Kenji Kondou

Kenji is the clown of our group; he’s what Sakura would call “a cowardly admirer of women,” and that’s not a bad description. Surprisingly, he’s the Student Council President at the Tatsumiya Island Junior High School (because no on ran against him), but most people don’t realize this (they all assume Soushi is). Kenji is very good friends with Sakura and Mamoru and the three are students at the local dojo, run by Sakura’s father. Although he is very frank about how frightened he is to fight in the Fafner, he makes an amazing amount of growth over the course of the series—for Sakura’s sake. He has always admired her as one of her goons/toadies, but after seeing her afraid in the midst of battle, he realizes that he needs to become stronger so that he can protect her.

Kenji lives with his mother, Ayano, and the two share a very close, affectionate relationship (although Ayano often throws things at his head and calls him “baka musuko” (“idiot son”). He is the pilot of Mark VIII.