Iketeru Daga

* Manga
* Anime

**Iketeru Daga** (蛇賀 池照, *Daga Iketeru*) is the younger brother of Mabui Daga who stars as a song instructor (*uta no oniisan*) on the educational TV program *Together with Maman*.

## Appearance

Iketeru is a young adult with short dark-purple hair that has bangs hanging on the right side, light purple eyes and a beauty mark under his left eye.

His handsome look makes him very popular among women.

## Personality

Iketeru loves low-level dirty jokes and he would go into an uncontrollable laughing fit if someone keeps making them. He can be a bit absent-minded and dense sometimes, being unable to read the situation in a room or the time on an analog watch. However, he appears to possess a lot of hidden potentials especially when asked to act out a role, such as displaying a great ping-pong skill while pretending to be a ping-pong champion.

## Plot

Iketeru is a song instructor on *Together with Maman* along with Utano Tadano and together they sing songs with the kids on the show. Prior to working on the show, he was a musician and musical actor with a strong mellifluous voice.

He keeps a cheerful persona on the show, but he becomes more subdued and absent-minded when filming is over. He also works with Uramichi Omota on the show, often partnering up whenever they have to wear ridiculous costumes to follow the whims of their producer and director. One of his recurring roles is "Jerm Buster", a hero who protects children from germs, with Uramichi playing the opposite of him as "Blight Mite", the villain who attacks human's immune system.

## Relationships

### Family

#### Mabui Daga

Iketeru currently lives with his sister who teaches violin in their home during weekdays. She shares the same absent-mindedness as Iketeru, such as day-dreaming about onigiri.

### *Together with Maman* Co-workers

#### Uramichi Omota

Iketeru often works together Uramichi, especially when they have to act out roles in special segments of the show. These roles typically come with wearing ridiculous costumes designed by their producer and director.

Because Iketeru is slow on the uptake, Uramichi is a lot gentler whenever he interacts with him compared to his other juniors and sometimes shares comforting words to uplift his mood, although Iketeru never understood any of them. However, Uramichi is not above teasing him when he finds out Iketeru loves low-level jokes, using every opportunity as he can to say those jokes and hindering Iketeru from doing his job.

#### Mitsuo Kumatani

Although they don't appear to be close friends, Kumatani seems to have a very soft spot for Iketeru. Kumatani is often seen taking care of Iketeru in the filming set, such as encouraging him whenever he gets down from his job or protecting him from Uramichi and Usahara's pranks. Knowing that Iketeru has a low alcohol tolerance, Kumatani also always saves him from awkward social situations whenever Iketeru gets offered alcohol, often by distracting the other party and drinking it in his stead. Kumatani also knows a great deal about Iketeru's personal life, such as his dog's name and his older sister's occupation.

Their first encounter was actually when Iketeru was still in high school and Kumatani in his freshman year in college, with Kumatani picking up his handkerchief. His first impression was Iketeru was a weirdo for asking the time when he was already wearing a watch. It is unclear if either of them actually remembered this meeting when they started working together in the tv program.

## Name Etymology

* The name Iketeru means "pond" (池, *ike*) and "illuminate" (照, *teru*).
* The surname Daga means "snake" (蛇, *da*) and "congratulations, joy" (賀, *ka*/*ga*).
* The full name Daga Iketeru is a pun on "But he's handsome" (だがイケてる, *daga ike teru*).

## Trivia

* Iketeru's blood type is O.
* Iketeru has a dog named Sayuri, which he always dotes on.
* Iketeru's body can't handle smoking and he has a low tolerance on alcohol.
* In Chapter 24, it is revealed that Iketeru still believes in Santa.