Nijiura and Futaba Characters

Nijiura (aka 2ch, 2chan or 2channel), the image boards of Futaba Channel, are a Japanese website where various Japanese net characters have been born. The OS-tans were spawned on Futaba on August 6th, 2003, though they aren't the only net characters out there, and often interact with the various other characters this site has created. This is a list of the characters and basic information about them.

The Random Residents of Futaba

The OS-tans interact with a host of random characters, and certain ones interact with certian others more. Some, like Toshiaki, are common across the board.

Toshiaki (としあき)

Toshiaki with 2k-tan.

The origin of the moniker "Toshiaki" comes from an incident in the early days of Nijiura. Like 4chan, both boards by default list no name, and most users don't list one (instead opting for the tag of "Nameless" ("名無し")). In these early days, a particularlly insistant, trollish poster harassed the posters into copying his name, "Toshiaki". This sparked the operators into changing the default name to "Toshiaki" (prior there was no default name, resulting in the "Nameless" moniker being posted by default). Over time, however, some boards removed this tag and the "Nameless" tag entirely, resulting in all anons being listed as "「」" (pronunced "Kakkou", translated as "Brackets"). Toshiaki, though originally just the name for a random anon, eventually turned into the User character of the OS-tans. "-aki" is actually a suffix, and has been attached to others, such as ME-aki, the credited creator of ME-tan, the first OS-tan.

Toshiaki, as drawn by 98-tan.

Toshiaki the character is generally depicted as a college-age man with shaggy, short brown hair. He lives alone in an apartment (apart from sharing his space with his OS-tans), and not much is known or described about him. he is generally patient with his computers, willing to forgive the freezes or crashes of ME-tan without much frustration. It has been hinted that he likes Megannekos ('Glasses Girls'). He may or may not be depicted with eyes, and sometimes is depicted with glasses.

Toshiaki with XP-tan, as depicted with glasses.

「」("Kakkou")

Various Kakkou.

A default name (name used when nothing else is entered)on certain boards on Futaba, Kakkou (which translates literally to "Brackets") also commonly shows up in OS-tan artwork, with the brackets replacing the facial features of an anonymous person. The Brackets originated when the use of "Toshiaki" as a default forum name was dropped, but since the newer boards have picked up "Toshiaki" as an anon name again, both are used in the forum's moniker.

Akachouchin and Daiginjou

Daiginjou (left) and Akachouchin (right).

Akachouchin is a girl often seen with 95-kun. Akachouchin is based off of the character Shinku from the Anime/Manga series Rozen Maiden. A Chouchin is a type of paper lantern, while Aka means red, so the character is a silver-haired with a red headdress with red paper lanterns on the sides. Perhaps this is is a sign of the Red Light District, which might coorespond to Akachouchin's frequent inebriation. 95-kun is more often depicted with Akachouchin, who is usually depicted with some sort of container, as it is said that Akachouchin is excellent at making sake (though it is in the rather disgusting way of chewing the ingredients and then spitting them into the pot to ferment).

Daiginjou is a woman often seen with 95-tan. Daiginjou is derived from Suigintou and Kun-kun, both from the Rozen Maiden series. Like Akachouchin, Daiginjou is often associated with alcohol, but instead of making it, she serves it as a bartender. She is a tall, reubenesque blonde woman with brown dog ears under a small maid ruffle, flanked by red paper lanterns. Her hair varies in length depending on the picture, some depicting it in a slightly shorter cut than 2k-tan, some depicting it longer than 95's. She is a frequent companion of 95-tan and Kiri-san, the three seeming to be drinking buddies.

Kiri-san (霧さん)

Yukiko-san (left) and Kiri-san (right) with another net character, Goboten (above).

Kiri-san is a tall, buxom woman with long silvery-blue hair, small half-rim glasses and yellow eyes. She is based off the popular character Kotonomiya Yuki(琴乃宮雪), from the cult classic hentai visual novel Suigetsu. Though she, like her base character, is a maid, she is frequently pictured in various outfits, though her maid's uniform is brown and white. Her younger sister, Yukiko-san, is based off of the same character, though Yukiko's hair is about the length of 2k-tan's, and her eyes are red. Yukiko-san seems to appear significantly less than her older sister. Kiri-san worries about her.

Kiri-san is older than most other net characters, so she is frequently seen hanging out with 2 characters her own age, 95-tan and Daiginjou (95-tan especially; the two seem to be best friends by all the artwork of them).

Waha

A chibi character based off of the Suigetsu character Yamato Suzuran. Waha got her basis from Suzuran's common exclamation of "Waha!", which Futaba took kindly to, making Waha a seperate character. Waha is done up in extreme chibi style, having a head-to-body ratio of about 2 or 3, with little nubbly limbs and a near constant expression of ^__^ or ＾∇＾. Her clothing consists of a small pair of black shorts, a white shirt with red and white striped sleeves, and a red bandana over short brown hair. Waha's popularity has inspired flash games, animations, and spin-offs with people or characters imitating her classic Waha pose.

Waha has an older sister, Musu, who is depicted as older, taller, and wearing blue (vs. Waha's red). Musu, like Waha, is based off of Yamato Suzuran.

Waha also has a 'pet human' named Choia. A Futaba Original, her basis is unclear. She is almost always naked save for a red collar, and has purpleish-grey hair in a long, low ponytail, with a very prominent ahoge (comparable to ME-tan's).

The Nijiura Maids

Born out of an Anon's Thought about having a cute maid, the Nijiura Maids are a group of Maids with odd personalities or physical characteristics. They are sometimes shown with the OS-tans, giving a sense of partnership regarding Futaba and Nijiura.