Kenji Kurosawa

Who are you?:

Quirky

Perks:

Savant (Movies)

Free. Kenji Kurosawa knows more about movies, actors, and cinematography than most directors know their own films. He can recall release dates, recite entire scripts from memory, and connect any two films through a chain of actors. While seemingly useless outside of trivia night, the countless hours he's spent watching films have given him a surface-level, "I saw it in a movie once" knowledge of countless topics. Of course, given how much film ignores or exaggerates reality, this knowledge is wildly unreliable.

Artist

Free. Kenji is a master artist, though he almost exclusively uses his talent for storyboarding his schlock films. He's designed and produced a poster for every one of his movies (yes, even 'BALLS TO THE WALLS 2: RETURN OF COACH TANAKA') and draws fan comics of various famous films for the school paper. His Idolon possesses similar talent - and, amusingly, a similar distaste for using it on anything "serious." This grants a minor combat ability: taking photos of enemies and then damaging them by physically cutting, burning, or drawing over the photo.

Musician

-1 Perk. Kenji is an incredibly talented musician, capable of playing nearly any instrument a score calls for. He's best with the piano, but only because its range is the most useful for his soundtracks, and he had the most practice with it in his youth. His Idolon can release debilitating screeches of feedback and static, as well as play back any recorded audio to mimic sounds perfectly.

Deep Perception

Free. A director manages everything on set: shooting schedules, timelines, actor cues, and knowing which take is "the one." Kenji has a natural knack for this level of perception, keeping a notepad on him at all times to manage his own chaotic schedule and jot down script ideas.

Happy-Go-Lucky

-1 Perk. Kenji is just a lucky idiot. The weather is always perfect for the scene he’s shooting, his cast's schedules rarely conflict, and a sizable chunk of his film funding comes from scrounging for loose change around town.

Forward

-1 Perk. It doesn't matter how many people say his movies suck. It doesn't matter that his mother says he's 'wasting his life glued to the television.' Deep in his heart, Kenji knows he is destined to stand among the greats like Spielberg and Carpenter. Almost nothing can dissuade him from this 'simple' fact.

Disguise Master

-1 Perk. From making a normal dude look like a horrific monster to just styling hair and coordinating an outfit, Kenji has surprising skill as a beautician and makeup artist. This has led to persistent rumors that he's dating some popular girl or another, since he's always seen disappearing with them... when in reality, he's just doing their makeup in exchange for funding or a cameo in his film.

The ZONE

-1 Perk. Kenji has a reaction time that far eclipses what you'd expect from a no-life, movie-loving loser. He can dodge attacks by a hair's breadth, quickdraw his camera faster than a cowboy in a spaghetti western, and perfectly time an attack to catch an opponent off guard. If he can stay in the Zone, even a seasoned martial artist would struggle to land a blow.

...But good luck keeping him in the zone if you aren't talking about Terminator 2 or some shit.

SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL idol DIRECTOR!!!

-1 Perk. Kenji Kurosawa is, no matter how you feel about him, a modern-day Renaissance Man. It doesn't matter what creative pursuit he tries. Drawing, composing, writing, photography, any instrument - he displays a superb, almost immediate, level of talent. He can pick up an instrument he's never touched and, within minutes, play it at a level most people only reach after months of dedicated practice.

If Kenji focused on a single field, he could surely become one of the greatest artists of his generation.

Unfortunately for the world, he doesn't give a fuck about any of that. Despite his overwhelming talent, he is completely uninterested in any field except one: Cinematography.

His gifts are exclusively wasted on shitty home movies. Instead of playing Bach, he's composing an 8-bit chiptune score for a slapstick comedy. Instead of sculpting the next David, he's making rubber props for 'ATTACK OF DEEP SPACE SQUIDS: PART IV'. His god-tier makeup skills are used to create the schlockiest monsters ever put to film.

But, as with everything he tries, he is destined for greatness.

The only thing holding him back is his absolute shit taste in movies.

Items:

Instrument (Camera)

Free. An incredibly expensive-looking video camera, clearly top-of-the-line and the result of hoarding cash from his part-time job. It has more functions and features than any sane person could name and is durable enough to survive a drop from the school roof without a scratch. If you actually tried that, Kenji would kill you, of course. In the real world, his Idolon resides within this camera, often appearing in photos and videos he takes and communicating in chirps or text on the screen.

Club Membership x2 (FILM APPRECIATION CLUB!!!)

-2 Item. Kenji is the President of the FILM APPRECIATION CLUB!!! (yes, that's how it's written on the club application form). This has afforded him many incredible privileges, like sitting through boring student council meetings to beg for a new projector, being forced to film school events, and having a dedicated room to watch movies in (and store his gear).

Cursed Tape

-2 Item. A set of old VHS tapes with peeled-off labels he got from the backroom of Morinaga Videos. They are grainy as hell and only run decent on the shitty CRT the student council still refuses to replace for his club. Watching them during the day shows glitched, fragmented scenes of events happening around the city. Watching them at night shows fragments of what will happen the next day. Watching them at high noon causes the viewer to lose consciousness until the following morning. Kenji has no idea they're supernatural; he just thinks they're busted old tapes and occasionally rewatches them, trying to figure out what movie was recorded over. His Idolon is NOT a fan of these tapes and gets annoyed when he or an ally uses them.

Life Events:

'Famous'

Kenji is, somehow, a known entity online. In very niche circles, his films are regarded as underground cult classics. He uses the computer at his job to answer fan questions on obscure forums. It's unlikely anyone would recognize him in real life, but every so often a classmate is shocked to learn the weirdo director in their class is an internet microcelebrity. He was also briefly famous in his youth as the youngest pianist to ever perform at Kageoka Grand Hall.

Part-Time Jobber

Kenji works as a cashier at Morinaga Videos, a sleazy Blockbuster clone that really shouldn't be employing a high schooler considering what they sell in the back. The pay is shit and he struggles to balance work and school, but he gets a massive discount and free rentals, has a network of contacts among the store's clientele (who are mostly old perverts and fellow kino-autists), and gets to watch movies on the clock. He deeply respects his boss, 'Sensei Morinaga,' a washed-up film industry failure who gives surprisingly good advice and doesn't give a shit what his employees do.

Moon's Love

...

Missions:

Humanity Lost(?)

Kenji cannot lose his Idolon. He would lose his reason to live. He cannot return to the empty person he was before meeting her. Death is a preferable alternative. If assisting Nurarihyon is the only way to keep his Idolon after he turns 22, then he will do so regardless of the consequences.
It doesn't matter how many people die. It doesn't matter if he never makes another movie.
All that matters is that he doesn't lose her again.

Drawbacks:

Addiction

+2 IP. Kenji loves his Idolon the way an addict loves a needle. He refuses to be separated from her. In the real world, her camera is always with him. In the Idea World, she is never out of his sight. This is a massive liability in a fight; if his Idolon is about to be hit, he will almost certainly move to take the blow for her. Given his own fragility, this makes them a glass cannon. Stealing his camera or attacking his Idolon are two of the only ways to make him genuinely, furiously angry.

Bio:

Some people are born better than others. Kenji Kurosawa was born better. From childhood, he picked things up unnaturally fast. He was walking at 8 months and performing piano recitals at Kageoka Grand Hall by age 5. When his parents discovered his talent extended to art, composition, and more, they were elated.

Kenji, however, hated it. His talent alienated him from his peers. He never found anything difficult. Academics, sports, art, music - it all came easy. There was no risk of failure, no companionship, and no choice. He lived only to satisfy his parents and teachers, an empty look in his eyes that everyone ignored. He did not know the meaning of 'struggle' or 'hard work'.

Not until a trucker fell asleep at the wheel and smashed into his family's car when Kenji was 12.

His father died instantly. At least, that's what Kenji tells himself. His mother survived but was paralyzed from the waist down. Kenji himself would spend the next three months in Kageoka Central Hospital, confined to a bed, relearning how to walk. It was there, in that sterile white room, that he met his first and only love.

Emi Tokiwa.

She was a girl his age who held a deep love for life, a love she expressed through the American films she watched constantly on the corner TV. At first, Kenji ignored her. But as Emi talked to him, laughed with him, and shared her favorite films, he slowly opened up. She dreamed of becoming a famous actress, traveling the world for exotic shoots. For the first time, Kenji had a friend.

He recovered with his usual prodigious speed. On the day he left, he made a promise to her: If she would become the world's greatest actress, he would become the world's greatest director, and she would star in all his films.

Emi Tokiwa died four months later from congenital heart failure. Kenji visited her every day until the end.

After her death, he abandoned music, becoming a shut-in. He returned to the dreary, empty world he once knew. A week after she passed, he awoke to her Idolon. For the last three years, he has lived with the spirit, just now enrolling as a freshman at Higan Academy. In that time, he's directed 16 short films.

Personality:

Outwardly, Kenji Kurosawa is fucking autistic. He is obsessed with cinema, particularly American B-movies, and appears to care for nothing else. He does the bare minimum to maintain his arts scholarship (and constantly requests to submit films instead of composing music scores), works at a video store, and spends every waking hour either filming or scrounging for the resources to do so. His speech is littered with movie quotes and film terminology. He'll frame real-life situations in cinematic terms ("The narrative pacing of this assembly is atrocious") and offer unsolicited direction to people ("Your motivation is all wrong! You need to project more!"). He's loud, passionate, and completely oblivious to social cues that don't fit a film trope he recognizes.

This entire persona is almost completely 'stolen' from his late friend, Emi Tokiwa. It's a role he plays like a method actor. Before meeting her, he was a puppet. A robot designed to hit piano keys with mechanical precision and timing. His greatest fear is that if he loses his Idolon - his last connection to her - he will revert to that empty state. This fear is what drives his opposition to the Student Council.

Beneath this manic shell is the real Kenji: quiet, observant, deeply melancholic, and terrifyingly lonely. This side is reserved for his Idolon and anyone who manages to earn his trust (a very barren list). He clings to a ghost in the cameras' lens, like a sailor might cling to driftwood.

Idolon: Tokiwa-Chan

Origin:

Other Person
+1 IP for Normal Skills, +1 IP for category Skills/Abilities
Tokiwa-Chan originates from another person - specifically, Emi Tokiwa.

Type:

Avatar
+3 IP for Abilities
Manifests alongside Kenji in Bleeding Zones. In the real world, she resides within his camera, able to manipulate photos, videos, and connected electronics.

Normal Skills:

Rule of Cool

Free. Her attacks have visual effects like film grain, scan lines, or monochrome flashes.

Artistic Anatomy License

Free. A humanoid shape, but composed of mechanical components and having several cameras instead of a head.

Machinery

-1. Adept at interfacing with all forms of technology, especially surveillance and lighting equipment.

Esoteric

Free. Fights indirectly by "filming" the battlefield, then creating, editing, and destroying strips of film or photos to affect the real enemies and terrain.

Absolute Resonance

-1. It is unlikely that there is any Awakened more in tune with their Idolon than Kenji - a result of years living with it and near constant communication. Regardless, his connection is quite impressive considering it is not originally his, and he is capable of drawing more power and strength from Tokiwa-chan without difficulty.

Charge Attack

-1. Attacks and abilities may be held and charged before release, increasing their power and strength. In Tokiwa-chan's case, it enables things like longer periods of paused-time, further teleportations, and more effective manipulation.

Cogito Erog Sum III

-3. She stands with him, as he stands with her. One is a hollow cup while the other is a shaky afterimage - but together they resist destruction.

Master Abilities:

Fact Check III:

-3. The easiest application of Tokiwa's film is manipulating time. This can range from producing the film more slowly to slow her perception of time, producing it quickly to increase her or her allies speed, or even stopping it entirely to freeze time for a few seconds.

Perfected III:

-3. A perfect actress always gives a perfect performance. She is skilled in all manner of things, from fighting and thievery to cooking and crochet. She may manifest effects like papparazzi flashes and speakers to harm enemies or buff allies. Tokiwa-chan is even capable of entering 'the zone' at will, allowing her to perform at a level that rivals far more potent Idolons... for a few moments.

Realm of Possibility II:

-2. An entire Bleeding Zone may be overtaken and transformed into a 'Set', granting Tokiwa-chan (and by extension, Kenji) enhanced perception of everything in the Zone. This is very tiring and costly, however, making it a rarely used ability.

Master Skills:

T2: Timed

-1. Tokiwa-chan's actions are completely unreadable to an enemy as a result of her timing and skill - in addition, she possesses short-term precognition and retrocognition, making landing attacks on Tokiwa-chan incredibly difficult.

T3: The Storm

-1. Spacing and perspective are some of the easiest tools for a Director to manipulate. Tokiwa-chan may generate portals to cross large distances in seconds, as well as to use for attacking, dodging, escape, and more.

Stealth Abilities:

Scout III

-3. Tokiwa-chan has incredible sensory abilities, capable of sensing enemies and bleeding zones long before her allies. In addition, she can analyze the capabilities of enemies to determine their weaknesses, abilities, and how to properly engage them. When she has established her 'Set', it is effectively impossible to escape her gaze.

Commander Abilities:

Minions I:

-1. Tokiwa-chan is capable of summoning a small number of minions, typically in the form of animals with mechanical devices in place of a head. These are of little use in direct combat, but can be made quickly and can perform a number of tasks - Tokiwa-chan is preferential to creating birds with cameras for a head to use as scouts.

Commander Skills:

Words of Command:

-1. Issues short, cinematic orders that buff allies. "Close-up!" to grant a burst of speed, "Cut!" to trigger minor regeneration, "Focus!" to increase accuracy.

Description:

Tokiwa-chan takes the form of a girl with a slender frame, dressed in an oversized white technical jacket with glowing pink accents and sleek black leggings. Her most striking feature is her head, which has been replaced with a complex asymmetrical cluster of camera lenses, viewfinders, and small monochrome screens. These screens constantly flicker with data - EKG heartbeats, audio waveforms, digital timers - but offer no hint of emotion outside of simplistic emoticons and the tone of the beeps. Long, ribbon-like cables trail from her like hair, ending in stylized two-pronged plugs. Occasionally she will 'flicker', moving a short distance in a small burst of static - like the film on an old movie skipping frames. Her voice is soft and waif, but with a clear electronic undertone. Her speech is seemingly composited, words cut from entirely different pieces of audio to form complete sentences.

Personality:

Tokiwa-chan personality is almost identical to that of Emi Tokiwa. She is energetic, cheerful, and hyper-focused on the "production." Her personality mirrors Kenji's outward persona - or, rather, Kenji's is a mirror and imitating her genuine beliefs. She speaks in cinematic terms as her native language, shouting "Action!" at the start of a fight or "Cut! Print it!" after a successful maneuver. She cannot eat food directly, but loves to take photos of delicious looking sweets and pastries.

She is completely unaware of her past life as Emi Tokiwa. It is difficult to even tell if this is truly Emi Tokiwa, or if her Idolon merely copied her personality. Kenji chooses to believe the former, but considering his usual delusions this shouldn't really be trusted. Regardless, as far as Avatars go, she is one of the most obedient Idolons in the academy. She sees Kenji as her Director, and she is dedicated to helping him shoot the greatest film of all time. She is fiercely loyal and protective, making combat somewhat annoying since both will try to 'take the bullet' for the other.