TV-Series
Description
Isao Kako is a first-year middle school student and one of the children selected to pilot the giant robot Zearth. Standing at 150 centimeters tall with B-type blood, he is a deeply troubled and insecure young teenager. His negative personality traits are largely a product of his environment; he is constantly bullied by a group of peers and acts as their errand boy to avoid more severe abuse. This powerlessness in his social life manifests as cruelty toward the one person beneath him in the social hierarchy, a kind-hearted and shy classmate named Yosuke Kirie, who is also his only friend. Kako bosses Kirie around constantly because it is the only time he feels a sense of control and superiority, and his friend endures this mistreatment without complaint.
At home, Kako is described as a spoiled child whose parents allow him to do almost anything, a dynamic that frustrates his older sister. He harbors significant resentment toward his family, lashing out at them verbally and treating his mother with particular cruelty, especially after learning of his fate. His relationship with his classmates is more complicated. He develops a strong, obsessive crush on a fellow pilot named Chizuru Honda. This infatuation is not born of genuine affection but of a desperate, lustful obsession fueled by his fear of dying a virgin.
When first introduced to the robot combat game, Kako is excited, naively hoping that piloting Zearth will make him famous. However, upon learning the terrible price of piloting that the pilot dies after their battle, he suffers an immediate and severe mental breakdown. He locks himself in his room, terrified of being called to fight. His psychological state is worsened by the manipulative entity known as Dung Beetle, who visits him and whispers that the other children are leaving him out of the loop and making fun of him behind his back, further isolating him in his panic. Convinced he has no time left and his judgment shattered by fear, Kako decides to act on his darkest impulses. With the intention of raping Chizuru so he will not die a virgin, he goes to her house, but she stops him at knifepoint.
Kako's role in the story is as a study in cowardice and moral decay under the pressure of imminent death. When the military locates the children and attempts to engage the next enemy, Kako refuses to pilot Zearth, hoping the adult soldiers will save him. He begins to run from the battlefield in a blind panic. It is only when Kirie, finally pushed past his limit, calls him a coward that Kako stops running. However, instead of rising to the occasion, he turns his rage on his only friend and begins to mercilessly beat Kirie. His death is not heroic. In the original manga, Chizuru steps in to stop the attack by stabbing him in the throat with her knife, killing him instantly. His death is described as unceremonious, the first for which no tears are shed.
The anime adaptation presents a significant divergence in his development. In this version, he is chosen to pilot earlier and does not even get the chance to enter the robot. After Dung Beetle visits him, he hides in an aquarium. When Chizuru finds him to offer comfort, he tries to force himself on her. She pushes him in self-defense, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs and lose consciousness. The building is then destroyed by a missile during the subsequent battle, and Kako is killed by the debris. His lifeless body is teleported into Zearth's cockpit, and Chizuru is chosen to replace him as the pilot.
At home, Kako is described as a spoiled child whose parents allow him to do almost anything, a dynamic that frustrates his older sister. He harbors significant resentment toward his family, lashing out at them verbally and treating his mother with particular cruelty, especially after learning of his fate. His relationship with his classmates is more complicated. He develops a strong, obsessive crush on a fellow pilot named Chizuru Honda. This infatuation is not born of genuine affection but of a desperate, lustful obsession fueled by his fear of dying a virgin.
When first introduced to the robot combat game, Kako is excited, naively hoping that piloting Zearth will make him famous. However, upon learning the terrible price of piloting that the pilot dies after their battle, he suffers an immediate and severe mental breakdown. He locks himself in his room, terrified of being called to fight. His psychological state is worsened by the manipulative entity known as Dung Beetle, who visits him and whispers that the other children are leaving him out of the loop and making fun of him behind his back, further isolating him in his panic. Convinced he has no time left and his judgment shattered by fear, Kako decides to act on his darkest impulses. With the intention of raping Chizuru so he will not die a virgin, he goes to her house, but she stops him at knifepoint.
Kako's role in the story is as a study in cowardice and moral decay under the pressure of imminent death. When the military locates the children and attempts to engage the next enemy, Kako refuses to pilot Zearth, hoping the adult soldiers will save him. He begins to run from the battlefield in a blind panic. It is only when Kirie, finally pushed past his limit, calls him a coward that Kako stops running. However, instead of rising to the occasion, he turns his rage on his only friend and begins to mercilessly beat Kirie. His death is not heroic. In the original manga, Chizuru steps in to stop the attack by stabbing him in the throat with her knife, killing him instantly. His death is described as unceremonious, the first for which no tears are shed.
The anime adaptation presents a significant divergence in his development. In this version, he is chosen to pilot earlier and does not even get the chance to enter the robot. After Dung Beetle visits him, he hides in an aquarium. When Chizuru finds him to offer comfort, he tries to force himself on her. She pushes him in self-defense, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs and lose consciousness. The building is then destroyed by a missile during the subsequent battle, and Kako is killed by the debris. His lifeless body is teleported into Zearth's cockpit, and Chizuru is chosen to replace him as the pilot.