Kō Nakano

Kō Nakano
Manga Anime
Information
Name	Kō Nakano
Kanji	中野 攻
Rōmaji	Nakano Kō
Status	Alive
Age	17-18
Gender	Male
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Red (anime) Brown (manga)
Occupations	student (former) construction worker (current)
Height	167cm (anime) unconfirmed (manga)
Voice Actor	Jun Fukuyama (Japanese) Griffin Burns (English)
Image Gallery

Kō Nakano (中野 攻, Nakano Kō) is an Ajin.

Appearance

Kō is a young man of around the average height and weight. He has short, light brown hair and reddish-brown eyes. His most noticeable trait is his thick, dark eyebrows. Nakano was seen wearing all sorts of outfits throughout the manga; though he most commonly wears a t-shirt or hoodie and jeans.

Ironically, he is quite similar in appearance to Kaito.

Personality

Nakano is very considerate of others; stating he wanted to help Kei with taking down Satō, and later helping Kei escape even after he locked him in a wrecked truck. He was also concerned for Izumi, saying she shouldn't put herself in danger (she disregarded the idea, however, thanked him afterwards). Nakano does not understand Kei's cold and uncaring demeanour and calls him out on abandoning his only friend, which angered Kei. They did not talk to each other for a while, but later Kei helped out Kō to summon his Black Ghost.

He is also a bit clumsy compared with other characters and often doesn't know what's going on. As seen in the recent chapters, he is not good with coming up with plans and prefers to follow a pre- set plan given to him. This results in him relying on Kei a lot with strategic plans, much to Kei's annoyance.

Another major difference between them is their attitude towards others. While Kei knows that Satō will most likely kill a lot of people if he is not stopped, he is discouraged after his plan of taking him down failed; saying that even if Satō kills tens of thousands of people, Kei will still put himself before all of them. Kō, on the other hand, disagrees, saying that he will fight for the people who helped him and that people's lives are at stake. Kei, in return, calls him a hypocrite after telling him that he did not react when the president of forge security died but was shocked when Mister Hirasawa died, saying that not everyone's life are worth the same.

History

In chapter 43, after having an argument with Kei, it is revealed that Kō had first died when changing a light bulb. He stacked a bunch of magazines on top of each other, and then tripped. After that, he was left paralyzed on the floor for days, but no one came. He then most likely died of dehydration.

It is also pointed out that Kō had abusive, or at least neglectful, parents. He states that they were both good for nothing, and often left him at home to go around town and enjoy themselves. This left Kō thinking that he was not needed and wondering what kind of person he was. After someone picked him up and gave him a job, he states that if there's anyone out there who's counting on him, he will live up to that no matter what.

Relationships

Kei Nagai

Kō and Kei had a rough start. Kei was unwilling to accept Kō's help, leading it to several fights and ending up with Kei locking Kō in an abandoned truck for several days. However, after eventually getting himself into more trouble, Kei frees Kō from the truck and asks him for help. Kō seems to hold a grudge against him, but still looking up to Kei, he agrees to do so anyway. They seem to get along normally after some time, but still bicker around often. Kō seemed to change his mind about Kei, saying he actually does care about everyone, which Kei immediately denies.

Izumi Shimomura

They've spoken several times before and they seem to get along well. As Kō has an overall friendly nature, he worried about Izumi's well-being and suggested that she shouldn't put herself into danger. Izumi however, as a bodyguard, disregarded this.

Satō

Kō is very much against Sato's plan to change the Ajin's System by killing people, although he is against it, he cannot summon an IBM and cannot make strategic plans like Kei. He is troubled when Satō kills the innocent and is enraged, but when he hears words that are bad (referring to the dead people) mostly by Kei, he gets angry. Sato does not find Nakano as 'interesting' as Nagai at all, on one occasion he had once completely forgotten who Nakano was at all.

Powers and Abilities

Immortality - The defining feature of all Ajin, Kō cannot die under any circumstance, having complete immortality - even though he's afraid of dying each time he resets. All Ajin do die at the end of their lifespans though, due to complications of old age.

Ajin Scream - As an Ajin, he is able to paralyse those around him by screaming. The effect lasts for a short while, but it is much less effective if the person is aware of the effects.

Trivia

• His last name, Nakano, (中野) means "middle field". His given name, Kō (攻) means "attack" or "to criticize". This may hint to his fierce attitude.
• In the second episode of the OVA it's revealed he eats 5 meals a day and sleeps with the air conditioning on at 18 degrees.
• Kō's IBM remains a mystery, but it is still possible to appear before him. (manga- Nakano is incapable of producing an IBM)
  • Kō's IBM has appeared in the second episode of the OVA. However, it appears somewhat weak with its middle being nearly non-existent. It is summoned after Izumi kills him with her own IBM.
  • It appeared, although incomplete, at the second season of the anime when Izumi was being attacked by Tanaka.
• Kō is afraid of heights. Ironically, his most common cause of death is from falling off high places, such as a building or a cliff.
  • So far, he has died from falling five times. First, when he fell changing a light bulb (in the manga). Second, when he jumped out of a building escaping Satō. Third, when he fell from a balcony and electrocuted himself. Fourth, when he jumped off a cliff with Kei and fifth when he fell off a skyscraper to escape from Satō. He has also died by getting stabbed by Kei's IBM and by hanging himself.