Characters / Aoharu × Machinegun

The tropes for the characters of Aoharu × Machinegun.

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Toy ☆ Gun Gun

A survival game group consisting of Hotaru, Tohru and Masamune.

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In General

• Badass in a Nice Suit: In the final of the second TGC, in which they faced Hoshishiro, Toy Gun Gun members wear matching uniforms for the first time, which is black suit to contrast Hoshishiro's white military uniform.
• Enemy Mine: They briefly teamed up with Hoshishiro to defeat 11Dogs
• Finger Gun: In the anime ED sequence.
• The Gunslinger: Users of survival game guns, but gunslingers nonetheless.
• True Companions: Over the course of the series, the members of Toy Gun Gun become inseparable comrades who are close like a family and support each other to the maximum.

Hotaru Tachibana

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)

A Bifauxnen Student Council President who gets dragged into survival games by two of the other residents of Tsukishiro Apartments. Tachibana is a cheerful girl who's very friendly to people she meets, provided that they do not break Tachibana's Code of Justice. Uses a Heckler and Koch G3 SAS High Cycle in combat. She lives in Apartment 202.

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• A-Cup Angst: Downplayed. Hotaru usually isn't bothered by her lack of feminine features unless someone else points it out. In the first episode, she mentions that she doesn't need a bra after Kanae nags her for not wearing one and immediately falls to her knees when she realizes what she just said. She also gets upset when Matsuoka refuses to believe she's a girl even when she puts his hand on her chest.
• A-Team Firing: She has very poor accuracy.
• Action Girl: She is one of the strongest females in the series, and is the most physically powerful in Toy Gun Gun.
• All-Loving Heroine: She has an open personality that always believes the best of everyone, even when told otherwise, and is apparently willing to consider Midori a friend, even after everything he's done, given her actions at the hot spring.
• The Baby of the Bunch: She is the youngest of the main characters as she is only teenager while they are all adults in their 20s.
• Badass Adorable: She's a cute teenager who can kick your ass if you're committing "evil" deed.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Whenever she doesn't have a gun or any other weapon at hand, she fights with her fists, as shown in her fights against Samejima and Shingen in TGC.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Hotaru is one of the kindest characters in this show. You don't want to make her angry, EVER.
• Bifauxnen: To the point that only her friend Kanae knows her real gender. The rest of the cast finds out eventually, unfortunately starting with Midori before becoming known to Haruki, then Masamune and Tohru.
• Big Eater: She has a big appetite, as shown in chapter 35 of the manga during the barbeque party. She eats a mountain of food, to the shock of her teammates.
• The Big Girl: Hotaru fills this role in Toy Gun Gun, being the most physically powerful.
• Blood Knight: Despite being a righteous and friendly girl, Hotaru is also secretly a terrifying thrill-seeker and adrenaline junkie with an overwhelming bloodlust. She really loves fighting, whether in survival games or an actual fight. Good thing she's also incredibly kindhearted.
• Boyish Short Hair: She has very short hair as part of being a Bifauxnen.
• Bridal Carry: Does this to Matsuoka in blu ray omake◊, and to Midori in chapter 62◊.
• Bully Hunter: She has shades of this as due to her strong morals, as she's introduced defending a student at her school from a shake-down and initially goes after Masamune because she thinks he's taken advantage of her friend. Displaying bully-like traits in survival games will get Hotaru particularly fired up to defeat you.
• Cassandra Truth: She actually tries to tell her teammates about her gender before it actually comes out; they just think "he's" joking.
• Catchphrase: "I, Tachibana Hotaru, will not condone such evil actions. I will condemn X."
• Character Development: In earlier chapters, she is more hot-headed, overly confident and prone to fight. Later, she matures and cools down into a more down-to-earth and level-headed girl.
• Chaste Heroine: She hasn't shown any sign of being attracted to either males or females, she reacts poorly to "inappropriate" actions like openly displaying ero-manga, and her main concern when Midori asked for a kiss was what it would look like because she looks like a boy.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: She just can't leave a person in trouble alone or let injustice slide.
• Cute and Psycho: She can smile like a sweet, pure child and then go apeshit (complete with Slasher Smile) when she's really into the survival game or wanting to punish evildoers. Even professionals of the survival game can be overwhelmed by her bloodlust.
• Cute Bruiser: Slender, adorable and super strong.
• Death Glare: She is the queen of this trope in this series, especially when her bloodlust is activated.
• Determinator: When she sets her sight on something, it is almost impossible to dissuade her. An example is during her second duel with Matsuoka, in which she challenged him multiple times despite losing to him repeatedly.
• Ditzy Genius: Hotaru is extremely speedy and athletic and is even Student Council President. When she has a goal in mind, her instincts and reflexes tend to outdo even respected veterans. However, her lack of experience with survival games tends to get in her way, resulting in Hotaru charging in without a plan or forgetting to remove the safety before the battle.
• Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Happens when Hotaru gets worked up, like the way she effortlessly punched a crater in a door the first time she met Masamune. Played for Drama in the manga flashback where a beaming first-grade Hotaru "defeats evil" by rendering a group of older bullies unconscious and breaking her own arm in the process.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Her friend Kanae has questionable feelings for her. Sagara Hanako also likes her (even confessing to her later in the manga), at least before she knows Hotaru is a girl. An omake also shows that she receives a lot of chocolates from girls on Valentine's day.
• Expy: A Bifauxnen associated with a host who causes a lot of property damage and has to pay for it. Sound familiar? Most of the similarities end there, though they both have a visually gender-ambiguous parent.
• Feels No Pain: Hotaru seems remarkably resilient, but this trope doesn't really come into play until the Flashback where a first-grade Hotaru breaks her arm fighting bullies and apparently didn't notice.
• First Kiss: With Midori in an onsen. He asked for a kiss from her in exchange of his towel to cover her body. She, not knowing that he was just joking, actually did it.
• For Great Justice: Hotaru takes great offense to anything she deems unfair or "evil," and is easily swayed by arguments that doing X is a good deed. Her worldview is largely due to her mother, who's a police officer.
• Gender-Blender Name: Part of the gender confusion is caused by her unisex name.
• Genki Girl: She's always very cheerful and upbeat. Although she matures over the course of the series, she remains affectionate, cheery and energetic.
• The Gift: Though it manifests most strongly in her "bloodlust mode," Hotaru is noted early on to have unusually powerful physical abilities, displaying strength, speed and combat skills far beyond that of normal teenagers, plus a killer instinct that gives her a natural edge. The manga hints that it may be inherited once we meet her mother, who notes that Hotaru was terrifyingly strong even as a child.
• Girliness Upgrade: In the epilogue, Hotaru has grown to look more feminine after a few years of living in America and her hair is longer. Her friends comment people won't mistake her for a boy anymore because she does look like a girl now.
• Giver of Lame Names: Only her fellow bad namer Midori thinks the names Hotaru comes up with sound good.
• The Glomp: Tends to hug people when she is really happy or excited.
• Good Is Not Soft: While she is genuinely nice and friendly, it has been noted that she will look for fights for the sake of proving her justice, pulling her into confrontations that she could have otherwise avoided.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: An innocent and kindhearted teenage girl with sandy blonde hair who serves as The Heart of her team.
• The Heart: She is this for Toy Gun Gun, as said by Yukimura and Matsuoka to her mother in chapter 40. It is only through her effort that team Toy Gun Gun, that originally is a mess, is united once again.
  Matsuoka: It lifts my spirit when she smiles. When she gives me encouragement, I can straighten my back. When she talks about tomorrow, I believe good things will come. She is someone stronger than you think. We need her more than you think.
• Honor Before Reason: She can't fight people unfairly, as shown during her match with Usanagi in order to get her gun. She refused to fight him unless he was also armed with a gun.
• Hot-Blooded: At the beginnging. She cools down a little as the series goes on though.
• I Call It "Vera": "Goemon" for her G3. It comes from the English word "god" and a Wiki Walk, according to the manga.
• Killing Intent: Her bloodlust manifests this way. Other people can feel it wafting from her from a few meters away. When she was fighting Midori, a group of birds were seen flying away in fear after sensing her bloodlust.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Her tendency to charge heedlessly into battle can be a weakness.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Sweet, friendly and kind, but when she gets TOO into the survival game, or being pissed at someone, she will be emitting bloodlust that can be felt a few meters away, and will fight you with a terrifying power.
• Lightning Bruiser: Despite her slender frame, Hotaru has considerable raw strength for her frame, as seen when she punched her and Matsuoka's apartment doors with her bare hand and created a dent, or when she's carrying an 18 kg oil can with one hand, while running and jumping down from a cliff, while Yukimura and Taku of 11Dogs can barely carry it. She is also shown to be remarkably fast, able to quickly react and dodge a bullet up-close while on guard.
• Like Parent, Like Child: Hotaru has traits from both of her parents. Hotaru clearly inherited her father's kindness, friendly and gentle nature. From her mother, Hotaru inherited her strong sense of justice, stubbornness, physical strength and overall badassery.
• Magnetic Hero: She picks up a number of friends over the course of the series. Even those who initially disliked her or were indifferent toward her (like Yukimura, Haruki and Ichi), eventually warm up to her to a degree.
• Minor Living Alone: While she's just starting high school, Hotaru is living on her own so her father can receive medical treatment in America.
• Murderous Thighs: She uses this move against Shingen during Toy Gun Gun’s fight against Agartha. It’s a subversion though because she only does it to make him think she’s going to strangle him or slam him into the ground when in fact, she only does it to distract him while she flips the can.
• Naïve Newcomer: To the world of survival game.
• Nice Girl: Hotaru is a friendly and polite girl who genuinely cares for the people around her.
• Nightmare Face: Hotaru is a cute kid, regardless of whether you see her as a girl or a boy, but she can pull off the Death Glare + Slasher Smile combo with the best of them when her bloodlust is up. This is also Played for Laughs in Chapter 37, when she claims to forgive Masamune and Tohru for thinking she was a boy due to her flat chest while her face tells a very different story.
• One of the Boys: Her comrades are all guys and they play survival games together. The guys actually didn't even realize she's a girl for a long while because she's so much like a boy.
• Ordinary High-School Student: One that wears boy's uniform and possesses incredible speed, agility, physical strength and terrifying bloodlust. Other than that, she's an ordinary female high school student.
• Passionate Sports Girl: She really loves survival game and she takes it very seriously.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Doing any unfair or "evil" deeds in her presence usually will award you with a punch or a kick, or at least trigger her bloodlust.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Not literally pint-sized since she is quite tall, but she can wipe the floor with opponents physically larger than her like Samejima and Shingen.
• Plucky Girl: She never gives up in the face of problems.
• Samurai: Hotaru has shades of this, hewing strongly to the ideal: She has a somewhat archaic speech-pattern resembling that of an archetypal "samurai" and has a personal code which includes never attacking from behind or using underhanded tricks.
• Shared Family Quirks: Hotaru refers to herself in the third person, by her last name, and has a strong sense of justice. These, along with her Catchphrase, were apparently inherited from her mother.
• Ship Tease: She is teased with several characters, particularly with Matsuoka, Haruki and Midori.
• Simple-Minded Wisdom: Hotaru contrasts the rest of the adults around her with her simple-minded wisdom. The adults often mull over things too seriously and make everything complicated, while she, with her simple thinking, can find an answer to a problem that is always right in front of them.
  • When Matsuoka said he's fighting in survival games in order to take revenge against Midori, Hotaru reminded him that survival game is supposed to be fun, something they can enjoy and something that connects them to a lot of people, so he should not fight with that kind of reason.
  • When Yukimura asked her what if Matsuoka wanted to team up with Midori again and dismissed Toy Gun Gun, she told him that in order for Matsuoka not to do that, they just have to work harder and be better so they can become teammates he can be proud of.
  • When seeing Kiyo and Taku of 11Dogs having a fight, Hotaru commented that they look like real brothers no matter how anyone look at it, which made the adoptive brothers (who had been angsting over their situation of not being blood-related to each other and trying to find a way to prove that they are "real") realize that they had been worried over nothing.
• Slasher Smile: Whenever her bloodlust took over in a fight, her smile was constantly affixed in a psychotic grin.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the only girl of Toy ☆ Gun Gun, although most of her teammates don't even know it for a long while because they assumed she was a boy.
• Spirited Competitor: She loves a good and fair fight and joins every one with the intent to win.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's 170 cm, making her quite tall for Japanese woman standard. Despite that, she's still considered cute as a button
• Stock Shōnen Hero: Rare Female Example. Despite being a female protagonist, she actually hits more requirements for this trope. She's a Hot-Blooded All-Loving Heroine, with a great sense of justice and a love of fighting, who is very loyal to her friends, a complete newcomer in her field, but with a natural gift. Plus, she's The Heart of her team and is younger than the other main characters.
• Strong Family Resemblance: She looks like a younger, female version of her father, Souichi.
• Student Council President: She's the student council president at her high school. Although, that's mostly an Informed Attribute because we see almost nothing of her school life.
• Super Window Jump: She can safely stick the landing after leaping from a third-floor window.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: She briefly hides her gender in order to stay in Toy Gun Gun, that has no-girl policy.
• Third-Person Person: She constantly refers to herself in third-person, usually coupled with Last-Name Basis, ex. "Tachibana will..."
• Thrill Seeker: She gets excited at the prospect of fighting a strong opponent, once imagining a muscular old guy with a smile and a blush. She also says that she sometimes gets excited from the attacking murderous intent that she feels on the battlefield.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Kanae's Girly Girl.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: At the end of the final chapter, an older Hotaru has let her hair grow long and ties it up in a ponytail when it's time to begin the new TGC.
• Tomboyish Voice: She's a Bifauxnen with a very low voice that sounds more fitting for a teenage boy than a girl.
• Tranquil Fury: Normally, Hotaru is hot-blooded and will talk loudly when she’s angry, but that is much safer. When she turns to this, it is a sign that you are totally fucked up because this is when she enters her bloodlust mode. In this mode, she tends to give a silent, chilling Death Glare every time she gets significantly pissed.
• Unskilled, but Strong: She lacks the skills that the more experienced fighters have, but compensates with her incredible strength, speed, and agility.
• When She Smiles: Masamune gets easily flustered just from seeing her cute smile.
• Wise Beyond Her Years: While she has her childlike moments (she is still a teenager after all), there are also times where Hotaru displays wisdom far beyond her age. Sometimes she's even wiser than some of the adults around her.

Masamune Matsuoka

Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno (Japanese), Corey Hartzog (English)

A host, and a very good one at that, who recruits Hotaru for Toy ☆ Gun Gun. The leader of Toy ☆ Gun Gun, Masamune is a Keet who's been playing Survival Games since he was a highschooler. An all-rounder and the group's tactician, he dual-wields two Desert Eagles. He lives in apartment 203.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Tohru calls him "Mattsun".
• Alliterative Name: The only one of Toy ☆ Gun Gun to have this trope.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Matsuoka becomes the leader of Toy Gun Gun because he is arguably the best player out of all of them. Hotaru is faster and physically stronger, but Matsuoka is more skilled and experienced and better at strategy.
• Bash Brothers: With Midori. At least in the past.
• Big Brother Mentor: He seems to assume this role for Hotaru. He's the one who introduces her to survival games and guides her while treating her like a younger sibling.
• Bishie Sparkle: Noticeable when he talks to girls.
• Broken Ace: Masamune seems to have his life together, being a successful host and a talented airsoft player, but he's emotionally fragile due to experiencing a lot of abandonment in the past. This includes the team's first female player, Haru-Haru, Midori and his mother. He hasn't completely gotten over Midori, which as Tohru points out is the reason why Toy ☆ Gun Gun hasn't moved forward.
• Broken Tears: Masamune's younger self cries these a lot in flashbacks; he doesn't cry quite so often in the present but is noticeably fighting them back on several occasions, usually when he's in conflict with his teammates or confronting Midori.
• But Not Too Foreign: It is said in fanbook that Matsuoka is half Swedish.
• Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: After developing feelings for Hotaru, Matsuoka started getting nervous around her. While before he was very touchy with her and shamelessly flirting with her, after having a crush on her, he got embarrassed just from holding her hand or getting too close to her.
• Chick Magnet: He seems to be one of the most popular hosts in his club and is seen surrounded by the ladies.
• Childhood Friends: With Yukki. They split middle high school, but reunited sometime after high school.
• Counting Bullets: At the start of the series, he wins his first duel with Hotaru because he counted the number of bullets she had fired and realized her gun was out of bullets before her, so he just needed to let her get close enough to shoot her.
• Deuteragonist: He's almost as important to the narrative as Hotaru because he's the one who gets her into Toy Gun Gun and his goal of winning the TGC to have his closure with Midori is one of the biggest driving forces for the team.
• Dodge the Bullet: Masamune is capable of this, explained by a host needing to be sensitive to small movements and body-language in order to effectively do their job.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Masamune's first meeting with Midori in chapter 6 (see Heroic BSoD below for more details) comes uncomfortably close to resembling a victim meeting their abuser, after the relationship has fallen apart. And in chapter 14, the way Midori shoots Masamune is framed is disturbingly similar to a rape scene...
• Dragged into Drag: In the anime special, Masamune is forced to wear a female flight attendant cosplay for an airsoft-cosplay event Tohru signed them up for. Masamune is incredibly unhappy with this, to say the least.
• Dual Wielding: His favored weapons are a pair of airsoft guns modeled on Desert Eagles, and he was inspired to try dual-wielding by Midori.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: After he loses to Midori in the TGC.
• Endearingly Dorky: He may look like a cool Bishōnen, but he has his dorky moments, especially regarding his naming taste. For example, he named his gun after a red bean paste because he thought the "Desert" in "Desert Eagle" means "Dessert". His old team with Midori is even called "W2Second" and cue the other characters commenting how lame it is. He also named his team "Toy Gun Gun" because they use toy guns and Hotaru and Yukimura did not fail to comment on how lame it sounds. Yukimura even commented, "It's okay, you're an idiot, but you're also cute."
• Even the Guys Want Him: He's popular with both girls and guys. Out of the main cast, Yukki has an extreme emotional attachment to him, Midori loves to bully him and as of chapter 50 is implied to be obsessed with him, and Ran-chan, aka Ranmaru loves hugging him and taking photos of him.
• First Friend: Tohru didn't have real friends before he met Masamune. Early in the series, Tohru accepts Hotaru into his small circle of friends after some reluctance.
• Giver of Lame Names: He named his team "Toy Gun Gun" from toy guns. It's lampshaded several times in the manga by other characters how lame this name is.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Friendly, fun and can be charming.
• Heroic BSoD: His encounter with Midori a year after their last TGC match. Masamune could only stutter when talking to him before completely freezing up when forced to look him in the eye. He only gets out when Yukki intervenes. Judging by Tohru's comments, this is Masamune's usual response to being confronted by Midori.
• Hyper-Awareness: "Eyes of Providence", allowing him to gather and analyse vast amounts of information to decide the best route to take. Unfortunately, he can only use it three times a day and gets a nosebleed and massive headaches each time he uses it.
• I Call It "Vera": "Tsubuan" (red bean paste) for his Desert Eagle. The problem is, tsubuan is a dessert, not a desert.
• I Owe You My Life: He feels this way towards Midori. When Masamune was going through a borderline suicidal depression over his mother abandoning him, Midori brought back some meaning and enjoyment in his life by introducing him to the survival games. This is why he can't get over that Midori ended their partnership with no explanation as he believes he probably wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for Midori.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: He's a nice and kind-hearted young man with light blue eyes.
• Innocently Insensitive: While Masamune is always repentant after he causes trouble he rarely seems to notice when it's happening, especially when it comes to Midori. Tohru calls him out on this, pointing out that he's been supporting Masamune for years and Masamune has been taking their friendship for granted.
• Interrupted Suicide: After waiting for his mom's promise to return, only to learn she left without him, he tried to take his life on the school roof. However, Midori interfered and took him to an airsoft event, giving Masamune a renewed will to live. It's for this reason Masamune's so hung up on Midori - he effectively gave his life to the man that saved it only for Midori to throw it away later on.
• It's All About Me: Tohru accuses Masamune of this after Masamune tells Hotaru she's off the team, telling Masamune that he's always playing the victim even when he's not the one being hurt. Masamune clearly wasn't doing this intentionally, but there's some truth to it.
• Ladykiller in Love: He is a successful host with a lot of people, males and females alike, vying for his attention, and is crushing on his female teammate Hotaru.
• The Leader: Of Toy Gun Gun.
• Mistaken for Gay: When trying to find out why Toy ☆ Gun Gun doesn't allow girls on their team, Tachibana asks Tohru if Matsuoka "doesn't like girls" and Tohru jumps to this conclusion.
• Mr. Fanservice: Probably the biggest one in this manga. Being a handsome host, it comes with the job description.
• Nice Guy: Genuinely cares about his teammates and is quite friendly with other people too.
• The Only One I Trust: In middle school, Tohru was betrayed by some students who pretended to be his friends and Masamune was the only one who defended him. For many years, Tohru didn't want to trust anyone besides Masamune and tried to make Hotaru quit the team until she proved to him that she would rather die than to betray a friend.
• Orphan's Ordeal: After his mother loses custody, he's taken in by relatives. His presence creates a financial burden that they try to hide from him, but he overhears and starts doing part-time work to ease costs.
• Parental Abandonment: His dad was a gambling addict and rarely home. After his dad accumulates a large debt and disappears for good, his mom loses custody of Masamune but promises to return for him once the debt is clear. He sees his mother again in high school, where she seems to be living a successful life and has another son; she can only apologize before leaving for good.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: When Midori suddenly told him he was cutting off their partnership without explaining why, Masamune desperately begged him to stay and tell what he did wrong as he had no idea why he would want to abandon him like his mother did.
• Psychic Nosebleed: He has a nosebleed after he uses "Eyes of Providence" to gain the advantage in the TGC match against Friendly Fire.
• Rags to Riches: He's at least well-off enough to live decently and pay for his airsoft hobby.
• Ship Tease: With Hotaru. He canonically has feelings for her and tends to get flustered when she's being particularly cute.
• Stepford Smiler: Masamune plays a suave lady-killer at the host club and puts on an energetic front for his friends, but he's emotionally fragile due to his past. This is a habit he developed since he was a child because he had to force himself to smile and repress his sadness over his bad family situation. He does get better, though.
• Sweet on Polly Oliver: He gets confused whenever he starts thinking Hotaru is cute while continuing to mistake her for a boy. When she finally admits to her teammates that she's a girl and they believe her, Masamune is relieved to know he's still straight.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Midori. They were close friends and played survival games as a duo unil Midori ended their partnership, claiming he was "tired" of Matsuoka. However, Midori's true intention was making Matsuoka realize his real potential. At the end of the series, they reconcile after Matsuoka finally wins against Midori in TGC.

Tohru Yukimura

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)

A hentai Mangaka who took up survival games to support Masamune. He lives in apartment 204.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Masamune calls him "Yukki."
• Ambiguously Bi: He's very open about liking girls, but his devotion to Masamune and repeated marriage proposals to him heavily imply he might love him not only as a best friend.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Everything Tohru's done for Masamune can be traced back to an incident when they were kids and Masamune rescued Tohru from bullies.
• Best Friend: He's Masamune's oldest and most loyal friend in the team.
• Blind Without 'Em: He can't see without his glasses. In the Hot Springs Episode, he accidentally hits Masamune with a bowl when aiming at Midori and then accuses Midori of hitting Masamune.
• Broken Tears: While asking Hotaru to return to the team after she was kicked off, for Masamune's sake, because "... I am no longer able to save him..."
• Career-Ending Injury: In the original oneshot, Tohru wanted to play pro soccer before the car accident that ruined his legs.
• Childhood Friend: He and Mattsun have been close friends since middle school.
• Cold Sniper: Tohru is usually this, as his legs were severely injured in an accident which relegated him to this position, though he tends to become a Friendly Sniper when they're up against Hoshishiro.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Initially, he appears to be this to Masamune, especially considering his initial reaction to hearing that Masamune had recruited a third teammate, but later events show that this is Tohru's way of trying to prevent a repeat of Toy ☆ Gun Gun's history with other teammates.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: While this initially seems to be a characterization trope due to how harsh he initially is to Hotaru, it's implied to be the result of staying up late playing ero-games.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Back in middle school, Masamune apparently saved Tohru from being bullied by his supposed friends. This incident convinced Tohru that no one in the world besides Masamune deserved his trust. That is until he meets Hotaru and he accepts her into the team.
• Death Glare: His default reaction to Midori.
• Dislikes the New Guy: When Hotaru first joins Toy ☆ Gun Gun, Tohru is hostile to her and goes so far as to set her up to force her to quit the team so it can go back to only being him and Masamune. This is because Tohru was so traumatized by some classmates betraying him that he couldn't trust anyone other than Masamune. Soon enough, he realizes Hotaru is a trustworthy person and accepts her as his teammate.
• Food Slap: He throws the contents of his mug at Midori after Midori rejects Masamune as a 'comrade' and accuses Tohru of wanting it to turn out that way.
• The Gadfly: Tends to tease his friends in a mock-suggestive fashion, especially the guys.
• Guilt Complex: It may be implied that Tohru feels guilty over "abandoning" Masamune when the former had to move away, which might be part of why he's so focused on helping Masamune now.
• Hate at First Sight: From the moment he first met Midori, Yukimura knew he couldn't stand him, but he was willing to tolerate him until Midori broke off ties with Masamune.
• Hikikomori: Implied to have become this before being reunited with Masamune, and he still seems to leave his apartment only rarely outside of airsoft-related events.
• I'll Kill You!: He's said it more than once to Midori, though given the nature of the series it's hard to tell if he means it literally, if he means it in the context of the survival game, or if it's just a symptom of the way that Midori mashes on Tohru's Berserk Button.
• Jerkass to One: Tohru acts aloof towards everyone besides Masamune and Hotaru, but if there's one person he hates to the point of rage, that's Midori because of how much he has hurt Masamune. Tohru is usually a thoughtful and laconic Non-Action Guy, but Midori provokes him to impulsive and usually violent action, like trying to punch Midori in the airsoft store and intervening with death threats when Masamune freezes in front of Midori.
• Looks Like Cesare: Tohru is fairly tall but noticeably skinny, with messy black hair, shadows under his eyes and predominantly dark clothing, and he's apparently pale due to spending his non-airsoft time indoors. Usually, however, this just makes him seem indifferent rather than threatening.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: He tries to bond with Hotaru on this premise, bringing "him" adult comics and games. When he and Masamune learn Hotaru is a girl, Yukimura keeps complaining that she should let him touch her chest because Masamune and Haruki already did it (although unintentionally).
• Love Martyr: A platonic version, and the person Tohru's a martyr for doesn't seem to realize it, but Tohru's basically living for Masamune's sake regardless of the physical and psychological wringers it puts him through, most of which Masamune doesn't seem to notice, and despite realizing that Masamune's own purpose is catching up to Midori, who Tohru loathes. The one time we see him develop a non-directly-adjacent-to-Masamune interest, it's settling his score with rival sniper Akabane, and he still puts that aside in the final match against Hoshishiro, even outright saying that he has no pride in himself as a person.
  Yukimura: I... would do anything for Mattsun. That's all.
• Messy Hair: Tohru has chronic bedhead, matching his generally unkempt appearance, to the point where Akabane refers to him as Scruffy Four-Eyes.
• The Musketeer: He has a dagger that he uses for close combat, though he's not particularly proficient with it and it's a weapon of last resort.
• Nerd Glasses: Of the "thick black frames" type, though not as exaggerated as some examples. Tohru wears contacts during survival games, though his safety goggles resemble his normal glasses.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Tohru frequently hangs off of Masamune and later remarks that he's had a hard time making friends due to this tendency, among other reasons.
• Precious Photo: Tohru has a box of these, which he shows Hotaru while telling her the truth about Toy ☆ Gun Gun's history. Some of the ones we see date back to his and Masamune's junior high years, but a lot of them are just of Masamune.
• Reflectionless Useless Eyes: His eyes have no shine, indicating his poor eyesight.
• Sadist: Played for Laughs, as he writes/draws femdom ero-manga for a living, describing himself as an "S" and treating his fans as an "M" (and labeling Masamune an "M" as well). Contrast with Midori, who plays this trope totally straight.
• Sarcastic Devotee: Plays this role to Masamune, objecting to his training ideas and insulting Masamune's terrible naming choices, but it's just to mask his Undying Loyalty.
• Sequential Artist: He writes and draws popular hentai manga under the Pen Name Kotori Piyoko, the interiors of which are censored for comedy. His most well-known work is apparently titled My Little Sister is a Predator.
• Shower of Angst: Implied to have been taking one in Chapter 35 after a rather emotional team-up with Hoshishiro, though it's immediately followed by Mood Whiplash.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He's usually calm, detached, and likes keeping his distance from other people. Despite that, he's very loyal and caring towards Masamune and Hotaru, his two only friends.
• Taking the Bullet: In the last match of the TGC tournament, Yukimura takes the bullets of Fujimoto's minigun to protect Matsuoka and give him the chance to hit Fujimoto.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Frequently seen eating pre-packaged convenience-store bread, as Tohru either can't cook or is too lazy to do so.
• Undying Loyalty: He's utterly devoted to Masamune, although he's not afraid to call him out when they don't agree with each other.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Has this dynamic with Haruki, frequently needling him and just smiling when Haruki snaps back.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Wears a maid costume for a airsoft-cosplay event in the anime special and doesn't seemed fazed by it at all. He later suggests the team adopt sailor fuku as their team uniform and specifies that they'd all have to wear girls' uniforms.

Hoshishiro

Champions of the national tournament. A three-person team whose members work at the same hospital.

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In General

• Custom Uniform: The team sports matching white naval uniforms.
• Enemy Mine: They briefly teamed up with Toy Gun Gun to defeat 11Dogs.
• The Gunslinger: Well, they are five-time national champs.
• The Rival: To Toy ☆ Gun Gun.
• Power Trio:
  • Big, Thin, Short Trio: Fujimoto's Big, Midori's Thin, and Ichi's Short.
  • Terrible Trio: Midori is the Villain with Fujimoto and Ichi as his Henchmen.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: Takatora Fujimoto, Ichi Akabane and Midori Nagamasa, wherein the girl (Ichi) and one of the guys (Fujimoto) 'compete' over the remaining guy (Midori).

Takatora Fujimoto

Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura (Japanese), Scott Gibbs (English)

Nicknamed the "Assault Destroyer" for the minigun he carries and his reputation for destroying enemy attackers before they can fire.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Midori calls him "Fujimon."
• The Big Guy: He's tall, well-built and strong, allowing him to run at top speed while toting a minigun.
• Blind Obedience: He'll happily follow any and all orders Midori gives him, and it never crosses his mind that Midori's actions are anything but kind and admirable.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Fujimoto likes competing against strong opponents, but he bears them no ill will and is perfectly happy talking with them normally regardless of the outcome.
• Cute Little Fangs: Has them.
• Expressive Hair: His Idiot Hair waves happily after he recounts his loss against Hotaru and whenever Midori's praising and/or punishing him, and it forms a question-mark shape when he's puzzled or confused.
• Face of a Thug: A minor in-universe example - He has a tendency to scare patients at the hospital.
• Gentle Giant: Despite his size and strength, he's a complete Nice Guy whose main flaw is his unquestioning obedience to Midori.
• Glass Cannon: His minigun sends out a barrage of bullets, effectively taking down anything in its line-of-sight without losing speed. However, it's useless up-close.
• Good Is Dumb: Fujimoto is both the nicest member of Hoshishiro and far from the brightest, though he may be less dumb, per se, and just more naive.
• Horrible Judge of Character: He misinterprets Midori's sadism as kindness, especially in regards to opponents.
• Idiot Hair: He has a curl that sticks out near the top of his head.
• Nice Guy: Big size, masochism, and brutal weapon aside, Fujimoto is a great and likable guy.
• Sycophantic Servant: He's blindly loyal to Midori and gets off on being abused by him.
• Token Good Teammate: He's the only genuinely kind person on the Hoshishiro team. He gave Hotaru a chance to forfeit when he noticed she was a beginner because going up against a minigun so soon might ruin her enjoyment of airsoft. When Hotaru knocks out his gun but fails to shoot him due to leaving her safety on, he admits defeat and happily converses with her. Later in the manga, he cheerfully engages in a coup-counting match with Tohru when Toy ☆ Gun Gun and Hoshishiro team up against 11Dogs and offers Tohru his number so he can help the latter get in shape for TGC, actually carrying through on his promise to do so.
• Too Kinky to Torture: He loves being abused by Midori.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: As seen at the summer festival, all of his male siblings look like younger versions of him. His female sibling looks more distinct, but she still has the ahoge.

Ichi Akabane

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Allison Sumrall (English)

Nicknamed "Eagle's Eye" for her skill as a sniper.

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• Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason behind her feelings for Midori. He helped her win a survival game for the first time and let her know what it was to have fun playing with a friend.
• Bully Magnet: She was bullied in elementary school.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: To Midori, always trying to get his approval and objecting to anyone who seems to be close to him; she takes it especially hard when she finds a photo that Midori kept of him and Masamune when they were in high school, noting that she's never seen Midori smile like that before.
• Cute and Psycho: Cute in more her looks than actions, but very Trigger-Happy on the field. She can, however, be very cute when it comes to Midori.
• Dark Action Girl: Not only is she an excellent sniper, she is good at close combat, managing to knock out Tohru's gun at point blank. Unfortunately, her love for the game is not so innocent.
• Encyclopaedic Knowledge: She knows facts to the exact details when needed. For example, when Fujimon built an attachable cart to pull Midori to the TGC, she pointed out the exact maximum weight it is legally allowed to carry and that humans are not allowed to be counted.
• Little Miss Snarker: She has her moments, particularly with Fujimon but sometimes with Midori; her later one-on-one interaction with Hotaru has Ichi snarking at "him," though much of it goes over Hotaru's head.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Lots of stuff about Midori that happened before she joined the team, such as the fact that he and Masumune were teammates and Haruka had been her predecessor. She becomes distraught when she finds this out through others and not from Midori himself.
• Loner-Turned-Friend: Her life was very lonely before she met Midori so she's grateful that he let her join his team.
• Love Makes You Evil: Potentially implied, as she looks considerably more innocent in the flashback to when she first met Midori.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Back in elementary school, she called some girls childish for bullying another girl. This caused the bullies to make Ichi their next target and Ichi saw even the girl who was bullied before her laughing at her.
• Not So Above It All: Although she speaks dismissively of almost everyone else and prides herself on her professionalism, Ichi has her own quirks: For example, she signs Hoshishiro up for a cosplay event and casts herself as the princess, Midori as the handsome prince and Fujimoto as the horse. It doesn't turn out as planned and Ichi spends the rest of the episode sulking like a child.
• Older Than She Looks: Ichi is an adult, but her small frame makes her look like a teenager.
• Picky Eater: She dislikes vegetables in general.
• Rescue Romance: Her crush on Midori started when he saved her in a survival game where some guys ganged up against her.
• Sadist: Not to Midori's extent, but Ichi's enjoyment of airsoft has as much to do with seeing her opponent's despair through her scope as it does with making Midori happy.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the only girl in Hoshishiro.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's generally cold and harsh at work, a little gentler when it comes to Midori. However, she is noticeably expressive during the TGC, teasing Fujimoto more often and becoming more competitive and protective of Midori. She also seems to enjoy the face people make when they get shot. Ichi also displays a bit of her softer side to Hotaru during the teamup against 11Dogs, giving advice about hitting targets after something Hotaru says reminds Ichi of Midori.
• Token Mini-Moe: Tohru even dubs her "the big-breasted loli."
• Tomboyish Ponytail: Indicates her Dark Action Girl status, though it's combined with Hime Cut bangs to retain a feminine look.
• Waif-Fu: She's very petite, even compared to high school student Hotaru, yet she's a highly skilled sniper and an equally-skilled melee combatant.

Midori Nagamasa

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)

Leader of Hoshishiro. He has a history with Masamune and Tohru, though he seems to enjoy teasing Hotaru in usually-less-damaging ways.

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• The Ace: A feared Gunslinger even when dual-wielding, just as good at melee combat, a successful and well-loved doctor, and a Chessmaster to boot.
• Anti-Villain: He maybe the biggest opponent Toy Gun Gun has to defeat, but he does help them several times. He gave Hotaru the push to go back to Toy Gun Gun (by threatening Matsuoka and Yukimura), backed her up when she tried to tell Matsuoka and Yukimura about her gender the second time, and he helped them in their first fight against 11Dogs.
• Armor-Piercing Question: He likes to end a good Breaking Speech with one.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Midori is the most skilled and experienced fighter in Hoshishiro, barring maybe Haruka, and he is naturally their leader.
• Bash Brothers: He played survival games with his friend and underclassman Matsuoka in the past.
• Benevolent Boss: He does care for his comrades in his own way. Despite the fact that he seems to like tormenting others for fun, there are instances that he only does that as retaliation for what happened to his comrades. In the past, when 11Dogs defeated Fujimoto and kicked him on the ground as he was protecting his minigun, Midori came and defeated them all and proceeded to taunt them. During Hoshishiro's fight against Nine Tails, when Nouhide got Ichi, he shot him with his gun and proceeded to use his katana to defeat Nobunaga, saying "I'm going to use this blade, which slashed my comrade."
• Big Brother Mentor: He assumed this role for Matsuoka back when they were still friends. In the present, he also seems to assume this role for Hotaru, in a more subtle and roundabout way.
• Breaking Speech: Midori likes handing these out whenever possible, though he can inflict maximum devastation in something as brief as a few lines.
• Broken Ace: Midori seemed to live an empty live because he never worked hard to get anything in his life and everything came so easily for him.
• Broken Pedestal: Matsuoka looked up to Midori as his sempai who got him into survival games until Midori told him he was useless on his own and left him behind. Even now, Matsuoka can't move past their relationship and seeks to prove himself to Midori.
• Chick Magnet: He is very popular among the nurses in his hospital and among the mothers of his patients.
• Cruel to Be Kind: The reason why he broke off with Matsuoka was because Matsuoka had accepted the fact that he would always be second best to Midori, and thus, would never grow and reach his full potential as long as he's with him. Midori was then persuaded by Shingen to let go of Matsuoka so he can grow and be his own person.
• Dissonant Serenity: Although he's usually friendly and smiling, he takes a hard right into this during airsoft matches, especially when he's allowed to go all-out during TGC matches; Midori never seems happier and more at peace than when he's physically and psychologically ripping people to shreds.
• Dodge the Bullet: He seems to be able to do this with ease, as demonstrated during his fight with Matsuoka.
• The Dreaded: He is both respected and feared by the other survival game players for his skills.
• Dual Wielding: Although half the time it seems like he doesn't even need to draw either of his guns.
• Everyone Has Standards: As much as he loves messing with people, even he knows he took it too far when he demanded a naked Hotaru to kiss him if she wanted him to give her his towel so she could get out of the men's bath. However, just as he's about to give the towel to Hotaru, she kisses him anyway to Midori's surprise.
• Even the Guys Want Him: He seems to attract both males and females. Ichi is madly in love with him. Fujimoto admires him a lot and Matsuoka is obsessed with him.
• First Friend: He approached the friendless Ichi and became her first friend by starting to play survival games with her.
• Foe Romance Subtext:
  • The tension between him and Matsuoka sometimes reads as lovers that went through a bad break up yet still harbor feeelings for each other.
  • His reaction when witnessing Hotaru's bloodlust for the first time alternate between fear and excitement. He even scored a kiss from her (through blackmail, though it's revealed later he was just joking).
• For the Evulz: Why Midori does what he does.
• Friend to All Children: Or at least, the children he sees at the hospital seem to love him.
• Friendly Enemy: Despite his sadistic tendency on the battlefield, he can be pretty friendly and polite toward his opponents, even asking a permission from Nouhide to use his katana and said that he better be careful in using it since he only borrowed it. Of course, unless you got on his bad side.
• The Gadfly: Even when he's not dealing out physical and mental torment for kicks, Midori finds ways to mess with people, whether it's distracting children at the hospital with Fujimoto when he knows that Fujimoto gets depressed when kids get scared of him or adding insult to injury when he mocks Masamune and Tohru for not realizing Hotaru was a girl.
• Giver of Lame Names: Like Hotaru, Midori is bad at naming. His first choice for the name of his team Hoshishiro was "Survi-Win".
• Hidden Heart of Gold: He makes himself look like a cruel monster to Matsuoka because he wants him to stop depending on him and develop self-confidence.
• Hospital Hottie: The nurses at his hospital comment on how attractive he is, as do the mothers of his patients.
• Hypocrite: He repeatedly remarks that he "hates pain" and mock-chides others for 'playing rough,' but he's all too happy to inflict pain on others.
• In Love with Your Carnage: His reaction when facing Hotaru in her bloodlust mode seems to indicate this.
• Instant Expert: He's a genius fighter that can learn new technique very easily. For example, while he was an amateur when it comes to sword-fighting, he uses Nouhide’s katana against Nobunaga and learns how to use it as he goes, to the point of defeating Nobunaga, who has more skills and experience when it comes to swordfight.
• It Amused Me: His reply when Tohru asks him why he delights in tormenting Masamune and Tohru. Later subverted as it was revealed, he deliberately made Masamune and Tohru hate him so they would come at him for revenge, which will give them, especially Masamune, a push to get stronger than him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's manipulative and ruthless at the games, but he's not a bad person and can be very helpful to Hotaru and Toy Gun Gun in general when he's not their opponent.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Despite the harsh way he's putting it, some of what he says are actually true. He chided Hotaru for talking about justice while lying to her comrades about her gender. He mocked Matsuoka and Yukimura for not realizing Hotaru's gender, despite being a host who deals with women and an ero-mangaka who draws girls. Even Haruki had to admit it.
• Kick the Dog: During the TGC tournament match against Toy ☆ Gun Gun, he takes his time brutally tormenting Masamune both physically and mentally by shooting him with his own Desert Eagle at point-blank range, ensuring that the kickback recoil would hit Masamune hard enough to hurt. He also covered Masamune's mouth to prevent him from calling "hit", emptying the gun into him. He later takes down Tohru without much fanfare but seems to be enjoying hurting him a bit too much, shades of his pinning Tohru to the counter at the airsoft shop in "self-defense." Hotaru actually manages to gain the upper hand until Midori reveals that he knows she's a girl, which shocks her and gives Ichi enough time to hit her. Then he gloats over how he instilled a sense of defeat in her, much as he had done to her teammates.
  • It's apparently the way he treats all of his airsoft opponents, as we see him mocking and belittling other teams he's defeated and earned the hatred of Team 11Dogs by taunting them for not being "real" brothers both before and after he defeats them.
• The Leader: He's the official leader of Hoshishiro. His two teammates follow his every command and have great respect for him because of his strategic skills.
• Manipulative Bastard: Capable of predicting the thoughts and actions of others by manipulating them into acting according to his plan, often creating a Hope Spot or two just to hurt his victims more when he brings the hammer down.
• Mr. Fanservice: Probably the biggest one after Matsuoka.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Midori knows perfectly well what he's doing, so when he invades someone's personal space it's with the intention of getting under their skin.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Implies this to Tohru in a flashback when the latter tried to call him out for hurting Masamune, claiming that he likes Tohru's "twisted" personality. Tohru's response is to throw the contents of his mug at him and this supposed similarity might be one reason why Tohru hates Midori so much.
• Pet the Dog: Despite his Jerkass behavior in and out of survival games, he's quite a professional pediatrician at the hospital.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He doesn't reveal Hotaru's secret even after he learns she's a girl and "encourages" her to continue airsoft by threatening Masamune and Tohru, but it's clear he's only doing it to make things more interesting for himself.
• Psychotic Smirk: The expression Midori wears when playing with his 'toys' is somewhere between this and sexual arousal.
• Red Baron: He is nicknamed the "Undefeatable King" or "Invincible Emperor" depending on the translation, due to being the reigning champion of TGC for many years. Sometimes, the players will simply call him "The King" or "The Emperor".
• Sadist: Midori actively enjoys peoples' suffering and toying with people who react to his baiting, which is implied to be why he likes messing with Masamune and Tohru: He can count on the latter to go uncharacteristically berserk, especially if Masamune's involved, and when targeting Masamune Midori is disappointed when Masamune doesn't cry.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Unbeknownst to Hotaru, he figured out that Hotaru was a girl when he body-checked her. While he has hinted to her that he knew, Hotaru didn't pick up on it, leading to Toy ☆ Gun Gun's defeat at TGC again.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Most notably around Masamune and Tohru, though we learn that this is how he deals with most of his opponents in survival games. His way of repaying Toy ☆ Gun Gun's hard work over the past year is through crushing any hope they have for the Nationals.
• That Came Out Wrong: When Matsuoka and Yukimura ask him how did he know Hotaru is a girl, Midori says he knew "by touch" (because he touched her arms when helping her pick a gun). Since Haruki just admitted he found out by unintentionally touching Hotaru's chest, Yukimura becomes convinced that Midori did that too.
• Troll: An offline variant, Midori aims for the weak spots just because he knows it'll hurt the most, whether or not the victim's done anything to Midori himself (which they usually haven't).
• Villainous Rescue: He came to Toy Gun Gun's rescue during their first fight against 11Dogs and suggested for Hoshishiro to team up with Toy Gun Gun.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Matsuoka. They were close friends and partners in survival games until Midori broke off their partnership with the only explanation he gave being that he was "tired" of Matsuoka. Toy Gun Gun was formed so that Matsuoka had the chance to get back at Midori for leaving him. It is revealed later that he broke off with him and deliberately made Masamune hate him so Masamune will come at him for revenge and realize his full potential. They reconcile in the final chapter when Matsuoka declares he's happy to have met Midori even if Midori leaving him hurt him.

The Hosokawa Twins

Identical twins who used to play survival games. Haruki is the older twin, while Haruka is the younger twin.

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Both

• Comically Lopsided Rivalry: Their flashbacks emphasize how Haruki has never been able to win against Haruka at anything, not even when their rock-paper-scissors to decide who blew the candles of the birthday cake and who went to the bathroom first.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Their father's treatment of them has caused huge scars. Haruki mentions being scolded and hit for not being good enough when he was young and being locked in a dark room whenever he did something "bad," and his reaction when his dad threatened to 'reteach' him◊ further cements the implications that his father has been physically abusive towards him. While Haruka had it easier than Haruki thanks to meeting their father's standards, it's implied that he is used to physical threats as seen by his lack of response when Ichi threw water in his face and surprise when Fujimoto shielded him, and he's been hit at least once by their father.
• Gender-Blender Name: Haruki and Haruka are commonly girls' names.
• The Gunslinger: Like practically everyone else in this series. They both use a Scar Heavy equipped with an M320A1 attachment, which can be separated for Dual Wielding.
• Identical Twin ID Tag: Haruka is slightly taller than Haruki and Haruka has a mole by his left eye while Haruki does not.
• Mutual Envy: Haruka gets better results than Haruki at anything they do together, be it studies or survival games, without even putting as much effort at it as him. Their father constantly compared them, and as a result Haruki gained an inferiority complex towards Haruka, becoming one of the main reasons for the distance between the two. Ironically, even if he scored well and is currently successful, Haruka has always envied Haruki's social skills, and his ability to make friends.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Haruki is more cynical and quick-tempered while Haruka is composed and obsessive.
• Sibling Rivalry: They play on opposing teams.
• Sixth Ranger: Haruki to Toy Gun Gun and Haruka to Hoshishiro. Both left their respective teams, but rejoined some time after Hotaru starts playing survival games.
• Theme Twin Naming: "Haruki" translates to "spring tree" and "Haruka" translates to "spring flower".

Haruki Hosokawa

A former member of Toy ☆ Gun Gun. Was close to Masamune before he left the team and has hated survival games ever since. He still plays survival games, unbeknownst to everyone except Hotaru and Usagi. He lives in apartment 201 and rejoins Toy ☆ Gun Gun in chapter 23.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Haru Haru. Tachibana uses Haruharuki-san after they meet.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He wears a black one during airsoft matches. Hilariously, it's because he wants the enemy to feel as if he's attending their funeral.
• Big Brother Instinct: Haruki might not act like it thanks to his inability to deal with Haruka's personality, but he gets worried when he notices Haruka being down during the TCG match, and when their dad tries to hit Haruka with his cane for speaking against him Haruki's first reaction is Taking the Bullet to throw himself in front of Haruka.
• Blackmail: Played for laughs. He makes Hotaru his "slave" and has her do random chores and errands, threatening to tell Toy ☆ Gun Gun about her true gender if she does not comply.
• Cheerful Child: Was this as a kid, as seen in flashbacks.
• Cool Mask: He wears a gasmask during airsoft, and occasionally outside of the field. It's implied that it functions as a Security Blanket after his previous traumas and he puts it on during the TGC to hide his nerves from his father.
• Cynicism Catalyst: After facing his brother in TCG and losing, Haruki left Toy ☆ Gun Gun and grew more cynical as a result.
• Encyclopaedic Knowledge: Though it seems to be limited to firearms and the military, he's more than happy to explain his knowledge in excruciating detail.
• Hikikomori: Implied that he became a shut-in after leaving Toy ☆ Gun Gun, avoiding his family and leaving only to participate in airsoft matches.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: He seems to have been cheerful and pretty normal in flashbacks, but subsequent events have made him cynical even after he returns to Toy ☆ Gun Gun.
• NEET: As Tohru points out, Haruki doesn't have a job and isn't attending school, although he's apparently studying to re-apply to medical school.
• Only Sane Man: Sometimes winds up playing this role, especially when the others get carried away.
• Otaku: For the military in general and its firepower in particular. It's also what led him to get involved with airsoft.
• Past Experience Nightmare: In chapter 20, of his defeat in TGC by Haruka that lead him to leave the team.
• Prone to Tears: All things considered, Haruki is surprisingly prone to getting emotional to the point of somewhat comical tears when on the recieving end of some kindness from his friends. This is especially frequent soon after he rejoins the team and might be the aftereffects of the traumas that made him leave in the first place.
• The Runaway: After getting fed up with his strict father calling him 'useless' and a 'failure,' Haruki ran away from home.
• Secret-Keeper: After getting to know Hotaru better, he agrees to not tell Toy ☆ Gun Gun about her real gender.
• Successful Sibling Syndrome: The source of quite a lot of Haruki's problems. Haruki has always been compared to his younger twin brother Haruka by their father, who was constantly frustrated by Haruki's lack of similar accomplishments. This resulted in his inferiority complex towards Haruka, as no matter how hard he tried Haruka always surpassed him.
• Thanks for the Mammary: He accidentally touches Hotaru's chest when he's pulling her into his room to prevent her from telling Matsuoka and Yukimura about him and ending up falling on top of her. Although, Haruki says he didn't really feel any boob and only realizes Hotaru is a girl when she punches him.
• Tsundere: Haruki often pretends to be indifferent to the group's decisions, but he's actually an earnest and rather shy person who's easily flustered when people call him on it.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Has this vibe with Tohru, with Haruki loudly responding to Tohru's frequent needling.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: His father was always pressuring him to succeed, denigrating Haruki's airsoft hobby and considering him a failure, which led Haruki to leave home. However, even after all that, Haruki still wants to meet his expectations and get his approval.

Haruka Hosokawa

A doctor-in-training who is an ex-member of Team Hoshishiro. He works in the same branch as them.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: He's a (probably) non-romantic version to his twin brother Haruki; even when Haruki tries to mend fences, Haruka's overly-aggressive attitude results in Haruki running away.
• Always Someone Better: Be it studying, gaming, or physical abilities, Haruka always does better than Haruki. No matter how hard he studied or tried, Haruka surpassed him easily.
• Big Brother Instinct: In spades, despite being the younger brother. A very good method of getting on Haruka's bad side is to be mean to Haruki. Not even their father is exempted from this - in the past, when his dad mentioned not wanting to acknowledge Haruki due to 'being a failure of a son', Haruka stood up to him and called him stupid despite knowing that he'd get hit. Upon meeting their father in the present, Haruka stands in front of Haruki during most of the conversation, shielding him, and implores their father to give Haruki a chance.
• Big Brother Worship: Deconstructed. Haruka firmly believes that his Nii-san is the best at everything. Haruka thinks of Haruki as his hero, and whenever they meet he gets very excited and happy. Unfortunately, this pedestal is part of the reason that Haruki can't stand to be around him. Towards the end of the manga, Haruki finally makes Haruka understand that the real reason why he puts his brother on a pedestal is because Haruka has never wanted to realize just how much more talented he is or that Haruki was jealous of his abilities. Haruka never imagined that he was putting so much pressure on Haruki with his worshipping.
• Big Damn Heroes: When he went to rescue Haruki from their father and getting him out of the childhood locked punishment room, allowing him to go to the TGC instead of missing the entire tournament.
• Broken Ace: He seems like the superior twin in every aspect, but he's troubled because Haruki shoves him away despite (and because of) Haruka's attempts to show affection for him, and no matter what he tries he isn't able to help Haruki with his problems, much to Haruka's bitterness and regret.
• Death Glare: Has a terrifying dead-eyed variant when facing anyone he thinks is keeping him from Haruki, be it one of Haruki's teammates or one of his own.
• Dodge the Bullet: He can dodge bullets even when the opponent is throwing rapid fire at him.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: It's been stated that ever since he was young, despite all his accomplishments, Haruka has always been lonely and longed for friends.
• Incest Subtext: A one-sided variant. His obsession with his older twin brother combined with the way he constantly attempts to communicate with Haruki (hugging him from the back, whispering in his ear, constantly spying on him) can be easily misconstrued as having romantic intentions behind them.
• Innocently Insensitive: Haruka sincerely believes that the only reason he keeps surpassing Haruki is because Haruki's not really trying. Haruki is trying but even his best can't beat Haruka, whose well-intentioned encouragement only makes things worse.
• Madness Mantra: "Nii-san Nii-san Nii-san Nii-san Nii-san Nii-san..."
• No Sense of Personal Space: Has no problems getting up close and personal with his older brother, although Haruki very much has problems with it.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He won't let anyone defeat his brother and interfere in their duel, not even his own teammates in Hoshishiro.
• Sensor Character: He can detect the players hiding behind bushes or objects by perceiving their breath.
• Shared Family Quirks: Haruka strongly resembles their father in the way he carries himself and his cold, aloof personality. This is made plain when Haruki sees them watching his first TGC match and Haruka and their father are shown side by side.
• The Stoic: He only shows any interest or emotion when Haruki is involved.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Normally, his behavior is detached and cold to the point of coming off as emotionless. Whenever he's around his brother, Haruka turns into an adoring and excitable boy who smiles a lot.
• Terms of Endangerment: Haruka used to call Haruki by name when they were young, but in high school started to use the term 'Nii-san'. While 'Nii-san' is used to denote respect to an older brother, it serves as this as Haruka states that he uses the term as he sees his older brother as an idiot, making it gain a negative association. It turns out that Haruki misheard him, and that Haruka started calling him Nii-san to counter "the idiots" who assumed that the more talented Haruka was the older twin.
• Yandere: He is quite obsessed with his older brother and refuses to let anyone or anything come between them, to the point that Midori briefly considers shooting Haruki while the twins are fighting each other, then immediately changes his mind and decides to go somewhere else at Haruka's Death Glare.

Other Teams

Team Nine-Tails

A team of 20 in the TGC that mainly uses knives. They have a practice match with Toy ☆ Gun Gun. Their three main players are Nishi Nobunaga, Minami Nouhide and "Ran" Ranmaru.

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• Camp Gay: Ran has shades of this; when Ran appears in a male uniform, he sees Masamune and melodramatically flees back behind the curtain because "[Masamune] can't see me like this!"
• The Comically Serious: A Downplayed version, but Nishi Nobunaga does everything with taciturn seriousness, be it explaining the rules while running away from Ranmaru or serving sushi.
• Cool Mask: They wear modified kitsune masks.
• Graceful Loser: The entire team, especially Nishi Nobunaga. When they lose to Toy ☆ Gun Gun in chapter 23 they take their loss well, and when Nishi Nobunaga is defeated by Team Hoshishiro in the second TGC (with their speciality, close combat), Nobunaga takes his defeat gracefully, wishing Team Toy Gun Gun good luck.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Minami Nouhide wields one.
• Martial Arts and Crafts: The team's day-job is running a sushi restaurant, potentially explaining their skill with knives.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: They're not exactly a boss of any kind, but they're probably the quirkiest team TGG has met.
• School Uniforms are the New Black: They have a self-proclaimed fetish for traditional school uniforms as they choose to wear those for the survival games.
• Sobriquet Sex Switch: The Wholesome Crossdresser Ranmaru asks to be called by the female "Ran-chan".
• The Stoic: Minami Nouhide, who doubles as the Only Sane Man.
• Weakness Turns Her On: Ranmaru, towards Masamune. Yukimura is not pleased.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Ranmaru plays survival games dressed like a woman.

Team 11 Dogs

A large team who fought with Toy ☆ Gun Gun for practice grounds. Their leader holds a grudge against Midori from the last tournament.

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• Amazon Chaser: In later chapters, after finding out Hotaru is a girl, the youngest brother Taku develops a crush on her, even asking her on a date. One of the things he finds attractive about her is the fact that she's strong enough to catch his brother Kiyo when he fell off a cliff during the game
• Animal-Motif Team: Dogs, specifically Huskies and related Northern dogs.
• Blood Knight: All but Jin comes off as this, especially Taku.
• Freudian Trio: Taku, the youngest Mouri brother, is the impulsive Id; Jin, the middle brother, is the stoic Superego; Kiyo, the oldest brother, is the Ego that mediates between them and serves as Team Leader.
• Friendly Enemies: They seem to have resolved their issues with Masamune by the end of their match, since the next time the Mouri brothers see Toy ☆ Gun Gun Taku takes note of their arrival in a cheerful way, though he still notes that 11Dogs will be the ones to defeat Hoshishiro.
• More Dakka: The ability to fling great quantities of lead - well, BBs - at their opponents seems to be the main strategy for the 11Dogs rank-and-file.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: They are obsessed in winning against Hoshishiro
• The Rival: Sees Hoshishiro as this because when they last met in the TGC, Midori not only beat them but mocked them as "fakes" because they're not blood-related. They seem to lump Masamune in with Midori, at least initially, because Masamune was on Midori's team when it happened.
• Sibling Team: The leaders of 11Dogs are three brothers who aren't technically brothers.
• Zerg Rush: While not unskilled, they rely heavily on their larger numbers.

Team Wage Slave

Hanako Sagara is voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese), Allison Keith (English)

Captained by Hanako Sagara, who led the Red Team in one of Hotaru's earliest events and unintentionally told Hotaru about Toy ☆ Gun Gun's no-female-players policy. She and her male teammates, Megumu Yukawa and Koumoto Mikisaburou, are TGG's second-round match during their second TGC.

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• Always Someone Better: Played for Drama with Mikisaburou, who secretly feels this way about Yukawa.
• Betty and Veronica: Yukawa and Mikisaburou are this Gender-Inverted Trope for Hanako, though it's difficult to say which is which... Not that she's noticed.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Their reintroduction has Yukawa and Mikisaburou glaring threateningly at the (apparently) all-male Toy ☆ Gun Gun.
  Yukawa: I will kill whoever flirts with Hana-chan.
  Mikisaburou: Don't try to get close to Hana-chan, bastard.
• Finger Gun: Hanako playfully does this to T☆GG when she says she'll go all-out against them.
• Friendly Rivalry: Yukawa and Mikisaburou have this dynamic when competing for the right to confess to their captain.
• Genki Girl: Hanako is cheerful and upbeat and seems to take things in stride, though she gets serious during the TGC.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Implied when Hanako and her team meets Toy ☆ Gun Gun at Team Ninetails' sushi restaurant: When the teams reaffirm their resolve to do their best at the upcoming TGC, Hanako immediately suggests drinking and her teammates immediately try to stop her. This is confirmed in a later flashback.
• Has a Type: Sagara reveals she likes pretty young boys.
• Hopeless Suitor: Yukawa and Mikisaburou are both rejected by Hanako because she had a crush on Tachibana until she was told Tachibana is a girl. Despite this, Hanako can convince the guys to stay friends and coworkers with her.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Yukawa is perfectly fine with Hanako choosing Mikisaburou if that's what will make her happy. This selflessness is what makes Mikisaburou think Yukawa is better for Hanako than him.
• In Love with Your Carnage: A lighthearted downplayed example: After Masamune and Tohru show off their airsoft skills, Hanako squees over them and comments that they're "so attractive~"
• In Vino Veritas: Stoic, no-nonsense Yukawa Can't Hold His Liquor, which once led him to drunkenly confess his feelings for Hanako to Mikisaburou... as well as Yukawa's belief that Mikisaburou could make her happy where he himself couldn't.
• Love Confession: Yukawa and Mikisaburou ultimately wind up confessing to Hanako after thei TGC match, or rather Yukawa does it for both of them. Turns out Hanako's into young Pretty Boy types like Hotaru, and even after everything's sorted out she just sees them as friends.
• Office Lady: Hanako's day-job, as we see her and her male teammates working in an office; when they meet Toy ☆ Gun Gun in the sushi restaurant they're dressed professionally and Hanako comments that they just got off work.
• The Strategist: Yukawa's role on the team, something Sagara and Mikisaburou apparently expect because he's their department head at work.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: Hanako ties her hair back into a ponytail during survival games.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Hanako is the Girl and Yukawa and Mikisaburou are the Guys. The guys fight each other over Hanako (though it appears to be restricted to survival games).

Other Characters

Kanae Yajima

Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese), Shanae'a Moore (English)

A pink-haired girl who's Hotaru's friend. She knows Hotaru is a girl and tries to get her to be more feminine.

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• Ambiguously Bi: She clearly showed interest in guys, as in the first episode she was attracted to Matsuoka, going as far as to follow him to the Host Club, and indulged in stress eating after being rejected. But her actions around Hotaru can sometimes be suspiciously romantic. She blushed when Hotaru rubbed her face and called her cute. She even asked Hotaru on a date once, and imagining living in the same apartment as Hotaru.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She completely disappears from the manga around 20 chapters in. Although, it makes sense because the story puts all its focus on Toy Gun Gun's challenges from that point on and since Kanae doesn't play survival games, she had no real reason to keep appearing. Although, an omake does show that she played with Toy Gun Gun and liked it because she gets to see Hotaru looking cool.
• Determinator: She does this against Hotaru in repeated racing matches to help her out of a brief Heroic BSoD.
• Forehead of Doom: She has a quite prominent forehead.
• Hidden Depths: She has expressed great disapproval in Hotaru's participation in survival games because it's dangerous and unlady-like. Despite this, she would rather have Hotaru be happy while playing than unhappy and not playing. She even does a lot of out-of-character things to get Hotaru back in the game.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Part of the contrast with Hotaru is Hotaru's short hair and athletic interests and Kanae's much longer hair and more feminine appearance.
• Rose-Haired Sweetie: Of the cheery sort, although she wasn't very cheery after Masamune wouldn't let her into the host club.
• Satellite Character: Kanae serves the role of Hotaru's girly friend. Other than that, there isn't much to Kanae in terms of characterization and she has no plot relevance.
• Social Circle Filler: She's introduced in the pilot as Hotaru's friend who seems to be the only one in their school who knows that Hotaru is a girl. She causes the misunderstanding that gets Hotaru into Toy Gun Gun and brings up Hotaru's morale when she's feeling down about her team's defeat at TGC, but she isn't relevant to the plot after those events.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Hotaru's tomboy, though she tries to make Hotaru less of one.

Toshizou Usanagi

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Andrew Love (English)

The store owner of Echizen, an airsoft store. Was once a mercenary and fought on the same team as Souji Kamenashi. He has a daughter named Ran ^note Not to be confused with Ranamaru from Team Nine-tails, whose nickname is the same. Sometimes referred to as "Usagi".

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• Affectionate Nickname: "Usagi".
• Expy: He's a homage to Metal Gear Solid's Big Boss, visually as well as his past as a mercenary.
• Retired Badass: Was once a mercenary.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Wears a red apron with a cute bunny pin.
• The Stoic: He has an intimidating look that scared Hotaru when they first met. It becomes a point of interest when he does laugh/smile.
• Twerp Sweating: Downplayed, since Ran is still a child, but when Ran tells Usagi that she wants to marry Kamenashi, her father expresses disapproval and dares Kamenashi to try.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Subverted. He and Ran look nothing alike, which made Tachibana struggle about admitting a resemblance.

Souji Kamenashi

Voiced by: Hiroki Tochi (Japanese), David Wald (English)

An occasional judge for survival games, most notably the TGC. Was once a mercenary and fought on the same team as Usagi. He is also a famous cram school teacher.

Tropes associated with him:

• Badass Teacher: Was once part of the same mercenary unit with Usagi.
• Friend to All Children: Despite his stoic appearance, Usanagi's young daughter Ran not only likes him but declares she wants to marry him.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Does this frequently.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Usanagi. It seems that Souji wants to mend fences, but Usagi has no interest in doing so.

Kane and Souichi Tachibana

Hotaru's mother and father, respectively, currently in America so that Souichi can receive medical treatment.

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Tropes applying to both

• Childhood Friend Romance: Kane and Souichi grew up together and eventually married.
• Good Parents: Both Souichi and Kane clearly love Hotaru very much, with Souichi writing to Hotaru even while he's in the hospital.
• Happily Married: From what little we see of them, they clearly love each other and have a good marriage despite Souichi being hospitalized all the time.
• Marry for Love: What Kane and Souichi did, against the wishes of the Tachibana family due to Souchi's poor health. It's implied that this resulted in Kane and subsequently Hotaru being disowned by the rest of the family.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Big time. When Souichi kisses Kane on the cheek, it looks like a cute girl kissing a handsome guy instead of the other way around.
• Opposites Attract: Kane is a perpetually expressionless, tough police officer and Souichi is a gentle man. Despite their great differences, they're Happily Married.

Tropes applying to Kane

• Badass in a Nice Suit: Kane has only ever been seen wearing a suit, except for her child-self in a flashback. Kane is also extremely badass.
• Bifauxnen: Kane, to an even greater degree than Hotaru herself. When the rest of Toy ☆ Gun Gun first see her they spend a frantic few panels wondering if she's Hotaru's mother or father and freaking out at the thought of getting it wrong.
• Boyish Short Hair: Like her daughter, Kane keeps her hair short as part of her mannish appearance.
• Establishing Character Moment: Kane is first seen effortlessly judo-throwing a purse-snatcher so hard he's knocked unconscious, then declaring that "I, Tachibana, will not condone such evil deeds."
• For Great Justice: Kane is a police officer and has very strong morals; it's clear where Hotaru gets it from.
• Generation Xerox: Played with, as Hotaru physically resembles her father but is otherwise eerily like her mother in her mannerisms, dress and skill. It's even pointed out by Toy ☆ Gun Gun when they see mother and daughter standing opposite each other, saying it's like there are "two Hotarus."
• Good Is Not Soft: Kane deals with crime by applying crushing force to subdue criminals, but she knows her limits and that keeps her from verging into Knight Templar territory.
• Head Desk: Kane smashes her head into a wall to the point of cracking it, essentially punishing herself for unintentionally awakening Hotaru's terrifying sense of justice.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Kane gives a parental one to the guys of Toy ☆ Gun Gun after she agrees to let Hotaru stay for the TGC.
• Shared Family Quirks: Kane is an extremely moral Bifauxnen martial artist who refers to herself by her last name, just like Hotaru.
• The Stoic: Her facial expression rarely changes from her usual stern expression. Although, she has a Not So Stoic moment when she sees how Hotaru beat up those bullies.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's cool, collected, and stern when dealing with criminals, causing her to come off as intimidating. When you get to know her, Kane is a good person who loves her husband and daughter.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!:
  • Hotaru refers to Kane as "Mom" or "Mother" (Okaasan in Japanese), but Kane has been trying to get Hotaru to call her "Mama" since Hotaru was very young.
  • She also insists that others call her "Kane-chan".
• Third-Person Person: Like Hotaru, Kane refers to herself on a Last-Name Basis, ex. "Tachibana has said..."
• Tomboyish Name: Kane is usually a male name, but Tachibana Kane is female. This and her masculine appearance are why no one would be blamed for thinking Kane is Hotaru's father instead of her mother.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Kane tells a young Hotaru that those who hurt others or lie are "evil" and that those who protect others "defeat evil," unintentionally awakening Hotaru's blood-lust mode when Hotaru "defeats evil" by beating a group of older children unconscious after they bully one of her friends.
• When She Smiles: Kane does so very rarely, but it's the only time her features soften enough to make it clear that she's a woman.

Tropes applying to Souichi

• Stepford Smiler: Implied to be the case for Souichi, who's only seen smiling gently around others but who admits to having wanted to kill his "weak" self because his body's too frail to protect his family.
• Your Days Are Numbered: It's revealed that he's expected to die soon, which is why Kane wants Hotaru to come to the US as well.

Mr. Hosokawa

The father of Haruki and Haruka.

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• Abusive Dad: He constantly compared Haruki to Haruka due to the differences in their accomplishments, which had massive impacts on both their psyches. Besides from the verbal and emotional abuse inflicted from calling them 'useless' and 'failures,' it's been implied that he was also physically abusive ever since they were young, as seen by his quick resort to violence whenever the twins spoke up or rebelled against him.
• Fantasy-Forbidding Father: He forbid Haruki and Haruka from playing TCG matches as he thought those were 'useless.'
• Jerkass: He's a stern and intimidating man who believes in results rather than effort in terms of worth.