GWShinobu

Also known as: Shinobu-sempai, Mr. Perfect

Grade: Second Year at the start of the series

Room: 211 (with Ikeda Mitsuru)

Birthday: December Twenty-somethingth

Sign: Capricorn

Blood Type: AB

Height: 175 cm (~5'10")

Weight: 58 kg (~128 lbs! Yikes! Somebody feed the man!)

Seiyuu: Seki Toshihiko (Duo/Gundam Wing, Mousse/Ranma1/2)

History:

Shinobu is the youngest child of a wealthy samurai family from Nagano.
His oldest brother, Akira, has been missing for 3 years, and his sister,
Nagisa, is -- umm. . . psychotic. Shinobu's parents are distant, at best.
Needless to say, Shinobu is not close to his family and he entered the
dorms with the primary goal of getting away. Shinobu is Student Council
President in his second year and roommate to Ikeda Mitsuru. He is friends
with Noriko, a morose painter who was once in love with his brother --
and who may have transferred her affections to Shinobu.

Appearance:

Shinobu is tall, thin and elegant. He is very conscious of his appearance,
and is usually immaculately dressed. His hair is a soothing, pale lavender
color, and his eyes are a nearly matching shade of grey. Shinobu's eyes are
less round than those of the other characters, which indicates that he is
more adult and less innocent.

Personality:

The first two words to come to mind are: detached and amused. Shinobu
is calm, cool and collected most of the time, although he does enjoy
laughing at his roommate and friends. Even his anger is cold and
controlled. His natural reserve and polite air make getting to know him a
challenge. Shinobu is extremely intelligent, crafty and manipulative,
although he uses his powers for good most of the time. He is not above
using blackmail to get what he wants. In his younger days, Shinobu was
cynical and bitter, but his association with Mitsuru has softened him
somewhat. Mitsuru is also the only person who has been able to make
Shinobu lose his cool. (They had a brawl in the library in Manga vol. 5!)
Shinobu's greatest power is that one never knows when he is bluffing.

Special Abilities/Points of Interest:

In OAV 4 it is implied that Shinobu has strong spiritual powers of an
undisclosed nature. He also has the ability to sense the presence of ghosts.

Shinobu runs the school's betting pools.

Shinobu is able to identify the school uniforms of all the local schools
(especially girls' schools) on sight. He says it's something every school
council president needs to know. ^_^

He can sew a mean running stitch!

He smokes occasionally, usually when killing time waiting for someone.

Shinobu can crush tin cans with one hand when angry.

His sexual orientation is ambiguous. Unlike Mitsuru, Shinobu is not
embarrassed by women's panties. Whatever his preferences, it seems
likely that Shinobu is more experienced than his friends.

Shinobu is currently one centimeter shorter than Mitsuru. In the future, he
will be one centimeter taller.

In the manga, Shinobu displays the following abilities:

Control over his own body temperature (used to keep cool on hot days)

Gymnastics (high bar)

Volleyball playing

Judo (which he's studied since he was 6 years old)

Ice Skating

Meditation (useful for blocking out the cries of babies)

Lockpicking

Speaking with otherworldly creatures

Shooting big guns (!)

Also, the mere thought of Shinobu's anger gives Hasukawa nightmares.

Imo-girl Recommends:

If you like Shinobu (and who doesn't?) because. . .

. . .he's detached and amused, you'll also like Narsus (Arslan Senki).

. . .he's a brilliant manipulator, try Saitou Hajime (Rurouni Kenshin).

. . .he's a purple-haired smart-ass, check out Xelloss (Slayers Next).

. . .he's a highly competent bookie, see Tendou Nabiki (Ranma 1/2).

. . .his seiyuu rocks, listen to Duo Maxwell (Gundam Wing), Count D
(Petshop of Horrors), Yakushimaru Mikuro (Please Save My Earth), or
Legato Bluesummers (Trigun).

Relationships:

Shinobu likes and (more importantly) respects Hasukawa, though I suspect
that their relationship was initially based more on their mutual ties to
Mitsuru than anything else. Without Mitsuru, they probably would have
been no more than acquaintances at best, and enemies at worst. In terms
of personality, Shinobu and Hasukawa are pretty much diametrically
opposed. Shinobu is calm, controlled and self-assured, while Hasukawa
is self-doubting and apt to fly off the handle with the least provocation.
Shinobu is also fairly ruthless, and while not intentionally cruel, he can be
pretty callous. This, more than anything, brings him into conflict with
Hasukawa, who is not only very sensitive, but empathic. The two
incidents which proved Hasukawa's worth in Shinobu's eyes were
probably Mitsuru's abduction (by Nagisa) and the Dorm Head incident
(where Hasukawa floored Shinobu with a right hook). Hasukawa rose
from being a "delicate boy" to a person who could be counted on in a
pinch, and, more importantly, a person Shinobu couldn't push around.

Shinobu is probably Shun's sempai first and his friend second. They get
along well, but really have very little in common. Shinobu does trust
Shun enough to tell him Mitsuru's secret, however.

Shinobu appears to have Mitsuru wrapped around his finger, but I think
this is misleading. Yes, Shinobu drags his roommate into trouble and
sometimes orders him around or takes advantage of his good nature, but
Mitsuru never does anything he doesn't want to do. Their relationship is a
partnership of equals. If anything, I think Shinobu places a lot of
importance on his friend's good opinion of him, and tailors his own
actions accordingly. (See "Jr Toushou!" in manga volume 6.) Shinobu is
also aware that he owes Mitsuru a debt of gratitude for stopping his slide
into cynicism and self-hatred during their first year.

Whether Shinobu loves his sister is open to debate, but he certainly
doesn't respect her. His relationships with the rest of his family are too
sketchy to discuss, but he certainly makes very little effort to stay in
contact with them and states his preference for staying away.

Shinobu's relationship with Noriko is interesting. He's probably aware
that she's in love with him, but he chooses to play ignorant. He does seem
sincere when he says that he's grateful for her help and wants to see her
happy, though. Since Noriko's engagement to Shinobu's brother was
arranged, I wonder if Shinobu will be called upon to uphold the Tezuka
family's side of the agreement, since Akira has been disowned.

Why I worship:

Many people don't like Shinobu because they find him heartless and
calculating, and he's often portrayed in fanfics as being cold and
automaton-like. I disagree. Shinobu isn't particularly good at showing his
emotions, true, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have them. He was raised
in a strict household, (run by his dictatorial father) and was constantly
hounded by his jealous sister. Any sign of weakness would probably have
been instantly pounced upon. It says something about the resiliency of
Shinobu as a boy that he not only survived his childhood, but appeared to
flourish. The product of his upbringing, Shinobu is nothing if not
supremely competent and self-assured. When a problem arises he's the
one to solve it, whether it be life-sized chocolate doppelgangers, balls of
space goo, vengeful sisters or stolen panties. But, his considerable
abilities aside, the *true* reason I like him is that under that flawless
exterior is a slightly disillusioned young man who knows he's been given a
second chance at happiness. (Just don't mess it up -- okay, Shinobu?)