A farmer in Kanna Village. A somewhat ugly man with a pointed head and buck-teeth, he is always complaining about anything and everything. He becomes the unofficial spokesman for the villagers who don't want the samurai's help and wish to maintain the status quo. Just before the battle with the bandits, Manzo attempts to sell out the samurai to a bandit scout, after which Katsushiro is forced to kill the scout. When Manzo is brought before the villagers to answer for his betrayal, he is defended by an unlikely advocate, Kikuchiyo. Kikuchiyo lectures everyone that it was the tragic cycle of what the Bandits and Samurai do to villagers that make them turncoats and cowards, and that Manzo shouldn't be faulted for acting in desperation. Kambei convinces Manzo that his home and village are not truly his, but possessions of the bandits, and that he should fight for them and for his daughter. Though Manzo eventually becomes loyal to the samurai's cause, he never fully stops complaining about every little thing.
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