Noboru Koarai/Abilities

Koarai is known to be a child prodigy. He is a fairly capable Attacker, having scored over 7,000 points with Kogetsu. Although he was noted to be an average fighter on his own, his coordination with Tsuneyuki Okudera is so advanced that they are able to defeat most higher-ranking opponents by teaming up. According to Sōya Kazama, their teamwork at close quarters is second only to his own squad's. Their proficiency extends to aerial combat. Generally speaking, when Koarai and Okudera fight together the latter acts as the diversion and is responsible for engaging the opponent first due to his superior watchfulness, while Koarai deals the finishing blow; however, their teamwork is by no means limited to this set-up, as Koarai is fully capable of trading blows with the target at the same time as Okudera. This is rendered especially remarkable by the fact that Attackers have a harder time than other classes capitalizing on numerical advantage against a single target; in fact, Koarai and Okudera can use the environment and their own positioning to prevent their target's allies from helping them effectively. Their teamwork gave them the upper hand against Shinnosuke Tsuji and allowed them to go toe-to-toe with Yūma Kuga in an airborne battle, although they agreed with Mako Hitomi's call not to engage opponents of his and Kō Murakami's caliber in combat without Haruaki Azuma's assistance.

Koarai's swordsmanship is complemented by decently quick reflexes, which allowed him to dodge a Mantis strike from Masato Kageura and intercept a sneak attack from Tsuji, although, unlike the latter, he was unable to react to Yūma's own incursion. Although he lost his footing twice due to sudden attacks from Osamu Mikumo, on both occasions he managed to react quickly enough not to suffer any damage. Koarai can also be observant in the midst of combat, which he demonstrated when he anticipated Tsuji's attack from Sumiharu Inukai's movements as well as by sheathing his sword either right before or immediately after Yuzuru Ema used the glow from Osamu's Raygust to snipe at him in the dark. After round eight of the latest season of Rank Wars, Koarai was permitted by Azuma to equip Triggers in the Sub apart from Bagworm and Shield. He chose a Gunner Trigger, possibly Hound. This concession was motivated by Azuma's estimation that his mentees had been able to judge the state of the battle properly.

In fact, Koarai's eye for strategy is steadily improving under the Sniper's tutelage, and his analytical skills applied to the preparation phase of the battle have been refined between his unit's two fights against Tamakoma Second, although his enthusiasm and recklessness still needed to be curbed by Okudera before the start of the second match. Koarai has in fact a reputation for being a gambler in terms of planning, as well as impulsive and reluctant to withdraw even when retreat is the best course of action. However, his willingness to Bail Out spontaneously during round eight was seen by many as a sign of growth.