Otoro Shimabukuro (Otoro Shimabukuro (Encore))

Originally  from Okinawa, Otoro still retains a faint accent and occasionally uses  unfamiliar words or slang in casual conversation. He goes back every  summer break to visit his family.

Otoro is energetic and  friendly, informal with most everyone but still retaining a level of respect and reverence. Though he has the best of intentions, his selfless nature usually raises the suspicions of the more wary and his motives are often misunderstood. His occasional clumsiness and impulsiveness don’t help; he can be pretty accident-prone. He runs into a  lot of near-misses where disaster is narrowly avoided thanks to his  great dexterity and reflexes. While not lacking in any confidence in his abilities, he has a habit of sometimes putting himself down while trying to raise  others up.

As the leader of Koi, Otoro takes a lot of initiative  to decide their direction and what their next move is. He lets Ikura  handle the details, while Otoro looks more at the big picture and how  all the pieces fit together. As Koi is not a stand-out unit in relation  to the others, Otoro would rather support other units or let his unit  shine and have fun rather than try to rise to the top.

Otoro lived most of his early life in the islands, participating in folk dances in festivals and performances. One day, he saw idols on TV; this  opened up a whole new world for him, and he realized there were many other forms of dance he hasn’t seen before. He took to practicing what  he saw, and eventually went on several trips to the city to broaden his horizons. He heard of Yumenosaki’s reputation and applied. When he first entered Yumenosaki, he wasn’t treated so well by his peers and found himself alone a lot of the time; he joined the marine bio club in his 1st year because fish were some of the few things that reminded him of  home. There, he met Ikura and made his first friend. Since then, they’ve  gone through thick and thin together and formed their own unit in 2nd  year.

• Leader of Koi and in the Marine Biology club. Also in the broadcasting committee.