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Shuu Fujiwara (藤原 愁, Fujiwara Shū?) is a first-year student at Kirisaki High School and a member of the kyudo club. He was the former teammate of Minato Narumiya and Seiya Takehaya in middle school. He considers himself Minato's rival since childhood and serves as the friendly antagonist of the series.
Appearance[]
Shuu often draws attention because of his elegant, un-Japanese appearance, due to being a quarter-English. He is an exceptionally handsome and tall young man with short, loose brown hair swept away from the forehead, and large purple eyes. He is stated to have a good physique.
For kyudo, he wears a dark blue keikogi, black hakama, a black obi, and white tabi socks.
Personality[]
At first glance, Fujiwara comes off as aloof and calm, but is relatively well mannered to those he comes across. It can be seen that he rarely talks unless necessary. He never loses his cool, as seen in instances such as when his seniors had told him to deliberately miss his targets, as well as when Kaito confronted him.
On the other hand, he is shown to be extremely competitive, and is rather straightforward in regards to voicing out his feelings. Fujiwara is also described to have an intimidating aura around him.
History[]
Shuu saw kyudo for the first time in fifth grade at the prefectural budokan and became enchanted with it. His father found him a teacher, Kazuyoshi Saionji, who taught him privately.
Story[]
Shuu is alluded to when Minato and Seiya have their fight about Seiya ceaselessly trying to get Minato to join the Kazemai kyudo club. Minato mentions that during his final middle school tournament, his teammates (Seiya and Shuu) did not say anything when he threw the finals because of his hayake, and that Shuu had only stared at him with cold eyes before going on to win the individual competition beautifully.[1]
During a practice before the Golden Week holiday, Seiya tells Kaito Onogi to practice more if he had the time to observe people, stating that the "Young Lord" is at Kirisaki.[2]
Kirisaki High School Prefectural Tournament Selections[]
At Kirisaki High School, Shuu is practicing kyudo. There is a lot of attention on him because of his distinctive, un-Japanese appearance, but he is used to it and remains calm. Shuu considers the act of the bow and human becoming one an art worthy of offering up to the gods, which is why he always spares no effort to shoot his ideal shots, as he considers it a duty to the gods. Both of his arrows hit the target.
On the day of the selections for the Prefectural Tournament, the club advisor explained the Kirisaki selection methods, emphasizing the fact that they don't need unskilled people. Shu thinks about his middle school kyudo club advisor, who valued seniority over hitting rates, the complete opposite of his current advisor. Shuu believes that no matter which one walked on, shooting to win or shooting to pursue true beauty, the point everyone arrived at in the end was "correct shooting is correct hitting." Shuu walked both paths and is at the forefront of those in his generation, so everybody was enchanted by his shooting and wanted his words.
Right before the selections began, he is approached by Senichi Sugawara, who asks his advice on his shots going slightly too high. Shuu tells him that he was placing his arrow slightly lower than his mouth (kuchiwari) at kai, which makes it easier for the arrow to go up. He says that his twin brother Manji might share that same tendency as well, then suggests that they have Sensei watch them shoot. Senichi replies that Shuu's advice is easier to understand and that they want to shoot like him. Shuu asks him if they like going against Sensei's coaching, but Senichi says that they just do what they want to do. Next to them, Manji interjects that Shuu will definitely hit all the targets, to which Shuu answers that he hopes so, as he does not like the older students pushing the first-years around.
The first half of the selections begin, with Shuu hitting with both arrows in the first round. For the second round, Shuu is in a tachi along with Senichi and Manji, with him as the oomae. They follow the proper etiquette as they enter the shajo. He thoroughly and properly follows the steps of shooting before hitting the target with his usual grace. At the end of the first half, Shuu, along with the twins, are the only first-years to hit with all their arrows.
During break time, Shuu and the twins had lunch in the courtyard. As they are eating, two second-year students approached them. One of them is Kabashima, who yelled at the twins for joking around at practice the other day. He scolded the group for not being more tactful during the selections, as this is the third-years' last chance to be in an official high school tournament. Shuu asked if it would not be rude to them instead. Kabashima snapped that they should not be giving advice to third-years, and then grabbed Manji's shoulder in anger when the twins were ignoring him. Kabashima tells Shuu that if it wasn't for him giving them advice, they probably would have let the club a long time ago. This causes Shuu to stand up and defend the twins, saying that although they do not have the best behavior, they never skipped club and did preparations properly. He also states that seniors who encourage acts like match-fixing not only lower the dignity of Kirisaki, but of kyudo as well. Kabashima and his companion leaves, but not before telling him to stop disregarding his seniors and sensei and give advice to others. As they leave, Senichi wonders what was that all about, and Shuu replies that Kabashima was just venting his anger as he had missed one of his shots. He is thinking that those who disturbed their own presence of minds were vulgar, something that he himself worried about. But then he switched heads, as there was the possibility of it being a psychological warfare tactic from his rivals and he did not want to get affected by it.
The second half of the selections begins after break. As first-years, Shuu and the twins get to shoot early. There is a lot of attention on them as it is widely believed that they will hit all their targets. Despite all of the pressure and attention on him, Shuu flawlessly hit all of his targets, earning him thunderous applause and praise from everyone. Senichi, who went after him, also praised him. Shuu asks him how he and his brother did, and he replies that he had nine hits and Manji got eight. In the end, the three first-years were chosen for the boys' team that will take part in the Prefecturals.
After the selections, the club head Hiroki Motomura and vice-head Daigo Sase invite the chosen members to dinner at a restaurant purveyed by generations of kyudo club members, but Kabashima and the other second-year chosen, Yushima, decline to come. Hiroki tells the first-years that he will have their back when it comes to other members who will resent them for being chosen. He then turns to Shuu to compliment him on his skill, asking if he started kyudo in middle school. Shuu replies that he started in fifth grade, after he saw kyudo at the prefectural martial arts hall. Because elementary school students could not join kyudo clubs, his father, a formal Imperial Guard, asked a favor for him and got him a personal kyudo teacher who taught the Imperial Guards. Shuu suddenly felt nostalgic as he recalls a boy around the same age as him coming to peek when they were practicing in a borrowed municipal kyudojo. They were eventually taught together by his father and teacher, but the boy unexpectedly disappeared during their sixth grade before they reunited in middle school. Shuu is annoyed that he managed to irritate him and wonders what he is doing now. He thinks to himself that there is another man loved by the god of the bow.
Hiroki is impressed by Shuu's credentials and says that must be the reason why he is so skilled. Shuu denies it, saying that the biggest reason for why he improves his shooting skills is that there is someone who wants to shoot through his heart. One of the twins ask if it was "greatest hate springs from greatest love" situation, but Shuu does not give a straight answer, smiling daringly.[2]
Prefectural Tournament Preliminaries[]
Shuu arrives at the competition venue with the rest of the Kirisaki team. He approaches the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club and tells Senichi and Manji to stop bothering the members. He then greets Seiya and Minato. He mentions to Seiya, who stepped in front of Minato, how he was still acting like Minato's knight and how surprised he had been when he heard that the two of them were not continuing onto Kirisaki High School. He ignores Seiya's comment about him being the "Young Lord" and goes past him to speak to a shocked Minato privately.
He asks him if he remembers talking to their former master, Saionji-sensei, like this. Minato says he does. Shuu then places his hand on Minato's left flank and asks if it still hurt. When he replies no, Shuu is satisfied. Minato tells him that he knows that he had turned his back on him after their disastrous final middle school tournament and that he cannot face him as he still hadn't overcome his hayake. Shuu assures him that he never did such a thing and that he said nothing to him because there were no words suited for it. When he disappeared from their private kyudo lessons four years ago, he didn't know it was because of the accident. He realized just how much he had been waiting for him when they had reunited in middle school, and even now he is still waiting for him to return. Minato is speechless. Shuu goes on to tell him that Saionji-sensei never did any private lessons with anyone but them, as he believed it was the last duty entrusted to him, and that their meeting was a gift from the god of the bow. He then spots Hiroki and Daigo waving at them, calls Senichi and Manji and leaves.
For the boys' individual competition, both Shuu and Hiroki end up with kaichuu, so the victor is decided with an izume competition, which Shuu wins.
Shooting Technique and Ability[]
Fujiwara is considered a Kyudo prodigy, sometimes called "the prince". The best shooter at the best Kyudo powerhouse school in the nation. He trained under Saionji-sensei from a young age, alongside Minato. His shots are confident and purposeful. Masa-san describes his shooting form as perfect but lacking "heart". Masa says he is lacks a love for Kyudo that would otherwise propel his growth. Though he himself considers Minato his main motivation for growth.
Relationships[]
Minato Narumiya[]
Shuu and Minato have been rivals since childhood. They met when Minato abruptly dropped in on one of Saionji-sensei's tutoring session and forcing his way into the program. Due to Shuu's strict upbringing, this also made Minato his first friend. Shuu wants Minato to keep shooting to push himself to new heights.
Seiya Takehaya[]
Despite having been on the same team in the past, Seiya and Shuu have a bitter rivalry over Minato. Shuu thinks Seiya is too protective over Minato, hampering his growth, calling him "Minato's knight". Though by the end of nationals the two get on better terms, sharing food with each other.
Ryouhei Yamanouchi[]
Ryouhei and Shuu briefly met in the first season, however, their friendship developed in the second season following Ryouhei's kindness to his younger sister, Sae. Ryouhei borrows arrows from Shuu at a competition, later going to Shuu's home to return them. They hang out, even shooting together, with Shuu inviting to him come over whenever he would like, which sparked jealousy from Senichi and Manji. Ryouhei and Shuu, being opposites, have a friendship which brings out a different side of Shuu.
Senichi Sugawara and Manji Sugawara[]
Senichi and Manji look up to Shuu as a role model. After watching him compete at a tournament, they decided to follow him to Kirisaki to steal his secrets. However, after spending more time around him their aggression blossomed into admiration. They eat lunch with him everyday, and want to get closer with him. Though Senichi is more obsessed with Shu than Manji, who thinks they should focus on building their own skills.
Sae Fujiwara[]
Shu loves his little sister more than anything, but he has an inferiority complex towards her, since she looks more traditionally Japanese than himself. This makes him feel as though she is the desired heir of the family. He later discovers that Sae and his parents do not feel this way, and opens himself up to his family.
Trivia[]
- The kanji for his name Shuu means "anxiety" (愁).
- Shuu's surname Fujiwara means "wisteria" (藤) (fuji) and "field" (原) (wara).
- Shuu hasn't spent much time together with his younger sister due to difference in age.[3]
- Shuu likes takoyaki and Japanese cuisine in general.[3]
- Shuu is a dog person.[3]
- Shuu likes mountains because of his grandparents villa, as he used to play there in his childhood.[3]
- If Shuu had the chance to time-travel, he would choose to go to the future as he has some interest in going to the space (though, he is fine with whichever).[3]
References[]
- ↑ Tsurune Volume 1, Chapter 2
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tsurune Volume 1, Chapter 3
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Kyudo Boys Questionnaire