Minor characters of Megatokyo
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In Megatokyo, many characters and groups exist outside what makes up the bulk of the main plot. Notably, Fred Gallagher has stated before that he does not believe in "minor characters," and that the characters depicted in Megatokyo are all main characters in their own lives, but he understands that he "can't follow every rabbit down every hole." [1]
Below are some of the characters with smaller parts in Megatokyo's overall story than others, as well as the various groups to have surfaced thus far.
In Megatokyo, Japanese names are written in Japanese order, with the family name before the given name. The first feature of Megatokyo (a filler art day, referred to as a "dead piro day") which revealed a character's full name had aforementioned character's name written in Western order [2] (given name before the family name). The first time a full Japanese name was mentioned in the actual comic, it was written with Japanese order.
[edit] The characters
[edit] Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division
The "Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division" is a division of the Tokyo police force that monitors and ensures that riots, monster attacks, zombie hordes and other large disasters occur in an easy and manageable fashion. It is also responsible for scheduling said disasters. They use multiple high tech weapons, including such things as giant robots, orbiting laser satellites and giant lizards, though they often sport conventional weaponry.
Largo served a very brief stint as a member of the Tokyo Police Cataclysm division, until he was fired for failing to stop a horde of fanboys from swarming a store.
[edit] Sonoda Masamichi
Yuki's father, he is an often encountered employee of the Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division. Masamichi speaks fluent English and Japanese. He is related to Erika's past, as she was engaged to his brother Sonoda Hitoshi. He and Largo cross paths several times (due to Largo's wild attempts to save Tokyo from "zombie invasions") and temporarily makes Largo a member of the Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division, though he later takes back the license when Largo fails to stop a fanboy horde from finding Erika Hayasaka.
[edit] Sonoda Yuuji
Yuki's brother. He enjoys anime and video games (including eroges), and is a casual fan of Hayasaka Erika. He was one of the first people to confirm her presence at Megagamers, but did so only out of curiosity.
[edit] Sonoda Meimi
Yuki's mother. She is a retired magical girl, probably inspired by Meimi Haneoka, the title character in the anime Saint Tail.
She appears to watch over Erika in the way Junpei does Largo. Although she is not shown performing as impossible feats as Junpei often is (e.g. jumping out of an exploding airship), she is clearly a force to be reckoned with. In their first main encounter (strip 684) she not only surprises him, but picks his pocket without his noticing. Junpei seems familiar with her, and many times attempts to call her by her previous name. Although something always prevents this, from the little of it he says (Mys-) it most likely involves the word "Mystery". Junpei is suspicious of Meimi and mentions her being involved in something that ended in destruction. This suspicion is somewhat odd, since Meimi seems very quiet and kind, even a little out-of-it (she seems to have a habit of forgetting to pay for objects).
She takes a contract to neutralize Largo (he is apparently viewed as a threat to the balance of Japan[3]), after Junpei turns it down. When asked why, she responds "I have my reasons. As a mother, as a friend, and as a mentor." She is a mother to Yuki and a friend to Erika, but the "mentor" reference has never been explained. While Junpei believes that the neutralization involves her killing Largo, Meimi insists that she can fulfill her contract simply by taking Piro and Largo to the airport and sending them out of the country.
[edit] Sonoda Hitoshi
Hitoshi was Erika's former fiancé. He is described as being a bit like Piro (boring, shy, etc), in contrast to Erika who was "beautiful, popular and outgoing". No one could understand why she dated him and in the end, he broke up with her, saying that he was holding her back. While talking to Largo, Erika realizes that Hitoshi was actually more selfish. After a pregnancy scare, he told Erika that she was dangerous to be around his niece and nephew (Yuki and Yuuji) and that his brother and sister-in-law (Misamachi and Meimi) were concerned about the "harm someone like [Erika] could do to their children". Because of this, Erika distanced herself from the Sonoda family and never tried to meet Yuki or Yuuji. It was later revealed that Hitoshi lied to Erika about his family's worries. Chief Inspector Sonoda told Erika that according to Hitoshi, she hated children and that if they invited her over, the children would make her uncomfortable. Because of this deception, Largo branded Hitoshi as a "bloodsucking l33ch".
[edit] Hayasaka Erika Fan Club (AKA "The Fanboy Horde")
A number of people obsessed with Hayasaka Erika, or at least her former persona as an idol (singer) and voice actress (seiyū). The club rediscovers her whereabouts during the comic's story (the GPS coordinates of her workplace were posted anonymously on a bulletin board, likely by Dom), long after her sudden (and complete) disappearance from the public eye. This then led to the entire club as well as hundreds of other fans swarming the Megagamers store in order to get a glimpse of their idol and have her sign some memorabilia for them. This huge mob was then referred to by Largo as well as members of the Megatokyo Forums as "The Fanboy Horde" or simply as "The Horde".
[edit] Nanasawa Protection Coalition
The Nanasawa Protection Coalition is a group that formed after Nanasawa became angry at a group of fanboys who were trying to use a camera to look up her skirt while she was working in the Anna Millers. This caused a split between the otaku. Some seemed to believe that there was nothing wrong with using her as a fantasy, while the rest felt bad that they upset her. A single fanboy later approached Nanasawa in MegaGamers and apologized for his and the other otaku's behavior. In a later comic, when Miho helps Nanasawa escape from Dom in a restaurant, several fans attempt to swarm Kimiko, however they are stopped by a person who asks them to leave her alone "In the name of the Nanasawa Protection Coalition". A member of the group named Sleepy Shadow has recently contacted Piro, telling him that they must meet about an important matter. They refer to Piro as 'the protagonist'. The official abbreviation for the group, as evidenced by the arm & headbands some of them wear, is NPC, which is also an abbreviation for Non-player character.
[edit] Rent-a-Zilla
Massive lizard hired by Junpei and the TPCD on occasion, paid in pork rinds (on an hourly rate). It is later revealed that the company that runs Rent-a-Zilla has a policy against renting out 'Zillas on Summer and Winter Comike, as well as during zombie invasions, possibly to prevent Rent-a-Zilla from turning into a Zombie, which later happens.
Contrary to what some may think, the giant creature that goes on drunken rampages in Megatokyo is technically not a Rent-a-Zilla, but a relative of the giant turtle Gamera known as Gameru. According to Inspector Sonodoa, he'd shown great promise early on, but later became an alcoholic and a bully.
[edit] Ph34rbots
Robots built by Largo out of parts salvaged from dumpsters, as well as the TPCD's own stealthy wall-mounted phones and soda dispensers that he co-opted. They are used for protecting Megagamers and its surroundings, or guarding the "spawn points" (sewer gratings). These have now been left around the city, as seen in one filler art day later on in the series.
[edit] L33T d00d
Strange raver-esque person who appears occasionally - usually when Largo is playing arcade games - and gives advice in L33t, which is invariably translated into erudite language (i.e. "1'm4 0wnz0r j00" becomes "I shall defeat thee"). He owes Largo a debt of gratitude for saving his life (see this strip). He has an apparent heart or blood condition that requires him to take medication, and can send him into state of collapse if unattended. Because he needs help taking his pills in such an emergency, Largo has become a valuable ally as one of the few people that can understand him. Strangely enough, he is able to speak English by the events of Chapter 3, where he spoke L33t until his last line in Largo's Super Moe-Moe Ball battle against Miho. Whether he could always speak English or learned it while in Japan remains a mystery.
[edit] Mami and Kurabayashi Asako
High school students and friends of Yuki's. They think she has a crush on Piro and they may be right. They use Yuki's possible attraction to Piro as an excuse to tease her. Asako is very energetic, loves teddy bears, and can be extremely annoying when she wants to get information out of Yuki. Mami is the more focused of the two.
[edit] Ibara Junko
The "angry schoolgirl" in Largo's class. She can speak English fluently and is usually the one who has something to say when Largo does something outrageous in his role as "teacher." She is one of the few students who can see through his cool façade. At one point, she helps Largo try to disperse the fanboy horde that threatens Erika and helps him recover after he and Erika have a fight. Junko has also defended Largo as a noble teacher after Miho declared him emotionally inept. Junko is involved in enjo kōsai, and is terrified at the thought of her parents discovering her activities.
[edit] Tsubasa
A friend of Piro's from the Internet, Piro and Largo bunk with him when they wind up in Japan. He acquired Ping through unclear means in chapter 0; he said he had invested in the project, but Ed's actions would seem to suggest he wasn't supposed to take her. Later, he leaves Japan to "follow his heart" in America, leaving Ping in the care of Piro and Largo. Tsubasa is the comic's incarnation of Keishi Tada, Fred Gallagher's friend and primary consultant on all things Japanese. He writes the Japanese translation of Megatokyo. The character was written out of the story after Tada requested it, but recently he reappeared in strip 745 [4] via an instant message chat.
[edit] Yanagisawa
The manager of the MegaGamers store where Piro and Erika work. He is a heavy smoker and somewhat cynical, having had regular contact with the many fanboys that come into the store. He knows Erika's past, clearly cares about her, and is just as cowed by her as anyone else. He is usually referred to as "the boss" or "Boss san". Yanagisawa speaks limited English, causing problems when Largo fills in for Erika at work.
[edit] Watanabe Matsui
The producer of "Sight", the game in which Kimiko has her possible breakout voice acting role. He initially had reservations about hiring Kimiko because her interpretation of her character was different from the one he had planned, but he later becomes convinced of her talent. Despite this, she has been an extreme source of frustration, which culminated in her quitting her role after a fiasco at Anna Miller's. As a producer, he is very conscious of his budget and of public relations issues.
[edit] Ryoya Sayuri
The character designer of "Sight". It was she who convinced Matsui to hire Kimiko for the role of Kotone, arguing that her interpretation of the character made the game deeper than it would be otherwise. Sometimes her ideas conflict with Matsui's, and he usually respects her judgment (but not without grumbling). She also occasionally gives Kimiko advice on dealing with fame and relationships. Kimiko had her draw and sign a sketch of Kotone, as a gift to Piro.
[edit] Kobayashi Yutaka
Despite appearing in the backgrounds of several comics, looking at Yuki in the foreground, he went unnoticed by most readers until he had his first line; he did not interact with any other characters until comic 945, where he was thrust into the foreground. He attends Yuki's school and was one of the first people (after Tohya Miho and, arguably, Ping) to discover that Yuki was a magical girl. His name was revealed on March 6, 2007, in an extra chapter 8 page written for Megatokyo book 5, and his first name revealed on July 30, 2007. He winds up in the hospital after Yuki falls off of a telephone wire and mildly injures him (http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=1027). Although he knew that it was Yuki that caused the injuries, he lies and tells everybody that he was actually hit by a car, to prevent Yuki from getting in trouble.
[edit] Waltah
A bartender at the bar where Miho works, Waltah is dressed like a butler. Specifically, his outfit, monocle, physical appearance, and name suggest he is a homage to Walter Dornez of Hellsing fame. 'Waltah' is the Japanese pronunciation of the English 'Walter'. He appears to be close friends with Miho (as most of the employees there are) and worries about her. He also helps take care of Kimiko when Miho brings her there for sanctuary after they escape a fanboy horde.
| Major Characters | Groups and Minor Characters | Alternate Universes and Omake Theater |
![[4]](http://www.megatokyo.com/strips/0745.gif){kind=link}
