The story takes place amidst a battle for economic and military hegemony in Asia, involving characters from giant conglomerates such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Sumitomo Corporation, as well as related companies. The characters, with their social backgrounds and personal histories, overcome turbulent times and repeatedly confront and cooperate with each other. Here are some of the key characters whose individual personalities and backgrounds add depth to the story.
1. Utsutsu Umiyama
• Age: early 40s • Occupation/position: Charismatic trading company employee of Mitsui & Co. He is in a position to lead business strategies by demonstrating outstanding negotiation skills in the field of trading companies. • Personality: A very good economic strategist with a calm, calm and theoretical mind. He is able to analyze situations accurately and respond calmly to any difficult situation, but because of his cool-headedness, he is sometimes considered ruthless by those around him. However, he actually has a very human side. He has deep compassion for the people around him, but rarely shows it. Internally, he is deeply conflicted and suffers from the gap between ideals and reality. • background: After graduating from a prestigious Japanese university, he joined Mitsui & Co. From a young age, he demonstrated his knowledge of economics and business acumen, and rapidly rose through the ranks. In the process, he finds himself in the harsh situation of war in an effort to combine economic success with the interests of the nation. He puts the development of his company and nation first, rather than the happiness of his family and individuals, and sometimes makes cold-blooded decisions. • Relationships: He has a strong relationship of trust with Kazuma Nanjo and together they have overcome many difficulties. Although they have had some business conflicts in the past, they ultimately respect each other's ideas. He first meets Asako Oda in the story and falls in love with her. His relationship with Shigeru Sugawara is often at odds due to their different approaches to management policies and strategies, but ultimately they work together toward a common goal.
2. Kazuma Nanjo
• Age: early 40s • Occupation/position: A charismatic trading company man who is renowned as a field leader at Mitsubishi Corporation. Responsible for field negotiations and strategy, he supports the front lines of the company. • Personality: Passionate and enthusiastic, he faces any difficult situation with sincerity. He is widely known in the trading company for his outstanding negotiating skills and on-the-spot judgment. However, his passion tends to override reason at times, and he often clashes with those around him. As an idealist, he places great importance on his country's independence and pride, and has a strong belief in "for Japan" even in economic dealings. Inwardly, he is troubled by the fact that his ideals sometimes diverge from reality, but he continues to pursue the path he believes in. • background: In postwar Japan, as the country became increasingly dependent on the U.S., Nanjo negotiated a number of deals to achieve economic independence. At Mitsubishi Shoji, he was in charge of commercial warfare and resource procurement, and overcame many difficulties in the field. In the process, he questioned Japan's dependency on the U.S. and gradually began to seek Japan's own economic and military independence. • Relationships: He and Utsutsu Umiyama sometimes disagree with each other, but they have deep trust in each other for the future of Japan. He is at odds with Shigeru Sugawara in the way he conducts business, but resonates with his passion and strength of will, and although they once fight over war and economic independence, they eventually join hands for a common cause.
3. Toshio Sueyoshi
• Age: early 40s • Occupation/position: Senior Manager at Toyo Business Engineering (B-EN-G), overseeing two IT system maintenance and operations groups and managing the company's mission-critical systems. • Personality: With a gentle and meek personality, he is a leader type who treats his subordinates and colleagues with kindness and supports their growth. He is mild-mannered on the outside, but inwardly he has a very strong sense of responsibility and is unfazed by any difficulties. He is able to make calm and theoretical judgments, giving those around him a sense of security, but he also has an emotional side, and his challenge is how to come to terms with this. At times, he is troubled by the gap between his ideals and reality, and often faces internal conflicts. • background: In post-war Japan, he has established himself within the company, working for Toyo Business Engineering in the maintenance and operation of IT systems; with the development of IT, he has played an important role in supporting the company's system infrastructure, especially in wars and economic warfare, focusing on the best use of the power of information technology. • Relationships: He works with Ryoma Sakoda and Kazuhiro Yamagai, with whom he has a slight feud, especially with Kazuhiro Yamagai. Yamagai sometimes lightly ridicules Sueyoshi, and Sueyoshi sometimes feels uncomfortable with this attitude. However, Sueyoshi calmly navigates the situation and makes an effort not to clash with him on the surface. Nevertheless, he is inwardly dissatisfied with Yamaguchi's frivolous attitude, and it occasionally becomes a small spark in his mind. His relationship with Ryoma Sakoda is more than that of boss and subordinate; they trust each other and cooperate with each other.
4. Shigeru Sugawara
• Age: mid-30s • Occupation/position: Sales Manager of Toyo Business Engineering (B-EN-G). Responsible for commercial battles and negotiations with customers, he plays a key role on the front lines of the company. • Personality. With a sharp mind and cool-headed judgment, he emphasizes a theoretical approach. He is adept at taking a commercial point of view and seeks to be idealistic yet pragmatic. On the surface, he appears cool-headed, but in reality he has deep human passions and very strong convictions, especially regarding Japan's independence and pride. As a result, he often shows glimpses of his emotional side and is often conflicted between business and personal relationships. • background: He has been in charge of the sales department at Toyo Business Engineering, where he has played a leading role in driving corporate strategy in commercial warfare and resource procurement. He has sometimes made bold decisions to defend his economic position in the midst of war, and has achieved commercial success as a result. As the war intensifies, he seeks greater independence and plays an active role in strategic negotiations and alliances with other major corporations. • Relationships: He and Utsutsu Umiyama often disagree over economic strategies, but eventually work together toward a common goal. He and Nanjo Kazuma get along well through the commercial wars, but they have their own different ways of thinking and sometimes clash. They eventually team up to form a co-prosperity zone, but their past feuds are not completely resolved.
5. Shinzo Takahashi
• Age: mid-30s • Occupation/position: Senior Engineer at Toyo Business Engineering (B-EN-G). He has in-depth knowledge of technical aspects and is responsible for system design and optimization. • Personality: He is very theoretical and calculating, but at the same time he has a strong sense of responsibility for his work and is skilled at balancing ideals and reality. He has an excellent ability to analyze things dispassionately and acts based on his own beliefs while respecting the opinions of those around him. However, he is rarely emotional and is able to make cool-headed judgments, making him a person that others can rely on. He sometimes feels lonely and is not good at establishing emotional connections. • background: Takahashi rode the wave of the postwar IT revolution and built a career in the technology industry. His expertise in using technology to gain an advantage in corporate wars as well as in economic warfare and national strategy. • Relationships: Although he often disagrees with Utsutsu Umiyama and Kazuma Nanjo, they are able to argue calmly and eventually build mutual trust. With Shigeru Sugawara, he is often at odds with each other on strategic positions, but even so, scenes are depicted in which they cooperate toward the same goal.
6. Asako Oda
• Age: Early 30's • Occupation/position: Employee of Mitsui Trade Service Co. He belongs to the sales department and is in charge of negotiating and concluding trade contracts between companies. • Personality: He has a gentle and meek personality and always interacts with people in a calm manner. No matter how difficult the situation, she is able to calmly judge things and put those around her at ease. Her excellent relationship-building skills and attentiveness to detail are her strength to lead business meetings to success. However, she is actually very introverted and often has trouble expressing her feelings. She also has a side where she thinks too deeply about things and sometimes pushes herself too hard. • background: From a very early age, he developed a strong interest in economics and international relations, which led him to work for Mitsui Trade Service Co. Through negotiations with various countries, he achieved certain results in the field of trade. Therefore, while he is able to act one step ahead of his business partners, he is too often biased toward theoretical aspects and avoids making emotional decisions. • Relationships: She first meets and falls in love with Utsutsu Umiyama in the story. Although she is cautious in her approach to love, they eventually develop a strong trust and affection for each other. Because she is cautious in her relationships and rarely expresses her emotions, her relationship with Umiyama deepens gradually at first. She has harmonious relationships with her other co-workers and especially values cooperation in her work.
7. Ryoma Sakota
• Age: Early 30's • Occupation/position: Manager of Toyo Business Engineering (B-EN-G). He reports to Toshio Sueyoshi and is in charge of system maintenance and operation. • Personality: He is gentle, but very strict in his work and does not tolerate waste. He is calculating and always focuses on results, but he also tries to help his subordinates grow and give them appropriate guidance. He has a humorous side and is able to defuse situations, which makes him well-liked by those around him, but he is also somewhat calculating and can appear cold-hearted at times. He is passionate about his work and exercises calm judgment. • background: He has had a strong interest in IT systems since he was young and joined B-EN-G because of his talent. He has known Sueyoshi for a long time, and while he respects him, there is a side of him that tries to follow his own way of thinking and doing things. He is very competitive and sometimes clashes with his colleagues and superiors because he often has his own way of doing things. • Relationships: His relationship with Sueyoshi is more than a boss and subordinate position; they trust each other. However, they occasionally disagree and often become emotional. In particular, although he and Kazuhiro Yamashii do not clash on the surface, there are times when the atmosphere is somewhat acrimonious. Their contrasting personalities often create strong tension.
8. Kazuhiro Yamagiwa
• Age: 30 years old • Occupation/title: Manager at Toyo Business Engineering (B-EN-G). He reports to Toshio Sueyoshi and is in charge of another IT system maintenance and operation group. • Personality: He has a cheerful and cocky personality, and sometimes acts in a way that can be seen as overconfident, but behind this is a side of him that is insecure about the people around him. He has a strong desire to show off, and his words and actions sometimes contain unnecessary provocative elements, but his subordinates and colleagues love him as a caring person. He is good at building relationships with those around him and often plays a lively role, especially at parties and company events. • background: Although there is a slight age difference and he is at odds with Ryoma Sakoda, he often expresses his opinions aggressively due to his youthfulness; he has a wealth of knowledge about IT systems and sometimes proposes very creative ideas, but he sometimes explodes emotionally when his ideas do not work out the way he wants them to. Although he still feels complex about his youth, he strives daily to improve himself in order to overcome this complex. • Relationships: He and Ryoma Sakoda are often at odds with each other, yet they superficially avoid clashing with each other. Yamagai's bold statements and Sakoda's calm responses are often the topic of conversation within the company. Although he and Sueyoshi have a senior/junior relationship, secretly he wants to be further ahead, and to that end he sometimes pushes his own ideas.