Shu Kurenai

Shu Kurenai is a 17-year-old Japanese Blader who is the owner and lead teacher of the American Beyblade team, the Raging Bulls. His current Beyblade is Bolt Spryzen. Described as a genius blader, Shu is a favorite in his hometown. However, he does not rely on talent alone and is very hardworking when it comes to Beyblade. He is one of the best bladers to ever play the sport, managing to surpass Valt Aoi and win his first WBBA tournament in less than a year. Shu is calm and patient, and prefers to be alone most of the time. He maintains a cool exterior in front of others, however underneath this lies a burning hot fighting spirit. He is quite standoffish towards people he doesn't know well. Because of this, he is sometimes seen as aloof. However, despite his usual stoic demeanor, Shu cares deeply for his friends, especially Valt (being his best friend); and will always help them out or give advice to them when they need it. Shu is a good cook: this is because his parents are often busy and away from home, so he has to take care of himself. Shu has also demonstrated keen observation skills. Shu has a bit of a stubborn streak. Shu may have perfectionist habits, as he seemingly punishes himself for losing. Shu has shown several instances of ambidexterity, such as when he switches between launching with his left and right hands or when cooking with both hands simultaneously. After becoming the owner of the Raging Bulls, he is often referred to as a legendary Blader. Shu’s personality took a much darker turn when he became Red Eye. He changed into a quiet yet powerful and ruthless blader who was willing to destroy others' beys to win. This drastic personality change was due to Lui Shirosagi breaking his Storm Spryzen in his second National Championships, and then later losing to Free De La Hoya, the strongest blader in the world, after he joined the Raging Bulls, a legendary American team. His transformation was completed when he joined the Snake Pit Organization, led by the mysterious Ashtem, and he cut himself off from his friends. As his alter-ego, Shu sought out those who posed a challenge to defeat, scouting the globe for particularly strong bladers. This was an effort to improve his own skills to order defeat Free and Lui one day. However, this led Shu to push away his friends, most notably Valt. This also lead him to believe that strength was more important than anything else. When Shu was put through The Requiem Project, one of the tasks he had to accomplish to receive his new Beyblade, Spryzen Requiem, was to eliminate Valt from his imagination and break their friendship. This showed that Shu still cared about others, but he was being pushed into abandoning the things that made him happy in his old life. When Shu picked up Spryzen Requiem for the first time, its immense level of power led to him having his psyche being taken over by Spryzen's spirit, to the point where he even stated to be Spryzen on several occasions. While under the effects of Spryzen's power, Shu acted more power-hungry, aggressive, and overall more hostile and ill-tempered; a stark contrast to his usual calm and gentle personality. Shu's personality as Red Eye was eerily similar to that of Lui, with his new desire to seek out opponents he viewed as worthy to face, and how he was set on defeating all who stood in his way. He also started to destroy other people's beys. However, during his final match with Valt in the International Blader's Cup, Shu was freed from Spryzen's mind control after Valt defeated him, and thus he became his old friendly self once again and reconciled with Valt and the rest of his friends. Due to his past experiences, Shu has become wiser and more empathetic. He also attempts to relate to Aiger, whose resonance with Z Achilles was becoming corrupt, by pointing out that he had let his obsession with winning consume him as well. Shu’s birthday is September 23rd.