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Ichika Orimura

Ichika Orimura

Ichika Orimura is the main protagonist of the anime and light novel series, Infinite Stratos. He is the younger brother of Chifuyu and is revealed to be the twin brother of Madoka Orimura. He is also the only male to operate and control an IS.

Personality[]

Ichika is friendly and kind to anyone he meets. He is also kind, considerate and polite to those he meets. He cares for his friends greatly and protects them when they are in danger. Due to his kind personality, many female characters have come to fall in love with Ichika and make attempts to have him for themselves. However, when he first arrived at the IS Academy, Ichika felt extremely nervous and uneasy being the only male and hate getting attention. Ichika is also extremely dense and clueless regarding when girls harbour romantic feelings for him, but on rare occasions he seems to slowly become more aware (most likely implied towards Houki). While Ichika can be annoyed, nervous and extremely confused when the girls are mad at him, he knows how to defend himself against others whether they are engaged in a physical fight or if someone is simply being rude and unfair towards him. However when they girls become mad at him, Ichika is in fear of his life as their anger can get severely out of control and completely doesn't understand when they think such ridiculous and eccentric thoughts and ideas about him. Ichika is also quite intelligent as while in the beginning he still didn't understand the IS, being the first and only male in history to operate one, he continues to study and learn more about and is also a quick learner.

Relationships[]

Houki Shinonono[]

Houki is Ichika's first childhood friend. Ichika and Houki first met each other when they began attending Kendo classes together and have always been the same classes together in Elementary school from the 1st to 4th grade. Houki has always had romantic feelings for Ichika, but is nervous when expressing her feelings and uses her short temper to hide how she really feels. When a important Kendo match was approaching, Ichika promised to become her boyfriend if Houki won the match, but at the same time, Houki's older sister introduced the IS machines. Due to this, Houki's family was put in the protection program if the machines were used for wrong and evil purposes and thus Houki and Ichika have been separated. Six years later, Ichika and Houki are reunited when Ichika is enrolled at the IS academy being the first and only male to be able to use an IS.

Ichika, due to his nature, sees Houki in the light of an extremely strong childhood friend of his. He is willing to do things for her that he probably might not do for others. However, before the events of the Shinonono festival (at the end of episode 12 season one), they had practically dated and nearly kissed, implying that he may have some sort of emotions regarding Houki. Of course, Ichika's kiss was comically obstructed by Cecilia, Rin, Charlotte and Laura, causing him to run away with a comical worried face saying "he is going to die".

Even after years apart, Houki still has strong romantic feelings for Ichika, but still has problems expressing how she truly feels about him, but still makes the effort to show her feelings. Houki's best efforts are cooking her bentos for Ichika, much to his pleasure. In the beginning upon their reunion, it was awkward for Ichika and Houki, unsure of how to approach each other and soon Ichika became somewhat afraid of Houki due to her short serious temper, espically upon finding out she was his original roommate. Despite Houki's temper, Ichika still cares a great deal about her and makes attempts to reconnect with her after years apart, feeling bad as he doesn't remember much of their past since their separation. Several times throughout the series, Ichika seems to become more aware of Houki's feelings and appears to feel the same way towards her.

Cecilia Alcott[]

When Ichika and Cecila first met, Cecila took an immediate dislike to him, believing he was unfit to be an IS user and believed he was a commoner and treated him as if he was useless. While Ichika ignored her insults in the beginning, he eventually grew annoyed by Cecila's arrogance when he was selected to be the representative of their homeroom class. Cecila was immediately against the decision and soon they both agreed to have a duel to decide. During their duel against each other while Cecila held the advantage against Ichika, he quickly learned how to control and operate his IS, greatly impressing her. By the end of the duel although Ichika lost to Cecila, she found herself unable to think of anything else other than Ichika, realizing she had developed romantic feelings for him. Since then, Cecila has become more kinder to Ichika, giving the position for class representative to him and improving their relationship. She officially becomes the second person to have Ichika for herself.

Rin Fan[]

Rin is Ichika's second childhood friend. Shortly after Houki moved away, Rin transferred to Ichika's school and they soon became close friends. However, unknown to Ichika Rin has secretly had romantic feelings for him ever since he protected her from four bullies. Ichika and Rin continue to have a close friendship, both well acquainted with each other's families as Ichika would regularly eat at Rin's family restaurant. However, prior to the series they were separated for a year until they were reunited when Rin surprised him upon transferring to the IS academy. Ichika is delighted of meeting Rin again after their one year separation and Rin officially becomes the third person to win Ichika for herself after her feelings for him are revealed. Rin becomes mad with Ichika upon finding out he and Houki are roommates which leads the pair to have a duel with each other. Rin is an independent person as she doesn't like to be seen as a damsel in distress, proven during her match with Ichika, wanting to be seen as a powerful person, most likely to prove herself worthy of Ichika. However, Rin can be seriously jealous and similar to the rest of the girls can have a serious fiery temper in regards to misunderstood situations with Ichika or who he really likes in return. Although despite Rin's temper, Ichika remains close with her and views her as a good friend as she was one of the few rare people Ichika could talk with since her transfer to the IS Academy.

Charlotte Dunois[]

Originally, Charlotte masqueraded as a boy when she first began attending the IS academy and became Ichika's new roommate. Ichika and Charlotte began to develop a close friendship as she helps him to better understand the IS machines and how to properly work on them. Ichika soon became the first person to learn Charlotte's secret, but upon learning the reasons forcing her into the situation regarding her family, Ichika promises to keep her secret. Soon, Charlotte begins to develop romantic feelings for him and is constantly nervous whenever they are together, especially when they are forced into embrassing situations. Eventually, when Charlotte revealed her true gender to everyone, Ichika created a special nickname for her, calling her Charl, much to her delight.

Laura Bodewig[]

Orignally, Laura hated Ichika, blaming him for his older sister leaving Germany. Ichika strongly disliked Laura as she nearly killed Cecila and Rin during a practice match and was determined to beat her during the official matches competition. He also became angered when her IS went out of control and took a new form, copying his sister's fighting skills, he was determined to stop her for good. Due to this, the relationship between them soon changed when he managed to save her and revealed how he was truly strong. Since then Laura has developed romantic feelings towards Ichika, saving him from an attack from Rin and proceeded to kiss him, claiming Ichika as her bride. Throughout the series as Laura's feelings for Ichika increase, she begins to slightly change, becoming more feminine to gain his attention and affections. Laura also constantly protects Ichika whenever she has the chance, saving him from several attacks by love rivals or enemies.

Ran Gotanda[]

Ran Gotanda is the younger sister of Ichika's close friend Dan. Ran has romantic feelings for Ichika and makes herself pretty for him whenever Ichika visits her and her brother, not wanting to make herself unpresentable. Since Ran doesn't the IS Academy, she can only meet with Ichika on a few occasions. Ichika is happy to see Ran and views her as a good friend, unaware of her romantic feelings for him. Ran's brother Dan is aware of her feelings for Ichika.

Kanzashi Sarashiki[]

Tatenashi's younger sister. The IS Representative Candidate of Japan and Class Four. He asked her to be his partner during the tournament at the IS Academy (Tatenashi asked him to do it). Since people usually are not nice to her, she took it as a bad joke and slapped him. After that event, she started to fall for him, so she finally accepted his petition. She appears in Volume 7.

Her feelings for him seem to be connect to love for heroes. As such, she view Ichika as her hero (someone who will always be there for her and protect her). At the end of Volume 7 and episode 9, she confesses to him. But because they were talking about anime, she believe (which is most likely true) that Ichika thought she meant anime and not him.

She behaves like the other girls who love him do. Shy when he compliment her looks, but will become angry with him when he compliment another girl. Although, compared to the other girls who would use their IS or a real weapon on him, Kanzashi hasn't yet (but doesn't hide the fact that she is angry with him). 

Tatenashi Sarashiki[]

She was assigned by the headmaster to protect him and prevent his IS from being stolen.She enjoys teasing or flirting with him in a manner that makes him very uncomfortable. Throughout Volume 6 it is shown that she is becoming more mindful of Ichika, even thinking of him on random occasions. In Volume 7, she trusted him enough to ask him to help her little sister, Kanzashi. She later questioned her reasons for doing so before admitting to herself that she wanted to flirt with him. At the end of Volume 8, her feelings for Ichika take a step further when she reveals her true name (Katana Sarashiki) to him, which has a special significance in the Sarashiki family, indicating that a certain level of affection has grown between them (at least from her side). Afterwards, their relationship started changing with Tatenashi becoming more shy around Ichika, while Ichika on the other hand started becoming more comfortable around her. The other girls (including Kanzashi) even worried if the two them were dating each other. While both of them denied this claim, Ichika did admit that he enjoys being with Tatenashi, even pointing out her positive traits compared to the other six girls.

Gallery[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

Trivia[]

  • Although not officially confirmed, many believe Ichika has romantic feelings for Houki.
  • Houki is the first character to confess her feelings to Ichika (second one being Kanzashi). However, the first time she did so, her confession was rendered inaudible by the fireworks. The second time she did, she was asleep when she said it, but Ichika didn't hear her well and quickly noticed she fell asleep.
  • Out of all the female characters, Ichika has only ever kissed Laura. (Got forcefully kissed by Laura)
  • Ichika has been roommates with Houki, Charlotte and Tatenashi.
  • He is voiced by Josh Grelle who is well known for his harem leading roles such as Zen Wistaria, Masamune Makabe, Touya Mochizuki, Azusa Asahina, Yamato Naoe, and Sadao Maou.

Overall Franchise Role[]

NOTICE: The main purpose of the "Overall Franchise Role" section is to highlight the frequent discussions, debates, and arguments of Ichika's verbal and physical abuse that is mentioned everywhere in the Internet (YouTube, Reddit, DeviantArt, etc.). This is not to serve as a final judgement or comprehensive reception of Infinite Stratos in a general perspective. Those kinds of thoughts, responses, and sentiments toward the IS franchise (Anime, Manga, Light Novel, etc.) are up to the individual viewer. Therefore, the "Overall Franchise Role" portion won't be featured in the article of Ichika Orimura within the "Infinite Stratos Wiki" as that wiki is to essentially serve as one of the valid sources for Infinite Stratos' information (Synopsis, Characters, Locations, IS Units, etc.) and NOT to share one's opinions about specific features whether positive, negative, or neutral.

Despite being the male protagonist and displaying genuine kindness to his family, "so-called" friends, and a lot of people, Ichika Orimura is constantly mistreated cruelly by his (predominantly) possessive, mean-spirited, selfish, jealous, irresponsible, inconsiderate, ungrateful, hypocritical, unjustified, short-tempered, mentally-ill, violent, sociopathic companions (Houki Shinonono, Cecilia Alcott, Lingyin Huang, Charlotte Dunois, and Laura Bodewig) to the point of being portrayed as the scapegoat/black-sheep/punching-bag of Infinite Stratos.

Although the girls aren't completely evil and their reasons are regarding to his unbelievable denseness plus below-average intelligence, they can still be extremely unlikable due to Ichika being unfairly treated like a doormat/lightening-rod/victim from little to no reasons (especially certain times when it is not his fault or he's completely innocent).

Whenever the girls hang out with each other (whether Ichika is there or not) and there isn't anything regarding romance involved, they all treat each other as equals like one big family by satisfying all the basic conceptions of bonding, ethnics, morality, friendship, and more. However, they'll immediately throw away those appealing concepts by once again seeing each other as enemies the moment any kind of objectives related to "winning" Ichika's heart is present. Spectators to this melancholy relationship are justified by describing it as incompetent, infuriating, unacceptable, sad, depressing, vulgar, toxic, pathetic, and much more.

Some (if not all) of their assaults toward him include the potentials of Ichika actually receiving a severe injury that could remain permanent or being brutally killed (something that the girls continuously fail to realize nor ever learn). Additionally even though Ichika is admired by many (from people at the IS Academy to the general public worldwide) and guys would generally call Ichika's position as "paradise", it should be noted that at this point anyone in Ichika's shoes would retaliate against the girls in anyway possible, remember all the horrible stuff (including pursued assassinations) they've pulled on the character, constantly question themselves if those girls are truly the person's friends, leave the Infinite Stratos Academy for a better life plus future, and develop PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) over time.

In the anime series, the worst of them all was throughout Season 2 Episode 8 when Ichika was pleaded by Tatenashi Sarashiki to pair up with Kanzashi Sarashiki. Upon learning about this, the 5 female protagonists immediately started to behave towards Ichika as their worst enemy to the point of acting like there was never a friendship between them to begin with. Being the dense and ignorant person he is, Ichika is oblivious of the main reasons regarding the girl's extreme hostile treatment towards him recently. It's unknown if they had ever apologized to Ichika for this or acknowledge how cruel they were being for petty reasons. However because of everything they have done before, it can be greatly assumed that they never did and just moved on like they're completely justified (which they really aren't).

Due to all of these, the female protagonists had received a lot of controversies by fans for their poor friendships, ruthless nature, character derailment, and neglected persona developments. In addition, the dramatic decline in the comprehensive ratings of both seasons is also due to the series focusing too much on harem conflicts, cosntantly displaying Ichika's irritable denseness, and having so much unused potentials that could've been explored more such as matriarchy, designation of workers by collar color, and rising social/political movements for gender equality. Through those perceptions, it can be theorized that Ichika's incessant desecration portrays how males are generally treated in school, public, and work (discrimination, segregation, ignorance, hate-crime, violation of human rights , etc.) nowadays as a result of the Infinite Stratos, which (realistically) should've triggered a series of widespread controversies/protests/riots. This overall concept of a global dystopia is presented and elaborated in the fan-fiction Perseus by MAC A10N50.

The artworks in the gallery were uploaded by ShegoXP in DeviantArt.

They each received immense praises for depicting the IS Girls' immoral status.

Alongside with reddit posts questioning the numerous attempts of killing Ichika and youtube videos criticizing Season 1 and Season 2 , this had furthermore lead to the creation of various fictitious stories. Houki, Cecilia, Rin, Charlotte, Laura, Tatenashi and Kanzashi all serve as the main antagonists while Chifuyu serve as the secondary antagonist in all these anecdotes.

Fanfictions

  • Singularity (By: MKM2K) - Ichika Orimura. The human black hole for his sheer density. However, everything has there limits. Ichika has reached it. Tired of the antics of his classmates. He struggles on what to do. Will he rise and stand up for himself? Or will he collapse under the pressure?
    • NOTE: Minor Love Hina crossover
    • NOTE 2: Kanzashi Sarashiki is absent in this fanfiction.
      • However if Kanzashi Sarashiki were to appear in this fanfiction, it can be speculated that she'll most likely have the role as one of the heroic protagonists by siding with Ichika Orimura and aiding him in order to defeat the 5 girls. This is considering the fact on what vicious bullies Houki, Cecilia, Lingyin, Charlotte, and Laura were being to her in Season 2 Episode 10 when questioning Kanzashi about her current relationship with Ichika (in which you can CLEARLY see the look on her face that Kanzashi Sarashiki is completely terrified of the 5 girls). Afterwards, they all later become friends with her ONLY because she is also "competing" for Ichika's heart. Therefore, it can be confirmed that Kanzashi completely understands on what and how much Ichika has to go through because of them.
    • NOTE 3: Out of all the girls, it shouldn't be a surprise that Lingyin Huang (Rin) was the most villainous antagonist towards Ichika Orimura, Ran Gotanda, Chifuyu Orimura, and the rest of the girls on account that she has the worst personality (considering one of the facts being her impulsiveness and irresponsibility often causes headaches for her superiors in China because of the trouble she usually causes as an IS Representative Candidate).
  • The Final Straw (By: dardanellia) - Ichika gets almost killed by jealous Rin. After this, Ichika decides that it's finally time for him to leave the IS Academy for good. However, two girls accompany him on this new journey.
    • NOTE: This fanficiton serves as a "what-if scenario" regarding what will happen had Laura Bodewig failed to protect Ichika from Lingyin Huang's (Rin's) deadly attack from Season 1, Episode 8.
    • NOTE 2: It can be acknowledged and debated that if Lingying Huang (Rin) were to be considered as a villain (as an example and in the perspective of certain viewers), then this moment of an attempt to "punish" (obviously kill) Ichika Orimura would be considered her "Moral Event Horizon".
  • IS and Sekirei: Brave New World Second Season (By: Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov) - Request fic. Minato believed that when the Sekirei plan came to an end, his troubles would be over and his life could finally begin. Turns out, the world moves on, boy. Best you do too. His past, among others, is catching up to him and he has to look out for an old friend. Ichika Orimura didn't ask to be sent into an insane school and his single lifeline is an old friend.
    • NOTE: Infinite Stratos x Sekirei Crossover.
    • NOTE 2: Ichika serves as a deuteragonist in this one.
  • Star Wars: The Jedi Stratos (By: HootersBoy123) - Caleo is one of Luke students during the reign of a New Jedi Order. Taking place in the year 12 ABY, Luke Skywalker sends Jedi Knight Caleo Trinjim to find new people who can use and have connection to the Force. He arrives in an undiscovered planet called Earth where he finds that majority of the people he will met are complete absence of the force, but one boy isn't.
    • NOTE: Infinite Stratos x Star Wars Crossover.
  • List of Oneshots: Chapter 25 (By: yugiohfan163) - What if Ichika snapped after the girls kept going with their actions?
    • NOTE: Tatenashi Sarashiki and Kanzashi Sarashiki are both absent in this fanfiction.

Wattpads

  • Ichika Snaps (By: Creeperleap) - After much abuse and no comfort, Ichika finally snaps and the Byakushiki tries to find him a new home. Can Chifuyu and the girls fix the broken and link?
  • Ichika Snaps 2# (By: Creeperleap) - After much abuse and no comfort, Ichika finally snaps and tries to flee the academy. Can Chifuyu and the girls fix the broken and link? There will be two scenarios, one where the girls can subdue him in his attempt to leave, and another where he gets away and an old friend tries to fix the damage.
  • Ichika Snaps: Final Edition (By: Creeperleap) - After burning out at the academy, Ichika decides to drop out. His IS uses her dimensionak folder to send him to Earthland, the home of Fairytail, though she stays behind.
    • NOTE: Infinite Stratos x Fairy Tail crossover.
  • Suffering (A Infinite Stratos/Persona fanfic) (By: TheFoolAngel) - What happens when Ichika Orimura can't handle the constant teasing and hitting from any females? He never did anything wrong...so why?   After all this time, from him connecting to an IS, he had enough. Enough is enough. he won't be tied down to anyone including his older sister.   The only thing he experienced at IS Academy was suffering.   "So long, IS Academy. I am no longer tied down to this forbidden school. I'll find my own path."  I don't own anything except the story line!!!  [Will be a full story in the near future].
  • Infinite Stratos: Spiral to Nowhere (By: BizarreFishface1959) - Ichika Orimura, after holding in the various accounts of assault done by his harem, decides to run away. In his journey, he encounters various people. Some may help him, some may not. What bizarre situations will he get himself into? What bizarre phenomenons will happen?
    • NOTE: Infinite Stratos x JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Crossover.

Overall, they are all about Ichika (in a more realistic scenario) finally standing up to the girls, including his own sister (who also has a couple of flaws regarding Ichika's injustice), and permanently changing his relationship with all of them. In fact, most stories states that both Chifuyu and the IS Cadets are the reason why Ichika ran away from the IS Academy due the abuse they put him through.

Reasons by Characteristics/Personalities/Actions/Quotes
Explosive Personality Destructive Behavior Verbal Abuse
Frequent Disparage Harsh Criticisms Selfish Romance
Unapologetic Actions Psychopathic Antics Physical Violence

Regardless, Charlotte Dunois received the most praise by everyone for having a personality that doesn't involve being 'Tsundere', being the most tolerable out of all the girls, and prioritizing in making Ichika happy. In fact most noticeably during the Cinderella play (Season 2 Episode 3), Charlotte decided to protect Ichika from the other crazy girls (Houki, Cecilia, Rin, Laura, and IS Students participating) instead of immediately attacking him (despite the fact that she's after the crown too). While it should still be acknowledged that Charlotte does act irrational and resentful (like the other girls) towards Ichika sometimes, many fans legitimately speculate that she'll end up winning his affection.

NOTICE 2: Although it is true that Chifuyu Orimura, Tatenashi Sarashiki, and Kanzashi Sarashiki do brutalize Ichika Orimura as well, it should be distinguished that the oppressions from the 5 female protagonists (Houki, Cecilia, Lingyin, Charlotte, and Laura) are the most guilty. The facts that Houki and Lingyin are being Ichika's "childhood bullies" instead of "childhood friends", Cecilia developing a barbaric behavior even after starting to see Ichika as a man, Charlotte having her character devolve upon confessing to Ichika in the Boys' Bath, and Laura wrongly and unjustifiably declaring Ichika as her "bride" are a couple of the many evidences on why these 5 girls' abuse toward Ichika are (most of the time) significantly worse than the ones received by Chifuyu, Tatenashi, and Kanzashi.

Trivia[]

  • He is similar of Yui Komori in some ways. Both of them are the protagonists who happened to be kindhearted, naive and selfless individuals that are mistreated by their respective group of their opposite sex (the IS Harem and the Sakamaki Brothers) who claimed themselves to be the love of their respective lives.
  • Due to everything they (Houki Shinonono, Cecilia Alcott, Lingyin Huang, Charlotte Dunios, & Laura Bodewig) have done, it is justified to state that the main 5 IS Girls can sometimes (if not most of the time or all the time) be portrayed as anti-heroes (in Ichika's case) regarding their delusional selfishness/hypocrisies, extreme actions/approaches, remorseless statements/feelings/thoughts, and verbal/physical assaults toward Ichika Orimura.
    • However, it's no mistake that all 5 of those girls remain completely hostile towards Ichika Orimura throughout the entire Episode 8 of Season 2. Therefore, there are indeed certain circumstances in which they (if not all of them) serve as true antagonists toward Ichika Orimura.
  • IchikaOrimuraDefense (Reddit) - This community was specifically made to bring forth all who have watched the Infinite Stratos anime, or have read the manga before. The purpose of this group is to bring together ALL who can't stand the violence, abuse, and disrespect the main character, Ichika Orimura, has to endure from both his older sister and harem. For all those who dislikes the women around him, a.k.a the TRUE problem with the franchise, or just feel sorry for everything Ichika has to endure, then welcome aboard.
  • For certain viewers who have watched Infinite Stratos before, it's no argument that their initial perspectives toward Ichika Orimura's life will gradually change by an immense magnitude upon rewatching Infinite Stratos. This Reddit article entitled "Mishandled Hero: The Tragedy of Ichika Orimura the Brave" explains in great details of how the viewpoint of a person who had watched Infinite Stratos before drastically changed upon watching it again.
  • Even though the abusement of Ichika Orimura can be compared toward other male protagonists from different animes, the rules for this wiki (as well as the other wikis) forbid this comparison.

External Links[]

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