Utsugi Minoru (稔宇津木, Utsugi Minoru?), code name Isolator, is a Jet Eye affiliated with the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare’s Specialized Forces Division (SFD). He has the power to form an invincible, invisible protective shell around his entire body. He is the main protagonist of the series.
Background[]
When Minoru was young, he had been extremely curious about the nature of memories. Often asking his older sister Wakaba about such concepts, he made promises to remember as much as he could.[1]
However, everything changed one night when Minoru was eight years old.
That night, a murderer broke into the Utsugi household and killed Minoru’s parents. Meanwhile, Minoru hid in the cupboard with his sister Wakaba. Telling Minoru to stay safe, she hid him within a secret compartment under two heavy bags of rice while she herself ran outside to call for help. However, on the way out, she was spotted by the murderer and was allegedly killed with a dagger.[2] Nonetheless, because of her efforts, Minoru alone was spared.
Afterwards, the orphaned Minoru was taken in by Yoshimizu Norie. However, despite her kind efforts, Minoru was forever traumatized by the incident that had stolen the lives of his entire family. His wish to remember morphed into a desire to forget — to erase all of his own memories, as well as those of himself that lay in others.
Slowly, Minoru developed a habit of running. Starting from 2014, he began to run early in the morning along the banks of the Arakawa River. While running, his mind was wiped clean of thought, and his memories that had accumulated throughout the day were washed away by the exertion.
One day in the September of 2019, as Minoru was out for his daily early-morning run, he passed by a bridge that spanned across the Arakawa River. As a typhoon had recently passed through the city, the river was churning savagely beneath it. Watching the wild river, Minoru was suddenly struck by the thought of jumping in and ending his life.[3] However, at that moment, a small jet-black orb descended from the sky. Drifting before him for a couple of seconds, it then floated through his shirt into his chest.[4]
At that moment, Minoru became a Third Eye Host.
Appearance[]
Minoru has slightly long, whitish-gray hair that is parted into two bangs before his face, with the longer of the two covering his right eye. He is usually seen wearing a white Cheshire coat and a blue scarf over his black school uniform. Minoru is noted to be rather slim, with a BMI far below average.
Personality[]
Ever since the death of his family eight years ago, Minoru has had a deep desire to rid the memories of others from his mind, as well as those of himself in others. Seeing every interaction as a risk for forming new memories, Minoru was very fearful of forming connections with other people. As such, he was very antisocial, despising aggressive confrontation.
Furthermore, because of his fear of outside interaction, Minoru wanted to believe that the problems of others had nothing to do with himself. However, this tenet often came into conflict with his desire to form as little memories as possible — knowing that he could have done something to ease the distress of others, but chose not to, would leave a bad memory within his mind.
However, ever since he was inducted into the Specialized Forces Division (SFD), Minoru’s fear of interacting with others — and more fundamentally, his fear of memories themselves — has seemingly lessened. No longer seeing the distress of others as simply problems that had nothing to do with himself, Minoru learned to let others into his shell (literally). However, his wish to erase all memories relating to himself that lay in others has not been quashed — his longing for the realization of absolute solitude still remains. Nevertheless, doubts have gradually begun to surface regarding this wish.
Third Eye[]
Abilities[]
Minoru has the ability to form a protective shell that encloses his entire body with a radius of about three centimeters, following the shape of his posture. The shell has the following properties:
- The shell is completely invincible and cannot be broken by any means. It has been shown to be able to block the following:
- Physical Attacks
- Heat
- Radiation
- Liquidizer’s Liquidation
- Because of its incredibly hard surface, the shell somewhat amplifies the power of Minoru’s physical attacks
- Other people can occasionally be brought into the shell. However, Minoru cannot control who can be brought inside; this is under the jurisdiction of his Third Eye
- The surface of the shell has a coefficient of friction equal to exactly zero, meaning that it bears no friction whatsoever
- When inside the shell, Minoru can anchor himself to the relative coordinates of his surroundings. This allows him to walk on water, move freely on Lubricator’s near frictionless surfaces, and come to an immediate stop when moving at high speeds without suffering the effects of the Impulse Momentum Theorem
- Minoru has the ability to burst the shell at will, creating a powerful “explosion” that can break through almost anything, even thick walls of concrete and Stinger’s legs. However, after bursting the shell, Minoru is unable to reactivate it for a couple of minutes
- The shell seems to have some sort of healing ability, awakening Komura Suu from a coma when she was put inside. However, this “healing” ability is not understood very well
Detection Radius[]
Minoru’s detection radius is rather peculiar. According to the professor, it should have massive detection radius with a size several times that of Divider's (Divider: 25 meters). However, once the shell is fully deployed, it blocks even the smell of its own detection radius. Thus, the detection radius is cut off while it is still expanding, resulting in an initial detection radius of only about 10 meters.[5]
While the shell is fully deployed, Minoru is undetectable throughout the duration.
Affiliation[]
As a Jet Eye, Minoru is part of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare’s Specialized Forces Division (SFD). Having joined only in mid-December, he is one of the organization’s newest members.
Minoru had joined the SFD on a very peculiar condition — in return for his service, Chief Himi would erase all memories pertaining to Minoru from the minds of everyone he knew, giving him the absolute solitude he had desired ever since that night eight years ago. Although doubts have begun to surface, this wish still remains.
Plot Outline[]
Work in Progress
Relationships[]
Work in Progress
Trivia[]
- Minoru’s hair had not always been white — he was born with black hair. However, ever since the night his family had been murdered, his hair had slowly lost its color
Gallery[]
Light Novel Volume 1[]
Light Novel Volume 2[]
Light Novel Volume 3[]
Light Novel Volume 4[]
Light Novel Volume 5[]
References[]
- ↑ Volume 1, Fragment 01: “I’ll remember it forever and ever! And then when I grow up, I’ll make custard caramel for you and Mama, Waka!”
- ↑ Volume 3: “Eight years ago, a home invader had slaughtered his sister and their parents. Wakaba had hidden Minoru in a storage space under the floor of the pantry and gone to call for help. But she hadn’t made it. As she’d passed through the living room, she was spotted by the murderer and killed with a dagger.”
- ↑ Volume 1: “A typhoon had passed through in the middle of the night, and there was still a strong wind when Minoru went out for his daily early-morning run. Minoru had run . . . to the Arakawa River . . . [when] he suddenly had an idea and headed for a bridge he never crossed. . . [T]he riverbed was filled with swirling muddy-brown water . . . If he jumped into that river now . . . then would the raging current wash everything away for him? Would it carry him to the place where his sister and father and mother were waiting?”
- ↑ Volume 1: “. . . the round object descended from above Minoru’s head, completely ignoring the wind . . . Shut inside the transparent gray orb was a pitch-black orb one size smaller. It looked similar to a marble, but it drifted lightly on his palms as if it had no weight at all. Finally, the orb rose up soundlessly, floated quickly through the air, and touched Minoru’s chest . . . it slipped through the fabric of his running clothes and touched his skin . . .”
- ↑ Volume 3: “I believe your ability gives off a scent only in the instant it’s activated. Once the shell is completely formed, it blocks out even its own detection radius . . . [the detection radius] most likely goes up to only about nine meters.” Note: because of errors in translation, the detection radius should be 10 meters instead of nine.