Daiba Hiromi (台馬 洋海, Daiba Hiromi; "Hiromi Daiba") is a game developer and the manager of the developers (運営管理者), on Protoporos island.
Appearance
Daiba is a tall, thin man with short, wavy hair, bushy eyebrows and sharp cheekbones. His two pupils never face the same direction, indicating a form of strabismus.[1] In the 6 years ago flashback of Chapter 407, Daiba has long hair. He is only shown wearing a suit.
Personality
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Daiba is very protective of his island and will go to great lengths to ensure its safety. This leads to him sometimes resorting to ruthless or violent tactics in order to protect the island's status quo.
Daiba is very passionate about video games. His favorite game is most likely the first version of Protoporos. He prefers simple games and believes the real enjoyment of video games comes from focusing on one game, playing alone, and playing the same game over and over. He joined Richard Arata's game company in order to create games in that style. Though he eventually gave up his dream because he learned those type of games do not sell well in the current market. Relating to his enjoyment of repetition, he wants the island to live forever. Though he knows that the island will not be able to last forever and is constantly worried over its fate.
Daiba also greatly admires Richard Arata, to the point of worshiping him. He refers to Arata as "god." When Hachina Naoki brings up the fact that Arata betrayed him, Daiba becomes extremely defensive and refuses to believe it.
Daiba also cares a lot about his comrades and the players. To the other developers, he pretends that everything is all-right while burdening himself with the island's more unsavory aspects. When the mob of players are coming to storm the HQ, he is hesitant to the idea of fighting back. He protects Hachina and Fujitsubo from being shot by Fukurou by taking the bullet himself. He also handles the re-allocation in his injured state instead of going to receive treatment.
History
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Daiba originally worked for Richard Arata's game company. He seemed to have reached a high position since
Kurashiki referred to him as "chief Daiba." The sudden disappearance of his boss, Arata, along with the company being sold to another one, made him "irritable and restless."[4]
6 years before the Protoporos Arc, Arata reappeared in front of Daiba. He gave Daiba a card containing 50 billion yen and entrusted him to make Protoporos a reality for him. Daiba accepted and soon bought Grivia Island for 1 billion yen. Daiba, Kurashiki and Fujitsubo moved to the island and worked on building it. Oginome and Endou arrived later.
Around half a year prior to the Ban match, Daiba found a collection of Huger banknotes from an outlaw.
Plot
Protoporos Arc
On the 3rd day of the Ban match, Midara Yuusuke enters negotiation with Daiba, regarding Kakerou's presence on the island. They make an agreement that Kakerou will be allowed to continue being on the island, but the referees must all wear the vest and be treated as a player.
Daiba is first seen interviewing Robert K through a computer screen. Only the lower half of his face is shown. In Chapter 358, he makes his formal debut with Midara, as they deal with the defeated Robert K.
In fear of future incidents like with Robert K, Daiba requests the referees to kill any player that is supposed to be exiled.[5]
During a meeting with the 4 chiefs, Daiba accidentally drops a Huger banknote.
Daiba and the developers oversee the "3 Kings Meeting," between Madarame Baku, Vincent Lalo and Nobuko. From this, the developers learn that the player known as "Hal," is actually the leader of Kakerou.
During the war, Daiba becomes increasingly frustrated with the lack of supplies.
Protoporos Nightmare
Worried over the future of the island, Daiba sends electric shocks to the vests worn by the referees. He uses this opportunity to kidnap Midara and send the single-task specialist, Arahata to capture Hachina. When Midara is tied up, Daiba pressures him into making Kakerou protect the island. Midara laughs at his proposal, calling Daiba a "hoodlum who thinks he's strong."[6]
Endou becomes suspicious of Daiba after finding the Huger currency Daiba obtained from the outlaws. He frees Midara and questions Daiba of selling the island without the knowledge of the other developers. Daiba, oblivious to the purpose of the currency being on the island in the first place, is shocked by this. He manages to convince Endou that he did not betray them. Meanwhile, the puppet Arata convinces Fujitsubo that Daiba sold the island and is planning to escape to Huger with the currency.
Hachina gets captured, on purpose, and is brought to the panopticon. Daiba attempts to convince Hachina to have Kakerou protect the island for him, but he refuses. Arata puts a bounty on Daiba, who is now believed to be a traitor to the developers. Fujitsubo, under the puppet Arata's orders, sends two masked outlaws to figure out Daiba's password for the main computer. One of the outlaws turns out to be Fukurou.
Daiba sees the incoming mob and is terrified. He tries to convince Hachina again to send in reinforcements to stop the incoming mob, as Daiba does not want to hurt the players. Hachina refuses again, as sending reinforcements is against the rules. Hachina does make a bet with Daiba though. The bet is if Hachina manages to stop the mob, Daiba will have to change the password to the main computer so that no one else can access it. Daiba, unknowing that Hachina previously requested Oofuna Gakuhito to come to the island, accepts.
Gakuhito ends up bringing together all the players. He leads them to the Developers HQ and negotiates the players' demands. Daiba, wanting to protect the players, accepts their requests for safety and lets them all stay in the HQ. The players are placed in the panopticon cells.
Air Poker Arc
Daiba shields Hal and Fujitsubo from being shot by Fukurou, getting shot instead. The bullet hits him in the shoulder area. He then exclaims that he completed his end of the bet with Hachina and blindly re-set his password, making it impossible for Fukurou to log on to the main computer. Fukurou then threatens to ruin the whole game by destroying the main computer itself. Referees Nowa Shion and Manabe Takumi propose a game between Hachina and Fukurou. They request the developers help in setting up the game, Air Poker. With no other choice, Daiba, being held up by Fujitsubo, accepts.
After Air Poker, Daiba, still suffering from his wound, creates the new Protoporos session on his computer. Fujitsubo says that Daiba will die if he does not have his injury treated and offers to do the re-allocation instead. Daiba refuses, saying it is his job and that he will stay until Baku becomes the Kaiser.[7] The rest of the developers form a crowd behind him as he crowns Madarame BK the new Kaiser.
After Air Poker, Daiba leads the surviving developers to one of the boats, previously brought by Arata. Unknowingly, they enter the boat occupied by the real Richard Arata. Arata congratulations them on "passing the test." Arata, Daiba and the rest of the developers are last seen looking out from the boat as it heads to Huger.
Relationships
- Richard Arata: Daiba seems to be the closest to Arata, compared to the rest of the developers' relationship with him. Since he was specifically chosen by Arata to manage the island. Arata calls Daiba, "Daiba-kun."
- Endou: As the chief of the neutral area, Daiba claims that Endou is the closest to the darkness, compared to the other developers. Thus, Daiba feels like he and Endou can understand each other the most. Endou believes Daiba when he says that he did not betray the developers. Endou passes away after telling the other three chiefs that Daiba is innocent and that Arata was the one who actually betrayed them. Daiba seems upset by Endou's death because he tells Fukurou, after being shot, that he will not allow him to kill his comrades anymore.[8]
- Fujitsubo: Fujitsubo was one of Daiba's co-workers at Arata's game company and one of the first people brought to the island with him. During the Nightmare, Fujitsubo goes against Daiba, as he believes Daiba is a traitor. After Endou tells the truth and Daiba takes a bullet for him, Fujitsubo realizes he was wrong. He then supports the wounded Daiba.
- Kurashiki: Kurashiki was one of Daiba's co-workers at Arata's game company and one of the first people brought to the island with him.
- Oginome:
Notes & Trivia
- Both Daiba and Arata's passwords are needed to access the main computer.
- A younger Daiba can be seen in Chapter 417, in the crowd of people surrounding Arata.
References
- ↑ https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%98%98%E5%96%B0%E3%81%84#%E3%83%97%E3%83%AD%E3%83%88%E3%83%9D%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B9%E9%96%A2%E4%BF%82%E8%80%85
- ↑ Chapter 360 (page 17)
- ↑ Chapter 407 (page 7)
- ↑ Chapter 470 (page 5)
- ↑ Chapter 364 (pages 11-12)
- ↑ Chapter 405 (page 15)
- ↑ Chapter 470 (page 8)
- ↑ Chapter 447 (page 10)