakuro up just to tell him that she was going back to the office. If Lynch had disappeared without a word, they would have to think of all sorts of possibilities, something that seems to appear better to the enemy. Zakuro suggests that he wanted to box their thoughts in and limit their ideas, since it would be inconvenient to him if they thought of all the possibilities, something that fits with the manipulation theory.

They stop walking and Hinrigh asks Zakuro to recount everything Lynch had said, in the hopes that it would give them a hint. Hinrigh notices that Lynch had clearly said, "That was definitely Hisoka!" and says that it was what the culprit had wanted them to limit themselves to thinking. Zakuro once again gets confused, and Hinrigh explains that Lynch had found out "Hisoka" was a fake through her ability and was killed as a result. Zakuro was left alive to tell the rest of them that they had found Hisoka, not realizing that it was not actually him. Zakuro wonders who would do something so complicated, and Hinrigh points out that his motivations were the obvious part. Hinrigh explains that the culprit is looking for Hisoka but did not want them to interfere, so he acted as he did with the expectation that if the mafia believed they had found Hisoka first, they would hide the fact and give their side permission to search for Hisoka in vain, which is what actually happened. Hinrigh reminds Zakuro that their theory is a deduction based on an assumption, and that the only facts were that the two of them had found Hisoka before someone had killed Lynch.

Zakuro, in quiet anger, says that if the Phantom Troupe were responsible, they would have to go to war with the Cha-R too. Zakuro asks to confirm if they would avenge her death no matter who it was, even though a fight with the Cha-R was not one they should start based on speculations. Hinrigh agrees with him.

Abilities & Powers

As one of Hinrigh's most trusted underlings, Zakuro is bound to be a high-profile and very capable figure in the Xi-Yu Family. He seems to have a high tolerance for pain since, aside from the initial shock, he didn't seem bothered by having a deep gash in his throat.

Nen

Zakuro is a Manipulator skilled enough to have developed a Nen ability.

Zakuro's Nen Type: Manipulation
Type: Manipulation	Bloody Mary (血いさな世界(ブラッディメアリー), Buraddi Mearī, lit. "Bloodless World")
	Zakuro can manipulate his own blood at will, which has enough strength to restrain a weak Nen user and cause him to pass out from slamming him into the ground. He can then seemingly call his blood back and stop the bleeding immediately. Zakuro needs an open wound to fight with his ability. The IV he carries along is both practical and a condition. His blood droplets can take on a life of their own, even having their own eyes, when used for searching. They appear to be regenerative and can reform after being squished. The blood droplets return to normal when the aura runs out after 30-40 minutes.

Manga Appearances

Succession Contest arc
340. Special Mission	Absent
341. Threats	Absent
342. Challenge	Absent
343. Invitation	Absent
344. Author	Absent
345. Signature	Absent
346. Options	Absent
347. Inauguration	Absent
348. Resolve	Absent
349. Worm Toxin	Absent
350. Prince	Absent
351. Battle to the Death	Absent
352. Troublesome	Absent
353. Cold-Blooded	Absent
354. Heat	Absent
355. Detonation	Absent
356. Unfortunate: Part 1	Absent
357. Unfortunate: Part 2	Absent
358. Eve	Absent
359. Departure	Absent
360. Parasite	Absent
361. Withdraw	Absent
362. Resolve	Absent
363. Nen Beast	Absent
364. Speculation	Absent
365. Choice	Absent
366. To Each His Own	Absent
367. Synchronization	Absent
368. Foul Play	Absent
369. Limits	Absent
370. Observation	Absent
371. Mission	Absent
372. Disappearance	Absent
373. Inheritance	Absent
374. Ability	Absent
375. Persuasion	Absent
376. Determination	Absent
377. Scheme	Absent
378. Balance	Absent
379. Collaboration	Absent
380. Alarm	Absent
381. Predation	Absent
382. Awakening	Absent
383. Escape	Absent
384. War	Absent
385. Warning	Absent
386. Hypothesis	Absent
387. Recreation	Absent
388. Reflection	Absent
389. Curse	Absent
390. Clash: Part 1	Debut
391. Clash: Part 2	Appears
392. Information	Appears
393. Plea	Appears
394. Hypothesis	Absent
395. Founding: Part 1	Absent
396. Founding: Part 2	Absent
397. Founding: Part 3	Absent
398. Search	Absent
399. Expulsion	Absent
400. Secrecy	Absent
401. Moonlight	Absent
402. Letter	Absent
403. Results	Absent
404. Speculation	Absent
405. Performance	Flashback
406. Regalia	Appears
407. Negotiation	Absent
408. Negotiation: Part 2	Absent
409. Negotiation: Part 3	Absent
410. Negotiation: Part 4	Absent

Battles

Battles
Succession Contest arc: Zakuro vs. Bille Lynch and Zakuro vs. Bonolenov (disguised as Hisoka)

Quotes

• (To Bille) "Thanks. It takes a lot of nerve to cut myself."
• (To Lynch) "Every drop is trying its best to find Hisoka. Each of them is a hero."

Trivia

• Zakuro, the character's first name, is the Japanese word for pomegranate whose fruit (precisely its pulp) has an intense red-purple color (similarly to blood color).
• Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on milk or cream cooked with egg yolk to thicken it; probably an allusion to the aspect of Zakuro's blood when using Bloody Mary.
• Zakuro's Nen ability is named as '"It's a Bloody Small World"—Bloody Mary' in the Viz translation.

Intertextuality and References

• The main name of Zakuro's Nen ability, Bloody Mary, comes from the homonymous cocktail—a drink with a strong reddish color.