Mari Murata

**Overview**
Relationships
Image Gallery

**Mari Murata** (村田 マリ, *Murata Mari*) was a student at Setouchi Keijo Training School. She was ranked eighth in the Elite Class.

Upon graduating from Setouchi, Murata officially becomes a B-Rank Keijo player.

## Appearance

Murata has shoulder-length brown hair with a pair of braids on each side of her face.

## Personality

Not much is known about her personality. During the East-West War first match she was rather careless.

## Plot

### Training Camp Arc

Along with the Elite Class members and their teacher, Miku Kobayakawa, they went to Kyoto for a training camp. Upon arriving there, Kobayakawa announced that they arrived too soon. As such, they were given three hours of free time. Sometime later, she joined with the other Elite Class members to jog around. She witnessed the arrival of Kyoko Shirayuki, while Kobayakawa told them that Shirayuki would be their trainer during the training camp. They were all then surprised upon hearing that an active Keijo player would like to train them.

The next day, the Counters were coached by Inoue, while the Infighters, and Outfighters were coaced by the other active players. On the last day of the trip, right after performing trial matches, Murata and her friends were discussed regarding the next event, the East-West War.

### The East-West War Arc

After the end of the training camp, she went to Shimizu Keijo Stadium to participate in a yearly event held by Setouchi and their rival, Suruga Keijo Training School, known as the "East-West War" to prove which one is better between the two. Upon arriving there, alongside her comrades, she engaged in a commotion with Suruga's students, since Suruga's teacher underestimated Setouchi and made fun of them. However the conflict was stopped by Setouchi's teachers, Miku Kobayakawa and Hitomi Hokuto, who apologized to Suruga. Later, they went to the waiting room, Kobayakawa scolded them for making such chaos and advised to beat Suruga fairly and squarely. On the day of the race, Nagisa Ujibe revealed that the races of this year would be team matches. Murata got her turn in the first group, along with Mio Kusakai, Kotone Fujisaki, and Sayaka Miyata.

Alongside her teammates, she entered the match against Suruga's representatives of the first group, consisting of Nami Nanase, Saki Hanayama, Kaho Fuyuzora, and Akari Fuyuzora. After Sayaka failed in her first attempt to attack Nanase, Kusakai asked her whether whether she was capable of handling Hanayama. Murata stated that she doubted that. While Murata was off guard, Kaho Fuyuzora locked off her left foot, while Akari Fuyuzora assaulted her, defeating Murata. Thus Murata was the first to sink. Murata witnessed the rest of match. Thanks to Kusakai and Sayaka, they eventually won the first match. Afterwards, they were congratulated by their comrades.

Setouchi won the first match, but they lost the second match. Thus the outcome would depend on the third match. Thanks to Nozomi, Setouchi finally won the final match and the eleventh East-West War competition. She was later seen celebrating along with her comrades.

## Abilities

Murata was ranked eighth among the Elite Class members. Her fighting style is classified as a Counter.

**Mirror Butt** (反鏡尻, *Hankyō Ketsu*): Murata hasn't demonstrated this technique by herself. However, this technique has copied by Kazane Aoba. It is shown that this technique allows Kazane to synchronize her movement with her opponent's, completely mirroring them, before countering them quickly.

## Anime & Manga Differences

In the anime, it is frequently shown that she tends to hang around with fellow Setouchi's Counter players, such as Kotone and Saya.

### Episode 2

* Nozomi and Sayaka figure out that the Elite Class has better foods for their breakfast, including premium gelatos.
* All of the Elite Class members appear while eating breakfast.

## Races & Events

### Events

*Events participated:*

* Training Camp
* Eleventh East-West War

### Races

*This includes official races, unofficial races, and trial matches:*

* Mari Murata vs. Akari Fuyuzora and Kaho Fuyuzora (Loss)

## Trivia

* Mari is a common name for girls. While her surname contains the characters for "village" (村, *Mura*) and "field" (田, *Ta*).

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 57, pages 6-17
2. ↑ Chapter 64, pages 13-17
3. ↑ Chapter 66, pages 15-16
4. ↑ Chapter 67
5. ↑ Chapter 68, pages 1-9
6. ↑ Chapter 73, pages 1-9
7. ↑ Chapter 86