Characters
In volume one of Wild Adapter, Kubota is 16. He becomes leader of the Yakuza's Izumokai youth division when he is offered two guns; one of them is dangerously defective and the other is safe and functional. He chooses the functional gun and executes the youth division's previous leader who was revealed to be a spy from the rival Yakuza. Kubota leaves the Izumokai after only seven months, and a year later, re-emerges as Tokitoh's protector.
He is seen as calm, collected, and focused, as well as cool, callous, and aloof. He is cruel and insensitive, but at the same time, childish and sweet. To both friends and enemies, they find him terrifying at times—whether because he can insensitively break a man's arm, or because of his smile. He is never seen without a cigarette, and his favored brand is Seven Stars.
Komiya, in volume 1, says he has no logic to him. He says, "Interested in nothing, yet fiercely curious about everything. Acts like he doesn't care, but with so much desire in his eyes. Only caring for himself, but completely masochistic. Needing nothing, clinging to everything. Chaos existing inside tight order...All of these fevered colors merging into black...and disappearing. He's just like this city."
Kubota is extremely possessive of Tokito, and is a very talented mahjong player.
Tokitoh is first introduced as a boy running from pursuers. He collapses, unconscious, in an alley, where Kubota finds him soon after leaving the Izumokai. Tokitoh's right hand is that of a beast's—and that of deceased W·A users—and it occasionally causes him immense pain. He keeps it covered by a black glove. He has no memory of his past before Kubota picked him up, other than flashes of a menacing figure who calls him "Minoru." Tokitoh is loud, impulsive, stubborn, and tactless at times, but he is straightforward, kind-hearted, and a very loyal ally.
Kubota, along with several other characters, refers to Tokitoh as a "cat," or "stray cat." Tokitoh calls Kubota "Kubo-chan."[10] Tokitoh is highly protective of Kubota, and gets jealous easily when he thinks someone else is closer to Kubota.
- voiced by Hideo Ishikawa on drama CDs and in the Executive Committee OVA
Yakuza
Izumokai
- Sanada is the daikou, or leader, of the Izumokai. He takes a special interest in Kubota when he becomes leader of the Youth Division. He has a vicious dog named Ark—named for his favorite brand of cigarettes, Ark Royal Vanilla. After Kubota leaves the Izumokai, Sanada follows him around.
- Komiya Nobuo is the second-in-command in the Izumokai Youth Division. He is doubtful of Kubota when he first takes up the leader position, but over the course of the first volume, develops feelings for him. Komiya's mother is a drug-using prostitute who is almost killed at the hands of a W·A user. Komiya is killed at the end of the first volume when he obtains a sample of W·A for Kubota. Komiya's death is the reason why Kubota leaves the Izumokai.
- Osamu is the man who takes Kubota's place as the leader of the Izumokai Youth Division. He is introduced at the end of volume 4 as a cold, ruthless man willing to do anything to climb up the yakuza ranks. In volume 6, he is responsible for abducting Tokitoh to the Izumokai's off-shore oil tanker.
- Ryuunosuke/Tatchan is Osamu's second-in-command and childhood friend. He is more compassionate and friendly than Osamu.
Toujougumi
• Sekiya Jun is the leader of the Toujougumi Youth Division, and becomes the daikou when Kubota kills the previous leader as his condition of leaving the Izumokai at the end of volume 1. In his one major confrontation with Kubota and Tokitoh in volume 2, Sekiya tells them that he knows about W·A, at least, and makes it clear that he suspects Tokitoh is also involved.
