| “ | As long as I have my skills and inner strength, I will be there to support Kaijō High basketball team. | ” | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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— Chikane Sakamoto
Appearance[]Chikane is tall for girls around her age, standing at 172 cm. She has pale skin, emerald green eyes, and long black hair with side bangs that reach part of her waist, which she often tied into a high ponytail. She had a curvaceous body for her age, which she dislikes because it gains her so many stares from boys everywhere. Worse for her, she had fast metabolism which makes her difficult to gain weight, no matter how much foods she consume. On top of her irritations, her breasts are large. She is usually seen in her school uniform; a white shirt, unbuttoned dark gray blazer, dark red necktie, black over-knee socks, dark gray skirt, and beige shoes. While doing her job as a manager, she still wears pretty much the same outfit without the blazer and necktie, with official dark blue Kaijō jacket tied on her waist. She often rolls the sleeves up to her elbows and wears comfortable white sneakers instead of her usual beige-colored shoes. In EXTRA GAME, her hair is still long, but only reaching part of her back and tied in side ponytail. Her expression also looks softer than before. She wears white T-shirt, dark blue cut-off denim jacket with the kanji for Kaijō (海常) imprinted on the left chest part, denim skirt, blue hairpin, and a pair of white summer sandals. Personality[]Chikane is serious, almost all the time. She had limited expression, rarely smiles, and is hard to read. She often acts harsh to the team members, such as yelling at them and hitting them with clipboard if they’re not serious during practice, always making sure everything and everyone are in order. She is also very strict about hierarchy in the school and will get irritated when a freshman dare to call her name so freely. Because of this, the majority of the freshmen and team members afraid of her and even call her ‘demon manager’ (鬼マネージャー, Oni Manējā) in secret. She is sometimes clueless about what's happening around her and somewhat quick-tempered. In depth, she's actually a kind and caring girl who considers Kaijō High basketball team as her everything. She tried her best on supporting the team as their manager, by using every skill she got from her time as a manager in Meikō team. She is very compassionate, considering others' problem are her problem as well and never hesitate to offer her help to those who needs it. Moriyama once noted that her compassion are like double-bladed sword; it is her greatest strength, while at the same time it can hurt her badly. Background[]Chikane was born in the City of Yokohama, located in Kanagawa Prefecture, to a Japanese man and Ireland woman as their second and youngest daughter. She met and befriended the future captain of Kaijō team, Kasamatsu during elementary school. Because of her boyish look, attitude, and way of talking, Kasamatsu thought of her as a boy and introduced her to a mini-basketball. She fell in love instantly with the sport and often spends her time playing one-on-one with Kasamatsu, but it had to be over because Chikane’s family was moving to Tokyo due to her father’s job as a new doctor in Tamanagayama Hospital. In Tokyo, she attended Meikō Junior High. Knowing that the school has a basketball club, she was really eager to join. But her eagerness changed into disappointment when finding out that the school only had boys’ basketball club. The disappointment continues even until her second year in middle school. Her mother noticed her long face and tells her to become the boys’ basketball club manager instead. She didn’t quite like the idea at first and continue to peep at the basketball club, until one day she was noticed by the captain of Meikō team, Reiji Mochida. They had a talk and Mochida, like her mother, asked her to become the team manager instead. She was going to refuse because she knows nothing about managing a team, but remembering that her mother used to become a manager for her college basketball team, she then agreed to become Meikō’s manager. Under the tutor of her mother, she strives to become a better manager and grew to love the team as well as her job as a manager. Unfortunately, she didn’t stay with the team in the National because she’s now a third year and retired from the team to focus for exams along with the rest of the third year members. After her graduation, the family returned to Kanagawa because her father got transferred back to his former workplace, Musashi Kosugi Hospital. She then attends Kaijō High, unaware that Kasamatsu, too, attended the same school. She was noticed by Yoshitaka Moriyama who said that she ‘looks cute’ but he got shocked because of her boyish way of talking. Moriyama asked her to become Kaijō team manager but Kōji Kobori intervenes, saying that he can’t just casually ask a freshman to become the team manager, and he doubt it that she had knowledge about basketball or managing a team. Feeling challenged (and a bit offended), she tells Kobori that she had confidence on her skills as a manager and asked to be made a temporary manager in order to test her skills. He said that he didn’t have such authority to do that since he’s not a captain, but promised her that he will talk to the captain and the coach about her proposal. She agreed. A week later, she was introduced to the team members as a temporary manager by the coach. Seeing her, Kasamatsu recognized her green eyes and realized that she was his childhood friend. He was totally shocked to find out that the ‘boy’ he used to play basketball with in elementary school is actually a girl, much to Chikane's chagrin. But despite Kasamatsu’s shock, Chikane did her job as a temporary manager well, and the coach decided to make her a permanent manager of the team. Story[]Seirin vs Kaijō[]She wasn't available in the practice match due to family matters in Ireland. She was later seen checking mail from Kobori and shocked to find out that Kaijō lost the match. Interhigh preliminaries[]She was seen in the bench, watching Kaijō team in the preliminaries while reviewing the notes about enemy's pattern she had taken before. Pre-Winter Cup[]She is seen watching the team training, taking notes of their performance and sorting the health priority for the team. Winter Cup[]Quarter-finals[]Kaijō High faces Fukuda Sōgō Academy in the Winter Cup quarter-finals, but she somehow had a bad feeling about this match. As the match goes on, Kaijō is slowly losing because their technique had been stolen by Haizaki. Just when she thought that the situation is getting south, Kise then makes a counter-attack opportunity for the team, using his Perfect Copy. She lets out a sigh of relief, but not for long as her bad feeling were proven to be true when Haizaki purposely stepped on Kise's injured leg. She gets panicked as her eyes keep alerting her about Kise's injury, but Kaijō wins the quarter-final nonetheless. In the locker room, she scolds Kise about his injured leg, but she said thank you to him for saving Kaijō and winning the match. Semi-finals[]She keep an eye on Kise even more while the team hit the court to warm up, because the result from her eyes are no better than what she got from her father. She sees Kise copies Kagami's lane up and sigh, complaining to herself that she will definitely scolds him again after the match is over. Her gaze shifted towards Kasamatsu, hoping that everything will go in a way he had hoped it to be. Both team lined up, and the match finally started. She took out a clock-shaped locket from her pocket and opens it, which contains a small photograph of Kaijō team. She closed the locket and kissed it lightly, praying for them. She then put away the locket and watching the match while confirming what she had scouted and analyzed about Seirin beforehand to the coach. She noticed that Kise is using his Perfect Copy and muttered to herself, saying that he's an idiot to push himself this far, but she can't blame him for doing that. She shook her head and continue watching. The ball goes to Kise in the next offense. Having just shaken off his mark with a screen, Kise goes for a jump shot, but fails to reach a decent height because of his injured leg. She let out a slight gasp while her eyes is fixated on his injured leg. Kagami blocks the shot and goes up against Kise again in Seirin's next offensive break. Kagami's speed surpasses Kise's and he blows past him. A gap seems to open between both aces, but Kise does not give up. She was about to tell the coach, but she's a bit late as the coach had made his decision. Kaijō's coach, Takeuchi, suddenly calls for Kise's substitution. Kise protests, but Kasamatsu sets him straight by telling him that he already lost, that an injured leg is part of the game. Kise is subbed to Nakamura and sits on the bench frustrated. She noticed his expression while handing the towel to him, and can't help it but to feel equally frustrated as he is. Glory Blue (Fanmade OVA)[]It is a fanmade OVA which started after Final arc and before EXTRA GAME started. The one-episode OVA tells about a farewell party hosted by Kise for the retired Kaijō High's starter members: Yukio Kasamatsu, Yoshitaka Moriyama, and Kōji Kobori. It also tells about Kasamatsu's confession towards Chikane. It starts with mail from Kise to Chikane, saying that he's hosting a farewell party for their three seniors and asked Chikane to come to school gymnasium. Despite not trusting Kise, Chikane still come nonetheless to the gymnasium and found out that he’s not lying; there was indeed a farewell party inside the gymnasium. There, she met the other member of Kaijō High’s starters: Mitsuhiro Hayakawa, Shinya Nakamura, and of course Kise himself. She greeted them, but Kasamatsu, being hard to be approached like usual, distanced himself from her. Hiding her sadness beneath her glares, she moves away from him to sit beside Kobori instead. The two starts talking closely like usual. Chikane asked him about his chosen university, which he replied that he might be getting to the same university like Moriyama and Kasamatsu if he failed to pass the exam for his first choice. She patted his back and said good luck to him. He smiled and said thank you as a reply. He was about to confess to her once again, but is cut short by the sudden arrival of Moriyama, teasing both of them to be so “lovey-dovey” by themselves and leaving the others alone. Chikane quickly brushes Moriyama off while Kobori only smiles like usual; none of them realize that Kasamatsu had been looking at them. Kise, acting as the host, opens the farewell party. The three seniors took their turn to convey a word or two to the available members, as well as saying thank you for the three years they spend together as a team and as a friend. After they were done conveying their words, Kise then asks Kasamatsu to sing with him, and even though the former captain was reluctant, they did sing together in the end. Chikane fell silent while listening to the song that Kise and Kasamatsu sings together. There was a series of flashbacks inside her head; the first time she came to know Kaijō High’s basketball team because of Moriyama, her being introduced as temporary manager and her reunion with Kasamatsu, her witnessing Kaijō’s loss in the last year Interhigh, the time she was then introduced again as permanent manager, and her time together with the basketball team up to the events in the Interhigh and Winter Cup this year. She lowered her head and was ready to cry when Moriyama pulled her arm and bring her to dance with him, surprising her and halt her tears for a while before she saw the same tears which wet the ever flamboyant senior’s face. She cried in front of him and Moriyama laughs, saying that she looks even more terrifying while crying. She then hit his shoulder hard and told him to shut up. He laughs again while wiping the tears off her cheek, and said to her that this is not the end. Done with singing, the boys then decided to play 3-on-3 basketball game. The team was divided into first and second year team (Kise, Hayakawa, and Nakamura) versus third year team (Kasamatsu, Kobori, and Moriyama) with Chikane as a referee. After tip-off, Chikane then took out her tablet and records the match between them. As she watched them playing, a hidden smile formed on her stoic face. The match ended in a tie. Chikane then left for a while, saying that she’s going to buy drinks for them all. Halfway towards the gymnasium, Chikane was stopped by the sudden appearance of Kasamatsu in front of her. Curious, she asked him what he was doing, stopping her midway towards the gymnasium. Kasamatsu does not answer immediately; instead he throws a question back to her about Kobori, which surprised her. She told him that she considers Kobori as a close friend and a kind senior, and nothing happens between them. She then jokingly asked him if he was jealous, and his reply totally shocked her—He said yes. As the wind blows stronger, Kasamatsu then confessed his feeling towards her; that he actually likes her despite her scary outer self and he felt uncomfortable seeing her always getting so close to Kobori, while at the same time he cursed himself for not being able to muster up his courage and tell her about his feeling. He proceeds to apologize to her for hurting her feelings all this time because of his cowardly self while calling her given name like he always did back then in elementary school—Chikane. In the end of his confession, he asked her to go out with him, while adding things like she doesn’t want to if she didn’t feel like it. She was taken aback by his confession, but then laughed after seeing his red face. She told him that she never expected him to confess to her, let alone apologizing because he always distanced himself from her. Slowly but surely, tears starts to flow down from Chikane’s green eyes, wetting her cheeks in process. A panicked Kasamatsu asked why is she crying and apologize again if he said something strange, but Chikane shook her head and smiles; she accepted his feelings and said that she would like to go out with him while tears still flooding out from her eyes. She said thank you to him and said that she would like to use this opportunity he had given to her to learn about him as much as she can. Before Kasamatsu can answer, Chikane had hugged him tight. They exchanged glance and while at it, he softly said that from now on they can go out as a boyfriend and girlfriend. She nods, and said that she will cure his nervousness around girls. They laughed together softly, and when they were about to share a kiss, Hayakawa came to tell them that the boys are preparing to take a photograph together. They abruptly let go of each other and told Hayakawa that they will be there shortly. After Hayakawa left, they exchanged glance once again and smiles, walking towards the gymnasium while holding hands together. The OVA ends with a framed photograph of Kaijō High’s starter members and Chikane, smiling altogether. In the corner of the photo is a small handwriting, presumably by Chikane herself, titled “Never forget our days”. EXTRA GAME[]She appears briefly on Kise's flashback. She visited Kasamatsu's house, cooking and serving breakfast for him and Okamura. Skills[]
Body Sensor[] An example on how Chikane views player's body. (Taken from here) Like Riko Aida's Scan ability, Chikane's eyes also allow her to detect abnormality within player’s body, such as wounds and injuries in the form of color. She can also monitor organ function and stamina of players; how much stamina and body fluids which are issued in the form of sweat will appear in blue tint. A healthy organ and body part appears with a greenish tint, while the abnormal or injured organ and body parts will appear in bright red tint. Analyst[]Aside from her eye ability, her analytical and observation skills are also exceptional as the result of her constant tutoring with her mother. She trains herself by watching basketball matches provided by her mother, or went scouting the other teams and reviewing all the patterns within the match; offense, defense, and each player's strength and weakness. Using her eyes, she calculates each player's endurance and predict their availability times before they were substituted. Relationships[]Kaijō Team[]Yukio Kasamatsu[]They are childhood friends. Their relationship are a bit complicated since Kasamatsu believed that Chikane was a boy with feminine name. After knowing that Chikane is actually a girl, he starts distancing himself from her; one thing that saddens Chikane and she always wonders what's wrong with him during her long absence from Kanagawa. The one and only time they ever get close was after Kaijō's defeat by Tōō Academy at Interhigh quarter final. Unable to see him crying in the locker room, she hugged him from behind, saying that since she is here, he doesn't need to shoulder all the pain from losing alone. She assures him that she will always be beside him, and promised to shoulder all his burden and pain for as long as they can be together. He actually had a crush on her, but unable to confess because of his nervousness. In Glory Blue OVA, however, he finally acquired the bravery he was always hoping for and finally asked Chikane to be his girlfriend, which she accepts with tears of happiness flowing down from her eyes. Kōji Kobori[]Vice-captain of Kaijō team and Chikane's senior. Kobori always act as Kasamatsu's intermediate whenever Chikane has something to discuss about the team, and they are quite close even outside the court. Like Kasamatsu, he had a crush on her and confessed to her once, but the clueless Chikane failed to understand his confession and think of him only as a close friend and senior. Yoshitaka Moriyama[]Chikane's flamboyant senior who was enamored by her looks until he got shocked after hearing her speaking in a boyish tone. He was the one who asked Chikane to become basketball team manager. She respects him as her senior but often get annoyed because of his flirty nature. She always tries to reject his advances politely, and when it gets out of hand, she always pretends to not notice him at all. Ryōta Kise[]Unlike most of girls in Kaijō High, Chikane has no interest in Kise at all and saw him as annoying freshman. Their first meet also didn't went very smoothly (Kise talk to her casually and ended up got hit in the stomach by Chikane). Even so, she still cares about Kise as a team member and her junior. She also trusts Kise as the ace of the team. Quotes[]"You don't have to shoulder everything alone, Kasamatsu-senpai. I am here, and now it's my turn to shoulder this pain for you. Kasamatsu-senpai... I will always be by your side." (Chikane to Kasamatsu) "Now that you have chose me, I'm going to cure your nervousness! Okay, Yukio?" (Chikane to Kasamatsu) "Watch your language, freshman! If I ever heard you talking that way again to me, I won't hesitate to beat the crap out of you!" (Chikane to Kise, when they first meet) Trivia[]
Notes[]
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Chikane Sakamoto
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