Basic Info
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Real Name
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Taisuke Arakawa
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Aliases
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Hiroto Arakawa
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Date of birth
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??, ??, 1977
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Age (in beginning of series)
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18 (in 1995)
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Marks / Scars
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A long scar underneath his left eye
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Best Qualities
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High sense of self importance, eloquent and well spoken, determination to get what he wants
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Bad Qualities
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High sense of entitlement, expert on human manipulation, apathy when it comes to cares of others
Profile
Taisuke Arakawa is the main villain in Four Corners. Taisuke, although commonly referred to as "Arakawa" by all the characters, due to them not knowing his first name. Taisuke is a mysterious man who's identity not fully shown in the series until chapter 6, but makes his official appearance in Chapter 4. In Chapter 4, Taisuke Arakawa is shown as a man who uncooperatively works with a gangster, Ranmaru, and has no interest in fighting and violence, which Ranmaru finds irritating. Taisuke seems to be superstitious and instead relies fortune telling--particularly Yiching (易經), which is a Chinese divination using Yiching casting sticks and coins to predict aspects of his future. Ranmaru refers despairingly to Taisuke's techniques, citing them as "fortune telling shit", mainly because Ranmaru doesn't find knowing the future fun or exciting.
Whether or not Taisuke himself believes he can predict the future, or if he actually believes in his methods of fortune telling is unknown, since he refers to it as a "strategy". However, Hideki seems to believe there is a bit of truth to his methods. Taisuke Arakawa is eluded to have some sort of prior relationship to Hideki, and even the cause of his haunted dreams (in Chapter 2). Around the public, he seems gentle and mild mannered…but behind closed doors, something seems to be bubbling underneath his surface.
Chapter 6 spoilers
Taisuke Arakawa is a mysterious coffee shop manager who is also a part of the yakuza. While he is working at the coffee shop, he goes by an alias and undertakes meticulous care to cover his scar up with concealer. Although he seems to take great efforts to hide his association with the yakuza, there are some patrons who are aware of his ties anyway. Despite this, he is still favored by his patrons and they simply believe he is trying to live a new life.
Chapter 7 spoilers
It is shown in Chapter 7 that he is actually the heir to the Arakawa clan. It is remarked by Hideki that his first impression of Arakawa was "Too eloquent and graceful. There's no way this guy could be a yakuza." In 1992, When Hideki was only 14, he got into an argument with Arakawa clan members, and eventually was ganged up in a fight after they wanted to extort an apology out of him and his cousin Lifen. Hideki managed to beat the members, and while still in a state of shock, was approached by Taisuke Arakawa who, regrettably, came late, but had intended to apologize on behalf of his members. However, one member was very badly beaten, and assumed to have died from the result of the fight. Taisuke Arakawa used this event against Hideki and caused the boy to become indebted to him. Taisuke feigned compassion with Hideki and granted him and his cousin protection from the yakuza, and even made his members apologize. Hideki, only being young and naive, believed Taisuke and began to make his acquaintance. However, Lifen found out about it and became increasingly worried. She sought Taisuke out and demanded that he leave her younger cousin alone, so Taisuke complied and then revoked his protection on them. As a result, Hideki sought out help from a gang in his school--the Four Corners, which at the time, was under the control of Keiichi Tsuchiya. This decision angers Taisuke, and he demands Hideki to choose who he owes his loyalty to by stealing an item off the leader of the Four Corners--which is Keiichi's gold plated necklace. Hideki does, but replaces it with a fake, and Taisuke immediately notices the difference. He then tells Hideki that due to his betrayal, Keiichi will die as a sacrifice in place of the yakuza member Hideki had killed originally. A year later, his words seem to manifest into reality, since Keiichi Tsuchiya ends up dying, leaving Kazuhiro to eventually take control of the gang.
For Hideki, the damage Taisuke inflicted on him is traumatic--from such a young age, he believes he is a murderer and is indebted to Taisuke Arakawa and his clan. Taisuke doesn't seem to have any desire to stop using Hideki--that is, for whatever reason it seems he plans on using him for, which is still unknown.
