Susumu Takajima

Born
 Spirituality
 Affiliation
 Nationality
 Marital status
 Parents

**Susumu Takajima** (高島(たかじま) ススム, **Takajima Susumu**?), often going by the alias **The Real Driller** (リアルドリラー様(さま), **Riaru Dorirā-sama**?) is an American army major currently working for the Kozanese Royal Defense Force. Born in the United States, he moved to Kozan with his family at the age of five where he later became a naturalized Kozanese citizen. After he was arrested and later pleaded guilty to joining the Shintoist Province and Scarlet Devil of Team Crimson, he agreed to cooperate with the KRDF as part of his plea. After he was appointed by Crown Princess Konata of Kozan, he was given the title after prophecies realized he could defeat SPASDOT. As a result, he founded his own cell of the KRDF known as The Unforgettable and later recruited Kozanese idol Kagami Ochiai to his side with one of their first missions being to destroy a SPASDOT stronghold in Kozankyo, which they successfully did.

## Name origin

His first name, Susumu (進?), is a male given name and means "onward", *move on*, or *proceed* when translated from Japanese. His surname, Takajima (高島), means "high island" when translated from Japanese.

Susumu gets his name from the titular character Susumu Hori from the 1999 arcade game *Mr. Driller*. Coincidentally, it is reported he got his nickname from there, despite both full names having different surnames.

## Life

### Early life

Driller was born as the youngest of two sons on October 25, 1989, in the United States of America.

### Arrest and eventual drafting into the KRDF

On March 18, 2003, at the age of 13, Driller, along with two others, were arrested on attempts to join the Shintoist Province and Scarlet Devil of Team Crimson with the intent of killing non-believers of Shinto (possibly youkai-borns) in Kozan. Driller pleaded guilty to the case and decided to cooperate with the Kozanese Royal Defense Force as part of his plea, therefore being recruited into the KRDF.

### KRDF Tenure

Driller began his tenure immediately after joining. The following year, he recruited idol singer Kagami Ochiai to his side. His first major mission was to destroy a stronghold located at the tip of Ahoge Peninsula which was a success. The duo would later go on to destroy another stronghold a few months later while trying to retrieve the Mini-Hakkero for the Kozanese Royal Family, which was captured in a raid.

## Attacks

Susumu uses two Emerald Machetes that can tear through anything.

* **Suspect Seekie** (容(よう)疑(ぎ)者(しゃ)チェイサー, *Yōgi-sha Cheisā*?, lit. Suspect Chaser): an auto-aiming attack that can aim at any enemy. It locks on enemies. It was initially developed as a crime-stopper by the Kozankyo Police Department.
* **Dragon's Beam** (竜(りゅう)のビーム, *Ryū no Bīmu*?): a slower attack that can fire more powerful bullets, dealing with the exact same damage. It spreads heat over a wide area, and it was originally developed by cavemen.

## Profile

Known as The Real Driller, Susumu is a programmer who once attempted to join SPASDOT, but was arrested for attempting to promote terrorism. After pleading guilty and agreeing to cooperate with the Kozanese Royal Defense Force (and found the subunit there called "The Unforgettable"), he seeks to find and defeat Jack "Hearthcliffe" Fawkes. His interests include video games, programming, listening to music, and Kagami Ochiai.

### Appearance

Initially, Driller has brown brushed-up hair and eyes and has red big earplugs. According to Drillimation, the reason why he wears headphones is that he always listens to music all the time and uses it to block out the deafening bangs from blasters. He wears a red shirt and gray shorts, along with black and red shoes with white socks. When he goes to festivals, primarily bon festivals and fireworks displays, he wears a crimson-colored yukata (or sometimes kimono depending on the season) over a gray hakama, along with his usual white socks and geta. It should be noted it is rare for hakama to be worn with yukata.

In *Chuhou Joutai 3: Three Nights of Scarlet Abscess*, his appearance is different. He is shown wearing a maroon and grey hoodie while wearing jeans, and his shoes are brown instead of red.

## Reception

The character has been well received by critics. Twitter user @MarkS58399485 gave the character an "A" rank on a tier list of best new original characters.

## Gallery

### Official material

* Original card
* Countdown card
* Artwork in *Chuhou Joutai 2: Paraided!*

### In-game appearances

* Driller as he appears on the difficulty select screen.

## Appearances

* *Chuhou Joutai: The Middle State of War* (debut)
* *Chuhou Joutai 2: Paraided!*
* *Chuhou Joutai 3: Three Nights of Scarlet Abscess*

## Behind the scenes

* Driller shares his birthday with his creator, the Prophet Driller, with a ten-year difference.
* Driller's face appears as the emoticon on Drillimation's website, as well as Drillimation's social media platforms. He also appears as the game icon for *Chuhou Joutai: The Middle State of War*.

## References

1. ↑ https://drillimation.com/2021/03/13/the-real-reason-why-susumu-takajima-from-chuhou-joutai-wears-headphones/ The Real Reason Why Susumu Takajima from Chuhou Joutai wears Headphones
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/MarkS58399485/status/1259295798661132295?s=20
3. ↑ https://drillimation.com/2019/10/25/the-prophet-driller-has-turned-20-years-old/ The Prophet Driller has turned 20 years old!