Ren Kitano

"Modric" (as mentioned by Anri Kaido)

**Ren Kitano** is a supporting character in **Ao Ashi**.

## Appearance & Personality

Kitano Ren is a player of Aomori Seiran High and also a prodigy for the U-18 Japan's National Team which he was also offered and sign a preliminary contract from a Japan professional Football club, FC Kashima. He is quite fit (not totally slim) in size and has average height and he has down black hair.

Unlike Ashito, who has quite extrovert personality, Kitano is quite reserved as an introvert, known to being not so expressive, and rather yet a silent one, which makes him look like a cold person on the outside. Yet when in times of trouble inside or outside of football, he could simply lend a hand which shows that he has quite smile on helping others, yet he simply not showing any excessive emotions on it like as when his teammate once go to the cafeteria that Kitano went to, wondering about his standard on the team while he looks up with admiration on Kitano for being a genius and coach's favorite, and all of sudden Kitano gave his teammate his extra food in his lunch instead, just only concern in eating. When playing football, he has a frightening silent presence but could able to give vocal commands for his teammates for operating gameplans in the game. Kitano is known to send beautiful passes and giving precise instructions to his team. His vision and playmaking ability is similar to Ashito yet the difference between the two was Kitano can do football tricks and ball control, which he could also known to be a quite skilled baller than Ashito. His skills and intelligence on the ball resembles similarities to Haruhisa Kuribayashi as even if they're both not physically gifted yet their Football I.Q. stands out above the rest. Kitano also loves to eat too, yet it doesn't show to the series about him eating food so much.

In the manga, he is known to wear a scarf and a facemask at times when he is on the school (due to cold weather in winter season and a lot of snow in his hometown, Aomori) and wears a white long-sleeve and pants uniform. On the other hand, when in football matches, Kitano Ren wears the black-red striped Aomori Seiran Kit and his jersey number is #10. Kitano Ren also wears the Japan National Football Team blue kit when he was called-up to play for the U-18 match in Czech Republic alongside Tripone Rufin, Kuribayashi Haruhisa and Akutsu Nagisa.

He is also known to be the "General" for his playmaking skills which he orders and organize his teammates, yet he was called the "Winter General" of the "Winter Army" as Kitano and his team is from the snowy town of Aomori. He is also known as the "Demon" from many due to his outfearing maneuver tactics and aura with the addition of his cold yet silent form when moving and playing on or off-the-ball in the game, affecting the transition and positioning on the opponent team's side. In that way, he could create such havoc or chaos on the pitch around his opponents in his will, resulting in disorientation/disorganization on the team's structure to the opponent team while Kitano's team being able to fill these "hole of mistakes" that is conceded by the opponent team, causing on such miscalculation on the opponent team's passing plays during offensive phase, or much worse, the opponent team's being "forced" on conceding "gaps" that is caused by their "messed-up" formation on the defensive phase in the pitch, leading to Kitano Ren's team grabbing the opponents "gap" to their stronghold advantage through having numerical superiority in the targeted vulnerable gap in the vacated area, resulting in a much supported devastating finish from counterattacks, crumbling the opponent team's ideal options to fight back against them. Although Kitano Ren was known and imposed as an offensive threat, he is somehow also known to have such defensive prowess in reading the opponent team's offensive plays through seeing/visualizing their possible passing lane options and their movements in the field which he could do well-timed interception on the ball against the opponent who has the ball. Together with his vision and his unwavered decision-making, he could make his own team organize and make them win the ball back by commanding them to press aggressively against the opponent team, forcing the pressed team being affected from inevitable pressing triggers and pressing traps caused by Kitano's team physically intense pressing play, making the opponent team under pressure and going panic on bringing the ball, limiting the opponent team's chances of vertically progressing the field upfront (especially when the opponent playing counteattacking style of Football), and making their own damage or loss through conceding "gaps/holes" on themselves. Kitano also dominates when organizing his team on planning setpiece, making his team also dangerous in that expertise, especially when scoring from free kicks, or when they perform the 'Watford Plan' vs. Ashito's Esperion. And also, Kitano is better known for his accurate and great penetrating ball-passing ability whether the type of pass is a ground pass or a chipped pass which could make the ball goes past and eliminate/beat opponents' defensive line that would lead to goalscoring opportunities for his teammates. In that sense from his way of passing, Kitano is a crucial key passer and specialist on providing assists. Kitano is named as the current player with the most assist in the whole tournament of Prince Takamado U-18 Premiere League East.

And due to this presence, as addressed by Anri Kaido during Aomori Seiran High vs. Funabashi High match, his play style is considered similar to the real professional player and Croatian Football legend, Luka Modric, who is also known to do such fast, accurate, and pin-point passes and advanced maneuver on speeding the play which gives also fearsome scary vibe as a threatening playmaker, and also a crucial midfielder who is also recognized as the "heart" of team who links up with both attack and defensive play, being one of the greatest maestros who have played the game of Football.

## Abilities

### Playmaker (Manipulator)

Kitano Ren is known on that ability which he controls the game in both offense and defense through sharing his ideas and intent on the players around him, making them move according to his own accord and lead his teammates to winning opportunities. He could create chances with his beautifully accurate passes to his teammates in any range, could time and create his movements whether in offensive or defensive transition, which makes his opponents being manipulated, dragging them in the position which he desires to, just like a puppet controller who controls puppets in a play. As to make it simple, due to his style of playmaking, Esperion coach Fukuda during Aomori-Esperion match states that all the players in the pitch, are controlled by Kitano Ren alone.

### Photographic Memory

Just like Ashito, he has the ability to gather and memorize all information of all the sequence of events that happened in the pitch from the whole game, as he could recognize the happenings of all movements that his teammates and his opponents team does from the first minute until the 90th minute of the game, together with his use of his peripheral vision. It is later revealed in the manga that this skill is recognizingly put into an experiment known as Xavi experiment, which the famous Spain and F.C. Barcelona legend, Xavi is known to do this experiment where he wears a head camera to scan and record, and collect all information of all happenings in the pitch during training session. After that session, under the guidance of Football staff and experts, Xavi was supervised to tell them and interpret his collected information about what happens on the field from kickoff until the final whistle of fulltime through writing those information on a football tactical board, which was shockingly reported that Xavi remembers all things that happened in the pitch in the whole duration of the game session when he draws all the patterns of plays that has happened in the pitch as he remembers his movements and also the movements of his teammates and his opponents, which almost exactly and similarly matches to the actual recorded video clip of Xavi's practice match in F.C. Barcelona training grounds. And due to this, having photographic memory is considered as an exceptional skill of mastery and it occurs on such rare class of players. This kind of skill is part of having Football intelligence that is a very demanding fit in Football.

### Bird's Eye View/Eagle Eye View

Kitano has the ability to envision how the play in front of him on a flat field would look on a television camera, reconciling it together with visualizing imagery of his teammates' and his opponents' position on-the-ground. This skill gives Kitano idea to organize his plays and positions while moving in the pitch. This kind of eye ability is known to have at such people who are far-sighted (where they could see small details of things from far distance). Ashito is also known to have that ability. This ability also possesses some visualization of seeing such possibilities that may happen depending on the vision of the scenery where some players like Kitano and Ashito could see the possible movements of other people or things on and off the pitch. Everyone could do that skill. Learning to stop the ball in one touch and always looking over the field to observe and decide possible plays in milliseconds is one of the ways to achieve and develop Bird's Eye View.

### Scanning

his ability to turn his head in the game serves as a key to have bird's eye/eagle eye view. This skill is obviously could be learned when playing Football in real life as it is essential for reading the play through observing the movements and positioning of the teammates or opponents, and the space in the pitch before receiving the ball, or even when on-the-ball. Scanning doesn't empasizing on increasing the number of times turning the head, but it's also important to think "what" you're looking at, "when", and "where" you look.

### Ball-Foot playing Skills

Kitano could do some football tricks like the roulette where he do 360 spin in a ball.

### Accurate Passing Ability

Kitano Ren is known to send pin-point accurate and beautiful passes on his teammates in any given range he wants to especially when doing chipped pass or through balls.

### Analysis-Observation Thinking Ability

Despite Kitano is a small and isn't physically gifted, he is known to analytically observe his opponents well, which gives him idea to know which opponent he would easily beat tactically, allowing him to outwit his opponents in the pitch. When it comes to observing his teammates, he knows what's the best and suited play for them to unleash their potential on playing and moving them strategically on the pitch.

### Psychological Warfare Tactician

due to his style of confusing opponent team through moving on their own according to Kitano's intent, he could gradually shifted the opponent team's morale and make them abruptly struggle in panic and fear to think such ideal solutions in dealing problematic strategically-situational plays which was caused by Kitano Ren's crucial approach that he created on his play in the pitch.

### Box-to-box playmaker

Kitano is known to roam upfront in the opponent team's penalty box to create chances and drop deep into his goal at times during defense where Kitano shows his role of dominating the central part of the pitch, making him the "heart" of his team's tactics in both attack and defense. As he is the "middle man" of the dice in the N-box formation, his role to roam Box-to-box shows his prowess to control the play within the central part of his team and his opponents' goal area.

### Weather Resistance (Endurance on cold weather)

Kitano is known to have endurance on playing in cold areas, as he and his team was trained enough in his snowy hometown in Aomori, which gives them chance to boost their morale and perform such incredible plays on the pitch.

### Reaction Time

he is known to have fast reaction time in his movements especially when in defense, making most of players in the opponents team who has the ball or at times in shock as he is already all of a sudden arrived closely in behind or front of them when they have the ball, making Kitano as a scary threat in defensive phase at times.

### Number 10/10th-man/Enganche (in Spanish term)

As a crucial advanced attacking midfielder, Kitano Ren could play and send the ball to one of the two forwards who is in front of him, especially when his forwards are in front of the opponent team's goal. He could also drop deep in midfield at times, to support in defending the midfield to win the ball back again, and create possible options to grab scoring opportunity, whether to do passing play upfront or take a shot by himself. The domain area as a "sweet spot" which the 10th man/Enganche roams into is the "Zone 14" (the zone of the attacking team when attacking) or "Zone 5 (the zone of the defending team when defending)" (which is located in front of the "Penalty arc" from the opponent's goal area).

## Rivals

Ashito Aoi - Kitano is also known to have similar abilities on Ashito as they both have Bird's Eye View/Eagle Eye View, which he acknowledges Ashito later on in their match with a smile during the Tokyo City Esperion vs. Aomori Seiran match as the final fixture for the championship title in Prince Takamadonomiya U-18 Premiere League East.

Tripone Rufin - An Afro-Japanese Football player from Funabashi High, where they are also teammates in the U-18 Japan National Football Team alongside Akutsu and Kuribayashi. Kitano rival him during Aomori Seiran High vs. Funabashi High match fixture in Prince Takamadonomiya U-18 Premiere League East, which he also rivals Rufin in Senshuken Youth Cup.

## Trivia

• Kitano Ren's photographic memory is discovered by himself when he try to do the Xavi experiment in their training session in Aomori High School using a smartphone as an alternative head camera while playing an 11-aside practice game in the pitch. He later discovers from his drawn illustrated detailed observations from his compiled notes of his paper, that he is more accurate than Xavi. Although the Xavi experiment was mostly talked and studied by some other professional football clubs as Fukuda, Nozomi, and Yuuma talks about it too, Kitano attempts this crazy experiment on his own will, to test and improve his playmaking abilities.

Kitano Ren is one of the promising prodigy footballing genius who has known to have not been physically gifted, but has immense and versatile playmaking abilities alongside Haruhisa Kuribayashi. When comparing Kitano to Ashito, Kitano is quite more skilled and technically gifted on the ball than Ashito.

Kitano Ren's playstyle is similar to Luka Modric, who is a famously-known Croatian Football legend in which he leads as a captain of the Croatian National Football Team to bring them in their first final as runners-up finalists of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.