Ichika Orimura

"This is for Rin, Houki, Chifuyu and everyone else I care about. I will protect all of you."

- Ichika Orimura

Ichika Orimura is the main protagonist of the light novel and anime series Infinite Stratos. He is a first year student at the Infinite Stratos Academy and the only male who can operate the Infinite Stratos arms system. He is the younger brother of Chifuyu Orimura and the twin brother of Madoka Orimura. Ichika seeks to prove himself as a skilled Infinite Stratos operator as he views himself as otherwise weak and unimportant.

He gotten attractions from every single girls from the All-Girl school, IS Academy who are in love with him due to being Chifuyu's younger brother and the only man who can operate Infinite Stratos including his childhood friends, Houki Shinonono and Huang Lingyin but made all of the girls became love rivals to gain his affection and nonetheless to marry him.

He is voiced by Kouki Uchiyama in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Josh Grelle in the English version of the anime.

Appearance
Ichika is a young boy of average height (170 cm) with short black hair (blue in the anime) that is parted in the middle, dark brown eyes and a slim but trained body. He commonly wears his IS Academy uniform. For IS practice, he wears a black tank top, revealing his stomach and tight-fitting bermuda shorts. On his right wrist, is Byakushiki's Closed Form:

Personality
Having been raised (suggested to be Spartan-trained) by Chifuyu, Ichika has learned to be polite to all girls and respectful to those older than him, and is generally very kind, which is what causes most of the girls in the series to develop feeling for him. However, he is not very bright and quite dense, which results in him often making insensitive remarks that result in him getting beat up by a member of his harem, usually Houki or Rin.

Although he often comes off as a pushover, Ichika does not take any insults to his family or his country lightly, as shown when he first met Cecilia; she was commenting on how a commoner from Japan could handle the class representative, causing him to retort that her country isn't anything special either, even asking how many times her country won the award for worst cooking. When Laura slapped him, he reacted angrily by shouting at her why she did that (LN), and when she used the VT System to copy Chifuyu's data and Yukihira, he wanted to punch Laura, without her IS, as much as he could). He believes, when questioned by Laura, that his strength is his freedom to choose and helping those around him. This is shown when he chose to protect a ship of fishermen who were illegally poaching during the mission against the Silver Gospel.

Ichika can be extremely clueless when it comes to the feelings the girls have for him, as more often than not, he is more worried of the fact that being the only male who can pilot an IS, he does not know the requirements of controlling it, and the fact he has to live among a very large group of girls (he even told Charles that he was very glad that another male transferred in). He believes that there is absolutely no chance for him to get a girlfriend, as he told Chifuyu that he would not be able to match any of the girls' perfect sides (not knowing that he is the type of guy all the girls want). However, in the light novels especially, there are hints that Ichika's not quite as oblivious as he lets on, with Charlotte even suspecting that he's doing it purpose.

Ichika is a person who doesn't seem to be able to facilitate implication in daily life. When it comes to things like holding hands or old promises, for example, Ichika tends to misinterpret or is even completely unaware of the implications of his actions and their respective circumstances, such as turning what one of the girls hopes to be a date into a group activity. This quirk often earns him stress on both the mental and physical level from the girls around him. He is the type who learns with his body rather than his head, as more often than not, he tends to surprise his fellow classmates with questions on matters they take for granted (like when he first met Cecilia, his first question was "What is a Representative Candidate?", causing the other students to do a comical collapse). After sometime, he is able to understand basic fundamentals of IS to help him get by (he is aware, for instance, that his IS has no available bus-slots for an Equalizer).

Ichika has shown to be a very passionate person willing to accept any kind of circumstance for something he has done as long as it was something he either believes in or wants to do. He is willing to help companions or, in general, others as long as it is something he is willing to do. His emotions can get the best of him, and this has happened on several occasions. He was even like this in his childhood. However, his blockheadedness and reckless behavior are flaws that come with his saving grace. That quality is his overpowering will, confidence and passion. He may not be too smart, but he can do what he has to do when he wants.

Background
Ichika Orimura is the younger brother of Chifuyu Orimura, a prodegy IS operator. Chifuyu raised her brother after their parents abandon them. Ichikia was kidnapped by the IS pirate force Phantom Task while Chifuyu was in the midst of the prestigious Mondo Grosso tournament. Chifuyu had to forfeit her place to save her brother. Ever since the ordeal Ichika has seen himself as weak and a burden to his older sister. Ichika is the only known male who can operate the IS system and in order to prove himself and make up to Chifuyu for his folding her back, Ichika has enrolled at the Infinte Stratos academy to become a professional.

Because of the interface limitation Ichika is naturally the only male student. He tends to be awkward and seemingly oblivious around girls. He is tolerated by the teachers because of his bizarre ability to use IS, but his station as the sole male causes him a variety of social and romantic complications from his fellow students.

Infinite Stratos & Abilities
Currently he is the only male in the entire world who is able to operate an IS. Why that is, nobody knows. Even Tabane, the genius who created IS, is also pleasantly surprised as to why he can activate the Byakushiki, since, by right, a male should have zero relation to IS. Due to this, the government is willing to give him his own personal IS, so as to gather data on him.

As stated by his sister in the novel & episode 2, his IS seems to be more offensive in tactics than most, given that he could use the Barrier Void attack that helped his sister win the first Mondo Grosso. But because of this, he is forced to limit his power during class tournaments and practice, due to the amount of damage that could be inflicted on his opponent (He can potentially injure/kill the opponent).

Byakushiki (白式?, lit. Type "White") is a 3.5 - 4th Generation Close Range Combat Type developed by Kuromochi Machinery Development and is used by Ichika Orimura. It contains the very first IS core ever made, Core Number 001. Its basic armaments are.

1. The Yukihira Type 2

2. Fold-Out Armor

Byakushik's special abilities

1. Ignition Boost

2. Reiraku Byakuya

3. Barrier Void Attack

2nd Shift, Armaments and Abilities
Ichika's Byakushiki under goes a transformation where it's armor changes and becomes much more powerful. Bayushiki's 2nd shift form is called Bayushiki Setsura, Its armaments are,
 * 1) A large caliber charged particle cannon
 * 2) An energy claw for CQC
 * 3) An energy shield with One Off attribute