SHINJI KAZAMA

Shinji is one of Sosuke's classmates and an enthusiastic military buff who loves aircraft, weapons and hardware without realizing that the strange transfer student beside him has actually used most of it. That creates one of the show's easiest running jokes: Shinji can enthusiastically discuss military specifications while Sosuke responds with the uncomfortable precision of someone correcting details from personal experience. Shinji is friendly rather than suspicious, which helps Sosuke participate in school life without every conversation becoming an interrogation about his past. He also gives the series a civilian view of military culture. To Shinji, the machines are fascinating. To Sosuke, they are tools tied to memories and instincts he cannot simply leave at the school gate.