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Enoshima Dinoland
Staff
Suzume Suma
- Alliterative Name: Suzume Suma.
- Animal Lover: Suzume loves dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, with her main goal being to bridge the gap between them and humans.
- Audience Surrogate: Being a newbie keeper, she's perfect for the audience to be introduced to the park's animals and their respective keepers.
- Big Eater: When she’s not working or thinking, odds are she’s eating something.
- Friend to All Children: In her Establishing Character Moment, she consoles some schoolchildren terrified by the zoo's Giganotosaurus and helps them gain a new perspective on dinosaurs, in contrast to the other zoo staff, who find themselves unsure what to do with the frightened kids.
- Improvisational Ingenuity: Very good at thinking on her feet, and quick at coming up with improvised plans. She saves the Troodon family from heatstroke when the A/C units break down with box fans and big ice blocks from the park’s café, and comes up with the exhibit showing off Masaru’s horn to make him more popular with guests.
- Nephewism: After the death of her parents, she was taken care of by her aunt and uncle.
- Nice Girl: She's overall well-behaved, compassionate and a positive influence on the people around her.
- Plucky Girl: Suzume is a kind, cheerful, eager, and determined young woman who is very passionate about dinosaurs and hopes to get people interested in them again as more than just monsters. While her outlook is seen by some of her coworkers as naive, her attitude is also quite helpful for the zoo on occasion.
Arata Kaidou
Dinokeeper in charge of the theropods of Dinoland.
- Due to the Dead: He has built a mound to commemorate all the animals the park has lost, either due to disease or accidents.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He might come across as harsh towards Suzume at first, but his heart is very much in the right place, both as a caretaker and in relation to his fellow keepers.
- Knight in Sour Armor: From his retelling of the Ichigo Incident, it's obvious that it affected him deeply and that it soured his worldview. That said, he remains devoted to his trade, in order to prevent such an atrocity from ever happening again.
- Older Than They Look: He doesn't look that much different from how he appeared back in 2006, meaning he looks 20 despite being at least 30.
- Scars Are Forever: He noticeably has three claw marks on his right arm. It was caused by Ichigo when she was trying to escape in her initial rampage. It serves as a reminder of always treating wild animals with respect and not crossing their boundaries.
- Stern Teacher: Has no patience at all with slow learners or those who make mistakes, though it’s made clear it’s out of a desire to see them do better.
- Taught by Experience: Not his exact personal experience, but it fits. He's pretty serious about sticking to security protocols and doesn't get too comfortable around the dinosaurs he keeps, even those he has cared for for years, since he doesn't want a repeat of the 2006 incident.
Karin Kirishima
Dinokeeper in charge of the ceratopsians of Dinoland.
- Alliterative Name: Karin Kirishima.
- Cool Big Sis: Very much has this vibe with Suzume despite being unrelated, being a good deal more experienced than the rookie and being far more open with positive feedback than Kaidou.
- Defector from Decadence: She used to work at the biggest dinosaur park in all of Japan, but when her favorite Triceratops, Masaru, was sold to Dinoland after losing his horn, she quit and joined Dinoland's staff instead. Lampshaded when Suzume comments that she's a little jealous to hear that Kirishima used to work at such a famous dinosaur park, to which she blithely comments that she shouldn't be jealous because the place was terrible.
- Drowning My Sorrows: An extra chapter show her drinking and lamenting to Kaidou that another prospective boyfriend dumped her.
- Undying Loyalty: She cares so deeply for Masaru that when he was sold to Enoshima Dinoland from the larger dinosaur park he used to be in, she quit her job there just to join him.
Takatoshi Ogino
Chief curator and manager of Enoshima Dinoland. He's pretty mild-mannered but focused on keeping the park running.
- Benevolent Boss: Soft-spoken and polite, and often serves as a "cushion" between the executives and workers, generally doing a good job of it.
- Cool Old Guy: He's the oldest worker at Enoshima, and he's pretty reasonable and friendly.
- Eyes Always Shut: His eyes are always seen closed, but he sees just fine.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's pretty reasonable and he even hires Suzume despite the park's financial woes.
Ami Torikai
Enoshima Dinoland's accountant and general manager. She's always wearing a dino-themed hat.
- The Comically Serious: She always has a stoic expression despite the silly-looking hat she likes to wear.
- Does Not Like Men: Official trivia states that she is not much of a people person, and that she has a dislike for openly masculine men.
- Never Bare Headed: She's always wearing a dino-themed hat. According to her she has at least ten others which she uses to alternate.
- Signature Headgear: Always wears a distinctive green dinosaur hat. When Suzume asks about it, she mentions she has several of them at home.
- Stoic Spectacles: Wears glasses and she's pretty calm and non-expressive.
Keisuke Igarashi
Dinokeeper in charge of pachycephalosaurs and stegosaurs at Enoshima Dinoland. Formerly an employee of an aquarium called Blue World.
- Defector from Decadence: Igarashi left a cushy job at the much larger, bigger-budget Blue World due to personal disagreements. He did it on the director's advice since he noticed Igarashi clearly disagreed with their policies and lack of interest in educating their visitors, in favor of emphasis on spectacle and atmosphere. They were so strict about it that he got reprimanded for educating a guest about one of their animals, after the guest asked for it.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Befriends Yuuto, the young son of a chef at the café, who is constantly eager to show Igarashi his dino drawings.
- Mr. Exposition: Thoroughly enjoys educating guests about the park’s dinosaurs. His tendency for this is hinted to have gotten him fired from Blue World, and he’s so good at it that he actually gets a date with a guest after giving her a lecture about Pachycephalosaurus.
Shougo Katase
Caretaker for ankylosaurs and some theropods at Enoshima Dinoland – in effect, the Pinacosaurus and Citipati. A very strict, no-nonsense person who recently got promoted into his position when his predecessor left shortly before Suzume’s arrival.
- Animal Motifs: For the Ankylosaurs he cares for. Suzume claims he’s covered in “body plates of logic”, and is pretty rigid and inflexible as a result.
- Stern Teacher: Even more so than Kaidou. He has a complex job caring for the Pinacosaurus, and isn’t very patient when Suzume mixes a few things up… but when he realizes he’s pushing her a bit too hard, he tells her to ask him if she’s unsure of what to do.
- Stoic Spectacles: The only head of a dinosaur department who wears eyeglasses, and probably the most blunt, logical, precise, and humorless among them.
Harue Katou
Caretaker of ornithopods at Enoshima Dinoland. Mellow, sweet, and affable.
- Big Fun: The most heavyset employee seen, but also very even-tempered and mellow, and defuses some of the tension between Suzume and Katase by explaining Katase’s situation to the newbie.
- Eyes Always Shut: Like the director, she’s drawn with her eyes always shut, but can see just fine.
Former Staff
Yamaga
The former keeper in charge of the theropods of Enoshima Dinoland.
- Posthumous Character: He's long dead by the time of the main story.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in one chapter, but his carelessness and the cause of his death are what brought great controversy to dinosaur parks and led to their current financial struggles.
- Suicidal Overconfidence: Kaidou thinks he got too overconfident around Ichigo the Allosaurus, whom he treated like a pet, and it would lead to his death, since he was completely alone with the dinosaur right when she was under a lot of stress, causing her to lash out and kill him.
- Tempting Fate: His last recorded words were reassuring Kaidou that the buddy system was just a suggestion and that it was fine to leave him alone with Ichigo since she had never hurt anyone before. When Kaidou returned Ichigo had already mauled Yamaga to death.
Prehistoric Animals
Giganotosaurus
Yuki
- Author Appeal: Giganotosaurus is author Itaru Kinoshita’s favorite dinosaur, so it's the first animal that gets the spotlight in the series.
- Fluffy the Terrible: She's a huge Giganotosaurus with the harmless name of 'Snow'. According to Kaidou, when she first arrived to Enoshima, it was snowing and her skin looked white as well.
- Manchild: Despite being a full-grown dinosaur, Suzume compares her to a child who still looks for a parent's approval. In this case Kaidou, who has cared for her since she was a whelp.
- Meaningful Name: "Yuki" means "Snow", a reference to her pale hide and the snowy weather the park was experiencing when she arrived.
- Stereotype Flip: Despite the fearsome reputation of predatory dinosaurs, she's surprisingly cautious and quite needy.
Troodon
Vena and Niko
Vena (right), Niko (Left)
The park's resident mated pair of Troodon. Recently they had a new batch of hatchlings.- Hands-Off Parenting: Like certain species of bird, neither parent will do anything to prevent their youngest hatchling, Benkei, from being bullied by its siblings due to being the runt of the batch.
- Stronger Than They Look: Despite being the park's smallest theropod species, they're quite strong, as Suzume finds out.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Niko has darker and brighter colors than his mate, making them easy to distinguish.
Benkei
The last hatchling of Vena and Niko's batch. He ends up in the care of Suzume.- Adorably Precocious Child: For his age and by dinosaur standards, he's surprisingly intelligent and very good at problem solving.
- All of the Other Reindeer: He's the smallest, weakest, and last-hatched of Niko and Vena’s chicks, is often picked on by his siblings, and their parents ignore the abuse.
- Put on a Bus: After realizing that his siblings won't stop bullying him, even after helping them get food, Suzume agrees that Benkei should be transferred to a lab with other misfit dinosaurs, partly for his own safety.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: He's tiny and adorable, unfortunately he's also wily and incredibly active, as Suzume finds out.
- The Runt at the End: Hatching last makes him the youngest and smallest of the chicks, which is why his siblings constantly bully him.
Triceratops
Masaru
- Ascended to Carnivorism: Downplayed. Masaru is still mostly a herbivore. However, he requires dietary supplements with fish meal in them for a protein and calcium boost, which is good for his horns.
- Career-Ending Injury: He was once one of Japan's most popular captive dinosaurs, but he accidentally broke one of his horns. Although the injury was ultimately superficial, his popularity plummeted, leading him to be sold off to Dinoland and replaced by another Triceratops with intact horns.
- Celebrity Is Overrated: He was the star Triceratops in Japan's biggest, most successful dinosaur park, until he lost his horn. Much is made of how his fame only lasted as long as he was in perfect condition, and then was sold off in favor of a new Triceratops after the accident. Karin, his most loyal caretaker, left shortly after he did.
- Gentle Giant: When he's calm, it's easy to see that he's a huge softie, and enjoys laying in his favorite place and eating his favorite treats.
- Heavier than It Looks: Suzume decided to turn his broken horn into an interactive exhibit that challenges visitors to try to lift it. All 50 kilograms of it.
- Scars Are Forever: His horn will never grow back, but he's healthy and safe without it, if a little off-balance.
- Scars Are Ugly: He was jeered at by crowds after his horn was broken.
- Temper-Ceratops: Zigzagged. While he can get pretty rowdy when upset, outside of it he's a big softie.
- Trademark Favorite Food: His favorite snacks are apples.
Dilophosaurus
Roy
- Clone Degeneration: Due to his species age, Dilophosaurus were brought back to life via genetic engineering, making them more prone to disease and requiring regular medical check-ups.
- Delicate and Sickly: "Delicate" only compared to other dinosaurs, but Roy is already suffering from the early stages of kidney failure and gout at a relatively young age.
- It's Probably Nothing: Not said so by Roy himself, obviously, but Kaidou and Suzume failed to realize he was developing renal problems due to gout simply by his change in behavior.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Dr. Shiranui claims that cloned dinosaurs tend to have far more health issues than those bred from the Barakan Island population, and almost never get to live out their full lifespan. Given that Roy is already suffering kidney failure and gout, it’s unlikely he has long to live.
Allosaurus
Ichigo
A rare moment of calm.
The park's former resident female Allosaurus, notorious for getting nervous very easily.- Nervous Wreck: She was notoriously uneasy towards loud noises and even something as simple as repainting her fence was enough to make her sleep deprived. The stress caused by the noise of a construction near her enclosure was enough to make her lash out and kill her keeper.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Her own death and her killing of Yamaga basically led to interest in dinosaurs dying out overnight and leading to most dino parks and sanctuaries being in financial struggles.
- Stereotype Flip: For a Jurassic apex predator, she was quite the nervous wreck. Then tragedy struck and she killed and was killed in turn, making people go back to seeing dinosaurs as dangerous Prehistoric Monsters.
- Truth in Television: Sad as it might be, captive wild animals lashing out unexpectedly and injuring or killing humans, even those who had taken care of them for years, is not uncommon.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Her short-lived rampage ended with one of her keepers dead, the other badly injured, several visitors terrified, and the reputation of dinosaur parks around the world in tatters. That said, it’s also made clear that the attack was not done out of rage or bloodlust, but simply her lashing out in a panic, and she died confused, terrified, and in pain from several broken ribs.
Tyrannosaurus
Hanako
Enoshima's resident Tyrannosaurus rex. At 36 years old, she's old by tyrannosaur standards.
- Big Eater: Comes with the territory of being a Tyrannosaurus. One of the few things that’s just about guaranteed to get her up and at 'em is a hadrosaur steak.
- Feeling Their Age: She's old by her species standards, so she's nowhere near as active as in her younger days, nor can she bite with the force she used to.
- Fluffy the Terrible: A Tyrannosaurus rex named Hanako.
- Stereotype Flip: Despite her species having the most feared reputation of all dinosaurs, her personality is stated to be polite. To say nothing of her age.
- Terrifying Tyrannosaur: Subverted due to her age. The keepers are comfortable enough to go into the same pen as her in order to try coaxing her out into her yard.
Centrosaurus
Daikichi, Shoukichi and Umeko
Umeko (right) and Shoukichi (left)
The trio of resident Centrosaurus.- Crazy Jealous Guy: By Chapter 12, Umeko has chosen Shoukichi, and Daikichi is starting to act more aggressive towards them both. He's moved to live with Masaru the Triceratops, who's big enough to keep him in check.
- David Versus Goliath: Downplayed; Daikichi is noticeably bigger and older than Shoukichi, but the smaller animal has no trouble pushing back when they argue. By Chapter 12, Shoukichi has apparently won Umeko's favor.
- Love Triangle: Suzume calls their competitions something of a love triangle, since Umeko hasn't chosen either male as her mate yet. By Chapter 12, it seems Umeko has chosen Shoukichi.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Shoukichi is noticeably smaller than Daikichi, but he can keep up with his bigger rival without losing in their competitions.
- Temper-Ceratops: As relatives of the Triceratops, they can get rather rowdy, especially when competing for a female.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Umeko is the female and Shoukichi and Daikichi are the two males.
Pachycephalosaurus
Hachibei
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He was deeply protective towards Daisy, and actually tried warding off Igarashi for brushing her scales.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Is briefly seen in Chapter 10 before getting the focus of Chapters 13 and 14.
- Headbutting Pachy: Zigzagged. Hachibei is fairly mellow towards his keepers, and Pachys in-universe generally use their hard heads to duel with more sideways blows than head-on collisions. That said, the interactive items in his exhibit include an old tire swing and a punching bag that he will happily headbutt and hammer at in his free time.
- The Klutz: One of the clumsier dinosaurs in the park, but durable enough that it’s not usually a problem.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: Suffered from a wound in his snout that kept re-opening and getting worse for reasons unknown, despite it getting treated again and again. It turned out that, on rainy nights, the gutters in his sleeping quarters would get clogged, and start splashing loudly, waking him up and causing him to whack his snout on a nearby sheet of metal. When the gutters were cleaned, the problem went away.
Spinosaurus
Eiger
Enoshima's resident male Spinosaurus. His enclosure was recently refurbished and expanded as of the beginning of Volume 3.- Early-Bird Cameo: Is briefly seen in Chapter 1, but doesn't get any real focus until Volume 3.
- Savage Spinosaurs: Completely averted; he’s mostly just seen swimming peacefully in his enclosure, and never goes for anything besides fish. He was apparently also a clumsy fish hunter before his enclosure was redesigned and expanded.
Stegosaurus
Momiji
- Early-Bird Cameo: She's briefly seen in Chapter 4 before being the focus of Chapters 16 and 19.
- Gentle Giant: She is a large stegosaur, but very easygoing and cooperates well with the keepers.
- Mellow Fellow: Her main personality trait is that she is the most laid-back animal in the park.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When the keepers had to move her to another habitat, they were surprised when she was much more reluctant to do so than during their practice runs, and began to worry something was very wrong. Subverted when it turned out it was just a cold morning and she had to wait a bit to warm up.
- Tough Armored Dinosaur: Averted, she’s explicitly stated to be probably the mellowest animal in the park.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Pine needles. They’re used to get her to move where she’s wanted.
- When She Smiles: Due to the distinctive shape of her snout, she seems to have sort of a Playful Cat Smile when viewed from head-on. Suzume uses this to give her a bigger social media presence.
Pinacosaurus
Ayaka, Nia, Norika, and Fuuka
Enoshima dinoland’s small Pinacosaurus herd. While small and generally sedate for Ankylosaurs, their care is a bit complicated.- The Nose Knows: Their sense of smell is quite sharp, and they know exactly which food boxes are meant for which animal.
- The One Guy: Nia is the only male in the group.
- Picky Eater: Ayaka and Norika eat horsetail, alfalfa, and silage, Nia gets horsetail, timothy grass, and silage, while Fuuka eats horsetail and timothy grass. They’re also not the best chewers, so their keepers cut much of their food up for them. Poor Suzume has a hard time keeping it straight.
- Tough Armored Dinosaur: Though generally mellow, their keeper warns Suzume that they can be pretty cranky at times, and to always, always stay in front of them so they can’t use their clubbed tails on her.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Ayaka and Nia’s four unnamed whelps. They’re sold off to other dino parks before they’re even named.
Blue World
Staff
Director Kanzaki
The director of Blue World, one of the most enormous and successful aquariums in Japan. While a strict and no-nonsense type, he’s got a softer side.
- Commonality Connection: In his younger days, he fought to have Hama Aquarium's emphasis on education carry on over when it was retooled into Blue World. He largely failed, but in later years, he sees the struggle start to repeat itself when the up-and-coming Igarashi starts educating the guests against company policy. He reprimands him in his office, but later admits to Igarashi in private that he's proud of his attitude, even if it means the younger man may not have much of a future at Blue World.
- Mean Boss: Though he reprimands Igarashi for his educating one of the guests against company policy, he later commends him in private for his attitude. Also, there’s no denying his policies work, and Blue World is enormously successful for it.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As frustrating as his insistence on spectacle over education at Blue World is, there's no denying that it works, and when Igarashi applies for the job at Enoshima Dinoland, Kanzaki is the first to recommend him, feeling his talents would be much more worthwhile there.
Prehistoric Animals
Globidens
Sophia
- Gentle Giant: Despite being a huge, carnivorous mosasaur, she's laid-back enough for the aquarium to let her swim in a big tank with several ichthyosaurs and small fish. Justified in that she's a specialist hunter who doesn't see them as potential prey.
- Lovable Lizard: Mosasaurs are a type of lizard, and Sophia is quite docile.
- Meaningful Name: "Sophie" is a Greek name meaning "Wisdom". This is a reflection of how Hama Aquarium, which adopted her, stayed afloat until it could be bought out and retooled into "Blue World" – by using every idea and concept they could to bring in the guests. Not many people know this; the public are simply told that her name was originally “Sapphire”, and someone screwed up writing it in her records.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: As a newborn mosasaur she was completely adorable.
- The Runt at the End: Kanzaki mentions she was the runt of a litter that survived after their mother's death by Traumatic C-Section.
- Shrinking Violet: Didn't much care for crowds, and was usually fed in a less-frequented corner of her tank.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Molluscs and shellfish. This is normal for her species, which specialized in hunting hard-shelled slow-moving creatures.
Other Characters
Ichirou Suma
The late father of Suzume Suma. He was the scientist who discovered in 1987 a way for long extinct species of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals to be cloned back to life.
- Driven to Suicide: Killed himself following the 2006 Ichigo Incident, as the public uproar around what happened completely destroyed his reputation.
- Minor Major Character: His discoveries allowed several dinosaur species who had long gone extinct to be successfully brought back, but his presence to the story is small, but quite noteworthy.
- Posthumous Character: Long dead by the present day.
Ren Shiranui
A dinosaur doctor who makes visits to Enoshima on occasion.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: He realizes something is wrong with Roy the Dilophosaurus immediately after seeing some of his stool was different and noticing a change in his behaviour around his enclosure.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's introduced as a charming, personable man who really knows his way around dinosaurs. However, the "charming, personable" part goes out the window pretty quickly when he coldly insults Suzume.
- Dissonant Serenity: Even as he’s giving a brutal and rather unwarranted "The Reason You Suck" Speech, or getting chewed out for said speech, his expression never goes beyond "charming smile" or "completely neutral".
- Doctor Jerk: As skilled of a dino-doctor as he might be, he will not win any personality awards in the future.
- Hidden Depths: After Suzume figures out the reason behind Hachibei's repeated injuries - and notices him having mild pneumonia that even the doctor missed (since it only flares up in the rain) - he admits he may have been wrong about her.
- Insufferable Genius: While he's incredibly competent in veterinary practice, he's also condescending, arrogant and mean-spirited.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While he tells it in the most obnoxious possible way, he’s not wrong when he brings up the fact that the cloned dinosaurs tend to suffer many serious health problems, and there are major ethical issues with bringing them back for the sake of popular entertainment.
The Escapee
A Velociraptor who escaped from a group of Dino smugglers in Yokohama and fled before being recaptured in Kamakura.
- Escaped Animal Rampage: Largely downplayed, it’s too small to do much damage, and the entire situation comes across as authorities trying to wrangle a mid-sized invasive animal. It startles a few people and steals a koi from a raccoon, but that’s about it. The real trouble with recapturing it is that it’s small, fast, and stealthy enough to initially avoid detection.
- Feathered Fiend: That said, it's far from helpless, and is clever enough that it almost slips animal control's grasp more than once.
- Raptor Attack: Completely averted. The animal is a small, feathery creature largely accurate to the fossil record, and actually has a bit of a hard time surviving in the forests of Kamakura, which are considerably colder and wetter than its natural habitat. It steals a fish from a raccoon (though the raccoon fights back hard enough to take a few feathers with it) and fails when it tries hunting a squirrel, then later is corralled by animal control officers with nets and stuffed in a plastic animal carrying crate.
