Amane Shinjo

**Amane Shinjo** (新庄 雨音 *Shinjō Amane*) is one of the main character in Birdie Wing. She is Aoi Amawashi's best friend.

## Description

Amane is Aoi's best friend and acts as her exclusive caddie. In addition to her knowledge of meteorology, psychometrics, and psychology, she provides detailed data on courses and rivals when competing in competitions to perfectly support Aoi.

## Appearance

Amane has green hair with bangs brushed to her left side, green eyes, and wears red glasses.

## Personality

Like her Boss Seira Amawashi, Amane is focused on making sure Aoi Amawashi is at the top of her game, like any good caddie and personal assistant should be. She acts as both an anchor to Aoi's infatuation with Eve, and as consigliere when dealing with the girls of the Nadan Sports Academy, and especially Mizuho Himekawa, the current Japanese Amateur Champion.

## History

Although she is the same age as Aoi, Amane has been a vital element in the marketing of Aoi as the next big name in Golf. Her family has been connected to the Amawashi family for many years, as her father, Koichi Shinjo, was the personal caddie for Seira Amawashi when she was a pro golfer. Her aunt is the current top Female Golfer, Reika Shikishima.

While still in Middle School, after the death of her father, she was hired by Seira, to act not only as Aoi's personal caddie, but also as her eyes and ears to Aoi's activities. She understood the monumental task facing her in seeing that Aoi's career flourish in the best way possible. But there was a secondary motive for her taking the position. At the time, Amane's living expenses and tuition for Raiou Academy was part of her compensation for being Aoi's handler.

While on their flight to Nafrece for the Girls' Under-15 Junior World Championships, Amane took note of the performance of Veteran Pro Golfer Chris Christina's run toward the top of the leader board during the final round of the Women's Pro Tour stop in Nafrece. Ever the analyst, she remarked at how Christina's round play suggested she was playing like a different person. Upon arriving in Nafrece, Amane had already anticipated Aoi's desire to visit the course and booked a tee time for her and a car service for the 4-hour drive to the course.

A couple of days later, Amane is reporting to Seira of Aoi's preparations for the tournament while on the driving range., keeping tabs on Aoi's practice time. After finishing her report she and Aoi leave to return to the course and get in another practice round when they discover a tall blonde girl named Eve who sends Aoi into a dither over her golf shot. This would be Amane's first encounter with Eve, and despite hopes to the contrary, it would not be her last. on the final day, Amane was shocked to see Eve once more, now listed on the roster of golfers as "Eve Aleon," a sponsor's Exemption for the final round. Aoi asks Amane to keep her updated on Eve's progress every three holes, which she reluctantly agrees to. After Aoi's round finishes with her victory, she had to pull Aoi away from Eve to get her to the Award ceremony and press conference, but not before Aoi said she was going to play a round early in the morning with Eve before her flight home to Japan.

Amane seemed to be relieved when Eve failed to show up the following morning, allowing her to get Aoi on the plane and forget about the girl once and for all. Her hopes for a life without the blonde girl would only last a week as she and Aoi returned to school at Raiou Girls Academy, where they were both first-year students. A week after the tournament in Nafrece, Amane was shocked to see Eve standing at the Practice Course for the Academy. Things got worse as Aoi convinced Eve to enroll in the school, since she apparently left her life in Nafrece behind. Eve's arrival couldn't have come at a worse time, as she and Aoi were in the middle of preparations for the All-Japan High School Girls' Doubles Championship, which was created by Athena Golf as a showcase for Aoi's debut as the new Golf Phenom. Amane confronted Aoi as to why she insisted on having Eve with her, and was struck by Aoi's confession that she needed Eve by her side to make her golf better.

Eventually, Amane learned that because of the elbow injury to Team Captain Kinue Jinguuji, Eve would end up as Aoi's partner in the Doubles Tournament. She and Eve's caddie, Ichina Saotome, end up in a grudging partnership to provide the best caddie work for their respective golfers. Where Ichina preferred an old-school approach, like walking the course and inspecting the rough and the fairways by hand for Eve, Amane relies on the latest technology and sabermetrics to analyze and offer the best potential course of action to Aoi. By the time the tournament kicked off, the two had begun to cooperate closely in insuring their golfers succeed. By the end of the tournament, the two had bonded over their combined caddieing skills, helping Eve and Aoi achieve the championship.

However, only a day later, Amane, Ichina and Aoi were shocked to learn that Eve suddenly withdrew from school and returned to Nafrece. After being assured by Coach Amuro that he would investigate the uncharacteristic action of their friend, she and Ichina left, but waited by the coach's door, overhearing Aoi's conversation with the coach and learning that Eve claimed to be the daughter of Kazuhiko Hodaka, Aoi's father. However, Amane faced a more pressing problem that the speculation of Eve's parentage, because of her absence, Aoi's shot performance, which had reached a new level thanks to Coach Amuro's demonstration of a new swing to her before the Finals of the Double Championship, had suddenly dropped off, along with the medical scare during the Semi-Finals, concerning both Amane and Seira on Aoi's prospects for the Athens Japan Open, where Aoi was expected to make her debut as a professional.

Amane knew what was really troubling Aoi. She suspected that Seira's late husband was not, in fact, Aoi's biological father, but Coach Amuro. Ever since the end of the Doubles Championship, Aoi had struggled with the revelation of Eve being a possible half-sister, but there were clues that Coach Amuro was possibly her real father, and his collapse from a rare disease put Aoi's game at risk, ending the first day of the Open at 4 over Par. However, Amuro's appearance during the second day inspired Aoi to regain her love of the game as Amane planned out her game strategy to close the gap on her Aunt before the end of the tournament. By the final day of the tournament, Aoi had closed the gap to five strokes, while Amane had planned out a strategy for the day. Before she teed off in the final group of the day, Amane reminded her to have her rain gear handy during the round. By the time the rains arrived at the 14th hole, Reika had managed to match Aoi's shots to maintain her five-stroke lead. Once the rains started, Amane put her plan into action, and had Aoi go all out on her shots, and not let the rain affect her. The strategy paid off as Aoi erased the lead in two holes with Consecutive eagles while Reika bogeyed the 15th hole and never recovered the lead as Aoi closed out the round with consecutive birdies to win the tournament. In the post-match press conference, Aoi credited Amane with her victory, thanks to her strategy that included taking advantage of her certification in weather forecasting that she earned thanks to the Athens Group.

That night, Aoi told her that she knew that with her win, Amane was finally free from the contact to be her caddie. But Amane told her that if she felt that she ruined her life be keeping her around as her caddie and friend, then she should hire her as her personal caddie for the Pros. She told her that because of her time with Aoi, she was able to go to school, and helped relieve the financial burden her mother faced after her father's death. Aoi agreed to the offer, matching Reika's offer of 30% of her winnings on the pro tour.

## Etymology

* The name **Amane (2)** means "rain" (雨) (**ama**) and "sound" (音) (**ne**).
* Amane's surname **Shinjo** means "fresh, new" (新) (**shin**) and "level" (庄) (**sho**/**jo**).

## Gallery

Amane in her school uniformAmane's facial expression 1Amane's facial expression 2