Zaizen Hikaru

Zaizen Hikaru
Kanji	財前 光
Kana	ざいぜんひかる
Nicknames	Shitenhouji's Genius
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Age	14
Height	167cm
Weight	57kg
Birthday	July 20
Horoscope	Cancer
Eyesight (Unaided)	1.5
Blood Type	A
Family	Father Mother Older Brother Sister-in-Law Nephew
School
Middle School	Shitenhouji (2nd Year)
Class	2-7
Seat	14
Former School(s)	Doutonbori First Elementary School
Tennis
Club Position	Regular
Dominant Arm	Left
Play Style	All-Rounder
Doubles Partner(s)	Chitose Senri Koishikawa Kenjirou (Anime) Oshitari Kenya
Media
Manga Debut	Genius 248
Anime Debut	OVA Episode 14
Seiyuu	Araki Hirofumi
Tenimyu Actors	Satou Hisanori (1st A/B) Kawasumi Bishin (1st B) Satou Ryuuji (2nd)

Zaizen Hikaru (財前 光(ざいぜんひかる)) is a 2nd year student at Shitenhouji. He is known as the school's "genius," but his tennis ability has yet to be featured in any official match.

Appearance

Something that sets Zaizen apart from the rest of the characters in terms of appearance is that he has multiple ear piercings - three in his left ear and two in his right. In the manga his earrings are all different colors (blue, yellow, black, green, red) and Kenya equates them to the Olympic rings. In the anime, however, they're shown to be all silver, and as a first year he is shown to only have a single earring in each ear.

His eyes are dark brown in the manga, but in the anime they are dark green. He wears two sweat bands on his left arm, one at his wrist, and one midway up his forearm.

Personality

In a school filled with a bunch of goofy people who pride themselves on their humor, Zaizen seems like the odd man out. He's calm and collected, and seems relatively unfazed by the chaos happening around him. He is quick to provide unwanted commentary, oftentimes of a disparaging nature (such as when he calls his teammates gross or calling Kawamura Takashi Seigaku's extra baggage). His tolerance level for goofing off is quite short, oftentimes falling back on his sharp tongue to indicate that he's done.

He's shown in the anime to be initially uncertain of his decision to attend Shitenhouji because he didn't believe that he was going to fit in with the others who were naturally loud and constantly making jokes. However, he's shown later on to at least somewhat take part in the shenanigans, taking pictures of others making fools out of themselves and posting them to his blog, or like how he humored Shiraishi by taking a video of Kenya twirling his pen and editing the video to show more ridiculous spinning objects.

Despite how it may seem otherwise, he is respectful to the social dynamic between the school years, and it's evident in how he addresses his teammates.

History

Prior to the events of the main story

There isn't anything known about Zaizen prior to the start of the main series; the majority of his canon has only happened in the anime.

National Tournament

Shitenhouji met Seigaku in the semi-finals of the National Tournament. Zaizen was originally supposed to play with Kenya against the Tezuka Kunimitsu/Inui Sadaharu pair, but in the last minute Kenya was replaced by Chitose so that he could play Tezuka instead. Despite the match supposedly being doubles, it turns into a singles match between Tezuka and Chitose. Inui advises Zaizen that this match was out of their league. Unsatisfied with this conclusion, Zaizen attempts a poach shot that ends up easily being returned, and he begrudgingly stays out of the rest of the match except for the necessary serves and serve returns.

U-17 Training Camp

Initially Zaizen rejects the offer to attend the U-17 training camp because he thinks it sounds like too much work. He ultimately decides to attend when Hitouji Yuuji explains that he wished to see Konjiki Koharu and they join the losers before they go to the mountain.

When the losers return to the training camp, he ends up sharing room 205 with Kirihara Akaya, Hiyoshi Wakashi, and Kaidou Kaoru.

Anime only arcs

In the Born! Captain Shiraishi Kuranosuke episode, Zaizen is recruited to the tennis team by his teammates.

Shiraishi Kuranosuke and Kenya are talking on the rooftop during the opening ceremony of the new school year. When the headmaster makes his terrible joke, the entire school erupts into laughter; yet, Shiraishi notices that there is one first year who continues to scowl. He finds it odd, but doesn't think anything further.

Watanabe advises the tennis club that per a rule in their school handbook, a club cannot continue activities unless they have an entering first year in their midst. He then goes on to explain that there is only one first year who had yet to choose a club: Zaizen. Shiraishi notes that this was the first year who didn't laugh at the headmaster's joke and wonders how they're going to recruit someone who doesn't seem to fit their mold.

Numerous members of the team attempt to recruit Zaizen by making him laugh. Each and every time they're rejected, as Zaizen either side steps them or just blatantly ignores them. Ultimately he agrees to attend tennis practice once Koishikawa Kenjirou asks him if he would consider it, stating that all they needed to do was ask, much to the surprise of the other team members looking on.

When he goes to practice with the rest of the team, Konjiki and Hitouji begin to show him the basic way to hold a racquet, and he listens attentively for a moment before he expertly twirls the racquet around his hand. Once they realize that he actually displays some tennis ability, they decide that he will play a match with Shiraishi and Kenya with Koishikawa as his partner. It becomes immediately evident that Zaizen is actually a solid tennis player, ultimately returning all shots to them and taking control of the match easily. Zaizen calls Shiraishi's tennis nothing but textbook tennis. Realization dawns on Shiraishi and he realizes that he has been trying to fit his teammates into a pretty little package in the form of a book called "tennis," whereas he should have been letting them be the best at their strengths. He then uses his Entaku Shot for the first time and startles Zaizen.

Zaizen expresses that he is not well suited to becoming a member of Shitenhouji due to the fact that he was a serious person by nature who didn't laugh at the same jokes as they did. He explains it as a dissonance. Shiraishi encourages him and tells him that it doesn't matter whether or not he was the straight man or the funny man, that what was important is that he was true to himself. Zaizen is later shown to become a member of the team and is given a kokeshi doll as a gift from Watanabe.

Playstyle

At this time he doesn't have a set play style dictated by the manga because other than his limited participation in the match with Chitose against the Tezuka/Inui pair, he has not been shown playing. The only known information is that he's an All-Rounder and that the team refer to him as their genius similar to Seigaku's Fuji Shuusuke and Hyoutei's Oshitari Yuushi.

There are several points in the anime where he is shown playing and he displays the ability to quickly analyze a play, predict where the ball is going to land, and get behind it to return it easily. The best example of this is in the anime-only match against Shiraishi/Kenya when Zaizen gets behind every ball that Kenya returns, despite the fact that Kenya plays a skilled game of speed tennis.

Team Shuffle Information

Speed - 3: You won’t see him desperately chasing after a ball - he’ll catch up to it instead. He has about that level of speed.

Power - 2: Whether it’s that he can’t concentrate specifically on power training or something else, when compared to the others it’s unfavorable.

Stamina - 3: He has the physical ability to not let his cool expression break even while climbing steep obstacles. His task will be to train without becoming so easily bothered.

Mental - 4: His calm composure mimics that of his low body temperature. He maintains a steady state of mind and his heart isn’t easily swayed. He has the mental capabilities suitable of an athlete.

Technique - 3: If you were to use one word, it would be “Genius.” He’ll absorb anything and then make it his own.

Kurobe’s Memo: At first he didn’t come to the training camp, and he’s one of those “genius” sorts who is lacking the eagerness to do well. It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t possess that sort of ambition. If he were to acquire the appetite and heart like that of a hungry wolf, he would surely improve by leaps and bounds.

Zaizen Wonderful

Although no specific special move has been confirmed in any sort of official capacity, Konomi teased on Twitter in 2015 that he has been thinking of names including the aforementioned Zaizen Wonderful (財前ワンダホー), Zaizen Vault (財前木馬, lit. Zaizen vaulting horse), and Temari Zaizen (手鞠財前, lit. Zaizen's handball game). Zaizen Wonderful even became a trending topic in the Japanese fandom. During the Happy Summer Valentine Ranking Event announcement in 2017, this was referenced again by Zaizen himself when he asked Konomi to let him have a match, and that he'd be happy even if it was just showing off Zaizen Wonderful.

Personal Information

• Shoe Size: 25.5cm
• Father’s Job: Company Employee (Trade)
• School Committee: Library assistant
• Best Subject: English
• Worst Subject: Classical Japanese Literature
• Most Visited Spot on Campus: A/V room
• Hobbies: Appreciating and listening to Western music　
• Dislikes: The bitter parts on a fish
• Spends His Allowance On: CDs, internet charges
• Most Wanted Item: A sound system
• Daily Routine: Updating his blog
• Skills Outside of Tennis: Digital music composition
• Favorite Food: Shiratama zenzai (sweet hot soup made out of red beans and with mochi)
• Favorite Color: Carmine red
• Favorite Motto: "A clever hawk hides its claws." (能ある鷹は爪を隠す)
• Favorite Movie: Amélie
• Favorite Book: Music magazines
• Favorite Music: British indies music
• Favorite Type: A family-orientated girl/homebody
• Favorite Date Spot: Trendy cafes
• Random Fact: His average body temperature is 35.0°C

Relationships

Oshitari Kenya

Although they have not been seen in an official match together, it's presumed that they're doubles partners as they were scheduled to play together during Nationals. They are often pictured together in media, and they have a duet together. Zaizen appears to humor Kenya and is the straight man to Kenya's funny man act.

Konjiki Koharu & Hitouji Yuuji

Zaizen often speaks rudely to the both of them, but it's clear that he cares for them deeply. He is seen to be with them quite a bit and Hitouji even calls him by his first name. Konjiki actively and regularly flirts with Zaizen, which is usually when he is most likely to use his sharp words.

Shiraishi Kuranosuke

It appears that Zaizen holds a deep respect for Shiraishi, though he is not above poking fun at his captain like the others. In the anime, he allows Shiraishi to realize that there are ways to allow your teammates to develop their individual skills without compromising fundamentals.

Trivia

• While it's not stated specifically as the reason why he chose library committee, he mentions that you can borrow DVD's from Shitenhouji's library.
• Zaizen comments on Shiraishi's bag contents with, "The contents are too maniacal... What's with poisonous plants? Senpai, that's too dangerous."
• Zaizen's favorite type is a homebody, family-oriented girl. In Pair Puri vol. 8, he stated, "Someone who will look after the house properly would be cool. It’d also be good if they cook well."
• Attended the same elementary school as Tooyama Kintarou.
• In Tenipuri Festa 2016, during Tenipuri☆Paradise, each voice actor has a solo line in which they state they sing "Character Name Paradise," and then reference either a special move or another relevant comment about the character. Araki sings, "Zaizen Paradise, Temari Zaizen." Although none of Zaizen's special moves have been confirmed by Konomi, this is one of many references to the potential naming convention.
• He comments in English on a website for an international band.
• Ranked 12th in the Happy Summer Valentine event.
• Ranked 9th in the "Who Would Look Best in a Suit?" ranking.

Words for the Two

Zaizen about others

• About Kirihara Akaya: "Even though they're the same year as me, they're so childish. Whatever, next year Shitenhouji will be the ones to claim the championship."
• About Shiraishi Kuranosuke: "Shiraishi-buchou, really, give me a break with all the endless talk about poisonous plants when we're eating."

Music

• Get Sparks
• Katte ni Shiten Festa feat. Shitenhouji All Stars
• Naniwa no Soran Bushi feat. Shitenhouji All Stars
• Winning Shot feat. Oshitari Kenya

Gallery

• 

  caption

Quotes

• "Well, can't be helped." (まーしゃーないスわ)
• "Senpai, you're gross." (先輩らキモイっすわ)
• "My turn? You should've said it sooner." (俺の出番？そういうのは早よ言うてくださいよ, Rising Beat, SSR card quote)