CHARACTER PROFILE
Sotoba
- Primary work
- Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan
Other recorded work links
- Species
- Ghost | Human (Formerly)↗
Sotoba (ソトバ) is the main antagonist of the one-shot At a Confessional, the 16th episode of the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series, as well as a primary antagonist in the At a Confessional live-action film. He is only named in the film.
Image attribution details
Sotoba. Source illustration via JoJoWiki; copyright remains with the original rights holders.
Image via JoJoWiki. Original franchise/production rights holders retain copyright; the wiki text CC BY-SA license does not license this image.
Original image ↗ · Archived image ↗01Basic information
02Appearance
When he was alive, Sotoba was an impoverished, staggering man. His empty eyes, unwashed body, unshaved chin, spaced out teeth and bad body odor leave a poor impression. Mizuo described him as an Asian man and he is consistently represented with tanned skin. He has long hair which divides itself into large spikes, most of which angle upwards except for the two on each side of his head.↗
Sotoba wears an open coat with short, torn sleeves over a shirt with a grid pattern, which is torn at the bottom and has a cleavage showing the upper half of his torso. He wears plain pants, a sort of collar made of wool, and mismatched shoes consisting of a normal shoe and a sandal.↗
03Personality
When Sotoba first appears, he is visibly weak and desperate for food after having gone 5 days without any. He begs Mizuo for some but is told to work for that food instead.↗
When he returns as a spirit, his demeanor is incredibly malicious and violent. Cursing Mizuo, he states that he will return at the happiest moment of Mizuo's life. When he finally manifests, the spirit sets up a bet against Mizuo, taking pleasure in his panic and eventual failure at winning the bet. However, it is revealed that Mizuo was just a servant disguised as him through plastic surgery, so Sotoba still continues to haunt the actual man who wronged him.↗
04Story
SPOILERS
Sotoba wandered onto a farm market and asked a man named Mizuo, as he hadn't eaten for five days. The man, disgusted that the vagrant did no work to get his food, forces him to work by carrying the bags of corn to the storage. Sotoba starts by carrying a small bag of corn, but is forced to carry a larger bag instead.↗
Years later, the spirit of Sotoba possesses Mizuo's daughter, Maria. Sotoba challenges his adversary to throw a piece of popcorn in the air above the altitude of a nearby lamppost and catch it in his mouth, each time at the clap of his hands, three times in a row. If his enemy succeeds, Sotoba promises to acknowledge that his death was fated and leave the man forever; if he should fail, Sotoba will immediately cut off his head.↗
He only learned later that he actually killed a servant who was willing to do anything for his master. Sotoba's real target, now named Tamiya, had used plastic surgery to switch appearances and identities with his servant, fooling Sotoba into dogging the wrong man. The spirits of Sotoba and the beheaded servant both vow to watch him around the clock, to ensure that he never fools them again.↗↗
Film History
The movie adaptation of At a Confessional adds that Sotoba is Japanese. In the movie, Sotoba went to Venice to seek success but laments that he went through a string of bad luck and kept being blamed for numerous problems only to be fired each time. He ended as a vagrant and wandered into a demolition site, only to be thrown out by the workers. Later, Sotoba saw Mizuo and begged for food, trying to appeal to their shared nationality.↗
Like in the original manga, Sotoba constantly haunts and curses at Mizuo, also waiting alongside Tamiya 's ghost to make him taste despair as Maria, Mizuo's daughter, would experience her greatest happiness. As Maria's wedding approaches, Sotoba is seen taunting Mizuo as his hour draws near.↗
Finally, Rohan manages to trick Mizuo and the ghosts into thinking Maria has been killed by a gunman that Mizuo himself hired to kill Lorenzo Grimani 's, Maria's fiancé. As Mizuo plunges into despair at the sight of his daughter seemingly dead, the ghosts enjoy their victory and gloat over him. Mizuo flees the scene and is last seen wailing in an alley, flanked by the two ghosts. Rohan theorizes that the ghosts will not let Mizuo die any time soon to prolong his suffering.↗
05Plot details
SPOILERS
Personality
With no other option, Sotoba gets to work despite being unable to perform the physically demanding job and dies under the weight of the bags he was carrying.↗
Profile details
Status Status based on their final appearance in the part(s) they are featured in: Deceased (TSKR) (Vengeful Spirit)↗
Cause of Death: Crushed by bag of corn↗
An impoverished man turned vengeful spirit, he holds a grudge against the man who wronged him after unintentionally causing his death.↗
06Appearances
07Sources & attribution
- Sotoba
Source text: JoJoWiki and its contributors. This entry has been reorganized and condensed for readability under CC BY-SA 4.0. Archived records reflect their capture dates. Referenced manga, anime, and artwork retain their respective copyrights.
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