Utsuho Azako

Utsuho is the trouble-making protagonist of "Itsuwaribito". An itsuwaribito with the motto of "karma". His catchphrases are "That's uncool," and "I was lying about lying". Utsuho is a white-haired teenaged boy, his hair spiked straight up with a headband. Early in the series, he never let his hair down, however, later on, he often has it let down. It's unknown where he originally comes from, but he speaks with a Kansai dialect.

Personality & Character Traits
Utsuho has skills in fishing, bomb making, weapon wielding, minor medical aid and quick disguises, and fights through his cleverness. He did have a butterfly blade hidden in his sleeve for close combat, but it was broken by the enemy in chapter 39. After this, he obtains dual blades, and he now often uses these. He wields his weapons and battle strategies aloofly, and has confidence in his ability to not be tricked. He loves playing pranks and tricking people with his lies, and often has the most fun tricking Yakuma, but does not try and trick Uzume or Pochi as often (probably due to the fact that they are too naive to see through the lies anyway). On the other hand, he absolutely hates to be tricked, and also hates troublesome things. He is quite studied and has knowledge on many things, but that knowledge was all learned from books in the village of the orphans, so when he experiences something he's never seen before, he has a tendency of getting excited. His favorite type of girl is a pure and innocent girl.

Background
Originally the son of a government official, he is an orphan due to the murder of his parents by thieves as a child. He knows that since he could only tell the truth when he was a child and told the thieves the entire layout of the house, it is his fault that his parents and servants were killed so easily.

Role in the Plot
Because of his traumatic past, as a teenager, he believed telling the truth was for idiots, and always lied as an Itswarubito. However, the priest who took him in told Utsuho on his deathbed that he wanted Utsuho to believe in people, and not always rely on lies. Taking the priest's final wish of wanting to save 1,000 people, Utsuho decides to go on a journey to complete this goal as an Itsuwaribito.

Trivia

 * His name, Utsuho, has a possibility of having the meaning of "lies" and "trickery (Itsuwari)", and the name comes from these. However, the kanji of his name litereally means "sky".

Trivia

 * In terms of muscle strength alone, Utsuho ranks 4th out of 11 character participants. Chouza is one rank below him, and Tsukumo and Iriya tie for the ranking right above his.
 * In terms of intelligence, Utsuho ranks 1st out of 10 character participants. He ranks right above Iriya, and Kuroha not far behind.
 * In a survey of height, Utsuho ranks 5th out of 12 character participants. Uzume and Yakuma are on an average tie with him, while Iwashi is the next shortest. Hikae is one rank above him.