Tatsuhito Ikoma

This page is about the Character. For other uses, see Tatsuhito Ikoma (disambiguation). "Dude, it's tuna! And it's a cutlet! In a bowl of rice! No way it ain't tastin' good, dammit!"

- Tatsuhito Ikoma to Kōji Oki Tatsuhito Ikoma is the no. 6 Attacker and the captain of Ikoma Squad. He is also one of the twelve candidates for the Black Trigger Fūjin.

Appearance
Ikoma is a light-skinned young man of average build. He has broad shoulders, green eyes, an aquiline nose, and a square jaw. He wears his messy, medium-length black hair slicked back.

Ikoma's uniform is comprised of a vermillion, white-zipped jacket. A horizontal white line runs across the chest portion roughly at the height of his armpits, whereas on the back it bends into a flat V-shape pointing downwards, with an ornamental button right above the tip. On the left breast, the white line encircles Border's logo, above which is emblazoned the B-rank emblem. Everything above the white line is black in color, including the high collar, which Ikoma keeps open to reveal a round-collared undershirt; the only exception are the vermillion plain button epaulets. The sleeves are also black until roughly halfway through the humerus, after which they turn vermillion, and disappear into Ikoma's thick gloves about an inch past the elbow. The gloves are black with a gray palm and a thin brown buckle that encircles them near the cuff. The black portion of the sleeves and the collar bear a square motif that suggests padding. The uniform is completed by black pants with front and back pockets, gray-brown boots that reach halfway up Ikoma's calves, and a pair of rectangular goggles with protruding lenses and a vermillion strap which he wears at all times during combat.

Personality
Ikoma has a very quirky personality, surprising even his teammates with his penchant for focusing on details that most find irrelevant. Despite rarely emoting, he gets thrilled about mundane events, which he is fond of sharing in the form of pointless anecdotes. This excitement can cause him to appear like an airhead or an outright weirdo when coupled with some of his his laid-back attitude. Although he cares about the outcome of rank wars, he does not strategize ahead of a match, but uses that time to chat with his teammates about whatever random subject elicited his interest. Nonetheless, he studies the logs of his upcoming enemies and is generally passionate about fighting powerful opponents and watching exceptional feats of skill. He can be surprisingly serious when it comes to combat, apologizing to his opponent and his friends after inadvertently breaking the rules of a solo battle.

Ikoma is prone to fooling around when hanging out with his friends, and he seems to enjoy teasing them with a straight face. His wish to be popular, especially with girls, has driven him to learn to play guitar and to consider switching to cooking after finding it difficult to casually mention his musical skills during a conversation. A similar desire may be at the root of his habit of posing for the camera after defeating an opponent. His unwillingness to damage his image led him to insist that Oki be the one to take out Chika Amatori in round six, on account of his superior looks. According to his teammate, whenever a girl is mentioned, Ikoma will remark that she is cute.

Quotes

 * (To his teammates) "Tamakoma Second is super crazy. Crazy, right? Y'know? This white-haired kid is bad news."
 * (To his teammates) "We gotta keep an eye on the last one... the chick from Tamakoma Second. She's small and cute."
 * (To Maori Hosoi) "Mario, you're cute too!"
 * (To Kōji Oki) "Dude, it's tuna! And it's a cutlet! In a bowl of rice! No way it ain't tastin' good, dammit!"
 * (To his teammates) "Come on, dude... We can't be the first to lose like this. Our selling point is that we're a four-man squad. If we lose a dude, we've got nothin' but Oki's popularity with girls!"
 * (To Yūma Kuga and Ōji Squad) "Huh? How the heck're y'all still in one piece?"
 * (To Satoshi Mizukami) "Wait... I think someone just praised me."
 * (To Kōji Oki) "Idiot! Do I look like the kind of guy who can get away with cutting down little girls? You're the super handsome one. You can get away with anything!"
 * (To Yūma, then Mizukami) "That ain't gonna work! I've seen that move in the logs thousands of times-- Oh! No, wait...! Hold on...! This ain't good. He's gotten way faster than I saw in the logs."
 * "No more Sniper fire coming means I can cut down all the houses, right?"
 * (To Yūma) "That move won't work on me."
 * (To his teammates) "Wait, is there really no rule like the last point counts for three or somethin'?"
 * (To Noboru Koarai) "I am really, truly sorry about that. It's just a habit..."
 * (To Maori Hosoi) "Well, this one time, I thought the wind was blowing something fierce, but it was just my own nose-breathing. How's that for a story?"
 * (To the reader) "Stay tuned for the final round."

Trivia

 * "Tatsuhito" (達人) literally means "expert, master, adept", while "Ikoma" (生駒) means "raw piece".
 * Like the rest of his teammates (with the exception of Minamisawa), he speaks in.
 * He likes girls, new menu in the cafeteria, soccer, and eggplant curry. He took up guitar as a hobby to impress girls, but, due to the difficulty of bringing it up casually, he has considered switching to baking.
 * A recurring gag has Ikoma break the fourth wall:
 * in Chapter 150 he is shown repeatedly looking into the camera when defeating his opponents, although there are no visible recording devices in rank wars;
 * in Chapter 154 he is convinced that someone praised him, which Yuu Kunichika had just done in her commentary of the match;
 * in Chapter 184 he addresses the reader directly.
 * in Chapter 204 he looks at the reader instead of his companion who had chosen him.
 * The icon Haya Kittaka designed for him appears to be a homage to Star Platinum.
 * The author wrote in Ikoma's profile that he comes "straight from Naniwa", the old name of the city of, before clarifying that he is actually from Kyōto.