|
Maeda Yoshiaki | |
| |
| Vital Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 16 |
| Infected | Yes |
| Status | Alive |
| Abilities | Control over the infected and healing |
| Relationships | |
| Affiliation | Cell Four |
| Rivals | Inmates |
| Series | |
| First Appearance | Chapter 1: Soon Crazy |
Maeda Yoshiaki (前田 義明 Yoshiaki Maeda) is the main character and protagonist in Apocalypse no Toride. He is a 16 year old high school student who is currently serving a false murder charge at the Shouran Academy for delinquents.
Appearance[]
Maeda Yoshiaki is a short teenager. He has short, dark hair, large expressive eyes and a small frame. When he controlled zombies for the second time his eyes took on the standard Bokor trait of having three pupils.
Personality[]
Yoshiaki Maeda is an ordinary boy who wouldn't look out of place anywhere and although cowardly, with no stomach for fighting, he has a sense of justice. He doesn't believe in leaving friends behind and is unwilling to give up easily.
Skills[]
Initially fearful of violence, Maeda quickly becomes capable of defending himself from the infected with whatever objects he can find. Once he is infected by the Bokor, he gains the ability to heal himself from near fatal physical damage. He also gains control over the infected. With this new power he can form massive structures as he sees fit for both fighting and saving people.
History[]
The Beginning of the Outbreak[]
Maeda sees his first zombie.
Maeda used to go to a typical Japanese highschool and had a pretty typical life with friends Takuya, Kazuki and Ken and even a possible love interest, Kimura (all briefly mentioned). Along with the chance to join clubs and sports, which he declined and later mentions his regret when he needs the physical strength. He had a mother, father and a sister called Yumiko before the outbreak, all of which are now deceased. Once while on his way home from school, he was actually walking up the steps to his family's apartment, when he was overcome with curiosity from an unusual sound that caused him to deter from his usual routine. Thus he ended up on the other side of the apartment and discovered that the strange noise was caused by a murder, possibly by the dead body falling on the steps. At this point he was frozen with fear in the spot and was later apprehended by the cops, being the only suspect, and prosecuted (probably with little investigation).
Maeda meets the Bokor for the first time.
Taken to the Shouran Academy Juvenile Detention Center, he meets his "cellmates"- Yoshioka Masafumi, Iwakura Gou and Yamanoi Mitsuru. When the outbreak of murderous infection happens the boys fight their way around the Academy. Afraid for his family Maeda wants to go see them. So Cell Four take the only vehicle on the premises and go to his house. But by the time they get there his family are all infected.
Disheartened about what to do next, a mountain of zombies appears... with a naked man sitting on top of it! The man and his mountain chase after the boys, and Maeda, fed up with it all, shoots the man in the chest. But the zombies keep coming, so the boys drive back to the Academy for safety.
JSDF Weapons Run[]
Iwakura and Maeda run from a Nimble
In order to remain at the Shouran Academy, Cell Four must bring back weapons from the Japanese Self Defense Force garrison. They get there and encounter a new breed of the infected. They guys are rescued by Hanabata and Kasahara, find weapons and fight the naked man again. They wound him enough to restrain him, and after a vote it is decided to bring him back with them.
The Death of the First Bokor[]
The guys bring the naked man, who they are now calling "The Bokor," back with them to the Academy and give him a physical exam. He escapes his restraints and goes about hunting for Maeda again. The guys catch him and behead him. While killing the Bokor, Maeda had his finger bitten off. This resulted in his cell mates cutting off his arm in order to prevent him from being infected.
The Child of Light Cultists[]
Cell Four rests after the surgery.
During his recovery from the surgery a group of soldiers who follow the Bokor around arrived at the Academy. Cell Four, Hanabata and Kasahara turn against them, but are soon rounded up and marched to a rooftop for execution. Maeda awakens and finds his falling from the roof. Full of fear and rage, he is shown to be able to move the undead by his will, even creating flowers made of the dead. He killed many of the cultists, but was then abducted by Corporal Top, who wanted his blood in order to become an immortal. He knocked Maeda out and brought him onto a helicopter. The helicopter was subsequently shot down by the boss with a rocket launcher. Maeda's immortality allowed him to survive the helicopter crash, despite his horrific injuries. This revealed to his cell mates that he was infected with the F-virus.
Journey to the Sea Firefly[]
Maeda supports a weakened Yamanoi
The Academy is contacted by a woman named Dr. Sakagami Yukko. She has a lab on the Sea Firefly, and asks the guys to bring her an F-virus infected person to help her create a cure for the M-virus. Maeda volunteers himself, and Iwakura, Yoshioka, Yamanoi and Hanabata (with Riku) agree to accompany him. While at a reststop Yamanoi is attacked by an infected person, but it turns away from him before doing any damage. He confesses to not only having been bitten by a zombie but to also being an F-virus carrier.
The gang continue onward to the Sea Firefly on foot due to traffic jams. They find a tunnel leading to the island, but run into another car pile up. They cannot turn around because they have been walking for hours without ventilation. The carbon monoxide building up in the tunnel would kill them before they could make it out again. Seeing an exit door, Hanabata opens it and releases all of the infected trapped within. The guys run to a car just in time. Yoshioka, Iwakura, Hanabata and Riku are in the car, and Maeda and Yamanoi are in the trunk.
Yamanoi explains his plan to Maeda
As the infected bang on the car Yamanoi suddenly opens the trunk and stands up, deliriously telling the infected to stay away from his mother. Then he devises a plan that only he and Maeda can pull off. They must set off an explosion big enough to destroy all of the car pile-ups and infected throughout the tunnel. Since he and Maeda are already infected, they can get out of the car safely. Maeda's job is to find a large fuel tanker and release all of its contents onto the ground. Yamanoi's job is to find the wind tunnel that provides ventilation for the Aqua-line and restart it. This will provided oxygen and a means for the gas fumes to spread around.
Maeda is the first to return to the car to wait for Yamanoi with the others. When he returns however he has nearly completed his physical and mental transformation to becoming infected. He chokes Maeda but instead of killing him he slams him into the car trunk and shuts him inside. He asks who else will ignite the gas if everyone else is in the car. He then turns on a lighter he stole from Yoshioka and a huge explosion rushes through the tunnel, killing all of the infected surrounding the car.
The Sea Firefly[]
Maeda, Iwakura, Yoshioka, Hanabata and Riku have arrived at the Sea Firefly. They get there just in time to save Dr. Sakagami Yukko from a pack of nimbles. Once they sit down to talk she asks Maeda to prove that he is an F-virus carrier. He is hesitant to cut himself so Yoshioka cuts off one of his fingers. The finger grows back and Yukko is convinced. She then produces several hypodermic needles, explaining that they all need a shot of antibiotics as a counter measure for whatever bacteria they've been exposed to outside. They all agree but quickly fall to the ground. She actually injected them with large doses of insulin. This severely decreased their blood sugar, rendering them weak and powerless. Then she puts Maeda on a stretcher and takes him into another room.
Dr. Sakagami Yukko prepares to kill Maeda
When alone, Yukko explains to Maeda that she needs gray matter from Maeda's brain in order to create the M-virus cure. But she doesn't have any delicate surgical tools, so she has to use the construction tools she's found on the Sea Firefly. Therefor the extraction of his grey matter will kill him. He struggles with her but fails. As she prepares to go to work on him Yoshioka appears behind her. He tells her why her insulin trick didn't work on him and begins to fight her. She gets the upper hand and shoves him out the door and locks it behind her.
She goes back to Maeda and mercilessly bludgeon him in the head. There is a gunshot and the door opens. It's Hitotsukabuto. He punches Yukko and saves Maeda.
Hitotsukabuto explains that Daisy has been bitten and so he came to the Sea Firefly to get the M-virus cure for her. He wants the satisfaction of killing her himself. He does not care if Maeda has to die in the process. Yoshioka argues against this and Maeda proposes an alternative. They can use the other F-virus carrier he can sense nearby. He takes everyone outside and points to the female Bokor. She is standing on the Kisarazu side of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-line. But Iwakura points out the problem with capturing her. He shoots at her and she uses a mass of the infected as a shield. Refusing to be denied, Hitotsukabuto tries to hit Maeda with a machete to knock him out for the doctor. But before he can hit him Riku instinctively protects Maeda.
Riku protects Maeda from Hitotsukabuto.
Realizing that they can use this to their advantage, Yoshioka proposes they send Riku over to the Kisarazu side of the Aqua-line to capture the female Bokor. Shinpei objects to using his child in this. Yoshioka explains that if Riku goes over he has a chance of coming back, but Maeda may not. Shinpei still objects, so Iwakura turns to the doctor. He asks her if the cure will do anything for someone who is in an advanced stage of infection. Yukko states that the cure won’t reverse infection but it will prevent further progression and alleviate some of the symptoms. With this in mind, Hanabata allows Maeda to guide Riku over to the Kisarazu side of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-line to grab the female Bokor.
Maeda uses his voice to guide Riku to the Kisarazu side of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-line. Riku swims through the bay, climbs up a pier and dodges the zombies the female Bokor has used to protect her. Once the action stops Riku has successfully subdued the female Bokor.
As Riku heads back towards the Sea Firefly with the female Bokor a newer, larger male Bokor appears. Maeda tells Riku to defeat this Bokor as well, but it is too fast for the child and easily jumps over him. Hitotsukabuto warns that he doesn't know what is about to happen but Riku will die if he stays there. So Maeda calls Riku back, and the child obeys.
Current Plot[]
The two Bokor embrace each other and appear to be kissing each other. But the group looks on in horror as the two Bokors' bodies violently merge together and become a mutated fetus. They proceed to watch on as the Bokors fire out tentacles, grasping infected masses and forming a huge pillar, with a baby's face in the centre of the mass. Iwakura uses a truck, exploding the mass and seemingly destroying it, until a massive creature erupts from the bodies, a gigantic likeness of Maeda.
Epilogue[]
Yoshiaki Maeda few years after the infected epidemic
Few years after the infected epidemic,Yoshiaki becomes a gardener and takes care of the apple orchard meant for the people of the town,He gains help from his old friend and co-worker Iwakura Gou.
Relationships[]
Yoshioka Masafumi
They are mostly on good terms. Yoshioka jokes around with Maeda and has come to his aid several times. They have disagreed with one another though, and quickly became violent. Since Yoshioka is the most impulsively violent member of Cell 4, this is not surprising. And given Maeda's tenacity when he feels he is right, he will not back down, even to the violent Yoshioka.
Iwakura Gou
Maeda and Iwakura have a great relationship. Iwakura frequently comes to Maeda's aid without hesitation. Maeda considers Iwakura his friend, and Iwakura will tease Maeda at times, in good fun.
Yamanoi Mitsuru
They seem to have a neutral relationship. Yamanoi has never hurt Maeda intentionally, nor has he made any attempt to help Maeda either, until Chapter 18 at least.
The Bokor
The Bokor sought Maeda relentlessly, as he was the only person capable of contracting his form of the F-Virus. He ultimately gets his wish when he infects Maeda by biting off his right thumb in Chapter 16.