Ode to Benizakura

I found the phrase 'characters whose way of dying I fell in love with' on the internet, and
“Well, that has to be Benizakura, obviously!!!!!”
my heart flared up, so I decided to talk about the man that is Benizakura.
Since this is a mix of childhood memories and information from the internet, and spoilers are inevitable, I hope you'll bear with me.

Benizakura is an old Tosa Inu who was such a fierce warrior in his prime that he became a Yokozuna in dog fighting.
However, he was currently performing in dog fighting shows under a certain boy.
One day, he meets a dog. Although invited by that dog, who is looking for companions to defeat a giant man-eating bear that reigns over Ou, Benizakura refuses at first.
But, through his conversation with that dog, he feels a sense of discomfort regarding his relationship with the boy, so he parts ways with the boy and sets his sights on Ou—

To put it simply, that's how it goes, but this episode between Benizakura and the boy is truly profound.
Although they were dog and human at first, they had an equal relationship as partners, but the boy begins to depend on Benizakura, who is a dog.
He even rejects his own relatives when they try to reach out to him, using Benizakura's presence as a shield.
To wake the boy up, he gives him a slap (even though he was holding back) as a farewell greeting, and joins the Ou army as an old fighting dog, Benizakura.
When Benizakura parted ways with the boy, he also made the decision to part ways with his home.
Certainly, with his days numbered, he must have thought that if he threw himself into this battle, he would never return home.
But even though he was old, he was a Tosa Inu. And Tosa Inus have such a fierce temperament that they sometimes even attack humans. He, that very dog, had raised a hand against a human. What awaited him was death by disposal.
Even by pushing himself that far, he gave the boy a chance to see reality.
I don't know if it reached that boy. But I hope this parting becomes something that helps him move forward.
That one blow, struck with that wish, became the notification of the eternal separation between Benizakura and the boy.
I wish for that boy to have happiness.

Benizakura, who joined the Ou army, fought brilliantly, making use of his experience as a fighting dog despite being an old soldier.
But then, he faced his greatest crisis.

In a fight against the man-eating bear's subordinate, he took a blow from the bear to his forehead. Benizakura approached with spirit, undeterred by it.
His companions discovered a rope in a mountain hut and came up with the idea of wrapping it around the bear and sinking it into the lake.
Benizakura grabbed the rope in his mouth and succeeded in pulling it into the lake, but when he wrapped the rope around a large tree submerged in the lake, he got his own leg caught in it.
His companions tried to save him, but Benizakura, fearing that the bear would start rampaging on land again, refused.
After knocking out the young leader who had stayed behind to try and save him until the very end with a full-force slap (he was able to exert enough power to knock him out even underwater!), Benizakura closed his life along with the bear.

Magnificent. That is exactly the word for it.
The old soldier literally gave his own life to destroy the hateful enemy.
There was no hesitation there.
The man fulfilled his mission.
And that death was burned into my young heart through the television.
As a child, I was impressed by this magnificent way of dying and that resolve. I felt that I had to pay my respects. That was the feeling I had.

Now everyone, if you are able to watch the death battle between Benizakura and the bear, I would like you to see it by all means.
I want you to burn the resolve and the end of the proud old soldier into your eyes.
If you want to mourn his death, it might be chic to have a pinch of salt and some sake on a moonlit night. However, I am a teetotaler, so I will leave that ritual to others.

The former dog-fighting Yokozuna, Benizakura.
You were truly strong.