"to be the worst is to be the best": a guide into the world of "worst/crows"

[master of read]

since everything has been rebooted, i figured it's time to introduce/reintroduce the board to the wonderful violent world of "worst/crows". this first post will profile the various schools, factions, and gangs that populate the Japanese city of Toarushi.




Suzuran all boys high school
known throughout the city and most of japan as the crows schools, suzuran is a haven for delinquents, bad boys, idiots, and morons from across the country. its history is that of violence and battle as only the worst of the worst make it to the school and only the strongest of the strong stand atop it. its also infamous in that in its entire history up until the events of "worst" that no one man has been considered its absolute boss. many factions over the years have fought and bleed for domination of suzuran but none have claimed that spot, only until recently. because of its overall strength, suzuran has many enemies of rival schools, gangs, and other factions from across the city but has more or less remained undefeated in open war.
a tradition in suzuran that is vital to the power structure of the school is the legendary "first year war", a tournament held for all incoming freshmen and overseen by the upperclassmen to determine the strongest freshman. the tournament is completely voluntary and not all freshman can compete if they dont feel up to it. the winner will be deemed the leader of the freshman class and is more or less responsible in keep other freshmen in line.
the "outsider legend" has gain a lot of speed in recent years. according to the legend, those students who are not native to the city often have a great impact on suzuran, which is true since the strongest men in suzuran history have all been from out of town. another legend is the "bullshit" belt buckle that has been secretly passed down to the strongest students in suzuran history.
typically, the strongest faction/students would gather up on the roof of the school but there are some who take various other locations as their own.



HOUSEN ACADEMY
housen is suzuran's number 1 rival and one of the city's "big 4" factions. contrary to suzuran's more chaotic struggle for dominance, housen power structure is more militant with a strict chain of command going all the way to a single leader. save for the leader and his command staff, all students in housen must shave their heads, thus earning them the nickname "the skin-head army". housen's main strength is in their sheer numbers, willing to ambush, intimidate, and outright decimate their foes. the skinheads can be mobilized at a drop of a hat if need be and makes them an effective fighting force. over the years, housen has been dominated by familial dynasties who rule over the school for generations, often going from brother to brother. the leaders of housen often meet in a old judo gym in the school. it is here that rules are made, punishments enforced, and war plans are created.



THE FRONT OF ARMAMENT

often called the armament for short, it is one of the city's seven major biker gangs and considered its strongest. founded by 4 high school freshmen, the armament was created to keep a sense of freedom for its members. unlike other gangs, the group focuses on trust and brotherhood over numbers, making them one of the smaller gangs in the city. they have a strict code of honor in that they dont gang up on smaller gangs or foes and dont use cowardly methods.
the leadership of the gang is made up of their head and vice-head. each generation is marked by the terms of their leaders. members who joined at or around the same time as the head and vice head make up that particular generation and are considered equals to them with final decisions left up to the head. when the head retires, all the members of that generation retire with them.the execptions to this rule are the guardians, members who's personal strength and power is equal to or greater than that of the head. new heads are chosen by the out going leader and the new leader chooses his own vice head.
despite its small size compared to other gangs, the armament is still a powerful force to face in war. ironic, the armament is most notable as a peace keeping force, often called in to mediate deputes and end pointless wars between other gangs.



THE KUROTAKI ALLIANCE

formally one of the city's "big 4", the alliance was once one of the most powerful factions in the city, rivaling both suzuran and housen in terms of power, influence, and size. founded and lead by Osamu Furukawa aka bulldog, the alliance consisted of various high schools in the area: Takiya Commerce, Kurosaki Industrial, Kawada 2nd,Yurikawa South, Tsukamoto High, and Nanamori Industrial. sadly, due to infighting and a lack of strong leadership, the alliance was dissolved by the start of "worst", with various areas being taken over by other schools, or remaining lawless areas. recently, kawada 2nd and yurikawa south have risen to power on near equal standing to suzuran and housen.


next up, we look into the characters that make up the "worst" series.

[master of read]

now, we move on the characters that populate the world of "worst/crows". we start with the main cast. warning: there will be spoilers.


THE UMEHOSHI FAMILY

the umehoshi family is a blanket term for all the residence of the boarding house run by the umehoshi brothers, masashi and yosushi, aka mary. the other occupants are 5 high school students who are the first characters to be introduced in the manga. at first there was a bit of animosity between them but that only lasted a short time. now, the boys get along great with each other and consider each other brothers, willing to come to each other's aid at the drop of a hat.




HANA TSUKISHIMA

the main character of "worst" and the first character to be shown in the manga. hana comes from a small town in japan where no telephone or internet signals can reach and the nearest neighbor is one mountain away. when he was 8 years old, a mudslide hit his home, killing his parents and dog and since then, he's been living with his grandparents. he moved to toarushi to attend suzuran where he lived in the umehoshi household. while participating in the freshman war, hana proudly proclaimed that he would become the first boss of suzuran, a claim that was met with laughter or dismissal by all but a few classmates. only after seeing him fight did they see that his claims were not without merit. in fact, hana would eventually become the first and only man to serve as the boss of the school of crows.

personality
hana is without a doubt the most well mannered person in the "worst/crows" universe. contrary to all of his peers, hana is cheerful, kind, respectful to everyone, emotional, supportive, humble, and always seen with a bright smile on his face, despite the darkness of his past. according to hana, he is like this because he has to live for both his parents and dog who died in the mudslide. hana can and will cry over the simplest of thing, such as eating a large meal or hearing a sad story. because of his personality and unique charisma, many people are drawn to hana and willingly follow him. even his rivals have tremendous respect for him to the point where they cant seem to hate him. hana is not very tech savy, given his background. he doesn't even know how to work a cell phone. hana is also is terrible at games such as darts and bowling.

fighting skills:
being the first boss of suzuran, hana is without a doubt a powerful fighter. in fact, he is one of the strongest fighters in the whole series. he has fought and beaten some of the strongest fighters in "worst" and even some strong fighters who have never fought him acknowledge that he would be them. hana has incredible physical and stamina, often outlasting stronger foes and beating weaker foes with one punch. hana is the only character in "worst" who trains daily, running anywhere between 40-60km a day. according to hana, he once set his school's record for 100m dash in under 10 seconds (even though the stop watch broke) and won a marathon after a extremely late start. to save tora, his closest friend, hana defeated a massive group of goons using a bo staff, without the last 3 running away in fear.
hana has fought wild boars and survived a bear attack, leaving a large bear claw shaped scar on his side.
hana also has incredible reflexes and agility. many times in the series, hana was showed to be able to leap and bounce from tree to tree that many of his friends likened him to tarzan or a large monkey.
due to his personality and appearance, many often underestimate him as being weak, with only very strong fighters being able to tell that hana is far stronger than he looks. hana also seems to have studied various martial arts including judo and karate. his signature move is a rising uppercut that can even knockout the largest of men. to put into perspective how strong hana is, abo, the leader of yurikawa south high school, has fought hanaki guriko, the strongest man in the city, a total of 3 times. during his first fight with hana, abo ran from him after trading a few blows.
to date, hana has only lost 3 fights: the first two to guriko and the 3 to bisuko, the strongest man in the manji empire.




TAKEFUMI SAKOTA

suzuran's dinosaur, sakota is a member of the umehoshi family as well as a top officer in the hana-gumi, the group that would come to dominate suzuran. as a powerful middle schooler, he was a odds on favorite to win the first year war but bowed out. the night before the first day of school, he challenged hana to a fight to determine who would be the top brother of the umehoshi home with hana making him agree that if he lost, they would all be equal. needless to say, hana was victorious and sakota mended his ways. once hana announced that he would be competing in the tournament, sakota bows out, saying he's already been knocked out. along with former rival and housemate renji, sakota decides to support hana's bid to be the boss of suzuran and with a few select freshmen, he'd form the hana-gumi with himself as second in command under hana himself.

personality:
early on, sakota had the personality of a bully, harking on his past with fellow housemate tora. after losing to hana, he became more personable and nicer but still a force to be reckoned with. sakota can be surprisingly supportive and inspirational, often rallying the other members of the faction to action in times of conflict. sakota's turn was so great that he asked for forgiveness from ayumi, a kid he use to bully and the person who gave him his trademark scar. sakota and tora have bonded over watching the entire series of "24" and will often quote lines from the show.

fighting skills:
regardless of his loss to hana at the start of the series, sakota is still considered a powerful fighter, his strength only under hana and guriko. in fact, his loss to hana was his only known defeat in the series. his strength is said to rival that of naoki sera, the head of kawa 2nd high school.

[Iron_Twister]

First off, its great to see a guide to the Crows/Worst Verse, one of the most enjoyable manga series I have ever read.

Second, I am kind of a large Kurotaki/Bulldog fan (my last avatar was that of the man himself) and although they haven't done much compared to the other 3 factions (to the point they were left out in the PAD arc), they were a good group, and its inner circle members eventually went on to do good things together as close buds (some even following Bulldog when he became the successor to his father's ironworks company).

EDIT: Sorry man, interrupting your post of great characters! XD

[master of read]

First off, its great to see a guide to the Crows/Worst Verse, one of the most enjoyable manga series I have ever read.

Second, I am kind of a large Kurotaki/Bulldog fan (my last avatar was that of the man himself) and although they haven't done much compared to the other 3 factions (to the point they were left out in the PAD arc), they were a good group, and its inner circle members eventually went on to do good things together as close buds (some even following Bulldog when he became the successor to his father's ironworks company).

EDIT: Sorry man, interrupting your post of great characters! XD

dont worry. i will do the worst character first, then crows.

[master of read]

RENJI MUTOU

a rare bird in suzuran for his combination of brains and brawn, renji is an officer in hana gumi as well as its chief strategist and Consigliere to hana. along with sakota, renji saw hana's strength and decided to throw his support behind him for conquering suzuran, creating the group along with sakota.

personality:
renji is more reserved and relaxed than the other members of the group. he only really speaks when he has something important to say and his word carries a great deal of weight and respect from not just the hana-gumi but the rest of the school. he hangs out with sakota and tora a lot, playing darts and drinking beers when he can get away with it. he holds his brother in high regard and easily becomes angered when someone insults him.


fighting skills:
while renji doesn't fight as much as the other members, he is still considered a formidable fighter. sakota, who's strength was such that he was the favorite to win the first year war, comments that when renji goes nuts, he's even more vicious and dangerous than himself. while his fighting skills are nothing to laugh at, its his brains that are his real weapon. he is a master of gathering info on other students/factions and stays up to date on current news and actions involving certains people and groups. he is the one who forms the battle plans and is often the voice of reason to calm the others down. needless to say, without renji, the hana-gumi would not have gone as far as it did.




TAKUMI FUJISHIRO

the cool cat, takumi is not only the only member of the household to not attend suzuran but he's the only member to have joined the front of armament. originally attending kurosaki high, he dropped out to support his family by working in a garage but still lived at the umehoshi home until everyone graduated. early on, takumi was approached by his old friend, shugo murata, to join the armament but initially refused. it was only after the tragic death of the 6th generation head, tesshou kawachi, that he wore the skull and became the 7th generation vice-head under shugo.

personality:
described as "a guy with a cool head on his shoulders", takumi is almost always calm and collected. he often relied on his intellect and observation skills to solve problems rather than his fists. while he was a member of a rival faction, takumi was on great terms with the other housemates, often hanging out and playing games with them. sakota and renji were originally concerned that due to his connections to and eventual membership with the armament that he would come to blows with suzuran, but that never came to pass. despite this fact, takumi always looked out for his brothers-in-arms. because of his good looks and cool personality, takumi is also very popular with the ladies, often being asked out on days by groups of girls but showing really no interest in dating.

fighting skills:
takumi's strength surprises people due to his personality. it is shown that he is a extremely powerful and capable fighter. it seems that he has either practiced or studied martial arts like judo and aikido, due to his use of joint locks and throws. before he dropped out, he was seen as kurosaki high's strongest man and sakota and renji thought that he was more than likely stronger than the both of them, making him the second strongest in the household.
takumi's intelligence is probably the highest in the "worst" series. he absorbs all the info about a certain incident and makes accurate judgement and plans in response. it was takumi's diplomatic skills that ended the war between the armament and the hades' owls, gaining a valuable ally in the process. he was also able to see the threat that the amachi army was and formed a powerful counter-attack. between murata fearless leadership and takumi's smarts, the 7th generation of the armament is considered the strongest in the gang's history.



TORANOSUKE TOMINAGA

often called "tora" for short, he is by far the weakest member of the umehoshi house hold. formally a middle school lapdog under sakota, he at first hated being roomed with his former bully and even pulled a box cutter on him but after hana beat him in a fight, sakota and tora became true friends and brothers. while not a member of the hana-gumi, he is still a valued friend and ally to suzuran.

personality:
at first, tora lacked any confidence in himself, since everyone else in the household could fight while he was weak but thanks to masa and mary's guidance, he became more comfortable in his own skin and finding things that he was good at. he posses a tremendous amount of heart that inspires others around him and earning him respect from others, even with his lack of fighting skills. tora was hana's first and closest friend and remained so for a long time.

skills:
as was mentioned before, tora is the weakest member of the household, having absolutely no skills in fighting at all. he makes up for it by being very informed about events and persons of importance around the city. he can also be some what inspirational as he gave mitsumasa, the future head of housen, a powerful speech about how to properly become a boss. it was these words that stirred him to action and eventual lead to his rise as housen's leader. tora is very good at games such as bowling and darts, beating everyone else in terms of skill in this area. in fact, he became the founder and president of suzuran's first darts club.

[master of read]

sorry for the long wait.

200px-Umehoshi_brothers.jpg

The Umehoshi Brothers

220px-Masashi_Umehoshi.jpg

Masashi

210px-Yasushi_Umehoshi.jpg

Yasushi, aka, mary

the owners of the boarding house that the main characters reside, the twins umehoshi brothers are no strangers to the power struggles of suzuran high school. during their time at suzuran, the brothers had something a meteoric rise to power as their factor would come the closest to having complete and utter domination of the school, having taken down other factions when they arrived. it seemed like it was smooth sailing until a simple question from a underclassmen shattered it: which brother was the stronger one? this lead to an argument that would split the umehoshi-gumi into two factions, each lead by one of the brothers. despite being on opposite sides, the twins did not hate one other and always came to the other's aid.

personalities:
the umehoshi brothers are always at odds with each other, weither it be about mary's lifestyle or sport competitions but still remain as close and caring as two brothers can be.
masashi is more like a mafia boss; tough and intimidating but wise and insightful. he was the first to give tora self-confidence in himself after punching him for worrying over things he can't do. he looks to all of the boys as his sons and asked that they view each other as brothers. while doesn't particularly agree with his brother's choice of lifestyle, he will nonetheless defend him from anyone else who says ill of him. during a lunch meeting, a stranger talked about freakish mary looked, causing masashi to break a bottle and threaten the guy, saying that he didn't know his brother and thus had no right to judge him. his favorite pass-time is walking his beloved bulldog, de niro, named after the famous actor Robert de Niro. fitting since many believe him to be a yakuza since no one really knows what he does for a living.
yasushi, aka, mary is motherly but no less as fearsome as his twin. he is a very good cook, surprising hana and the others at who made their dinner. he acts very effeminate and will not answer to his birth name and even will get upset when someone doesn't refer to him as a young lady. despite this, he is still a frightening person to get on the wrong side of, especially if you drink his beer. he genuinely cares for the health and well-being of the boys under his roof and the boys feel the same way, truly seeing mary as the mother they never had. takumi even referred to him as "the strongest creature on earth".


next up, we look at the rest of the hana-gumi.

[master of read]

THE HANA-GUMI

originally called "the hana family", the hana gumi is the group that would eventually take completely control of suzuran for the first time in its history. the group was formed by sakota, renji, and 3 other powerful freshmen of their year, forming the solid core of the group. despite differing personality, views, and conflicts with each other, the group is united by their respect, admiration, loyalty, and friendship with hana, willing to do whatever is needed to see his dream of being the boss of suzuran come true. as time passed, many strong freshmen would come to join the group after hearing about hana and his deeds, making him a legend in his own time. in fact, the two winners of the freshman war after hana, both notable fighters in their own right, would join up in their first years.



OZAKI KENICHI

a freshman in the same year as hana, ozaki competed in the freshman war but was defeated by hisashi amachi in the first round. the brutal amachi went even further and continued to beat him to the point where he broke his arm and rib. after recovering from his injuries, he was offered membership into the hana-gumi which he accepted.

personality
much like renji, ozaki is very low key and seldom talks or acts without reason. he is seen as very cunning and tactical which people tend to underestimate.

skills:

ozaki is a solid fighter since he made a name for himself even before arriving at suzuran. despite his loss to amachi, he is still strong enough to hold his own in a battle. ozaki's main strength is his brain. his intelligence is second only to renji's and acts with him as a strategist and info-gatherer.



MURAKAWA KATSUHIRO

another original member of the hana-gumi, murakawa was the first foe that hana faced in the first year war, ending with his quick defeat. he would be seen the next day with his trademark mohawk which he keeps until the end of the series. at first, he was seen as a hanger on but over time, he proves his worth as an officer of the hana-gumi.

personality
contrary to his punk-ish appearance, murakawa is very cheerful and fun loving, telling jokes and messing around with hana and tora. at first, he was seen as an annoyance but his honesty and loyalty earned him words of praise and respect from his peers and underclassmen.

skills
murakawa was already well known in middle school for his ferocious fighting style and skill. after losing to hana, he continued to get stronger as the series progress, adding much needed muscle to the group.

[MidTierHero]

Is this a Vs. thread or a cry for help?

[master of read]

YAITA IKUMI

one of the five original members of the hana-gumi, yaita was the head of kawa middle school before coming to suzuran and had a rivalry with sakota who he wanted to beat in the first year war. he made it all the way to the top eight of the tournament but bowed out due to food poisoning. sakota would bring him in to the group after his return.

personality

described as "an unlucky guy with incredible fist", yaita doesn't seem to have good luck, either in fighting, school, or women. he is by far the most perverted of the hana-gumi officers, bonding with murakawa over their love of porno. he's a steadfast guy who would never sell out a friend.

skills
as the former head of kawa mid and a rival of sakota's, yaita's fighting skill were already legendary by the time he arrived at suzuran. even sakota holds his skills in high regard. his one weak spot is his weak stomach, which gives him the most trouble at the worst of times.



TETSUWAN TSUTOMU

real name daizen tsutomu, tetsuwan is currently a senior at suzuran. he earned his nickname from the tv character Tetsuwan Atom, due to both having strong arms. even before coming to the school of crows, he held a fearsome reputation to the point where only one man in the freshman war would even dare to fight him. he suffered his first true defeats at the hands of both guriko and hana, with him swearing loyalty to the latter. he would eventually form his own group that served under hana and his group in dominating suzuran. eventually, after guriko and hana graduated, he would become the next inheritor of the bullshit buckle, marking as suzuran's strongest.

personality
tetsuwan is big, boastful, and very sure of his own strength. he often doesn't believe that a person is strong unless he personally fights them, hence why he challenged the two strongest men in the school. despite his size and power, he is surprisingly very sensitive and takes insults very personalty. probably his closest relationship is with pudding, a few class mate who makes it a habit of insulting him, resulting in him getting beaten up, usually by eating a drop kick. despite this love-hate relationship, pudding is still his best friend and closest confidant. like hana, tetsuwan had aspirations of one day being the boss of suzuran but he lacks the natural charisma and leadership of hana. he tried to form his group in the same way as hana but it only turned others away from him. only when he went about it his way did he see more success.

skills
tetsuwan was the strongest of his generation. his strength was such that before coming to suzuran, he was undefeated in single battle. his signature move was the bakudan punch, much like the character he was named after. after his losses to guriko and hana, he was seen as the third strongest man in the school, the same rank as sakota. he fought a great deal of battles under the hana gumi, including defeating gaga of the amachi army as well as several members of the manji empire when they invaded the town.

[master of read]

Is this a Vs. thread or a cry for help?

trolling is not welcome in suzuran.