Current Characters in Victory Road: Carly Nagisa, Jonathan Joestar, Emporio Alniño
Character
Name: Noboru Gongenzaka
Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V [NOTE: While part of the same franchise, technically not a castmate to Carly Nagisa; their series are in different timelines. That aside, it is worth noting that for...reasons, Carly will be steering clear of Gongenzaka on her own as is.)
Personality: As Arc-V's token 'best (male) friend' per YuGiOh tradition, Gongenzaka is a character who is anything but token. Within the setting as a whole he stands out with a dueling style that seems to break every traditional rule the card game has ever set out to perform, and yet Gongenzaka is a character who is very much defined by the idea of tradition as well.
Or perhaps more correctly, the ways that tradition can carve forward while staying true to itself. An incredibly stubborn young man, Gongenzaka often immediately conveys his steadfast and determined nature, as well as his fairly moralistic ideals. Absolutely honorbound, it takes a good amount of time for him to consider options beyond his usual box of thinking, leaving him quick to protest to any solution that is anything but direct in its intent. A round-about idea such as a performance to draw attention will get his irritation until the point is explained, while anything even remotely criminal nets scandalized shouting. His honor however, is far more driven by his heart than his morals; for at Gongenzaka's core, he is also extremely caring.
A fairly touchy-feely person with the ones he cares about most- Gongenzaka is somewhat infamous for giving Yuuya in particular bone crushing hugs in the series- Gongenzaka will often put the welfare of others well above himself. He will take extra steps to ensure his opponents are focused properly on the match they're in, and for that matter move in no-holds-barred if he determines that to be the best way to knock sense into another. In fact, he will even allow himself to bend certain moral standards if it means the safety of others; where he resolutely refused to participate in card-bribery while in prison, he immediately turned on this in order to make certain that two starving inmates without a card to their name could acquire food.
Gongenzaka's great amount of care is something of a double edged sword however. An incredibly emotional person, who cries openly for their successes and 'moving moments', he is also one to become incredibly worried. Gongenzaka's attachment to people can outright blind him with distress if he is unable to confirm their welfare in a situation that so much as implies they could be in danger, and this trait leads him to act rashly, and hastily...though somehow, not quite with rage; for all his emotions, anger is the one feeling that is truly difficult to inspire in Gongenzaka.
Perhaps this is due to his great level of self-control; Gongenzaka is a very respectful person provided they do not appear to grate immediately at his moral core, even speaking with an old, old dialect of Japanese which involves him oft referring to himself with 'kono otoko no Gongenzaka' (Loosely translated as 'I, the man Gongenzaka)- in essence placing himself beneath all others as 'simply another person'. He is one who makes otherwise extreme actions such as bowing to the ground for requests, and has more than once proclaimed his feelings to be loudly 'UNFORGIVABLE', and it is thus unsurprising to see that his humility and respectfulness as well translates into a great amount of self-judgement and punishment. Gongenzaka tackles his own flaws in extreme ways- training, and overtraining himself over the slightest loss and doing his best to address his failings within himself. This does, notably, often end positively though; beyond the fact that he is not shy about pointing out the failings in others if he feels they need the push to do better, his ability to consider these parts of himself has also led him to be incredibly adaptable.
And that, ultimately, is key. This incredibly kindhearted and emotional boy, whose strength of will and character is as immovable as a mountain, is yet also able to see where the mountain must change for the betterment of itself. ...Or even move, impossibly. Gongenzaka over the course of the series proves multiple times that 'change' does not mean a complete shift of character- but instead an improvement of character through the instruction of others. He seeks help, and learns a manner of dueling that does not break his own style- and from there continues to push those limits while staying true to his own.
Waking up in a dormitory of sad grey to find the letter was...more than concerning. Actually it was downright horrific in the admittedly pearl-clutching sense, and Gongenzaka reacted in the best way he knew how.
Specifically, he steadily and resolutely sought out an exit, got out, and after some internal debate on the merits of 'ACAB'- let it not be said he didn't learn anything while in Synchro- looked for the nearest police department.
Apparently populated entirely by women named Jenny, who ultimately patted his shoulders with nervous laughs, shook their heads, handed him pamphlets, and then advised him on making use of his 'Pokegear'.
Which, he did not have.
Likewise, a pokemon.
(The Jennies were of course baffled. The Rockets, ultimately, were quite smug when a stone-faced Gongenzaka made his way alone back to the base door, and reminded him to report for 'Training' after getting his things.)
...
(He did not report for training. He did, however, get his things.)
It had, put plainly and vaguely, been an extremely long day. There had been a lot of fighting. There had been a lot of fighting that frankly did not apparently fly in the world he'd woken up in, as rather than so much as crack open a pokeball Gongenzaka settled for cutting out the middle man and sideswiping particularly adventurous grunts with his geta on the way for the door while otherwise weathering each hit like any good Steadfast Dojo Practicioner.
His uniform? Absolutely scorched, trashed, and more. His things? Reclaimed, so to say, even if it was with a grimace.
For the moment he was taking refuge at the 'Pokemon Center', squinting at a pamphlet. Trying to collect himself. Calm down.
(Deep breaths in, and out- he knew how to meditate, and he was going to draw on that as much as possible while he-)
One of the pokeballs broke open.
"AUH-!"
"Wwwwwiiile? Mawile..?"
Gongenzaka stared- the idea of pokemon at least, after seeing them in the city and then also being attacked by a number of them, was not that strange. This one simply standing around there was...definitely stranger? "...So then, you are the 'pokemon' that are meant to be mine..."
It occurs to him that someone may have stolen these for him. And he can't even find who they were stolen from. Banishing the thought for now (it did him no good to dwell on what could not be handled), he looked over the yellow thing.
"You appear to be wearing hakama," he noted, snorting. "I, the man Gongenzaka, did not know you could appear as such."
The mawile preened at the odd compliment.
Gongenzaka found himself smiling a little more. "Saah, well then... ...it appears we are to be partners...though not in crime," he muttered quietly, only to frown at the pokemon's confused blink. "Auh...do not worry for it...! I, the man Gongenzaka, will make sure nothing dangerous comes to you, hm?"
Not that they likely couldn't defend themselves, but it didn't feel right to let something so small take his fights.
"Now, we need to make use of this," he continued, holding his 'pokegear'. "It is somewhat like my Duel-disk's tablet...perhaps, you can help?"
Ultimately of course, the mawile was not much help for it, but at the very least his video recording was a success.
(And then the mawile tried to steal someone's steelix, and Gongenzaka was left with the concerning realization that he had somehow been paired with pokemon Dennis Macfield.
....
At least the badger-seeming pokemon was more well behaved.)
Noboru Gongenzaka | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Name: Usagisquared
Preferred Contact:
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Victory Road: Carly Nagisa, Jonathan Joestar, Emporio Alniño
Character
Name: Noboru Gongenzaka
Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V [NOTE: While part of the same franchise, technically not a castmate to Carly Nagisa; their series are in different timelines. That aside, it is worth noting that for...reasons, Carly will be steering clear of Gongenzaka on her own as is.)
Timeline: Post-Canon
Canon Resource Links: I would like to apologize profusely in advance for Dub Names and Dub Quotes,
Personality: As Arc-V's token 'best (male) friend' per YuGiOh tradition, Gongenzaka is a character who is anything but token. Within the setting as a whole he stands out with a dueling style that seems to break every traditional rule the card game has ever set out to perform, and yet Gongenzaka is a character who is very much defined by the idea of tradition as well.
Or perhaps more correctly, the ways that tradition can carve forward while staying true to itself. An incredibly stubborn young man, Gongenzaka often immediately conveys his steadfast and determined nature, as well as his fairly moralistic ideals. Absolutely honorbound, it takes a good amount of time for him to consider options beyond his usual box of thinking, leaving him quick to protest to any solution that is anything but direct in its intent. A round-about idea such as a performance to draw attention will get his irritation until the point is explained, while anything even remotely criminal nets scandalized shouting. His honor however, is far more driven by his heart than his morals; for at Gongenzaka's core, he is also extremely caring.
A fairly touchy-feely person with the ones he cares about most- Gongenzaka is somewhat infamous for giving Yuuya in particular bone crushing hugs in the series- Gongenzaka will often put the welfare of others well above himself. He will take extra steps to ensure his opponents are focused properly on the match they're in, and for that matter move in no-holds-barred if he determines that to be the best way to knock sense into another. In fact, he will even allow himself to bend certain moral standards if it means the safety of others; where he resolutely refused to participate in card-bribery while in prison, he immediately turned on this in order to make certain that two starving inmates without a card to their name could acquire food.
Gongenzaka's great amount of care is something of a double edged sword however. An incredibly emotional person, who cries openly for their successes and 'moving moments', he is also one to become incredibly worried. Gongenzaka's attachment to people can outright blind him with distress if he is unable to confirm their welfare in a situation that so much as implies they could be in danger, and this trait leads him to act rashly, and hastily...though somehow, not quite with rage; for all his emotions, anger is the one feeling that is truly difficult to inspire in Gongenzaka.
Perhaps this is due to his great level of self-control; Gongenzaka is a very respectful person provided they do not appear to grate immediately at his moral core, even speaking with an old, old dialect of Japanese which involves him oft referring to himself with 'kono otoko no Gongenzaka' (Loosely translated as 'I, the man Gongenzaka)- in essence placing himself beneath all others as 'simply another person'. He is one who makes otherwise extreme actions such as bowing to the ground for requests, and has more than once proclaimed his feelings to be loudly 'UNFORGIVABLE', and it is thus unsurprising to see that his humility and respectfulness as well translates into a great amount of self-judgement and punishment. Gongenzaka tackles his own flaws in extreme ways- training, and overtraining himself over the slightest loss and doing his best to address his failings within himself. This does, notably, often end positively though; beyond the fact that he is not shy about pointing out the failings in others if he feels they need the push to do better, his ability to consider these parts of himself has also led him to be incredibly adaptable.
And that, ultimately, is key. This incredibly kindhearted and emotional boy, whose strength of will and character is as immovable as a mountain, is yet also able to see where the mountain must change for the betterment of itself. ...Or even move, impossibly. Gongenzaka over the course of the series proves multiple times that 'change' does not mean a complete shift of character- but instead an improvement of character through the instruction of others. He seeks help, and learns a manner of dueling that does not break his own style- and from there continues to push those limits while staying true to his own.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Rocket :]
Starter: Lvl 15 Starter - Mawile
Lvl 5 Supplementary Starter - Galarian Zigzagoon
Password: Atomic Fireball
Samples
RP Sample: Here
Victory Road Sample:
Waking up in a dormitory of sad grey to find the letter was...more than concerning. Actually it was downright horrific in the admittedly pearl-clutching sense, and Gongenzaka reacted in the best way he knew how.
Specifically, he steadily and resolutely sought out an exit, got out, and after some internal debate on the merits of 'ACAB'- let it not be said he didn't learn anything while in Synchro- looked for the nearest police department.
Apparently populated entirely by women named Jenny, who ultimately patted his shoulders with nervous laughs, shook their heads, handed him pamphlets, and then advised him on making use of his 'Pokegear'.
Which, he did not have.
Likewise, a pokemon.
(The Jennies were of course baffled. The Rockets, ultimately, were quite smug when a stone-faced Gongenzaka made his way alone back to the base door, and reminded him to report for 'Training' after getting his things.)
...
(He did not report for training. He did, however, get his things.)
It had, put plainly and vaguely, been an extremely long day. There had been a lot of fighting. There had been a lot of fighting that frankly did not apparently fly in the world he'd woken up in, as rather than so much as crack open a pokeball Gongenzaka settled for cutting out the middle man and sideswiping particularly adventurous grunts with his geta on the way for the door while otherwise weathering each hit like any good Steadfast Dojo Practicioner.
His uniform? Absolutely scorched, trashed, and more. His things? Reclaimed, so to say, even if it was with a grimace.
For the moment he was taking refuge at the 'Pokemon Center', squinting at a pamphlet. Trying to collect himself. Calm down.
(Deep breaths in, and out- he knew how to meditate, and he was going to draw on that as much as possible while he-)
One of the pokeballs broke open.
"AUH-!"
"Wwwwwiiile? Mawile..?"
Gongenzaka stared- the idea of pokemon at least, after seeing them in the city and then also being attacked by a number of them, was not that strange. This one simply standing around there was...definitely stranger? "...So then, you are the 'pokemon' that are meant to be mine..."
It occurs to him that someone may have stolen these for him. And he can't even find who they were stolen from. Banishing the thought for now (it did him no good to dwell on what could not be handled), he looked over the yellow thing.
"You appear to be wearing hakama," he noted, snorting. "I, the man Gongenzaka, did not know you could appear as such."
The mawile preened at the odd compliment.
Gongenzaka found himself smiling a little more. "Saah, well then... ...it appears we are to be partners...though not in crime," he muttered quietly, only to frown at the pokemon's confused blink. "Auh...do not worry for it...! I, the man Gongenzaka, will make sure nothing dangerous comes to you, hm?"
Not that they likely couldn't defend themselves, but it didn't feel right to let something so small take his fights.
"Now, we need to make use of this," he continued, holding his 'pokegear'. "It is somewhat like my Duel-disk's tablet...perhaps, you can help?"
Ultimately of course, the mawile was not much help for it, but at the very least his video recording was a success.
(And then the mawile tried to steal someone's steelix, and Gongenzaka was left with the concerning realization that he had somehow been paired with pokemon Dennis Macfield.
....
At least the badger-seeming pokemon was more well behaved.)