Saburōta Bandō

is a member of HOMRA, as well as a childhood friend of one of their newer members, Shōhei Akagi.

Appearance
Bandō is a young man of average height with black hair and black eyes. He wears a pair of large, dark sunglasses that obscure his eyes. Bandō also wears a black baseball cap with pins attached over his head.

He wears a purple undershirt beneath a long-sleeved, buttoned white shirt with a hood. His hood shadows over his baseball cap. Over both shirts, Bandō wears a black leather jacket. He also wears white pants with a single line running through them, as well as black shoes.

Personality
Bandō is generally a quiet individual who possesses slight arrogance, possessing a lot of self-pride and confidence. However, he has a strong heart for companionship. Bandō has strong faith in his comrades and makes it important to remember the friendships he has, believing them to be more than just "additions" to any sort of benefit he has. When a dangerous situation arrives, Bandō does not hesitate to save his friends, whether they're drowning or about to be killed by dangerous drug dealers.

He is very dedicated to HOMRA and its members, showing strong loyalty towards their King, Mikoto Suoh. Bandō also genuinely cares for his fellow members, old or new.

History
Since his kindergarten days, Bandō had been friends with Shōhei Akagi. At one point, Bandō developed a crush on a girl named Saya, who instead liked and even kissed Shōhei, something he was never fond of. Furthermore, as he grew older, while Shōhei would become more popular and skilled in many talents, such as sports, Bandō was always inferior and less well-known, another thing he resented his friend for. However, even so Bandō would eventually save Shōhei from drowning in a river, something the latter admired him for.

One day, a young man walked into the HOMRA headquarters in hopes of becoming an official member. Bandō recognizes the person as Shōhei, and vice-verse. Shōhei exclaimed to the others that they were childhood friends, though Bandō immediately denied it. He angrily stated that he does not approve of letting Shōhei join and asked why he even intended to, only to be told an answer which he claimed to be shallow. Even so, Bandō did accompany Shōhei and Totsuka to Mikoto's room, where, despite his attempts to prevent the act, Shōhei was accepted into HOMRA.

Although disappointed that he was accepted anyhow, Bandō did not change his behavior toward Shōhei. He proclaimed himself to be the senior and thus, superior to Shōhei. Bandō would regularly give lectures about general facts within HOMRA but eventually went on to nag Shōhei about more trivial matters, such as his cleaning. This annoyed Yata to the point where he began beating up Bandō for his constant nagging.

One rainy day, when Shōhei was out, Bandō got drunk and started rambling more so about Shōhei. Fed up, Yata finally asked what his issue was with Shōhei, though Bandō wouldn't speak; also annoyed, Izumo beat Bandō, and had him explain anyway. Several hours later, and some more drinks, Bandō would reveal that since his childhood, Shōhei had always been better than him in almost everything, even stealing his then-crush. Izumo told him that his annoyance with him was purely one-sided and Yata even stated that regardless, his reasons were purely insignificant, something Anna agreed to.

Later that day, Bandō rested on a street bench, where he was eventually found and accompanied by Totsuka. Bandō revealed that the main reason why he was annoyed with Shōhei was because of his genuine sincerity, doing anything for people who needed help, regardless of what it was. He added that Shōhei's open-minded personality also irritated him, especially the fact that he was still considered an equal in the latter's mind, despite their many differences. Then, Totsuka said that his own junior "may" be facing trouble at the moment, immediately drawing Bandō's attention. Totsuka explained that Shōhei was out to fight the Rakshasa, a drug dealing gang, because his friend was in danger. Hearing this, Bandō immediately started running after Shōhei.

By the time the rain subsided, Bandō caught up to Shōhei, who was near a warehouse with members of the Rakshasa inside. He ran up to and punched Shōhei, angrily yelling at him for not saying his true intentions to anyone in their Clan, who were his "comrades". Bandō asked, albeit rhetorically, if their friends were just additions to his new power, adding that he will fight with Shōhei to defend HOMRA's name; Bandō's argument was that he was Shōhei's senior.

They enter the warehouse and slowly began to take out each of the Rakshasa members inside. In the midst of the fight, Bandō warned Shōhei not to lose control while using his powers, though they continued shortly after. Eventually, they entered a room where Shōhei's friend was kept as a gagged and restricted hostage. Unaware of what to do, they left themselves vulnerable, and are ultimately beaten and left for dead.

Lying on the ground, Shōhei apologized for dragging Bandō into their little mess. Bandō shouted at him and began his scolding, but one of the Rakshasa kicks him, silencing him. The same person then attempted to kill Shōhei but Bandō blocked the attacker, getting hit instead. Before collapsing and passing out, he told Shōhei that he was no longer alone, just before the rest of HOMRA arrived to take out Rakshasa.

After the battles had ended, Bandō was bandaged up. After awakening, he was scolded by Izumo, and afterwards returned to the street bench from before. He was later joined by Shōhei. Shōhei apologized again for the mess he caused though Bandō stated that the whole HOMRA group, not just him, saved the former. Nonetheless, Shōhei still thanked him for saving him, pleasing Bandō enough for him to smile.

Things began settling down for Bandō. One day, Bandō was out playing baseball with the others in HOMRA. When Chitose went up and batted, his ball shot straight towards a woman walking nearby, worrying Bandō. Two months later, Kōsuke brought back a young man on the street back to headquarters named Eric Sutr. Bandō once teased Yata after a spat between him and Eric, which resulted in an annoyed Yata proceeding to beat Bandō, who was taken aback.

A few months later, Bandō was being harassed again by Yata after the incident with the horse Strain, though afterwards he began to mess around with his other Clansmen. It wasn't long until they were informed by Izumo that the horse Strain fled from Kōsuke, Kamamoto and Eric with Anna still riding on its back. Bandō immediately darted out from the building to go search for her.

Later, when Yata, Kamamoto, and he caught up to Basashi, Bandō stood in front of the horse, telling it that it would have to fight him to get past. Basashi kicked him in the face, knocking Bandō to the ground, and galloped past. Yata seemed concerned and Kamamoto praised Bandō for not being insignificant just then.

During the month of September, Totsuka decided to attempt skateboarding. Bandō was there to watch him unsuccessfully attempt some of Yata's trick moves, laughing all the while.

A year and a half later, Bandō joins his Clansmen as they watch old footage recorded by Totsuka. Once they are all done watching the videos, he joins the others as they leave to complete a new mission.

Plot
HOMRA launches an "investigation" into one of the gang leaders in the city, who currently resides in a hotel suite; planning to extract information from him regarding an attack on one of their own members. Bandō is placed in Izumo's team, where they break into the building from the inside. They are successful in their mission, allowing Yata to fulfill his, and afterwards they wait inside for Mikoto and Anna. Once the two appear, Anna does her mind-reading on the gang leader but cannot find any valued information from him; disappointed, Bandō and the others leave.

While on their way towards the lobby, they are confronted by SCEPTER 4, and soon after they engage in combat. However, the results of the fight leave Mikoto arrested and jailed, while Bandō and the others are safe. It is not long until Shōhei discovers a male teenager who appears to be their main target, and alerts the rest of HOMRA. Bandō is among those who leave in pursuit of the white-haired male.

Following the brief fight between Yata and Kuroh Yatogami, Bandō runs towards Yata alongside Shōhei, asking him if he's alright.

The next day, Bandō receives information from Izumo about a certain gun dealer's hideout, with the same dealer having one of his pistols be used in Totsuka's murder. Bandō goes out to a warehouse near the city's harbor with Shōhei, Chitose and Masaomi. There, they discover crates loaded with mechanical weapons, and come to the conclusion that they'd found the dealer's actual hideout. Masaomi questions how Izumo could know such information and Bandō explains a possible reason why. Soon after, the four are approached by former member, Saruhiko Fushimi, who they recognize as the "traitor" of HOMRA. Fushimi proceeds to knock them all unconscious, including Bandō.

Bandō would later recover from this attack and join several of his Clansmen to the SCEPTER 4 headquarters. They all discover that Mikoto has broken out of jail and has furthermore pinpointed the location of Totsuka's murderer, specifically on Ashinaka High School. Bandō and the others then make way towards their new destination.

Powers & Abilities
Aura: As a member of HOMRA, Bandō possesses a fire-based Aura imbibing itself in a red color.