Kondo Tatsumi Character Analysis in World War Z

In Japan, the narrator meets Tatsumi, a warrior monk who has fought zombies in hand-to-hand combat. He tells the narrator that he used to be a socially awkward teenager who spent all his time online. When the zombies attacked his city, he was taken completely by surprise because he hadn’t even looked outside his windows. He was so lost in his online world that he hadn’t noticed that his parents had been missing for days. When faced with the zombies that attacked him, Tatsumi decided that if he survived, he would change his ways and fully engage with the world. He managed to survive and met Ijiro, who fought and killed zombies in hand-to-hand combat in the remote mountains of Japan. He asked Tatsumi to join him, and Tatsumi agreed. In his second interview, Tatsumi confesses to the narrator that he doesn’t believe in Ijiro’s spiritual teachings. He does, however, believe that Japan must be a strong and independent nation, and that Ijiro’s teachings seem to be the path to achieving this. Tatsumi’s transforms himself from an isolated, unfeeling teenager to an adult who cares about the future of his nation and its people.

Kondo Tatsumi Character Timeline in World War Z

The timeline below shows where the character Kondo Tatsumi appears in World War Z. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The Fragility of Privilege and Modern Life Theme Icon

Kyoto, Japan. While the old photograph of Kondo Tatsumi shows a skinny teenager with bleached blond hair, he is now a toned warrior monk... (full context)

The narrator asks Tatsumi if he’d been afraid for his personal safety, and Tatsumi says he hadn’t been—he lived... (full context)

When other otaku began disappearing, too, Tatsumi felt only annoyance rather than worry for their well-being. One morning, he woke up and... (full context)

In a panic, and lost without the internet, Tatsumi made his way out the front door. Making his way down the dark hallway, he... (full context)

Then, the siafu in the hallway pounded at Tatsumi’s door, and he could hear more moans outside as well as the sounds of his... (full context)

At the apartment Tatsumi was now at, the front door was barricaded from the inside. He found the previous... (full context)

By the third day of doing this, Tatsumi had made it to a fourth-floor balcony. He reached for the sliding door, and stared... (full context)

...him everywhere, visiting places all over the world and spending time with family and friends. Tatsumi decided that if he managed to survive the crisis, he would live a full life... (full context)

...Japan’s Tatenokai or “Shield Society,” and has been blind since he was a teenager. Kondo Tatsumi is Ijiro’s second in command. Ijiro tells the narrator that he is hibakusha, which means... (full context)

...settled to sleep when he heard human footsteps. He hid and waited atop a tree. Tatsumi then says that Ijiro had leapt on him and held him down. Tatsumi said he... (full context)

...been designated an independent branch of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. While watching Ijiro greeting guests, Tatsumi tells the narrator that he doesn’t “really believe any of this spiritual ‘BS.’” He thinks... (full context)