Kakugari

Kakugari (カクガリ, crew cut^?), real name Hiroyuki (ヒロユキ, Hiroyuki^?), is one of Ataru Moroboshi's friends and classmates and a member of Lum's Stormtroopers.

Biography

Kakugari is the main muscle of Lum's Stormtroopers, acting as Megane's main enforcer and guard, using his larger build to help Megane with most of the group's physical tasks. Despite his physique he is usually of little use and spends more time running away with his fellow troopers or backstabbing each other whenever their love for Lum divides them. He is the least used of the stormtroopers, often seen with Chibi who acts as the frequent victim of his bullying.

Appearance

Kakugari is the largest and stoutest member of the stormtroopers, easily towering over his peers with his large build and sporting far more muscle than the rest. True to his nickname, he is always sporting his signature crew cut hairstyle. He is almost always seen in his school uniform and for casual clothing he is usually sports a sweater, dark pants and sneakers. Occasionally when his face is seen up-close he may show signs of having freckles.

Personality

Kakugari is the most temperamental member of the stormtroopers, besides Megane of course, and usually comes off as ill-tempered. Because of this he is used most often as the group's bodyguard and enforcer due to his willingness to bully others (mostly Ataru or Chibi) on the group's behalf. Like his fellow troopers, Kakugari is obsessed with Lum and will stop at nothing to split her and Ataru up to give the stormtroopers a chance at winning her over, and when it seems like they may succeed they will not hesitate to backstab each other and pummel each other to win Lum for themselves. Due to his obsession with Lum, he spends most of his free time with his peers talking about Lum, spying on Lum or ogling her photos and memorabilia, and when not doing that he is engaging in typical otaku culture, often enjoying scifi, books, manga, anime and films with Megane and the rest. Out of the stormtroopers he seems closest to Chibi, although their friendship is far from stable, with Chibi often acting as the most frequent victim of Kakugari's bullying and choke-holds, although all of the troopers tend to take their rage out on Chibi to varying degrees.

Trivia

• In the final episode of the Urusei Yatsura anime series and the subsequent Shonen Sunday Graphic magazine, Kakugari's real name is revealed to be Hiroyuki.
  • He may have been named after Hiroyuki Kameyama, a member of the show's animation department.
• Multiple times through out the anime, Kakugari has either freckles or has none.
• In the manga, Kakugari like the rest of his fellow stormtroopers (with the possible exception of Perm technically being Kōsuke Shirai) disappeared early on and his character was never elaborated upon when compared to the anime, with his role usually being shared with Kosuke or one of Kosuke's two friends. Despite this, the character remained a mainstay of the franchise along with his fellow stormtroopers, making cameos in subsequent works.
  • Kakugari is the only member of Lum's Stormtroopers still credited by his nickname in the 2022 series. However, oddly enough, although he's portrayed as Kosuke's friend and still is everyone's classmate, Hokuto seems to take his position as member of the quartet like in Episode 3b (2022) and Episode 6b (2022), even taking over one of Kakugari's few roles in the manga from Chapter 10.
• Kakugari along with Ataru and the rest of Lum's Stormtroopers made a cameo appearance in the Inuyasha spin off series Yashahime where they appear as a gang of local hoodlums in Episode 2.
• His second seiyū provided the voice of Shingo from Ranma ½ (2024).

Media Appearances

Manga

Anime

Gallery

Kakugari and the other stormtroopers when they were 7 years old. (Episode 28)

Kakugari in the manga (second from the right)