Kō Murakami

This page is about the character. For other uses, see Kō Murakami (disambiguation).

"Wait a second, Taichi. Once this is done, I'll swim over if I have to."

- Kō Murakami to Taichi Betsuyaku

Kō Murakami is the No. 4 Attacker and a member of Suzunari First.

Appearance
Murakami is a lean, light-skinned teenager with large, hooded brown eyes, short-to-medium spiky gray hair pushed upwards from a widow's peak (which leaves his forehead uncovered), and thick, arched eyebrows the same color as his hair.

His uniform is comprised of a forest green shrug jacket with vertical black stripes at the sides of the sleeves and a horizontal black stripe around the collar. The jacket is split into two parts, covering his arms, shoulders, parts of his ribcage and back on either side. The two sections are connected by the collar, two thin straps on the front, and one on the back. Border's logo is emblazoned at the top of each sleeve; the latter of which, unlike his teammates, reaches only halfway down his forearms. (In later chapters, the sleeves appear longer.) The uniform is completed by a black shirt with one vertical green line running along each side, beige pants, and brown boots that reach below the knees.

Personality
Murakami is disciplined, diligent, and honest. He does not hesitate to sacrifice himself out of loyalty to his comrades, especially for his teammates. Dedicated to his mission, he'll courageously take on onerous tasks so that others will not have to. Very polite in speech and conduct, he does not shrink from owning up to his mistakes. Despite the high standards he sets for himself, he is not arrogant, self-righteous or uptight, as can be seen most clearly by his interactions with Kageura.

In the past he used to loathe his Side Effect, which he saw as causing him to steal other people's hard work, but thanks to Kuruma and, indirectly, Arafune, he began to see it as an ability that allows him to be a pillar his squadmates can rely on.

Masato Kageura
Kageura and Murakami are friends, rivals, and classmates. They often spar together in their free time, or hang out at Kageura's family's restaurant, where he invites only his closest friends. Murakami can shrug off Kageura's aggressive or mocking tone with a smile when directed at him, although he does not approve of him being rude to people who do not deserve it. He knows him well enough to know that when he does seriously snap, it is not completely unmotivated, quickly inferring that the two trainees whose trion bodies he destroyed had continued mocking him despite the warning. On that note Murakami assured them that Kageura would never lay a finger on them while they are in their flesh and blood body, and then proceeded to further scare them by telling them that Kageura was able to read minds. His comments to Kageura after the fact only expressed concern over his conduct putting him at risk to be demoted once more. For his part, Kageura seemed to feel the need to explain his actions to his friend. Murakami appears to sympathize with Kageura due to the pain caused to him by his Side Effect, and, despite his difficult personality, will introduce him to people who he believes Kageura will get along with, although he may give them pointers on how to behave around him beforehand. Their friendship does not prevent them from going all out against each other in rank battles, and Murakami has no qualms about acknowledging Kageura's superiority in combat. Kageura addresses Murakami by his first name, while the latter uses a nickname.

Tatsuya Kuruma
Kuruma inspires and supports Murakami. About eight months before Suzunari First's match against Nasu Unit and Tamakoma Second, Kuruma did not hesitate to cycle in the rain to meet with Arafune in hopes of alleviating Murakami's slump. His actions and words caused Murakami to see his Side Effect in a new, positive light. Despite being overwhelmingly more powerful than his captain, Murakami deeply respects Kuruma. In combat he will prioritize Kuruma's safety over his own regardless of strategic advantage. Kuruma addresses Murakami by his first name without appending an honorific, whereas the Attacker uses his captain's surname followed by -senpai, and in general speaks to him with deference; nonetheless, the two are friends and hang out with their other teammates in their free time.

Yūma Kuga
Yūma and Murakami became sparring partners after their units clashed in a rank battle for the first time, a rivalry which later developed into a friendship. After Murakami introduced Yūma to Kageura, they began to hang out together even outside of HQ. Murakami told Yūma that during their first team rank battle the Tamakoma Second ace reminded him of Kageura. Together with Yūma's interest in gathering information on Kageura before they met in a rank battle, this played a part in his decision to have the two Attackers meet.

Taichi Betsuyaku
Betsuyaku and Murakami are teammates and friends, on occasion spending time together with the rest of Suzunari First. Betsuyaku respects Murakami and depends on his strength. For his part, Murakami is very attached to the Sniper, whose clumsiness he finds amusing, and will do everything in his power to protect him. The two are on a first-name basis, though Betsuyaku adds the honorific -san, thus combining informality and respect, while Murakami adds no honorific.

Yuka Kon
Kon and Murakami are teammates and friends, and every so often hang out together with the rest of Suzunari First. She will often ask him how he feels about fighting opponents he has never or rarely clashed against before. She mostly addresses him by his first name followed by the honorific -kun.

Hiro Kitazoe
Kitazoe and Murakami are part of Kageura's group of friends. They know each other well enough for Murakami to be aware of the ease with which the Gunner is moved when his friends are concerned, as well as for him to tell him so and call him by a nickname without honorifics. Kitazoe also refers to him in an informal manner, using his first name followed by the suffix -kun.

Tetsuji Arafune
They were originally mentor and disciple as Kōgetsu users, but when Arafune reached Master Class he switched to Sniper. Like many others, however, Murakami assumed that Arafune quit because he resented him for surpassing him in only six months. When he found out about Murakami's state of mind, Arafune sent him a video whose aim, despite sounding as though he was rebuking Murakami for getting cocky, was to reassure him that he did not hold a grudge for his former student. The two are currently friends. Arafune calls Murakami by his first name without honorifics, while the no. 4 Attacker uses Arafune's surname, he too without honorifics; the reason being he thinks it sounds cool (implying that it is not because they are not close enough for him to do so).

Shun Midorikawa
Murakami and Midorikawa spar together from time to time, especially when the aforementioned wants to practice against an opponent who uses Grasshopper. Midorikawa may however refuse his request to battle if he feels he has already lost too many points, knowing that he is likely to lose even more to the no. 4 Attacker. The two use each other's surnames, although Midorikawa appends the honorific -senpai to Murakami's, whereas the latter uses none.

Yōsuke Yoneya
One of his sparring partners, Yoneya is very enthusiastic about fighting Murakami, especially since the latter rarely takes part in solo rank battles, and considers him a truly frightening opponent. Yoneya addresses Murakami by his first name followed by the honorific -san, suggesting both closeness and respect.

Sumiharu Inukai
Inukai considers Murakami a fearsome fighter. Since he repeatedly referred to the latter by his first name followed by the honorific -kun in his commentary, it could be presumed that they are on good enough terms for it not to be considered impolite on Inukai's part.

Kei Tachikawa
Tachikawa is one of the few Attackers against whom Murakami has garnered more losses than victories. The no. 1 solo combatant has very high hopes for Murakami, which may cause him to be particularly harsh when the younger Attacker does not live up to his full potential, criticism which Murakami accepts. The two appear to be on good terms, and Murakami knows Tachikawa enough to be able to divine his thoughts with great accuracy where his desire to fight strong opponents is concerned. Murakami and Tachikawa address each other by surname, the one appending the honorific -san, the other none.

Noboru Koarai
Koarai and Murakami might be close, since the former referred to the latter by his first name, although he added the honorific -san to signify respect.

Kirie Konami
Konami is one of the few Attackers against whom Murakami has totalized more defeats than victories, although the two have not fought much. Since the building of Suzunari Branch is close to that of Tamakoma Branch, Suzunari First and Tamakoma Second do joint defense duty occasionally. He refers to her by her surname, while she addresses him by his first name followed by the honorific -san.

Sōya Kazama
Kazama is one of the few Attackers against whom Murakami has totalized more defeats than victories. It is by fighting him that Murakami became familiar with the Scorpion technique Mole Claws. They refer to each other through their surnames, with Kazama including no honorifics.

Yūichi Jin
Murakami has never fought Jin. As one of the agents compatible with Fūjin, he is slated to be taught by the former wielder on how to use the Black Trigger. Jin refers to Murakami by his first name, while Murakami uses his surname.

Yuzuru Ema, Hikari Nire and Isami Tōma
Ema, Murakami, Nire and Tōma are part of Kageura's group of friends who hang out together at his family's restaurant every once in a while.

Kyōsuke Karasuma, Reiji Kizaki and Shiori Usami
Since the building of Suzunari Branch is close to that of Tamakoma Branch, Suzunari First and Tamakoma Second do joint defense duty on occasion. As a result, Usami knows a lot about Murakami's Side Effect. She refers to him by his first name followed by the suffix -san.

Shirō Kikuchihara, Ai Kitora, Futaba Kuroe, Shūji Miwa and Ryō Utagawa
Murakami has fought Kikuchihara, Kitora, Kuroe, Miwa and Utagawa at some point in the past. It is by fighting Kitora that he became familiar with the Scorpion technique Leg Blade.

Quotes

 * (To Tatsuya Kuruma) "Don't worry. I know my limits."
 * "Three at once is pretty exhausting. But... if I take them all on, no one else has to deal with them."
 * "Even if I can't defeat them, I'll keep them occupied for as long as I can!"
 * (To Yōsuke Yoneya) "I wanted to see the rookie Attacker who cut down Arafune. As well as the team whose strategy forced him to draw his Kogetsu."
 * (To Yūma Kuga) "I'd jump at the chance to fight you firsthand. But... I have two conditions. One. We have a ten-round match. Two. We take a 15-minute break after five rounds."
 * (To Yūma) "Human brains organize and internalize information they've learned while they are asleep. My brain takes that function to the extreme. Enhanced Sleep Learning. That is my Side Effect."
 * (To his teammates) "I just steal everyone's hard work with my Side Effect."
 * (To Kuruma) "I'm sorry, Kuruma. They made the first move. I'll take care of the opponents on this side."
 * (To Taichi Betsuyaku) "Wait a second, Taichi. Once this is done, I'll swim over if I have to."
 * (To Yūko Kumagai) "I can't let myself be defeated by something you just threw together."
 * (To Yūma) "Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you."
 * (To Yūma) "Don't stare too hard. Or he'll snap at you too."
 * (To Yūma) "I'm sure you'd get along. When I fought against you the other day, I felt like you guys were similar."

Trivia

 * "Kō" (鋼) means "steel", or alternatively "hard, strong, tough"; "Murakami" (村上) literally means "upper village".
 * "Murakami" is also the 35th most common Japanese surname.
 * Murakami likes zaru soba (chilled soba), white rice, and self-discipline.
 * The author joked in his profile that his forehead is exposed because he puts a lot of effort in everything he does, a trait he shares with other disciplined characters, such as Kazama, Kitora and Kizaki.
 * Murakami shares his voice actor with Rinji Amatori.