Minoru Hoshino (호시노 미노루) is a Japanese S-Rank Hunter and a member of the Draw Sword Guild.
Appearance
Hoshino is a young man with spiky blonde hair, long eyebrows, and gray eyes. When agitated, his eyes glow purple.
In his first appearance, he wore a black hoodie and black pants over a gray undershirt. During the Japan Crisis Arc, he wore a jet-black suit of armor.
Personality
Hoshino is a confident individual who appeared to be on good terms with his guildmates, including Goto Ryuji. He also cared about their lives and well-being, as displayed by how he was absolutely horrified upon discovering Kei's and Ippei's headless corpses and even went into a state of traumatic shock after witnessing the Ant King effortlessly kill Goto right in front of him.
History
Jeju Island Arc
Four days before the 4th Jeju Island Raid was slated to take place, Hoshino met up with the rest of the Jeju Island Raid Party at the Korean Hunters Gym. He participated in the 4v4 sparring match between the two teams and faced off against Lim Tae-Gyu, ultimately winning by slamming the latter up against the side of the wall.[1] He also watched Goto's sparring match with Jinwoo and was forced to hold Goto back when the fight got too heated.[2]
During the 4th Jeju Island Raid, Hoshino was grouped with Ishida and Goto in Team Alpha. When Teams Charlie and Delta suddenly stopped answering their coms, the three of them went looking and ultimately discovered their headless corpses on the other side of the island. Matsumoto, callously unbothered by the deaths, ordered them to leave the island and abandon the Korean raid team to die, but before they could, the Ant King suddenly ambushed them, beheading Ishida in a single strike. Deciding to fight, Goto ordered Hoshino to leave him behind and join up with Team Bravo. Hoshino complied, but not before witnessing the Ant King kill Goto in one shot.[3]
When he finally managed to get off the island along with Kanae and Kumamoto, Hoshino was able to get past his shock of seeing Goto die right in front of him and explain to his surviving guildmates as to what happened with the Ant King. When he began to babble about how they were doomed, Reiji ordered him to calm down and told him that he had just gotten word from the Korean Hunters Association that a Korean hunter had killed the Ant King and that the raid had succeeded, albeit with major casualties.[4]
Japan Crisis Arc
Hoshino and the rest of Draw Sword's remaining S-rank would attend a meeting with Japan's political leaders to discuss what they need to do regarding the S-rank Gate that appeared. Hoshino would attend a Reiji's meeting with Yuri Orloff, eventually deciding to strike at the Russian S-rank Hunter with Kanae but was subuded by the man's magical barriers. When a S-Rank Gate suddenly spawned in Tokyo, Hoshino was brought in to help with the situation. Following the dungeon break and Yuri Orloff's death, he and Kanae attempted to attack a giant, but the monster easily knocked them aside with its sword. After Jinwoo arrived in Japan and his shadow army made short work of the giants, Hoshino and Kanae were left behind in the wreckage as the shadows headed towards Tokyo.
Abilities
As a hunter whose abilities were recognized by Goto, Hoshino is quite strong for a S-Rank. However, at the same time, he was virtually helpless against the giants that invaded Japan during the Tokyo Crisis and was barely able to dodge their attacks. He was also powerless against the Ant King and would have been killed by the monster had Goto not used himself as a diversion and bought enough time for him to flee to safety.
- Enhanced Strength: Hoshino possesses great physical strength, as displayed by how he was able to easily overpower Lim during their sparring match and slam the latter up against the wall of the Korean Hunters' Gym with enough force to create a large hole behind him.
- Enhanced Speed: Hoshino can move at great speeds, as displayed by how he was able to easily dodge Lim's magical arrows at close range.
Etymology
- The name Minoru means "harvest, ripen" (稔).
- Minoru's surname Hoshino means "star" (星) (hoshi) and "field, wilderness" (野) (no).
Gallery
References
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 92
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 93
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 100
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 105