| Introduction |
Buichirō Shirase (
Appearance
Shirase is a teenage boy the same age as Dazai and Chūya; he is not much taller than Dazai or Chūya as teenagers which would make him not very tall. He has short, spiky, pale grey hair parted down the center with bangs framing his face and grey eyes. He wears a dark, grayish-brown parka with a white fur collar and a series of patches on his chest and left shoulder. Underneath is a dark grey sweater with a wide collar, tan pants, navy sneakers and a blue and white belt that hangs out from under the sweater. On his right wrist is presumably a blue wristband indicating his membership with the sheep, and around his neck is a necklace symbolizing a ram's horn. He appears to have several piercings in at least one of his ears.
Personality
Shirase is rather arrogant, tending to believe he can take on threats much greater than himself despite often having to rely on others. He even refers to himself as the most intelligent member of the Sheep when speaking to Adam, though Adam had doubts about this being true. He at one point saw Chūya as more of a weapon than a person, believing that since Chuuya had a great deal of strength, it was only natural that he deal with fighting the enemies of the sheep Unfortunately, this mindset leads him to severely underestimate the danger presented by the Port Mafia, and he behaves irresponsibly, going into enemy territory to steal alcohol despite being warned against it, as he believes Chūya would provide sufficient protection against the mafia. He also threatens Dazai with a knife upon learning of his affiliation with Port Mafia, not understanding the risks of doing so.
However, Shirase is not entirely unaware of his own powerlessness. When he believes Chūya to be a traitor, Shirase decides it to be necessary to kill him and instead of attempting to fight Chūya fairly, Shirase opts to trick the Ability user into lowering his guard before stabbing him a poisoned knife. He also quickly gets to work allying with the GSS to protect the Sheep, knowing they are vulnerable without Chūya. In Stormbringer, he mentions that acting wisely like this is how he survived for so long.
Despite his surface level narcissism, Shirase isn't heartless and was concerned enough to help a starving child against the wishes of the rest of his friends and in the Stage Play version of 15, he uses his body to shield Yuan and another Sheep girl from the mafia's attack. He also eventually finds himself brave enough to risk his life for Chuuya when he realizes that Chuuya can be just as vulnerable as he is. It appears much of his personality as a defense mechanism, and at the end of Stormbringer, he comments to Chuuya that he thinks that he carries too much, and that it probably makes him tired. Chuuya responds by saying that Shirase carries too little.
History
Shirase was one of the original members of the Sheep, a group of orphans making their base in a sewage canal, that acted as a sort of mutual aid network, protecting each other from the various threats adults might pose to them.
Shirase came across Chūya when the latter was on the verge of death from extreme malnourishment and provided him with bread which Chuuya ate despite not knowing what it was. Shirase then convinced the other members of the Sheep to take in Chūya.
Fifteen Arc
Shirase threatens Dazai.
While Chūya and Dazai made a bet to find the culprit behind the sightings of the old boss, Shirase and Yuan entered the arcade. Shirase spoke to Chūya about retaliating against the Port Mafia and became upset upon realizing Dazai's allegiance to them and proceeded to threaten him with a knife. Dazai pretended to be afraid and had Mori release the Sheep hostages, causing the mafia to lose their leverage on Chuuya. However, though Shirase attempted to make the boy fight the mafia, Dazai points out that Chuuya can decide what to do for himself, which infuriated Shirase when Chuuya chose not to fight.
hirase with GSS and other Sheep members.
Under the assumption, Chūya was now working with the Port Mafia, Shirase, and the Sheep allied with the GSS. Shirase then approached Chūya at Rimbaud's grave, pretending everything had been patched up, only to stab Chuuya with a poisoned knife before revealing the Sheep's new alliance. He then had the GSS attempt to kill Chuuya, who ran off, only to be discovered by the Port Mafia. Unbeknownst to Shirase, the mafia had effectively taken the Sheep hostage and were only spared by Chuuya accepting the offer to join them, and only the GSS troops were killed as a result.[1]
Stormbringer
A year later, the Sheep dissolved, and Shirase began working in a car factory. He was approached by Chūya, who had come to warn him that the assassin Paul Verlaine was likely to come after him due to the boys' connection, despite Shirase still hating Chūya. They were reported by Shirase's manager and were taken to a police station, where Verlaine attacked. Though Verlaine's actual target was a policeman, Shirase decided to stay with Chūya to protect himself.
He went along with Chūya and Adam to Professor N's lab, where he was forced to have a blood test done upon entering, though it was actually a ruse so he and Chūya could be injected with poison. After exploring alone with Adam for a while, Shirase began to feel unwell, alerting the robot to the poison.
Shirase woke up from his poisoning and assumed that Adam and Chūya had abandoned him. He looted the lab for items he could sell to rebuild The Sheep before escaping. While looting, he came upon Chūya fighting the skeleton of himself. While he initially considered leaving Chūya behind to fend for himself, seeing Chūya so hurt and vulnerable, he realized that Chūya wasn't just a weapon to be wielded against enemies, but also a 16-year-old boy. Because of this realization, he tackled the skeleton and eventually disconnected it from the animating tubes, thus rescuing Chūya.
Shirase was present with Adam to view Dazai's punishment. Confused by Double Black, Adam asked what they were doing, and Shirase replied that only Double Black could understand Double Black.
Eventually, Shirase was told by Adam what Chūya had done to protect the Sheep, causing Shirase to view him differently.
At some point, Shirase decided to go to London to join an Ability organization known as the Stray Sheep. He and Chūya said goodbye as friends before parting.[2]
Appearances
Fifteen Arc
- Episode 27 - The God of Fire
- Episode 28 - Only a Diamond Can Polish a Diamond
Trivia
- He shares his English voice actor with Shōsaku Katsura.