Choji Ochiai

Choji Ochiai
Kanji	オッチョ/落合長治
Romanji	Ochiai Chōji
Gender	Male
Birthdate	1960s
Occupation	Businessman (Formerly) Member of the Thai mafia (Formerly) Freedom Fighter
Debut	Chapter 1

Choji Ochiai, often referred to as Otcho or Shogun, is one of the main protagonists and Kenji's best friend. He was the co-leader of Kenji's Youth Group (being the one who created their 'symbol of friendship') and of Kenji's Group.

When he was 27, he left his family after the loss of his son and went to India. There he met with a monk who taught him how to achieve inner strength, and how to overcome his woes and despair. In Thailand, he blew up the Rainbow Kid factory, which produced a drug created by Friend. After a phone call by Kenji, Otcho returned to Japan in 1999 to fight Friend. He was captured after Bloody New Year's Eve and put into prison. In 2014, he broke out with the mangaka Kakuta and searched for Kanna.

Appearance

Childhood (Age 12 through 13): Otcho was a pretty plain child appearance wise. He was of medium height, had short dark hair with pronounced bangs and very wide eyes. His clothing was also pretty standard, often seen with a buttoned up shirt with a line pattern all over it and a pair of shorts.

Middle-Age (Before the death of his son): Otcho in his later years grew up to be a pretty standard looking Japanese businessman. Often seen sporting an expensive suit and tie, and with short black hair with pronounced bangs.

Middle-age (After the death of his son): Otcho has a pretty drastic makeover after training with the monk in India and going to Thailand. His short black hair became long and brown. His expensive suit got replaced with a black suit and an unbuttoned trench coat with a black shirt under it, and his clean shaven face got a scruffy beard. His body also became much more muscular and strong after his extensive training.

Later Years (After Bloody New Year's Eve/Era of Friend): Even in his later years Otcho is still sporting the same trench coat and black shirt. His hair is still quite long but he has started balding in his older age, and his short scruffy beard has gotten a lot larger. And even though he has gotten older his martial prowess and strength still remains.

Personality

As a child, Otcho was intelligent and a good student, thus achieving high scores in school; he seems to also be from a relatively well off (or at the least a financially stable) family, as he was able to afford attending the 1970 World Expo in Osaka with relative ease and is shown being asked for spare change several times. As a result, he spent his childhood as a rather calmly contained and self-assured individual. This is further displayed in many instances where he is visibly more difficult to unnerve than his peers. While Otcho is strangely credited in several occassions as the leader of Kenji's friendship group, he acts more as an advisor of Kenji's than a leader, listening first before providing information and various insights that greatly influences final decisions on many occasions.

Trivia

• As Shogun in 2000, Otcho vaguely resembles Martin from Urasawa's preceding manga Monster, especially given their residue facial hair and the extents they are willing to go for the less fortunate women they care about.