Shiki Futaki

Shiki Futaki
Information
Title	Student
Nickname	Emoji Mark-II [絵文字MK-II・えもじマークフー] (Tomoko)
Gender	Female
Hair	Pinkish Silver (Dyed)
Eyes	Unknown

Shiki Futaki (二木四季, Futaki Shiki^?) starts as a background character and is currently Tomoko's high school classmate in her third year. Like Emiri Uchi, her face is primarily drawn like an emoticon. For much of the series thus far, unlike Uchi, her face does not change unless she eats focaccia. When Tomoko watches her streaming gamer videos, the lower-half of her face appears normal. Her ambition is to become a professional gamer.

Overview

Futaki initially does not reveal a personality, and in her subsequent next appearances she reveals little, if any, emotion. She first appears in one panel on Yoshida, Mako, and Yuri's shoulders in the cavalry battle when they and Tomoko cannot find each other. Otherwise, these four main characters do not interact with her, and in Chapter 128 Kotomi, who sits to Futaki's right in homeroom, reminds Itō that she also sits next to Futaki, but Itō confesses that she does not really know her.

As with many characters in WataMote, details about her trickle in. She is not a loner; Chapter 128 reveals she has a number of currently unidentified male friends. Tomoki sees her practicing full splits alone amongst the shoe lockers. She does not, however, appear as a cheerleader in previous chapters or subsequent chapters. In Chapter 119, Yuri and Mako notice her furiously playing a video game at the arcade, and in Chapter 128, Futaki reveals great skill at the shooting gallery by hitting all of the targets which earns the praise of one of her currently unnamed male friends. Immediately afterwards, she silently gives to Itō the award she just won. Her correction that a suggested destination from the same male friend is "now closed," reveals she has been to the park before.

She does appear devoted to and skilled at various video games. This appears to translate to excellence in marksmanship and table tennis. She later confesses that she is not good at team sports. In Chapter 147, she claims that she intends to attend university but wishes to become a professional gamer. Tomoko discovers her gaming channel in Chapter 176 and notes how she has improved the popularity of her videos over time.

Koharu Minami, seeking to find others to have lunch with, becomes intrigued with Shiki and starts hanging out with her.

Personality

While Futaki initially does not appear to have much of a personality, she does seem to have male friends, and she does not shun social interaction: when invited by Yoshida's friend Anna join them when she is sitting alone, she does and even plays games with them and Tomoko. She reveals embarrassment when discussing with Yoshida's other friend Reina how she lost badly in majong as Reina playfully teases her. After easily beating opponents at table tennis, in the background she demonstrates her technique to Tomoko and Katō. After the end of the intramurals in Chapter 154, she confesses to Tomoko, Yuri, Hina, and Katō that since that was the first and probably last time they would play together, she wished they had won the championship.

WataMote Wiki understands the dangers of applying psychiatric diagnoses to fictional characters; however, she appears to have a flat affect, and her appearance as described below suggests that this is intentional: Shiki rarely shows emotion. The few times, such as when she enjoys her bread, are depicted as extraordinary. Minami inwardly both admires and despises her ability to show no reaction to insults or to the "otaku" boys who clearly gather around her when she plays the dancing game in the hopes of glimpsing her panties! Her reactions to others do appear "flat" and sometimes inappropriate, such as her suddenly and wordlessly leaving her lunch with Minami to go work out.

However, there are glimpses that she has awareness of feelings. Tomoko notes that she has over time allowed her gaming videos to focus on her superior posterior stylishness to attract more viewers. This includes views of her entirely normal smiling lower face. In her thus far brief relationship with Minami, she shows she picks up on signals even if she does not appear to react to them: she appears bothered by Sachi's "creep" insult; she recognizes that Minami has fought with her trio of friends; she sees Sachi alone and suggests that Minami go and talk to her; she is bothered by Minami's absence at her lunch-time workouts and expresses this awkwardly to her; and she apologizes to Minami for interfering.

When she interacts directly with Sachi again, she perhaps betrays a slight amount of irritation. When Sachi decides to invite her to join her and Koharu as they try to use the ride her class is building, Shiki flatly asks if it is okay since she is a "creep." When Sachi then recommend that they both man the pole to make the ride work, Shiki calmly insists that she, herself, can push it so both Sachi and Koharu can ride. She does this and perhaps monomaniacally accelerates her pushing until the ride actually breaks. She previously dismissed the insult to Koharu by explaining that one hears a lot worse when gaming and one gains revenge by destroying the opponent. She certainly does not insult Sachi, but she tends to remain silent even when gaming. If she badmouths her opponents, it has not been depicted. Nevertheless, while one could interpret Shiki's actions as a way of needling and then defeating Sachi, that remains speculation at this point.

As with all WataGirls™, she is a "work in progress": stay tuned!

Appearance

Her emoticon face consists of two large "dots" for eyes, and aside from the first panel she appears in where her mouth is a small "dash," her mouth usually appears as a triangle: ▵. This is very similar to the character Danbō from the manga series Yotstuba to, a comparison Tomoko makes herself in Chapter 176. Her mouth finally changes in Chapter 154 to a ω when she eats focaccia.

The Lady Smiles

She remains as such until Tomoko discovers her streaming gamer channel where she reveals a more normal lower part of her face smiling. Other than that, her face remains unchanged until she, to the shock of Akane and Koharu, laughs over a risqué occurrence. In the Volume 23 Omake, Koharu suggests that she should smile more.

She gathers her hair into twin-tails which the color covers of Volumes 15 and 19 suggests is dyed a pinkish silver. In the bath and sauna in Chapter 214-2, she wears her hair down. She stands about the same height as Hikari Itō who comes up to Tomoki Kuroki's shoulders in Chapter 134 while Tomoko comes up to his face. This should mean Futaki is shorter than Tomoko, yet when they sit next to one another in Chapter 147, Futaki appears slightly taller though Tomoko is slouching.

Anime

• None

Manga

• Volume 9: Chapters 88, Omake
• Volume 12: Chapters 119, 122
• Volume 13: Chapters 123, 128, Omake
• Volume 15: Chapters 144, 145, 147, 149, 151
• Volume 16: Chapters 154, 159
• Volume 17: Chapters 162, 163, 164
• Volume 18: Chapters 173, 176, Special Edition
• Volume 19: Chapters 181, 182, 183.5, 184-1
• Volume 20: Chapters 185, 186-1, 187, 188, 190, 191, 192-1
• Volume 21: Chapters 195, 197, 199-2
• Volume 22: Chapters 200-1, 200-2, 203
• Volume 23: Chapters 206, 207, 210-2, 211, 211.5, 212, Omake
• Volume 24: Chapters 213-1, 213-3, 214-1, 214-2, 214-3, 215, 216-1
• TBA: Chapters 217-1, 220-1, 220-2, 222-1, 222-2

(Strikethrough episodes or chapters indicate the character was mentioned but did not make a physical appearance)

Relationships

Tomoko Kuroki

Tomoko appears to pay little, if any, attention to her until Chapter 147 where she notices her furiously playing a dancing game at an arcade. She inwardly nicknames Futaki "Emoji Mark II" (絵文字MK-II・えもじマークフー). Ironically, Tomoko learns her first name in that same chapter. Later in the background, she and Katō watch and listen to her demonstrate and explain her table tennis technique. She is surprised by Futaki's discussion of how they, Yuri, Katō, and Hina all played together for the first and probably last time during the school intramurals in Chapter 154, and Tomoko inwardly describes her as a "Little Weirdo (不思議ちゃん・fushigichan)" while conceding that she has more depth to her than she thought. Tomoko is also shocked at how her face finally changes when she eats focaccia.

Taking a study break, Tomoko decides to explore live stream gaming. When she searches for female gamers, she finds Shiki's channel which focuses upon her gyrating posterior.

Tomoko comes to rely on and appreciate Shiki's video editing skills during her production of her film for the Cultural Festival. As Tomoko watches Shiki work, she thinks that if not for "Emoji Mk 2," it would have been an editing disaster. She pictures both Emiri and Shiki's faces with both wearing headdresses: "She's not 'Mk 2' anymore, she's Z."

Emiri Uchi

Emiri may know who she is in that as part of her tantrum over not being placed in Tomoko's classroom 3-5, Emiri rants when Futaki calmly remarks, "Oh. 3-5," when she reads the assignment lists. This could also be simply Emiri's frustration over someone else getting assigned to the class since she currently has had no further material interaction with her.

Mako Tanaka & Yuri Tamura

Both recall her when they meet for a class party and see her rapidly playing a video game. They also remember her as part of their cavalry challenge team, though they do not identify her by name. In Chapter 144 the new seating lottery places Yuri in the seat behind and to the left of Futaki. Yuri will invite her to help her play a "Spot the Difference" game in a restaurant in Chapter 154.

Anna Haruna & Reina & Masaki Yoshida

Anna first notices Futaki sitting alone in the eating area of an arcade. She invites her over, and Futaki eventually joins them in games. She loses badly to Anna in majong, and Reina will invite her to join her and Anna again for another game. The title-page of Chapter 173 depicts both Anna and Reina enjoying watching Futaki play Maimai. While Masaki thus far does not have direct personal interactions with Futaki, when she successfully obtains her driver's license, she includes Futaki in her celebratory drive.

Koharu Minami

Winning the WataMote Most Unlikely Paring Award, Koharu first really notices Shiki during gym class where Shiki displays her skills. Seeking people to have lunch with, Minami decides to join her since she eats alone. She finds Shiki's behavior odd, particularly when Shiki suddenly leaves. She follows her to a workout area where Shiki performs bench press repetitions. Somehow intrigued by this different personality, Koharu follows her to the arcade to watch her play. She at first feels embarrassed that Shiki is joined by a number of boys she has insulted in the past, but Shiki assures her that gamers are use to such things. Unfortunately, Sachi finds her and acidly suggests that she is fine with Minami remaining with the "creeps."

Embarrassed, Minami vainly tries to hide from Shiki on their bus. Shiki notices this and later, in class, asks if she is okay with what happened the day before. Minami assumes it is in regard to her behavior to the boys and, in particular, Sachi's insult. However, Shiki remains expressionless and dismisses insults as something that always happens to gamers. Her lack of a reaction starts to upset Minami. When Shiki clarifies that she meant a conflict between Minami and her trio, Minami lashes out at her.

During her lunch-time workout, Shiki appears to notice the absence of Minami. When they meet on the bus ride home, Minami apologizes for snapping at her. Shiki apologizes for assuming too much about her friendships, but she does suggest that Minami talk to Sachi. She confesses that, while it does not matter if Minami accompanies her during her workouts, she prefers that she is there.

Sachi Mima

They have no interaction until Sachi sees Koharu with her at the arcade and calls her a "creep (キモい)." The insult does seems to affect Shiki as she repeats it out loud to her Otaku Posse. Shiki will remember this. When she sees Sachi later, she recalls her both with and without a face calling her that. Minami inadvertently calls out to her when she and Sachi are playing with the "Coffee Cup" ride Class 3–4 is constructing for the festival. While irritated, Sachi feigns friendliness and asks if she wants to join them. "I'm a creep, though, is it okay?" Shiki responds. Sachi wonders how she could remember, and her opinion of "this bitch," does not change. Privately to Koharu, she rages that she hates girls like Shiki who will not read the mood and fit in with everyone else. When they break the ride, Shiki insists on fixing it to Sachi's further irritation. In response to Sachi's demands that she learn to fit in, Shiki admits while she does not fit in could they fit in with her and help her.

Hikari Itō

Prior to the seat changes in Chapter 144, she sits next to Itō, but Itō does not know anything about her. Nevertheless, Futaki wordlessly gives her the commemorative medal she wins at a shooting gallery in Chapter 128. Currently, they have had no significant further interaction.

Akane Okada

While they do not have much interaction for much of the series thus far, Chapter 206 reveals that Shiki has been working closely with Akane to film and edit her "BE FOOL, BE COOL" movie for the Cultural Festival.

Memorable quotes

• "Oh. 3-5."– remarking on her third-year classroom assignment.
• "Since I'm not good with team play I did table tennis. This was my first time working together with everyone. It was fun."
• "I'm a creep, though, is it okay?" – to Sachi
• "While I don't match with others, it is okay if you two match up with me and help me to fix this?" – to Sachi Mima
• "She's not 'Mk 2' anymore, she's Z." – Tomoko Kuroki inwardly complimenting Shiki
• "There are technically other choices, but I'll respect my daughter's wishes and choose prostitute." – commenting on an arcade game played with other WataGirls.

Trivia

• She is a very good shot as revealed in the shooting gallery.
• She is also very flexible.
• She plays video games.
• "Futaki" (二木) literally means "two trees"; "Shiki" (四季) literally means "four seasons."
• She shares her name with Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Kota Futaki.
• "A Face that Launched a Thousand Ships": as explained in detail in the Trivia of Chapter 154, Futaki's mouth when she eats focaccia/pizza is a reference to the character Kaho from the manga The End of Goldfish Kingdom (金魚王国の崩壊・Kingyo Ōkoku no Hōkai).

Image Gallery

First appearance of the unnamed Futaki in Chapter 88.

Mako and Yuri recognize Futaki playing a video game.

Emiri briefly pauses her tantrum when she realizes Futaki is in Tomoko's class and she is not.

Futaki's first spoken words.

Her name is revealed.

Futaki wordlessly gives Itō the badge she won.

Futaki Viewed from Behind
"Because Twin Tails!"

Futaki gives her full name:
Shiki Futaki (二木四季・ふたきしき)

"You Don't F[CENSORED - Ed.]k with the Futaki!"

Futaki willingly demonstrates her technique in the background.

"Play with us, Tomoko!"
"FOREVER!"

Futaki Really Likes Focaccia!
WataMote Wiki does not judge.

Futaki Really Does Not Like Mike's Cooking.

Futaki in Color!
From Volume 15 cover.

Tomoko recognizes Shiki's superior posterior.

The "Real" Shiki
かわいい！

Tomoko's Imagination
Tomoko notes that by just revealing the lower part of her face, Shiki encourages viewers to imagine her as beautiful, as Tomoko does in this case.

Stylish Shiki is Stylish!
"Deal with it!"

Futaki in Color!
Volume 19

Shown: "SHE LAUGHED!!?"

Sauna Shiki!

Bleary-Eyed Shiki

Smiling Shiki!