Ojo White Knights

Ojo White Knights
Team information
Student pop.	1070
Num. of players	46
Members	Seijuro Shin Haruto Sakuraba Ichiro Takami Makoto Otawara Daigo Ikari
Captain	Makoto Otawara (formerly) Seijuro Shin
Manager	Koharu Wakana
Coach	Gunpei Shoji
Jersey Color	White and blue. Jerseys feature a lightning bolt across each shoulder.
Mascot	Classic knight on horseback holding a jousting lance
Helmet Logo	Blue shield with a white crucifix.
Team Chant	"Glory on the Kingdom"
Image gallery

The Ojo White Knights (王城 ワイトナイツ Ōjō Waito Naitsu, lit. "Royal Castle White Knights") is the American Football team of Ojo Private Senior High School in Tokyo. In accordance with all teams throughout the series, their theme can be derived from their name. That is, Ojo's theme is kings, knights and shields. They are the main rivals of the Deimon Devil Bats throughout most of the series, and the team's star linebacker Seijuro Shin is Sena's first and most prominent rival. The White Knights are a strong team with a major focus on their stringent defense.

Overview

Ojo Private Senior High uniforms, as worn by Haruto Sakuraba and Koharu Wakana.

As a school, Ojo appears to have a lot wealthy students alumni and a lot of money, judging by the elaborate architecture of the school and the extravagance spent on their football team. The founder and principal decided to become a protestant priest after attending and playing Notre dame majoring education he had wealthy parents and founded a religious school in Japan. Only Makoto Otawara is known to have gotten into Ojo purely due to his athletics, as he completely failed the written exam.

The White Knights are historically known as the best high school team in the greater Tokyo area and one of the best teams in all of Japan. One reason for this strength is the program in place at Ojo - Ojo is an escalator school from Ojo Junior High, so students can gain an additional three years of experience prior to entering high school. In recent years Ojo has been considered the only team in Kanto capable of challenging the Shinryuji Naga due to the strength of the "Golden Generation", a group of players who graduated from Ojo the year before the series takes place. However, Ojo was never actually able to defeat Shinryuji, coming closest in the Golden Generation's final year when Seijuro Shin joined the team, when Agon and Unsui Kongo had to lead the Nagas to a comeback in the final five minutes to win.

Like Zokugaku, Ojo also has a university school, whose football team is the "Silver Knights." Currently, their players consist of the legendary "Golden Generation," known as the pinnacle of the ultimate defense and who came the closest to defeat the unstoppable Shinryuji Nagas during their time.

When the Golden Generation departs, the White Knights are considered a weaker team, which particularly shows when the team nearly loses to the Seibu Wild Gunmen and is blown out by Shinryuji in the Spring tournament. During the course of the series, the team exceeds these expectations, primarily due to the improvement of Seijuro and the wide receiver Haruto Sakuraba.

The team is based on the old football maxim "Offense Wins Games, But Defense Wins Championships". If the opponent can be prevented from scoring, then only one point is needed to win. This is the direct opposite of the Deimon Devil Bats, in which ultimate offense is the best strategy.

Team Players

Ichiro Takami (#3)

Ichiro is the quarterback of the Ojo White Knights. Ichiro is ailed by a childhood leg injury suffered in a car accident, which hampers his running ability. In middle school he was told he could not play due to this drawback, and so he decided to attempt to make up for his disadvantage by training harder and practicing his throwing ability. Ichiro was thus able to become Ojo's starting quarterback when he entered high school. Ichiro is intelligent, insightful, and sometimes crafty, and he is usually capable of analyzing an opposing team's abilities. However, while his throws are renowned for their accuracy, he is not considered a top-notch quarterback. Ichiro's only natural talent and ability is his height, which allows him to accurately throw passes at a greater height than any other quarterback. He is only able to do so, however, by throwing to a receiver who is also very tall. He had thus been depending on Haruto to improve, as he does prior to the Autumn Tokyo Tournament. Together, Ichiro and Haruto develop the Everest Pass, which becomes Ojo's greatest offensive strategy.

Haruto Sakuraba (#18)

Haruto is a wide receiver for the Ojo White Knights, and also an attractive pop idol. He stands out on the team due to his great height, and also because of his appearances in advertisements under the company Jari Productions. Because of his status as an idol, he has a large number of female fans who believe him to be the ace of the team. However, at the beginning of the series, Haruto has only average abilities. Following the Spring Tournament, Haruto separates himself from Jari Productions in order to dedicate himself to practicing and improving his athletic abilities. As a result, Haruto becomes Ojo's key offensive weapon, and comes to be regarded as one of the four best wide receivers in the entire Kanto region. A major aspect of this success is Haruto's cooperation with Takami, who is also very tall. The two are able to utilize their combined height with the Everest Pass, a pass that Takami throws with a high trajectory such that only Haruto is capable of reaching it.

While at the beginning of the series Haruto is crippled by self-doubt and the pressure accompanying the perception that he is the team's ace, he eventually manages to push aside his feeling of not belonging and works toward improving. He leaves his job as a pop idol after overhearing Ichiro's conversation with Shoji Gunpei, Makoto Otawara and Daigo Ikari, where the quarterback states that he has been waiting six years for someone like Haruto to come along and play with him. Haruto trains harder and becomes more confident as his skills improve. Otherwise he has a fairly quiet and submissive personality, and is friendly and considerate in nature.

Seijuro Shin (#40)

The ace linebacker of the Ojo White Knights, Seijuro is Sena Kobayakawa's main rival throughout the series. When the Devil Bats and White Knights play in the second round of the Spring Tournament, the White Knights begin to dominate the game once Seijuro enters. However, in one instance, Sena manages to out-run Seijuro. As a result, Seijuro vows to play Sena on the field again, as well as to train himself to be able to match Sena's speed. Over time, Seijuro, already considered possibly the greatest linebacker in the history of football in Japan, improves himself in preparation for facing Sena again. On the other hand, he often acts as a source of motivation for Sena to improve himself, and on a few occasions even offers advice to his rival.

Seijuro is known for being extremely strong and fast, and almost continuously trains to improve himself in often extreme and ridiculous fashion. He is frequently recognized as one of the best players in Japan, and earns various honors including Defensive Best Eleven Linebacker, Tokyo Tournament MVP and being recruited to Team Japan for the World Youth Cup. His trademark move is the Spear Tackle, a powerful tackle that involves thrusting his entire body into an open-palmed thrust of his arm. Seijuro continues to improve this technique, eventually combining it with the Speed of Light Pace to create the Trident Spear Tackle. Seijuro is always calm and serious, and often demonstrates that he has a deep understanding of the game. He is typically the leader of Ojo's defense on the field, and is named the captain of the team at the end of the year.

Makoto Otawara (#60)

A large lineman for the White Knights, Makoto is an extremely muscular, brash, and dense senior student and the captain of Ojo. He has a number of juvenile habits, such as farting in public, picking his nose, and his pants falling off frequently, all of which are played as running jokes throughout the series. He is repeatedly considered one of the least intelligent characters in the series, matched only by Taki, and is not only confused by somewhat complicated language, but also American football strategy. Despite this, he is very strong and also extremely fast for someone of his size, which makes him a very good defensive player. Makoto can be very insightful on occasion, which genuinely shocks just about everyone, but is in general a cheerfully bumbling person who is at his best when he does not bother to think about a situation. He also takes great pride in the capabilities and achievements of his team, and seems to be a motivational leader for the White Knights, as he is responsible in leading the team's chant at the beginning of each game.

Daigo Ikari (#66)

Daigo, nicknamed "Prison Chain Ikari" in middle school, is a former notorious delinquent and lineman for the Ojo White Knights. He is very quick to irritate, and often reacts violently to any comments he perceives as insulting to his teammates or to Ojo High School in general. Because of this, he was frequently suspended from school up until deciding to join the football team after overhearing a remark that the White Knights were weaker without the Golden Generation playing for them and because of Makoto saying how great American football is for people of his type. However, his bouts of violence continue, which causes him to be disqualified from each of Ojo's games before he is able to play; this pattern continues until Ojo's second match with the Deimon Devil Bats. His violent behavior continues when he plays games, as he brutally attacks any opposing ball-carrier without hesitation.

Other Players in Ojo

Various players from the White Knights are additionally named, though their role in the story is extremely limited. Additional players include:

• Hikaru Itadaki, #16, Tight End
• Shun Kankazi, #83, Wide Receiver
• Keisuke Nekoyama, #32, Running Back
• Shoichi Mayumura, #38, Running Back
• Reiji Kagamido, #52, Offensive Lineman
• Atsuo Iwabana, #62, Offensive Lineman
• Yoshinori Agota, # 78, Offensive line. Agota is named one of the Tokyo Best 11.
• Eiji Suzuki, #57, Offensive Lineman
• Kyohei Yakumaru, #35, Linebacker
• Takaya Gushiken, #51, Linebacker
• Rintaro Tsuyashima, # 22. Tsuyashima is named one of the Tokyo Best 11.
• Hiroyuki Iguchi, #25, Cornerback. Iguchi is named one of the Tokyo Best 11. At the beginning of the second game against Deimon, he covers Monta but despite his more superior speed he is caught off guard by his catching prowess and Haruto takes over covering him.
• Tadashi Tsurime, #15, Safety. Tsurime is named one of the Tokyo Best 11.
• Sota Nakawaki, #33, Safety. Nakawaki is named one of the Tokyo Best 11.
• Naoki Uemura, #92, Defensive Lineman. Uemura is named one of the Tokyo Best 11.
• Yorihiro Watanabe, #70, Defensive Lineman. Watanabe is named one of the Tokyo Best

Officials

Gunpei Shoji ("Shogun")

• (庄司軍平 Shōji Gunpei)
• Seiyū: Tetsuo Komura

Shoji is the head coach and trainer of the Ojo White Knights. During his years in university, he had been an ace player for his football team, along with Deimon's trainer Doburoku. Together, they were known at the Twin Japanese Blades. Unlike his former teammate, Shoji had avoided seriously injuring himself during the Death March training. He is a harsh but fair coach and he firmly believes that defense is the most important element in winning football games. Shoji was responsible for Seijuro's being recruited to the football team, as he instantly recognized his talent upon seeing the young player.

Koharu Wakana

• (若菜小春 Wakana Koharu)
• Seiyū: Sakenobe Mika

Wakana is the manager and assistant of the Ojo White Knights. She's known for recording most of the football games and has a habit of catching garbage thrown by the coach and players in a wastebasket. She seems to developed a friendship with fellow member Takami and Deimon's Mamori and Suzuna. It was said that she actually became manager to avoid working for her parents' grocery store.

Games Played

Opponent	Outcome	Score
Deimon Devil Bats	Win	99 - 0
Deimon Devil Bats	Win	68 - 12
Sankaku Punk	Win	7 - 6
Seibu Wild Gunmen	Win	21 - 20
Shinryuji Naga	Loss	3 - 43
Sankaku Punk	Win	82 - 0
Bando Spider	Win	14 - 3
Seibu Wild Gunmen	Win	14 - 3
Sado Strong Golem	Win	42-0.
Deimon Devil Bats	Loss	40 - 42 (manga) 28 - 27 (anime)

Team Appearance and Rituals

• Mascot: Knight with lance on horse.

  

  The Ojo White Knights logo

• Helmet logo: Blue shield with a white crucifix.
• Team colors: White and blue. Jerseys feature a lightning bolt across each shoulder.

Trivia

• Ojo Private Senior High School resembles the Notre Dame Cathedral to indicate that the school has a long, proud American football tradition like the University of Notre Dame in the United States.