 Shu Itsuki |
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Seeking to change what it means to be an idol through the fine arts. Currently active in France incorporating a global perspective into his work. He has a meticulous and neurotic disposition. He is often short-tempered and impassioned, but sometimes glimpses of kindness can be seen. His singing voice is powerfully extravagant, and his performances are calculated with utmost detail.
Shu is the leader of Valkyrie at COSMIC PRODUCTION. While in pursuit of the most supreme form of art, his goal is also to grow and evolve as a human being while trying to broaden his own range of expression. He reinterprets performances on TV and in other video productions as sources of inspiration.[3]
I am Shu Itsuki of Valkyrie. We Valkyrie are a unit of two artists who create sublime works of art. Explaining what Kagehira and I do in detail during a self introduction would be meaningless, so I implore you to simply watch one of Valkyrie's performances first. There is no doubt that you will be able to wholeheartedly enjoy a performance of true idols pouring their souls into the pursuit of unique art.[3]
MikaTa me, Oshi-san's someone I look up to—he's who gave me everything. Oshi-san makes the outfits fer our performances. Each 'n every one of 'em is unique and filled with Oshi-san's dedicated passion. Nfufu, bein' able ta work together with Oshi-san in Valkyrie makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world...♪ I'll do ma best as his partner in Valkyrie ta be able ta stick by Oshi-san's side fore~ver![3]
Quick Answers
Who is Mademoiselle? Why is Shu doing ventriloquism?
What is the relationship between Shu Itsuki and Nazuna Nito?
How does Shu Itsuki feel about Wataru Hibiki joining the unit 'fine'?
Appearance
Shu is a tall young man with a good build. He has short, light pink hair that is slightly tousled and violet eyes. On warmer days, his casual attire consists of a light blue shirt with white, grey flowers and black pants with a belt. On colder days, he wears a wine red coat with a gold brooch embedded with a green gemstone on his lapel. Underneath, he wears a black turtleneck sweater, as well as wine red pants, matching his coat, with a black belt. With both outfits, he wears a gold watch on his left wrist.
On stage, Shu wears Valkyrie's brand new uniform—a rose red colored coat over a black shirt and a nice looking corset. Additionally, he wears a white ribbon with a red jewel around the neck. He also wears a dark rose hat with a feather on the side and two gear accessories on top of a dark brown ribbon.
Shu is a very tall young man with a good build. He has short, light pink hair that is slightly tousled. He wears the school's uniform with the white shirt undone at the collar and a jabot over the blazer. His jacket is buttoned up nicely. He wears black loafers and loose plaid pants.
On stage, Shu wears Valkyrie's uniform. It consists of a black, dark-rose colored coat over a buttoned dark red shirt with a black ribbon around his neck. He also wears a dark-rose colored top hat decorated with a black ribbon, a white badge, and a black feather.
Personality
Formerly perceived as arrogant, dishonest, and selfish, while still kind and caring at heart, Shu was quite a fussy and short-tempered person with a desire for perfection at all times. However, over time he opened up his heart more to those around him. He is an antique doll lover, with a fascination towards all forms of art and European culture.
Etymology
Shu's first name (宗) means "religion." It is also an alternative spelling of 旨 (mune), meaning "aim" or "purpose." This complements Shu's strong ambitions as a character. The first character of his last name (斎) can be read as itsuki by itself, and means a "sacred [Shinto] ground." The second character (宮) means "shrine" or "palace."
The characters of his last name (斎宮) together can also be read as saiguu or itsukinomiya, which both refer to the ancient imperial princesses who used to serve as the high priestess of the Ise Grand Shrine.[4] Ise Shrine is a shrine dedicated to the goddess Amaterasu and is a location to pray for public happiness,[5] which bears similarity to Shu's goal of bringing salvation to those trampled by the world through his art.[6]
The references in his name to worshipping the divine seem related to how he used to view himself as an unparalleled god who stood above all other creatures.[7]
Family
- For more information, see Shu Itsuki/Family.
Shu comes from a wealthy, old family with roots in the Kansai region. The family had a villa built out in Tokyo, built in a modern and Western-styled fashion. As the head of the Itsuki family, Shu's grandfather, aged, the family moved out to the villa for its barrier free and modern design to help aid in his grandfather's care. Because of this, Shu was born and raised at this family villa.[8]
Shu often visits his family residence for the holidays. The house is described to be an old, rather antiquated building with a Japanese style.
Trivia
- During the "Ensemble Stars!" era, Shu was one of the first additional main characters introduced into the game and storyline.
- Shu made his "Ensemble Stars!" game debut in the company of Mika Kagehira, presenting to audiences as Valkyrie for the first time on March 2, 2016. His unit was the first official unit to be announced after the initial release of "Ensemble Stars!".
- His late entry to the series makes him one of several characters to be revealed after the game's release, also notably including the idols belonging to Switch, MaM, and Eden.
- He is the eldest and tallest member of Valkyrie.
- Shu's autograph consists of his full name, rendered in roman letters. Some of the letters in his name feature long extensions to represent marionette strings.
- While he has the color black listed as his favorite color, he does not particularly have a favorite color as different colors appeal to the heart depending on the mood and emotion. He is also particularly drawn to Van Gogh's yellow & the blue of Chagall and Vermeer.[1]
- He is a bookworm, hence why he has knowledge on many philosophical subjects and history.
- Shu currently attends university in France.[9]
- He has a much closer relationship with his grandfather rather than his parents. This is most likely due to the fact he was often scolded by them and they were unsupportive of Shu's interests.
- He is Kuro's childhood friend.[10]
- In his childhood Shu held Kuro's mother in very high regards because she was supportive of his interests. He mentions that he was jealous of her and Kuro's relationship.
- Kuro's mother was the person who taught him lace knitting.
- He refuses to call Anzu by her name and calls her "girl" (小娘 komusume) instead. It's hinted that he calls all girls this way, since he refers to Chizuru Yakumo like this in the Crosstalk side story in the Ensemble Stars! light novel series.
- Due to his bad relationship with food, he relies only on his own cooking and croissants. However, that appears to be changing as he seems more willing to eat food not made by himself as time goes on.
- He was frequently bullied by other kids in his neighborhood for playing with dolls.
- When he was a child he drew sketches of clothes designs, which he now looks back at to get inspiration and recreates them with more modern features.
- While they went to school together, Mika lived at Shu's house to avoid commuting from his home in Kansai.[10]
- He doesn't like other people touching Valkyrie's costumes, implying that he washes them himself by hand.[11]
- Shu has very good vision and high levels of discernment between objects, so much so that he's able to see the 2mm difference between Hinata's and Yuta's hair lengths and claim this as being "obvious." When questioned about his vision, he simply states that "if your vision is clouded, you will never be able bring art into this world."[12]
- Sora described his color as "Pretty, as well as sparkly like a kaleidoscope[13]."
- Nazuna Nito was a member of Valkyrie during the War era. After his leaving and the devastation that wrecked Valkyrie at Eichi Tenshouin's hand, Shu and Mika began to hold lives in much rarer frequency, and Valkyrie was considered to be on the decline.
- Shu found Mademoiselle in one of the storage rooms of his house and he had her as an emotional support. She was later officially given to him by his grandfather under the condition that he'll love her and treat her as family.[14]
- Natsume has stated that Shu and Mademoiselle operate with a psychological mechanism identical to Dissociative Identity Disorder.[15]
- Akira stated that the reason Mademoiselle does not speak in reminiscence events such as Marionette is because she was created due to Shu splitting as a result of the shock from Valkyrie's downfall, and as such didn't exist before then.[16] Natsume explains that Shu "split a part of himself and entrusted it to Mademoiselle" due to this shock.[15]
- Shu and Mademoiselle lack dissociative amnesia.
- In Machina, Shu and Mademoiselle have been shown to be able to communicate without the presence of the doll, with Shu responding out-loud to Mademoiselle.
- Shu's live stream username is "@Shu_Itsuki".[17]
- He possesses basic knowledge of playing the piano.[18]
Commentary
Voice Actor Comments
"It's so lively with so many characters, isn't it? My character is arrogant and overbearing, but he's also very bad with crowds. I suppose he's like the saying, "A lion at home, a mouse abroad." ...Though, I would encourage you to play and decide which he is for yourself. His name may be written like saiguu or itsukinomiya, but it's pronounced I-tsu-ki☆ Please remember it!" (Enstars!)[19]
"Prestige is defined by high class, high quality, elegance, nobility, style, and so much more. Therefore, more than ever, let us continue to live as such!" (Enstars!!)[20]
Main Scenario Writer's Comments
"His initial character establishment didn't have him feeling like a "Five Eccentric" at all, and it was Akira's idea to have him speak ventriloquism through a doll, which was then adopted. Meaning, Mademoiselle is the only character out of the Ensemble Stars! cast I can proudly say that I created." —Akira (Official Works, Artbook)[21]
 Shu Itsuki
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| Sub Story • Management Story • Mini Event • Intimate Event • Greeting Event • Produce Course | ||
| Valkyrie | Shu Itsuki • Mika Kagehira | |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "DREAM LIVE 4th Tour Prism Star!" Character Interview and Dialogue Pamphlet
- ↑ Black Swan
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Official Profile
- ↑ Saiku Historical Museum - Saiguu/Itsukinomiya Q&A
- ↑ Ise Jingu Official Site - About Ise Jingu
- ↑ Human Comedy - Tragedy 12
- ↑ Meteor Impact - One Year Ago: Unqualified Hero 5, Puppet Sovereign
- ↑ Raison d'être - A Premature Burial 3
- ↑ Raison d'être - Prologue
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Reminiscence＊Marionette
- ↑ Magnolia - Chapter 9
- ↑ Steampunk Museum - Chapter 8
- ↑ Showtime - Chapter 4
- ↑ Victoria
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Victoria - Nameless Doll 4
- ↑ Reminiscence＊Marionette - Author's Comment
- ↑ 2025 Birthday Campaign
- ↑ Timbres of Heaven - Epilogue
- ↑ Enstars! Official Profile
- ↑ Commemorative Release Message
- ↑ Ensemble Stars! Official Works vol. 1