List of Whistle! characters

Shō Kazamatsuri (風祭 将, Kazamatsuri Shō) (Voiced by Komukai Minako, Shun Horie during Whistle! voice remake)

Shō is the main character of the soccer manga and anime Whistle!. He is a regular of the Josui High soccer varsity team and plays the position of Forward with Shigeki Satō. For a soccer player, Shō is pretty short at 146 cm (4 ft 9 in), which can be a hindrance, as well as an asset. His jersey number is 9. While not being very good at soccer, Sho has a thirst to improve and never gives up. His determination often inspires the people around him, and is something that even his team captain Mizuno admires. While he's neither the best nor the leader of his soccer team, he is the heart of it.

His character has a few quirks. He has an odd habit of slapping his cheeks with both hands to get himself motivated. He also has a very optimistic attitude and is very open-minded to the point that sarcasm and arrogant comments usually don't work on him; rather he takes them literally and usually agrees with the offender, which either annoys or humors them. He can get very angry sometimes and yell at the offender, but often turns embarrassed afterwards. As well, sometimes due to late night practices, Shō would fall asleep in class, causing Shigeki to jokingly say that Shō has already given up on school. Shigeki also calls him "Pup" or "Puppy" (pochi).

Miyuki Sakurai has a large crush on Shō, but he appears to have an interest in Yuki Kojima, friend and founder of the girls' soccer team - he thought she had long hair like a doll's when he first saw her. However, he may also like her because of her impressive soccer skills.

He later qualifies for the Junior Senbatsu Team (aka Tokyo Select), though only as a substitute player. Although many of the other Senbatsu players found him to be a less than average player, they soon realize his potential as a forward. He also becomes the one to bring the rest of the team together. After Tenjo leaves, Shō takes his place as the number 19 forward. He shows his real skills in a one-on-one battle with Tenjo, and in the game against the Seoul Senbatsu Team. During the game against the Kansai select, Shō suddenly fainted when it was down to stoppage time. It is revealed later that something has happened to his left knee and the doctor stated that there is a possibility of him not being able to play soccer anymore. But thanks to the encouragement from his teammates, family members and other people, he gains the courage to go to Germany to see a doctor that would help him heal his knee. At the end of the series it is shown that he returns from Germany and continues playing with his friends and teammates.

Unknownst to some of his soccer teammates, Shō is the son of Shiomi Kensuke, one of Japan's most famous soccer players, known for scoring goals from a non-existing zero angle (a technique that Shō used in his match against Hiba Junior High). After his parents died in a car accident, he was adopted by his uncle and aunt, Mamoru and Reiko Kazamatsuri, which is where he received his family name. Originally, he never realized who his real parents were until he started playing soccer. Along with the fact that his brother, Kō, does not look anything like him, a relative told him that he could not go against blood, which at first seemed ambiguous to him. He found out the truth after transferring schools; he realized that there are different names for his parents on his family certificate, though he kept it to himself since he considers himself lucky to have two mothers and two fathers.

Tatsuya Mizuno

Tatsuya Mizuno (水野 竜也, Mizuno Tatsuya) (Voiced by Maeda Takeshi, Shinnosuke Tachibana during Whistle! voice remake)

Tatsuya is a second year student and is also the best player and team captain of Josui Junior High. He became the captain after defeating the former captain (Honma) in a match alongside a bunch of substitutes as he didn't think Honma was serious enough about soccer. Not only is he a talented player, but also an honor student. Tatsuya tutors the novice Shō after being impressed with his determination and hard work. Shigeki calls him Tatsu-bon, which always annoys him. Due to his handsome looks, he has the most fan girls in his school, even gaining the admiration of the opposing schools' girls, though he does prefer to ignore them. Out of all his teammates at his school, Tatsuya is closest to Sho and Shigeki. His jersey number is 10.

Tatsuya lives with his mom, Mariko Mizuno and his aunts, Takako and Yuriko, in the Mizuno mansion. His parents are divorced. Tatsuya's father is the coach of the Musashinomori soccer team, Josui's rival school. Tatsuya doesn't get along well with his father, however, and has often expressed anger at Coach Kirihara's attempts to "control" him. Also, it is later revealed that, during his first year, Tatsuya passed Musashinomori's qualifying tests to enter into their school, but rejected the offer due to not wanting to be his father's puppet. Though many consider him to be a cool-headed person with an indifferent look on his face, Tatsuya actually gets very hot-headed when it comes to things involving his father, once even trying to punch Shigeki when the latter said he acted like his father.

During the Junior Senbatsu Training Camp, he realizes that he's been overprotecting Shō and also underestimating him. He soon discovers Shō's potential and finally has a deeper understanding of Shō's personality. He becomes the first person to qualify as a regular on the Junior Senbatsu team, as their ace midfielder. During the friendly match with the Seoul Senbatsu team in Korea, he begins to enjoy the game (originally, Tatsuya took soccer too seriously and did not realize that he simply enjoys playing soccer; according to his coaches, this trait was the only thing keeping him from becoming the "perfect" player), and now finally understanding how the others feel, he can finally connect with them.

Daichi Fuwa

Daichi Fuwa (不破 大地, Fuwa Daichi) (Voiced by Kiyasu Kohei, Takuya Eguchi during Whistle! voice remake)

Daichi 'The Crusher' Fuwa is known in Josui as a genius, but many find him dangerous and eccentric. He is called the Crusher because he crushes people's pride by outdoing them and saying what they have done wrong, not realizing that he's hurting/irritating others. His way of speaking is very blunt and direct. Though he's a genius at almost everything he does, the only things he doesn't understand are the basics of socializing and the meaning of just having fun. He meets Shō when the latter thought he was going to commit suicide by jumping into a river and tried to intervene. Shō introduces Fuwa into the world of soccer and Daichi decides to join the soccer team in order to investigate Shō's smile.

When he was at first introduced to the team, he didn't get along well with most others on the team. After a while, however, Shō, along with a little help from Musashinomori's goalkeeper, Katsuro Shibusawa, he manages to teach him the meaning of trust, and shows him how to get along better with others. He becomes the permanent goalkeeper, replacing Shigeki after Josui's first match of their tournament. Since he can easily calculate and predict the direction of the ball's trajectory, he is Josui's best goal keeper. Shō is the only person who understands him and is probably the only one who isn't afraid of him. His hobby is the activity of destruction and he dislikes things that cannot be explained scientifically. His jersey number is 1 and 12 in the Tokyo Senbatsu team.

He was accepted into the Junior Senbatsu Camp, but failed to get a regular spot on the Senbatsu team. He acted aloof about it, saying that he didn't care, but after Takai teased him about it, Fuwa snapped and yanked on Takai's cheeks comically. It was shown here that Fuwa still doesn't understand his own passion for soccer because he wondered why he felt angry. After Shibusawa was injured during practice and Kentaro injured during the match against Seoul Senbatsu, Fuwa became a substitute goalkeeper on the Senbatsu team.

According to a short make in which Shō visits Fuwa's family, it is revealed that Fuwa lives in a futuristic looking house with his grandfather (Fuwa Daisaku), his father (Fuwa Dairoku), his mother (Fuwa Otome), and his second cousin (Kyosuke Kurosu) who looks exactly like him. His mother is a developer of space food, and often serves her experiments for dinner (which Fuwa seems to like a good deal). His father is a drug researcher and has a tapeworm in his stomach which he uses to experiment on himself. His grandfather also appears to be an inventor. Fuwa calls his parents by their first name. He clearly inherits his intellectual mind from his whole family.

Shigeki Satō

Shigeki Satō (佐藤 成樹, Satō Shigeki) (Voiced by Kiuchi Hidenobu, Ryosuke Kanemoto during Whistle! voice remake)

Shigeki, or Shige, is a forward specializing in evasion and dodging techniques. He is said to be one of the best players in the school. He quit the soccer club during his first year because the upperclassmen didn't play seriously, so he got bored playing. But after Shō joined the club, he decided it was interesting again and decided to rejoin. Shige is never serious and usually jokes around a lot. He enjoys making-up nicknames for his friends. He often calls Shō pochi ('puppy' or 'pup'), and infuriates his captain by calling him "Tatsu-bon". He was initially the goalkeeper of Josui as there was no one else for the job, but was given the forward spot when Daichi came along. He has a thick Kansai-ben accent, and it is later revealed that he ran away from his home in Kyoto when he was young, making him a year older than most of his classmates. He now lives with monks at a shrine. His jersey number is 11.

Shigeki got an invitation to go to the Tokyo Senbatsu camp, but Coach Matsushita decided to reject the offer as he didn't feel that Shige was serious enough about soccer. Though he pretended not to care, Shige decided to become a serious soccer player and go for the pros after a talk with his old friend, Naoki. He also went back to visit his mother, back in his hometown. In the anime, since Shigeki finally became serious about soccer, Matsushita gave him a chance to play in the friendly match with the Seoul Senbatsu team. In the manga, which goes on for a bit further than the actual anime, Shigeki decides instead to begin playing soccer in his hometown, Kyoto. He changed his last name to Fujimura, and enrolled as a player from Kansai in the Toresen Tournament, in order to face off against Sho Kazamatsuri, his former teammate.

Kaoru Gomi (五味 薫, Gomi Kaoru)

One of the newcomers to the team after Tatsuya revamped it, he had thin nostrils that were easily mistaken for his eyes by most people, which appear to be vertical. A first year student and classmate of Hideomi and Yoshihiko. His jersey number is 8.

Hideomi Hanazawa (花沢 秀臣, Hanazawa Hideomi)

Tallest player in the soccer team and a first year student. Most of his teammates try to use his height as an advantage over the other medium-height players. He is a classmate of Kaoru and Yoshihiko. His soccer jersey is 2.

Hiroyoshi Noro (野呂 浩美, Noro Hiroyoshi)

A chubby player and first year student in the soccer team, he was originally a substitute who was threatened by Honma (listed below) to quit. Inspired by Shō's determination to be one of the best players in the club, he gladly joined the team. For a short time, he encountered psychological issues on whether he was playing a part in the soccer team or not before sensing that he was still important. His soccer jersey number is 4.

Masato Takai (高井　真人, Takai Masato)

One of the substitute players who teamed up with Tatsuya, Shō, Yoshihiko and Hideomi to take on the original varsity players after Tatsuya issued a challenge for a mini-game. He was a Forward for a short time when the initial team was propped up before he was reassigned as a Wingback because he had high stamina and his vision wasn't capable of handling the Forward position. He was replaced by Shigeki. His jersey number is 12.

Yoshihiko Koga (古賀　良彦, Koga Yoshihiko)

First year student with Hideomi. He is an academically-driven student who has a liking for soccer. His mother scorns him for prioritizing soccer over his studies. He is a classmate of Kaoru and Hideomi. His jersey number is 3.

Yusuke Morinaga (森長　祐介, Morinaga Yusuke)

One of the original soccer players and second year student, he quit with most of the players after they protested Tatsuya's revamping of the team. Coming to his senses, he agreed to be recruited back into the team. His soccer jersey number is 7.

Mamoru Tanaka (田中　衛, Tanaka Mamoru)

Second year student and classmate of Ippei Toyama, he joined his classmate in the soccer team when Tatsuya recruited him to join their ranks. His jersey number is 5.

Ippei Toyama (外山　一平, Toyama Ippei)

A second year student and classmate to fellow soccer player to Mamoru Tanaka, he was one of the new recruits to join the revamped soccer team. His jersey number is 6.

Santa Yamaguchi (山口 杉太, Yamaguchi Santa)

A recent recruit and first year student who was placed as a substitute player in the team, who joined in order to impress the girls in Josui High, especially Miyuki Sakurai. He often refers to himself as the "Super Sub," but when he was placed in the game, he realized he wasn't as good as he thought. He gets jealous of Shō, due to his lack of skill, and the fact that Miyuki has a crush on the short boy. However, he grew to accept Shō as a valuable comrade in the soccer team. He "proved" himself as a worthy member when he scored the second goal against Hiba High, though he did it when the ball Rokusuke Hata kicked accidentally bounced off the back of his head. His jersey number is 15.

Yasuaki Honma (本間　泰明, Honma Yasuaki)

Former captain of Sakura Josui's soccer team. When Shō came to the school, he requested a match with him after seeing Shō practice his lifting skills, though he was disappointed to see that Shō was lousy. After being challenged by Mizuno, he and a few others gang up on the substitute team (which included Shō, Mizuno, Takai, and Yoshihiko), since he wanted to target Mizuno. Later on in the series, after leaving the team, he spots Shō practicing and they both have a friendly mini 1-on-1 soccer game. Thus, during this game, Shō inspires him to start anew, but after he advances to high school.

Yuki Kojima (小島 有希, Kojima Yuki)

Second year Yuki Kojima is the founder of the girls' team after being club manager for the boys' team and being tired of sitting on the sidelines. Many of the club members think Yuki is scary because of her bluntness and often unlady-like attitude. However, she often uses her good looks and girly charm to get the boys to do things for her. She is a very skilled player, and encourages Shō and Masato to never give up on soccer. She is also very serious about soccer, even to the point of cutting her hair short in order to play in a game with the boys. When the girls' team isn't going well, Shō turns that same positive encouragement around.

Yuki was originally part of a soccer team at her last school, until she moved away with her family. When she arrived at Josui however, she could not continue playing soccer because she was a girl. Therefore, she became a person who sat in the sidelines and 'beat up' people who she did not think were worthy enough of playing soccer. She became infamous for this and everyone wondered who the mysterious soccer player was. She reveals her identity when she berates Masato for trying to quit the team, and plays a match against him to prove his worthiness. After the match, Shō convinces her to become a player rather than simply managing the boys' team, and thus she creates a girls' soccer team.

Near the end of the manga, Yuki decided on playing soccer for a living. However, knowing that a female soccer player would not rise easily to fame in her country, she goes abroad to the US to fulfill her dream of becoming a great player.She is an amazing player on the team.

Miyuki Sakurai (桜井 みゆき, Sakurai Miyuki)

A girl with an immense crush on Shō. Since she is in the photography club, she often uses that excuse to take pictures of Shō when given the chance. And like Yūko, she also lends her support in any way she can to encourage Shō to do his best. She becomes the manager for the boys' soccer team when Yuki becomes too busy with the girls' soccer team. Miyuki also became part of Yuki's soccer team in the manga, though in the anime, the tryouts for Josui's girls' soccer team is not shown, and she is shown only as a supporter for the boys' team. She is admired by Santa Yamaguchi, who joined the team to be with her, while she in fact joined the team because of Shō. She would often get angry at Santa for always coming between her and Shō or when he bad-mouths Shō, despite the fact that Santa only does those things because he is jealous. Of course, she is not aware of Santa's feelings for her, and is constantly just trying to get Shō to notice her more. In the manga, she realizes that she loves seeing Shō play, rather than actually loving him.

Shizuyo Toda

Shizuyo joined the girls' soccer team to be around her friend, Miyuki. She doesn't appear in the anime (as the scene where Yuki picks the members isn't shown) but has a few short appearances in the manga. She seems to be able to play the game, having played it before with her little brother, and was able to pass the test Yuki set for the girls who wanted to be on Josui's girls' soccer team.

Nene Yokoyama

She's a third year. Nene's a tall girl, who seems to enjoy, and be fairly good at playing soccer, as she passed the test Yuki set for girls who wanted to join the team. She was hoping to join a high school soccer team, and took advantage of the chance to be in a junior high one. Like Shizuyo, she's not shown in the anime, and is only rarely seen in the manga.

Maiko Kamijo

Maiko originally joined the team because she considered Yuki to be her rival in looks. Yuki originally refused to let her join, on the account that she didn't know how to play soccer, but gets annoyed with Tatsuya's fangirls and decided to set a test for any girl who wanted to join the team. Maiko decided to try, and though she, along with Miyuki, doesn't manage to pass, they're both accepted by Yuki who was impressed by their persistence.