Kenji Kezwick

Bio

Once a singer himself, Kenji has traded in the idol life for that of a teacher… and a manager… and whatever else anyone needs him to be at the moment. He has a busy schedule. Kenji is the glue that holds Bakers’ Entertainment together, and without him, the whole company might as well crumble to dust. That’s why he makes sure never to miss a single day at work, despite his boss’s wishes, because the thought of what might go on in his absence stresses him out more than being there. Besides, he wants to be there for his students. Going into the music industry without much guidance was a scary and confusing time for him, and he’d rather the next generation not have the same experience.

Voice Claim

Eiichi Ohtaki

Personality

Kenji is a fairly reserved, yet sociable man. People find it easy to get along with him, and he’s well liked among his students, employers, and peers alike. He takes his responsibilities very seriously in a way that affects his entire presentation. However, his calm, thoughtful personality and dry humor manages to peek through no matter what kind of work he does. This made it hard for him as an idol, because he felt the need to present himself as energetic and peppy, which though he did well, it tired him out pretty quickly. His current line of work suits him much better. That isn’t to say that he never gets tired, no matter how much he likes to pretend that’s the case. Coffee keeps his head up during the workday, and he vents to his plants at home to let off steam. More than anything, he takes pride in his work, as he sees his students as little brothers (one of them is his little brother) and wants nothing more than to see them thrive, no matter where life takes them. They all look to him for advice, and he couldn’t be a prouder teacher for it. 

Backstory

After the Kezwick family's band failed to take off due to his father's leg injury, Kenji's parents gave him a list of producers willing to take him in as a singer. At the top of that list was Benji Baker. Benji welcomed Kenji with open arms and guided him to success, but Kenji decided the celebrity life was a little too much for him. After hearing Benji's plan to buy a building to act as a boarding school/talent agency for younger artists, Kenji made the decision to stay with Benji as a business manager and guide the newer acts using his experiences with fame.

Relationships

Higgy - "He's very driven, and I respect his honesty. Still, he's young and will make mistakes." Higgy's an admirable performer and a good student. He has a lot of common sense and carries himself well, but in the end, he's still just a teenager and Kenji knows he's going to do some stupid stuff, no matter how "mature" he tries to act. In fact, Kenji was the one who had to keep him grounded during Higgy's spoiled brat phase. Kenji sees some of himself in Higgy's personality, and can sense that he really does not like being patronized (not that Kenji patronizes his students). Kenji and Higgy have a mutual respect for each other.

Nicky - "Nicholas is a bit foolish for his own good. I gotta watch out for him." Kenji is a little firmer with Nicky than he is with any of his other pupils/managees. He knows how careless Nicky can be and Kenji feels like it's his job to keep him on the straight and narrow, especially since their parents aren't around him 24/7 anymore. He also feels that Nicky is too nice for his own good and worries that could potentially get hurt due to his generosity. Kenji calls Nicky a number of nicknames, such as Nick, Nik-Nak, Nikolai, Nishiki (that one was kind of random, he will admit), but his go-to nickname is Nicholas.

Maxy - "He's a decent kid at heart, but I have to remind him to take class seriously." No one else in Kenji's class gives him as much grief as Maxy does (save for maybe Yoshinori, but that's usually directly related to Maxy's foolishness. Alone, he's fine.) If he's not falling asleep in class, he's either talking, or disrupting Toni, or Higgy, or any of the other students, but he usually knows when to stop (if barely). Kenji feels like Maxy has a lot more academic potential than he lets on.

Toni - "I wonder if I should've given him a slower curriculum, but I'm proud of how much he's keeping up with the others." Toni's a good student and a great kid all around, but his grades often fall below the class average. Kenji can see Toni is giving it everything he's got, and does his best to tutor and console him when his grades aren't up to par. He wishes he could help Toni more, but Kenji's got a busy schedule. He's proud of how much the other students have been able to help him out.

Benji - "It's okay, you don't have to worry about giving me a day off. It's fine. Really!" Kenji respects Benji as a businessman, but he thinks he can be a little too lenient with both his students and responsibilities. He tends to be late for appointments, disorganized, and a little careless with money. It's the #1 reason Kenji never takes off work, but he couldn't bear to tell that to the poor man. On the flip-side, Kenji greatly admires (and confused by) Benji's proficiency in establishing connections and doing business. They're not blood-related, but Kenji thinks of him as an uncle, as is the Kezwick way.

Tsuki - "Why is she so concerned with me? Odd child..." Kenji notices that Tsuki tries to strike up a conversation whenever he's around. Also, she stares at him a lot. He's weirded out by it.