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Upa (ウパ Upa) is an inmate in Nanba Prison.
Appearance
Upa is a short, childish looking man with pale white skin, teal colored hair and nails, and impassive gray eyes. He has red angular spirals on his cheeks, arms and legs as a pattern as well as a large scar across his abdomen[1].
He wears traditional Chinese cap with the yellow card hanging down from the middle and, similar to Liang's, dark blue jumpsuit, but with short sleeves.
Upa character design is strikingly similar to that of a jiangshi (a Chinese vampire). These beings typically have blue-ish white skin and are corpses reanimated using a piece of parchment attached to the being's head. However, Upa's parchment is provided by Nanba Prison as a means to restrict his chi usage. As he is a powerful qigong master, they must be replaced often to remain effective.
Personality
Upa often looks calm and serious and doesn't show much emotions. He is proud to be a gifted master of qigong, and sets his goals above anything else. Upa is self-confident and will not concede to anyone.
When Upa failed to do something (for instance to win a toy from a vending machine), he abruptly becomes furious and gets incredibly angry so he can destroy everything around him. He hates to lose and will do everything to win.
Upa doesn't like lazy and frivolous people. They only irritate him and he doesn't consider them as worthy allies or rivals. Upa is harsh and forthright with them, can frankly insult. For example Qi, despite being his cellmate, is very often gets called "useless", "scum" or "trash".
Background
Upa was kidnapped by Hachiman's mafia and had his organs taken to be sold on the black market. It was revealed that Qi donated some of his organs to Upa.
Upa often goes to Qi for medicine, due to Upa often over-working and placing a lot of stress on his body. He chided Upa for overdoing it, but Upa told him to not bother about his health. Upa was also the one who told Qi about Liang's past. He also mentioned how Hachiman never keeps his promises and how Liang chose to follow the wrong person.
Before being imprisoned in Nanba Prison, Upa was in a prison in China which is where he met Samon Gokuu for the first time. Samon then passed Upa a present he had received from his family, shocking him who had initially presumed that his family were told that he was dead. Samon then told Upa that he was the one who told his family the truth, that it is not wrong to tell someone that Upa was alive, and that he just wanted to clarify things before leaving, telling Upa not to cause any more trouble. Due to this, Upa came to admire him.
Upa calls himself a gifted master of the martial art called, "Qigong". He said that he was searching for decent and talented disciple which he would teach. But because of his imprisonment, he can only wait for the opportunity to meet his future student in jail.
Plot
The New Year's Tournament Arc
Building 5 Arc
Trivia
- His inmate number is written on the talisman on his forehead.
- His likes are yogurt, anman, and talent.
- His dislikes are slovenly people and deep fried foods.
- His hobbies include morning tai chi and stamp collecting.
- Upa's name is in reference to the form of yoga called Isha upa yoga. Alternatively his name could be in reference to the Buddhist monk, Upagupta.
- Upa's name is taken from the Chinese word "Ba" which means "8", like his cell number.
References
- ↑ Nanbaka Anime, Episode 20