Shu Itsuki's much beloved and respected grandfather whom he has looked up to ever since he was a child. While he is described to be very strict and always scolding others, he would always enable Shu's curiosity as a child, sharing with him the strange knickknacks he would collect.[1]
Personality[]
Throughout his life he has shown himself to be very mischievous, fussy, and short-tempered. He likes to play around and goes about it selfishly, likened to the eye of a typhoon that would drag everything in and destroy it on a whim.[2] He even faked being in poor health so that his family would move him out to the Western family villa out in Tokyo to take care of him, simply because the modern and Western style of the building suited his tastes.
He is known for faking his death as a way to gather all of his relatives in one place, so that he can make a demand or invite them to a game, usually with a portion of his inheritance as a grand prize. These games would date as far back as to when Shu was a child, and would be very distressing for him. According to Kuro, it has happened up to 17 times.[3] Shu says that he's grown more irritable with age.
When he thought Shu was wasting his time visiting him in the hospital instead of focusing on his idol work, he went as far as to attempt to jump out of the window so Shu would no longer be distracted by him, claiming that "no one would miss him" if he died. Despite his old age, it took the entire family to restrain him, implying that he can be quite strong when enraged.[4]
Shu holds him in very high regard, as they are both eccentrics within their family and are quite similar in a lot of ways. Shu's grandfather was oftentimes the only person who understood him and would enable his unusual behaviors.
Trivia[]
- He has developed throat cancer in his old age, leaving him with a hole in his throat.[5]
- Unable to speak, he utilizes a text-to-speech voice synthesizer. It leaves him a bit frustrated as it does not properly convey his potent emotions.
- As of the end of ES' first year of establishment, his declining health leaves him in hospice, often with the doctor barring visitors to his room.
- When Kuro was a child, Shu's grandfather would scold him quite harshly whenever he got into trouble, often to the point of tears. This was to make sure he did not stray too far from the right path. This has earned him Kuro's respect even to this day.[6]
- He has a habit of collecting "junk" and various strange items and keeping them in a storage room inside the family villa. This allowed Mika, who shares a similar habit, to understand and relate to him more.[7]
- During his time studying abroad in Paris as a teenager, he often spent his time masquerading in women's clothes as a "mademoiselle". Being able to express his repressed feminine side of himself relieved stress for him.
- It is during this time that he met a dear friend who spent her free time making dolls in secret. He was a great fan of her work, and insisted to buy her work off her. This doll-maker created the Mademoiselle doll that Shu treasures.
- Incidentally, this friend is the same one currently boarding with Shu while he studies abroad in Paris.