agato is… an interesting character. It’s difficult to pinpoint where his loyalty lies. At first he is an enemy, but then turns into an ally. He’s like a spitting image of Grima Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings, except without the ally part.
When we first meet Magato, it seems that he knows Fuyumine well. It is established later on that he is a student of him. Naoto obviously holds some distrust with him, which maybe fueled because of his relation to Fuyumine (who she believes to be her parents' murderer). There are also some serious hints that he has some kind of affection or admiration for Naoto. When she's training, he is seen a distance away, watching her every move with a smile on his face. He even goes as far, later on, to attempt to harass her. It’s only because Fuyumine showed up that he stopped his advances on her at that moment.
Days later after his attempt, Magato slays Fuyumine. Naoto, who had begun to warm up to him, is outraged and the two are engaged in a heated battle. At the end, Naoto is the winner, leaving Magato seriously wounded. Before he leaves, however, he gives Naoto important information about the one who killed her parents. He reveals that it was not Fuyumine and, instead, it’s one who shares the same name as she does. He also tells her that she can be found “down below.” Naoto then asks, “Why?” knowing very well that both Magato and Fuyumine knew about this information. Magato smiles at her.
“I told you, didn’t I? Revenge is a waste of a life’s work.”
The beauty of this is the irony of it. Magato has seemingly devoted his life to defeat Fuyumine, which he has now accomplished. Magato is a reflection that Naoto may become if she still keeps wallowing in her vengeful state. He even admits it to himself that he wishes he can turn back time to the past so that the present is no longer stolen from him. Of course, he adds quickly that he doesn’t like to “force my ideas on you.” It is then clear to her and to the reader: Magato cares about Naoto very much. Magato also says to Naoto that Fuyumine wanted to live with “that” as her aim and that his sword now belongs to her.
“The blade… is for you.”
As he walks away, Naoto asks him where he will go, caring about his well-being in return. He looks at her.
“We each have to decide… Where we will die for our selves. If fate is with us we will meet again, Naoto.”
He then leaves the scene. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Alas, Magato’s story does not end just yet. In Bullets & Carnage, he makes a return with a surprising fact: his surname being Fuyumine, giving the intimation that he is related to the man he murdered in the previous volume. Interestingly enough, he is at gunpoint with a gang of thugs for taking his orders and blowing it out of proportion. Instead of killing the specific men he was hired to kill, he ended up killing everyone including the bodyguards… and a dog.
Magato says that the “damn dog made me [Magato] do it,” simply because it reminded him of someone. In the next panel flashes an image of Naoto, making the “someone” rather obvious. Clearly Magato still thinks about her although the two of them are apart and is seemingly ecstatic once hearing from Herbst that she is “treasure hunting” around this area.
Magato
