| 前田慶次 Keiji Maeda | |
| |
| 4-Kanji Description: | 絢麗豪壮 |
| 4-Kanji Translation: | Graceful Magnificence Vagabond (Samurai Heroes) |
| Weapon: | Giant nodachi |
| Element: | Wind |
| Faction: | Maeda Uesugi Kyoto Group |
| Series Debut: | Sengoku Basara 2 |
| Playable Debut: | Sengoku Basara 2 |
| Games: | Sengoku Basara 2 Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes Sengoku Basara X Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes Sengoku Basara 3 Sengoku Basara Chronicle Heroes Sengoku Basara 3 Utage Sengoku Basara 4 Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi Sengoku Basara Legend of Yukimura Sanada Sengoku Basara Battle Party |
| Anime: | Sengoku Basara Samurai Kings Sengoku Basara Samurai Kings 2 Sengoku Basara The Last Party Sengoku Basara Judge End Gakuen Basara |
| Seiyuu: | Masakazu Morita |
| Voice Actor: | Matthew Mercer (Samurai Heroes) Eric Vale (Samurai Kings/2/The Last Party/Judge End) |
| Television Actor: | - |
| Stage Actor: | Tatsuya Isaka |
| Character Theme: | Keiji Maeda's Theme (Chamy.Ishi/Chamy.Ishi & Masahiro Aoki) |
Keiji Maeda is a character first introduced in Sengoku Basara 2. He is Toshiie Maeda and Matsu's adopted nephew, and occasionally fights with them. He has a mysterious history with Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Hanbei Takenaka, which was touched on in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes.
Description[]
Keiji is what people call a happy-go-lucky man. He enjoys festivals as well as pulling pranks on Toshiie and others. Despite his demeanour towards his adopted family, he loves them, though he sometimes shows resentment towards them due to their objections to his lifestyle. Accompanying him is a small monkey named Yumekichi. He receives a three-stage gaiden in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes, where he used to be friends with Toyotomi Hideyoshi but loses him due to Hideyoshi's lust for power.
Role in Games[]
Sengoku Basara 2[]
In his story mode, Keiji hated being restrained and led a very carefree life in the capital city. But when he decided to leave the capital to travel around the country, his uncle Toshiie and his wife Matsu stood in his way and decided to bring him back home. In the first stage, Keiji keeps running away from both of them. Toshiie asks if Keiji has no intention to return home, to which Keiji replies by saying no, so he decides to fight against his nephew to bring him back. After defeating Toshiie, Keiji fights Matsu, even though he doesn’t want to face her. Keiji ends up defeating her, making Matsu feel dizzy after her defeat. Toshiie runs to help his wife, while Keiji runs away comically.
After fleeing from the capital, Keiji wandered aimlessly through the land until he decided to go to Hasedo Castle to pay a visit to the famous Masamune Date and challenge him to a fight. During his fight with Kojuro, Keiji says he is a determined man, one who would protect his lord till the end, and he wouldn't be bad with the ladies either. During his fight with Masamune, Keiji asks Masamune if he already has a girl he likes, almost tells him his past, and asks if he should cover his right eye to be fair against Masamune, which annoys him greatly.
Sengoku Basara 3[]
After the death of his former friend Hideyoshi, Keiji joins the ranks of the Uesugi army under his good friend Kenshin. In his default path, Kenshin asks him to run an errand to deliver a message to Magoichi Saika, telling him to stop by the Maeda's on the way there. Upon meeting Magoichi, Keiji falls in love with her at first sight, and the remainder of his path is devoted to following her and attempting to protect the woman, much to her ire. Like Magoichi's path, this means that the player and Keiji will join either the Eastern Army or the Western Army. Depending on the player's choices and the paths they follow, in the end, Keiji can return to the Uesugi, return to the Maeda, or join Magoichi and the Saika.
Keiji's story is unlocked by finishing the first story of Masamune Date. Additionally, he can be unlocked an ally when the player defeats him (and the Uesugi) as Magoichi. As an ally, he has a special ability: Damageproof, which reduce damage taken from enemies up to 20%. Pressing the Select button will cause him to dance and say "Anta mo odotte, odotte!"
Sengoku Basara 4[]
Keiji's taken up Toshiie's position and is now the head of the Kaga clan and the commander of the Maeda Army. While he's still a free-spirited man at heart, he's begun to gain a sense of awareness of being head of his clan. He's also begun to harbor doubts about his responsibility of carrying the land of Kaga on his shoulders, and opposes the turbulent era that was brought about by Yoshiteru's 'restoration of power to the heavens'. Despite this, as an ex-vagabond he can't deny the enthusiasm brought about by this change.
Before the events of the game, Keiji meets Sakon - then known as Kiyooki, who is similar to him in many ways, and has a gamble with him that eventually escalates into a friendly but full-blown fight. Keiji goes onto lecture him about how he shouldn't be wasting his talents when the country is in such a tumultuous state (mirroring how Matsu lectured him during his days as a vagabond), which is a message that sticks with Kiyouki up until he meets Mitsunari and changes his name to Sakon.
In his drama route, Keiji decides to settle his dark past with Hideyoshi once and for all. But before doing so he encounters Kasuga, who delivers a request from Kenshin to meet up with the emperor Yoshiteru, but not stating why. He heads to Osaka where he once again meets Sakon and is happy to see that he's gotten a job now, albeit one for those he has a troubled history with. Eventually he runs into Hanbei, who slaps him and reminds him that no matter how much he tries to change, he didn't walk alongside Hideyoshi on his path from the very beginning. Keiji reveals that deep down he was jealous of Hanbei for replacing him as Hideyoshi's close friend, but was grateful to him for staying by his side. After defeating him, he finds his way to Hideyoshi and tries to accept Hideyoshi's way of life in a last-ditch attempt to make amends with him. However, Hideyoshi berates him for throwing his hate for him away and trying to acknowledge him as being correct when he swore to never do so. Despite Keiji's attempts not to fight with him, he eventually defeats him. Hideyoshi tells Keiji, who is now in tears, that no matter what changes between them they can never go back to being friends, and that he doesn't regret killing Nene and allowing him and Keiji to distance themselves from each other - he believes they were both in the right. Keiji desperately tries to call out to him as he walks away, but he never turns back.
After coming to terms with losing Hideyoshi, Keiji heads to the Remains of Ounin to meet the emperor. Keiji quickly catches on to Yoshiteru's tendency to call apparent enemies 'friends', which confuses him. After catching up with Kenshin, Keiji finds Yoshiteru, who says that his heart seems clouded. Keiji asks back why Yoshiteru sounds so sad when he says 'friend', before telling him that he understands how he feels as he himself recently lost a friend in Hideyoshi. Yoshiteru, finding someone who he can relate to, has a fight with him, which eventually leads to Keiji disarming him and telling him that he once had a brawl with Hideyoshi that was like the fight they're having now. Yoshiteru asks Keiji if he could also accompany him before running in weaponless - Keiji throws his sword in the air and takes his punch, coming to the decision that he would never again divert his eyes away from his friends, much to Yoshiteru's shock. Not long afterwards, Keiji's sword lands on both their heads, leaving them in pain but making them burst out laughing. Yoshiteru realizes that he's made his first friend and decides to come with Keiji to form new bonds.
Weapon[]
His base weapon is a ludicrously oversized nodachi. Despite its length, he can use it one-handed. He also uses its sheath, but rather than carry it around he throws it in to the sky, having it come down just when he needs to use it.
| Weapon | Information |
事始斯如
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Maeda Keiji's starting weapon
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信道斯如
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色恋斯如
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早波震如
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登龙斯如
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舞风粹如
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天运转如
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豪炎轰如
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Maeda Keiji's ultimate weapon
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Skills[]
- Koi no Kakehiki
- 恋のかけひき (Love Bargain) flourishes sword about, taking down enemies.
- Toromeku Ichidai
- 惚めく一代 (Admiring Generation) cancels attacks and movements. Cancelled attack determines what can be performed after.
- Yumegokochi
- Keiji takes a nap to slowly recover health.
- Koibumi Okuri
- 恋文送り (Sending Love Letter) calls his monkey Yumekichi to bring a random item. The item could be beneficial or harmful.
Historical information[]
Keiji Maeda
Keiji Maeda (前田慶次) or Keijirō (慶次郎, 1543 – June 4, 1612) was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku Period through early Edo Period. Toshimasu was born to the Takigawa Clan of Owari, originally the son of Kazumasu Takigawa. He was adopted by Toshihisa Maeda, the older brother of Toshiie Maeda. He served under Nobunaga Oda along with his uncle. Toshimasu was originally intended to inherit Maeda family headship; however, after Nobunaga replaced Toshihisa with Toshiie as Maeda family head, he lost this position. Perhaps because of this loss of inheritance, Toshimasu is well known for not getting along with his uncle.
While in Kyoto, Toshimasu met and befriended Naoe Kanetsugu, Kagekatsu Uesugi's karō. The two became close friends. Consequently, Toshimasu agreed to join Kanetsugu in the Uesugi clan's invasion of Aizu. During the retreat from the failed invasion, Keiji was given the task of leading the rear guard. Riding his horse Matsukaze into battle and brandishing a two-pronged spear, he made a splendid show of force. Due in part to Toshimasu's actions, the Uesugi forces were able to retreat largely intact.
After this, Toshimasu returned to the capital and devoted himself to arts and literature. Keiji was barred from Toyotomi’s Kyushu campaign for his wild ways. When the Tokugawa challenged the Uesugi in 1600, he once again fought with Uesugi’s army. In the battle against the Mogami, he broke through the enemy lines with only eight riders, and shattered their formation. After the Uesugi clan's move to the Yonezawa Domain, Toshimasu remained with them, serving as a retainer. Maeda died in 1612 at age 69.
Keiji's armor can still be seen today at the Miyasaka Museum.
Gallery[]
How to Unlock[]
| Game | How to Unlock | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sengoku Basara 2 | Unlocked by Default | - |
| Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes | Unlocked by Default | - |
| Sengoku Basara X | Unlocked by Default | - |
| Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes | Unlocked by Default | - |
| Sengoku Basara 3 | Clear the game with Masamune | - |
| Sengoku Basara Chronicle Heroes | Unlocked by Default | - |
| Sengoku Basara 3 Utage | Unlocked by Default | - |
| Sengoku Basara 4 | Unlocked by Default | - |
| Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi | Unlocked by Default | - |
| Sengoku Basara Legend of Yukimura Sanada | Complete Story Mode | - |
