Neil Lee

Neil Lee (alias Takeo Takumi) is a citizen of Ousho and resident of Ousho City. He was born in 2393 to Ray and Stacy Lee, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He took up residency at the age of 1.5 years after his father gained entrance by request to the middle levels of management it the Corporation. He is an accomplished kendoka, with many hobbies and interests. He is the author, artist and host of his own manga-styled webcomic.

Early Life
Neil was born to Ray and Stacy Lee on May 24th 2393. Shortly after his birth, his mother was killed in an auto accident, leaving the workaholic father to care for him alone. When Neil was only a year and a half old, his father was requested by the Corporation, which had by chance heard of his natural business skill, to join their ranks as a mid-level manager. Taking the opportunity few men get, he left his frustrating job on Earth and made the journey to Ousho City.

Neil grew up on Ousho in the care of pre-school educators and daycare centers. There, he was exposed to the cultural aspects of life on Ousho, as well as the Japanese language. He did well in school (attending a small private one), showing above average intelligence and an aptitude for the Humanities. He took his adopted culture to heart, holding each aspect of it above any other. As a 12 year old, he began to dabble into the Otaku culture, and enrolled at a respected local kendo academy (Musō-ryū) at the age of 14. He began to explore other hobbies (his schooling essentially complete by his 15th birthday and his father's wealth affording him much in the way of allowance), developing skill in traditional games like Go and Shogi, as well as literary pursuits. He opted to wait on higher education after officially completing school at 16, deciding to continue his kendo and other personal studies.

Personal Life
Neil is a Japanophile. He spends a majority of his time either reading about or participating in all things Japanese. He is what they call on the streets a "tekiya" - a faker - a foreign kid who tries so very hard to be Japanese it hurts sometimes. He spends considerable amounts of time practicing his kendo kata, either outside at the Art Parks or at the dojo itself. The rest of his time is split between reading, gaming, and drawing, often with his friends Noriko Yuki and Susumu Yoshiro. He claims to meditate an hour before bed every day, and that it is the key to his sword-fighting abilities.

Appearance and Behavior
Neil is tall, pale, thin and somewhat unattractive, with dark hair and eyes. Bespectacled (when not practicing kendo) and a little quirky, he's a cool thinker who likes to plan and dream. He likes to think things through but is prone to ill judgment if things take too long. He carries about him a certain air; one that feels slightly forced. While not quite rude, he can be a bit full of himself when someone is acting in a fashion that rubs him the wrong way or crosses his personal beliefs. People he doesn't like off the bat he mocks constantly, even when the people in question aren't really doing anything. People frequently say they get the feeling he's looking down his nose at them.

To his friends he is nothing if not loyal. He spends as much time as he can with them, frequently inviting them over to his father's finely decorated apartment. His friends are aware that he comes off wrong to others, but they will comment that once you get to know Neil, he's not so bad after all.

Hobbies and Interests
Neil Lee, being the son of a well paid Corporate manager, has large amounts of free time and subsequently has a fair number of hobbies.

Arts and Crafts
Neil is skilled in bonsai and origami, skills he picked up as early as age 10 (origami) and 14 (bonsai). While his trees have never entered into a competition and are no match for the legendary works on display at museums city-wide, they're far from ugly and have a certain unique touch to them - or so says his friend Noriko. Interestingly, he practices shiburi - Japanese Artistic Rope Bondage. He keeps a mannequin in his room for the sole purpose of practicing this obscure art.

Computers
Neil picked up an interest in computers and general electronics growing up, being as he was steeped in the very materialistic culture all his life. He took it a step further than most people, and dabbled a bit in building, modding and repairing his own systems. He also picked up a small interest in software work, particularly in web design, which he puts to work hosting his own manga series.

Gaming
Neil is a prolific gamer, enjoying both video and board games. He has acquired some skill at both Go and Shogi, which has given him a better head for tactics.

Histories and Literature
Neil has a nose for the Humanities, the things that make life worth living. He is particularly strong in Japanese literature (other than manga) and Ancient Japanese history. He is also very fond of reading about the Samurai, a class of warriors he feels a strong affinity for. He's also reasonably skilled at poetry, which he writes from time to time.

Kendo and Kenjutsu
Neil's first "true love" was Kendo. Bored with home life (quiet and empty), he entered a local dojo and began taking lessons. Blessed with a natural grace, good reflexes and dexterity, he started out a small cut above the typical students. In the three years he has studied, he has entered two competitions and successfully placed (third out of one hundred) in his second one. He has obtained the rank of second dan. He keeps abreast of the subject when he's motivated, but spends most of his kendo-related energies on practice and equipment care. Kenjutsu is another subject that interests him. Unfortunately, kenjutsu is an illegal martial art in Ousho City, and books regarding it are on the banned books list. This frustrates him and prevents him from learning much about the subject. He has the idea that it is much like kendo, except with a host of fantastic techniques - from unstoppable attacks to impenetrable parries. This ties in with his skewed view of "real" Japanese swords to create a very imaginative interpretation of the combat style. One of his goals in life is to learn "kenjustsu", and spends time adapting his kendo knowledge to what he foresees as practical in a real sword-on-sword confrontation. To this end, he has purchased a bokken through his master, and "practices" with it.

Manga and Anime
Neil is a big fan of both manga and anime, owning an extensive collection on his vPad. He began drawing manga during his last few years of formal schooling, and has gotten pretty good at it. He draws, writes and hosts a minor webcomic, which receives a few dozen hits per month. He shares a number of favorites in common with Noriko and Susumu, but his absolute favorite series is "Watashi wa nihongo o hanasanai".

Religion, Philosophy and the Occult
Growing up in the post-Anti-Theistic era, Neil did not mature with a set religious belief. In the past few years, however, he has begun to study neoShinto, which is gaining popularity within the city. He has also dabbled in nuBuddism, but it did not take as well as neoShinto. He is undecided as to where he lies on the spectrum of belief, but he does possess good working knowledge of the belief. He takes the practice of meditation to heart, which he first picked up from his sensei at the kendo academy. The study has lead him to reading about old Japanese occult practices, which he keeps as a side project (mostly from a historical perspective) to try and find connections between the old ways and new interpretations. It's an expensive hobby; many written works were destroyed during the Anti-Thestic period. To date, he has spent 150 credits on a single, poor condition book on the subject, of which no digital copy seemed to exist.

Philosophical persuits came with the study of ancient Japan and the samurai. He has read numerous works on Bushido, from reprints of the original text to the Hagakure to a dozen other more recent works applying it outside it's original context. He has also read the book on Yuushido, which he enjoyed for its unique perspective. He has adopted a personal code of honor strongly based around Bushido, which has given him a stronger relationship with his sensei and his friend Susumu.

Street Samurai
Street Samurai (or at least his perception of them) are a dream. To Neil, they are wandering masters of the curved samurai sword, living a life of adventure, righting wrongs and serving justice. They are the hope for a rebirth of honor in a world of darkness, and represent a better world that could be made if we, as he puts it, "return to the sword". He wishes to leave his relatively uneventful life, to take up the sword and trench coat of his Street Samurai idols. This drives him ever harder towards mastering kendo and "uncovering" kenjutsu.

Swords
Naturally, Neil has a thing for swords. One of his life goals is to own at least one "real" nihonto, a neigh impossible feat planetside. He would also like to acquire some of the locally made swords, which he considers nothing more than knock-offs, regardless of quality. In particular, he loves katana and katana-like swords, particularly those in traditional style mountings. He briefly had the opportunity to purchase a military-style katana from the Neo Imperial Japanese Army, but chickened out at the last minute, afraid he would get arrested for owning an illegal weapon. He laments this to this day. He spends some of his time checking out the art blades on display at a few of the city museums. He has, on at least one occasion, dreamt about stealthily breaking in and absconding with a few of them.

His opinion on the functional aspect of these swords is a bit flawed. While he accepts "knock offs" and the military style swords as functional weapons, he ascribes properties to traditionally made nihonto that just aren't true. He misunderstands and misinterprets many aspects of the swordmaking process. He holds a belief that traditionally made nihonto can hold edges so sharp and hard that they can severe "lesser" blades, cut multiple opponents standing next to each other, shear through metal defenses and literally split the air before it (the tachi-kaze). He links these properties to the steel used, the quenching process, and above all the fact that the blade is "folded". Unfortunately, information planetside is difficult to come by, so these delusions are not easily shaken.

Goals and Desires
Neil is a rich kid and has very few material wants. Like most people, however, he chases things he cannot have. His strongest desire is to learn what he considers to be real "kenjutsu". There are few things he wouldn't do to be exposed to this elite martial art, the "king of kings" in swordsmanship. In the mean time, he has set for himself a lofty goal of constructing his own sword art based around his knowledge of kendo. He uses the bokken he purchased through his sensei for these pursuits, performing kata including his modified, theoretical strikes. He has yet to test them against another person in a sparring match, however, as kendo has stringent rules.

His second strongest desire is to bring back a golden age of honor, and righteousness. An age where everyone good is truthful, honorable and upright paragons of Bushido. An age of clans and adventure, of battles fought and one by the sword. To this end he follows his interpretation of Bushido, constantly commenting on it as he does so.

His third strongest desire is to confess his love for his friend Noriko, sweeping her off her feet and making her his alone - just like out of one of his animes.

He has also determined that if he ever found a way, he would amass an impressive collection of old Japanese blades. He's one step further on this goal; he owns a synthetic bokken and has actually purchased a (somewhat inaccurate) replica of samurai body armor.

Likes and Dislikes
Neil likes (almost) all things Japanese automatically. If it is Japanese or something associated with it, he will put in extra time and effort to understand it based on that principal alone. If it's Japanese and he dislikes it for some reason, he'll try to put the blame on outside corruption. Conversely, he automatically dislikes all things that are not Japanese. He also strongly dislikes guns, considering them cowardly weapons that allow the craven, unskilled thugs to exert their will on the world. He has resolved never to use one. He also strongly dislike people who are "too crass" or unlike him, as he considers them unintelligent morons who could never understand things like honor and dignity. This is especially true to men who are disrespectful to women (which, in his world, includes a majority of men who make sexually suggestive comments to women, even those that they are actively seeing, dating or sleeping with).

Relationships with Others

 * Noriko Yuki - close friend and secret crush. Fellow martial artist, though she studies Naginatado at a different (but close by) dojo.  They share a lot in common, but Neil has failed to find the words to appeal to her.


 * Susumu Yoshiro - best friend and fellow kendoka. Shares much in common with Neil, especially when it regards swords and sword-fighting.  They've decided they would become "partners in crime" if either of them finally decided to go full "Street Samurai".


 * Ray Lee - the absent, workaholic father. They understand that he is not a part of his son's life.  Neil laments this, but is compensated with money and the knowledge that his father's workaholic attitude is what allowed him to come here in the first place.  Loves him for it.


 * Miyazaki Satsumiryu - Sensei at Musō-ryū, Neil's sort-of "adopted father".


 * Taichi Yoshiro - Neil's "arch nemesis", a kendoka from a rival school that out-did him for second place in last year's competition. Frequents the spots in the Art Park where he likes to practice, and has on one occasion challenged him to a duel - which never panned out due to a torrential rainstorm.