( character application. )
[ PLAYER INFORMATION ] Player Name: Katherine
Age: 17
Timezone: EST
Personal Journal: spiraling_sins
Contact Information
→AIM: revoluting
→E-MAIL: x_shisui@hotmail.com
→PLURK@adjustment
[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]Name: Usaki Toudou
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Fandom: DOLLS (manga)
Timeline: post-chapter 39.
History:NOTE: Chapters in DOLLS tend to focus on one or two characters in each chapter/arc, so I’ll only go in depth with the ones that show Usaki’s character development and background.
Usaki introduces the backstory of DOLLS with an opening monologue: “This is the third Toutoh Empire. Ten years ago, the land was thrown into chaos by excessive immigration. The number of violent crimes rose each year. During this time, certain unorthodox practices were established by those in power. A law, established to expedite trials and alleviate the pressure on overcrowded prisons… A law allowing trials to be conducted without the suspect present and the death penalty to be given to these absent criminals. It was called the Rationalization of a Trial, abbreviated as the ROT act.
Under this law, complete control of these executions was given to the court and prisons. As a result, a special military force was created with the jurisdiction to both investigate condemned criminals and carry out their sentences. The new organization was named the Special Executions Police Force, or the Tokubetsu Shikeishikkou Keimukan Butai, or more commonly known as the Tokkei… the very section I have been assigned to starting today.”
- But first, let’s backtrack to Usaki’s earlier years and figure out how exactly he ended up in the Tokkei in the first place.
Usaki’s childhood is not explained in detail, but what is known is that he grew up in a perfectly normal family: he had a mother, a father, and a twin brother, Iori. But sometime during their adolescence, something went wrong - it’s implied that there was an accident in which both Usaki and Iori drowned, and that somehow it was Usaki’s fault that it happened. While both survived, Iori has been in a coma ever since, and Usaki has lived with the guilt ever since.
It was this guilt that drove him to aspire to become part of the Tokkei, believing that killing others who live with the guilt of taking another’s life would help him cope with his own guilt. When asked why he wanted to join the Tokkei in an interview, his response was “Because I heard it was difficult. I’ve committed an unforgiveable sin that I hope to atone for by doing this job. If I can do that… never mind.”
For that purpose, he became a student at the Tokkei training academy, and quickly excelled over his peers. He gained a nickname, “the Machine,” and the rest of his class ostracized him not only for being a top student but also because of his naturally unsociable nature.
One day, though, that changed. A new student named Kanato Fujisawa joined the academy, and was the first person in the class to be able to best Usaki in swordplay. Kanato, finding Usaki to be interesting decided to befriend him despite other classmates’ warnings to avoid him, and became Usaki’s lone friend in the academy.
But good things never last long. For reasons unknown to Usaki at the time, Kanato dropped out of the academy when they were both fifteen.
Four years later, Usaki graduated at the top of his class and was assigned to the Tokkei’s prestigious First Brigade. The First Brigade had, at that point, gained a reputation for having a 100% completion rate with no member changes in five years. But a vacancy had just opened in the three-person team, and so Usaki was slated to join Captain Shouta Mikoshiba and Vice-Captain Seiju Shikibu to complete the Brigade.
Usaki’s first mission, a test-run set by Shouta to see if he was fit to join the First Brigade, brought him face-to-face with the Doll Hunters, a terrorist organization that targets members of the Tokkei. The Doll Hunters disapprove of the brutal punishment that the Tokkei is tasked with executing and actively work to sabotage missions in order to capture and/or kill Tokkei members. Their name is a direct jab against the Tokkei, as a derogatory way of referring to them is to call them ‘Dolls’ - emotionless things that know nothing except to execute their orders to kill.
The Doll Hunters tried to sabotage this mission. However, because of the Captain’s insight, the sabotage failed and the First Brigade successfully completed the mission. At the end of the mission, Shouta decided that Usaki would be allowed into the First Brigade - “Looks like you’ve got a human face after all.”
The next missions that focus on Usaki come back-to-back: on the first, the First Brigrade dealt with a hostage situation. When the criminal took his own son hostage, Usaki made the decision to shoot the man in front of his own son. When the child asked, “Why did you do it?” it caused Usaki to have a mental breakdown, and flashed upon his comatose brother, Iori, asking the same question. He blacked out.
Later, when Usaki awoke, Shouta criticized Usaki’s decision to shoot the criminal, saying that he should have been sensitive to the fact that there was a child there. While Usaki argued that the most important thing was to follow regulations and perform his duties as quickly as possible, Shouta insisted that one’s feelings should determine what is right and wrong.
In order to determine whether or not Usaki could fix his mindset, Shouta specifically picked a mission that involved a suicidal man. Usaki confronted the man, but when he realized that the criminal was suicidal and had murdered only because he knew it would send the Tokkei after him, Usaki refused to kill him - a huge turn for him, considering his previous cold-cut mindset - a decision that Shouta approved, revealing that the ROT has an ‘Opposite Interpretation’ clause that dealt with cases like this, although only Brigade captains are allowed to give Opposite Interpretation rulings.
When Shouta asked Usaki why he didn’t kill the criminal, he replied with, “I don’t know… But… if I can’t kill them… then what sort of value does my life have?” But Shouta brushed it off, saying that they could look for a reason to continue living together.
After that mission, Usaki said: “I knew then that my shut-off world was finally opening. That course was irrevocable.”
The next mission that should be noted is a three-team mission between the First, Second, and Third Brigades. Though Usaki doesn’t play a major part in the actual mission, it’s during this time that Usaki found out about his captain’s past: that Shouta was forced to kill his former captain and comrade, the legendary Tokkei member Tokio Sakurazawa, after Sakurazawa went on a killing rampage. Although he told Shouta that he thought that was the correct decision, when Shouta posed the question, “Would you do the same to me, if it came to that?”, the question left him speechless. Again, though, Shouta merely brushed it off and told Usaki he hoped it wouldn’t ever come to that.
The following mission arc, though, is an important turning point for Usaki. A mysterious ‘shadow man’ continually interfered with the First Brigade’s attempt to execute a condemned criminal, named Obata, and when Usaki went face-to-face with the ‘shadow man,’ he found it was his old school friend Kanato Fujisawa. He learned that Kanato had left the academy because his sister had been brutally murdered, and had been brainwashed using medication by the very criminal that killed her into a fighting machine. After Fujisawa realized it was Usaki, he pleaded with Usaki to help him before disappearing again.
Eventually, Usaki tracked Obata to his former home. In a final encounter between Usaki, Fujisawa, and Obata, Usaki smiled for the first time in the series - though it was a sad smile: “I should have come to help you much sooner…” It was Usaki’s presence that triggered Fujisawa to overcome the brainwashing Obata had been doing to him, turning on Obata and killing him. But before Usaki could react, Fujisawa had reached for Usaki’s gun and killed himself as well.
Usaki was emotionally distraught over Fujisawa’s death - “Ah, I failed again… I can’t do anything to help anyone. I can kill people, but I… What can I do to stop from losing anyone else? The souls of the dead can’t be saved. And I know these wounds will never really heal.” But at the same time, he came to a conclusion after that mission. “He made me understand the reason I was there.” - it was to protect the innocent, not just to execute the guilty.
The next mission that Usaki played a major role in was an impromptu one - a criminal had escaped from one of the lower brigades, and since the First Brigade happened to be nearby, they were assigned to take over. Their captain, Shouta, had to leave to meet with somebody, but before he did, he tasked Usaki with keeping an eye on Seiju, the Vice-Captain: “Make sure Seiju stays out of trouble. He’s too forgetful.”
Usaki, though, was ambushed from behind and injured, though only superficially. Seiju dropped Usaki off with other Tokkei members; because it was getting late at night, Usaki drifted off to sleep after his injuries were treated. Despite this, Seiju decided to go after the criminal alone - only to end up captured by said criminal. Luckily, before anything bad could happen to him, Usaki showed up, shooting the criminal. Unfortunately, though, the shot wasn’t fatal and the criminal escaped. Although Seiju told Usaki to chase after the criminal, Usaki refused: “Don’t be ridiculous! My partner’s safety comes first!”
Later, when Seiju asked him, “You’re not angry, though? Even though I did something crazy?”, Usaki’s response was, “I am angry… but at myself. Captain Mikoshiba [Shouta] had warned me, yet I stopped watching you and fell asleep instead. Because of that…” But instead of finishing his thought, Usaki smiled - the first true smile he’d had in the series so far, leading Seiju to comment, “To think he has such a gentle side to him too.”
Ever since that incident, Seiju and Usaki have been very close - or, more like Seiju likes to be very close to Usaki and Usaki doesn’t mind so he doesn’t say no. It’s been shown in the side-stories that Seiju occasionally breaks into Usaki’s apartment to watch him sleep (as Seiju suffers from insomnia and apparently feels that watching Usaki helps somehow), cooks for Usaki fairly regularly, and drags Usaki off around the town to do things together.
Usaki doesn’t play a major role in any missions from this point up to Chapter 39. The two missions that the First Brigade takes up during that time are A) one that involves the first execution of a minor, and B) a pseudo-supernatural case that involves a “psychic” killer. It was just an arbitrary point to take him from, since that’s how far the series is scanlated to at the moment.
Character Personality: Although he’s come a long way from how he was in the beginning of the series, Usaki is the most doll-like character in the series. He doesn’t express his emotions outwardly very often; even when he does show his emotions they usually aren’t very strongly expressed. He’s a very passive, reserved person, preferring to be subordinate. Because of that, he feels more comfortable taking orders from other people than making decisions on his own. He’s also very polite and modest towards others, but in a way that tends to distance himself from the people around him: he’s deferential to superiors and always addresses others formally, by title or rank.
Usaki is the type to follow the rulebook down to the very letter, if possible - though, at the same time, he’s learning to value people and feelings as well as rules. He’s still rather out of touch with his feelings, but he’s starting to listen to them more and more. He doesn’t have many people he considers friends - it does take quite a bit of persistence to want to be friends with him in the first place - he can be very kind to them. It’s only around people that he’s close to that he reveals a gentler, more compassionate side, although he still maintains a fairly stoic face about doing so. He’s not a person who would be openly affectionate with others, but he is extremely patient with and protective of his friends (see: his relationship with Seiju).
He is shown to be fairly observant and curious about things. When he doesn’t know something that he feels he should, he’ll ask without hesitation. And surprisingly, considering he’s not much of a socialite, he’s pretty good at reading the atmosphere and has a strong instinctual sense for when something’s off. He’s also good at reading how others’ body language.
Although he doesn’t seem like it on the surface, he harbors a lot of tormented feelings. He feels guilty for his past “sins” and is living the rest of his life trying to atone for them. Because of this, he has a very strong sense of right and wrong, a necessary trait for his job as a Tokkei. He absolutely despises people who kill for no reason - to him, a person who takes others’ lives freely shouldn’t deserve the right to determine their own life ends. In the end what matters most to him is ‘life’ - he would rather be able to save a good person’s life than to end a bad person’s. The problem is that he is unsure of how to go about helping people - he feels that he only knows how to kill, not to save, so he prefers to stick to what he knows. At heart, Usaki is essentially a good person with good intentions - but, he’s confused and weighed down by his feelings of guilt, which restrains his ability to help others.
And finally, to round it all off with a cute personality tidbit: Usaki is a person who always sticks to schedule! For example, he once starts nodding off as he’s being treated for injuries - it was past his bedtime.
Character Abilities:
Usaki is an ordinary human being, but that doesn’t mean that he should be written off - he’s a trained and highly skilled killer, top graduate of his year at the Tokkei training academy. He is especially proficient with the sword and firearms. He’s described as being able to move like a ‘perfect little robot’ in combat: his techniques are of a very high caliber and he is capable of fighting with the very best of them.
He has a remarkably strong ability to separate his emotions from his actions while he’s fighting. Even if he’s under immense pressure or is on the losing side, he keeps a cool head and can still reasonably determine the best course of action. According to his teachers at the Tokkei training academy, this is what set him apart from the rest of his class. That, in combination with the fact that he’s very good at reading his enemy’s tactics, makes him a formidable opponent.
His intuitive nature is not only limited to fighting, however. He’s also been shown to be perceptive at reading the environment for things that seem strange or unnatural, as well as criminals’ motives.
Character Weaknesses: Usaki has been shown to get emotionally pinged by certain topics - he takes on the job of being a Tokkei member to atone for his sins, feeling that killing criminals is all that he can do to continue living with his guilt. When that mindset is called into question, he’s been shown to get very mentally distraught over, and it can stimulate a sensation of drowning within him. Before joining the Tokkei, Usaki had never considered any other way to deal with his guilt, and so he now grapples with the painful question of whether or not his way of life is a valid one.
And while his ability to compartmentalize his emotions comes in very useful as a fighter, it makes him a terrible leader and he finds it difficult to operate without orders from somebody else. To quote from the manga: “He stuck too close to the rules and wasn’t very good at making his own judgment calls. In the end, he was practically void of any ability to listen to his feelings.” However, over the course of the story he’s been improving at this. While he’s starting to learn to value feelings over the rulebook, it’s a slow but sure process. Still, though, it’s one of the flaws that the manga concentrates on in order to show the folly of not regarding one’s feelings.
In terms of fighting skills, while he’s skilled he’s obviously not perfect. He’s been taken by surprise several times by enemies and - whether this was intentional or not - he seems to have a recurring pattern of finding it difficult to deal with attacks from behind.
[ MEISTER ONLY SECTION ] Why your character should be a Meister: Usaki is a highly-trained fighter already, so to make him a Weapon seems like a waste of his abilities. Moreover, he wouldn’t be comfortable with himself as a Weapon, considering his reason for becoming a Tokkei - he feels that executing criminals is a way for him to atone for his own sins. Making him a Meister allows him to maintain that facet of his mindset, as his job as a Tokkei member is similar to that of a Meister: he is sent to execute those who have committed heinous crimes, just as Meisters are sent to reap evil souls.
Meister Ability: Soul Precognition - When in battle they have the potential to see forward and read the moves and attacks of enemies.
[ SOUL INFORMATION ]Soul Description: reserved, stoic, just, self-disciplined, pragmatic, and guilty (as in being weighed down by feelings of guilt rather than actual culpability).
Soul Appearance: His soul is a dark blue color with an expression that usually looks like this this. Overlaying it is an emblem of the Roman numeral ‘I’.’ It’s very similar-looking to the small badge he normally wears on his collar to show that he is a member of the Tokkei’s First Brigade.
Age: 17
Timezone: EST
Personal Journal: spiraling_sins
Contact Information
→AIM: revoluting
→E-MAIL: x_shisui@hotmail.com
→PLURK@adjustment
[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]Name: Usaki Toudou
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Fandom: DOLLS (manga)
Timeline: post-chapter 39.
History:NOTE: Chapters in DOLLS tend to focus on one or two characters in each chapter/arc, so I’ll only go in depth with the ones that show Usaki’s character development and background.
Usaki introduces the backstory of DOLLS with an opening monologue: “This is the third Toutoh Empire. Ten years ago, the land was thrown into chaos by excessive immigration. The number of violent crimes rose each year. During this time, certain unorthodox practices were established by those in power. A law, established to expedite trials and alleviate the pressure on overcrowded prisons… A law allowing trials to be conducted without the suspect present and the death penalty to be given to these absent criminals. It was called the Rationalization of a Trial, abbreviated as the ROT act.
Under this law, complete control of these executions was given to the court and prisons. As a result, a special military force was created with the jurisdiction to both investigate condemned criminals and carry out their sentences. The new organization was named the Special Executions Police Force, or the Tokubetsu Shikeishikkou Keimukan Butai, or more commonly known as the Tokkei… the very section I have been assigned to starting today.”
- But first, let’s backtrack to Usaki’s earlier years and figure out how exactly he ended up in the Tokkei in the first place.
Usaki’s childhood is not explained in detail, but what is known is that he grew up in a perfectly normal family: he had a mother, a father, and a twin brother, Iori. But sometime during their adolescence, something went wrong - it’s implied that there was an accident in which both Usaki and Iori drowned, and that somehow it was Usaki’s fault that it happened. While both survived, Iori has been in a coma ever since, and Usaki has lived with the guilt ever since.
It was this guilt that drove him to aspire to become part of the Tokkei, believing that killing others who live with the guilt of taking another’s life would help him cope with his own guilt. When asked why he wanted to join the Tokkei in an interview, his response was “Because I heard it was difficult. I’ve committed an unforgiveable sin that I hope to atone for by doing this job. If I can do that… never mind.”
For that purpose, he became a student at the Tokkei training academy, and quickly excelled over his peers. He gained a nickname, “the Machine,” and the rest of his class ostracized him not only for being a top student but also because of his naturally unsociable nature.
One day, though, that changed. A new student named Kanato Fujisawa joined the academy, and was the first person in the class to be able to best Usaki in swordplay. Kanato, finding Usaki to be interesting decided to befriend him despite other classmates’ warnings to avoid him, and became Usaki’s lone friend in the academy.
But good things never last long. For reasons unknown to Usaki at the time, Kanato dropped out of the academy when they were both fifteen.
Four years later, Usaki graduated at the top of his class and was assigned to the Tokkei’s prestigious First Brigade. The First Brigade had, at that point, gained a reputation for having a 100% completion rate with no member changes in five years. But a vacancy had just opened in the three-person team, and so Usaki was slated to join Captain Shouta Mikoshiba and Vice-Captain Seiju Shikibu to complete the Brigade.
Usaki’s first mission, a test-run set by Shouta to see if he was fit to join the First Brigade, brought him face-to-face with the Doll Hunters, a terrorist organization that targets members of the Tokkei. The Doll Hunters disapprove of the brutal punishment that the Tokkei is tasked with executing and actively work to sabotage missions in order to capture and/or kill Tokkei members. Their name is a direct jab against the Tokkei, as a derogatory way of referring to them is to call them ‘Dolls’ - emotionless things that know nothing except to execute their orders to kill.
The Doll Hunters tried to sabotage this mission. However, because of the Captain’s insight, the sabotage failed and the First Brigade successfully completed the mission. At the end of the mission, Shouta decided that Usaki would be allowed into the First Brigade - “Looks like you’ve got a human face after all.”
The next missions that focus on Usaki come back-to-back: on the first, the First Brigrade dealt with a hostage situation. When the criminal took his own son hostage, Usaki made the decision to shoot the man in front of his own son. When the child asked, “Why did you do it?” it caused Usaki to have a mental breakdown, and flashed upon his comatose brother, Iori, asking the same question. He blacked out.
Later, when Usaki awoke, Shouta criticized Usaki’s decision to shoot the criminal, saying that he should have been sensitive to the fact that there was a child there. While Usaki argued that the most important thing was to follow regulations and perform his duties as quickly as possible, Shouta insisted that one’s feelings should determine what is right and wrong.
In order to determine whether or not Usaki could fix his mindset, Shouta specifically picked a mission that involved a suicidal man. Usaki confronted the man, but when he realized that the criminal was suicidal and had murdered only because he knew it would send the Tokkei after him, Usaki refused to kill him - a huge turn for him, considering his previous cold-cut mindset - a decision that Shouta approved, revealing that the ROT has an ‘Opposite Interpretation’ clause that dealt with cases like this, although only Brigade captains are allowed to give Opposite Interpretation rulings.
When Shouta asked Usaki why he didn’t kill the criminal, he replied with, “I don’t know… But… if I can’t kill them… then what sort of value does my life have?” But Shouta brushed it off, saying that they could look for a reason to continue living together.
After that mission, Usaki said: “I knew then that my shut-off world was finally opening. That course was irrevocable.”
The next mission that should be noted is a three-team mission between the First, Second, and Third Brigades. Though Usaki doesn’t play a major part in the actual mission, it’s during this time that Usaki found out about his captain’s past: that Shouta was forced to kill his former captain and comrade, the legendary Tokkei member Tokio Sakurazawa, after Sakurazawa went on a killing rampage. Although he told Shouta that he thought that was the correct decision, when Shouta posed the question, “Would you do the same to me, if it came to that?”, the question left him speechless. Again, though, Shouta merely brushed it off and told Usaki he hoped it wouldn’t ever come to that.
The following mission arc, though, is an important turning point for Usaki. A mysterious ‘shadow man’ continually interfered with the First Brigade’s attempt to execute a condemned criminal, named Obata, and when Usaki went face-to-face with the ‘shadow man,’ he found it was his old school friend Kanato Fujisawa. He learned that Kanato had left the academy because his sister had been brutally murdered, and had been brainwashed using medication by the very criminal that killed her into a fighting machine. After Fujisawa realized it was Usaki, he pleaded with Usaki to help him before disappearing again.
Eventually, Usaki tracked Obata to his former home. In a final encounter between Usaki, Fujisawa, and Obata, Usaki smiled for the first time in the series - though it was a sad smile: “I should have come to help you much sooner…” It was Usaki’s presence that triggered Fujisawa to overcome the brainwashing Obata had been doing to him, turning on Obata and killing him. But before Usaki could react, Fujisawa had reached for Usaki’s gun and killed himself as well.
Usaki was emotionally distraught over Fujisawa’s death - “Ah, I failed again… I can’t do anything to help anyone. I can kill people, but I… What can I do to stop from losing anyone else? The souls of the dead can’t be saved. And I know these wounds will never really heal.” But at the same time, he came to a conclusion after that mission. “He made me understand the reason I was there.” - it was to protect the innocent, not just to execute the guilty.
The next mission that Usaki played a major role in was an impromptu one - a criminal had escaped from one of the lower brigades, and since the First Brigade happened to be nearby, they were assigned to take over. Their captain, Shouta, had to leave to meet with somebody, but before he did, he tasked Usaki with keeping an eye on Seiju, the Vice-Captain: “Make sure Seiju stays out of trouble. He’s too forgetful.”
Usaki, though, was ambushed from behind and injured, though only superficially. Seiju dropped Usaki off with other Tokkei members; because it was getting late at night, Usaki drifted off to sleep after his injuries were treated. Despite this, Seiju decided to go after the criminal alone - only to end up captured by said criminal. Luckily, before anything bad could happen to him, Usaki showed up, shooting the criminal. Unfortunately, though, the shot wasn’t fatal and the criminal escaped. Although Seiju told Usaki to chase after the criminal, Usaki refused: “Don’t be ridiculous! My partner’s safety comes first!”
Later, when Seiju asked him, “You’re not angry, though? Even though I did something crazy?”, Usaki’s response was, “I am angry… but at myself. Captain Mikoshiba [Shouta] had warned me, yet I stopped watching you and fell asleep instead. Because of that…” But instead of finishing his thought, Usaki smiled - the first true smile he’d had in the series so far, leading Seiju to comment, “To think he has such a gentle side to him too.”
Ever since that incident, Seiju and Usaki have been very close - or, more like Seiju likes to be very close to Usaki and Usaki doesn’t mind so he doesn’t say no. It’s been shown in the side-stories that Seiju occasionally breaks into Usaki’s apartment to watch him sleep (as Seiju suffers from insomnia and apparently feels that watching Usaki helps somehow), cooks for Usaki fairly regularly, and drags Usaki off around the town to do things together.
Usaki doesn’t play a major role in any missions from this point up to Chapter 39. The two missions that the First Brigade takes up during that time are A) one that involves the first execution of a minor, and B) a pseudo-supernatural case that involves a “psychic” killer. It was just an arbitrary point to take him from, since that’s how far the series is scanlated to at the moment.
Character Personality: Although he’s come a long way from how he was in the beginning of the series, Usaki is the most doll-like character in the series. He doesn’t express his emotions outwardly very often; even when he does show his emotions they usually aren’t very strongly expressed. He’s a very passive, reserved person, preferring to be subordinate. Because of that, he feels more comfortable taking orders from other people than making decisions on his own. He’s also very polite and modest towards others, but in a way that tends to distance himself from the people around him: he’s deferential to superiors and always addresses others formally, by title or rank.
Usaki is the type to follow the rulebook down to the very letter, if possible - though, at the same time, he’s learning to value people and feelings as well as rules. He’s still rather out of touch with his feelings, but he’s starting to listen to them more and more. He doesn’t have many people he considers friends - it does take quite a bit of persistence to want to be friends with him in the first place - he can be very kind to them. It’s only around people that he’s close to that he reveals a gentler, more compassionate side, although he still maintains a fairly stoic face about doing so. He’s not a person who would be openly affectionate with others, but he is extremely patient with and protective of his friends (see: his relationship with Seiju).
He is shown to be fairly observant and curious about things. When he doesn’t know something that he feels he should, he’ll ask without hesitation. And surprisingly, considering he’s not much of a socialite, he’s pretty good at reading the atmosphere and has a strong instinctual sense for when something’s off. He’s also good at reading how others’ body language.
Although he doesn’t seem like it on the surface, he harbors a lot of tormented feelings. He feels guilty for his past “sins” and is living the rest of his life trying to atone for them. Because of this, he has a very strong sense of right and wrong, a necessary trait for his job as a Tokkei. He absolutely despises people who kill for no reason - to him, a person who takes others’ lives freely shouldn’t deserve the right to determine their own life ends. In the end what matters most to him is ‘life’ - he would rather be able to save a good person’s life than to end a bad person’s. The problem is that he is unsure of how to go about helping people - he feels that he only knows how to kill, not to save, so he prefers to stick to what he knows. At heart, Usaki is essentially a good person with good intentions - but, he’s confused and weighed down by his feelings of guilt, which restrains his ability to help others.
And finally, to round it all off with a cute personality tidbit: Usaki is a person who always sticks to schedule! For example, he once starts nodding off as he’s being treated for injuries - it was past his bedtime.
Character Abilities:
Usaki is an ordinary human being, but that doesn’t mean that he should be written off - he’s a trained and highly skilled killer, top graduate of his year at the Tokkei training academy. He is especially proficient with the sword and firearms. He’s described as being able to move like a ‘perfect little robot’ in combat: his techniques are of a very high caliber and he is capable of fighting with the very best of them.
He has a remarkably strong ability to separate his emotions from his actions while he’s fighting. Even if he’s under immense pressure or is on the losing side, he keeps a cool head and can still reasonably determine the best course of action. According to his teachers at the Tokkei training academy, this is what set him apart from the rest of his class. That, in combination with the fact that he’s very good at reading his enemy’s tactics, makes him a formidable opponent.
His intuitive nature is not only limited to fighting, however. He’s also been shown to be perceptive at reading the environment for things that seem strange or unnatural, as well as criminals’ motives.
Character Weaknesses: Usaki has been shown to get emotionally pinged by certain topics - he takes on the job of being a Tokkei member to atone for his sins, feeling that killing criminals is all that he can do to continue living with his guilt. When that mindset is called into question, he’s been shown to get very mentally distraught over, and it can stimulate a sensation of drowning within him. Before joining the Tokkei, Usaki had never considered any other way to deal with his guilt, and so he now grapples with the painful question of whether or not his way of life is a valid one.
And while his ability to compartmentalize his emotions comes in very useful as a fighter, it makes him a terrible leader and he finds it difficult to operate without orders from somebody else. To quote from the manga: “He stuck too close to the rules and wasn’t very good at making his own judgment calls. In the end, he was practically void of any ability to listen to his feelings.” However, over the course of the story he’s been improving at this. While he’s starting to learn to value feelings over the rulebook, it’s a slow but sure process. Still, though, it’s one of the flaws that the manga concentrates on in order to show the folly of not regarding one’s feelings.
In terms of fighting skills, while he’s skilled he’s obviously not perfect. He’s been taken by surprise several times by enemies and - whether this was intentional or not - he seems to have a recurring pattern of finding it difficult to deal with attacks from behind.
[ MEISTER ONLY SECTION ] Why your character should be a Meister: Usaki is a highly-trained fighter already, so to make him a Weapon seems like a waste of his abilities. Moreover, he wouldn’t be comfortable with himself as a Weapon, considering his reason for becoming a Tokkei - he feels that executing criminals is a way for him to atone for his own sins. Making him a Meister allows him to maintain that facet of his mindset, as his job as a Tokkei member is similar to that of a Meister: he is sent to execute those who have committed heinous crimes, just as Meisters are sent to reap evil souls.
Meister Ability: Soul Precognition - When in battle they have the potential to see forward and read the moves and attacks of enemies.
[ SOUL INFORMATION ]Soul Description: reserved, stoic, just, self-disciplined, pragmatic, and guilty (as in being weighed down by feelings of guilt rather than actual culpability).
Soul Appearance: His soul is a dark blue color with an expression that usually looks like this this. Overlaying it is an emblem of the Roman numeral ‘I’.’ It’s very similar-looking to the small badge he normally wears on his collar to show that he is a member of the Tokkei’s First Brigade.