Neruma Isami

Neru is earnest, straightforward, enthusiastic, and consumed by martial arts. He does not train primarily for trophies, recognition, or superiority over others; practice has simply become the central structure of his life. Even before entering Amato High, he incorporates conditioning into ordinary movement and repeatedly recites or practices material from the martial arts book his grandfather left behind.

His isolated upbringing makes him socially inexperienced rather than antisocial. Neru is excited rather than embarrassed when Akebi defeats him in their first encounter because the loss proves that there are practitioners far beyond the level he has reached on his own. Instead of treating superior fighters with resentment, he wants to understand what makes them strong and immediately begins imagining how he might catch up.

Neru is also stubbornly sincere. The competitive and hierarchical environment at Amato High brings him into conflict with students who have stronger formal backgrounds, but he rarely approaches those clashes through pride alone. He wants to test techniques, understand unfamiliar disciplines, and find out what kind of martial artist he can become when training is no longer limited to the knowledge left by his grandfather.

His greatest uncertainty concerns the purpose behind that effort. Neru knows that he loves martial arts but initially cannot explain what he ultimately intends to do with them. That question becomes more significant once he enters a school filled with students pursuing their disciplines for different personal reasons. VIZ's official description centers this lack of direction as the problem Akebi's arrival begins to solve.

Neru has undergone extensive physical conditioning since childhood. Years of solitary practice give him impressive balance, agility, leg strength, coordination, reflexes, and body control before he receives formal instruction at Amato High. His habit of going barefoot is itself part of that conditioning rather than a simple fashion choice.

His martial training comes primarily from his grandfather and the Bugeisho, the illustrated martial arts text left behind after his grandfather disappears. Neru repeatedly practices its movements and memorizes passages closely enough that losing the book does not prevent him from continuing his routine.

One of Neru's strongest traits is his ability to learn through physical experience. His first fight with Akebi exposes enormous gaps between solitary practice and combat against another trained martial artist, yet he immediately treats those gaps as information rather than humiliation. This adaptability becomes increasingly important at Amato High, where students specialize in different weapons, techniques, and approaches to combat.

His physical control can reach exaggerated levels characteristic of the series' martial-arts action. He uses his feet and toes with unusual precision and strength and can perform balancing and movement feats well beyond an ordinary school student. Reviews of the early chapters specifically note feats such as catching a spear with his toes and the series' emphasis on center of gravity and balance.

Neru is not presented as an unbeatable prodigy. Amato High immediately surrounds him with students whose formal training exceeds his own, and losses become part of his development. His advantage is the depth of his conditioning and his willingness to absorb whatever useful principle another martial artist demonstrates.

Neru begins the story living in Kuruwadani, an isolated mountain area where he once shared a self-sufficient life with his grandfather. Their home lacked ordinary utilities, and martial training formed the center of their daily routine. Four years before the main story, his grandfather disappeared, leaving Neru with the Bugeisho as his primary guide.

As middle-school graduation approaches, Neru realizes that simply repeating the same exercises no longer satisfies him. He wants to reach the level represented by his grandfather but does not know how to progress without another teacher or community. Losing his treasured training book forces him to confront that uncertainty directly.

His encounter with Akebi answers the problem. After learning about him, she visits his mountain home and challenges him while wearing a mask. Neru recognizes techniques associated with his grandfather's teachings, fights her, and loses decisively. Instead of discouraging him, the defeat gives him the first clear destination of his life. Akebi subsequently brings him toward Amato High School, where martial artists gather to study the "eighteen martial arts."

Admission to Amato exposes Neru to fighters whose backgrounds vary considerably from his own. He must prove that years of solitary training can translate into organized martial education while also adjusting to classmates, dormitory requirements, examinations, and structured competition.

Among the students who shape that adjustment are Toriichi Hatori, Tomoharu Shoze, and Kaname Nozomiya. Each provides a different contrast to Neru's instinctive, self-taught approach, broadening his understanding of what serious martial practice can involve.

The concluding portion of the series reveals additional information about Neru's family circumstances and forces him to confront the practical question of whether devotion to martial arts can become a sustainable adult life. A later time skip shows that his connection to martial arts and to the people he met through Amato remains central to his future. The serialized story ends after 18 chapters, while the collected edition comprises three volumes.

Akebi Haiba is the person who changes Neru's direction most immediately. Their first serious interaction is a fight in which Akebi Haiba overwhelms him, and Neru responds by becoming fascinated with her skill rather than resentful. She introduces him to Amato High and becomes both a benchmark and a source of motivation.

Hizuki Isami is Neru's grandfather and the person responsible for his unusual upbringing. Neru learns martial arts under Hizuki Isami in the mountains and continues training from the book left behind after his disappearance. Much of Neru's early motivation comes from wanting to catch up to the level his grandfather represented.

Jokuro Haiba is Akebi Haiba's twin brother and another accomplished martial artist connected to Amato High. His presence further demonstrates that Akebi belongs to a family deeply involved in the martial environment Neru has only recently discovered.

Toriichi Hatori becomes one of Neru's fellow students. Unlike fighters who rely principally on exceptional physique, Toriichi Hatori is characterized by a more analytical approach, giving Neru another kind of martial practitioner to learn alongside. The series' basic character listing identifies him as one of the principal students around Neru.

Tomoharu Shoze becomes another member of the student group surrounding Neru at Amato High and participates in the school's martial training and tests.

Kaname Nozomiya initially clashes with Neru shortly after his admission to Amato High. Their unresolved tension carries directly into the examination determining access to the school's dormitory, making her one of his more prominent early rivals. The official Japanese description of Volume 2 centers that confrontation and the subsequent exam.

Akebi Haiba remains particularly significant beyond simply introducing Neru to the school. The series' time-skipped conclusion returns to their connection and deliberately echoes the encounter through which she first discovered him, implying that the challenge they presented to one another continued well beyond their initial school years.