Name: Keiji Kototani
Age: 18
Physical Description: A man of average height, topping off at 5'11, and of an average weight, 180lb, Keiji is at surface quite average and uninteresting. As a teenager, his friend's indulged the joke that a stroke left him unable to use his upper eyelids, for he could only ever afford a blase glance. Toward most matters he displays only a bleak countenance, with lips straight and unpursed. His hair is of the color of walnuts, altering between brighter and darker tones according to the abundance, or lack there of, of light. Swept back, it curls slightly once falling below the ear's horizon, and just before the nape. Having lived so long in the mountains, above the clouds, Keiji is forever blessed with melanin, and has a tawny complexion. Being a simple man, his attire consist of a long sleeve maroon shirt, with can be unbuttoned down to the chest from the neck, and black ninja slacks typical of Kumogakure shinobi. A green-clothed headband is worn around the neck, proudly baring the Kumogakure emblem.
Mental Description: Keiji is a conservative fellow, mannerly and well taught in etiquette, as well as stringent to the aesthetics of phrases, to the point of seeming pedantic. Some would comment that his loftiness makes him impartial to reality, though Keiji himself conceives abstractions as the real gist of things, and prefers analysis of things-in-themselves to their appearances. In this way, Keiji is difficult to work with, as his prosody protects him from ever actually sharing his concerns, detouring others with the absurdity of statements so as to completely obliterate the messages implied, of what may be worth knowing. For, this manner protects Keiji from the defilement of being known by another, of being perceptible and understood; so, he would rather seem indifferent, than truly in need of help. This should not be meant to paint the picture of a man truly freed, for this itself would be deceitful. Keiji is someone truly sympathetic, who cannot help but feel the affections of others, contracting their sorrows and glee, and as such employs intellectual functions to mask this, so that in looking in the mirror , even he is fooled.
By nature Keiji is quite reluctant, and takes time before deciding upon things. He passionately believes in awaiting the compelled ratification of the body, which at once releases a great affective force that propels him to action. In pursuit of a goal, Keiji can be obsessive, which he owes to the ability to completely dedicate himself to some objective - becoming oblivious to all other concerns. In holding his self-image as so respectable of a man, he so creates his Shadow as an inflated-egotist, which is really quite confident and motivated. This is not to be understood as a separate personality, but instead another factor of his psychological dynamics, which becomes explicit only under pressure or when over-come by great emotion. In these circumstances, the controlled grace with which he practices dissolves and what is left is a Nietzschean-ambition; This he owes his dedication in all activities, for it is secretly his belief that "Those who trust not themselves, are slaves to the populous" and that those who lack the will to transcend their circumstances, are lacking Dasein.
History: Keiji was born to the countryside of the Land of Lightning, to parents who were not in any real sense shinobi. His father, Nishima Kototani, held the rank of Genin, but only ever took escort work, and only ever if the family was desperate for money. His mother, Sadako, was a painter and poet for whom Nishima dedicated his life, and so ensured a home far from disturbance and set as safely high as one could live, so that "like her visions, she could be in the gods' realm". For these reasons, Keiji was born very isolated from peers, and became accustomed to getting lost in idle fancies to allude the loneliness. As a child, he would traverse the mountainside for hours, dipping below the skies firmament, and once again ascending, and startling birds who had for long been proud of such heights with his settlement. At home Keiji was juxtapose to the authoritarian dictates of his father, well trained in chores and constructive work, and his idealistic mother, who was really so lost in art that she scorned the slightest materialism. It never occurred to them, that her 'visions' and wit of the absurdity of it all, were symptoms of schizophrenia. So Keiji developed ambiguous attachments, learning to relate to those first human objects as indifferent agents whose will was to always be different than his own, and who could never be trusted to say what they mean. What this taught him was an attentiveness to motives, and to see behind the actions of other's. Upon his own, the young Keiji learned the wisdom "Analyze, don't gratify".
For many years, Keiji kept to his daily adventures through the country and nightly escapades through the books on the shelves, until at the age of 13, having read much fiction of shinobi, he presented an irrefutable argument for his need to leave for the academy. It took a week of deliberation, and by that I softly mean hysterical arguing, for Nishima to relieve Keiji of the life he wished him to have, and allow him to find his own way. Keiji left then, and spent a year in the academy, quickly absorbing all that the teachers could offer and attaching himself to their every proverb. After completing the academy, Keiji returned home for a hiatus to hone his budding skills in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. Having become aware of such a realm of possibility, and being the obsessive personality he is, he dedicated much time to differentiating where he had and had not potential. The course of a year revealed and proclivity for Water Release Ninjutsu, an adequacy for Taijutsu, and an absolute incompetence in Genjutsu. Satisfied, Keiji returned to the village to be assigned a team, and spent the following years deliberating on whether to fully become a shinobi or philosopher, and as such has gathered little prominence as either.
Age: 18
Physical Description: A man of average height, topping off at 5'11, and of an average weight, 180lb, Keiji is at surface quite average and uninteresting. As a teenager, his friend's indulged the joke that a stroke left him unable to use his upper eyelids, for he could only ever afford a blase glance. Toward most matters he displays only a bleak countenance, with lips straight and unpursed. His hair is of the color of walnuts, altering between brighter and darker tones according to the abundance, or lack there of, of light. Swept back, it curls slightly once falling below the ear's horizon, and just before the nape. Having lived so long in the mountains, above the clouds, Keiji is forever blessed with melanin, and has a tawny complexion. Being a simple man, his attire consist of a long sleeve maroon shirt, with can be unbuttoned down to the chest from the neck, and black ninja slacks typical of Kumogakure shinobi. A green-clothed headband is worn around the neck, proudly baring the Kumogakure emblem.
Mental Description: Keiji is a conservative fellow, mannerly and well taught in etiquette, as well as stringent to the aesthetics of phrases, to the point of seeming pedantic. Some would comment that his loftiness makes him impartial to reality, though Keiji himself conceives abstractions as the real gist of things, and prefers analysis of things-in-themselves to their appearances. In this way, Keiji is difficult to work with, as his prosody protects him from ever actually sharing his concerns, detouring others with the absurdity of statements so as to completely obliterate the messages implied, of what may be worth knowing. For, this manner protects Keiji from the defilement of being known by another, of being perceptible and understood; so, he would rather seem indifferent, than truly in need of help. This should not be meant to paint the picture of a man truly freed, for this itself would be deceitful. Keiji is someone truly sympathetic, who cannot help but feel the affections of others, contracting their sorrows and glee, and as such employs intellectual functions to mask this, so that in looking in the mirror , even he is fooled.
By nature Keiji is quite reluctant, and takes time before deciding upon things. He passionately believes in awaiting the compelled ratification of the body, which at once releases a great affective force that propels him to action. In pursuit of a goal, Keiji can be obsessive, which he owes to the ability to completely dedicate himself to some objective - becoming oblivious to all other concerns. In holding his self-image as so respectable of a man, he so creates his Shadow as an inflated-egotist, which is really quite confident and motivated. This is not to be understood as a separate personality, but instead another factor of his psychological dynamics, which becomes explicit only under pressure or when over-come by great emotion. In these circumstances, the controlled grace with which he practices dissolves and what is left is a Nietzschean-ambition; This he owes his dedication in all activities, for it is secretly his belief that "Those who trust not themselves, are slaves to the populous" and that those who lack the will to transcend their circumstances, are lacking Dasein.
History: Keiji was born to the countryside of the Land of Lightning, to parents who were not in any real sense shinobi. His father, Nishima Kototani, held the rank of Genin, but only ever took escort work, and only ever if the family was desperate for money. His mother, Sadako, was a painter and poet for whom Nishima dedicated his life, and so ensured a home far from disturbance and set as safely high as one could live, so that "like her visions, she could be in the gods' realm". For these reasons, Keiji was born very isolated from peers, and became accustomed to getting lost in idle fancies to allude the loneliness. As a child, he would traverse the mountainside for hours, dipping below the skies firmament, and once again ascending, and startling birds who had for long been proud of such heights with his settlement. At home Keiji was juxtapose to the authoritarian dictates of his father, well trained in chores and constructive work, and his idealistic mother, who was really so lost in art that she scorned the slightest materialism. It never occurred to them, that her 'visions' and wit of the absurdity of it all, were symptoms of schizophrenia. So Keiji developed ambiguous attachments, learning to relate to those first human objects as indifferent agents whose will was to always be different than his own, and who could never be trusted to say what they mean. What this taught him was an attentiveness to motives, and to see behind the actions of other's. Upon his own, the young Keiji learned the wisdom "Analyze, don't gratify".
For many years, Keiji kept to his daily adventures through the country and nightly escapades through the books on the shelves, until at the age of 13, having read much fiction of shinobi, he presented an irrefutable argument for his need to leave for the academy. It took a week of deliberation, and by that I softly mean hysterical arguing, for Nishima to relieve Keiji of the life he wished him to have, and allow him to find his own way. Keiji left then, and spent a year in the academy, quickly absorbing all that the teachers could offer and attaching himself to their every proverb. After completing the academy, Keiji returned home for a hiatus to hone his budding skills in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. Having become aware of such a realm of possibility, and being the obsessive personality he is, he dedicated much time to differentiating where he had and had not potential. The course of a year revealed and proclivity for Water Release Ninjutsu, an adequacy for Taijutsu, and an absolute incompetence in Genjutsu. Satisfied, Keiji returned to the village to be assigned a team, and spent the following years deliberating on whether to fully become a shinobi or philosopher, and as such has gathered little prominence as either.
