[@Matador] 
And Shoko's ready for review, finally!

[hider=Shoko Iseki]
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/1AkO1fB.jpg[/img]
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[b][color=00a99d]Name:[/color][/b] Shoko Iseki

[b][color=00a99d]Age:[/color][/b] 18

[b][color=00a99d]Personality:[/color][/b]
Shoko is a young woman that exudes a tremendous intensity, especially when she has something to direct her laser-like focus at. She carries herself with great confidence, rarely doubting her own thoughts or decisions, and tends to be a leader by example. While not shy in the slightest, she is often of few words—she only speaks when she feels she has something of value to say, and when she does it’s with a gentle but firm tone that matches the self-confidence she displays.

While not far from her true nature, this way that she most often presents herself is a bit of a front, crafted to gain the respect and admiration of her peers. Though obviously no where near as perfect as she wishes to be perceived, a lifetime of being treated as a step above those around her by the very same people has lead to an ego, though she’s level-headed enough to keep it in check, helped by the knowledge that she’s worked for what she has. Balancing good grades in school and playing volleyball at a national level, she’s no stranger to long, arduous days, and can push past the point of exhaustion when most others would mentally check out and quit. 

Being quite sociable, she is nearly always surrounded by a group of friends, though due to her desire to be viewed as a role-model she feels she hasn’t made a single true friend in her life, having never opened up to anyone about any of her worries. She [i]does not[/i] show weakness, and the thought of being viewed in such a light makes her terribly uncomfortable and even sick to her stomach. [i]She’s[/i] the one that people turn to for help. Never the other way around. 

For all her confidence, that inability to show weakness is itself her greatest flaw, and the source of most of her doubt and insecurity. She feels the pressures of life as much as any other teen, brought on most by the expectations placed upon her by both those around her and herself, which grow higher and higher with each success she earns. The reality that all it takes is one mistake for everything to come crashing down—for the perfect image of herself she’s built, and so desperately wants to protect, to be torn apart—hangs over her head ominously. Though she fights against it with all her being, she can’t help but feel that such an outcome is inevitable.

And she dreads nothing more than being unable to turn to anyone once she makes that one bad mistake, courtesy of her unnatural aversion to outside help.

On a lighter note, she uncharacteristically is quite a huge tokusatsu fan, especially the superhero subgenre. It's not something she particularly tries to hide, having a few Kamen Rider and Ultraman figures on display in her room, but she certainly doesn't go out of her way to let people know. She views it as a childish indulgence, but the often cheesy shows capture her attention and keep her mind off any troubles the rare times she has the chance to sit down and watch them. 

It was this interest that led her to download the Digital Demon app—after she had seen the designs of a few demons that brought to mind both villains and heroes from the shows she so enjoyed watching (a standout favorite being Kouga Saburou), she began to play the game and found herself enjoying it greatly.

[b][color=00a99d]Appearance:[/color][/b]
Shoko stands at 173 cm tall, with a slim, athletic build. When not wearing her school uniform, she wears plain but professional enough clothing usually consisting of a white dress shirt, a mono-colored skirt, and a matching tie, changing things up as appropriate for the weather or her current activity. She always carries around a small gym bag with her whenever she’s out of the house, even if she has no plans to do any exercise at the time—she has simply become so used to having it on her person that it makes her feel a bit anxious to [i]not[/i] have it with her. Though she uses it more like a sort of purse, it still carries her volleyball equipment as well.

[b][color=00a99d]Backstory:[/color][/b]
Born and raised in Tokyo, the only child of two white-collar worker parents, Shoko’s family made enough money for a nice and comfortable life, allowing the girl to participate in the various sports that she found herself interested in during her early years. Even at such a young age, it was clear that the girl had natural athleticism, and a terribly competitive personality that led to her standing out amongst her peers. The sport she fell in love with the most was volleyball, and so she began dedicating much of her time to it in particular. As she grew, the fire that drove her to completely outdo everyone she played with did as well, and the girl began to learn exactly what it meant to stand out in such a way.

For all the praise she received (and basked in), there were always numerous dissenters who made little effort to hide their distaste for the girl. Teammates that disliked the extra play time she earned, parents who were not happy about their children being shown up by another kid, opponents who understandably did not enjoy losing so badly. Shoko was called plenty of unpleasant things by both kids and adults. Her own father had gotten into a couple near fist-fights with other fathers of her teammates, always after hearing them insult his daughter.

It hurt, but she learnt quickly to take it with the good—in the end, they hated her because she was [i]too[/i] skilled at what she did. And that was better than being hated for being weak. She loved the sport enough to spend every free moment she had practicing. She was talented enough that she nearly single-handedly won tournament after tournament for her middle school. The attention she got, the way so many people looked up to her, whether impressed or jealous; she became used to and learned to take pleasure in it all.

The life lessons she took from her sports were useful, and shaped her into a tremendously hard working person who took little for granted. She had created the position she occupied through that hard work—staying hours late at the gym for extra practice, sacrificing sleep to study and keep up great grades in school, finding enough time to be social enough that she wasn’t just viewed as ‘that volleyball girl.’ She was known by most everyone that had ever crossed paths with her, and she made sure that the vast majority respected her for her excellence, if not dislike her for the same reason.

High school was much of the same as middle school, though the attention she gained for her volleyball play grew to be nation-wide when she made Japan’s u20 women’s volleyball team in her second year. The whole experience had been something of a shock to the girl, for one big reason—for the first time in her life, she wasn’t the center of a team she played for. Brought on as a sub player, she took a backseat to several other incredibly talented women. Though Shoko understood she was young, and even just being a sub for a national team was an incredible feat itself, she couldn’t help but feel a measure of inadequacy.

Despising the feeling, she began to push herself even harder. That extra drive has continued into her third year of high school, and she’s poised to make the team again, this time aiming to be a starter—as well as fearing that it’s something she might not be able accomplish.  

Like many others, she recently began playing the Digital Demon app, mostly as a form of quick stress relief; it's something easy to pull out and focus on for a few minutes whenever she has the time.

[b][color=00a99d]Stats:[/color][/b]
[indent][i]Strength:[/i] 5
[i]Intelligence:[/i] 4
[i]Vitality:[/i] 6
[i]Agility:[/i] 6
[i]Luck:[/i] 2
[/indent]

[b][color=00a99d]Weapon:[/color][/b]
Whatever she can get her hands on.
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