| Chiharu Shiba | |
 | |
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Kanji Name | 柴千春 |
| Kana Name | しば ちはる |
| First Appearance | |
| Anime | Start! |
| Manga | The Festival Has Begun!! |
| Information | |
| Origin | Japan |
| Age | About 20 |
| Hair Color | Orange/yellow |
| Height | 185 cm (6'1") |
| Weight | 72 kg (158 lbs) |
| Fighting Style | Brute Force |
| Original Dub | Tomohiro Nishimura (2001) Tatsuhisa Suzuki (2018) |
| English Dub | Robbie Daymond (2018) |
| Relations | Suzumoto (Comrade) Kaoru Hanayama (Boss) |
| “ | I'm representin' Japanese gangs here! I guess it sorta makes me like you guys' old man, huh? | ” |
– Chiharu to Suzumoto and other gang's members. | ||
Chiharu Shiba (柴 千春, Shiba Chiharu) is a fictional character from anime and manga series of Baki the Grappler. He is a street fighter that doesn't seem to feel pain. Chiharu serves as the leader of the Tokkoutai (特攻隊, Tokkōtai) racing gang.
Personality[]
Chiharu is shown to be quite reckless. He is prone to damaging himself to gain any advantage in a fight, once breaking his own arm during a match in the Maximum Tournament to intimidate his opponent, then winning said match with only one arm. He seems to have no real concern for his well-being and often will put himself at risk during a fight. Later in the series, he is considerably less reckless, but he still harms himself to gain advantages.
After the time skip, Chiharu seems to have calmed down. He casually strolls in-between two men wielding knives and advises them to fight fairly without weapons. Later on in the series, in Son of Ogre, he even teaches Baki Hanma valuable lessons and serves as a teacher in their brief clashes.
Chiharu Shiba reveres Kaoru Hanayama and considers him to be his superior, even bowing to the young Yakuza Boss after Kaoru was defeated by Katsumi Orochi during the Maximum Tournament, and dedicating his fight against Iron Michael to Kaoru. Later, during Kaoru's fight with Spec, Chiharu's words echo out as Hanayama Kaoru breaks through Spec's attack, thus hinting at a mutual respect.
Appearance[]
Chiharu's tattoo.
Chiharu is quite slim, but muscular and rather tall, with brown eyes and blonde hair done in a pompadour style. He has a tattoo on his back of a three-headed dragon resembling King Ghidorah from the Godzilla franchise.
For attire, Chiharu is typically seen in casual clothes, predominantly purple in color. In combat he favors purple pants and tabi shoes, while also wearing either a white or red jacket, said to symbolize his position as leader.
History[]
Baki the Grappler[]
Maximum Tournament Saga[]
Shiba is the latest leader of the Tokkoutai racing gang who quickly earned a name for himself for his fearless attitude and inability to feel pain. This reputation grew to legendary status after he managed to fight off 100 men by himself, in spite of being hit by an oncoming motorcycle.
Due to his reputation, he is eventually chosen to participate in the Maximum Tournament and faced judo master Kouhei Hatanaka in the first round. During the course of the match, Chiharu had his left arm broken by Kouhei, yet Chirau refuses to give up the fight, even damaging his arm further just to intimidate his opponent. Eventually he prevailed in the battle by repeatedly headbutting Kouhei into submission.
Chiharu's second match was against boxing champion Iron Michael. Throughout the match, Chiharu relies on various dirty and illegal tactics to give him an advantage, including using his recently broken cast as a weapon and tying the pair's legs together with a cloth. However, Iron Michael is able to regain control of the fight and lands numerous powerful punches that nearly crippled Chiharu. Ultimately the victory went to Chiharu after Michael's hands were broken by his opponent's skull, but due to his numerous injuries, Chiharu is replaced by Alexander Gallen.
Not taking being replaced well, he goes to the locker room to attack Gallen. He is thrown into the ceiling for his troubles.
Abilities[]
Shiba is extremely durable and has a very powerful will, often relying on his extremely hard skull as his main method of attack. This is coupled with an apparent inability to feel pain is best demonstrated during his fight with Kouhei Hatanaka, where Shiba managed to break his own left arm to intimidate his opponent, then Chiharu proceeded to beat him mercilessly. However, it should be noted that Shiba tends to rely heavily on dirty tactics due in no small part to his lack of any formal training.
Shiba also seems to be a natural at using the endorphin skill, which allowed him to beat 100 men in a fight after he was hit by a motorbike. After his collision with the bike, Shiba comments that he, "feels his power rising," and then continues to fight. Although this was shown in the anime's second season, it is yet to be confirmed if Shiba actually uses his endorphins.
Another example of Shiba's use of the endorphin skill is in his fight against Iron Michael, the current World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, during the Maximum Tournament Arc. He used several dirty tactics during the fight but was eventually overwhelmed by the boxer's power. However, during the fight, as Shiba lay seemingly defeated, the overhead lights of the ring reminded Shiba of the battle against a rival biker gang where he was hit with the speeding motorcycle. This causes him to comment that, "it will be alright," and he continues to fight with even greater ferocity.
However, in spite of his determination and willpower he is likely one of the least skilled fighters at the Maximum Tournament, managing to sustain serious injuries during both of his matches. While not considered very strong, Chiharu is considered one of the most durable characters in the series. His stamina is extremely high. Chiharu's will and determination is the one thing that allows him to contend with fighters considerably stronger than him. In fact, while Shiba did succeed in winning his match by breaking Iron Michael's hands with his forehead, he was rendered unconscious and his injuries were so severe he needed to drop out.
Techniques[]
Gallery[]
