Akiomi Kunugi (椚 章臣) or Mr. Kunugi now serves at the ES business department for idol support. He is serious and intentionally strict to students so that they can learn and grow. He also gives lessons and educational guides at Yumenosaki Academy. As a former idol who rose from a model, he also advises young idols as an alumnus
Appearance[]
Akiomi is a tall man with short brown hair, cut just below his ears. His bangs part to the left. He has narrow, light purple eyes. He also wears thin metal rimmed glasses.
Casual[]
Akiomi wears a relaxed suit with black buttons, with a warm light gray single-breasted blazer unbuttoned above a white mandarin-collar shirt. Trailing downwards, his slim fitted trousers are a forest green color, secured by a black belt with a silver buckle. He wears black monk strap shoes, leather and hardware matching said belt. Finishing off the outfit with a silver watch with a black face on his left arm.
In the winter, Akiomi switches to a brown single-breasted blazer with notched lapel and flap pockets. He also wears a navy puffer vest completely done up. Underneath his vest, he wears a white button-down collar shirt. As usual, all of the buttons are cohesively black. He wears navy-blue loafers in the same shade as his vest. His outfit is finished off with silver hardware as shown with a matching navy belt that secures his beige trousers.
It is implied that these outfits are worn while working under P-Association and visiting idols under a professional higher-up context.
Teaching[]
While teaching, he wears a brown suit with black buttons with the blazer left unbuttoned. He also wears a wine-colored vest with black buttons, completely done up. Underneath his vest, he wears a white shirt, along with a green tie. His pants match the jacket's color, and he wears dark brown dress shoes. He wears a silver watch with a black face on his left arm.
On Stage[]
Akiomi wears Ba-barrier’s uniform on stage. It includes a navy lapelless blazer with two halves of a silver star split across the two sides of the garment by his waist and certain decorations on the torso. The left side of which is adorned with golden floral embellishments from the collar to slightly below the brooch and the right with a rectangular epaulette of a similar color to the vest. The epaulette has a silver pin placed on its right, from which two golden chains hang and are connected to the flower brooch. The blazer's cuffs are a darker navy color to the blazer and each have three golden buttons running along their length. Wearing underneath is a low cut vest-like article sectioned off at the waist, adorned with 6 gold buttons at each side. The said vest matches the cuffs’ color. Below the vest is a white toga-like chemise pinned with the said emblematic brooch to the left of his chest worn above a dark gray turtleneck. Akiomi wears a pair of white pressed trousers with the ends of a sash hanging over his right leg, the origins of which are obscured by his blazer.
Personality[]
Akiomi is a hardworking, stern individual who expects others to follow the same pace as him. As a teacher he gives strict instruction, willing to be the punitive authoritative figure if necessitated. Having a passion towards the idol industry and wishing others to not repeat the mistakes he and his cohorts did, he is harshly critical in the hopes his students take his advice to heart. Akiomi fully accepts and assumes to be antagonized due to being blackmailed in the modeling industry. He accepts his "role" by being harsh towards himself and his students. In the end, he works hard to support the next generation of idols even if people see him as a cruel teacher.
At school, Akiomi has the reputation for being a hall monitor and being petty for power in the hopes of students taking him seriously. As such he’s constantly concerned over his self-image. However, it is overridden by any concerns for his modeling students and especially his personal juniors.
Concerns regarding his image are due to his modeling background, ever worried with maintaining his ability as an idol post-retirement. He feels threatened by students at the thought of them surpassing him and ever wishes to compete with his co-worker, Jin. The negative emotions he willingly allows himself to present are anger, indifference, or annoyance. Very rarely does he show satisfaction. Occasionally, he is defeated and avoidant when the subject of modeling is concerned or cameras are set on him.
However, while appearing prim and proper he is willing to drop professionalism in favor of his own interests. This can be seen in Rainbow where he uses the poor reputations of Madara, Mika and Sora's units to his advantage, recruiting them to his temporary unit. While he may employ shady methods to get what he wants done, his intentions are altruistic, wanting to guide troubled students to a better place, warning them to avoid the pitfalls he fell into as a student.
While claiming he “was” one of Jin’s fans “back then”, he has learned to hide and conceal his more pathological traits of himself overall, all while under the guise of professional managerial concern and teachings as an ex-idol.
Idol Era[]
In his early years as a Yumenosaki student, Akiomi was the opposite of his present self. He was bright, endlessly energetic, and brimmed with admiration for Jin, who was his senpai and the top Super Idol at the time. Jin has stated that his previous demeanor was similar to Chiaki’s in Rainbow. His admiration went as far as somehow knowing Jin’s work schedule, gleefully reminding him of the events that he should be attending. Additionally, bombarding Jin by blindly praising him.
Akiomi aspired to be a Super Idol just like Jin, which resulted in his hard working nature with idol work. However, this led to extreme overworking conditions since he slept in capsule hotels when the night grew too late. It was even noted that his physical state appeared to be in an unhealthy condition.
Although being in his first year, Akiomi was adamant on not being seen as a child. Despite his bright and overbearing mannerisms, he’s not naive at all, having experienced backstabbing in the modeling industry beforehand. He has shown sharp distaste for the industry whenever it is brought up in conversation. His bitter words towards it have even surprised Jin, considering that all he ever did was praise him. It was one of the only things he would blatantly scorn. Because of this distaste, he hated being seen as an idol solely known for his looks. Therefore, he trained to be a jack-of-all-trades with his idol skillset.
Akiomi’s past adamancy regarding being perceived as a child influenced how he interacts with younger idols today. He continuously reminds them that they are still children growing up in the idol world, that they are deserving of a normal high school life and proper guidance.
Etymology[]
Akiomi’s first name (章臣) has multiple meanings with a bit of wordplay. The literal reading of (章) is "chapter", noting his studious personality and affinity for reading. The nanori reading of the character (章 aki) has a homonym pronunciation to autumn/fall (秋 aki) which refers to his color scheme and his poorly-timed debut before Idol Winter. The literal reading of "retainer” (臣) is a reference to his loyalty towards Jin, previously being his right-hand man when they were active idols. It could have a negative connotation as being a second-rate idol or an underdog in a barren era, a product of his time regarding his attitudes and personality. Also refers to his Sparkling Prince title when he was an active model, a dated meaning of (臣). i.e Hereditary title; originally one of the two highest such titles.
His last name consists of the character (椚) directly meaning the Sawtooth Oak tree species native to Japan. The wood is burned frequently into charcoal for purposes or used to cultivate shiitake mushrooms. Tea Ceremonies made use of said charcoal specifically for boiling water. The tree species’ acorns, while bitter for human consumption, wildlife and fauna thrive in its introduction.
Family[]
Akiomi cherished his family, as it was evident in brief mentions in PORTRAIT. It's implied that his family was one that fully supported him. He expresses gratitude for raising him well, specifically raising him to have a healthy body. He also has a set image of what familial discipline should look like and when it should be executed.
The manner Akiomi spoke about the concept of family was enough to make Izumi and Makoto jealous due to his seemingly normal situation. It's even said that he appears happy whenever he talks about his idea of what family should be like.
On Sora's Team[]
Kunugi joins Sora's team even though he doesn't always join in on missions with Jin, but he and Jin become teachers of heroes, and Class 3-E is in Sora's team because he, and Jin are given classes to teach heroes to become teachers making Jin, and Kunugi was happy.