Summary
Hisashi Suou is a university student and the reigning karuta meijin, a title he has held for four consecutive years after becoming meijin just three years after starting the game. Although he possesses the most intuition of any current player and commands 28 one-syllable cards, his university record is unusual, as he is currently repeating his year for the fourth time. Widely acknowledged as a solitary genius with god-like abilities, Suou constantly searches for an opponent stronger than himself, yet he remains difficult to excite and suffers from perpetual hunger. Despite his status, the current meijin is often considered a weirdo. While he may initially appear to be a typical university student, he is actually tall, sports a questionable beard, speaks in an extremely quiet voice, and has a deep love for Japanese confectionery. His favorite idol is the professional karuta reader Yamashiro Kyouko, known as "Kyoukotan," for whom he once obtained a recording of her poem readings by gifting her sweets. Because he only wishes to fight strong opponents, he rarely appears at tournaments. In an interview, Suou stated his goal is to become meijin for a fifth consecutive time before retiring. His favorite song is Poem #2, which reads: "The spring has passed / And the summer come again; / For the silk-white robes, / So they say, are spread to dry / On the 'Mount of Heaven's Perfume'."
