Maki Seo

Maki as seen in Character Corner

Uriel R Cielo

**Maki Seo** (マキ セオ *Maki Seo*) is a member of Transtello and the deuteragonist of *Shift Star*. She is the first featured female, and can possess the body of another person. As of the beginning of the series, she is 18 years old and soon to be 19.

## **BACKGROUND**

Although it hasn't been officially stated, Maki is the youngest member of Transtello. Aside from her respect for Uriel and close bond with Cleo, little is known about her past at the moment.

PERSONALITY

Maki has a bubbly and energetic personality, and likes to meet new people. She seems to enjoy food to the point of neglecting prior engagements so she can eat. She's honest, and acts relaxed and casual in a work environment. She appreciates tall people, as she clings to Cleo like a sloth on a branch. She enjoys fighting and likes to fool around, but she's also quick on the draw when it comes to problem solving and adapting to situations. Kind and encouraging, Maki's personality is big and a bit of a handful.

## **APPEARANCE**

Maki is the first character to go through an in-series design change. Maki has long, black hair that goes down to her lower torso, and round, sky-blue eyes. She has a pentagram on her right eye, which she covers with an eye patch. Her hair is parted over her right eye as well. She has a short figure. Though she has a large bust, Maki also has slightly muscular arms and legs as well as a built core, all of which allow her to be nimble and flexible while remaining strong enough to do damage. She has a beauty mark under her left eye.

In her first design (*page 4-18*) , Maki wears a green crop-top shirt resembling a cheongsam. The collar is flipped out, and has a golden zipper fastened by clips resembling that of a cheongsam. She wears a black mid-drift tank top, dark blue jeans and green flats. She also wears white sleeves that cover half of her palms, and black gloves that wrap around her middle fingers. One of her brown belts hangs down her left side. Two, white streamers resembling a scarf hang off the back of her collar. She sports a black choker and a small, blue necklace. Her hair is messy, and tied in a lose braid that only ties at the bottom with a total of four braid folds. Her bangs swoop messily to the right.

In her second design (*page 19-current*), Maki wears a slightly more modern costume. She wears a white crop-top hoodie with a lime green inner-lining and designs on the sleeves. She has another zipper clipped together with cheongsam-styled clips with the top one undone. The hood is flipped up at the edges, resembling a flipped-up collar with metal rings meant for a fabric string to tighten the hood. She wears another black tank top like the previous one. She has the same shoes, pants and belt as before. Though she still has her black choker, her necklace has been replaced with a slightly bigger necklace with a silver pendant. The pendant has a cross etched into it. Her hairstyle is much neater and practical. Her hair is braided into a low ponytail with four braid folds at the top, and her bangs are neatly parted over her eye. She occasionally alters between having her hoodie completely open or mostly closed, depending on her temperature or mood.

## **SHIFT STAR ABILITIES**

Maki's Shift Star is called "Spiritual Override". She can temporarily cast her soul into any person she draws a pentagram on. In most cases, Maki's soul needs to adjust to returning to its own body, and leaves her unconscious for a few minutes, but it depends on the damage she sustains as well as how long her soul possesses somebody else for. Maki's star has many specific rules to it. Because of this, she relies more on her specialized style of martial arts. It has not been canonically stated, but Maki's teacher believes her star has more capabilities that she will discover with age.

## **RELATIONSHIPS**

### **Lazarus Trabae**

Maki rescues Laz from Maikel at the beginning of the series. She and Laz have formed a close friendship. Laz is also the one who picked out her current design. She seems to show familiarity with him, and thinks of him as her "lower classman" despite being much younger than he is.

### **Cleo Marks**

Maki and Ceo have an incredibly strong bond and are very close friends. Maki likes climbing on Cleo, and seems to have an admiration for her. The two are also work-out partners, as they're seen helping each other with exercises. Maki refers to Cleo as her partner. She refers to her as her teammate and friend, but it is highly possible there is more to their relationship.

### **Uriel R Cielo**

Maki is very casual with Uriel, as she announces herself playfully before entering his office. She's familiar with the uglier parts of his personality, but seems to have admiration for him.

## **TRIVIA**

* If Shift Star were to occur in our world, Maki would be Chinese.
* Despite being Chinese, Maki is actually named after a Japanese dish while her surname is Korean.
* Arc imagines Maki's voice would sound high-pitched and determined, and would resemble Tia Ballard's voice.
* Maki is bisexual, as confirmed in the Pride picture where she wears the bisexual colors on her shirt.
* Maki's beta design is inspired by Ranpha from *Love Live!* and Ino Yamanaka from *Naruto*.
* Her favourite colors are green and blue.
* Maki's design and name have undergone the most revisions before the publishing of *Shift Star*.
* Maki was supposed to the original protagonist, but was put to the side as part of Arc's character developing process. She found Laz was a better fit and Maki was a better deuteragonist because she has fewer connections to the lore.
* The kanji used for her name is 麻纪, but its Chinese pronunciation is Májì, hence a nickname formed from her peers and family (one she dislikes). The Chinese characters her parents use on her birth certificate are 马基, meaning her name is legally "Mǎjī Seo", meaning "Markey" or "Foundation". Her name, in Chinese, her name is written as 色哦 马基.