The same boy, the same carp, a different master's hand. This is Oniwakamaru — the young Benkei — locked again in his legendary struggle with the giant carp, this time rendered by Totoya Hokkei, one of Hokusai's most gifted pupils and a master of the deluxe surimono print. Where Yoshitoshi brings late-19th-century drama to the scene, Hokkei brings the refined, decorative elegance of the Hokusai school: this is the carp-wrestling as a jewel of design rather than a burst of violence.

The subject rewards a second look for what the carp means. The koi battling up the waterfall to become a dragon was the Edo emblem of perseverance and manly success — the reason carp streamers still fly for Boys' Day. So a boy overpowering a giant carp isn't just a display of strength; it's a visual prophecy. The wild temple demon holding down the dragon-in-waiting is destiny drawn in miniature — and a lovely companion piece to the Yoshitoshi treatment of the very same moment.

This is Oniwakamaru aka the young Benkei from the print Oniwakamaru to koi (鬼若丸と鯉, Oniwakamaru and the Giant Carp) c1830.

Totoya Hokkei (魚屋北渓, 1780-1850)