Uwa Chihiro (宇和 千尋) is a 1st year at Yamaboshi High and a new member of the Student Cultural Society. He is initially depicted as a detached young man bored with life and looking for purpose, but gradually mellows out as he spends more time with the Cultural Club. Chihiro practices karate at the same dojo as Yui.
Character Overview
Personality
Chihiro can be described as calm, proud and self-absorbed. He speaks rather rudely, especially to Taichi, and tends to prioritize his own ambitions over moral righteousness. He has a sharp, sarcastic sense of humor. Chihiro is initially shown to be detached from the world around him, showing little concern for others. After Nise Random, Chihiro begins caring a bit more and actively assists his classmates when he can. He does not like to share his feeling with others, but his friends typically can understand his thoughts.
Chihiro is also quite irritable and has proven to have a short temper; in Nise Random, he vented his anger by beating Aoki up in the streets using Aoki's sister's appearance. Chihiro has no problem resorting to violence when he deems necessary. In Asu Random, when he and the rest of the StuCS were surrounded by hostile classmates, Chihiro was the first to suggest fighting their way out, but was stopped by Inaba who reminded Chihiro that doing so would make the other students lose any faith they had in the StuCS.
Key Problem
In Nise Random, Chihiro finds the world boring and accepts Heartseed's offer to make the world more interesting by using the power of Illusion Projection. Chihiro's self-centeredness would later be the cause of much strife within the Cultural Club.
Another problem of Chihiro's is his overwhelming arrogance. Believing he can do everything on his own, Chihiro has always pushed others away and relied only on himself. As he spends more and more time working together with his fellow club members, Chihiro learns that there are some things that he simply cannot accomplish alone, and begins to open up more.
Appearance
Chihiro is a young man of average height with steel blue, asymmetrical hair and dark-brown eyes. He is described as having an androgynous appearance. Chihiro typically forgoes his school uniform's jacket and fashions earrings.
Background History
Chihiro originally wanted to join a more prestigious school, but, to his frustration, he failed to score high enough to be admitted. As a result, to Chihiro's dismay, he was forced to attend Yamaboshi High. Chihiro joined Yamaboshi's Karate Club at first but, after deciding that their level wasn't up to his standards, he quickly left.
Relationships
Family
Chihiro lives with his parents and younger brother, whom is also interested in western Rock music.
Friends
- Kiriyama Yui: The two attend the same dojo and are shown to be close friends. Yui was the one to force Chihiro to join the StuCS. Chihiro knows Yui well enough to understand her weaknesses, which he is more than willing to exploit.
- Yaegashi Taichi: Despite Taichi being an upperclassman, Chihiro lacks any special respect for him at first, and often pokes fun at Taichi's expense. The two are initially at odds with each other, but after Nise Random, Chihiro comes to respect Taichi, finding him reliable and frequently asking him for help and advice. Chihiro later expresses guilt for the hardships he has caused, but Taichi decides to forgive him. Taking his previous lesson to heart, Chihiro warns Taichi about recklessly using Heartseed's power throughout Yume Random, and provides a sympathetic ear for Taichi when he realizes his mistake.
- Enjouji Shino: A classmate and fellow StuCS club member. Shino and Chihiro do not initially get along but bond over the course of the Nise Random arc and help each other confront Heartseed together. Chihiro is frequently annoyed by Shino's overly honest personality and he often responds with irritation, sometimes aggressiveness. Iori suggests Chihiro is a tsundere for Shino, and the two are usually misinterpreted as a couple by their class, though Chihiro adamantly denies both. In Step Time, unbeknownst to Chihiro, Shino may have begun developing feelings for him, though she immediately denies them.
- Aoki Yoshifumi: Chihiro's fellow StuCS club member and upperclassman. Chihiro is not fond of Aoki, partially due to being jealous of his close relationship with Yui. At one point, Chihiro used Aoki to vent his frustrations by beating him up in the streets. After Nise Random however, Chihiro came to accept Aoki and decided to leave his relationship with Yui alone.
Trivia
- Iori nicknames Chihiro, "Chihhi" (ちっひ).
- Chihiro's name is considered feminine or adrogynous in Japanese. eg. Chihiro from Spirited Away.
- Chihiro is one of the few people in school that Taichi regularly calls by his first name.
- American Rock Music is Chihiro's favorite genre and he often browses CD shops.
- Chihiro is not vey good with dogs and asked Shino to keep it a secret from the others.