Izayoi Sakamaki

Izayoi Sakamaki is the main character of the anime, manga, and light novel series Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren't They?, also known as Problem Children and Mondaiji-tachi. He was one of the "Problem Children", born with an unusual ability making him unique from everyone else, and upon receiving a letter and getting transported into another world called Little Garden, joins the No Name community to help them bring retribution to the Demon Lords for tearing away their status. 
Izayoi is voiced by Shintarō Asanuma in the Japanese version and by Jessie James Grelle in the English version. 
==Appearance==
Izayoi is a 17 year old boy with blond hair pointing downwards, and purple eyes. He is almost always seen wearing his pair of headphones. The headphones are white, with a black strap and a small red flame logo on both sides. He wears a dark blue gakuran jacket that is mostly unbuttoned, apart from the middle button, but with a yellow shirt underneath. He also wears dark blue pants and pair of black, white, and gold tennis shoes. 
Upon Izayoi, Yō, and Asuka falling into Little Garden in the very beginning of the series, Asuka describes him as a mean looking high school boy. 
==Personality==
On top of being very brazen and acting very callously sometimes, he is very unpredictable. While being very fast, his decisions appear to be rashly thought, but in reality he is somewhat of a genius behind his tough guy act. As a hedonist who pursues pleasure, he is a savage who tends to enjoy his life in the Little Garden very much. His only rule is to have fun. 
His definition of "fun" is mainly looking for a good fight, which is why he decided to help the No Name community in their attempt to defeat the Demon Lords and reclaim their pride, as well as their flag, and even help them earn a constellation in the night sky. This is the quest he embarks on for the rest of the anime. He is also slightly perverted, but being a tough guy, he never gets flustered and chooses when to act like a menace. 
While he definitely qualifies as an anti-hero because of his heroic acts being done arrogantly, savagely, and in a pursuit of happiness rather than altruism, he does have a heart. He does genuinely care about the No Name community, and even Black Rabbit (despite teasing her sometimes), and helps them out of conscious well-meaning. 
His savageness and kind acts put together can make him seem unreadable, which Leticia once commented on. Izayoi works in a pragmatic manner, fighting head-on while also not wavering to use unconventional tactics, like leaving Black Rabbit to be stripped by brainwashed girls so he can proceed forward to effortlessly defeat the Illusionist. He makes sure to work in a way that benefits him too, unless motivated by compassion rather than pleasure-seeking. 
He likely believes that he can deal with anything. However, while normally hard to provoke, he lost it when he saw that the most powerful villain in the series had heavily injured Black Rabbit. This is proof that he does care about the No Name community. This is also completely contrary to his personality, as it goes against his savage persona that disregards emotion and only seeks pleasure. Other times where he helps people seemingly out of self-interset, it can be implied, and even shown sometimes that he really does care about certain others. He showed a desire for Yō's safety while she was sick during Black Percher's attack on Salamandra. 
He is rather arrogant due to his powerful Gift, but he actually has the strength to back him up. Despite that, he is smart enough to know when to back down, but even when doing so, he does it rather boldly instead of in trepidation. When Yō became infected by the bubonic plague, she laughed and said "I'm sorry. It's just so rare to see you sulk, I couldn't help but laugh". This backs up the notion that Izayoi rarely sulks about anything, and is normally rather carefree while also arrogant. 
Behind his tough guy act, he actually posesses a gifted ability of keen intelligence. Without Izayoi, the No Name community would not be able to strategize well enough to be as strong as they are. 
==Abilities==
Izayoi posesses vast strength and speed, as well as durability. Before being magically transported to the world of Little Garden, he already posessed this almighty power, first displayed to bullies who were blasted by shockwaves of rocks thrown so hard that they turned red and perforated the ground. This display of power is how Izayoi was accepted into Little Garden, and received an invitation. He seemingly grew a reputation for being abnormally powerful while on Earth.
===Gift===
After receiving a Gift Card from Shiroyasha, a former Demon Lord and one of the most powerful beings in Little Garden, his ability was simply called Code: Unknown. Gift Cards are magical cards that read the individual holding the card and display the name of their Gift-- Izayoi was a rare case. 
It is apparent that Izayoi is the strongest of all of the "Problem Children", the children with Gifts. His physical strength is incredible, as is his speed, which is fast enough to rival Black Rabbit's, who is part of the fastest species in Little Garden. When Black Rabbit chased Izayoi to prevent him from challenging a god at the edge of the world, she failed, only to find that Izayoi beat the "water god" without breaking a sweat. This was at the very beginning of the story. His strength has since multiplied. 
*Supernatural Strength: Izayoi's most apparent ability is his superhuman strength. Without trying very hard, he was able to outmatch Algol the Gorgon and former Demon Lord, even after her increase in size and strength. He is strong enough to punch and dig his arm into a building to prevent him from falling, and easily toppling the same building. He is also able to effortlessly deflect sword attacks. A testament to his strength is shown when he flicks someone in the forehead and sends the person crashing through the wall at high speeds.
*Hyper Awareness: He is consistently the first person to ever catch on to anything, and without Izayoi, nobody around him would ever catch on to some of the things he notices, such as when he notices that he and Black Rabbit were being watched by Leticia, even though there was no way any natural human could've sensed her presence. Every time he's been attacked unexpectedly, he either dodged or blocked the attack. This ability is always active, even while resting, and a notable time when he paranormally sensed something others couldn't was when he sensed that someone (Leticia Draculea) was watching him and Black Rabbit, even though he was just sitting on a couch talking to Black Rabbit.
*Supernatural Durability: The Pied Piper of Hamelin in his ghost state, which is twice as powerful as his normal state as a demon, was the first character to make Izayoi bleed. However, following that strike, Izayoi and Weser clashed, and even after using his trump card, Izayoi was unharmed, while the Piper had lost his arm. He died, and Izayoi complimented him for being the first to match his strength.
*Sharpness Resistance: A recurring testament to Izayoi's strength is his uncanny ability to effortlessly block sword attacks by touching the tip of a blade. He did this against antagonist Laius Perseus, and even crushed a sword into a knot without any effort while threatening someone.
*Magical Resistance: Thanks to his hidden ability for destroying people's Gifts, he has supernatural resistance to other people's powers. Examples of magical resistance include not getting infected from Black Percher's Black Death attack, which was used to infect and kill 80,000,000 people during the infamous pandemic from the 1300s based on the same pandemic from the 1300s in Europe in our nonfictional world. He was also the only person who wasn't frozen in time by the Demon King of Confusion in the light novel.
===True Ability===
*Aurora Pillar: Izayoi creates a small light construct that then enlarges to the size of a huge pillar. This is the true ability of his Gift: to destroy Gifts, which is hidden by the more accessible super strength. It destroys Gifts by destroying magic, meaning he can erase more than justs gifts. It is hyper-lethal to the point that it can kill almost anybody in the series, with very rare exceptions. His true ability to destroy gifts was mentioned in the anime, but he doesn't use this gift until Volume 3, and the anime only covers up to Volume 2.
===Natural Abilities===
*High Intelligence: According to Izayoi himself, he's just good at trivia. This could either be him joking or him seriously downplaying his intelligence, as it is shown to be incredible. He was the one who figured out the riddle of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, which gave the No Names and Salamandra the advantage against a deity, Black Percher, in their battle. He is vital to the No Name community as their strategist, and Asuka has stated that without him, they will never win. He was also the one who came up with a way to rebuild the No Names' farmland. And of course he is indeed good at trivia, knowing much about legends and folklore, constellations, religion, and even science.
==Background==
Izayoi had always been a peculiar child, who seemed to always cause problems. As a child, he was placed in a foster home, only to be adopted and then sent back due to how much of a handful he was. Parent after parent, orphanage after orphanage, he grew sick and tired of his life, and just accepted jobs from people to earn money. The fact is, nobody was quite on his level. 
==Story==
===Beginning===
At the start of the series, Izayoi receives a letter that fell from the sky. Simultaneously, two girls received the same letter, Asuka and Yō, the former by coming into her house and seeing a letter on the table, and using a mind control ability to demand her servant's knowledge of how the letter got there, and the latter by a Calico cat. These are odes to their abilities, known as Gifts, learned upon entering a new magical world after opening their letters. All three of them fell from the sky into a lake, despite being completely unrelated with each other. Upon introducing oneselves, Asuka and Yō did not antagonize Izayoi, but grew distrustful towards him instantly. 
Izayoi mentions the presence of somebody hiding in the bushes, which was Black Rabbit, an important character in the series. Since all 3 of them were cranky after falling from the sky into an unknown land with no formal introduction by anyone, they all used their Gifts to catch Black Rabbit. Black Rabbit was simply preparing a surprise introduction for them, but Izayoi spoiled it. Regardless, Yō revealed she knew about her presence as well. After being caught, Black Rabbit explained the rules of the magical place: Little Garden. She promised that Izayoi would have all the fun in this new world, filled with games, which can either be any variety of game imaginable, or battles. When preparing a demonstration that challenged Izayoi and the two girls to a card game, Izayoi played a clever dirty trick that technically didn't break the rules, to Black Rabbit's dismay. Following her defeat, Black Rabbit took the three of them to see a person named Master Jin. When arriving, Black Rabbit finds Izayoi missing. Asuka and Yō let him go because they did not care for him at all. 
Black Rabbit went looking for Izayoi, and with her Moon Rabbit physiology, she posessed super speed. She found Izayoi, annoyed at how he had gotten so far in such a short amount of time. He was at the edge of the world, and had defeated a water god, that Black Rabbit explicitly warned not to challenge. Izayoi then deduced from the shiny look in her eyes that she was hiding something from him, the true purpose of why he and the two girls were brought to Little Garden. She then begged desperately for Izayoi to help the No Name community reclaim their former glory, to his prediction, which he happily accepts. She is then overwhelmingly happy, and cutely thanks Izayoi. 
===No Names ===
Black Rabbit and Izayoi go to Master Jin, who is with Asuka and Yō in another town. They had just challenged an evil cult leader to a game, Galdo Gasper, a werebeast, who they must kill while fighting in his form of a tiger. Izayoi declares that he will not meddle with something that wasn't a part of his business, to the girls' approval. However, he changes his mind following an attack by the henchmen that the evil cult leader Galdo sent. He comes up with a quick but smart decision to make eleven year old Jin Russel the symbol of the No Names. He makes sure to get the point across that 
Jin freaks out, and Izayoi explains that the problem is, the community doesn't have a symbol to back them up. They need a symbol that represents them, so they can steal the Demons' monopoly of attention, and hopefully get more people power, "people with backbone". He makes sure to provide reasoning that not having a symbol to back them up is a huge disadvantage. Jin then explains that a former Demon Lord was once a member of their communtiy, enslaved by a high-ranking official. He promises Jin to rescue that comrade if he wins the game tomorrow. As a Judge Master, Black Rabbit cannot participate in the game. But the three "Problem Children" managed to slay Galdo, but Izayoi then tells the villagers to remember the name Jin Russel, who single-handedly defeated Galdo, and pledges to kill every Demon Lord! 
Later, Izayoi notices that he and Black Rabbit are being watched by someone, due to his hyper-awareness. He demands the unknown stalker to show themself, and finds a small girl with yellow hair and red eyes, whom he challenges. Upon the loud noise of structual damage, Black Rabbit comes back into the room, and Jin, Asuka, and Yō come in too. Jin tells him that this girl is actually their lost comrade he just told Izayoi about last night. Her name is Leticia Draculea. 
She was still owned by someone else, and they didn't have the right to take her, unless they challenged her owner to a game. Before they could do so, Leticia shielded Asuka from a huge red laser from the sky, that turned her to stone. She was then taken away as hostage. He tells his comrades that they are going to negotiate with the boss of this group and slave owner of Letica, who is a man named Perseus. 
Due to his high-rank status, they did not have the right to challenge him according to the rules of Little Garden, even though it would be revealed that Izayoi is far stronger than him, when they did fight. They gained the right to challenge him by defeating 3 legendary monsters, which were a piece of cake for Izayoi. Perseus was frustrated, but also cocky because he had the assistance of Algol the Gorgon, which Izayoi easily defeated. Furious at being defeated by mere No Names, he charged at Izayoi, but his attacks were futile. The knights of Perseus were defeated as well. Izayoi then demanded what they bargained for: the disbandment of Perseus's community. It killed two birds with one stone, as the disbandment of the community means they can just take Leticia, as she would no longer belong to anyone if the owner doesn't represent a community. 
===Salamandra===
After Izayoi, Asuka, and Yō find that Black Rabbit hid an invitation for the No Name community to come to a festival in the community of Salamandra, they were mad. As payback, they ran off towards the festival and left her a letter saying that if she doesn't catch them in a day, they will leave the community. Black Rabbit furiously turned into her pink transformation mode and hopped off at super speed. 
The place was so far away that they needed Shiroyasha to teleport them there. Unexpectedly, Black Rabbit caught up with them even though they teleported and caught Yō, then Asuka after she and Izayoi ran off and hid amongst the street crowd, and later Izayoi, who she didn't catch but instead commenced with in a Gift Game. The challenge was simply "whoever touches the other first gets to make any request to the loser which they must obey". She gladly accepts.
Black Rabbit being a rare phenomenon to the onlookers, news spread like wildfire that a Moon Rabbit and a human were fighting each other in their town. Their game of tag spanned the whole area. While at first everyone was awestruck, Izayoi fell off a tower and smashed it as he was falling so Black Rabbit wouldn't be able to swiftly intercept him. In response to the whole tower falling down instead of just the top of it, both unleashed an attack that would destroy the rubble before it touched the ground. This ruckus gave them trouble with the authorities. They both ended up touching each other at the same time, and the match was a draw, to Izayoi's disappointment. 
After getting escorted to Sandora's throne room, they have a friendly conversation to her bodyguard's ire. Shiroyasha was the one who took the blame for the damage, since she was the one who teleported them there. Shiroyasha also stated that there was a prophecy that a Demon Lord would attack the festival shortly. During the fight in the Salamandra arena between Yō against Ayesha and her immortal buddy Jack, of the Will-O-Wisp community, it soon became apparent that the prophecy was true. Shiroyasha was surrounded by a black barrier, and she concluded that the rules of the game stated that Shiroyasha cannot participate. 
Black Rabbit cancelled their attack with her Judge Master ability, and stated they must discuss the rules of the Game. The No Names with Black Percher (also known as Pest) and her two teammates discussed the game, and discovered Black Percher had infected everyone with her pathogens. Through risky negotiation, they forced her to decide to host the game 1 week later, as opposed to 1 month which would be enough time to kill everyone. She accepted partially because she didn't believe they would beat her anyways.
A week later, the game commenced. It was Izayoi, Asuka, Sandora, and Black Rabbit of the No Names vs. Pest, Weser, and Ratten of The Grimm Grimoire. The rules of the game were a riddle, one that Izayoi solved thanks to his expertise in legends and urban myths-- in this case, the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The Pied Piper, Weser, fought Izayoi, and Izayoi came out on top. Against Ratten and her avatars of natural disaster, Asuka used her Authority ability to command Dean, a giant mech which she found thanks to a fairy she befriended in Salamandra, and defeated Ratten. Black Rabbit and Sandora fought Black Percher, who still hadn't taken any damage despite their hard efforts. Even against Izayoi, she was just too good to be beat. Black Rabbit then deduced that she had to be a deity. 
Now that Weser and Ratten were defeated, she didn't hold back any longer. She spread the Black Death ability, a wind that would kill everyone who breathed it, but Black Rabbit changed the game board, transporting them all to the Moon. There, she would meet her greatest weakness: the light of Black Rabbit's Sun Armor. Blinded and weakened, Sandora constrained her with fire constructs, and Asuka launched a new special ability via her mech, gifted to her by Black Rabbit: The Spear of Indra. Black Percher was defeated. Upon returning to Little Garden, Izayoi formed a covenant with Salamandra, and helped the No Names work together to rebuild farmland. 
==Relationships==
===Asuka Kudō===
Asuka and Izayoi originally did not get along, with Izayoi not having a care in the world, while Asuka despised him for being dangerous and unrefined, which Izayoi was proud of. Izayoi beared no regard for her at first, blessing her with his absence when Black Rabbit took her and Yō to meet Jin Russell. Asuka later realizes that Izayoi is actually rather intelligent, and even later realizes that he's a genius. During their missions for the No Name community after Black Rabbit introduces Izayoi to Jin Russell, Asuka and Izayoi become good friends. 
It is shown in many instances that Izayoi cares about Asuka, contradictory to his carefree, hedonistic demeanor. For instance, he saves Asuka from Black Rabbit when Black Rabbit tried to catch all of them in order to punish them for running away. They are then seeing having a nice, friendly conversation among the busy streets of Salamandra, and Asuka was delighted at Izayoi's expertise in legends, folklore, and tradition, including Halloween, which Asuka was particularly fascinated in. They both have come to enjoy each other's presence, with both of them teasing Black Rabbit cooperatively. 
===Yō Kasukabe===
The introverted Yō Kasukabe who would rather talk to animals distanced herself from humans, especially from Izayoi. Asuka was very friendly to Yō, so they instantly became friends, but Yō silently despised Izayoi, while Asuka called him a "Mean Looking High School Boy". Eventually, her opinions on Izayoi changed, and they became close friends. Just like Asuka and Izayoi, she enjoys teasing Black Rabbit with the two of them, and they all decided to run to the Salamandra festival together, showing friendship. 
Izayoi cared for Yō when Black Percher infected her with the bubonic plague leaving her bedridden, and had a sweet conversation. This shows that just like Asuka, Izayoi cares about Yō equally. 
===Black Rabbit===
Izayoi undeniably thinks that Black Rabbit is fun to tease, even straight up admitting that. However, Black Rabbit and Izayoi have a very healthy relationship. Black Rabbit is able to remain optimistic about everything thanks to Izayoi, and Izayoi seems to accept her gratitude. To Black Rabbit, Izayoi is the hero, and becomes flushed with overwhelming happiness when Izayoi tells her that beating up Demon Lords sounds like fun, and that he'll help the No Names rise up again. Black Rabbit is kind enough to put up with Izayoi, Asuka, and Yō's antics for some reason, something that delights them. Izayoi and the others have also complimented Black Rabbit for her appearance on separate occassions. Although Izayoi enjoys teasing her, Izayoi will go to great lengths to make sure that Black Rabbit is not actually harmed. 
===Jin Russell===
Despite being the leader of the No Name community, Izayoi acts polite and friendly to Jin, keeping his rough personality while informally addressing him as a "runt". He teaches Jin a lot of lessons and has been shown to act as a disciplinarian to Jin, and as a result, Jin looks up to Izayoi. Izayoi and Jin enjoy spending time in the library together, researching about magic and ways to get back Jin's lost comrades. Jin wishes that he could help Izayoi more for the times that Izayoi helped him, though Izayoi assures that he doesn't need to pay him back, and he's just having fun. They are good friends, and Jin would be eager to help Izayoi anytime he could. 
=== Lily===
Lily is another kemonomimi, one of the surviving children of the No Name attack that happened before the Problem Children came to Little Garden. Izayoi looks after Lily and feels the need to protect her, though they have little screen time together. 
===Leticia Draculea===
Izayoi helped the No Name community save Leticia from Perseus. Leticia was a former member of the No Name community, until she was rescued and became one of their official members. Leticia and Izayoi are friends. 
===Shiroyasha===
Shiroyasha was one of the few people Izayoi was nice to while actually respecting, after hearing of her great power. Izayoi and Shiroyasha get along with each other because they are both perverts, and because of that, they are both buddies. Shiroyasha is a very valuable companion to Izayoi due to her knowledge and strength, and he would likely protect Shiroyasha from any harm. 
===Canaria===
Canaria is Izayoi's adoptive mother, who was the most valuable person to Izayoi on Earth, before coming to Little Garden. Izayoi and Canaria's relationship was actually fate, as Canaria was also a genius who was one of the forefront members of the No Name community before Izayoi, making Izayoi following her footsteps without realizing it. Canaria was the person who taught Izayoi not to resent life, and showed him the beauty of the world. 
=== Laias Perseus===
Perseus was an enemy of Izayoi, for imprisoning Leticia and expressing disdain for the No Names. Izayoi doesn't regard Perseus at all, and thinks he's just an arrogant fool. He is a minor antagonist in the series, an egotistical ruler who believes in the supremacy of his community, and declaring all No Names to him as filthy garbage. While Izayoi can also be considered arrogant, he is the complete opposite of a fool, which sets them apart. Perseus is just a spoiled ruler who thinks Izayoi is below him, despite secretly fearing that Izayoi is stronger than him from the moment Izayoi grabbed his sword without any harm, saving Asuka and shocking Perseus. He repressed these fears and considered Izayoi to be filthy garbage like the rest of the No Names, but after effortlessly defeating Algol the Gorgon, he could no longer deny that Izayoi was terrifyingly powerful. Izayoi ruined Laias' entire life, destroying his community, and traumatizing him with fear of the boy who possessed the power to foil any plot of his. Izayoi shows substantial disdain towards Perseus, showing that Izayoi does not tolerate villainous jerks like him.
===Weser===
Weser was an opponent that Izayoi faced in the Grimm Grimoire's prophecied attack on Salamandra. They both enjoyed the thrill of battle, but being humble, Weser admitted that Izayoi was the stronger of the two. He regretted giving into Izayoi's provocation to turn the tide of the battle to Izayoi's battle, resulting in his defeat, but died contently, knowing that his death was an honorable one with two opponents who had mutual respect for one another. It is likely that if Black Percher wasn't the one who summoned Weser, Weser could've been a good friend to Izayoi. 
===Black Percher===
==Quotes==
All quotes except for the first one are taken from the English Dub.
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