Difference between revisions of "Hitoshi Taniguchi"

"Do you have a pen I can borrow?"

Outgoing and rather energetic, Hitoshi Taniguchi is a transfer student from one of the many public high schools in Tokyo, recently finding himself in the Port Island school of Gekkoukan High. He's a relatively easy-going person, capable of getting along with almost seemingly anyone, and in the process, bringing his friends together as a cohesive group; he's easily the type that friends would turn to for help in solving a typical problem between them - that is, if he had friends in this new place. That, to him, is currently his biggest problem: the fact that he knows nobody in Port Island, and the fact that he has no friends can be a bit unsettling for him. Under all of that level-headedness that he seems to project at times, he has an innate fear of loneliness; so, if you approach him, you can probably be guaranteed that he'll want to converse with you. He also has a seemingly high distaste for pencils when it comes to writing...

Wait - What the Hell?, You Can't Do This to Me, P-PERSONA? Are you MAD?, Can I Borrow a Pen?, Lemme Take This Down, No Thanks - My Own Fear's Better Than An Evoker, Minor E-Lebrity

Hitoshi Taniguchi was born to the parents of Noboru and Haruka Taniguchi on December 12th, 1993, in one of the many hospitals available to the citizens of Tokyo, Japan. His father is a middle-management type of worker-bee that works for the Sony Corporation; without much in the way of actual contact with his parents. Always rather happy and easy-going around him, those episodes were never often enough and would be so few and far between when both of his parents would actually be home that it was a sort of rare thing. Go figure, right? It was no surprise, of course, that the two were married out of convenience to each other; just something that resulted as a drunk night in college. Worse things had happened in life, of course.

Thanks to this otherwise distant and rough-standing relationship with his parents, as Hitoshi grew, he would turn to various outlets to get himself some attention. He was a typically good kid, for all it mattered; his parents were around him enough to teach him the basics of right, wrong, good, and bad. The influences in his life didn't really come around until he started pre-school in 1998, and he started making friends relatively quickly; in a way, he almost filled the gap of having no real time with his parents by spending most of his time with these friends that he'd make. This trend would continue as he continued to age, through his Kindergarten years and through elementary school later in 1999. Through this time, he was a relatively good student, from time to time prone to flights of fancy with his school friends; where he truly seemed to excel was his skills in writing, though; not just in knowing his words and the like, but actually putting them together and forming out his own style of writing. This trend would continue through elementary school, carrying him on his way on the Academic fast-track.

Hitting middle school at age twelve, just roughly three or so years ago is when Hitoshi's writing really began to take off. Some people tend to say that his experiences are the same things he wrote about; a lot of his stories tended to revolve around happy families, trials, tribulations and the like that any family could easily experience. Of course, like any 'tweenager,' other things also began to interest him besides writing; and turning to the internet, he began researching a new topic to write about: The Occult. It was at this point that he and some of his friends started researching through a website known as the 'Darkside' - a series of message boards that seem to be connected with various occult religions and rituals. Stupidly enough, he and three of his other friends got it into their heads to actually perform one of these silly rituals.

Using the otherwise empty home that his family occupied, Hitoshi held a sleepover with three of his other friends on this particular night when he was still twelve. Right before midnight, all four of them took their respective positions in the four corners of his bedroom, and as the ritual print-out that Hitoshi had said to do, they all chanted, "Persona! Persona! Call out your Persona!" and began to move around the room, chanting this. Hitoshi himself to this day claims he has no idea what happened. The fact he apparently woke up in a hospital bed would indicate, of course, that his parents must've come home early from work and discovered he and his four friends apparently passed out in his room, in an otherwise unhealthy semi-comatose state from which they initially wouldn't awaken. Of course, since the hospital couldn't do anything about it, they'd simply treated him for stress; the only likely thing that could've been affecting him, given the fact he's a young school student working hard.

Time passed from this fateful night. Middle school was flown through with particular haste, and Hitoshi continued to write; his writing becoming a bit of a local phenomenon with the students of his school and locally in the district he lived in... so much to the point that a couple of his short stories were published and even printed in a series of young people's short stories in local bookstores. Hitoshi would eventually start a small 'Blog' of his own, as well, to spread his work out and to get his name further out there, since his talents obviously lied with the pen and it'd carry him somewhere in the future. He would write about his fateful night... and this caused several hits to his blog. Who these people were, of course, he had no idea. Good fans, obviously! High school finally came, and early into his first year, Hitoshi would be tempted into a Talent Expo that several of the larger, more private schools - from near and far - would hold. Invited to do readings of his various work at the Expo, he was approached by a representative of Gekkokan High School to 'talk.' This 'talk' resulted in the offering of more than enough money to allow him to attend Gekkoukan High School, and transfer there to finish out his career. Of course, such an offer is very, very tempting, given the fact that most of the graduates from Gekkoukan tend to get into the university of their choice. And with such talent, Hitoshi was guaranteed to go far at Gekkoukan! Of course, while his writing is indeed a great talent, there's more than one reason his 'talents' will end up carrying him far at Gekkoukan High School... That part simply wasn't covered in the recruiting speech. Time will bring that one out as he prepares to make his journey to Port Island, and to settle into the dormitory he's been assigned to... funnily enough, the dorm is a dorm that a particular social club seems to occupy.

As time has passed, Hitoshi has settled into his new life at Gekkoukan and in Port Island. Over the last few months, he has confronted a new power he has been bestowed with: The power of Persona, as he has been introduced into the world of Persona, Shadows, Rumors, and Demons with a bit of a crash course given to him by SEES. A full fledged member of SEES, Hitoshi controls the power of the Persona Calliope, the Muse of Epic Poetry. He enjoys a (healthy?) relationship with Yuuka Chiba, another member of SEES and an advanced-placed student in the second year. At one time, when time was warped to a point where he and Yuuka never met, he also (failed to) enjoy a relationship with Shiori Hibiki, who was at the time Shadow-possessed. During this time, he was also forced to confront a part of his past that had, in a way, caused him to run away from Tokyo. It also explains his deepening friendship with one of his superiors and upperclassmen within SEES, Aktasuki Enda...

A friend of Hitoshi's, named Keisuke Hanasaka, was roughly a little older than Akatsuki. He had been preparing himself as Hitoshi was preparing to leave for Port Island to enter college. Through the years, Keisuke had been a sort of figure Hitoshi looked up to, and had been a big influence in helping Hitoshi with his writing, when his family couldn't always be there for him. After the last spring's college entrance exams were taken, Keisuke was stricken with grief to find out that he had not scored well enough to actually make it into the college he had hoped to attend. As a result, Keisuke would become one of the other statistics...

Keisuke would commit suicide by jumping in front of a train, just weeks before Hitoshi would be leaving Tokyo for Port Island, and a new life. As a result of this, Hitoshi had sort of shut down in his writing, uninspired... until he arrived in Port Island, anyway. Still, it has taken time for Hitoshi to overcome this grief and sadness for his friend, even after being forced to witness the event by the High Priestess Arcana Shadow. Time should heal all wounds, though...

Talk has been buzzing around the literary community that the young writer could be preparing to announce a new project this summer.

The namesake that Hitoshi Taniguchi posesses is that of being even-keeled and quite level-headed; likewise, as his name means 'The mouth of the valley,' valleys are known for being flat and level. Among friends, Hitoshi tends to be the level-headed one and the most calm; weighing both sides of a situation before taking the most appropriate action. While level-headed and rather easy-going, he's also very active in his search for friends and bringing himself together with other people; likewise, bringing his friends together with others so that they may be happy with him and with others.

As a writer, he tends to watch the world around him with a generally mild interest; otherwise, how could he draw his inspiration? Sometimes, instead of getting involved, he likes to just sit back and watch; this could be related to several things. Overall, though, when he's in this state, it could be hard to get him to talk to people... instead, he focuses on his notes, making them in a small notepad that he seems to carry around with him all the time. One'll also notice that more often than not, Hitoshi seems to prefer to write in pen. To him, pens seem to be the most permanent form of writing; something you can't reaily erase. For him, it holds precedent, because he wants the things he writes to be permanent. In some ways, this could be viewed as a slightly obsessive compulsive behavior.

While talking about pens, friendships are equally important to Hitoshi. In a way, he views friendships in the same way he believes pens work; pens are permanent, and they can't be readily erased. Why shouldn't friendships be like that? He clings to the friends he has - even if he has none now, that doesn't stop him from writing home, phoning, or using the internet to keep in contact with his friends he left in Tokyo. The fact he did indeed leave his friends sometimes will cause him to become a little depressed; though it won't actually show in his actions, it will show in the things he writes and in the observations he'll make when watching people around him. Of course, as a published writer, writing in pen can sometimes be a pain in the sense that the ink is indeed quite permanent, making fixes and resubmissions a bit of a task for him. He's apparently not one who likes to face up to their mistakes readily, or perhaps it's a further sign of his OCD tendencies; but, if asked by his publisher and editors to re-tool something, the only logical thing in his mind to do is to throw the original manuscript in the trash, spray it with butane, and follow it up with a strategically thrown match. Otherwise, as long as the original manuscript - tarnished by mistakes and his misfortunes - exsists physically, he'd dwell on it, and would otherwise not be able to move on. Obviously, he really doesn't care how people view that particular stage of his writing process, and has no problem vocalizing the fact he does it. It's his creative process; if they don't like it, they can find another teenage writer to exploit. Besides, once he finally hits the mainstream and actually starts publishing his novel in the future... will he even need editors or publishers? Really, if anything, the fact that he's willing to sit down with his notes and play with his editor's notes by placing them side by side with his own is more of a formality. In his mind, he feels as if the editors he works with stifle his creative process, and more often than not, they end up crushing his ideas under the pressure of 'what people want.' Well, if people don't want his writing, that's tough, in his own mind... They're missing out.

While we're still on friends, we've covered the fact that he likes to mediate situations and help make decisions -- and often, at that. Looking back on his writing, we'll note he also enjoys writing slice-of-life stories, in the sense that he writes about everyday thingst that could happen to anyone... sometimes putting a supernatural spin on it, sometimes just leaving it alone; why could this be so important to him? In the real world, there's a degree of uncertainty and risk in social situations that one has to undertake in order to properly engage in them. However, in his own little written world, there are no such risks; everything he writes is set in stone, permanent, in ink, and it can't be argued by the characters he writes about, and thus there is no risk nor uncertainty in these situations. They're not in danger of really falling apart. This could also be a reason for him wanting to always be the mediator; he feels that, like in his writing, he can find a way to control the people around him and bring them together for everything to work out for the better. Nothing falls apart, everything comes out the way he wants it... and people end up relying on him to be their mediator when it comes to various situations. He may be good at bringing various people together... but it's different when people start looking to you for it; in a way, he almost relishes in the fact, sometimes, that he is the mediator, really. It's not exactly the best way to be, but when you can get this kind of attention... maybe it's worth it.

And of course, since we're discussing the writing portion of his personality, we go back to the fact he actually writes slice of life stories, sometimes putting those supernatural or occultist twists on them. Not only does it sell well as a writing device, it also serves another purpose; a creative outlet for an otherwise boring life that, in Hitoshi's opinion, he seems to live. Of course, it's sort of hypocritical of himself and the like to really think that his life's boring; after all, when is it considered normal to get paid to go to a swanky, modern school simply because you're a good writer? It's not every day that someone with his talent gets noticed; and thus, is far from ordinary.

As far as the relationship with his parents goes, there's not much in the way of shaping that they helped with in that respect. Other than keeping things on the straight and narrow for him, they were never there enough for him to get to know them real well; this could be why he tends to really get clingy with his friends, because he doesn't want them to be anything like his parents and leave him for something else. Clearly, he has abandonment issues, and they're the reason they manifest.

In his relationship with other artforms, Hitoshi is a generally steady type of person. As a writer, he respects all forms of the other fine arts, and the subgenres in his own artform are no exception. While on a whole, Hitoshi generally finds himself enjoying various other artforms outside of writing, he looks at various manga and anime forms to be rather... blaise. Some are too cookie-cutter for him, as it were; too generic to actually be different from others. Now, from time to time, though, he will take the time to read some manga; if anything, to relax his mind and numb it a little. However, he -does- find himself appreciating one or two manga writers, and even some of the artists that draw the characters - provided there is depth and actual effort put into making the artwork different from others. Really, it's hit and miss with him - if he likes it, he likes it. If he doesn't, he doesn't.

Hitoshi's Persona, Calliope, is the Muse of Heroic or Epic Poetry. In Greek mythology, Calliope (Greek: Καλλιόπη Kalliope "beautiful-voiced", English pronunciation: /kəˈlaɪ.əpiː/ kə-LYE-ə-pee) was the muse of heroic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Iliad and the Odyssey.

One account says Calliope was the lover of the war god Ares, and bore him several sons: Mygdon, Edonus, Biston, and Odomantus - respectively the founders of Thracian tribes known as the Mygdones, Edones, Bistones and Odomantes. Calliope also had two famous sons, Orpheus and Linus, by either Apollo or the king Oeagrus of Thrace. She taught Orpheus verses for singing. She was the wisest of the Muses, as well as the most assertive. She married Oeagrus close to Pimpleia, Olympus.

Calliope is always seen with a writing tablet in her hand. In the instance where Hitoshi has summoned her, she has carried a large, apparently epic tome with her, through which she uses her magic and physically attacks her opponent with.

• Hitoshi runs his own blog that he posts to regularly, and which has a rather small, but impressive following from his readers in Tokyo.
• He has the potential, which is why he's in the SEES Dormitory.
• He's a published short-story writer, but is only known locally in Tokyo. His name's not quite huge elsewhere.
• He's secretly begun work on a novel project, but hasn't told anyone about it yet.
• Hasn't been out at Midnight yet in Port Island. Threw up on his first encounter with the Dark Hour.

• Winter Daze: Hitoshi daydreams, plots, and texts someone. Also, foreshadowing.
• The Cafe Is A Lie: Hitoshi's first visit to the Velvet Room, where he meets a rather large nosed man and a peculiarly hair-colored and eye colored woman...

1: Anna Tsuchiya - Rose
2: Ayumi Hamasaki - No More Words
3: Barenaked Ladies - Who Needs Sleep?
4: Boston - Takin' My Time
5: Breaking Benjamin - Blow Me Away
6: Hikaru Utada - Hikari
7: Hitomi - I Am
8: Lotus Juice feat. Yumi Kawamura - P3 FES
9: Maximum The HORMONE - What's Up People?!
10: Moby - Flower
11: Nine Inch Nails - Meet Your Master
12: Tchaikovsky - The 1812 Overture
13: The Pillows - Ride On Shooting Star
14: The Seatbelts - Rain
15: Yumi Kawamura - Burn My Dread

If you follow Greek Mythology...

• Error creating thumbnail: File seems to be missing: /home/m295reb/public_html/mw/images/d/dd/Calliope2.jpg

  Calliope gave birth to a son...

• Error creating thumbnail: File seems to be missing: /home/m295reb/public_html/mw/images/9/9d/Orpheus.jpg

  ... Named Orpheus. Somehow...

• Error creating thumbnail: File seems to be missing: /home/m295reb/public_html/mw/images/b/b2/P3-Thanatos.png

  ... This bursts from Orpheus from time to time. This must be what happens when you try to go save your beloved from the pits of the Underworld.

... What the Hell, SMT?

0 - THE FOOL:

• Minato Arisato: "Rapier-san" - but seriously, Minato is the SEES field leader and Hitoshi has learned to try and trust him. At first, thought he was going to be beaten with a prop sword before his first encounter with the Dark Hour.

I - THE MAGICIAN:

• Junpei Iori: "Hat-san" - this is what Hitoshi knew Junpei as before a formal introduction that took place after he had helped save Hitoshi from the Lurker's clutches. He notes his excessive useage of 'Bro' and 'Dude' in the back of his mind, and wonders how he is on the same level of other second years, from time to time. However, that doesn't stop him from being his friend.

II - THE HIGH PRIESTESS:

• Yuuka Chiba: A second year student that is, in Hitoshi's opinion, one of the brighter people he's met since arriving in Port Island; if not a little short on the common sense part of things. Despite the fact she's only three months older than him, she's an entire year ahead of him; this is something he respects of her, greatly. Very recently, feelings between these two became particularly strong, and as such, they have begun to grow closer to one another...
• Shiori Hibiki: One of Yuuka's friends. Hitoshi isn't quite sure how to handle her, given the way she seems to act regarding Yuuka. Outwardly, he's kind and nice to her; inwardly, he takes her advice only so far with him, and her warnings even less further. Things need to get better between these two, for sure.

III - THE EMPRESS:

• Hitoshi has no noticeable Empress links.

IV - THE EMPEROR:

• Akatsuki Enda: A third year senpai in SEES. One of the first members of SEES Hitoshi has met. Very helpful in his opinion, and willing to listen to his advice of NOT GOING OUT AFTER MIDNIGHT. Their relationship has developed into one of a proper kohai and Sempai. He trusts Akatsuki and would readily trust him with everything he has to offer. He was vital in helping preserve Hitoshi's life on the night of his Awakening, proving just how awesome of a Sempai he is by bringing out a team to rescue him from the clutches of the Lurker. He's willing to follow Enda-sempai almost anywhere.

V - THE HIEROPHANT:

• Hitoshi has no notable Hierophant links.

VI - THE LOVERS:

• Hitoshi has no notable Lovers links.

VII - THE CHARIOT:

• Aigis: Another of the first SEES members - and the only android - that Hitoshi has ever met. Seems very friendly for someone with such an odd name! She was vital in helping rescue Hitoshi from the jaws of the Croc-man, and keeping him from being food in the Dark Hour. He saw her lose his arm - something that slightly disturbs him. Of course, now that he knows she's a robot... he's sort of okay with it. Still, she acts so human, he feels like he owes her for helping him; especially so, given she lost an appendage for him.
• Hideki Miyagi: A delinquent and handi-capable young man that Hitoshi met at the Arcade, apparently from another school other than Gekkokan. He couldn't place the clothing. But apparently, punching someone makes you their friend in this guy's mind.

VIII - JUSTICE:

• Hitoshi has no notable Justice links.

IX - THE HERMIT:

• Hitoshi has no notable Hermit links.

X - THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE:

• Koichi Nakano: The kid that got punched by Hideki. He gave him the tokens at the Arcade in order for Hideki and him to have some bonding time, since they were newly made BFFs. TEMPERANCE GOALS ATTAINED~ -- He'll have to meet him, and the delinquent, another time.

XI - STRENGTH:

• Hitoshi has no notable Strength links.

XII - THE HANGED MAN:

• Hitoshi has no notable Hanged Man links.

XIII - DEATH:

• Hitoshi has no notable Death links.

XVI - TEMPERANCE:

• Hitoshi has no notable Temperance links.

XV - THE DEVIL:

• Itsuka Mizuhara: He doesn't even know Itsuka's name yet. However, she was vital in a rescue effort after Hitoshi was trapped in the Dark Hour alone with the Lurker, AKA Kazuo Kagayama. She gave him her Evoker, which resulted in the awakening of Calliope, Hitoshi's Persona. He is, thusly, placed in debt to her for practically helping to save his life.

XVI - THE TOWER:

• Himeru Namikawa: A fellow first year student that Hitoshi happened to meet while moving into the SEES dormitory. He noticed that predatory look, and as such, her nice actions toward him makes him feel a little uneasy. He's not sure where to put her yet.
• Kazuo Kagayama: AKA Croc-Man, AKA The Lurker. Hitoshi has encountered Kazuo once, and it was when he was in his Shadow-possessed form. Those eyes will haunt him until he dies, most likely. As will the voice. While Hitoshi doesn't realize that there's probably a human being under that scaly flesh, he'd not hesitate to try and kill the monster he was presented with; though, that's not likely to happen any time soon. In any case, this enemy is regarded with: APPROACH WITH EXTREME CAUTION.

XVII - THE STAR:

• Hinata Itoh: One of the first of the Itoh Three that Hitoshi has met so far. She was with him the first night he went into the Dark Hour, with Rapier-san. She's proven herself to be a great friend, comrade, and someone Hitoshi would want to have with him in the field; apparently a strong combatant, after what Hitoshi has seen during the rescue mission that was launched for him. While he doesn't necessarily feel the need to be in debt to Hinata, Hitoshi feels that their friendship has been greatly improved through what happened. It's not every day you fight a Croc together and live to tell about it, after all.

XVIII - THE MOON:

• Hitoshi has no notable Moon links.

XIX - THE SUN:

• Hitoshi has no notable Sun links.

XX - JUDGEMENT:

• Hitoshi has no notable Judgement links.