 Souma Kanzaki
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A modern warrior who carries a sword on a regular basis. Both his words and his actions are antiquated. Although there are times where he can be earnest and helpful, there are also times where he can be reckless. With his carefree singing voice, he puts on a sharp and serious performance.
A member of Rhythm Link’s AKATSUKI.[2]
I am Kanzaki Souma, of Akatsuki. The company with which I am associated with is "Rizumu Rinku". Mm, although I am not particularly skilled when it comes to reading English script, I was able to say the company name correctly, without falter. Thankfully, my time spent practicing before I retired to slumber last night was not for naught. Although when compared to the great and honorable Hasumi-dono and Kiryu-dono, I am still but a novice of an "aidoru"... In order to become an "aidoru" who shines like the radiant sun, I, Kanzaki Souma, shall sally forth![3]
KuroSo I just have to talk about Kanzaki? Hmm… This is kinda cliché, but I think he's doing well. He's a little younger than me and Hasumi-no-danna, but still, he's doing his absolute best to keep up. There are times where he shocks us with how much he's grown. Well, of course, he can be cheeky, so there's also no shortage of times where he surprises us with how much he blunders when we wouldn't have expected it... But he's genuine, honest, and all around a good kid. Whether it's Kanzaki or Hasumi-no-danna, I'd say I'm pretty blessed to have them as friends. Er... Is it alright if I stop there? Kinda feel a lil' embarrassed now.[3]
Ensemble Stars! Profile
Serious and straight-forward, he tends to make mistakes when acting hastily and will attempt to atone through seppuku.
He holds the president of the Marine Biology Club Kanata Shinkai in high regard, but doesn't click at all with fellow club member and upperclassman Kaoru Hakaze. He's fairly close to his classmate Adonis Otogari and so they do a lot together.
A member of the unit AKATSUKI. He respects both Keito Hasumi and Kuro Kiryu and spends every day training himself to support them.
Appearance[]
Souma is a boy of average height and build. He has long dark purple-colored hair, tied back in a ponytail with a white band, leaving two stray locks of hair fringing his face. His hair reaches about his mid back when tied up. He has light purple eyes. He wears the school uniform, which includes a white shirt with the collar undone, a green tie, and a blazer buttoned up. He wears dark brown loafers. He can always be seen with his sword; it has a black sheath and dull yellow handles.
On stage, Souma wears AKATSUKI's uniform, which is reminiscent of traditional Japanese clothes. It includes a red and white kimono with a yellow striped sleeve. The outfit includes a golden obi tied to the side, with purple cords hanging from it. The top part of the kimono is fur-lined, and he wears a black sleeveless shirt under it. The bottom part is white and purple with orange leaves scattered along the bottom, and he wears black fitted pants underneath. He wears high black boots. His hair is tied back with a white band. He also wears a black sleeve on his right arm that goes almost up to his shoulder. He can be seen with his sword.
Ensemble Stars! Appearance
Souma is a boy of average height and build. He has long dark purple-colored hair, tied back in a ponytail with a white band, leaving two stray locks of hair fringing his face. His hair reaches about his mid back when tied up. He has light purple eyes. He wears the school uniform, which includes a white shirt with the collar undone, a blue tie, and a blazer buttoned up. He wears dark brown loafers. He can always be seen with his sword; it has a black sheath and dull yellow handles.
On stage, Souma wears AKATSUKI's uniform, which is reminiscent of traditional Japanese clothes. It includes a red and white kimono with a yellow striped sleeve. He does not wear the other sleeve and lets it hang down. The outfit includes a black obi tied to the side, with red cords hanging from it. The top part of the kimono is fur-lined, and he wears a black sleeveless shirt under it. The bottom part is red with white petals scattered along the bottom, and he wears black fitted pants underneath. He wears high black boots with black laces. His hair is tied back with the same type of red cord hanging from the obi. He also wears white athletic tape on his arms from the wrist to the forearm. He can be seen with his sword, or a light purple tinted fan.
Personality[]
This article briefly references practices of ritual suicide. Proceed at your own caution.
If Souma could be summed up in a single word, it would be sincere. Having grown up in an old-fashioned samurai household which prides itself on its honour and virtue, Souma believes wholeheartedly in those idealistic values and strives at all times to embody them. He is diligent and hard-working, always keeping himself busy and feeling lost when he has too much free time. He has an incredible sense of justice and will never hesitate to defend someone he believes is in need of protection. And he is extremely honest and forthright, despising deception. Determined and brave, he is always a man of his word, whether he is defying his respected family’s warnings by becoming an idol, or taking desperate action to prevent a curse he believes could lead to widespread violence and misery.
However, that intense devotion to a code of ethics from so long ago can also become a flaw. Souma can often be too rigid and inflexible in his interpretation of rules, though he typically does not police other people’s behaviour unless they openly express disdain for Souma’s values (for example, Kaoru). His thinking can be too black and white, struggling to incorporate context or nuance. And finally, his idealism can easily become naivete, as he often idolises and romanticises those who are kind to him (such as Keito and Kanata), tends to trust other people far too easily, and is worryingly willing to sacrifice himself without a thought to his own well-being.
These old-fashioned mannerisms also mark Souma out as distinctly strange compared to his fellow idols in the modern day. Souma is well aware that he stands out as a ‘weirdo,’ but feels neither positively nor negatively about that – he tries not to cause others any trouble because of his unusual behaviour, but he is deeply proud of his heritage and feels a duty as the heir to his family to embody their spirit. Perhaps because of his sheltered upbringing, Souma also lacks ‘common sense,’ often leaping to strange conclusions or failing to ‘read the room’ during conversations, and is out of step with what others consider ‘normal.’ For example, while he can be easily flustered by Kanata’s unpredictability, he highly admires him as his club captain, and is cheerfully accepting of Kanata’s general oddness. Despite these social difficulties, Souma is generally very friendly, often not realising that he may come across as overbearing or oblivious.
This is because, despite his serious and seemingly cool exterior, Souma is also an incredibly emotional and hot-blooded character. He feels his emotions very strongly, whether they be outrage at some perceived injustice, pure despair at having made a mistake that caused trouble for others (which often leads to him offering to commit seppuku in apology), or sheer, unadulterated delight at having fun with his friends. He is incredibly curious and loves to learn new things, because while he is proud of his heritage he is just as impressed by others’ as well, and is fascinated by new modern-day things. (He is convinced that he is hopeless with modern technology, however.) Because he tries so hard, he loves competitions and can easily become over-competitive (though any hard feelings are always short-lived), and his strong-willed nature can lead to him being overly stubborn and reckless when he believes he’s doing what’s right.
In other words, Souma takes the world very seriously, living in the moment and wearing his heart not merely on his sleeve but right up between his eyes for all to see. Though his emotional nature is sometimes described as childish, Souma does not usually appear ashamed to care so deeply, fully aware of his propensity for breaking easily into tears and his transparent delight at being praised by his seniors. (It would be deeply embarrassing to be treated that way by his peers or juniors, however.) This open expressiveness is especially obvious when it comes to his friends, as he would not bat an eyelash to shower a loved one in compliments so flowery and over the top it’s almost hard to tell he isn’t being sarcastic.
That is because despite Souma’s occasional obliviousness (that has seen Arashi scolding him as too boyishly insensitive to girls), Souma’s noble upbringing has granted him a deeply princely demeanour. He tends to speak extremely formally and politely, and he is very capable with charismatic, poetic language. However, he never does this manipulatively – his sweet words are always disconcertingly earnest. Likewise, Souma is trained in a grand variety of high arts, from calligraphy to tea ceremony to flower arranging, and due to his lifetime of sword practice and dancing, his performances are renowned for their elegance and grace. He also achieves good results in school (apart from English, at any rate) due to his dedication to his studies, and is both fit and impressively athletic. In short, Souma is all-around exceptionally accomplished in a wide variety of fields. However, despite being the heir to his household, Souma struggles with politics, leaving those matters up to his father for now.
Ultimately, Souma is defined most of all by his pure, compassionate heart. It was his belief in AKATSUKI that allowed Keito and Kuro to want to become better people, establishing himself as the moral conscience of his unit. He always thinks of other people before himself, and loves taking care of and nurturing others – he becomes attached very quickly to animals and people alike, and it is a hobby of his to cook for his friends. (He is most proficient in Japanese cooking, but practices all kinds of cuisine so he can whip up any potential request.) He takes his social responsibilities very seriously, being the ideal devoted and obedient kouhai, but also the model encouraging but firm sempai, as younger characters such as Shinobu remind him of his own younger brother.
However, that pure heart is both his greatest strength and his strongest weakness. His belief in others can blind him to their misdeeds, his idolisation can lead to him to not always truly understand the people he loves so highly, and his innocence leaves him dangerously open to being taken advantage of. While Souma often speaks proudly of his family or unit, he places impossible standards on himself to live up to them, and much of his diligence stems from a fear deep down that he is only holding everyone else back. He struggles badly whenever his loyalties conflict, something which lead to him suffering terrible consequences during the War, but he seems largely unaware of any pain of his own. Instead, he focuses on the present, and on what he can do for others right now. While Souma would hate to knowingly lie about his own thoughts and feelings, he often does not seem to truly understand or value himself.
Souma is many things at once, all wrapped up in a complicated package – proud yet humble, hot-blooded yet reliable, socially awkward yet charming. But amidst this complexity, he is simply a young man who cares very, very deeply for his family and friends, and whose highest desire is to be an idol who may connect his heart to all in the world who suffer.
Etymology[]
Souma's last name (神崎) has the characters for both "God" and "coastal cape" in it, signifying his family's role to shelter and safeguard the God of their religion. [4] His first name, 颯馬. has the characters for "sudden", "quick", or "sound of wind" (颯) (Sou) and "horse" (馬) (ma). This is likely a nod to Saigō-don, his family's horse.
Family[]
- For more information, see Souma Kanzaki/Family.
His family consists of his father, mother, and younger brother. They were originally part of the Genji/Minamoto clan.[5]
The Kanzaki household owns a horse named "Saigo-don (砕号どん)", probably a reference to one of the greatest samurai in Japanese history, Saigō Takamori's nickname "Saigō-don (西郷どん)". The horse is featured in his Scroll of the Elements card, Samurai's Big Moment.
In the Quarrel Festival, Keito had ordered Souma to stand outside, balance a bucket on his head and recite the Buddhist prayer. Souma was moved since he had a similar punishment in his household. However, he sang AKATSUKI's songs instead since he does not know of any Buddhist prayers.
Trivia[]
- Souma's autograph consists of his full name, rendered in kanji.
- He and his family have a permit to wield swords in public.[6]
- He gets teary when watching documentaries about sea turtles.
- He wears kimono at home, and is able to teach someone how to wear one.[7]
- He dreamed of playing alongside dolphins for a long time.[8]
- He makes food for Kamegorou, the pond turtle kept by the Marine Life club.[9]
- He uses horse oil passed down for generations in the Kanzaki household to take care of his hair.[10]
- Like Adonis, he has a lot of difficulty with technology and often forgets to bring his smartphone with him, but his family does have a landline at home.[11]
- He enjoys open-air tea ceremony, particularly in Yumenosaki Academy as there is so much beautiful nature around.[12] He is also good at calligraphy.[13]
- He is very susceptible to hypnosis due to his simple-minded and honest nature.[14][15]
- Souma prefers Japanese food over Western food.[16]
- He occasionally gets lost in chopping ingredients, and prepares too much food as a result.
- Souma is one of two characters who are portrayed by their own voice actors in the stage plays (since Extra Stage ~Destruction × Road~), the other being Arashi.
Voice Actor Comment[]
"I am very happy that I was invited to participate in Ensemble Stars. As someone who is still new to voice-acting, plus being surrounded by so many famous senpai, I was very nervous. I found Souma Kanzaki's character to be very interesting, as even though he's still young, he's quite old-fashioned; his speech is quite peculiar, and he has the habit of always bowing to everyone. I also felt a great affinity for him, since we share one character in our last name, as well as our favorite food!" (Enstars!)
""* (Enstars!!)
| Souma Kanzaki | ||
|---|---|---|
 Story Index • Idol Story • Birthday Story • Appeal Talk • Minitalk Sub Story • Management Story • Mini Event • Intimate Event • Greeting Event • Produce Course | ||
| AKATSUKI | Keito Hasumi • Kuro Kiryu • Souma Kanzaki | |
Sources[]
- ↑ "DREAM LIVE 4th Tour Prism Star!" Character Interview and Dialogue Pamphlet
- ↑ Official Profile
- ↑ Official Profile
- ↑ Meteor Impact - One Year Ago: Unqualified Hero 11
- ↑ Purple Wisterias of May - Slasher Riot 1
- ↑ Crossroad - Curse 2
- ↑ Souma's Mini Events
- ↑ Aquarium - Epilogue 1
- ↑ Palace of the Ocean
- ↑ Quarrel Festival - Epilogue 1
- ↑ Aquarium - Going to the Aquarium Together 3
- ↑ Souma's Mini Events
- ↑ Colorful Autumn
- ↑ Quarrel Festival
- ↑ Meikyoushisui
- ↑ Hokuto Management Story 5