the fact he managed to make the mask vanish in an instant means that hes well trained and knows the secret of the mechanics behind sichuan opera masks. he must have lived in china for a while. its nice to see people share cultures.
One of the things that set the story apart so much is that you can feel how she basically took a standard shonen setup, but seen through the eyes of a mother it turns from βBadass teen boy is super cool and kicks ass!β Into βholy shit this child has destroyed himself and his life to become a weapon of the state and continues to slam himself against fate itself out of love for his brother.β
This is subtle foreshadowing to the fact that next gen consoles will be so expensive you'll have to imagine them in your head instead of playing on them