Shu Izumi (和泉 柊羽 Izumi Shū) is an idol under TSUKINO TALENT PRODUCTION. He is a member, the leader, and producer of the unit QUELL.
Appearance
Shu is a man of average height, with fawn-colored hair and light blue eyes. He has three earrings, two in his left ear and one in his right.
Due to his calm and refined personality, he is sometimes mistaken for being older than he actually is.[1]
Personality
"Gently powerful, cooly passionate. The leader of QUELL who creates songs of prayer." -TSUKINO PARADISE profile[2]
Shu is a calm and mature individual with good leadership qualities, allowing him to bring the members of QUELL together and become almost like a family. He has also shown himself to be exceptionally kind, as seen by his willingness to take the twins in despite only just meeting them. It has been said that he carries himself with grace and dignity.[2]
He can sometimes be a little over-protective of his band-mates, especially the twins due to their age and upbringing, and has a tendency to spoil them. However, according to Ichiru he sometimes has a terrifying tendency to say shocking things with a completely serene look on his face.[2]
History
Before his debut as an idol Shu apparently had a complicated and difficult childhood, which has left a lasting impression on him.[2]
Although he is currently the leader of QUELL, as a teenager he was formerly in the same idol group as Shiki from SolidS, Takaaki from VAZZY, Rei & Roa from infinit0, and two other unnamed individuals. The group was extremely popular and well-known nationwide, but due to creative differences Shiki eventually left the group and not long after the group went their separate ways.[3]
In June, 2015, Shu first encountered Eichi Horimiya, who was working as an assistant director at a TV studio in Tokyo, on the set of a musical variety show. By this point Shiki had already parted ways with the national unit, but the unit was still active. Shu and Eichi quickly became friends after this encounter, and would frequently text & talk to each other on the phone, and meet up when their schedules were both free.[1]
Plot
2016
- Age: 22
- Height: 178 cm
At some point in late March/early April in 2016, Shu encountered Ichiru and Issei Kuga while on a press tour in Sapporo, shortly before his unit would announce their indefinite hiatus. After learning of their difficult circumstances he offered to take them back to Tokyo with him.
He then introduced the twins to the president of TSUKINO PRODUCTIONs who eventually agreed for them to debut as idols. While leaving the meeting the trio ran into Eichi, who was promptly invited out to dinner with them by Shu. Over the course of dinner, Shu proposed that Eichi should become their unit manager causing interesting reactions in the others. Eichi instantly panicked at the suggestion meanwhile the twins were confused about being in a unit; Shu failed to communicate his intentions clearly.
Eventually, Eichi decided to take Shu up on his offer and soon quit his AD job to become QUELL's manager. Thanks to his skills from his previous job combined with his friendly personality Eichi proved to be a competent manager and enjoys fussing over everyone, especially the twins. One day the twins suggested that Eichi should become an idol too, due to his good looks and impressive dancing skills, rather than be their manager. Eichi once again panics at the suggestion, but Shu agreed that it would be a good idea; leading to the full formation of QUELL.[4]
2017
- Age: 23
- Height: 178 cm
2018
- Age: 24
- Height: 178 cm
2019
- Age: 25
- Height: 178 cm
2020
- Age: 26
- Height: 178 cm
2021
- Age: 27
- Height: 178 cm
2022
- Age: 28
- Height: 178 cm
Relationships
QUELL
Eichi Horimiya - Shu encountered Eichi as an AD on the set of one of his TV dramas, the two quickly became friends due to Eichi's friendly personality. Shu was the one who eventually recruited Eichi to become a member of QUELL. The two get along extremely well; due to Shu often working late hours Eichi has a tendency to look after Shu (ie. cooking him special dinners if he's going to come home late that won't upset his stomach). Eichi seems to hold great admiration for Shu, Ichiru often uses this as a point to tease Eichi and get him easily flustered. Similarly, Shu admires Eichi for the fact that despite becoming an idol he's still able to see things from their fans perspective due to his empathetic nature; according to Shu this is rare in the entertainment industry and is something to be commended.[4]
At the 2017 S.Q.P. when asked who they thought was different from their initial impression Shu answered that he felt Eichi was more compassionate, talented and flexible than he expected.[5]
Issei Kuga - Despite barely knowing Issei and his brother when he first met them Shu was moved by the twins unfortunate circumstances, leading to him bringing them back to Tokyo with him. Issei and Ichiru later said that this was so kind of him that it almost seemed suspicious, but they quickly found that he was doing it because he genuinely wished to help them.[5]
Since then, Shu has become over-protective of the twins, especially Issei due to his weaker disposition and more introverted personality. Issei and Shu also bond over their mutual love of reading, Shu often recommends books to the twins but Issei is the only one who actually reads them.[2]
Ichiru Kuga - Due to his protective nature when it comes to his twin Ichiru was initially very distrustful of Shu and found him suspicious but he has since warmed up to him considerably. After learning that despite Ichiru being fond of cake he only ever got to eat it on his birthday Shu has since been frequently buying Ichiru cake. When Ichiru asked him why Shu said "no particular reason".[2]
SolidS
Shiki Takamura - Due to their history in a unit together, Shu is one of the few people who has made a lasting friendship with Shiki. Due to Shu being the younger of the two Shu looked up to Shiki as his senpai, and was greatly upset when Shiki decided to leave their unit.[6] Despite this, the two have remained friends due to both being under the management of Tsukino Productions and eventually in the same series (SQ).
Shiki periodically invites Shu out for drinks (alcoholic), but Shu always ends up drinking tea because he can't handle alcohol. The two are also fans of soba and frequently go out and find good restaurants to eat at.[2]
Rikka Sera - In addition to having known Shiki for a long time Shu has also been familiar with Rikka prior to him joining SolidS, presumably due to Rikka's background as a model.[2]
VAZZY
Takaaki Mamiya - In addition to knowing Shiki for a long time Shu has also known Takaaki since his debut due to being in the same unit. However, unlike Shiki, he and Takaaki have apparently not kept in touch much and aren't really friends anymore.[7]
Appellation
| Appellation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Nickname from Shu | Nickname for Shu | |
| QUELL | |||
 |
Shu Izumi | Shu Ore |
/ |
 |
Eichi Horimiya | Eichi Horimiya-san |
Shu Izumi-san |
 |
Issei Kuga | Issei | Shu Izumi-san |
 |
Ichiru Kuga | Ichiru Icchi |
Shu |
 |
Hiro Yuduki | Yuduki-san | Izumi-san |
| SOARA | |||
 |
Sora Ohara | / | Shu-san |
| Growth | |||
 |
Koki Eto | Koki | Shu-san |
 |
Kensuke Yaegashi | / | Shu |
 |
Ryota Sakuraba | / | Shu-san |
 |
Mamoru Fujimura | / | Shu-san |
| SolidS | |||
 |
Shiki Takamura | Shiki Shi-kun Senpai Onii-chan |
Shu |
 |
Tsubasa Okui | / | Shu Papa Shu |
 |
Rikka Sera | Rikka | Shu |
 |
Dai Murase | Dai | Shu |
| VAZZY | |||
 |
Takaaki Mamiya | Takaaki | Shu Shu-kun |
 |
Naosuke Oyama | / | Shu-san |
| infinit0 | |||
 |
Roa Mikaze | / | Shu |
| Six Gravity | |||
 |
Hajime Mutsuki | Hajime | / |
 |
Haru Yayoi | Haru | Shu-san |
 |
Kanade Tsukishiro | / | Shu-kun |
| Procellarum | |||
 |
Rui Minaduki | Rui | / |
 |
Kai Fuduki | Kai | / |
 |
Shun Shimotsuki | Shun | Shu |
| Other | |||
 |
Keito Takamura | Keito | Shu |
| Mikoto Tsukino | President | / | |
| Staff | / | Shu-san | |
Etymology
Trivia
- His catch phrase for 2021 is "Where there is a will, there is a way."
- As revealed in Episode 3, Shu was in a drama series called "Running Is Disgraceful, But It's Better Than Dying".[3]
- Six Gravity's Aoi Satsuki and Procellarum's Shun Shimotsuki both made an appearance in the shows finale, to the surprise of Shu who was not informed before shooting.[8]
- He seems to like making white sauce as seen in Episode 3.[3]
- Due to debuting when he was quite young Shu has never had a part-time job.[9]
- Shu can't handle alcohol, according to Eichi he prefers to drink black tea with carbonated water instead.[2]
- Shu gave Issei chocolate on Valentine's day, and his comments suggest he may have given the other members of QUELL chocolate's too.[2]
- His favourite dessert is cheesecake.[5]
- People have a tendency to think Shu is a lot older than he actually is, possibly due to his mature appearance and calm personality. This bothers him occasionally.[2]
- One of his hobbies is going to shrines and temples, as well as reading about them; he says their calming atmosphere puts him at ease. He also likes to meditate occasionally.[2]
- He seems to be very fond of plants, greenery, and forests. This can be seen in some of the decor choices of QUELL's apartment.[2][3]
- In addition to his alcohol intolerance he also can't handle cigarettes apparently.[4]
- Due to having a lot of money from being an idol for so long Shu seems to have a bad grasp of whats expensive and what isn't. He once bought Eichi an extremely expensive wristwatch and has a tendency to buy the twins expensive gifts too.[10]
- Shu has a high tolerance for scary things like horror movies and haunted houses, he and Shiki are tied for the least easy to scare out of the members of SQ.[9]
- He is extremely proficient in English, as heard in NEMOPHILA & his solo End of Night. Eichi has even caught him sleep-talking in English.[9]
- He shares his birthday with ALTAIR THEATER's Itsuki Nagata.
- He's half English; his Father is William Spencer, a famous composer.[11]
- Shu likes to hang out in the kitchens during meal times as much as possible because he sees it as valuable bonding time with the other QUELL members.[12]
- When several of the TSUKINO idols were discussing their favorite songs by other units Shu said SOARA's Roundabout was one of his. He called it a nice and catchy song that he felt can be popular with lots of people. His next recommendation was Shou Onoda's Utopia, saying it gives you a mysterious feeling of being wrapped by gentle sounds. The last song he liked is Growth's Hidamari ni Saku, calling it a song filled with love and hope, saying it feels like flower petals will dance in the sky.[13]
- Although the salary is transferred to the twins' accounts, Shu and Eichi still spend 20,000 yen each month for the twins and they can only withdraw when consulting with them. The goal is to teach Issei and Ichiru how to spend money in a healthy manner.[14]
- He knows a bit German, having learned it when he was doing a job.[15]
- In Gekkan TSUKIPROINFO Tokubetsu Gou 2017 Q&A, Eichi mentioned that he and Shu had their first argument, but they made up right after that.[14]
- In Gekkan TSUKIPROINFO Tokubetsu Gou 2018 Profile, Shu likes and good at: visit temple, forest bathing (shinrinyoku), reading, piano, nap, soba, sushi, shaddock, bath. While his dislikes and bad at are: liquor, crowd, noise and fat.[12]
- During a segment on the various TSUKINO Twitter accounts where listeners voted on character & song images on a four way axis with MILD & WILD on one scale, and SEXY & CUTE on the other, Shu's image was voted as mostly MILD with a SEXY coming in a close second for his next trait.[16]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 What is Left Behind, What Remains, and Then On
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Originally from TSUKINO PARADISE, English translation provided by Quell-tea-salon on Tumblr.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Episode 3
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 English translation provided by Quell-tea-salon on Tumblr.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Originally from S.Q.P. -SQ PARTY 2017 SUMMER-, English translation provided by Quell-tea-salon on Tumblr.
- ↑ Episode 11
- ↑ Originally from Kokoro、 Hiraite, English translation provided by Ryota-kunstranslations on Tumblr.
- ↑ Episode 12
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Originally from SQ Twitter, English translation provided by Quell-tea-salon on Tumblr.
- ↑ Originally from QUERadi, English translation provided by Quell-tea-salon on Tumblr.
- ↑ Originally from Tachimukau、 Ima, English translation provided by ameagarinoUFO on Twitter.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Gekkan TSUKIPROINFO Tokubetsu Gou 2018 (translated by Shero on Twitter)
- ↑ English translations by ameagarinoUFO on Twitter.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Gekkan TSUKIPROINFO Tokubetsu Gou 2017
- ↑ ROMEO - in the darkness -
- ↑ SQ/ALIVE on SQ Official Twitter)