Shū Maiko (舞子 集 Maiko Shū) is a supporting character in the Nisekoi series. He is a companion and best friend of Raku, whom he has known since pre-school, and is often described as cheerful and silly, though a more serious side becomes apparent as the story progresses. Shū was the first person to find out on his own that Raku's and Chitoge's relationship was fake.
Appearance[]
Shū is a high schooler who is slightly above average height. He has short to medium messy dirty blonde hair and wears circular glasses. He has golden brown eyes and slightly tanned skin, similar to Raku's.
In the winter, Shū wears his school's uniform which has his brown and white slip-on shoes, black pants with a brown belt, a white long-sleeved shirt, and the school uniform jacket. The summer school uniform's only difference is the white shirt is short-sleeved and the school uniform jacket is not worn.
Although he is rarely seen with screen time outside of school, Shū usually wears casual clothing. For swimming, Shū does not wear a shirt and wears green or brown swim shorts as seen in Swimming and At the Beach. When doing outdoor activities, he is seen wearing a cloth around his head
Shū is nearly almost always seen smiling or grinning, and mostly illustrated with a cat-like smile when mischievous or pervert antics.
Personality[]
On the surface, Shū is instantly recognised as a "happy-go-lucky" type of person. He is approachable, silly, mischievous, brightly cheerful, and almost always smiling or grinning. His antics label him as the class jokester and, oftentimes, a source of regular comic relief. He expresses an obsession with cute girls and has been described as a skirt-chaser on multiple occasions; for this, some girls (such as Ruri and Tsugumi) regard him as a low-life pervert. Even though perverted, Shu is actually popular among the girls in his school, and unlike Raku, he receives love chocolates on Valentine's Day as well as a face-to-face confession from an admirer.
Shū also has a habit of meddling in other people's affairs, especially Raku's and Chitoge's fake relationship; he often tags alongside Raku and the gang in various events despite being uninvited. But even so, Shu has a healthy relationship with the girls crushing on his best-friend Raku.
Beneath the surface, Shū is actually intelligent and perceptive, often using his persona of humour to elevate this intelligence from discovery. He is very observant; he was almost immediately able to deduct the unauthentic nature of Raku's and Chitoge's "relationship" and Kosaki's crush on Raku. Shū's grades and academic standing are surprisingly high, and he was ranked 22 of his class as a first-year in high school, and he even surpassed Ruri Miyamoto's rank (23). His 1st-year homeroom teacher, Kyoko-sensei, recognizes his maturity almost immediately as far above that of his peers.
Shū is also secretive of his own feelings and hides them under a constant guise of playfulness and happiness. Though with a push from Raku, Shū is also shown to have a more serious side and that he prefers to stay optimistic and not to wallow in depression even in the face of hardships.
It should also be noted that Shū is one of the only males in the story that fully supports Raku, and not half-heartedly like Raku's father.
Background[]
Most knowledge given of Shū's background relates to his friendship with Raku; Shū and Raku have been friends ever since their pre-school years. Even though Raku was isolated in his classroom by his peers because of his association with a Yakuza family, Shū would approach him when no one else did and consult his help in class.
It is also revealed that, in 6th grade, Shū's mother was hospitalized, though medical details are unknown. During this time, he pretended to be cheerful as usual in the presence of Raku, but Raku noticed his lies beneath his fake smile.
In Yui's introduction, it is revealed that he has a sort of "master-slave" relationship with her dating back to their childhoods, but it is only briefly mentioned.
Story[]
Shu is quickly established in-story as Raku Ichijō's only male friend; as the other males in their class quickly become jealous of the harem that develops around Raku, Shu sees it as an opportunity to tease his perverted tendencies around Raku. Shu is also quick to tell that Raku's relationship with Chitoge is fake, and that the girl Raku wants to be with is Kosaki Onodera; although unlike Kosaki's friend Ruri Miyamoto, Shu does not attempt to bring Raku closer to any specific person.
As the story progresses, Shu is often put in positions that allow him to put Raku near his harem. During the first-year field trip, he puts Raku in the middle seat at the back row of the bus, surrounded by Ruri, Kosaki, Chitoge and Tsugumi. At the hotel later on, Shu challenges them to a game of Old Maid, where the loser has to reveal their first love. After the summer break, Shu is in charge of his class's cultural festival project - a performance of Romeo and Juliet. After his initial casting of Juliet - Chitoge - refuses the role, he gives it to Kosaki instead. Kosaki sprains her ankle just minutes before the performance is due, so Chitoge is hurriedly drafted back in to play Juliet. Shu thus has the play deviate wildly from the script, and the actors improv on the spot, with Tsugumi, Marika and even Claude in roles not seen in the original play. Shu's improvised play finally ends on the window scene (specifically, the line "Henceforth, I will never be Romeo.")
Shu's own love-life is only explored once Ruri wonders about it in Loss. It is finally revealed in Friend, during their second year, who Shu was in love with. With encouragement from Raku, Shu tries to see Kyoko one more time before she finally leaves, but ultimately was unable to confess to her. During the summer, Shu tags along with Raku on Ruri's visit to her great grandfather who is dying. After he dies, Shu meets up with Ruri on the day of her great grandfather's funeral, and passes a photo of Ruri smiling with her great grandfather, in order to cheer her up.
By the time Yui Kanakura becomes their new homeroom teacher, Shu is up to his old antics again, letting the rest of Raku's harem know that Raku is alone with Yui one morning, forcing Yui to host them at the Shuei estate. During the cultural festival later that year, Shu also hosts a beauty pageant that his class has organized, and allows girls of all year groups to participate. This includes Haru, Paula and Kosaki, all of which were convinced by their friends to participate.
Some time later, Shu turns down a confession from one of Ruri's swimming colleagues, admitting that he's still trying to get over someone else he liked. After getting Ruri out of hiding, Shu admits to her for the first time that he liked Kyoko. Shu later helps organize the events at a Sports Festival, even going as far as to meddle with some of the events as they happen.
When Chitoge and Tsugumi are about to be transferred out of Bonyari High School against their wishes, Shu starts asking the serious question regarding Raku's love life - who does he like more? Shu has started to observe that Raku is acting towards Chitoge like he has feelings for her. After the New Year, Shu is the first person Raku informs having heard that Chitoge likes someone. Shu can already guess who Chitoge is referring to, but decides not to clue Raku further.
During Raku and his friends' operation to rescue Marika, Shu plays the smallest role in the rescue, easily getting captured by the Tachibana palace security guards. After being freed by Mikage Shinohara, Shu goes over to where Ruri and Kosaki were running from security guards, and allows Ruri to use him as a shield.
After his latest date with Chitoge, Raku admits to Shu that he likes Chitoge as well, making the choice between her and Kosaki more difficult. The next time Shu sees Ruri during the first term of their senior year, both are shopping at a mall. Shu surprises Ruri by revealing his offer from the same university that Ruri is planning to study at. Shu also says he's been preparing by tutoring younger children. Their time together also involves finding the parents of a lost foreign child, and even arguing in front of her, though this is quickly explained away by Ruri, who speaks in a language the foreign girl understands. Shu then saves that girl from a car about to run over her, and even boasts that he did it better than Raku.
July of that year marked the twelfth year since the promise was made. Shu had brought a high-end telescope to the school roof for Raku, Chitoge and Kosaki to witness a meteor shower forecast for the night of the following day. The day after the meteor shower, Chitoge overhears Raku casually tell Shu that he likes Kosaki, and runs away. Once summer break begins, Shu brings up the difficult subject with Raku again, now hoping that he will take it seriously due to Chitoge running away. After hearing that Chitoge is on her way to the Tenku Plateau, Shu offers to go there with Raku. Without informing Raku, Shu tells Marika about Chitoge's visit there as well. It is at the Tenku Plateau where Ruri confesses to Shu.
Several years later, Shu organizes Raku and Chitoge's wedding, and is living with Ruri. Both are engaged and saving up for their own wedding.
Abilities[]
- Photography: Shū is known to have a hobby of hidden photography, which can be associated with his perverted side; many of his pictures are deemed as masterful. There are times when he uses his hobby for others; an example is when Shū took a picture of Ruri with her great-grandfather during the one time she smiled.
- Character Analysis: Due to his mature inner personality, he is able to easily understand the situations and feelings many of the characters experience throughout the series (although, it may be noted that this may function more as a plot device).
- Uncanny Timing: He is known for being able to enter a moment when his appearance would make the most impact, such as when he appears right as Ruri was to tell Raku that Kosaki liked him, and when he just happened to be present when Ruri called Raku so that he could join them on the trip to visit the former's great-grandfather. It is later revealed he is doing this on purpose to accomplish whatever goal he has in mind.
- Master Manipulator/Tactician: During the marathon chapter, he is able to not only gather all the males in the class against Raku (due to their unified hatred of him) but also able to establish an elaborate and near foolproof plan to keep him from winning.
Relationships[]
- Main article: Relationships of Shū Maiko
Etymology[]
- The name Shū means "collection, gather, meet, congregate, swarm, flock" (集).
- Shū's surname Maiko (1) means "dance" (舞) (mai) and "child" (子) (ko).
- Maiko is a Japanese female name.
Trivia[]
- Shū's character either did not exist or was not named in the original concept for Nisekoi. There was a character that appeared to fulfil his role as Raku's close friend, but he was never called by name and his appearance differed entirely (dark hair, no glasses).
- Shū has had been friends with Raku since kindergarten and they have had been in the same class since.
- Shū was said to be one of the few people other than Chitoge and Ruri to know that Tsugumi was a girl.
- Shū, in the last parts of the manga, said that he was at 'no one's side'; saying that the love of Kosaki and Chitoge were both commendable to have lasted long and been strong respectively. This is evidenced by his choice of the girl when performing his shenanigans. He tried to get almost each girl closer to Raku without prejudice.
- Shū turns out to be an extremely important character in the story in the end as his advice finally makes Raku realise who he truly loves.