Characters
- Kadomatsu Yosuke (角松洋介) — JMSDF Commander and second-in-command of the Mirai. He adheres strictly to the ideals of the postwar Self Defense Forces and considers saving lives, regardless of consequences, as his most important duty. His father was also a JMSDF officer and appears frequently in flashbacks.
- Kusaka Takumi (草加拓海) — An IJN Lt. Commander whose courier seaplane launched from the battleship Kirishima was shot down during the Battle of Midway and rescued by Kadomatsu. He considers the encounter with the Mirai as an opportunity to change the history for the better. He rejects both the militarism of the Japanese Empire and shame of defeat that he attributes to the postwar Japan. Instead, he seeks to create a new undefeated Japan that he calls Zipang. While he admires the humanism of Kadomatsu, he dismisses it as a luxury unsuited for wartime and is willing to shed a great deal of blood in pursuit of his ideals.
- Kikuchi Masayuki (菊池雅行) — JMSDF Lt. Commander, Gunnery Officer of the Mirai, and a classmate of both Kadomatsu and Oguri from the Officer Candidate School. He had joined the Self Defense Force for economic reasons and consistently seek to avoid situations where he might be forced to take lives. In 1991, just the possibility of Japan sending warships to support U.S. operations against Iraq during the Gulf War was enough to cause him to resign from the academy — although his commitment to friendship with Kadomatsu and Oguri is such that he decided not to resign when his departure threatened to strain their friendship. His fear of taking human life backfires on him badly when he holds back punches against the U.S. naval aircraft attacking Mirai — and results in a serious damage to the Mirai and many casualties. In addition, he is extremely fearful of changing the past — and its possible consequences: from the minute the Mirai goes back to the past, he warns everyone of the dire danger of changing the past.
- Oguri Kouhei (尾栗康平) — JMSDF Lt. Commander, Navigation Officer of the Mirai, and a classmate to both Kadomatsu and Kikuchi. Unlike Katomatsu and Kikuchi, he is not racked by inner conflict following the Mirai's arrival in 1942. Rather, he is a happy-go-lucky character who believes that they went back in time for a reason.
Read more about this topic: Zipang (anime)
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