Azumamaro Gensai

**Azumamaro Gensai (**あずままろ げんさい *Gensai Azumamaro*), also known as **Maro**, is a student of the Neo Hope's Peak Academy's third-year class, and a participant of the Killing School Retreat featured in *Neo Danganronpa: Serial Bonding*. His title is the **Ultimate Entrepreneur** (超高校級の「起業家」*Super High School Level Entrepreneur*).

## History

### Early Life

Maro grew up in a fairly low-income household in Yokohama. He took a particular interest in fancy clothing and luxurious amenities that he kept seeing on TV and in magazines, but was never able to afford anything of the sort. He managed to bond with his neighbor, Katsumi Yamawaki, upon discovering the younger boy shared his tastes and interests. The two became nearly inseperable and would regularly discuss the latest trends and styles, as well as their dreams of being able to attain them for themselves some day.

As time went on, the two discovered that Katsumi had a knack for clothing design. They initially used his talent to improve their own wardrobes using whatever they could find to make or accessorize with, until Maro convinced him to go bigger, proposing they try to start their own clothing business. After nearly a year of networking and research, Maro discovered his own talent for business management went even further than he anticipated. Using his eye for opportunity and fostering significant connections, Katsumaro Fashions opened its first major location in downtown Yokohama.

It wasn't long before their business became highly popular and successful, known to almost every frequenter of the Japanese fashion world. While still in charge of the business, Maro created two additional branches that became just as successful as the first in half the time. He was even nominated for a popular magazine's *Businessperson of the Year* award three times. Surprising nobody, an invitation soon arrived at his office asking him to attend the Neo Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Entrepreneur.

## Appearance

Maro is on the shorter side, compared to most his age. He has indigo eyes, a small mole just beneath the left one, and black hair spiked up in front to look cooler. His preferred choice of outfit is a dark purple suit with a light blue shirt and a green and purple-striped tie from his popular brand of neckwear. He wears a pair of black dress shoes and his jacket pocket is adorned with the logo of his company.

## Personality

Maro is never without an air of confidence. He enjoys taking risks, jumping on any opportunity that catch his interest. Whatever he does, he tries to look good doing it. He prefers the finer things in life, never missing the chance to increase his level of swag. Though his actions often seem self-absorbed or irresponsible, he still tries his hardest to make others happy, particularly if they end up liking him more because of it.

## Talent and Abilities

### Ultimate Entrepreneur

As the Ultimate Entrepreneur, Maro has a natural eye for business and opportunity. When he was only fifteen years old, he had already become the C.E.O. of his own company, Katsumaro Fashions, which became a nationally-recognized brand thanks to his skills as a businessman. A popular magazine even nominated him for "Businessperson of the Year" two years in a row. Though he can be a tad dense on occasion, he's a lot smarter than many people give him credit for, being incredibly skilled at economics, negotiation, and resource management.

## Relationships

### Monokuma

Maro displays notable resentment towards Monokuma. Unsurprising, considering the bear's reputation and his actions towards the campers throughout the story.

### Hirokazu Itami

Maro seems to enjoy Hirokazu's company. After the Strategist successfully clears his name in the first trial, Maro happily thanks him for the assistance. Maro refers to him as "Brain Child," despite Hirokazu's open rejection of the nickname.

### Ayumi Imagawa

Maro has a somewhat rocky relationship with Ayumi. The Activist has shown disapproval towards him since they first met, informing him about his company's negative environmental effects. They form somewhat of a rivalry over the course of the Killing Game, exchanging quips and generally irritating each other in essentially all their interactions. He nicknames Ayumi "Eyeliner Girl," due to her choice of makeup. She dislikes her nickname even more than Hirokazu does.

### Kenta Higoshi

Maro initially feared Kenta due to his talent, speculating him to be an assassin sent to kill him. These fears are discarded fairly quickly, however. As the Killing Game progresses, Maro begins to seek out Kenta to keep him company against the Marksman's wishes. He admits to Hoshiyo that he does this in an attempt to help Kenta stay out of danger of being pegged as an easy target and to bridge the gap he tries to form between himself and the group.

### Mayuko Terauchi

Maro and Mayuko show extreme disdain towards each other with every interaction. Mayuko dislikes Maro's cocky, show-offish nature, afraid he will steal the spotlight from her, while Maro sees Mayuko as a spoiled, self-obsessed bitch who never had to work for anything in her life. He refers to her as "Bleachy Head" after her death, a nickname which he never got to give her, but would have likely enjoyed using just to make her angry. Upon learning she attempted to kill and frame him, Maro shows to disapprove of her even more than he did previously. Despite their bitter rivalry, the two still sit next to each other in the dining hall during the respect-building activity. It is unknown whether they chose this or there were simply no more seats left when one or the other arrived.

### Yoshinaka Shidehara

Maro finds Yoshinaka to be uncultured and bland. He tries to connect with the Paleontologist during their inspection of the dining hall, but they do not seem to find any common ground. Even so, they end up sitting next to each other during the respect-building exercise, due to their mutual lack of close connections with the other campers.

### Kan Kawabata

Maro and Kan do not have many interactions before the first trial. However, once Maro learns why Kan chose to set him up for Mayuko's death, he shows genuine sympathy for the Libero before his execution. Afterwards, Maro shows clear disapproval of the harsh manner in which Kan is punished, likely having grown closer to his fellow camper based on their mutual disdain toward Mayuko.

### Katsumi Yamawaki

Katsumi was Maro's neighbor, turned best friend and business partner. It was thanks to his knack for clothing design that Katsumaro Fashions began in the first place, and Maro refuses to let him forget it. Maro is incredibly proud of his friend's accomplishments and still works with him to this day, even becoming classmates again when Katsumi entered high school and received his invitation to Neo Hope's Peak as the Ultimate Fashion Designer.

## Trivia

* Maro's English voice actor, Todd Haberkorn, previously voiced Teruteru Hanamura in *Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair* and Korekiyo Shinguji in *Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.*
* Maro's talent and personality were both inspired by Todd Haverford from the comedy series *Parks and Recreation* before he started coming into his own over the course of the series.
* Maro's birthday is a nod to comedian Aziz Ansari, who played the character who inspired him.
* One of the uses Maro directed his riches toward is filling a pool with strawberry Jello. As evidenced by his FTEs, he tends to spend his free-time outside work performing similarly random tasks with junk food, such as making a pyramid of soda cans from the mini-fridge in his lab.
* He has the second most profane vocabulary in the cast after Mayuko.
* He regularly indulges in fruit-flavored junk food.
* Maro is ambidextrous. He was born left-handed.
* Maro is canonically pansexual.
* Maro is the writer's 4th favorite character in the story.