Etsuko Satoda (
Appearance[]
Satoda was a elderly woman of average height and build with medium-length black hair held in place with a hairclip and sunken yellow eyes. Satoda sports round earrings, a pearl necklace and a ring on her right index finger. Satoda wears a dark purple blouse with lilac triangule-shaped patterns and an light grey ankle-length skirt.
In the past, Satoda had much sharper facial features, messy hair in a single braid, as well wearing a black jacket.
Personality[]
Satoda is a polite and mostly calm teacher who enjoys jesting opponents and speaks casually, yet matter-of-factly. She bluntly tells Shin Asakura and Akira Akao how difficult it is to find the database and how dangerous it is to get involved with Slur. However, she is reasonable and gives Shin an Assassin Slip to allow him to target her, promising to reveal information on the database if he can land one hit. At the same time, she is stern, admonishing Shin for using a dangerous prototype and threatening to break Sakamoto and Nagumo's arms for fighting in the past.
Being a teacher, Satoda was more than willing to give Shin, Natsuki Seba and Akira individualized feedback after their fight, praising their teamwork and shedding happy tears over their dedication and growth.
Satoda is fond of Taro Sakamoto, Rion Akao and Nagumo, jokingly referring to them as the "three fools" when reminiscing about the past. She cares for her students and despite teaching them to become killers, doesn't want them to die. Satoda has also shown to mantain her calm and polite personality even when facing death or fighting to defend her students as demonstrated during her fight against Kanaguri.
Relationships[]
Taro Sakamoto[]
Satoda was one of Taro's teachers during his time at the JCC. She taught him and other assassins, such as Rion Akao and Yoichi Nagumo, the basics of being an assassin, including how to kill properly, until he was expelled from the school along with his friends. Sakamoto met Satoda again during the JCC Infiltration Arc after her fight against Kanaguri, who had fatally injured her. Even in death, Satoda showed deep care for her students, moving her own body after dying to protect Sakamoto and the others.
Byodo[]
Both Satoda and Byodo attended the JCC as students and were classmates. They were the only two in their class who survived as assassins, and Byodo was the first to comment on Satoda's choice to refuse the request to join the order.
Shin Asakura[]
Shin and Satoda met each other during the JCC Infiltration Arc after Shin joined the JCC and started looking for the database, which Satoda later revealed to be her old classmate, Byodo. After listening to Shin's desire to find the database, she challenged him to try to hit her at least once within 24 hours. If Shin managed to succeed, Satoda would give him a hint about the database.
History[]
Satoda was classmates with Byodo, implying she was a student at the JCC.
During her times at the JJC as an assassin, Satoda was considered a full-fledged assassin and being a master of Aikido who Natsuki Seba described as almost impossible to attack and as someone who have come back unharmed from every mission she was assigned to. At some point in time during her years at the JJC, Satoda was invited to join the Order, but declined to become a teacher at the JCC and taught Taro Sakamoto, Rion Akao and Nagumo.
Skills & Abilities[]
Overall Skill Level: Even as a retired assassin, Satoda retains the skills she had in her youth and is considered a master of Aikido. Seba also stated that it is almost impossible to attack her without having your attack reflected back. She easily manhandled Shin and Akira. Only a combined effort from Akira, Natsuki and Shin with the former's powerful prototype weapon could land a non-damaging hit on the teacher. Natsuki stated a young Satoda came back unscathed from every single mission and admonished Shin for charging at her, considering a head-on attack to be impossible. Her selection to become an Order member is further testament to her might. When Akira Akao used her "path" ability, she only saw either a pathless, infinitely deep cliff or a path leading to her own death. Satoda is able to fight evenly with Kanaguri, an active member of the Order.
Enhanced Speed and Reflexes: Satoda was able to counter, block, or dodge every single attack thrown at her by Shin, Akira, and Natsuki, even during their combined effort. She can casually dodge or block blows without looking and managed to fight Shin, Seba, and Akira simultaneously without getting hit or touched even once. Satoda has demonstrated extreme speed, catching Kanaguri off guard by appearing in front of him, aiming a knife at his throat, and then repeatedly appearing in front of him, cutting him with her knife.
Enhanced Strength: In the past, Satoda restrained both Sakamoto and Nagumo, who were then JCC students, with one hand. On many occasions, Satoda was able to throw Shin and Akira massive distances, even sending the latter through a wall. She was able to grab, subdue, and cause Shin pain using a pair of chopsticks, and she blocked an overhead strike from Akira using one finger. During a fight in the JCC gymnasium, she threw the students across the entire space into distant walls. Even when weakened, the veteran assassin was able to hurl a knife through Kanaguri's camera into his eye. Satoda has demonstrated multiple times her ability to throw Kanaguri through walls and windows with ease and destroy the floor by crashing him through the roof with her knife.
Enhanced Durability: Satoda blocked a punch from Shin, who was using a prototype gauntlet strong enough to punch craters in walls, without harm. During her fight with Kanaguri, she took a near-fatal slice to the neck and still managed to get up. Satoda also continued fighting after having her eye sliced off, still smiling and speaking in her calm manner.
Enhanced Perception: Satoda was able to deduce that Akira Akao was able to see paths and recognize her similiarities with Rion Akao. She also managed to detect the presence of Natsuki Seba with ease even though he had his invisibility suit on, which resulted to be useless against Satoda.
Aikido Mastery: Satoda is known for her mastery of Aikido, which she uses to redirect or nullify attacks with minimal effort. Although Aikido is not a martial art suited for killing, Satoda's skills have allowed her to turn it into an effective tool for killing.
Equipment[]
Tanto: Satoda carries a tanto, which she used to attack Kanaguri with.
Battles and Events[]
- JCC Infiltration Arc
- Shin Asakura, Akira Akao & Natsuki Seba vs. Satoda
- Kanaguri vs. Satoda
Etymology[]
- The name Etsuko means "joy, pleased" (悦) (etsu) and "child" (子) (ko).
- Etsuko's surname Satoda means "village" (里) (sato) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta/da).
Trivia[]
- Satoda likes "Terminator 2" more than the original.
- Satoda is a fan of the show "A Clever Assassin's Life".
- Satoda was once offered to be part of The Order but she turned them down in order to teach students at the JCC.
- Both Byodo and Satoda were the only members of their class still alive when Satoda was offered to be part of The Order.