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"I never wanted to understand the hearts of others."
—Chishiya in the manga, Chapter 27

Shuntaro Chishiya (苣屋 駿太郎 Chishiya Shuntarō?) is a former member and executive of the Beach, who specializes in Diamonds. Before entering the Borderlands, Chishiya was a medical student.

Appearance[]

Chishiya has long, slightly messy light-colored hair and sharp features with a distinctive mole under his left eye. However, as the series progresses, his design gradually changes to be more prominent and dark.

Personality[]

Chishiya is mostly seen sneering even when he is angry unless he becomes emotional or regretful, which occurs only a few times. Heavily intense or horrific events don’t ever have him falter. The only times in the series he’s ever seen truly disturbed is the aftermath of the Witch Hunt and at the death of Keiichi Kuzuryu. He is calm, highly intelligent and manipulative, and analytical at all times, making him a potentially strong Hearts and Diamonds player, even though he claimed to not be suited for Hearts. This allows him to triumph in games that require defeating other players, yet because he declares to be uninterested in understanding the human heart, Diamond games remain his strong suit. His capabilities to remain so calm in dangerous situations stems from the fact that he has no interest in the concept of life, both his own and others. In fact, he’s sometimes shown to be singing his words during his time in the Borderlands, such as during the King of Diamonds game. To others, the Borderlands are a situation of life or death, but to him the games are just simple games. The truth is, he lacks a will to live. He doesn’t know what he’s living for, and was just interested in finally finding someone that was “interesting” in the Borderlands. Although he acts cocky, it’s clear he doesn’t like himself for who he is. He couldn’t help shunning people’s good will and intentions, he couldn’t get by without hurting and manipulating someone. For what purpose does he live? He says that in the end, he feels like he only existed to demonstrate “just how empty a human can be.”

Chishiya believes that humans are unconcerned and selfish by nature. However, his belief gradually changes after witnessing the selfless acts of Ryohei Arisu, Yuzuha Usagi, and especially Kuzuryū. Seeing those people and everything they did, he became interested in that prospect and wanted to try being “uncharacteristic” instead of wasting his days away, which is what led to him jumping in front of Usagi to take a bullet.

History[]

Chishiya's father worked in the medical field in an unspecified specialty. They rarely chat because his father would spend his time in front of his computer among mountains of medical books. Chishiya also implies the purpose of his parent's marriage was to secure the top position in their hospital. Lacking parental love, Chishiya followed his father's path to study in medical school as a surgical intern. He wanted to find out if he genuinely cared about lives, and he wanted to see if saving lives could help him find an interest in life. But the effort was in vain; he was still uncaring as he secretly littered a letter of testament entrusted by a dying patient.

Story[]

Six of Diamonds[]

Chishiya’s turnover

Chishiya's turnover

On the first day in the Borderlands, Chishiya lands himself in a game, like typical players on their first day. It was an eliminatory game of blackjack with a difficulty of Six of Diamonds. Prior to starting, he asks the 4 other players if people truly die in this world, much to the amusement of another player. He expresses curiosity at the locked gun beneath everyone’s section of the table. When the chips come out, each player received a different quantity of chips depending on the hours left on their visa. Chishiya has only 5, while another had a frightening 77. Finally, the game begins. In his first day of sojourn having never gambled before, Chishiya was not only able to pick up the rules through observation, but was able to invent a mathematical card counting method to decide how to bet. To calculate, he clacked and turned his chips like an abacus, much to the discontent of the adjacent player. It was after the 4 noticed he was now at 21 chips that he explained his mathematics. The game continues, with him continuing to degrade the others in his mind. He notices his adjacent partner is wearing a shiny ring to cheat, and snidely tells him to take it off, which angers him even more. As the dealer finished his turn, everyone begins the adjacent partner starts blundering. Once the turn is over, the man ran out of chips, resulting in a Game Over. The next dealer would be Chishiya. A card mechanic threatens to destroy him, yet he remains utterly calm. He’s at his limits and will bust at a high card. Suddenly, he extend his hand into an outward position, saying that it was his good luck ritual. Everyone, in confusion, stares at his hand. In that moment, he flips the deck of cards over so the used high cards were at the top. He draws a 7 which brings his total to 21, and takes all. The third round, the magician is caught cheating while dealing and is shot dead by the card mechanic. Now the sleazy card mechanic is the dealer, and boasts about his talents. The lady starts berating the card mechanic, and Chishiya sees a window of opportunity. He makes a bet with the mechanic that he hid 1 or 2 cards up his sleeve. Chishiya asks the lady if she wants to participate in the bet, and she responds ambiguously. Then, he takes a card, and crumbles it in front of everyone. In front of “everyone’s discerning eyes”, he’s cheated. The lady is the only one to exact judgment. She takes her gun, and shoots the card mechanic. After he fell, 2 cards slide out of his sleeve. With her now as the dealer and lost cards destroyed, she expresses impress at Chishiya’s intelligence, and has no regrets coming up to her death. Chishiya, however, bargains that since they fought with their fates for almost an hour, the game should be resolved with no lingering malice. Both players have 28 chips, and they’ll both flip them and stand. The lady is initially aghast at his offer, then understands it all. The reason Chishiya was so calm wasn’t because he was brave, or confident. It wasn’t even a poker face. He simply had no interest in the concept of life. As Chishiya walks out of the venue alive whilst loading his pistol magazine, he reflects in the game. He won the last bet by 1. As he walks away, he wonders if he’ll find anyone else interesting to play with in the Borderlands.

5 of Spades[]

Chishiya saving karube

Chishiya saving Karube

Chishiya first appears when Ryohei Arisu and Daikichi Karube participate in their second game, the Five of Spades, in the Borderland. As everyone else is tensely waiting in the lobby; he’s leaning back, charging his phone, listening to music. After the rules are announced, he initially hides on the highest floor which would allow him to observe the players, and the Horse Head's movements. From there, he observes the entire game, being impressed by Arisu’s quick thinking and Yuzuha Usagi’s climbing skills. Towards the end, he and Arisu meet at the correct door, which he was able to deduce almost immediately after the game started. He once again was impressed with Arisu. When the tagger comes around, he helps out by distracting them. After Karube’s leap off the stairs, he attempts to shoot the tagger. However, he misses by a distance and mutters that it isn’t as easy as it is in the movies. Still, the distraction was enough for Karube to climb to safety. When Arisu announced the 2-player twist, he appeared surprised yet not fazed. After the victory, he offers the Beach clues to Karube. Once everyone left, he searched all the bodies and added 8 cards to his deck.

The Beach[]

Chishiya has arrived at the Beach before Arisu. Between the Five of Spades and Arisu and Usagi’s arrival at the Beach, he formed an alliance with Hikari Kuina. However, he may have just been using her as a pawn. For a while, he’s been conspiring with her to steal all the cards and leave the Beach, unaware that the claim was a complete lie. His sole reason he even let them use him was for that purpose alone. When Arisu and Usagi arrive, Chishiya overheard Arisu muttering “what a cold reality” in such a lively crowd and realizes he could be useful to their plan. Kuina interacts with him later and reports her positives opinions about him back to Chishiya. Soon, the 4 form a plan to steal all the playing cards and leave the Beach, and Arisu would be the one doing so. After the death of Hatter, he’s promoted to an executive where he sees Morizono Aguni open the black envelope, which contains the code to the card safe. In that moment, he saw a slight falter of confusion on his face. That was all he needed to know. The code was on the seal: BOSS -> 5022. The envelope was empty. As Arisu enters the code, it doesn’t work. Chishiya had betrayed him; he ratted out his location to Aguni and let Arisu be nearly killed. However, his plan didn’t end there. He knew the safe was just a decoy, he knew the code, but he didn’t know the safe location. When he brought Aguni, he knew that if someone’s property was in danger, they’d subconsciously glance at it to make sure it was undistrubed, which was exactly what Aguni did: gaze at a painting. That night, Chishiya took off the painting and entered the code. He was finally in possession of every pip card except the Ten of Hearts. As he leaves, Kuina spots him and calls him out. However, he’s indifferent to the fact he got 2 people killed, to his knowledge. A step away from the exit, a car leaving the Beach exploded. He throws his tag, and it’s lasered. The Beach is a game arena.

10 of Hearts[]

He and Kuina are in the lobby together after Momoka Inoue’s corpse is discovered. After the massacre starts, he quickly abandons Kuina to pursue his own interests. He finds out in the basement that the main power supply has been switched off, meaning the Witch is an executive. Later, he arrives on the roof where Suguru Niragi is sniping innocent people. He gets into a confrontation, his motivations unclear. He stated that Niragi pissed him off, he remind him too much of himself. Niragi laughed that Chishiya was taunting and challenging him when he was the one with the rifle. With that, Chishiya charged, closing the gap. As Niragi aimed, Chishiya took the cards he stolen and threw them in the air, causing them to scatter everywhere. A shocked Niragi took a moment to comprehend what just happened, and as he was attempting to get his bearings back together, Chishiya pulled out a homemade flamethrower, built using a gasoline-filled water gun and a lighter taped to its spout. He sets him alight, and Niragi tumbles off the roof. Regardless of his motivation, this prevents any more victims from the sniping. After the encounter, he sits on the edge and ponders. Mira Kano comes up and states that he was going to leave the Beach, but was caught in the game. Why won’t he pick up the cards? He says that no longer cares about collecting the cards and has a feeling they have no meaning anyway. When asked again if he would like to do something to help clear the game, he knows that Arisu will be able to solve the game successfully because Witch-Hunt is a Hearts game, so there’s no reason to help, as he was never made for Hearts anyways. After the Witch Hunt, he walks up to Kuina and banters that she looked awful. She says that if she were to look at him, she’d have to actively try to not hurt him, effectively marking the end of their alliance. He admits that the game this time has even left himself a bit disconcerted, and leaves her off with 1 final message: The origin of the word “utopia” is Greek. When English philosopher Thomas More created the word, he had intense irony in mind. In Greek, it means “A place that does not exist”.

Interval[]

Jack of Diamonds[]

King of Diamonds[]

7th Day of Exhibitions[]

While reuniting with Arisu, he desires some word of comfort from Arisu, but is unexpectedly shot by the vengeful Niragi and later takes another shot in Usagi's place. The bullets destroy his organs, and the medical facilities in Borderland are deemed insufficient to treat his injuries. Arisu is then determined to quickly clear the last game in the hope of letting Chishiya and Niragi return to the original world for proper treatment.

After Borderlands[]

When Arisu successfully cleared the Queen of Hearts, Chishiya chose to refuse the permanent residency at Borderland. The players, including Chishiya, were sent back to their world upon rejecting the offer. He was seen in the same hospital room with Niragi at the end, complaining the latter's grumbling over his pains. They proceeded to talk about their experience when clinically dead and their outlook. Even though they utterly loathed each other in the Borderlands, they seemed pretty chummy with each other.

Abilities and Skills[]

Observation: Chishiya demonstrated an expert sense of observation and recollection. During the 5 of Spades, he was able to spot the tagger almost immediately, and was able to make the connection that the bullet marks from him shooting across the building was a sign of him defending the correct door. He was also able to discern Aguni's change of expression when viewing the black envelope, as well as his glance towards the deer painting, using both these facts down the line to steal the cards from the Beach.

Mental calculation: One of Chishiya's strongest facets was his abilities in mental math, which gave him a huge leverage in the 6 of Diamonds and King of Diamonds. In Blackjack, he was able to use the chips as an abacus to invent a mathmatical formula to follow when betting to maximize his probability of earnings. During the Beauty Contest, after he predicted Daimon's choice of 62, he was then able to estimate the number he should pick, then deduce his selection to 23 to have the exact average.

Reading people: He was skilled in taking in people's demeanor and personality, and using it to predict how they would act. During Arisu's stay at the Beach, he took advantage of his well-meaning nature, using it to his advantage to steal the cards. Later, in the King of Diamonds, he was able to tap into the minds of both Daimon and Kuzuryū, able to see Daimon's frankness and Kuzuryū's sense of justice, using both to his advantage.

Games Played[]

Relationships[]

Ryohei Arisu[]

The relationship between him and Ryohei is extremely complicated. Initially, they seem to be in good terms, and Chishiya convinced Arisu to join in on his plan. Chishiya recognized that Arisu was intelligent and had a definite aptitude for Hearts due to his compassion. However, he had every intention to sacrifice him by manipulating his compassion to further his own escape, all while still recognizing his potential. During the Witch Hunt, he expressed a desire to see him again. They wouldn’t cross paths again until the Second Stage, after Chishiya just cleared the King of Diamonds he expresses his loneliness and just wanted to have human interaction. He and Arisu crossed paths once more and proceeded to have a very frank and lighthearted discussion before entering the battle royale with Suguru Niragi. So in the end, while their relationship had falters, they both deeply respect each other’s strengths and have a positive relationship overall.

Yuzuha Usagi[]

While they never interacted much, Usagi held a deep dislike for Chishiya since he was the cause of Arisu nearly dying and inadvertently caused her to be held up by Niragi following the betrayal. After the 10 of Hearts was cleared, Usagi insisted on giving Chishiya a punch before being restrained. However, in the Second Stage during the standoff, Usagi got involved in the battle royale. Before she got shot, Chishiya had a change of heart and took the bullet, nearly killing himself.

Hikari Kuina[]

How they met or how close the two were have never been addressed. Their relationship at first seemed to be just a simple allegiance, but soon it became clear Chishiya was using Kuina to extract information about Arisu. After he betrayed Arisu and Usagi, Kuina caught up to him as he was about to leave, calling him out on his cruel actions and questioning if she was just another of his pawns, which she likely was. Immediately after the 10 of Hearts began, he abandoned her. After the game was cleared, the two permanently fell out, with Kuina not even wanting to look at him. Near the start of the Queen of Hearts, she stated that she despised him as much as Niragi, but still wouldn’t want him to die.

Suguru Niragi[]

Niragi and Chishiya both absolutely loathe each other. This is mainly due to their similarities in personality. Both are highly cunning with a Diamonds specialty, both are cocky, and both are extremely intelligent. Chishiya attempted to burn him to death in the 10 of Hearts, simply for the account of him “reminding Chishiya too much of himself”, and not on the chance that he might’ve been the witch. In the Second Stage during the standoff, Niragi brutally tore into his, Chishiya, and Arisu’s shared flaws— selfishness, lack of touch with reality, immaturity, and worthless egotism, and it all came to a head when Usagi almost got shot and Chishiya jumped in.

Keiichi Kuzuryu[]

Though he was one of the biggest challenges Chishiya had to face in the Borderlands, he holds an immense amount of respect for Kuzuryū for his intelligence and upholding of his morality, even willing to rather die than to give up on his ideals. It was no doubt that Kuzuryū outclassed Chishiya; and would’ve won the King of Diamonds if Chishiya didn’t use manipulation tactics. Prior to Kuzuryū’s death, Chishiya recounted how they’re polar opposites— how Kuzuryū would live even if it meant suffering, since lives were valuable and equal. As the blimp came crashing down, he quietly muttered that he was envious of Kuzuryū.

Quotes[]

"You may have killed more than me, but i'm smarter than you."
—Chishiya in the manga, Chapter 6
"A paradise is not something man should be able to create."
—Chishiya in the manga, Chapter 28
"The only thing idiots do is follow in the footsteps of others."
—Chishiya in the manga, Chapter 35.1
"I couldn’t help shunning people’s good will and intentions... I was probably jealous they were things I didn’t have."
—Chishiya in the manga, chapter 56
"Everyone wants to be seen for who they are."
—Chishiya in the manga, chapter 56

Trivia[]

  • His alias and personality is a reference to the "Cheshire Cat" in Alice in Wonderland.
  • At the start of the manga, Chishiya had clear, defined features. As the manga progressed, especially during the 7th Day of Exhibitions chapters, his shading got darker, his face shape become more sharp and detailed, and his facial details became more prominent. It was liked he had aged a lifetime mentally; by the end he looked older and frail. After returning to earth, his design partially returned to the way it was.

References[]

See also[]

[v · e · ?]
Games played by Chisiya
Games played
Six of Diamonds Unknown Number of Games Five of Spades Unknown Number of Games Ten of Hearts
Jack of Diamonds King of Diamonds King of Spades
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