Kageyama (景山部長 Kageyama buchō) is the department chief of the materials procurement department of Asahi Heavy Industrial Co. where Rock used to work at in Japan.
Appearance[]
Kageyama is an older Japanese man with a skinny build, pale skin, and short slicked-back black hair. He wears a gray business suit, a mint-green dress shirt, and a striped blue necktie.
Personality[]
Kageyama has an unconcerned attitude wherein he is foremost concerned with business, not caring about the livelihood of his colleagues and not very interested in his own family life. He also has a cold outlook on life, willing to cast aside employees as a part of business, as well as saying that he did not care about visual sights like the sunset or the view of the ocean.
History[]
Black Lagoon[]
When Asahi Heavy Industrial Co. agreed to give a war-torn country blueprints for nuclear weapons, Kageyama and Fujiwara entrusted Rokurō Okajima to deliver the disk to the Borneo branch chief. Following the abduction of Rokurō from the Melanesia by the Lagoon Company, the board members attended a meeting to hear about the disk's disappearance from Kageyama. At the meeting, Addressing fellow board members, Kageyama relayed to them that the Bougainvillea Trade Company contacted Asahi Industries around 4 p.m. concerning the stolen disk. He elaborated that the company was a front for the Russian crime syndicate Hotel Moscow, who commissioned the pirates to steal the disk. The Director wanted more answers, so Kageyama explained that the Russian Mafia had pushed out Chinese gangs from Southeast Asia and planned on taking control of Asahi Industries' trading partner's smuggling route. Hearing that Hotel Moscow would leak the contents of the disk if they did not meet their demands to take over the route, the Vice President stated that such an action would be the biggest scandal in Asahi Industries' history.
At that point, Kageyama received a message from a local Chinese expatriate claiming that the disk was still in the pirates' possession, not Hotel Moscow's ownership. He then proposed stopping the pirates from delivering the disk by any means necessary, so the board permitted him to solve the matter himself. That night, Kageyama and Fujiwara learned that Rokurō Okajima was being held as a hostage by the pirates. In his office, the Director heard this fact from them, scaring him. Fujiwara clarified that Okajima was one of the few employees who could be trusted with the transaction. Nonetheless, the Director sat down and asked Kageyama his thoughts on the matter. Repeating what he said earlier in the board meeting, he answered that he would do anything to salvage their corporation from scandal, revealing that he subcontracted the Extra Order mercenary company via an intermediary to find the Lagoon Company and kill them. After the mercenaries' first attempt to kill Rock and the crew in Roanapur failed, Kageyama called Rock and informed him that he was officially dead, elaborating that the company would pay for his funeral and give compensation to his family.[1]
The next morning, he and Fujiwara took a plane to Southeast Asia to negotiate with Balalaika. On the airplane, Kageyama requested a business newspaper from the stewardess. Eventually, once he arrived at the port of Belawan (or Palawan Island in the manga), he found out that the pirates delivered the disk, with the mercenaries having failed to kill them. Handing the disk to Kageyama, Balalaika stated that Hotel Moscow would hold up their end of the deal, adding that any other grudges should be gone. Agreeing, Kageyama nonchalantly commented that the world was full of things that could not be helped. Hearing her state that the remaining deal would be discussed at the hotel, Kageyama accepted the deal and commended Rock for his work. The salaryman removed his necktie and in turn reminded Kageyama that he was declared dead. With steadfastness, Rock declared that he was now "Rock," not Rokurō Okajima. Accepting his resignation, Kageyama then ordered Fujiwara to get going.
Fujiwara and Kageyama departed from the area while the former was surprised with Rock's decision, to which the latter showed no concern. Soon, he returned to Japan and was congratulated by the board members for recovering the disk, bowing respectfully as thanks. Returning to his house, Kageyama was greeted by his dog John and petted him. Seeing his son Takanori exit the restroom, he asked his son how his studies for the entrance exams were going, but Takanori answered that it did not go too well. Kageyama entered the living room and greeted his wife, who asked him to talk to their 18-year-old daughter because she was staying out much later each night. He replied by claiming that it was his wife's responsibility to speak to her, keeping to himself. Kageyama finished the day by reading about the stocks when his second daughter asked him about the sea, to which he replied that he did not know due to being busy the entire time.[2]
Trivia[]
- The surname Kageyama means "shadow" (影) (kage) and "mountain" (山) (yama).
- In the top 10 worst characters contest released for the May/June 2008 issue of Monthly Sunday GX, Kageyama ranked 2nd with 201 votes.[3]
- In the second popularity contest during the 10th manga collection release, Kageyama ranked 47th (tying with several characters) with 3 votes.[4]
- In the third popularity contest during the 12th manga collection release, Kageyama ranked 50th (tying with Diego Lovelace and Tou Chi) with 5 votes.[5]