Ichika Orimura (織斑 一夏, Orimura Ichika) is the main protagonist of the Infinite Stratos series. He is the only male in the entire series who has been able to pilot an IS since its introduction. Ichika currently is a 1st year student at the IS Academy in Class One, where he serves as Class Representative as well as Vice-President of the Student Council in the IS Academy.
Ichika and Charlotte's moment in a bath.
Appearance
Ichika is a young man of average height with short black hair (blue in the anime) that is parted in the middle, dark brown eyes and a slim but trained body. He commonly wears his IS Academy uniform. For IS practice, he wears a black tank top, revealing his stomach and tight-fitting bermuda shorts. On his right wrist, is Byakushiki's Closed Form:
- A white gauntlet in the light novel and manga
- A very big white metal bracelet in the anime.
Personality
Ichika has a habit of personally assessing the situation with interior monologue as well as being easily guessed on what he is thinking, making him the brunt of certain jokes where he wonders how do they know what he is thinking. He has a tendency of clenching his left hand when he gets overconfident, which his older sister points out, means he would start to make a mistake very soon.
Ichika can be extremely clueless when it comes to the feelings the girls have for him, as more often than not, he is more worried of the fact that being the only male who can pilot an IS, he does not know the requirements of controlling it, and the fact he has to live among a very large group of girls (he even told Charles that he was very glad that another male transferred in). He sometimes is sensitive to the change of mood in certain situations, but always manages to rationalize the change in mood to something completely unromantic. He believes that there is absolutely no chance for him to get a girlfriend, as he told Chifuyu that he would not be able to match any of the girls' perfect sides (not knowing that he is the type of guy all the girls want).[2]
Additionally, he is a person who doesn't seem to be able to facilitate implication in daily life. When it comes to things like holding hands or old promises, for example, Ichika tends to misinterpret or is even completely unaware of the implications of his actions and their respective circumstances, such as turning what one of the girls hopes to be a date into a group activity. This quirk often earns him stress on both the mental and physical level from the girls around him.
He is the type who learns with his body rather than his head, as more often than not, he tends to surprise his fellow classmates with questions on matters they take for granted (like when he first met Cecilia, his first question was "What is a Representative Candidate?", causing the other students to do a comical collapse). After sometime, he is able to understand basic fundamentals of IS to help him get by (he is aware, for instance, that his IS has no available bus-slots for an Equalizer).
Having been raised (suggested to be Spartan-trained) by Chifuyu, Ichika learns to be polite to all the girls and respectful to those older than him. Although a gentleman at times, he will not take any insults to his family or his country, as shown when he first met Cecilia, she was commenting on how a commoner from Japan could handle the class representative, he remarked that her country isn't anything special (he even ask when was the last time her country won the award for worst cooking). Also, in the manga (and some parts of the light novel) Ichika tends to be rude when he is pissed off (he named Lingyin "ironing board" and idiot during their fight of the "Sour pork" promise. When Laura slapped him, he reacted angrily by shouting at her why she did that (LN), and when she used the VT System to copy Chifuyu's data and Yukihira, he wanted to punch Laura, without her IS, as much as he could).
He believes, when questioned by Laura, that his strength is his freedom to choose and helping those around him. This is shown when he chose to protect a ship of fishermen who were illegally poaching during the mission against the Silver Gospel.
Ichika has shown to be a very passionate person willing to accept any kind of circumstance for something he has done as long as it was something he either believes in or wants to do. He is willing to help companions or, in general, others as long as it is something he is willing to do. His emotions can get the best of him, and this has happened on several occasions. He was even like this in his childhood. However, his blockheadedness and reckless behavior are flaws that come with his saving grace. That quality is his overpowering will, confidence and passion. He may not be too smart, but he can do what he has to do when he wants.
Due to his new-found popularity, he is often surrounded by girls who often use various methods to gain his attention, much of it being a major embarrassment for him (the Tennis Club once asked him to wipe everybody's back while they changed their clothes when they saw him wiping the sweat off Cecilia's face). He once commented that whoever thought of sending him to a lab to be examined had to be a complete nutcase. Furthermore, due to his behavior, remarks and gossips of the girls, he is often mistaken by his friends to have weird tendencies (such as being yaoi towards "Charles" or has a liking for an older woman).
He is a very kind person despite his sometimes reckless and clueless behavior, as he will go to fairly extreme lengths to achieve a goal he has set for himself. Examples of this include the time when Laura copied the Kendo style and stance of Chifuyu and he was offended on Chifuyu's behalf because of it. The most prominent example of this is when he jumped in front of Houki to save her from a blast meant for her. This kind of trait is very predictable for a person of his social standing and behavior. More than once, he has made compliments and taken actions that have taken even Laura by pleasant surprise. Ironically, while most girls like this about him, they dislike it as well because he would it for anyone.
He is careless when it comes to the higher levels of consideration and thinking, and this is often the reason he gets hurt in most (if not all) of his situations. When he lost against Cecilia during their match in episode 2, for example, it was obvious he did not have any observations about his methods. Despite the fact he managed to read Cecilia's battle movements and nearly managed to defeat her, he technically lost the match due to his carelessness. However, this may be because, at the time, he didn't exactly have a lot of options to fight with to begin with.
Relationships
Main Article: Ichika's Relationships
Ichika has encountered many different individuals, ranging from family, friends and allies, to enemies. His
Tatenashi and Houki fighting over Ichika.
interactions with these people have led to some strong bonds and rivalries being formed. Some of these friendships have been ongoing since childhood, while others have only developed since joining the IS Academy. Furthermore, Ichika did have some feelings for Houki Shinonono. There was an episode where he tried to kiss Houki, but the other girls stopped him so he picked her up and ran. (Ichika's true feelings toward Houki are still unknown.) Another childhood friend would be Lingying Huang but her nickname is Rin.
Because of Ichika's personality, many girls have feelings for him. From girls who knew him before he became famous (Houki, Lingyin, Ran) to when he join the IS Academy (Cecilia, Charlotte, Laura). Although, most girls are interested in him due his fame of being the only male IS pilot and the only male in the IS Academy. Most girls are often trying to get close to him (such as being his tag partner for a tournament) or appear more appealing to him (such as cooking for him).
At the end of Volume 8, Ichika started avoiding the 5 main heroines after seeing that they all have delusions about him. This embarrasses them since he still remembers what he saw and heard instead of forgetting it like they wanted. By Volume 9, Ichika got over this and became comfortable around them again. Although, he's become more aware of them as girls and members of the opposite sex, something that was notice by the girls and even himself.
Infinite Stratos & Abilities
Currently he is the only male in the entire world who is able to operate an IS. Why that is, nobody knows. Even Tabane, the genius who created IS, is also pleasantly surprised as to why he can activate the Byakushiki, since, by right, a male should have zero relation to IS. Due to this, the government is willing to give him his own personal IS, so as to gather data on him.
As stated by his sister in the novel & episode 2, his IS seems to be more offensive in tactics than most, given that he could use the Barrier Void attack that helped his sister win the first Mondo Grosso. But because of this, he is forced to limit his power during class tournaments and practice, due to the amount of damage that could be inflicted on his opponent (He can potentially injure/kill the opponent).
In terms of IS knowledge and
Ichika's partial deployment
piloting, his skills are at best slightly above average. He is often overwhelmed by pilots more skilled with units that have more arsenal at their disposal. He makes up for it with his intellect for spotting out attack patterns and weaknesses of the units, due to his childhood training in kendo, to which he trained alongside Houki, and some training he received from his older sister. He also understands in time that his unit has no available slots for equalizers due to the Fold-Out Armor utilizing all of them.
Ichika is able to perform a partial deployment (summoning a part of the IS), first seen with his fight against Laura's mutated IS in episode 8 when Charles offered him enough energy to manifest his sword and arm, allowing him to cut through the mech and save Laura.
At the seaside school's inn, Ichika is good at massaging, he can give great massages to Chifuyu, Cecilia and the girls. Chifuyu mentions to Houki, Cecilia, Lingyin, Charlotte and Laura that Ichika is good at housework and cleaning in episode 10. Because of these skills, his sister said he make a good boyfriend for which ever girl he dates.
He learned how to disarm a bomb as shown when he was participating in a school festival event that had students disarm "Dummy Bombs". In the end, he failed when it came down to cutting a red wire and blue wire, seeing he could not decide, he asked his friend Dan Gotanda. Using Houki and Cecilia's hair color and connecting them to the color of their IS's.
Despite being far behind the rest of the students in terms of IS knowledge, both Chifuyu and Tatenashi have praised his learning rate (Tatenashi even said that Ichika learns faster than any other girl she trained before), and now he is able to fight mostly on par with Houki, Cecilia and Lingyin, while being slightly behind Charlotte and Laura in terms of overall ability.
History
Childhood
About 10 years before the story, when Ichika was a young boy, he used to train with Houki in the art of kendo. At that time, he promised her to be her boyfriend if she can win the Kendo Tournament. Unfortunately, before she got to fight in the finals, the world was shocked by the existence of the IS. Due to her relation to Tabane, her older sister and creator of the IS, she was forced into the protection program, thus forfeiting the tournament.
Around the time Houki transferred out, Lingyin Huang (or Rin, her pet name) transferred into the same grade school as them. Ichika regularly went to the restaurant her family owns, to play, eat and have a sleep-over, until about a year before the story. During this time, he made the promise that if Rin could be a good cook, he would eat her sweet and sour pork everyday (although he mistook it for her simply cooking for him, when actually she meant for them to be in a relationship).
Although he has a faint recollection of his past, during the second Mondo Grosso, he was kidnapped by an organization who did not want his sister, Chifuyu, to win the tournament. That effectively cause her to forfeit the match, but the end result was her flying (literally in her IS) all the way to their camp, guns blazing. This would be his greatest regret for costing his older sister record and title because he was too weak.
Middle School period
At some point in his elementary or middle school period, Ichika befriended a boy named Kazuma Mitarashi, who would later attend Ichika's 16th birthday party.[3] Ichika's encounter with the IS is depicted differently in the light novel and the anime.
Light Novel
Ichika went to the wrong examination hall that was meant for IS trainees and the female teacher in charge was too hassled to notice a guy had entered and told him to go and suit up. He went on to operate the machine and defeated the instructor (though technically he just dodged to one side, letting her crash into the wall). Later Chifuyu speculates that Tabane purposely changed the location for his high school examination and deliberately placed the IS unit so that it would activate when in contact with him. However, the second part is doubtful, as Tabane says that if she had done so, then Ichika would be unable to use the other IS. Chifuyu concedes that it seems too bothersome for Tabane.
Anime
Ichika was trying to get to the school hall for his entrance exam, but he got lost and stumbled into a restricted room where there was a training IS inside. Being curious, he touched it to his surprise and the surprise of the 3 female staffs who found him inside, the IS responded to his touch.
When the government found out about it, they immediately forced him into entering the IS Academy.
Plot Synopsis
Episode 1: "My Classmates are All Girls"
Ichika Orimura is sitting, nervous, in Class One of the IS Academy. The scene shows that he is the only male in the class, and the only male in school. He glanced nervously at his childhood friend Houki but the latter looked away, making Ichika feel awkward, asking how she's treating him after meeting him for the first time after 6 years. When Maya, his assistant homeroom teacher, calls his name. Ichika popped out of his bubble: the class was doing self-introduction and it's his turn. He introduced his name but felt like he had more to say since everybody in the whole school knew he was the only male. He decided to say "that is all", making everybody falls for his idiocy. Suddenly, Ichika is punched on the head by Chifuyu, his older sister and is punched a second time because she insists that he calls her "Orimura-sensei" "Professor Orimura" at school and not "Chifuyu-nee" (Sister Chifuyu). Ichika tells to the audience about Chifuyu's past: She's a Mondo Grosso champion but one day she retired, and that now she's become a teacher. Ichika never saw her home and he feels stupid for having worried about her.
At the break, while everyone's talking about Ichika, Houki asked for a moment with Ichika at the school's rooftop. Houki is shy, blushing and giving short answers to Ichika's questions. He congratulates her for winning the National Kendo Tournament last year, much to her surprise. Ichika then tells her that he's glad to see her again and that he still recognize her even though it's been 6 years. He compliments on how her hair is the same too, making Houki blush even more and start playing with her hair.
Later, in a lesson, Ichika seemed to be struggling with the course so Maya cheerfully suggest him to ask any question since she's her teacher. Ichika replied that he didn't understand anything, surprising Maya so she asked the class if there is anybody else who don't get anything, which nobody responds. Chifuyu asks if Ichika has read the reference book before attending the IS Academy, which he says he accidentally threw it away. Chifuyu hit him on the head with a book and forces him to memorize another copy of the reference book in 1 week.
At the recess while Ichika is daydreaming, a British girl named Cecilia Alcott comes to talk to him. Much to her surprise and irritation, Ichika doesn't know anything about her. Cecilia then starts explaining about an IS Representative Cadet and boasting about how elite she is. Upon hearing that Ichika has also defeated an instructor at the entrance exam, Cecilia starts to get wild but the bell rang announcing the end of the recess.
In the afternoon, Ichika walks toward his dormitory and searched for his assigned Room 1025. While he is stunned about the room's luxury design, he hears somebody finishing her shower. A female voice starts introducing herself and Ichika gets nervous, When the woman got out of the bathroom wearing a towel, Ichika sees it was Houki. Shocked, Houki tells Ichika to look away. Ichika starts by explaining that he is assigned to this room and they might be roommates. Surprised, Houki takes her shinai out and starts attacking Ichika but he saved himself by getting out of the room and close the door. Houki pierces the door six times, however, only the sixth one was able to hit Ichika in the back. As he protests against Houki, other girls wearing revealing pajamas got out of their rooms and start gathering around him. Freaked out, Ichika begs Houki to be let into the room.
Later, Houki asks why are they roommates, which Ichika don't know. She starts blushing and asked if it's because Ichika asked the school staff for him to be assigned to the same room as her. When Ichika says Houki isn't serious, she starts attacking him again but when the other girls opened the door to peek into the room, Houki stops and closes it. She starts talking about room rules, mostly about bathroom hours. When Ichika says he'll use the public bathroom and starts thinking about the fact that only female attend the IS Academy, Houki calls him a pervert. As she's preparing herself to punish him with her shinai, Ichika grabs another one and start swinging it but a bra was stuck at its edge, making him asking "What is this?", shocked, Houki snatches it. When Ichika says that she's at "that age" now and she hits him on the head with her shinai and knocks him unconscious.
The next morning at the cafeteria, Houki is in a cranky mood and tells Ichika to call her "Shinonono-san" not Houki. When 3 other students (Honne Nohotoke and her friends) came to sit down besides Ichika and start talking to him, Houki leaves. They asked about Ichika's relationship with Houki, which he tells them that she's a childhood friend and that they went to the same Kendo Dojo when they were in 1st grade. Chifuyu claps her hand and tells everybody to eat quickly. She reveals that she's the 1st Year Dorm Supervisor and that she'll make anybody run 10 laps around the training ground if they're late.
In the classroom, Chifuyu tells everybody to vote for a Class Representative for the Inter-Class Tournament in two weeks. Two girls nominate Ichika, much to his surprise. Suddenly, Cecilia protests and says it's humiliating to have a man as a Class Rep. She then challenges Ichika to a duel. When he asks about how much of a handicap he should give her, the whole class laughs and says that men were only stronger than women before the IS and that if men fought against women, the war wouldn't even last 3 days. Chifuyu finally approves the duel and books it for next Monday in Arena 3.
Episode 2: "Class Representative Runoff!"
Ichika is told by Chifuyu that he will be provided with his own personal IS for his match against Cecilia, a rarity since there are only 467 IS Cores that were created by Tabane Shinonono before she disappeared. Relieved, Cecilia says it wouldn't be fair if she fought with her personal unit and that Ichika were stuck with a training one. A classmate then asks Chifuyu if Tabane is related to Houki, which the teacher answers they are sisters. As the whole class is shocked and starts bombing Houki with questions, the latter snapped back by saying that Tabane has nothing to with her and that she has nothing to tell the class about her sister. Maya then start teaching, telling the class to try to think of the IS as a partner instead of a machine. A student then asked Maya if by partner, did Maya mean like a boyfriend; prompting Maya to blush and act nervously, stating that she doesn't really know since she doesn't have experience with that, making the class comment on her cuteness.
During the lunch break, Ichika proposes Houki to go grab some lunch but she doesn't feel like it. He even invites Honne and her friends to come along. When Ichika grabbed Houki's arm, the latter pushed him and he trips on the floor, much to her surprise on how weak Ichika is. Scared, the three friends fade out saying that they will pass. Ichika stands up and decides to pull Houki by her hand anyway to go grab lunch. Houki blushes looking at their hands.
In the cafeteria, Ichika explains that he tries to be considerate because it's Houki: her family took care of him in the past, they've been friends since they were kids and even went to the same dojo. He wants Houki to let him at least do this much for her. As they eat, Ichika asks if Houki can help him about the IS and that he's going to lose horribly against Cecilia like that. She replies (in a denying manner) that's because he let Cecilia provoke him. A 3rd year student comes and proposes to help Ichika for the IS training but Houki replies that she'll train him instead, much to Ichika's surprise. The senior student says Houki's just a first year and that she, a 3rd year would be more suited to teach him. Houki snaps back that she's Tabane's younger sister, shocking the senior student as she leaves.
In the IS Academy's dojo, Houki easily defeats Ichika. She asks angrily why did Ichika become so weak after 6 years. Houki decides to train him 3 hours every day after school to fix it before he can pilot an IS. In the locker room, Houki isn't sure if she was too harsh on Ichika, but is sure that he hasn't touched a sword in at least a year. Upon thinking that she'll be alone with Ichika after school, she blushes but shakes her head and tells herself she wasn't thinking of "that".
One week later, in the battle arena's waiting room, while Ichika and Houki were arguing about the past week's Kendo training, Maya announced to them that Ichika's IS has arrived, the Byakushiki. She then explains the IS's Absolute Barrier system which puts the IS pilot's safety at first priority. Upon touching the Byakushiki, Ichika gets the same feeling of "understanding the machine without studying it" as back in the time at the IS entrance exam. He then flies out to the arena.
Cecilia is waiting for him in the air with her Blue Tears, saying that if he apologizes now, she might consider forgiving him, but he refuses. As Ichika's shield is being destroyed by Cecilia's sniper, he takes off a blade and makes his way towards his opponent all while dodging her snipers. While they're fighting, Maya commented on how amazing Ichika can operate an IS even if it's his first time. Upon Chifuyu's saying about Ichika's habit to clench his left hand meaning he'll make simple mistakes, Maya comments on Chifuyu's observation as an older sister.
When Cecilia tricks Ichika that she has more than 4 weapon and fires 2 bombs, he couldn't dodge and got hit. Everyone gets worried but Chifuyu says that he got saved by his unit. Everyone gets shocked to see Ichika's IS in another form, the 1st Shift. While Cecilia is surprised that he's been fighting with the default settings the whole time, Ichika discovers his weapon, the Yukihira Type 2, the same sword his sister Chifuyu used. Praising his sister, Ichika decides that it's time to stop being the one who gets protected and that from now one, he'll be the one protecting his family. As he easily dodge and cuts down Cecilia's bombs and was on the verge to strikes her, the match announcer declared Cecilia winner, much to everybody's surprise.
Later after Ichika incomprehensibly loses against Cecilia, Maya explains that Ichika lost because his shield energy is depleted and that a barrier-neutralizing attack deals damage at the cost of his shield. She then says that Ichika's IS is currently on standby, but he can deploy it any time he summons it, giving him an IS practice book.
During the walk back at their dormitories, Houki asks Ichika if it is okay if she trains him. He replies that it is easier than having another girl teach him, and since Houki is Tabane's sister, she knows more about anybody else. Houki blushes and tells Ichika to clear his schedule starting from tomorrow onward, all while giggling by herself which Ichika doesn't understand.
Episode 3: "The Transfer Student is my Second Childhood Friend"
Ichika and Cecilia were asked by Chifuyu to demonstrate basic maneuvers using their IS.
Episode 4: "Showdown! The Class League Match"
Episode 5: "Boy Meets Boy"
Ichika was as surprised as everyone else to meet a fellow "guy", Charles Dunois, who recently transferred to his class. Being the only other male in the class, he was asked to help him through the school related areas.
Episode 6: "My Roommate is a Young, Blonde Nobleman"
The next day during an IS practice, Charles asked Ichika for a duel and wants to try fighting the Byakushiki, revealing his orange personal IS Raphael Revive of the Dunois company, France's second generation IS. They battle for a while until they rest and talk about Byakushiki's weaknesses and how Ichika can improve his IS combat. They then practice shooting accuracy. Charles helped Ichika shoot by holding him very close, making Houki, Cecilia and Lingyin jealous. Suddenly, Laura Bodewig appears with her 3rd generation Schwarzer Regen German IS and declares a fight against Ichika. Upon his refusal of a battle, Laura shoots him but Charles used her shield to protect Ichika, commenting that Germans are hot-tempered. After being scolded by an Academy instructor, they all stopped fighting. In the locker room, Ichika thanked Charles and suggested that they change/shower together, pulling her closer to him. Charles blushed and ran away.
Later in the day when Charles was taking her shower, Ichika opened the bathroom door to give the body soap bottle that was missing and accidentally saw Charles body. They froze and Ichika, shocked, left the bathroom awkwardly without any word about it. Moments later, he suggested that they have some tea but upon hand contact with her, Charles hesitated which made the hot tea cup spill on his hand. Ichika ran to the sink to put cold water and Charles tried to help him. Ichika tells her that he can feel her breast sticking to his arm, which made Charles blush and call him a pervert. A few minutes later, Ichika asks Charles why she's pretending to be a boy. She then reveals her true story about her father forcing her to attend IS Academy, spy on Ichika and getting information about the Byakushiki. After the story, she felt better and apologized for lying about her gender. Ichika then confessed that parents shouldn't treat their children like that, saying that he and Chifuyu were abandoned by their parents. He asks Charles what will she do now, in which she responds that since her gender's been revealed, she'll surely be called back to her country and be sent to prison. Ichika replies that he'll keep his mouth shut so all matters will be settled and that even if the case become public, Charles' father nor the Dunois company can't do anything because of a special IS Academy article stating that "The students within this Academy , while they are enrolled, do not belong to any country, organization, or group." He also says that they can take time to think about it while in the IS Academy. Relieved, Charles thanked Ichika for defending her, but he commented that her breasts are showing when she bends down. She calls him a pervert again. They are interrupted by Cecilia knocking on the door, asking Ichika to go eat dinner with her. Ichika and Charles then pretend that the latter is sick, and that Ichika was just putting a blanket on him. Cecilia then took Ichika away.
Later in the night, when Ichika came back, he brought some dinner for Charles. She had a hard time using chopsticks so Ichika volunteered to go get a fork but Charles refused for fear that she'll bother him. Ichika then tells her to learn to depend on others and that she'll suffer if she keeps being so hesitant. Upon Ichika's suggestion to start depending on him, Charles asks Ichika to feed her using the chopsticks, probably in reflection with the previous scene where Ichika fed Houki earlier. Ichika hesitated but agreed saying that men keep their word. They then have fun for the rest of the night.
Episode 7: "Blue Days ~ Red Switch"
Everybody in the class was talking about the rumor that if one of them was victorious in that month's inter-class tournament, that person can go out with Ichika. Charles asked them on what they're talking about but they blushed and ran away.
In the hallway, when Charles was walking with Ichika and talking about the special training before the tournament, they hear about three representative cadet fighting so they immediately ran to the scene. Observing Laura's fight against Cecilia and Lingyin, she explained Laura's A.I.C. (Active Inertia Canceller) weapon feature, an ability that negates the inertia of a moving mass. As Cecilia and Lingyin's life were in danger, Ichika jumped into the arena and fought but couldn't solve Laura's A.I.C., forcing Charles to fire against Laura. Ichika took the opportunity to get Cecilia and Lingyin away from the battle but Charles got trapped with one of Laura's guided-wire daggers. As Laura took her beam saber and attacked Charles, Chifuyu interfered. The instructor told that they should settle the remainder of their battle in the inter-class tournament, Charles and Ichika agreed.
In the hospital, Charles commented that Cecilia and Lingyin were "overdoing it", explaining that it must be quite embarrassing for them to show their awkward side to the person they like. Ichika didn't understand it but the two hospitalized one got nervous. Charles also asked if it was all for Ichika, making Cecilia and Lingyin jump on Charles to shut him up. A bunch of girls barged into the room showing them an announce for the inter-class tournament: the event will be in pairs. They each asked the two boys to pair with them but Ichika apologized and says that he's pairing with Charles, making the girls walk away. Cecilia and Lingyin told the boys they have to win and they'll support the boys.
Later in the night during the walk back to the dormitory, Charles thanked Ichika for him choosing to pair with her and that she's very happy. Ichika explained that if Charles were to be paired with someone else, they might expose Charles as a girl, which would be bad. Charles replied that Ichika's kind, making him blush.
In room 1025, Ichika tells Charles that when no one else is around, Charles doesn't have to force herself to speak like a man. She tells him she's been trained to act and speak like a man before coming to IS Academy and that she might not be able to revert back so suddenly, but if Ichika is bothered by it, when they're alone together, she'll try to speak like a girl. Ichika replies that the Charles who uses male speech mannerisms is pretty cute too, making Charles blush. Ichika decides to go away and change but Charles insists that he stay, stating that people might think it's weird if one of them were to go outside since they're (supposedly) both guys. Ichika suggests they change with their backs facing each other. While changing, Charles got her leg caught and trip, making Ichika turn around. A series of similar events happen and they struggle to change without seeing each others bodies. When Ichika felt and accidentally picked up Charles' panties, the latter blushed and unwillingly kicked him in the face, knocking him unconscious. Later, when Ichika was sleeping, Charles commented to herself of the awkward clothes changing session and that Ichika is trying too hard not to look. As she went to her bed, she turned back and thought it was the first time that she felt someone needed her. She went to kiss Ichika on the forehead before going to sleep.
The next day in the locker room, Ichika and Charles looked at the tournament announce board: it is decided via lottery that Houki is to be paired with Laura to fight against the two boys.
Episode 8: "Find Out My Mind"
The fight has started and Ichika immediately went on to strike first at Laura, but is stopped by her AIC. As Laura prepares to shoot Ichika while he's paralyzed, Charles appeared behind Ichika counter-attacked Laura with her Rapid Switch but Houki interfers, stating that she won't have them forget about her. Laura feels that Houki was in her way so she used her tentacles to remove her out of her business against the boys. While Ichika and Laura fought, Charles defeats Houki first and resumed his battle against Laura.
During the fight, they discover the AIC's weakness: Laura can only focus on stopping one enemy per time. They then use different "sacrifice-and-attack" combos to slowly defeat her. Ichika got his energy shield exhausted and Laura took advantage to pin him down to the ground but Charles continues to protect him him with her Ignition Boost, stating that it is the first time he's using it. Charles then used her Shield Pierce weapon to brutally punch Laura's shield multiple times and exhausted her armor. Laura, fainting, is suddenly consumed by her IS and transformed into a large dark mech that matches Chifuyu's fighting style. Angry about this, Ichika decides to fight against it but Houki holds him back, telling him that he does not have to do anything and the matter will be resolved by the instructors troop. Ichika still refuses and Charles offers him enough energy to manifest his sword, making him promise that if he loses, he will have to wear a female uniform to school starting the next day, embarrassing Ichika and Houki. After Ichika got enough energy, he cuts through the mech and save Laura.
Later in the subspace (Laura's unconsciousness), Laura asks Ichika why is he strong, and why did he choose to be strong. Ichika responds by saying he wants to protect people important to him and that he'll protect Laura.
While Charles and Ichika are discussing about the match in the evening at the cafeteria, they see Houki observing them with a worried face. Ichika then went to her and said he'll go on a date, making Houki all excited but stated that shopping was nothing, angering Houki to punch him in the face, kick him in the stomach and leave. Charles commented that Ichika is sometimes doing stupid things on purpose. Maya appears and congratulated them on their hard work and they must had a hard day. She tells them that to compensate their hard work, a place has been revived from that day on: the Boys' Grand Public Bath.
A moment later in the Boys' Grand Public Bath when Ichika was relaxing, Charles joined the water making Ichika extremely nervous. The latter proposes that he'll get out but Charles insists that Ichika stays, stating that she's got something to tell him. Talking back to back, Charles started to confess that she wants to stay at IS Academy if Ichika's there. She also confessed on how she should be and started hugging Ichika from behind, having skin contact, making Ichika even more nervous. Charles then requested that Ichika calls her "Charlotte" from now on, saying that it's her real name, the name her mother gave her, Ichika agrees.
The next day, Charles introduced herself to the class under the name of "Charlotte" Dunois, shocking the whole class. As everyone knew Ichika and Charlotte used the Boys' Bath the night before, Lingyin charged into the class with her IS to jealously attack Ichika, probably jealous that he bathed with another girl than her, but is stopped by Laura's AIC. Ichika thanks her but is suddenly pulled over by Laura as she French-kisses him in front of the whole class, shocking, Cecilia, Lingyin, Houki and the rest of the girls. Laura states that Ichika will be her "Wife", it is final, and that she will not hear any objections. Ichika and the girls are once again shocked.
Episode 9: "Ocean's Eleven!"
The next day, Ichika wakes up to discover Laura sleeping with him naked. As Ichika screams, Laura wakes up and exposed the rest of her body, prompting Ichika to tell her to "put something on". Laura says that spouses shouldn't hide anything from each other and she thought in Japan you'd call someone you like as "my wife" (ore no yome or jibun no). Realizing that Laura misunderstands Japanese culture, Ichika points at her asking which idiot told her that, prompting Laura to grab his arm and pin him down. She then changes topic saying that she should train Ichika in pinning techniques and that it's not like she won't help him. Ichika, struggling, asks why Laura's blushing. At that point, Houki enters the room in her training gear, and becomes shocked to see Ichika and the naked Laura on the bed. Seeing Houki, Laura comments how rude she is for invading the bedroom of a "married couple". Pissed, Houki punishes Ichika with her training sword.
Later on a train with Charlotte, she asks why is she the only one with Ichika. He replies that the school beach trip is about to start soon; and since neither of them have swimsuits, he decided to bring her along. Upon Ichika accidentally call her Charles, she got a bit angry and asks him to call her Charlotte. After getting off the train, Charlotte tells Ichika that she'll forgive him if they hold hands, to which he agreed. She is a bit deceived that Ichika doesn't understand that she's trying to flirt him. Meanwhile, Lingyin and Cecilia stalk them along with Laura. Ichika stops walking and tells Charlotte that since everyone knows Charlotte's a girl, calling her "Charlotte" isn't anything special anymore and that they should think of another name for her, one for the two of them. He suggests "Char", easy and very friendly. Charlotte gets excited and agrees to the new name she's got, saying to herself that she feels like a bit more special. They walk a little bit more and Ichika tells Char to go on ahead without him because he has a different stuff to buy, looking at the jewelry store.
A moment later, Ichika runs into Dan and Ran shopping too. When Dan tells him that the tons of bags he's holding were Ran's swimsuits and that she planned to showing them to Ichika, Ran kicked him away, surprising Ichika. She then tells him that next year she'll join the IS Academy and become his underclassman. Ichika wishes her good luck and tells her to study for her exams. While Ran looks for Dan, Charlotte appears and pulls Ichika away to a swimsuit store and they get into the changing room.
Ichika, caught off guard, asks her why are they hiding. Charlotte replies that she wants to know what Ichika thinks about the swimsuit she picked. She then takes a peek outside just to see Cecilia, Lingyin, and Laura looking for them. Charlotte says to herself they if they find her, they'll interfere with her plan to flirt Ichika. She then start undressing, shocking Ichika as he turns around. After a moment of hesitation, Charlotte keeps undressing and Ichika starts recitating the number pi to distract himself from imagining Char's naked body. After she's done, he turns around and see she's in a beautiful orange swimsuit. Charlotte, blushing, asks him if it's weird and he screams "Not at all! I think it looks great!", which the shop owner heard from outside. Coincidentally, Chifuyu and Maya were in the boutique and heard Ichika and Charlotte's voice in the changing room. Opening the curtain, Maya was shocked to see two of her students in the changing room. Ichika and Charlotte then gets a moral lesson from Maya in the middle of the boutique about drawing a line even as classmates.
At the beach, Maya tells everybody to enjoy themselves and to return to the inn in time for dinner. When Honne and her group asked Ichika to play volleyball with her, Rin jumps on Ichika's neck to play walking watchtower, which Ichika hates. Cecilia arrives and asked Ichika if he had forget about the promise he made to her in the bus, which is to rub sun oil on her back; knowing that he had no choice, he agreed. Hands full of lotion, he touched Cecilia's naked back (without her bikini top attached) and she yelped, saying that he must warm up his hands before rubbing oil. Ichika then warms up his hands and rub her back while Cecilia enjoys the sensual massage. When Ichika's done, she asks Ichika to rub everything where her hands don't reach, including legs and butt. Ichika freaks out, but Rin takes the oil and replaces Ichika. She rubs it in a tickling manner that makes Cecilia giggles the whole time. When Rin rubbed her butt, Cecilia gets up to scold her, exposing her breasts in the process. Ichika freaks out as he gets punched in the face by Cecilia's partial deployment IS.
Later in the water, Rin challenges Ichika to a swimming race to the buoy and that if he loses, he'll have to treat her to shaved ice. As she swims underwater, her leg cramps, forcing Ichika to pull her out of the water and onto the shore. Cecilia then proposes to walk her to the inn, due to the "chatistrophic" dilemma. With the help of Shizune Takatsuki, and they drag Rin by force towards the inn as she resists.
Charlotte arrives and presents a girl with an eye patch wrapped in towel, which Ichika calls a "beach mummy". Ichika discovers it's Laura by her voice. After Charlotte purposely teases her that she'll have fun with Ichika without her if she doesn't show her swimsuit, Laura removes the towel, exposing her black swimsuit, telling that they can laugh if they want. They then tells her that there's nothing funny about it and that she's cute, making Laura blushes, saying that it's the first time anyone had said that to her.
Honne and her friends then asked Ichika to keep his long awaited promise: beach volleyball. As they play, Laura is still embarrassed by Ichika calling her cute that she gets hit in the face by the ball. As Ichika gets close to ask if she's alright, Laura blushes even more and runs away screaming. Maya arrives and ask if she can play volleyball with them, bringing Chifuyu in an attractive swimsuit that makes everybody praise. Seeing that Ichika blushes at the sight of his sister, Charlotte asks if Orimura-sensei is Ichika's type. He replies "What are you saying?!" Charlotte then tells him that it's quite the different reaction from the time when she and the other girls showed him their swimsuits. She then sighs and says that's a lot of rivals and that Orimura-sensei joins the fray. Ichika tells her that Chifuyu is quite the strong enemy and they shouldn't be unprepared. Charlotte sighs again, saying that maybe Ichika didn't understand that by rivals, she meant love rivals, not volleyball enemies. They then have fun playing volleyball for the rest of the day.
Episode 10: "Thin Red Line"
Ichika is having dinner with everybody in the local seaside inn. During dinner, Cecilia is sitting on his left side and Charlotte is sitting next to him on his right side.
Episode 11: "Get Ready"
Episode 12: "Your Name Is"
OVA: "A Sextet Yearning for Love"
Quotes
- "Charles, you need to learn to depend on others. You'll suffer if you keep being so hesitant. How about you start by depending on me?"
- Ichika to Charlotte (Episode 6) - Laura: "Why are you trying to be strong? What makes you strong?"
Ichika: "I'm not strong. I'm really weak. If I were strong...I'd be strong because I want to become strong. Once I'm strong, there are things I'd like to do."
Laura: "Things you'd like to do?"
Ichika: "There's someone I'd like to protect. I'd like to fight for that someone with all I've got."
Laura: "That's completely...like that person."
Ichika: "Yes...that's why I'll protect you, Laura Bodewig."
- Laura and Ichika after their inter-class tournament (Episode 8)' - ilove queen hahahaahah
Trivia
- Ichika's name in kanji means one (Ichi, 一) summer (ka, 夏), while his family name Orimura (織斑) means molted weave. His name can be seen as being the opposite of his older sister name: Chi means thousand (opposite of one) and fuyu means winter (opposite of summer). Likewise, it matches his position (only male IS pilot and student at the IS Academy) and warm personality
- Ichika's IS unit name, "Byakushiki" (meaning "White Expressions" or "White Type") seems to come from the variation of Gunpla's Hyakushiki. The wings that spread after its recognization during episode 2 has the same concept as the ZGMF-X10A Freedom/ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom, or ZGMF-X42S Destiny.
- While most of the harem girls are foreigners (except for Houki and Kanzashi, who holds the role of the Japanese bishoujo), he is designed as an average Japanese male. Despite this fact, he is considered as an attractive harem lead by many female fans.
- Byakushiki's IS core is IS Core #001, which is the same core used by Shirokishi, the 1st generation IS, also known as White Knight.
- Ichika's seiyu has dubbed Banagher Links from Gundam Unicorn. Ichika's beam saber pose action is similar to the Unicorn's beam saber pose while it's in NT-D mode.
- The Byakushiki's 2nd shift is very similiar to the ZGMF-X42S Destiny in that its main weapons are similar: a high-energy beam sword, hand energy weapon which resembles the Palm Cannon, an energy shield and a high particle beam cannon.
- Although Ichika is a personal IS user, he is not a IS Representative Candidate, because of him being the only male, thus spawning debate at the UN as to whether he is allowed to take part in certain operations and be given the status of a representative candidate.
- He is largely oblivious towards the feelings held by the women surrounding him, even when those said girls can recognize each other's feelings for him right away. However, he seems to acknowledge Houki's feelings at certain times, possibly harboring love for Houki also.
- Out of all the heroines, he has never had a fight with Charlotte in an IS battle, only a duel.
- Ichika has a similar appearance to Shinn Asuka from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY.
- Ichika's Byakushiki and Shinn's ZGMF-X42S DESTINY Gundam are also very similar. Both of them always use a long sword as their main weapon.
- In an inconsistency in the anime production within episode 2, Ichika was seen wearing the school uniform. Then immediately after a camera pan in Chifuyu and Maya's place, he was now seen wearing an IS suit.
- The reason why Ichika stopped practicing kendo is because he needs to attend a part time job.
- Ichika is usually to blame for everything by the other girls and his older sister, even when he didn't do or say anything. This usually leads him to have to buy them something or go out with them.
- Many of Ichika's friends have compared his personality to that of an old man.
- He has a similar appearance to Ryotaro Nogami , but his hair is a custom version of Yuuta Togashi's hair.