Kazuya Ryūzaki

Kazuya Ryūzaki (竜崎 一矢) is the main protagonist of the anime series Tōshō Daimos. He is a karate black belt and champion and the pilot of the Daimos to save the world from the invading Baams. He also falls in love with the Baam princess Erika, and his love for her serves as a driving force to his fights.
He was voiced by .
==Personality==
Kazuya is pacifistic and idealistic, preferring diplomacy before actions and willing to understand the good in all living beings. He fights for love and strongly believes in its power, as his love for Erika has served as his willpower. He also acts relaxing in normal situations which inspires his friends. However, like all pacifistic heroes, Kazuya does possess a limit: If he sees you harm innocents, he won't hold anything back to beat you, as seen when Sakamori Miwa shoots the Baams, resulting in Kazuya beating him into a pulp and he would do worse had his friends not held him back.
==History==
Kazuya was born to Isamu Ryūzaki, a member of the space council and skilled engineer who designed the robot Daimos. Kazuya's mother is never mentioned; it can be assumed she's deceased. 
Sadly, Isamu was killed while attending a meeting over emigration of a billion Baamite refugees to Earth; the Baam-seijin accused him of poisoning their King, Leon, and shot him as revenge, before departing. The Baam would later plot to take over the Earth and kill all the humans, replacing the Earthlings as the native population.
Isamu's death left Kazuya orphaned, so Shinichiro Izumi took him in his household and raised him as if he was his one of his own. Kazuya recalls that Shinchiro taught him karate and encouraged him to follow his dreams, and was a kind, supportive father figure to him. 
When Kazuya was involved in a freak accident at 14, he was forced into rehabilitation, but managed to finish his training and became an even more powerful fighter. 
At some point, Kazuya met Kyōshirō Yūzuki and the two became best friends.
Kazuya, like his father, became an astronaut and scoured the stars with Kyōshirō. It was on one fateful day that King Olban decided to launch an invasion on Earth, with Prince Richter heading the forces. Richter sent a Mecha Warrior to terrorize Earth and cause casualties on a huge scale, taking millions of innocent lives. Kazuya and Kyōshirō were recalled to their base on Earth, Daimovic, and Kazuya was introduced to Daimos by Shinichiro, informing him that it was his father's invention. Though untrained, Kazuya entered the robot and managed to defeat the Mecha Warrior. 
However, he then noticed a fainting woman on the cliff of the beach where he fought. Though he called out to her to get to safety, she couldn't hear him and collapsed. Kazuya exited Daimos to tend to the woman. He instantly fell in love with her and thought she was very beautiful. As he cradled her and asked her name, and she managed to tell him it was Erika, before fainting. Kazuya took her to the hospital, and then returned to Daimovic.
The next day he planned to visit her at the hospital. The doctor and nurses remarked that Erika had not moved once ever since he left, but once he entered and said her name - Erika - she snapped out of her coma. Kazuya and Erika then went to the hospital gardens, admiring the flowers, and Kazuya asked her lots of questions about herself and where she came from, but Erika, being amnesiac, couldn't answer them. Nevertheless, she still felt a deep connection with Kazuya. 
Unfortunately, this sweet moment was interrupted by a Baamite mecha attacking Earth. Kazuya told Erika to stay in the hospital while he handled it, but Erika took his words literally and refused to leave, even after the hospital was burned down. She suffered smoke inhalation injuries as a result, after which Kazuya asked Daimovic to house her. 
Erika was consumed by guilt during her stay at Daimovic due to having a feeling that she recognized the Baamite mecha, even if she didn't know why. Suddenly, Daimovic is hit with a call from Richter of the Baam-seijin, challenging Earth. Hearing Richter's voice jogs Erika's memories and she suddenly remembers her real identity - Princess Erika of the Baam-seijin. She also remembered that the mecha seemed familiar to her because she drew the blueprints of it and presented it to Richter before departing for the war.
Erika's guilt increases upon realizing that the man Richter shot, Isamu Ryuzaki, was Kazuya's father. Erika is horrified and tries at many points to run away from Kazuya, much to his confusion. Erika at one point even fakes her death by falling off a cliff (but surviving thanks to her wings), shocking Kazuya. Eventually Erika's identity as a Baam is exposed to Kazuya, shocking him, and she allows Balbas to take her back to the Undersea Castle. Despite this revelation, Kazuya still loves Erika and seeks to reunite with her.
Upon returning to the Castle, Margarete is overjoyed and hugs Erika. She comforts Erika, though she doesn't know what happened to her while she was on Earth. Richter, who assumes that the Earthlings tortured Erika, brags that he will make them suffer and shows her live footage of his forces attacking Daimos, which horrifies Erika. Margarete then realizes that Erika is in love with Daimos' pilot, Kazuya Ryūzaki. Erika denies it at first, but Margarete says that over the years, she's learned a lot of wisdom as she aged, and recognizes the look on Erika's face as one of love. 
Margarete keeps her love a secret, and helps Erika occasionally deliver gifts to Kazuya. In episode 10, Margaret brings Kazuya some flowers that Erika worked on, as a token of her love. In the prior episode, Erika and Margaret helped Gurney Halleck escape from prison after Richter ordered his execution. She is Erika's only confidant and closest friend during her stay in Undersea Castle. 
Margarete is the first person that Erika confesses her guilt of (accidentally) killing Kazuya's father to, using it as a reason as to why she must stay away from him. Margaret tells Cindy, who takes Erika to the memory room and reminded her of an incident from when they were children, when Erika saved her from a storm. After she saved her, Erika told Cindy that she must always face obstacles and never back down from them, because all storms eventually pass. 
Margarete then enters the memory room and says that Erika must see Kazuya and tell him everything. She says that if Kazuya truly loves her, he will understand it was a mistake and forgive her. Margaret confesses to Erika that while she was initially against her romance with Kazuya, she quickly realized that he was the one for her and supports him courting her. 
Erika thanks Cindy and Margaret for helping her restore her spirit, and asked Cindy to deliver a gift to Kazuya. While attempting to give him the gift, she is intercepted Kyoshiro, who angrily yells at her for being a Baamite, though he later realizes that Cindy is one of the good ones and opposes the war. The gift turns out to be a music box with a message for Kazuya. Unbeknownst to Erika and Cindy, Raiza saw them depart, and sends Balbas to retrieve them.
As Erika and Kazuya reunite, Balbas arrives in a mecha, injuring Kazuya. Erika orders Cindy to help him to the Tryper. Though Kazuya forms Daimos and defeats the mecha, he is unable to save Erika and Cindy, who fall to Balbas' clutches.
Raiza forces Erika into piloting a mecha that kills the pilot (as revenge for "causing Richter to worry"). She threatens to have Margarete and Cindy tortured if she doesn't comply. Knowing it will kill her, Erika pilots the mecha near the Daimovic base area, confesses to Kazuya that she killed Isamu, and then attempts suicide by attempting to abandon the robot. However, it turns out that there is an escape pod in the mecha that sends Erika back to the Undersea Castle.
Kazuya doesn't believe Erika killed his father. Miwa, on the other hand, inists that he should, as proof that all Baam are bad, and repeatedly plays the tapes of Isamu before the conference, claiming he will welcome the Baam with open arms. Coincidentially, it's around this time Daimovic manages to contact stranded astronuats, some of who were at the fated meeting where Isamu was killed. Kazuya manages to talk to a few being hospitalized for their injuries, who confirm that Richter was the one who shot Isamu and Erika was trying to stop him.
Later, Margarete helps Erika escape their base so she could go to Earth, by creating a diversion through shocking herself. Richter is concerned for Margarete's safety, and doesn't notice that Erika stole a ship so that she could escape to Earth. Richter soon finds out Erika escaped and is incensed, deeming her a traitor for falling in love with a human. Erika is then taken back to the base.
Cindy is then executed for being a traitor. Some rebels in the castle stage a flood to save Erika and Margarete. Margarete then injects Erika with a serum that causes her to faint, tricking Richter and his goons into thinking she's dead. 
Even though he considers her a traitor, he decides to hold a funeral for her.
Erika is set to be buried on Earth, near the Daimovic area, which grabs Kazuya's attention. Kazuya meets Richter there, and Richter challenges him to a duel. Erika manages to wake up from the serum, shocking Kazuya, Richter and the rest of the spectators. Seeing Richter duel with Kazuya, Erika stands in front of the former, begging Kazuya not to kill her brother. Erika is then abducted by a spaceship.
The spaceship is piloted by none other than Olban's nephew Melvi. He takes her back to the Undersea Castle, but tells Richter that he will marry Erika. Erika is shocked, but refuses to say anything since Melvi is her only hope at staying alive. Richter wants to oppose him, but knows he cannot since Melvi has a higher position than him. 
Meanwhile, Margarete is forced into slavery and has her wings cut off by Richter for helping Erika. 
Melvi then confesses to Erika that he knows of her romance with Kazuya and supports it, as do a lot of Baam-seijin, because King Leon would have wanted peace. He informs her of a resistance movement against Richter in New Zealand and orders her to join it, while giving her a ring full of personal information regarding the rebels. Raiza, angered that Melvi humiliated Richter, manages to kill Melvi and make it look like an accident, but Erika escapes to New Zealand.
Kazuya was often ridiculed (by Kyōshirō) and had his loyalty questioned (by Miwa) over his love for Erika. Miwa, at several points, expresses racist views towards the Baam-seijin, which causes Kazuya to get angry and rebuff him. Miwa also tries several times to have Kazuya's position as Daimos' pilot removed. Miwa has him arrested, but Nana and Kyōshirō rescue him. Miwa then abuses his position as a UN official to summon Kazuya and accuse him of treachery, but this is proven false when Georiya's forces attack and Kazuya repels them.
Later in New Zealand, Erika reunites with Margarete. The two assist Barandock's rebel activities and eventually she lets Kazuya know she's there but says they cannot reunite yet because they must prioritize ending the war, and he agrees.
After Barandock dies, Erika leads the Baam-seijin in New Zealand. One day, she encounters a refugee from Small Balm, Kaya. Kaya tells her that Olban is a cruel king that genocides the remaining Baam in cryostatis, and bloody incidents happen every day. She also learns that it wasn't the humans that killed her father - Olban set up Georiya to do it. He made it look like the humans did it to hide his true intentions and overtake the throne. Kaya then dies from his injuries. 
As the stakes of war get higher, Balbas' younger brother Himley, a peace officer on Small Baam, witnesses Georiya's cruelty towards the Baam-seijin civilians. Georiya massacres several of them en masse, including his and Balbas' parents.
When he tries to warn Olban about this, he overhears him bragging about killing Leon and considering killing Richter because he is outliving his usefulness as an Admiral. Himley, angered about what he just learned, tries to escape to the Undersea Castle and tell Richter, putting Balbas at an odds - he doesn't want to kill his own brother, but he also wants to follow his orders as Richter's general. Richter, on the other hand, offers to hear Himley out, bringing Balbas to tears. 
Hearing Himley's story, Richter initially doesn't believe him, but decides to confront Georiya to find out the truth. Knowing he's been found out, Georiya has his spies in the Undersea castle reveal themselves and hold Richter and Balbas at gunpoint, while Himley is shot defending Raiza from them. Having gathered Richter, Raiza and Balbas, Georiya tells them the truth - Olban coveted Leon's position, so he had Georiya pour poison in his cup during the meeting. In addition, while Richter tried to shoot Isamu, the bullet he shot missed and hit the wall - Georiya just took advantage of the ensuing chaos and secretly shot Isamu instead.
Georiya tries to kill the three, but Raiza protests against it and says that she was never loyal to Richter. She states that Richter maltreated her and she has no love for him, and begs to join Georiya's side instead. While Richter and Balbas are shocked, Georiya takes pleasure in this, and makes Raiza prove her loyalty by killing Richter and Balbas. Richter and Balbas are imprisoned in a Mecha Warrior while Raiza takes a command position. She then betrays Georiya and tells Richter that she was on his side all along, lying so that she could rescue him. While the Mecha Warrior explodes, Richter falls into the sea and is rescued by Raiza. Balbas, on the other hand, washes up near the Daimovic base.
Balbas is taken prisoner by the Daimovic crew, amd they ask for his co-operation, but he says he would rather die than ally with the humans. Nevertheless, Kazuya treats him with kindness as if he was a fellow human, bringing him food and ensuring he is treated humanely. When Kazuya leaves the prison room, Balbas is brought to tears because of how unflinchingly kind Kazuya is despite him authorizing many attacks on Earth earlier.
Genta, out of curiousity, enters Balbas's room. Balbas then takes him hostage and threatens to kill him. Kazuya offers himself as a prisoner in exchange, which Balbas agrees to. He flies to a mountain with Kazuya, but on the way the two are shot by Georiya's forces. They decide to team up, and Balbas even uses his own bandage Kazuya's wound. Balbas then tells Kazuya the truth about Olban and how he betrayed Leon and Richter. Kazuya proposes working together with Richter, which makes Balbas happy. He agrees to fly the boy back to Daimovic. 
They reach the base but Balbas dies after being shot, and then stabbed multiple times, by Georiya's goons. Though Kazuya is appalled at his bleeding body, Balbas tells him to keep moving forward and forget about him, saying that the fate of a billion Baamites is in his hands. Kazuya is enraged and defeats Georiya's Baamite mecha.
Raiza takes Richter to a secret base she constructed. While tending to his injuries, she suggets appealing to the humans for help, but Richter disagrees, saying there is no way the humans would help them after all the bloodshed they've caused. Raiza tries to appeal to them anyway, asking Kazuya for help. Miwa overhears this and shoots Raiza, causing her to abandon all hope of allying with them. Raiza and Richter escape to Small Balm, where they plan to kill Olban.
Georiya then discovers Erika's base and tells her Olban wants to make her his bride. Erika, worried that the Baam-seijin refugees will die if she doesn't say yes, agrees, to the shock of Kazuya and Margarete. Margarete brings up Olban killed her father, and Kazuya asks her if their love meant nothing, and Erika lies and says that she loves Olban, and departs to Small Baam to marry him. The two are shocked.
Kazuya's heart is broken, but he fights anyway. He befriends two Baam-seijin soldiers, who were taught by propaganda that humans were cruel, but were pleasantly surprised that human doctors tended to their injuries. They offer to take Kazuya to Olban's base.
Near the series finale, Kazuya travels to Small Baam with Kyōshirō, Nana, Shinchiro, Okane, Genta and two Baam-seijin soldiers. Meanwhile, Olban wants Erika to shoot Kazuya to prove that she actually loves him. Erika plans to shoot him with a tranquilizer that had a microfilm in it, explaining that she's planning to kill Olban, but Gildo overhears this and switches it with an actual gun. 
When Kazuya and Kyōshirō attempt to rescue Erika, she shoots Kazuya, severely injuring him. Erika then realizes that she had a real gun in her hands and is horrified. She faints, and as Kyōshirō throws his katana at her, Gildo flies and carries her away.
Kyōshirō is angered and feels as if his bias against Erika was justified all along, and takes Kazuya to their ship to heal Kazuya's injuries. Kazuya believes that Erika was evil all along. Gildo's ship attacks the Daimovic ship, and Erika uses the same gun to kill Gildo, saving the Daimovic crew from his attacking mecha. She then flies back to Small Baam.
Once Kazuya's healed, the Daimovic crew enter Small Baam again, where they witness the cruelty of Olban towards his subjects.
Richter and Raiza enter Small Balm through the corpse chute and disguise themselves as priests. While disguised, Richter holds a gun to Georiya's waist and tell him to lead them to control room. Georiya timdly obeys, but once he enters the room, he orders his forces to shoot them. Richter and Raiza shoot them first and Richter manages to corner Georiya, who begs for mercy and claims that he was just following orders. He then tosses a knife at Richter, but Richter grabs the knife and throws it back, killing Georiya for good. 
Raiza then alerts Richter to live footage of Olban being led to the wedding. Richter supposedly kills Olban too, but is informed later that it was a body double. Olban discovers Richter and Raiza are on Small Baam and orders his forces to capture them. 
Raiza, not wanting Richter to die, flies towards Olban's building and tries to kill him. She comes close, having destroyed the window and ready to fire her gun at him, but misses and is then shot at by Olban's forces. She is humiliated by Olban, who steps on her fingers as she clings to the building, before falling to her death. Richter is heartbroken and tells her corpse he will join her soon. Richter reveals himself to the public, and Olban orders for his execution. Unbeknownst to Olban, due to the fact that he has many enemies on Small Baam thanks to his tyranny, the executioners helped Richter escape.
Erika prepares to marry Olban, readying her gown. Margarete asks her one last time to reconsider but she refuses. Erika tells Margarete she must never see her again and thanks her for raising her as if she was her own daughter. Margarete is confused, but then notices a dagger in Erika's gown. Erika denies it and quickly runs away from her.
Unbeknownst to Margarete, Kyōshirō and Kazuya, Erika secretly plans to kill Olban to avenge her father. On the day of their wedding, Erika attempts to take Olban's life with a dagger, but fails. Margarete applauds her, and asks why she didn't tell her of the plan - she would have helped. She also tries to kill Olban. Olban orders for his men to shoot Erika and Margarete. However, the "priest" officiating the wedding praises Erika, and reveals his true identity - Richter. 
Olban is shocked, as he was under the assumption he ordered for Richter's execution. Richter replies that the executioners have actually been against Olban all this time because he treats people with cruelty. He tries to kill Olban, but his soldiers block the way, and he fights them off.
Suddenly, Daimos appears on Small Baam, having managed to surpass the security system in it's place. Even though she tried to assassinate him, Olban declares that "he will not let anyone take his flower away" and tries to flee with Erika, while Richter tries to follow him. While Margarete is trying to shield Erika from Olban, one of Olban's soldiers stabs her.
Though she's losing blood, Margarete manages to calls for Kazuya, and he recognizes her. She begs him to save Erika and tells him where she's being held hostage, but Kazuya brings up Erika's betrayal. Margarete tells him the truth - that Erika was set up by Gildo to shoot him and was tricked, restoring his faith in her. Margarete then faints from blood loss, falling off the building and later being shot at by the Mecha Warrior. Her death devastates Kazuya.
Olban holds Erika hostage, while Richter tries to save her. He throws his sword at the room's control panel, which causes the room to set to self-destruct. Olban then abandons Erika while Richter ushers her to safety in the basement of the temple.
Richter later confronts Olban in the final battle to kill him once and for all. Even though Olban threatens to cut off the life support for the frozen Baams, Richter manages to mortally wound him. However, before he dies, Olban reveals that he has a remote-control implant in his heart that if he died, would automatically move Small Baam towards Jupiter, killing all the Baam-seijin in cryostatis. 
Olban laughs before passing away, while Erika and Richter try to stop Small Baam from crashing. Erika recognizes the Daimovic crew on Small Baam and insists on the humans helping them, but Richter refuses.
Kazuya tries to stop this by entering the control room to turn off the crash, but along the way, he is shot by many of Olban's automated laser guns, rendering him immobile. Even though he is covered in scars, he still tries to bypass them, for the sake of the innocent Baam-seijin in cryostatis. Richter and Erika watch this, which makes Richter realize that Erika was right about him.
Moved by Kazuya's kindness and realizing that he was wrong about humans all along, Richter braves the automated laser guns, enters the control panel room and manages to prevent the crash, saving the remaining Baam-seijin. His body sustains many injuries along the way. Richter then praises Kazuya, calling him a man amongst men.
The Daimovic crew and remaining Baam-seijin cheer, glad that they're safe, but then Richter enters a ship. Believing that Baam and Earth can't be at peace as long as he's still alive since he has too many Earthlings' blood on his hands, Richter commits suicide by setting himself to crash to Jupiter, shocking Erika, Kazuya and the rest of the Daimovic crew. Kazuya yells at him not to, saying the war is over, and Erika begs him to stop, but Richter bids them farewell. Before he dies, Richter tells Kazuya to look after Erika for him, and that he can only beg for the mercy of the Earthern people. Kazuya tries to stop him, but is too injured to. Richter's ship crashes into Jupiter, creating a bright light as it explodes, and Kazuya closes his eyes as he hears the sound of it.
Some Daimovic workers are seen carrying Kazuya onto a stretcher. Erika, in her bridal gown, kneels and holds his hand. They are finally reunited. The anime then ends.
==Relationships==
===Erika===
Even after learning that she is a Baam-seijin, Kazuya still loves her, and his love for her drives most of his fights as he seeks to reunite with her at all costs.
This, however, causes more troubles for him, as Richter, Erika's older brother, dislikes the fact that she falls in love with an Earthling and is even more determined to defeat Kazuya to restore his and Erika's pride as Baams.
===Kyōshirō Yūzuki===
Kyōshirō and Kazuya are best friends. During combat, he helps Kazuya by piloting the Galva plane.
When Kazuya fell in love with Erika, Kyōshirō frequently mocked him for being head-over-heels in love with her to the point he was obsessed; his words even incited Kazuya to fight him. Nevertheless, Kyōshirō conceded that "the heart wants what ot wants" and continued to help Kazuya in his journey to retrieve Erika from the Baam-seijin and get her to safety.
Despite being best friends with Kazuya, he had no idea that when Kazuya was 14, he was paralyzed by an accident and rendered near-immobile. He managed to overcome it by sheer willpower. When Shinchiro informed him of this, he also berated Kyōshirō for his flippant attitude towards Kazuya's love for Erika.
When Miwa questioned Kazuya's loyalty, Kyōshirō would become angry. At one point he even hijacked Miwa's base to liberate an imprisoned Kazuya.
===Nana Izumi===
Isamu's death left his five year old son, Kazuya, orphaned, so Shinchiro took him in his household and raised him as if he was his one of his own. Kazuya recalls that Shinchiro taught him karate and encouraged him to follow his dreams, and was a kind, supportive father figure to him. Despite being her adoptive brother, Nana would gain a crush on Kazuya. When Kazuya was involved in a freak accident at 14, Nana was concerned for his safety and begged him not to keep trying to walk, but he refused.
Kazuya was oblivious to Nana's crush until he fell in love with Erika, after which Nana would display jealous behaviour, going as far as to run away from home in a suicide mission because she felt like he didn't love her. Kazuya was forced to retrieve her and told her that he came to save her because he did love her. After this incident, Nana's jealousy would fade away and she accepted that Kazuya loved Erika. She would assist him in his efforts to find her, and during combat, while Kazuya would pilot Daimos, Nana and Kyoshiro would assist by piloting the Galva plane. Kyōshirō would usually command the plane, but if he needed to leave, then Nana would pilot it.
When Miwa questioned Kazuya's loyalty, Nana always defended him. Nana and Kazuya also enjoyed practicing Karate together. When she noticed Kazuya was sad after not being able to see Erika, she tried to cheer him up by encouraging his passion of playing the drums.
==Trivia==
*While he has some similarities to Kenichi from Daimos' predecessor series Voltes V, he is likely based on Megumi as well due to the fact that they're both pacific martial artists.
*Him and Erika's romance is based on the tragedy of . However, unlike Romeo and Juliet, they survive to the end and live happily ever after together.
*Kazuya is technically Baamite Royalty due to his romance with Erika.
==Gallery==
*Kazuya Ryūzaki/Gallery
==External Links==
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