Koito Otonoshin

Koito is a tall dark skinned man of Hayato origin. He has dark slightly wavy hair with a purplish tint that is parted and slicked down to the left. His large angular eyebrows are usually knitted in a frown, and two well-defined frown lines are present on his forehead. His eyes are black, thin, and have deep eyebags. Koito wears Meiji 38 uniform which is largely the same as the regular army uniform but in khaki color instead of navy blue. He wears a short buttoned khaki coat with two pockets on the chest and two pockets on the sides, with red lapels on the collar with the Regiment 27 number printed on both sides. The insignia he wears is red with golden borders, and has one golden stripe running across with a golden star in the center; the shoulder boards of his uniform are oriented vertically. The sleeve insignia has a thin red line on each arm and small gold star. He wears a belt with a circular buckle fastened over his coat, and dark navy pants with a red stripe that are tucked in his military leather boots. He usually doesn't wear his military cap. In colder weather, Koito wears a long hooded double-breasted khaki coat. Minus the collar, it has the same shoulder insignia and shoulder boards as his usual uniform. Koito also wears leather gloves.

Koito is a skilled young lieutenant with a somewhat naïve, eccentric, boisterous, and immature streak. Quick to act and incredibly intelligent, he shows quite a lot of skill in battle, though he has been shown to be rather ruthless if pushed to it. Due to having his father withhold him from the Russo-Japanese War effort, he is inexperienced and sheltered, oftentimes leading to behavior that can be described as spoiled. This isn't helped with Koito's propensity towards opulence and frivolity.

Koito holds quite a lot of admiration for First Lieutenant Tsurumi and Ogata refers to Koito as "Tsurumi's favorite Satsuma Hayato." Koito is so devoted to him to the point of what seems like mindless adoration. He even cut out all the faces of a photo of the 7th division, so they would just be of him and Tsurumi. This suggests a level of hero worship, as well as highlighting Koito's ambitious streak. When Koito and Tsukishima first started working together, Koito commanded the Sergeant to tell him everything about Tsurumi he didn’t already know.[3]

Not only does he wish to excel as a respected officer, as his father and Tsurumi do, but he's also shown to have an impressive list of skills that presumably take much training besides, such as skill with swords and being a faster runner than most (as he runs fast enough to force the Lightning Bandit to go all out in order to evade him).

He's shown to have a friendly relationship with Sergeant Tsukishima, who has helped him climb military ranks to where he stands as Second Lieutenant. Koito trusts him enough to act as translator. Koito is polite when meeting someone for the first time. This doesn't last long, and soon enough, he shows just how blunt and to the point he is, often voicing his opinions without really thinking. Being the son of a high ranking army officer, Koito appears to be pampered as he would rather pay to take a dog sled instead of walking around and stay at a wonderful inn in a big town instead of an Ainu kotan.

Because Koito is from the Satsuma Province, which is located in the southern tip of Japan, his dialect slips out sometimes. This often happens when he is excited or nervous. However, this dialect cannot be understood by most Japanese speakers.

Due to his elder brother's death, whenever Koito would stay on a ship for a long time, he starts to think about his brother and becomes horribly seasick. Because of this nausea, Koito laments that he can never become a great naval officer despite being from an established Navy family.

Swordsmanship: Koito is trained in Jigen-ryu, a traditional school of swordsmanship from Satsuma. He was able to overpower Sugimoto and face off against Hijikata, a seasoned and skilled samurai.

Acrobatics: At the circus, Koito displays an unusually proficient level of acrobatics, even able to perform feats such as running across paper and multiple aerial flips

Trivia

Koito's name contains the kanji: (鯉) Carp (登) Rise (音) Sound (之進) Ancient job title name for samurai Koito fights in the style of Jigen-Ryu. His notable screaming is in fact an element of Jigen-Ryu, a kiai called monkey’s shout (enkyo).

Koito is fluent in Satsuma Dialect, though he usually slips into it when he is too excited or is close to Tsurumi. In 2018 Golden Kamuy All-Stars popularity poll Koito ranked 5th, gaining 7,134 votes. [4] Koito is older than Kantarou, the same age as Edogai, and younger than Sugimoto, Tanigaki, Nikaidou and Ariko. [5] [6] When asked what occupation Golden Kamuy characters would have if they lived in the present time, Satoru Noda said Koito would be a salesperson in Isetan men’s apparel. [7] Koito likes Tsukisamu anpan but dislikes Sakurajima radish.[8] Koito is shorter than Sugimoto, Toni and Wilk, same height as Tsurumi, and taller than Edogai.[9] Koito is lighter than Toni and heavier than Ogata, Nikaidou twins, Usami and Wilk.[10] Satoru Noda compared the dynamic between Koito and Tsukishima to that of "a spoiled and tomboyish princess and a lady’s maid who acts as educator."[11] Koito’s choice of uniform may have reflected his inexperience as a result of being withheld from participating in the Russo-Japanese war. He wears the newer Meiji 38 uniform introduced in 1906 while his veteran colleagues still retain the older “blue” uniforms, the Meiji 19, introduced in 1889. As soldiers stationed in the home islands tend to receive newer uniforms before their comrades overseas. According to Golden Kamuy anime character reference sheet, Koito's height is 173 cm (5'8). [12]