Sage of the Halo

Sage Date / Date Seiji

Age	14 (TV series) 16 (Gaiden) 17 (Kikoutei and Message)
Birthday	June 9, 1973
Astrological Sign	Gemini
Birthplace	Miyagi
Height	167 cm/5'5.7" (TV series) 175 cm/5'8.8" (Message)
Weight	58 kg/127 lbs. 14 oz. (TV series) 61 kg/134 lbs. 8 oz. (Message)
Yoroi/Armor	Korin/Halo
Virtue	Rei/Grace/Wisdom
Element	Light
First Appearance	"Target: Metropolitan Tokyo"/"Shadowland"

Sage Date (伊達征士 Date Seiji) is one of the main characters of the series. He is known as Sage of the Halo, or Korin no Seiji.

Sage is voiced by Michael Donovan in the TV series and Matt Smith in the OAV's, Daiki Nakamura in the original Japanese version, and Élcio Sodré in Brazilian Portuguese Version.

Appearance[]

Sage has wild blonde hair and pale purple eyes. During the TV series, he wears a yellow shirt, deep blue-green jacket, tan pants, and brown shoes.

He wears a white dress shirt and tan pants at the end of Gaiden, the only time he's seen in civilian clothes.

In Legend of the Inferno Armor, he wears a light-colored dress shirt with a teal handkerchief tucked into the shirt pocket on the left side of his chest, tan pants, and brown shoes.

In Message, he wears a purple ascot tucked into a yellow dress shirt, a green jacket, light colored pants, and tan shoes.

Sage's Halo armor is green. Usually, his eyes are completely uncovered when he wears his helmet.

Personality[]

Sage is very proper to the point of which he speaks formal Japanese in the original version and is viewed as the most mature of the Ronin's. He absolutely hates lies and evil. He is often completely calm and in control of himself, but, if pushed, he can be driven into a nearly blind rage. His favorite sport is kendo. He enjoys avant garde bonsai, the bamboo flute, anything related to swords, F1 Racing, and cycling. He can't stand talking to girls.

When around the other Ronin's, Sage does act a bit more relaxed and playful but still is very serious about their responsibilities as Ronin Warriors. He is highly observant of things around him and typically does not charge into battle, preferring to first think things through and form a plan of what to do. While he rarely voices it, he often is unsettled about allowing Mia and Yuli to follow the Ronin's as it puts them in great danger; particularly Yuli as the young boy typically rushes into things and gets hurt on occasion.

Biography[]

Family History[]

The Date clan is descended from Date Masamune, a famous general who built a castle in Sendai, which is the capital of Miyagi. He was known as the "One-Eyed Dragon" due to the fact that he only had one eye. It is quite possible that the Date family dojo is located on the outskirts of Sendai.

Early History[]

Even though both of his parents are alive, Sage's grandfather was responsible for his upbringing. He was educated as a Bushi warrior of the Eido period and has taught Sage in the same manner. Sage's mother is an emergency room doctor, and his father is a member of the police force and a kendo practice, but because of the high status of the Date clan, he married into the family. Sage has two sisters. His older sister by five years, Yayoi, teases him greatly and is the reason he has trouble communicating with girls. During the TV series she was a medical school student. She uses formal language like Sage and is said to be a talented kendo practitioner as well. His younger sister by two years, Satsuki, is more laid back than her older siblings. She speaks normally, unlike her older siblings, and doesn't seem to have much interest in kendo.

Sage's health was very fragile when he was very young. His family responded to this by dressing him up as a girl, based on the belief that girls are easier to raise than boys. Sage doesn't remember any of this.

Despite how he acts now, Sage had a rebellious streak as a child. He liked kendo well enough, but he wasn't fond of the etiquette. His grandfather made him study bonsai and the bamboo flute in order to teach him how to control himself. During this period of his life, he once played with the family's sacred sword in the courtyard and accidentally broke one of his grandfather's bonsais. Sage was scared of his grandfather's reaction, but the old man never found out because of the tulip that had been placed there.

When he was in elementary school, all of Sage's friends were terrified of his eyes and would start crying whenever they looked at them. It was Yayoi who came up with the solution for Sage to cover one of his eyes so that his friends wouldn't be so scared anymore. Of course, it was also Yayoi who dressed up her little brother like a toy doll. She even took a picture of him while he had ribbons in his hair.

In junior high school, Sage joined a Kendo club. He was the vice-president in seventh grade and the president in eighth grade. It was during a tournament that an opponent had tried to cheat by throwing something into Sage's eyes but did not fully succeed as his right eye was covered by his hair. In a moment of fury, Sage had knocked off his opponent's mask and was disqualified from the tournament. His grandfather had sent him into the basement as punishment and this is where Sage located The Armor of Halo. He was also cleared of his actions during the tournament when his opponent explained his own behavior.

Plot[]

The War with Talpa[]

Gaiden[]

In the Gaiden arc, Sage is captured by the evil spirit Shikaisen and a mad scientist after he was said to have received a request from a university in New York City to verify the authenticity of a sword with the Date crest. Throughout most of the arc, Sage is held captive in a secret location as his captors manage to gain control of the Halo armor and have it commit several crimes, including murder.

The other Ronin's managed to locate Sage and free him from his imprisonment. Eager for a chance at payback, Sage called forth the Halo armor and managed to put up a decent fight against Shikaisen before the evil spirit managed to capture him and the other Ronin's. When Runa and Yuli caused Shikaisen and the Mad Scientist to be distracted, it was long enough for him and the other Ronin's to break free.

Sage then joins the others in lending Ryo their power to summon the Inferno armor and successfully stop Shikaisen once and for all. Before they depart for Japan, the group returns to New York to pay their respects to Runa.

The Legend of the Inferno[]

Message[]

Armor and Powers[]

The Date's have passed down the story of an armor from generation to generation. In junior high, Sage was challenged by a famous kendo practitioner by the name of Kazamatsuri Shingo. Shingo hadn't been able to attend the spring kendo tournament for Northeast Japan and wanted to challenge the winner. Sage's grandfather forced him to accept the challenge. When it became apparent that he was going to lose, Shingo threw something into Sage's eyes. However, with his right eye covered by his hair, it was unaffected. Angered, Sage committed a breach of etiquette and knocked off Shingo's face protector, as well as causing Shingo to fall unconscious. Sage's grandfather was furious and, as punishment, sent him down to the basement.

No one had seen what Shingo had done, and it wasn't until he woke up that the truth came out. By drawing shame to himself, Sage had saved Shingo, for his actions could have caused him to be banned from kendo forever. In the end, Sage's time in the basement was well spent, for it was here that he found the Armor of Halo.

The Halo Armor, or Korin, draws power from any light source. It comes equipped with a nodachi blade with a shuriken at its hilt (called the Korin Ken) that can be hung on the bearer's back. As a master swordsman, Sage can hold his nodachi with one or two hands. His special attack is "Rai Ko Zan" ("Thunderbolt Cut" in the English dub of the TV series and "Lightning Strike" in the English dub of the OVAs), which can either summon a single ball of light or a slash of light from the blade.

Relationships[]

Ronin Warriors[]

Ryo of the Wildfire: Fiercely devoted to Ryo and will thoughtlessly place himself between Ryo and danger. He seems to be the most perceptive when it comes to Ryo and appears to be the most empathetic to some of Ryo's decisions as the team leader. Sage will often support Ryo however he can.

Rowen of the Strata: Close friends, the two of them are often shown pairing up either in battle or on scouting missions. They are also roommates at Mia's house.

Cye of the Torrent: Sage is shown to have a good friendship with Cye although they are not often shown interacting. They appear to share in thinking things through and being level-headed in difficult situations.

Kento of Hardrock: A friendly but at times bickering relationship, Sage often calls Kento out when he acts foolish and impulsive while Kento would point out when Sage is acting too serious about something. In the end, they do have each other's backs in battles.

Family[]

Father: Sage's relationship with his father is fairly unknown.

Mother: Like his relationship with his father, it is unknown what his relationship with his mother is.

Grandfather: Having been primarily raised and trained in kendo by his grandfather since his childhood, Sage is fairly close to his grandfather.

Yayoi: Sage's older sister. Their relationship appears to be the typical sibling relationship as he is stated to have been teased by her since he was young and is the reason he has trouble talking to girls. However, she was the one who suggested his current hair style so he could make friends as his eyes scared others.

Satsuki: Sage's younger sister. They have an easier relationship than his relationship with Yayoi.

Others[]

Kale: Considered to be Sage's main rival of the Warlords and elemental opposite. Sage is shown to heavily despise many of Kale's tactics and ability to at times overpower his power of light.

Yuli: While he has a good friendship with the young boy, Sage at times is shown to be annoyed by Yuli's antics and unintentional tendencies to put himself or others in harm's way. Regardless of Yuli's excited nature, Sage looks out for him and tries to keep him as safe as possible.

Gallery[]

Sage of the Halo Image Gallery

Trivia[]

Japanese fans were shocked when Sage was seen driving Mia's car when he was fourteen as the driving age in Japan is eighteen. Also, when he was sixteen, he participated in a race car competition and won.

The Halo Armor was initially known as "Kōrin" in Japan. In English, Kōrin name literature is Nimbus. The Halo amor's element is light. The Halo armor's color green.

It is common for most fanfiction writers to portray Sage as being a flirt, due to his being viewed as the "pretty boy" of the Ronin's. He is also viewed as a healer due to having healed Ryo's eyes from the damage caused by Sekhmet's poison.

Sage's English dub voice actor, Michael Donovan, also provides the voice of Cye.
- Although Donovan continued to voice Cye through the remainder of the series, he only voiced Sage during the war against Talpa.

Sage is shown as an instructor at his family's Dojo in Korinden which already suggests he is inordinately skilled in Kendo. In Kendo there are eight dan-ranks, the first dan is often achieved at age 13, while instructors are often at the fifth-dan which would be achieved roughly fifteen years after gaining the first dan.

Sage is a descendant of Masamune Date.

He has type B blood.

As his father performed Mukoyōshi (marrying into the bride's family), Sage's family is believed to be of a high status that had no male heir at the time.

Although Sage's eye color is officially stated to be a light purple color, the anime often shows his eyes to be blue.

Citation[]

Theria.net, Yoroiden Temple