Azusa Glory

Azusa Glory is the current Emperor of Jurai, the husband of Empress Misaki Raregroove, and the father of the adventurous First Prince Zev Raregroove. He is also a shaman whose mastery over spirits is comparable to that of his brother Mikihisa Raregroove, his sister-in-law Sagihime Raregroove, and his mother-in-law Kino Raregroove, though his abilities have never been clearly demonstrated 'on-screen'.

Memories of Azusa
In 150,081 CMT, Azusa's wife Misaki used her Shikigami Kooni to deliver a message to Zev to tell him that his father, Azusa, and his sister, Tamao, were on their way to meet him on Space Station 31337. Zev was confused by the news and by the subsequent appearance of Tamao, because though he admitted that Azusa tended to make detours when going anywhere on his own and that Zev had not visited his father in a long time, he could not think of a reason why Azusa and Tamao would visit him there and then. Tamao explained that she and Azusa had come because they had been keeping track of Zev's spiritual development through their connection to Asabana and had decided that it was time for Zev to receive proper training as a shaman. However, because Azusa had decided that he was unfit to train Zev as a shaman because his own abilities were unsuitable for lending power, and because his wife Misaki had also declined the role, Azusa had chosen their daughter, Tamao, to be the one who would teach Zev the shamanic arts, for she was a willing and fully capable volunteer who knew Zev as well as themselves. As Tamao finished explaining this to Zev aboard Space Station 31337, she added that Azusa would be bringing Zev a gift from his and Tamao's grandfather (possibly Yohmei Glory) to celebrate Zev's training as a shaman.

Later, Zev and Tamao watched a duel between Namah and Shroom in a sparring arena aboard the station. Zev analyzed their fighting patterns in an attempt to predict the outcome, surmising that one of them was "hiding something that could vastly tip the battle in their favor" and wondering if both had a trump card. Zev then realized that he was not making much sense and apologized to the others for speaking in riddles in a way that was reminiscent of his father. Tamao replied that they were both like their parents in their own ways. Rutherfor wondered aloud what Zev's father was like, so Asabana told her "He's a wild one, Zev's dad is!" while giggling.

While Zev and Tamao sparred with each other in the arena, Namah told Rutherfor about the time when Azusa and his brother Mikihisa had to leave their families to fight in a campaign to protect their land.

Mikihisa and Sagihime Raregroove then approached Zev and Tamao aboard the station, much to the latter two's surprise. Tamao asked her uncle if Azusa knew of their visit, but Mikihisa shook his head and replied that he and his wife had only come because they were already in the area and had noticed Zev and Tamao nearby. Sagihime later tried to reassure Namah about her estrangement from her father by recalling that she herself felt out-of-place when she married into the Glory-Raregroove family, especially because Mikihisa was often busy training, and though Azusa cared about her, he was unaware of how much she wanted to spend time with her brother-in-law.

During a sparring match between Zev and Mikihisa in the same arena, Zev used the Raregroove Nokoribiryu technique to scramble his furyoku to make it harder for Mikihisa to track him. However, Mikihisa recognized the technique because Azusa had used it on him in the past. Mikihisa thrust his elbow into Zev and said "If you're going to alter the style, use your own material. Your father hit me with that trick once, and it never got me again". As the duel continued, Zev teased Mikihisa by saying "Are you sure your hip isn't going bad, ol' man?", which made Mikihisa laugh because it seemed to him that Zev had inherited Misaki's drive and Azusa's "flapping mouth". Meanwhile, Anna Raregroove informed Viriathus that her biological father, Silva, was such a close friend of Azusa that his last wishes were for Anna to be adopted into the Glory-Raregroove family, though she wasn't sure why this was.

After the Shima Brothers stole the Arboretum Notes from the Bebop II, Anna and Zev called a secret meeting aboard the ship to discuss how to respond. There, Zev revealed to the crew that Azusa had tasked Anna and Tamao with transporting the Arboretum Notes to Zev so that Zev could keep them protected. Viriathus had been persuaded to keep the Arboretum Notes aboard the Bebop II and wipe their existence from her memory, but this did not stop the Shima Brothers from sneaking aboard and stealing them regardless. The gathered allies agreed to retrieve the Arboretum Notes in part because Emperor Azusa would be humiliated if he found out about their theft.

Meanwhile, in the Bebop II training room, Misaki chuckled at Shroom's reluctance to return Haruko Haruhara's advances because their behavior brought back memories of when she first met Azusa, giggling that "Azu-kun used to be so chaste...". Namah then caught Misaki's attention by mentioning that Sagihime had been giving her training, which caused Misaki to pounce onto her and reveal that she knew that this 'training' of Sagihime's was the Raregroove Bridal Training, because Sagihime had been obviously trying to rope Namah into the Glory-Raregroove family. When the embarrassed Namah asked Misaki how she could tell, Misaki replied that Azusa's mother had put her through the Glory family's own Bridal Training process to prepare her to marry her son while she and Azusa were still courting. As Namah left the room in embarrassment, Misaki chuckled that Namah and Zev were just like her and Azusa were at first. Meanwhile, as Mikihisa and Viriathus relaxed on the outer hull of the ship, the shaman revealed to Vi that he had given Azusa his inheritance as the future king of Jurai - a decision that he was proud of, because Azusa had proven to be a far better ruler than he could have ever hoped for.

Negotiations with the ZFT
In 150,082 CMT, Azusa's attention was caught by a small ZFT shuttle that approached Jurai. Azusa amused himself by hailing the shuttle and yelling at its crew to maintain their course and (not or) he would shoot them, only to reveal moments later that he was joking because he "wasn't the kinda asshole who shoots down friendlies". The ZFT shuttle was then restrained by a gravity beam and redirected to a special port where diplomatic ships were processed before their crew were allowed to meet government officials. As the ZFT shuttle was processed, an artificial intelligence that welcomed visitors to Jurai informed Ulkesh that Emperor Azusa and Empress Misaki share joint control of all matters, deciding between themselves who directs what and at what time. In the absence of Misaki, Emperor Azusa confers to his father and mother-in-law: Yohmei Glory and Kino Raregroove. The AI added that Azusa openly admits that he regularly visits Royal Founder Masaki Raregroove for advice, as she is the head of Jurai's Prima Librarium, the 'First Library,' also known as the Juraian Records.

Azusa walked into the meeting room casually picking his teeth with a toothpick, because he believed that foreign diplomats should be given as much of an honest impression of himself as Juraian officials were. Azusa then revealed that his aides had informed him that the ZFT wished to establish a treaty with the Juraian Empire, and he recalled that his son Zev had fought alongside the ZFT leader and Elite Makuta Blackout in the Uterio War. Azusa pretended at first to regard Zev as an annoying brat, but the facade was dropped as he could not help but gush about how proud he was of his son, showing Ulkesh and Chirox photographs of times when he fought Zev barefisted and the first time Zev met Asabana, among others. Azusa continued to gush about his children and the prospect of grandchildren until he remembered where he was and asked the ZFT diplomats to describe the conditions of the proposed treaty before he could get distracted again. Ulkesh obliged and informed Azusa that the treaty was simple: the ZFT and Jurai would agree to not engage in any hostilities against each other or aid those who engaged in hostilities against the other side. Azusa scanned the document and asked if it would mean that Jurai would be obligated to assist the ZFT, but Ulkesh assured him that assistance would only be required in the event of rogue Juraians aiding ZFT's enemies or ZFT's enemies hiding in Juraian territory. Satisfied that he understood the terms, Azusa signed the treaty and returned it to Ulkesh. He then encouraged the delegates to make themselves at home as aides brought the Juraians refreshments and the ZFT diplomats books.

While Ulkesh read one of the books, Chirox finished a drawing of what he thought Zev and Namah's children could look like and held it up to the table, prompting uproarious laughter from Azusa. Azusa then proceeded to stuff his face with honey-baked ham, but stopped when he remembered something that the ZFT could help them with. He handed a file filled with information about the Tho to Ulkesh and explained that the Tho were troublemakers who had been encroaching on Juraian allies, which now included the ZFT, thus making them a possible future target for the Tho. Azusa clarified that he needed someone to speak to the Tho dignitary they sent to speak to the Juraians, suggesting that Ulkesh would be an excellent mediator between the two races. Ulkesh agreed to try, so Azusa led him and Chirox out of the meeting room and into a small archive, where he left them while he went to retrieve something from a side-room. While Ulkesh and Chirox waited for Azusa to return, Ulkesh picked up a computer tablet that opened a chat window between him and Kanaya Maryam. Kanaya apologized for disrupting the proceedings but stated that she could not forgive herself if she did not help him and Azusa, because Azusa had helped her in another time. She then proceeded to warn Ulkesh about the danger that Jack Noir posed to their "Session".

Preemptive Measures
In 150,083 CMT, a Zafara double agent warned Figlio di Armechio that Emperor Azusa of Jurai had secretly sent a fleet of drone ships to kill him, for Azusa feared that Figlio could become as great of a threat to the universe as his late father had been. The Zafara double agent clarified that Azusa had not informed Zev about this action because he knew that Zev would never have approved of killing Figlio prior to an actual violent movement, but Azusa believed that it had to be done for the collective good of the universe. However, the Zafara double agent also advised Figlio never to put his full trust in her because she had a policy that first-time clients were exempt from any and all betrayals, leaving it unclear how accurate her information actually was.

Trivia

 * Azusa Glory is an adaptation of Azusa Masaki Jurai from the manga/anime series Tenchi Muyo!.