Character

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.