Character Information + Headcanons
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busonHistory:
Buson (Attila) is a high-ranking member of the Pokemon mafia, Team Rocket, an organized crime syndicate sprawling two regions. In the Pokemon anime, Team Rocket has never been fully defeated or disbanded, unlike the rest of the villainous teams. Buson is part of something called the Profit Expansion Division, originally, but was sent alongside his partner (Bashou, who acts more like his superior, not that Buson seems to mind at all) to serve under Professor Shiranui (Sebastian) and use a new invention of his to try and capture the Legendary Pokemon Raikou.
It's unclear what sort of work the two did before being called to use the Crystal System, developed by Professor Shiranui (Professor Sebastian) to capture Raikou in the special.
Bashou and Buson are also both skilled with technology; while Bashou works more with computer programs and tracking systems, Buson works with machinery (he's seen operating and performing maintenance on a chicken-walker). Tanuki (the folkloric trickster, shapeshifting animal spirits Buson was created to resemble, more on that in personality below) are said to make good blacksmiths.
Naturally, some kids (Kenta, Marina, and Junichi, later assisted by Minaki/Eusine) repeatedly get in the way, despite Bashou and Buson telling them not to get involved. Buson especially warns that they won’t hold back if they keep interfering. When their mecha is damaged, Bashou and Buson make tactical retreats, repair their mecha, and attempt different methods of weakening and capturing Raikou, at one point successfully capturing Raikou, only for Marina to have snuck onboard and managed to free Raikou mid-air before they could make it back to headquarters…
This gets Marina tied up and beaten (off-screen) by Buson, while Bashou watches. This was after her friends try to call her and get Buson answering instead. Junichi teases Buson, who quickly loses his temper and lashes out by yelling at the boy and breaking Marina’s PokeGear in his hand.
Kenta, Junichi, and Minaki track her down using the signal and face off against the Rockets one last time, rescuing their friend, and Raikou comes back to take revenge on the Rockets for what they did to him and all the other Electric types earlier.
Even when the system’s controls are damaged, Bashou and Buson watch with cool indifference as the emergency program of the system runs automically, draining Raikou’s electrical energy until near-death. Despite their trainers’ qualms, the protagonists’ Pokemon agree to risk their lives, following Minaki’s plan, to save Raikou and perform a point-blank attack. They narrowly escape in time to survive, and Bashou and Buson leave, defeated.
In the introduction of the ninth film, we briefly see Bashou and Buson again with Professor Shiranui—despite the failure to capture Raikou, it seems Professor Shiranui still holds them in high regard and they successfully (mostly off-screen) capture a Legendary Pokemon for him: Rayquaza, last seen restrained and being subjected to electric shocks in his laboratory, while Bashou & Buson observe...
Dub-only: this special had a lot of dialogue changes and additions, including references to a backstory that aren’t present in the original, likely meant to either make Attila more sympathetic or take the edge off his more frightening scenes; Buson originally advances on a terrified Marina while telling her to “Hold still for a while…”/"Let's see if I can get you to be still/quiet/obedient for a while..." before it fades to black. In the dub, he tells her he used to collect Caterpie as a boy and calls them “sweet creatures” because Vincent yelled he'll crush him like a Charizard could crush a Caterpie and Attila... disapproves of Vincent making fun of them??? Okay, then.
There’s also a scene where he talks about being a wrangler and likens capturing all of those Electric type Pokemon to a corral. He also talks about his uncle's ranch in the Black Hills (we're still in Johto, one of the Japan-based regions, though!). Lots of rodeo lines and even a "yippee-ki-yay"—he has no such backstory in the original.
Personality:
Buson is impulsive, straight-forward, arrogant, loud, crass, and violent when angered, yet also the more laidback and playful partner of the team he forms with Bashou. While he is doubtlessly the most physically imposing of the two, he tends to defer to his partner and eagerly follows orders without complaint, beyond friendly teasing if Bashou is being too serious (which he always is, according to Buson.)
Bashou and Buson (Hun and Attila, respectively) were designed with a kitsune and tanuki in mind, two trickster, shapeshifter spirits from Japanese folklore, that are often contrasted and bitter enemies, but are also sometimes depicted as friendly duos in modern times. Bashou has the more beautiful andrognyous appearance and sharp eyes characteristic of a folkloric fox [kitsune], as well as their air of refinement, whereas Buson is bulkier with spiky blonde hair and dark sunglasses (to mimic a raccoon-dog’s black-ringed eyes), as well as the more playful and crude mannerisms associated with the folkloric raccoon-dog [tanuki], pleasure-seeking lovers of wine and women.
Contrary to the androgynous appearance and polite/formal language, Bashou has the deeper voice and the cool and level-headed manner. For all his manly speech and imposing size, Buson is the one who is prone to emotional outbursts and is a very easy read. While Buson's a lot more laidback compared to Bashou, his pride is a weak point too... insulting him can easily get him to lose his temper and he seems to be quite insecure, as well. Being called very childish and mild insults by a kid (stupid and ugly, basically) got him to scream into a communicator and then crush it in his own hand.Bashou's Haganeil (Steelix) also loses its temper and lashes out violently at being called "baka-neil," so given that Pokemon grow to resemble their trainers... both of them are this petty and insecure, it seems.
Buson's also a bit sexist and calls the young girl he's holding hostage "ugly" as an insult. Seriously, Marina frees Raikou and damages the airship and Buson chooses to attack her looks. ^^; He also calls the boys ugly/eyesores too and given how mad he gets at being called ugly... it sounds like he's projecting his insecurities a bit.I'm ignoring the wholly rewritten dub's characterization, but he also calls Vincent a "sissy boy"... but I don't think he'd use such an insult when in the original, his very beautiful partner is male. Hm.
Despite Buson being more violent and quick to anger, Bashou seems to enjoy violence much more. Buson menaces people and will beat up even children, but doesn't seem ecstastic about violence like Bashou is. He approaches it more like a job. He even tries, initially, to encourage the kids to escape and not get involved unnecessarily. He doesn't want to hurt them if it's unnecessary... but if it is, well, business is business. He doesn't seem to hate it either, grinning menacingly when he advances on Marina, but the rest of the time, he's just trying to get things done or escape harm—he doesn't want to watch his enemies suffer. He doesn't ever smile when he's giving orders that are intended to kill, unlike Bashou, who smiles the most then, even grinning with excitement.
From their first scene, it’s quickly clear who leads, as Bashou speaks for himself and his partner… it’s also plain to see how Bashou hardly expresses emotion on his face, while Buson reacts with wide-eyed surprise, leans forward to watch, and audibly gasps at the Crystal System’s power.
Buson tends to say whatever comes to mind, even if it’s rude or makes him sound stupid. He isn’t necessarily unintelligent—he’s a skilled mechanic and repairs all their damaged machinery—he’s just impulsive and doesn’t think things through before he says them. He can also be sarcastic and crack jokes, jeering and taunting his enemies, but he’s also astute to be able to read Bashou and work perfectly in sync with him.
Buson acts brashly when angered and tends to take his anger out physically, on people or things around him, as he did when he shoved Marina to the floor or crushed the PokeGear.
He doesn’t see weakening Pokemon by way of machines as any different to weakening them in battle. He considers himself not much different from a Pokemon trainer in that regard, so there’s certainly a degree of him trying to justify the things he does, both to himself and others, but appeals to emotion don’t work on him; Kenta tries and fails to invoke any empathy in Buson or his partner for Raikou’s sake, as he’s already accepted that he does things that are wrong or cruel. It’s not news and he doesn’t care.
He doesn’t see the point in trying to help a Pokemon that has already rejected humanity and doesn’t see it as his duty to change its mind about people. He doesn’t seem to mind being compared to the power-hungry people who made Raikou this way either, even if he doesn’t think it’s wrong to want to be strong.
Bashou even goes on to say Pokemon are mere animals that exist to serve humans, but all Buson really says is that his desire to capture strong Pokemon is no different from a Pokemon trainer’s. He doesn’t disagree with his partner, but seeing Pokemon as tools is common for Rockets, even if some treat their own Pokemon well or as if they’re exceptions to the rule.
Strength and bravery are qualities Buson admires, even in his enemies, and he’ll tell them as much! He can acknowledge good traits even in enemies and understand them a bit more than his partner, but this doesn’t really stop him from doing his job.
That said, perhaps due to Buson’s earlier insistence on trying to get the kids to run away, the dub further softens his character by having his dub counterpart be defensive of Caterpie and claiming he collected and raised them as a child. Buson would seem the kinder half of this team, but only by a margin. There isn’t much room for kindness in a high-ranking Rocket, unless it’s to his own.
They’re named after Attila the Hun in the dub and in the Japanese version, after Edo era poets Yosa Buson and his inspiration, Matsuo Bashou. Buson idolized Bashou, literally retracing his footsteps in travel memoir.
Buson follows Bashou’s lead and is named after a poet who admired Bashou’s namesake so much he chose his pen-name to match his; Buson clearly respects and trusts Bashou, although they’re also close enough that they can tease each other good-naturedly.
Pokemon are said to grow to resemble their trainers; both Bashou and Buson train Steel type Pokemon (the bird-like Airmad/Skarmory for Buson and the snake-like Haganeil/Steelix for Bashou), primarily, while Buson also trains the Poison type Betobeton/Muk. Poison types are common for members of Team Rocket. Buson and Bashou are close enough that Buson’s Pokemon obey Bashou’s commands…
Bashou and Buson do initially underestimate the kids and Buson especially tries to get them to leave, so it does seem that Buson isn’t out to be cruel for the sake of it. He’s only violent when he’s insulted or pushed enough to wear his (admittedly short) patience. He certainly isn’t above hurting kids and he isn’t mature or level-headed enough not to lose his temper with them.
Buson gives Kenta the condescending nickname “Hero Boy” for interfering with the Raikou mission (after initially calling him the “brat with the hero complex.”) He also calls Marina an "ugly brat," but loses his temper when Junichi calls him ugly and stupid… even though he basically started it.
Bonus material: on Bashou and Buson’s character designs, it’s noted they’re designed with the image of a kitsune (fox) and tanuki (raccoon-dog) respectively, two animals which are shapeshifting trickster spirits in Japanese mythology. They are often bitter enemies, but sometimes portrayed as working in a team together too. They are opposites, with kitsune being proud, graceful, dignified, often beautifully androgynous, and highly intelligent, while tanuki are humble, jovial, carefree, messy, and pleasure-seeking. Tanuki also tend to be quite straight-forward and eager to please, which fits Buson's open-book of a personality too and how loyally he follows Bashou's orders, but also how easily he's provoked by children. (Reminded of the tale where a traveller sees a tree branch [actually a transformed tanui] and comments on how it seemed to be on the opposite side when he first passed that tree... the tanuki transforms and brings the branch out the other side. The traveller then says, actually, wasn't it two branches? The poor tanuki falls for the trick by trying to make two separate branches... using his arms, and falls from the tree. They're a bit honest and unassuming like that, even when mischievous or evil.
Headcanons: Given Buson being used to intimidating and torturing people (while Bashou's content to watch), I'd imagine their usual work in the Profit Expansion Division, before being called to help Professor Shiranui's research, is likely extortion, racketeering, and blackmail for financial gain.
Buson’s (very relative) kindness towards kids and those weaker than him (further exaggerated in the dub), makes him closer to the idealized movie mobster/yakuza with a sense of honour… although he’s still a cruel and terrible man who would even beat children and even attempted to kill them after his earlier attempts to warn them against interfering and urge them to run away failed. Buson has some qualities more typical of heroic characters (he's unfalteringly loyal to Bashou and he's, for the most part, honest on a personal level, even if his work isn't), but he's still a hardened criminal and murderer, who even was prepared to murder children... he retains just enough of a conscience to feel bad about what he does and try to avoid it unnecessary killing, but he'll still follow Bashou's lead and fall in line; he yields to authority and behaves much like a soldier (and dresses partly like one, too, in terms of what he's added to his uniform).. He certainly does seem to be the sort who is in Team Rocket for a sense of belonging and a cause to fight for and doesn’t necessarily think of himself as wholly evil or even that different from a Pokemon trainer, as he says in canon. He knows he’s a bad man who’s done some terrible things, but justifies a lot of what he does as just doing his job and believes his means are simply more efficient than battling Pokemon.
A lot of Rocket members have this mindset towards Pokemon, viewing them as tools or simple-minded beasts, which is probably how Butch and Cassidy in TR didn’t mind putting contraptions on their Pokemon that affected their minds to place them in constantly enraged states to boost their attacks. I don’t believe Attila would hit his own Pokemon or treat them cruelly, but I definitely don’t believe he’d see them as anywhere near human intelligence. He probably treats it like a combination weapon and kind of dumb animal that knows some cool tricks. Kind of like a kid who wasn’t taught how to handle animals respectfully and doesn’t care to pay close attention to their personalities or fulfil more than basic needs (think of miserable birds that are never let out of cramped cages without toys. Bare minimum needs met.)
Buson doesn’t romanticize the trainer-Pokemon bond. Humans are just using Pokemon and Pokemon are just sticking around for the food and such.
Buson doesn’t believe you can get anything for nothing. He expects a price for everything. He is wary of being indebted to anyone and seeks to clear debts as soon as possible.
He’ll return favours whenever he can. He doesn’t feel comfortable being indebted to others in any way.
Buson came from poverty, the son of aging, poor but honest, parents, who worked hard all their lives but were always barely making ends meet, and he originally sought work to feed his family. He tried various other jobs that didn’t work out (just as Jessie did…), until he found himself in Team Rocket and successful, but by that point, it would be too dangerous for him to ever go back and meet them. He continued to support them financially from afar without letting them know the nature of his work, until their deaths. Now, Team Rocket is his only family.
Buson's poet namesake was born in Osaka (Goldenrod City of Johto's inspiration), but travelled later to Honshu, following poet Bashou's footsteps, settling down in Kyoto (Ecruteak City of Johto's inspiration!)... as for this Buson, he was born in between Kanto and JohtoI haven't decided (which of the areas based on Nagano would fit him best, it could be Indigo Plateau or the anime-only Fennel Valley nearby...), although he later lives and works primarily in Johto as a Rocket!
Honshu is the same island in which the real life region of Kanto is located (inspiration of Pokemon's Kanto region, although Pokemon's Kanto also includes parts of eastern Chubu).
The terms hangoroshi and minagoroshi for ohagi and botamochi are regional terms used in Nagano, located in Chubu of Honshu. In Ishikawa prefecture on Honshu island, Kanazawa makes oiled paper and bamboo umbrellas (wagasa) best-suited for heavy rains, sturdier than those made in Kanto and Johto.
Pokemon teams are often used to convey a character's personality; some similarities are apparent, and others are hidden traits (like giving aloof character a Crobat, which can only evolve with affection suggests a hidden warm and affectionate side).
As for Skarmory…
Skarmory appears sturdy, but is actually hollow and light, a fast flier, and rusts easily in the rain, so it tends to hide away. It's not this strong naturally, its skin becomes this hard because it nests in thorny brambles that scrape and scratch at its chicks' skin until they harden over time, which suits a character who became rougher owing to his environment.
Buson (Attila) is a high-ranking member of the Pokemon mafia, Team Rocket, an organized crime syndicate sprawling two regions. In the Pokemon anime, Team Rocket has never been fully defeated or disbanded, unlike the rest of the villainous teams. Buson is part of something called the Profit Expansion Division, originally, but was sent alongside his partner (Bashou, who acts more like his superior, not that Buson seems to mind at all) to serve under Professor Shiranui (Sebastian) and use a new invention of his to try and capture the Legendary Pokemon Raikou.
It's unclear what sort of work the two did before being called to use the Crystal System, developed by Professor Shiranui (Professor Sebastian) to capture Raikou in the special.
Bashou and Buson are also both skilled with technology; while Bashou works more with computer programs and tracking systems, Buson works with machinery (he's seen operating and performing maintenance on a chicken-walker). Tanuki (the folkloric trickster, shapeshifting animal spirits Buson was created to resemble, more on that in personality below) are said to make good blacksmiths.
Naturally, some kids (Kenta, Marina, and Junichi, later assisted by Minaki/Eusine) repeatedly get in the way, despite Bashou and Buson telling them not to get involved. Buson especially warns that they won’t hold back if they keep interfering. When their mecha is damaged, Bashou and Buson make tactical retreats, repair their mecha, and attempt different methods of weakening and capturing Raikou, at one point successfully capturing Raikou, only for Marina to have snuck onboard and managed to free Raikou mid-air before they could make it back to headquarters…
This gets Marina tied up and beaten (off-screen) by Buson, while Bashou watches. This was after her friends try to call her and get Buson answering instead. Junichi teases Buson, who quickly loses his temper and lashes out by yelling at the boy and breaking Marina’s PokeGear in his hand.
Kenta, Junichi, and Minaki track her down using the signal and face off against the Rockets one last time, rescuing their friend, and Raikou comes back to take revenge on the Rockets for what they did to him and all the other Electric types earlier.
Even when the system’s controls are damaged, Bashou and Buson watch with cool indifference as the emergency program of the system runs automically, draining Raikou’s electrical energy until near-death. Despite their trainers’ qualms, the protagonists’ Pokemon agree to risk their lives, following Minaki’s plan, to save Raikou and perform a point-blank attack. They narrowly escape in time to survive, and Bashou and Buson leave, defeated.
In the introduction of the ninth film, we briefly see Bashou and Buson again with Professor Shiranui—despite the failure to capture Raikou, it seems Professor Shiranui still holds them in high regard and they successfully (mostly off-screen) capture a Legendary Pokemon for him: Rayquaza, last seen restrained and being subjected to electric shocks in his laboratory, while Bashou & Buson observe...
Dub-only: this special had a lot of dialogue changes and additions, including references to a backstory that aren’t present in the original, likely meant to either make Attila more sympathetic or take the edge off his more frightening scenes; Buson originally advances on a terrified Marina while telling her to “Hold still for a while…”/"Let's see if I can get you to be still/quiet/obedient for a while..." before it fades to black. In the dub, he tells her he used to collect Caterpie as a boy and calls them “sweet creatures” because Vincent yelled he'll crush him like a Charizard could crush a Caterpie and Attila... disapproves of Vincent making fun of them??? Okay, then.
There’s also a scene where he talks about being a wrangler and likens capturing all of those Electric type Pokemon to a corral. He also talks about his uncle's ranch in the Black Hills (we're still in Johto, one of the Japan-based regions, though!). Lots of rodeo lines and even a "yippee-ki-yay"—he has no such backstory in the original.
Personality:
Buson is impulsive, straight-forward, arrogant, loud, crass, and violent when angered, yet also the more laidback and playful partner of the team he forms with Bashou. While he is doubtlessly the most physically imposing of the two, he tends to defer to his partner and eagerly follows orders without complaint, beyond friendly teasing if Bashou is being too serious (which he always is, according to Buson.)
Bashou and Buson (Hun and Attila, respectively) were designed with a kitsune and tanuki in mind, two trickster, shapeshifter spirits from Japanese folklore, that are often contrasted and bitter enemies, but are also sometimes depicted as friendly duos in modern times. Bashou has the more beautiful andrognyous appearance and sharp eyes characteristic of a folkloric fox [kitsune], as well as their air of refinement, whereas Buson is bulkier with spiky blonde hair and dark sunglasses (to mimic a raccoon-dog’s black-ringed eyes), as well as the more playful and crude mannerisms associated with the folkloric raccoon-dog [tanuki], pleasure-seeking lovers of wine and women.
Contrary to the androgynous appearance and polite/formal language, Bashou has the deeper voice and the cool and level-headed manner. For all his manly speech and imposing size, Buson is the one who is prone to emotional outbursts and is a very easy read. While Buson's a lot more laidback compared to Bashou, his pride is a weak point too... insulting him can easily get him to lose his temper and he seems to be quite insecure, as well. Being called very childish and mild insults by a kid (stupid and ugly, basically) got him to scream into a communicator and then crush it in his own hand.
Buson's also a bit sexist and calls the young girl he's holding hostage "ugly" as an insult. Seriously, Marina frees Raikou and damages the airship and Buson chooses to attack her looks. ^^; He also calls the boys ugly/eyesores too and given how mad he gets at being called ugly... it sounds like he's projecting his insecurities a bit.
Despite Buson being more violent and quick to anger, Bashou seems to enjoy violence much more. Buson menaces people and will beat up even children, but doesn't seem ecstastic about violence like Bashou is. He approaches it more like a job. He even tries, initially, to encourage the kids to escape and not get involved unnecessarily. He doesn't want to hurt them if it's unnecessary... but if it is, well, business is business. He doesn't seem to hate it either, grinning menacingly when he advances on Marina, but the rest of the time, he's just trying to get things done or escape harm—he doesn't want to watch his enemies suffer. He doesn't ever smile when he's giving orders that are intended to kill, unlike Bashou, who smiles the most then, even grinning with excitement.
From their first scene, it’s quickly clear who leads, as Bashou speaks for himself and his partner… it’s also plain to see how Bashou hardly expresses emotion on his face, while Buson reacts with wide-eyed surprise, leans forward to watch, and audibly gasps at the Crystal System’s power.
Buson tends to say whatever comes to mind, even if it’s rude or makes him sound stupid. He isn’t necessarily unintelligent—he’s a skilled mechanic and repairs all their damaged machinery—he’s just impulsive and doesn’t think things through before he says them. He can also be sarcastic and crack jokes, jeering and taunting his enemies, but he’s also astute to be able to read Bashou and work perfectly in sync with him.
Buson acts brashly when angered and tends to take his anger out physically, on people or things around him, as he did when he shoved Marina to the floor or crushed the PokeGear.
He doesn’t see weakening Pokemon by way of machines as any different to weakening them in battle. He considers himself not much different from a Pokemon trainer in that regard, so there’s certainly a degree of him trying to justify the things he does, both to himself and others, but appeals to emotion don’t work on him; Kenta tries and fails to invoke any empathy in Buson or his partner for Raikou’s sake, as he’s already accepted that he does things that are wrong or cruel. It’s not news and he doesn’t care.
He doesn’t see the point in trying to help a Pokemon that has already rejected humanity and doesn’t see it as his duty to change its mind about people. He doesn’t seem to mind being compared to the power-hungry people who made Raikou this way either, even if he doesn’t think it’s wrong to want to be strong.
Bashou even goes on to say Pokemon are mere animals that exist to serve humans, but all Buson really says is that his desire to capture strong Pokemon is no different from a Pokemon trainer’s. He doesn’t disagree with his partner, but seeing Pokemon as tools is common for Rockets, even if some treat their own Pokemon well or as if they’re exceptions to the rule.
Strength and bravery are qualities Buson admires, even in his enemies, and he’ll tell them as much! He can acknowledge good traits even in enemies and understand them a bit more than his partner, but this doesn’t really stop him from doing his job.
That said, perhaps due to Buson’s earlier insistence on trying to get the kids to run away, the dub further softens his character by having his dub counterpart be defensive of Caterpie and claiming he collected and raised them as a child. Buson would seem the kinder half of this team, but only by a margin. There isn’t much room for kindness in a high-ranking Rocket, unless it’s to his own.
They’re named after Attila the Hun in the dub and in the Japanese version, after Edo era poets Yosa Buson and his inspiration, Matsuo Bashou. Buson idolized Bashou, literally retracing his footsteps in travel memoir.
“Indeed, the love and admiration that Buson held for Bashō are etched into history based on literally following in his footsteps. Bashō had written in the wilds of Northern Honshu and wrote a valuable travel diary that meant a great deal to Buson. Hence, Buson traveled a similar journey based on Bashō’s diary, titled Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Interior).”[Source]
Buson follows Bashou’s lead and is named after a poet who admired Bashou’s namesake so much he chose his pen-name to match his; Buson clearly respects and trusts Bashou, although they’re also close enough that they can tease each other good-naturedly.
Pokemon are said to grow to resemble their trainers; both Bashou and Buson train Steel type Pokemon (the bird-like Airmad/Skarmory for Buson and the snake-like Haganeil/Steelix for Bashou), primarily, while Buson also trains the Poison type Betobeton/Muk. Poison types are common for members of Team Rocket. Buson and Bashou are close enough that Buson’s Pokemon obey Bashou’s commands…
Bashou and Buson do initially underestimate the kids and Buson especially tries to get them to leave, so it does seem that Buson isn’t out to be cruel for the sake of it. He’s only violent when he’s insulted or pushed enough to wear his (admittedly short) patience. He certainly isn’t above hurting kids and he isn’t mature or level-headed enough not to lose his temper with them.
Buson gives Kenta the condescending nickname “Hero Boy” for interfering with the Raikou mission (after initially calling him the “brat with the hero complex.”) He also calls Marina an "ugly brat," but loses his temper when Junichi calls him ugly and stupid… even though he basically started it.
Bonus material: on Bashou and Buson’s character designs, it’s noted they’re designed with the image of a kitsune (fox) and tanuki (raccoon-dog) respectively, two animals which are shapeshifting trickster spirits in Japanese mythology. They are often bitter enemies, but sometimes portrayed as working in a team together too. They are opposites, with kitsune being proud, graceful, dignified, often beautifully androgynous, and highly intelligent, while tanuki are humble, jovial, carefree, messy, and pleasure-seeking. Tanuki also tend to be quite straight-forward and eager to please, which fits Buson's open-book of a personality too and how loyally he follows Bashou's orders, but also how easily he's provoked by children. (Reminded of the tale where a traveller sees a tree branch [actually a transformed tanui] and comments on how it seemed to be on the opposite side when he first passed that tree... the tanuki transforms and brings the branch out the other side. The traveller then says, actually, wasn't it two branches? The poor tanuki falls for the trick by trying to make two separate branches... using his arms, and falls from the tree. They're a bit honest and unassuming like that, even when mischievous or evil.
Headcanons: Given Buson being used to intimidating and torturing people (while Bashou's content to watch), I'd imagine their usual work in the Profit Expansion Division, before being called to help Professor Shiranui's research, is likely extortion, racketeering, and blackmail for financial gain.
Buson’s (very relative) kindness towards kids and those weaker than him (further exaggerated in the dub), makes him closer to the idealized movie mobster/yakuza with a sense of honour… although he’s still a cruel and terrible man who would even beat children and even attempted to kill them after his earlier attempts to warn them against interfering and urge them to run away failed. Buson has some qualities more typical of heroic characters (he's unfalteringly loyal to Bashou and he's, for the most part, honest on a personal level, even if his work isn't), but he's still a hardened criminal and murderer, who even was prepared to murder children... he retains just enough of a conscience to feel bad about what he does and try to avoid it unnecessary killing, but he'll still follow Bashou's lead and fall in line; he yields to authority and behaves much like a soldier (and dresses partly like one, too, in terms of what he's added to his uniform).. He certainly does seem to be the sort who is in Team Rocket for a sense of belonging and a cause to fight for and doesn’t necessarily think of himself as wholly evil or even that different from a Pokemon trainer, as he says in canon. He knows he’s a bad man who’s done some terrible things, but justifies a lot of what he does as just doing his job and believes his means are simply more efficient than battling Pokemon.
A lot of Rocket members have this mindset towards Pokemon, viewing them as tools or simple-minded beasts, which is probably how Butch and Cassidy in TR didn’t mind putting contraptions on their Pokemon that affected their minds to place them in constantly enraged states to boost their attacks. I don’t believe Attila would hit his own Pokemon or treat them cruelly, but I definitely don’t believe he’d see them as anywhere near human intelligence. He probably treats it like a combination weapon and kind of dumb animal that knows some cool tricks. Kind of like a kid who wasn’t taught how to handle animals respectfully and doesn’t care to pay close attention to their personalities or fulfil more than basic needs (think of miserable birds that are never let out of cramped cages without toys. Bare minimum needs met.)
Buson doesn’t romanticize the trainer-Pokemon bond. Humans are just using Pokemon and Pokemon are just sticking around for the food and such.
Buson doesn’t believe you can get anything for nothing. He expects a price for everything. He is wary of being indebted to anyone and seeks to clear debts as soon as possible.
He’ll return favours whenever he can. He doesn’t feel comfortable being indebted to others in any way.
Buson came from poverty, the son of aging, poor but honest, parents, who worked hard all their lives but were always barely making ends meet, and he originally sought work to feed his family. He tried various other jobs that didn’t work out (just as Jessie did…), until he found himself in Team Rocket and successful, but by that point, it would be too dangerous for him to ever go back and meet them. He continued to support them financially from afar without letting them know the nature of his work, until their deaths. Now, Team Rocket is his only family.
Buson's poet namesake was born in Osaka (Goldenrod City of Johto's inspiration), but travelled later to Honshu, following poet Bashou's footsteps, settling down in Kyoto (Ecruteak City of Johto's inspiration!)... as for this Buson, he was born in between Kanto and Johto
Honshu is the same island in which the real life region of Kanto is located (inspiration of Pokemon's Kanto region, although Pokemon's Kanto also includes parts of eastern Chubu).
The terms hangoroshi and minagoroshi for ohagi and botamochi are regional terms used in Nagano, located in Chubu of Honshu. In Ishikawa prefecture on Honshu island, Kanazawa makes oiled paper and bamboo umbrellas (wagasa) best-suited for heavy rains, sturdier than those made in Kanto and Johto.
Pokemon teams are often used to convey a character's personality; some similarities are apparent, and others are hidden traits (like giving aloof character a Crobat, which can only evolve with affection suggests a hidden warm and affectionate side).
As for Skarmory…
“Its sturdy wings look heavy, but they are actually hollow and light, allowing it to fly freely in the sky. ”
“After nesting in bramble bushes, the wings of its chicks grow hard from scratches by thorns. ”
Their presently tough state is brought about by their (literally) harsh and rough upbringing, but they also remain a bit more sensitive than one would assume by their appearance.
As for Muk...
“Smells so awful, it can cause fainting. Through degeneration, it lost its sense of smell.”
“Thickly covered with a filthy, vile sludge. It is so toxic, even its footprints contain poison.”
Muk is a Poison type, pretty standard for a Rocket, but even it is also desensitized by its constant exposure to toxic trash and has lost its sense of smell.
All of that seems to fit with Buson being desensitized to violence and murder and all that’s common in his criminal environment. He wears it, it colours him, seeps out of him, affecting those around him… but it’s all running contrary to his inherent nature.
Both Muk and Skarmory are only what they are because of their environment. They're desensitized, like Attila is to the violence and murder he can be expected to carry out, but doesn't enjoy. Muk was born of pollution and through constant exposure to toxins and trash, lost its sense of smell, but it's still coloured by the trash it consumes, it seeps from it so much that even its footsteps are poisonous...Skarmory appears sturdy, but is actually hollow and light, a fast flier, and rusts easily in the rain, so it tends to hide away. It's not this strong naturally, its skin becomes this hard because it nests in thorny brambles that scrape and scratch at its chicks' skin until they harden over time, which suits a character who became rougher owing to his environment.
