REFERENCE: HISTORY
Shuto Dan, also known as Shooter, is a ten-year-old boy from Square-Enix/Jupiter's video game The World Ends With You. However, it should be noted that this Shuto is from TWEWY's canon AU/side story, Another Day, rather than its main continuity.
Shuto grew up in Shibuya immersed not only in the vibrant youth culture of the ward, but also in Chinese culture. With two working parents, he spent a lot of time running about his grandfather, Banzai Ayanokoji's Chinese health food store, and he and his grandfather are still close. (This is extrapolation from one throwaway line of Ayanokoji's: Should the player party reach 100% friendship with him, Ayanokoji offers to introduce them to his grandson, Shuto. Most grandparents would think their grandkids are the bees' knees but I would think that if Ayanokoji contemplates introducing his grandson to some random kids who buy from him a lot, they're pretty close.) The two would often enjoy ramen together at Ken Doi's ramen shop, Ramen Don, in Dogenzaka (more extrapolation based on the fact that Ken seems quite familiar with the kid).
Though Shuto enjoyed various shounen anime and RPGs, it was not until his best friend Itaru "Yammer" Yokoyamada introduced him to a game called Tin Pin Slammer that he found his true calling in life. He quickly learnt and improved at the game, soon surpassing Yammer's more statistical knowledge and strategies and, in fact, the skill of most everyone he knew. He who had not even bothered with much manga before began reading the leading Tin Pin magazine, Pin Weekly, religiously, particularly enjoying Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu's "Pinside Edition" column, written for middle schoolers. He watched the TV show Slammurai daily. Then finally, to his delight, he won the Tin Pin Slam-off, the ward and the nation's premier Tin Pin competition.
Three consecutive times.
Shuto became known as the Sultan of Slam. Even as he himself began to appear in Pin Weekly, he did not let fame go to his head as he continued to up his game. Instead, he continued to do what he loved: Hanging out on the streets of Shibuya challenging passersby to Tin Pin, and spending time with his grandad. Indeed, his Pin Weekly appearances allowed him to meet one Sho Minamimoto, pin expert, and Shuto near idolized "Dr. Pin" (as Sho is known in the Another Day universe), listening to his advice and improving his game. (This too is extrapolation given Shuto seems to be familiar with Sho.)
On his way to defend his title at another slam-off at the Molco department store, Shuto briefly met first time slammer Neku Sakuraba (who was nonplussed by his enthusiasm), before rushing off to Molco to register. As usual he sailed through the preliminaries and into the finals, but the entire slam-off proved to be a sham-off: The Black Skullers, consisting of Yodai Higashizawa (disguised as a slammer), Koki Kariya (supposedly the deputy editor of Pin Weekly, serving as commentator for the slam off), and Uzuki Yashiro (apparently the leader of the group) struck, stealing everyone's pins. With the mass tin thievery, the slam-off was cancelled. Shuto's heartache quickly turned to outrage, and he recruited four teenagers, Neku, Shiki Misaki, Joshua, and Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito to help him get everyone's pins back (resorting to bribery in Beat's case).
Storming Ramen Don and declaring it his secret base, Shuto named his ragtag bunch of teenagers the Kindred Spirits, made empowering speeches, and gave everyone a color name (this made Neku begin to call them the Crayon Warriors). At last he introduced them to Dr. Pin, who advised them to lure out the Black Skullers with Neku, who had managed to hang onto his pins. Shuto was heartbroken by Neku's betrayal, but was soon distracted by Dr. Pin's genius plan: Show off their pins on the streets in Tin Pin slams. Dr. Pin even offered them a custom pin, but Ken Doi soon disproved its worth.
And thus the Kindred Spirits set off, playing people with their remaining pins, taking their pins as was their right as victor, and learning about each other on the way: Shiki was a semiprofessional fangirl, Joshua was the writer of "Pinside Edition", Beat was a stand up comedian with his sister Rhyme but Rhyme had left him, Neku's haircuts were straight out of manga. They even met an editor of Pin Weekly, Makoto; celebrity blogger Eiji Oji, known as the Prince; indie band Def March; and the mayor of Shibuya, Megumi Kitanji. Shuto was particularly taken with the Pin Prof, an acquaintance of Neku's, as he shared Shuto's passion for Tin Pin to the point of going off on grandiose, neverending speeches. Neku soon dragged him away, however. They found that the president of Molco also had no idea who the Black Skullers were.
On a whim, the Spirits entered the Shibuya River, becoming increasingly creeped out as they crossed the Rubicon. To their surprise they found someone living down there in a rather luxurious suite: The Vice-Wizard of Slam, one of Tin Pin's creators. Upon defeating him in a slam, the Vice-Wizard gave Shuto some tips on positive thinking and victory poses, and the Spirits set off again. In the Room of Reckoning (as Joshua informed them it was called), the Spirits met the main continuity's Joshua, who challenged Neku to a game: Beat all of the main continuity's bosses in a single chain battle. Neku took on the challenge and managed the chain battle, earning a set of pins, and the Spirits, finding nothing useful down the River, took back to the city itself.
In Miyashita Park, the Spirits happened upon Rhyme, whose pins had been stolen by Kariya. She was allowed to join the Spirits after Shuto told them what they were doing, and they started to return to the center of Shibuya. However, in the Underpass, they were ambushed by Higashizawa, whom Shuto challenged to a slam-off. Upon the Spirits' victory, Kariya turned up to pick up Rhyme, who had been a Black Skuller all along. Before she left, she shattered Red Kaiser, Shuto's Solid Slammer, utterly breaking his heart.
Joshua took charge while Shuto angsted, taking the party back to their secret base. There Joshua's questioning of Ken Doi brought out the truth: Ken was one of the creators of Tin Pin (making him, in Shuto's eyes, even cooler than Dr. Pin), but had left the team. Encouraging Shuto and giving the Spirits new prototype Solid Slammers, Ken informed the kids that the Black Skullers' hideout was Miyashita Park.
As Ken had said, the Spirits found the Skullers in the Park. There they had a team against team slam: Joshua against "an unnamed character" known only as Tutorial Guy, Beat against Rhyme, Shiki against Uzuki (this quickly deteriorated into a fangirl shrieking match), Neku against Kariya, and finally, Shuto against Higashizawa. When it became his turn to slam, Higashizawa revealed his game: As another one of Tin Pin's creators, he saw Tin Pin as corrupted by its mass production, and sought to purify it by removing it from the masses entirely. Shuto beat him anyway, but his new Solid Slammer began to fall apart as the recession budget cuts had forced a lower quality. Higashizawa began to condemn this, but then Ken and Dr. Pin showed up, Dr. Pin apparently having gone mad in his designing of a new Solid Slammer, the Solid Slammer Omega, or, for Shuto, Kaiser Phoenix. Using the new Slammer, Shuto faced down Higashizawa and beat him again. Higashizawa was convinced by this display of passion and love from both Shuto and Dr. Pin that Tin Pin could live on. The Skullers (presumably, given the wheels of the operation had changed his mind) agreed to give back the stolen pins, and all was forgiven.
On the way back to base for some ramen, the Spirits stopped by Molco and Shuto and Neku finally had a slam. Neku won, but declined the title Shuto offered as it wasn't an official match. They soon realized that someone was watching them: Shinji Hashimoto; Producer, Tutorial Guy, and the Wizard of Slam. Pleased with Dr. Pin's completion of the Omega Slammer, the Wizard indulged in some exposition (which flew over Shuto's head) before challenging Neku to a slam (despite Shuto's "pick me!"-style protests). Upon defeat, the Wizard congratulated them and left to spread Tin Pin elsewhere. Shuto wondered why he was leaving so quickly but remained undeterred, going off to have some ramen with the Skullers and the Spirits.
Shuto grew up in Shibuya immersed not only in the vibrant youth culture of the ward, but also in Chinese culture. With two working parents, he spent a lot of time running about his grandfather, Banzai Ayanokoji's Chinese health food store, and he and his grandfather are still close. (This is extrapolation from one throwaway line of Ayanokoji's: Should the player party reach 100% friendship with him, Ayanokoji offers to introduce them to his grandson, Shuto. Most grandparents would think their grandkids are the bees' knees but I would think that if Ayanokoji contemplates introducing his grandson to some random kids who buy from him a lot, they're pretty close.) The two would often enjoy ramen together at Ken Doi's ramen shop, Ramen Don, in Dogenzaka (more extrapolation based on the fact that Ken seems quite familiar with the kid).
Though Shuto enjoyed various shounen anime and RPGs, it was not until his best friend Itaru "Yammer" Yokoyamada introduced him to a game called Tin Pin Slammer that he found his true calling in life. He quickly learnt and improved at the game, soon surpassing Yammer's more statistical knowledge and strategies and, in fact, the skill of most everyone he knew. He who had not even bothered with much manga before began reading the leading Tin Pin magazine, Pin Weekly, religiously, particularly enjoying Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu's "Pinside Edition" column, written for middle schoolers. He watched the TV show Slammurai daily. Then finally, to his delight, he won the Tin Pin Slam-off, the ward and the nation's premier Tin Pin competition.
Three consecutive times.
Shuto became known as the Sultan of Slam. Even as he himself began to appear in Pin Weekly, he did not let fame go to his head as he continued to up his game. Instead, he continued to do what he loved: Hanging out on the streets of Shibuya challenging passersby to Tin Pin, and spending time with his grandad. Indeed, his Pin Weekly appearances allowed him to meet one Sho Minamimoto, pin expert, and Shuto near idolized "Dr. Pin" (as Sho is known in the Another Day universe), listening to his advice and improving his game. (This too is extrapolation given Shuto seems to be familiar with Sho.)
On his way to defend his title at another slam-off at the Molco department store, Shuto briefly met first time slammer Neku Sakuraba (who was nonplussed by his enthusiasm), before rushing off to Molco to register. As usual he sailed through the preliminaries and into the finals, but the entire slam-off proved to be a sham-off: The Black Skullers, consisting of Yodai Higashizawa (disguised as a slammer), Koki Kariya (supposedly the deputy editor of Pin Weekly, serving as commentator for the slam off), and Uzuki Yashiro (apparently the leader of the group) struck, stealing everyone's pins. With the mass tin thievery, the slam-off was cancelled. Shuto's heartache quickly turned to outrage, and he recruited four teenagers, Neku, Shiki Misaki, Joshua, and Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito to help him get everyone's pins back (resorting to bribery in Beat's case).
Storming Ramen Don and declaring it his secret base, Shuto named his ragtag bunch of teenagers the Kindred Spirits, made empowering speeches, and gave everyone a color name (this made Neku begin to call them the Crayon Warriors). At last he introduced them to Dr. Pin, who advised them to lure out the Black Skullers with Neku, who had managed to hang onto his pins. Shuto was heartbroken by Neku's betrayal, but was soon distracted by Dr. Pin's genius plan: Show off their pins on the streets in Tin Pin slams. Dr. Pin even offered them a custom pin, but Ken Doi soon disproved its worth.
And thus the Kindred Spirits set off, playing people with their remaining pins, taking their pins as was their right as victor, and learning about each other on the way: Shiki was a semiprofessional fangirl, Joshua was the writer of "Pinside Edition", Beat was a stand up comedian with his sister Rhyme but Rhyme had left him, Neku's haircuts were straight out of manga. They even met an editor of Pin Weekly, Makoto; celebrity blogger Eiji Oji, known as the Prince; indie band Def March; and the mayor of Shibuya, Megumi Kitanji. Shuto was particularly taken with the Pin Prof, an acquaintance of Neku's, as he shared Shuto's passion for Tin Pin to the point of going off on grandiose, neverending speeches. Neku soon dragged him away, however. They found that the president of Molco also had no idea who the Black Skullers were.
On a whim, the Spirits entered the Shibuya River, becoming increasingly creeped out as they crossed the Rubicon. To their surprise they found someone living down there in a rather luxurious suite: The Vice-Wizard of Slam, one of Tin Pin's creators. Upon defeating him in a slam, the Vice-Wizard gave Shuto some tips on positive thinking and victory poses, and the Spirits set off again. In the Room of Reckoning (as Joshua informed them it was called), the Spirits met the main continuity's Joshua, who challenged Neku to a game: Beat all of the main continuity's bosses in a single chain battle. Neku took on the challenge and managed the chain battle, earning a set of pins, and the Spirits, finding nothing useful down the River, took back to the city itself.
In Miyashita Park, the Spirits happened upon Rhyme, whose pins had been stolen by Kariya. She was allowed to join the Spirits after Shuto told them what they were doing, and they started to return to the center of Shibuya. However, in the Underpass, they were ambushed by Higashizawa, whom Shuto challenged to a slam-off. Upon the Spirits' victory, Kariya turned up to pick up Rhyme, who had been a Black Skuller all along. Before she left, she shattered Red Kaiser, Shuto's Solid Slammer, utterly breaking his heart.
Joshua took charge while Shuto angsted, taking the party back to their secret base. There Joshua's questioning of Ken Doi brought out the truth: Ken was one of the creators of Tin Pin (making him, in Shuto's eyes, even cooler than Dr. Pin), but had left the team. Encouraging Shuto and giving the Spirits new prototype Solid Slammers, Ken informed the kids that the Black Skullers' hideout was Miyashita Park.
As Ken had said, the Spirits found the Skullers in the Park. There they had a team against team slam: Joshua against "an unnamed character" known only as Tutorial Guy, Beat against Rhyme, Shiki against Uzuki (this quickly deteriorated into a fangirl shrieking match), Neku against Kariya, and finally, Shuto against Higashizawa. When it became his turn to slam, Higashizawa revealed his game: As another one of Tin Pin's creators, he saw Tin Pin as corrupted by its mass production, and sought to purify it by removing it from the masses entirely. Shuto beat him anyway, but his new Solid Slammer began to fall apart as the recession budget cuts had forced a lower quality. Higashizawa began to condemn this, but then Ken and Dr. Pin showed up, Dr. Pin apparently having gone mad in his designing of a new Solid Slammer, the Solid Slammer Omega, or, for Shuto, Kaiser Phoenix. Using the new Slammer, Shuto faced down Higashizawa and beat him again. Higashizawa was convinced by this display of passion and love from both Shuto and Dr. Pin that Tin Pin could live on. The Skullers (presumably, given the wheels of the operation had changed his mind) agreed to give back the stolen pins, and all was forgiven.
On the way back to base for some ramen, the Spirits stopped by Molco and Shuto and Neku finally had a slam. Neku won, but declined the title Shuto offered as it wasn't an official match. They soon realized that someone was watching them: Shinji Hashimoto; Producer, Tutorial Guy, and the Wizard of Slam. Pleased with Dr. Pin's completion of the Omega Slammer, the Wizard indulged in some exposition (which flew over Shuto's head) before challenging Neku to a slam (despite Shuto's "pick me!"-style protests). Upon defeat, the Wizard congratulated them and left to spread Tin Pin elsewhere. Shuto wondered why he was leaving so quickly but remained undeterred, going off to have some ramen with the Skullers and the Spirits.