Fictional Character - Tomomi Tsuchiya

Tomomi Tsuchiya is a young softball player from Tokyo, Japan. Tomomi, who is all of five feet tall, aspires to become a great softball player and even become a major celebrity in American media. She loves sports and is pretty sporty herself. Losing one friend and gaining another helps her to stay motivated in all of her work. She is one of eight fictional characters from my MUGEN project I discussed in my MUGEN project.

NOTE: The following is a conceptual image of my fictional character using Meez. This image will be used as a placeholder until I create a proper image to share online.


^ Tomomi Tsuchiya (conceptual image), a fictional MUGEN character idea of mine

--- Basic Details ---

Name: Tomomi Tsuchiya
Full Name: Tomomi Tsuchiya
Nickname: TomTom or TomTsu
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
Current City: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Born: April 5, 1990
Height: 5 feet, 0 inches
Body Type: Slim and Slender
Heritage: 100% Japanese
Occupation: Softball Player and College Student

Thinks of Herself As: friendly and sweet, loves making people happy

--- About This Character ---

Tomomi Tsuchiya has loved sports since being a little girl. She loves Tokyo and loves Japan. Tomomi would love to meet her favorite professional baseball players in Japan. Tomomi's story is that of losing one friend, and making a new one that has helped her to remain strong and motivated.

Life.
Tomomi Tsuchiya was born in April of 1990 in Tokyo's Shibuya district. A lot of her childhood was spent up north in the Asakusa district. She loves seeing sakura petals fall from trees and either on the ground or on lakes and streams. As she was getting older, she became better educated on speaking English. She has practiced kendo as a child. Her late grandfather was bold enough to let Tomomi use his katana to practice sword fighting. While swinging a katana, she imagined she was swinging a softball bat in a crucial game. This is where she would develop a new love.

Tomomi wanted to try sports when one of her friends was a son of a legendary baseball player in Japan. The two got to meet each other and talk baseball when class isn't in session. Tomomi would become friends with a classmate named Noriko Watanabe, a pitcher for a softball team in Shibuya. Tomomi took some time to learn softball and how to play it. As she got the hang of softball, she tried out to be with a team solely made up of teenage girls. Tomomi and Noriko now became part of a team. Tomomi loved playing First Base because she loves for her best friend to throw the ball to Tomomi on First Base to strike out opposing hitters.

They took on teams from other parts of Tokyo as well as a few teams from Yokohama. The Shibuya team was good enough to play for an eight-team championship. Noriko pitched a perfect game in the first round of the tournament, as the Shibuya team won 5-0. Then in the next game, Noriko played a complete game giving up only two runs as the Shibuya team won 7-2. Then in the Championship Game, they took on the highly-favored team from the Asakusa district of Tokyo. Tomomi's team would rally with two outs in the final inning to load the bases. Then when Tomomi stepped up to the plate down 7-4, she would nearly strike out... until the crowd chanted: "Gan-ba-re... To-mo-mi! Gan-ba-tte... To-mo-mi!. On a full count, Tomomi swung the bat as hard as she could at the next pitch from the Asakusa pitcher. The ball flew way up into the air and out of the ballpark to land a game-winning Grand Slam that gave Shibuya the city championship. The girls were proud they won the championship. She hugged Noriko and thanked her for all she's done.

Losing One Friend...
One week after winning the championship, Noriko Watanabe was driving to Tomomi's house so they can go shopping. Unfortunately, she was still a little weak from the softball tournament and ended up being T-boned by an oncoming car on an intersection. She was killed instantly. When Tomomi learned of the tragic car crash, Tomomi felt like her heart stopped beating and broke into tears. Tomomi would attend her funeral the following week.

...and Gaining Another.
After Noriko's passing, Tomomi found a cute all-white Persian cat at a pet store. The cat was a very friendly and lovable girl. She meows in a very cute way with such a beautiful voice. Tomomi bought her and wanted to take care of her. She named her Noriko, in honor of her fallen friend. Both Noriko and Tomomi love cats. Tomomi would wonder sometimes at night if her cat is a heavenly spirit taking the form of a cat. Tomomi sometimes cuddles Noriko and pets her like she's the most adorable animal God has ever created. But in the back of Tomomi's mind, she wonders if her pet cat has embodied the spirit of her late best friend, Noriko.

While Noriko (the cat) is friendly to others, she feels like she can not live without the company of Tomomi. The two have established an emotional bond that seems unbreakable. Noriko meows beautifully when cuddled and embraced by Tomomi. Tomomi sometimes cries when Noriko meows because she's never heard a more beautiful meow from any cat she's ever encountered.

Time to Fight!
On April 10, 2008; Tomomi turned 18 years old- the minimum age of a brand-new all-female fighting tournament. Auditions for a fighting tournament began on her birthday. She got a specially-made aluminum softball bat. It was painted in her favorite color and her team's color- blue. Tomomi brought that aluminum softball bat to the tournament. The bat had "Tomomi" written in white hiragana letters and lots of pink sakura petals. Tomomi brought her softball bat to give herself a reach advantage. A tournament invites some of the best fighters from the Asia-Pacific had auditions in Tokyo. At the Tokyo Dome, Tomomi tried out her skill against other hopefuls from Japan, Korea Republic, China, Hong Kong, and even as far south as Australia. She even skillfully used this bat to block attacks. Her fighting skills were so impressive that she was invited to the tournament in Los Angeles to be among the eight finalists who will compete for "unworldly fame."

Tomomi's short-term goal is to play softball at a major American university. She's moved to her American home in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. So her plans are to play softball at THE Ohio State University. Tomomi also wants to represent Asians in American media. Winning this new tournament can help her to launch her career as well as be an Asian celebrity Americans to look up to.

--- Style of Tomomi Tsuchiya ---

An aspect of this fighting game concept is fashion. It's a convergence of personalities and styles in one package.



Primary Look.
Tomomi's style is characteristic of the daring styles of Japanese fashion. But really, she dresses casually to soak in the SoCal sunshine as she's in the tournament. She wears a specially-made blue softball jersey bearing her name. The top goes to about somewhere midway between Tomomi's bustline and her waistline. She wears some cute khaki-colored short-shorts with very short legs with big cuffs, and two flap pockets at the back. Her choice of footwear is a cute pair of schoolgirl-like mary janes that have about a 1 to 1.5 inch platform to them.

Secondary Looks and Variations.
Only other variation is her wearing softball gloves.

--- The Tournament ---

Since my character is a fighter from my MUGEN project, this pertains to her history as a fighter.

Tomomi is the youngest fighter in the tournament. She's the shortest fighter in the tournament at 5'0". She's a little girl with a big softball bat. Scouts say she's inventive with her offense and defense. However, they think with more stamina and with a little more power, she'd be a total favorite to win the whole tournament.

Tomomi wants to win to honor her late friend, Noriko, and also to proudly represent Asians in American media. She wants to be among many successful Asian celebrities in American media. Tomomi feels there aren't too many celebrated Asian celebrities, so she wants to be a pioneer at the tender age of 18.



Extra Notes
* The name "Tomomi" is a combination of "friend" (Tomo) and "beautiful" (Mi). So she's a beautiful friend! :)

* The name "Tomomi Tsuchiya" was the first name I practiced hiragana with. I had to learn: To-mo-mi and Tsu-chi-ya. Here's a translation I did with Google Translate. According to Google Translate, here is an English to Japanese translation for "Tomomi Tsuchiya: 智美土屋.

* I am semi-inspired by the character, Shoma (from the Rival Schools series), for my softball-themed character.





Again, I may update these blog entries with pictures. Any of my art work can be found on my Myspace page. Thanks for reading!