Character Profile: Detective Shunsaku Ban

Shunsaku Ban is a rather short Japanese detective working under a contract for various animal rights organizations and also the Japanese government to capture Dr. Laughton. He finds himself in Metropolis looking for the elusive doctor, bringing Ken-Ichi along for the ride.

The movie opens with him attempting to find and arrest Laughton, but since the city is having a celebration week, the local police are to busy to help him out in any way. They are only able to assign him an Android detective to assist him in getting around the massive multi-level city. He changes his investigation after Laughton dies in a fire in his lab, feeling that he owes the people who hired him an explanation as to why the person they wanted to bring to justice was killed. This involves him losing track of Ken-Ichi and also trying to find him as well.

He appears to be more of a old fashioned detective, wearing the typical get-up and always looking at things in a second light to try to get at problems from a different angle. He is somewhat old though, as is evident when he has to run around and usually stops afterwards for a while to catch his breath, taking quite a while to do so. He does have an air of a caring guardian, as is found when he is taking care of Tima.

Side notes: He has an awful habit of tasting food without paying. He also admits to having a like for old sayings.