"A basketball player whose long arms are his weapon. A lone wolf type who hates taking orders from others."
Appearance
Ibuki has spiky white hair that is mostly pointed up and some falling at the sides and wears a black headband. He has plum coloured eyes and is tall with long arms.
Personality
Among most members in Inazuma Japan, he's one of the few at the start who is dedicated on training, going as far as practicing against Shindou Takuto's shoot when Shindou disregarded Ibuki as a fellow member since he's new to soccer, just like everyone else. He seems to hate on being looked down by other people which is shown when he heard Shindou said to Kuroiwa that he, Tsurugi and Tenma will play with only three of them on the match between Fire Dragon. He and Shindou are shown to not be on good terms with each other at the start of the series.
In episode 15, he stated that he doesn't like to rely on his teammates and wants to play on his own because he believes that he can do everything by himself. However, in episode episode 16, he finally realized about trusting on his teammates and what Shindou was trying to tell him. After that, he and Shindou reconciled as it was shown when Shindou decided to entrust the role of protecting the goal to Ibuki.
Background
As stated by Manabe Jinichirou in episode 2, Ibuki is playing soccer and participating the FFIV2, so that he can gain money to study abroad, with the best basketball team in the world.
While Ibuki was in the basketball club, his team continued to get consecutive wins thanks to him. However, his teammates didn't like how he kept playing on his own but he didn't care about what they said to him. After that, his team lost and that was when he met Kuroiwa. Kuroiwa would let him study abroad with the best basketball team in the world and in return he had to go join Inazuma Japan.
Plot (Galaxy)
He first appeared in the trailer of Galaxy, along with the other new members of Inazuma Japan.
In episode 1, he was shown to be wearing the goalkeeper uniform of Gassan Kunimitsu, which suggests that he joined Gassan Kunimitsu's soccer club sometime between the end of GO and the end of Chrono Stone. He was then chosen by Kuroiwa Ryuusei to be the goalkeeper for Japan's national team, Inazuma Japan, which surprised Shinsuke.
After being chosen, his team had an exhibition match against Teikoku. At first, Tenma, Shindou and Tsurugi were surprised that he caught Mikado Haruma's Koutei Penguin 7 without using any hissatsu. However, they were shocked when he stopped the shoot but started dribbling the ball outside of the penalty area with his hands, causing them to get a free direct kick (which wasn't shown in the anime). He did this as a body instinct because he used to be in a basketball team. After that, Teikoku continuously made shots that he was unable to catch. The match ended with a score of 10-1, with Teikoku winning.
In episode 2, he came early at the training camp along with the others. He and Tsurugi were the ones who were usually partnered up since Tsurugi did the shots at Ibuki. Though, he overheard Shindou’s plan of only playing with three members, not counting him. He became enraged and asked Tsurugi to train with him again but Shindou intervened. He said that Ibuki must stop his shoot hissatsu but even though Ibuki failed to catch Fortissimo, he still asked for more. The next day, his training continued with Tsurugi. On the day of the match against Fire Dragon, he was prepared to stop an incoming shoot but Shindou intervened and used his leg to stop it. Ibuki then clenched his fists in anger.
In episode 3, the match continued between Inazuma Japan and Fire Dragon. He still continued telling Shindou to get out of the way and that he will do his job as Inazuma Japan's goalkeeper. Shindou managed to stop the ball thrice. When Lee Chung-Yun used his hissatsu Rapid Fire, Ibuki shouted at Shindou to get out of the way which made Shindou lose focus as the ball came flying in. Ibuki tried to stop the shoot, but he was unable to do so. When the game ended with Inazuma Japan winning, he walked out from the field.
In episode 4, Ibuki was seen practicing in a basketball court. Tsurugi saw him training by himself, and saw how hard he was working at trying to improve so Tsurugi decided to help him train.
In episode 5, Ibuki and the rest of Inazuma Japan were proposed to take the Inazuma Japan Withdrawal Test, considered by Kuroiwa. It was a test to let any member of the team leave if they wanted to. The test was based on penalty kicks and that they had to miss the goal five times to pass the test, and leave the team. If they scored however, they would fail and stay in the team. While Ibuki and Matatagi watched the rest of the newcomers participate in the test, they stood and watched as they all failed and stayed in the team. Ibuki had his reasons for not doing the test, with Hayato did as well. Ibuki wanted to show Shindou his true strength and that he can protect Inazuma Japan's goal on his own.
In episode 6, Ibuki and his team played against Big Waves. He repeatedly attempted to save Megalodon with the same action, him jumping in the air and smacking it down with the palm of his hand, but failed twice. However, in the third attempt he mastered it and turned it into a hissatsu, Wild Dunk. The episode ended with a score of 2-1 to Big Waves.
In episode 7, Ibuki used Wild Dunk multiple times to catch Megalodon, which was used by Octa Pasun as well as Cole LaRuze. Wild Dunk had successfully caught it in every attempt, showing that it was a very effective hissatsu and will be useful to the team. The match ended with a score of 3-2 to Inazuma Japan, as Manabe scored the third and final goal for them.
In episode 8, he was seen training with the other members of Inazuma Japan. The next day, there was no training but he still asked Tsurugi to help him train which he agreed. Later, the two of them trained the same way they did in episode 3. Ibuki failed to stop a shoot from Tsurugi but he still told him to continue. Later, when Tenma came back from the police station, he was seen with the other members assembled together because they all heard that Kusaka got caught by the police. Manabe and Minaho then told everyone about Kusaka's background and his contract of joining Inazuma Japan.
On the day of the match between Shamshir, he failed to stop Said Ashraf's Oil Rush, thus giving them the first point. The episode ended with a score of 1-0 to Shamshir.
In episode 9, he failed to stop Oil Rush once more time and Shamshir got another point.
In episode 10, on the training in the Black Room, he was put to train catching the ball on a hologram of sand. He also agreed with the other members on winning FFIV2 because he still needed to make Shindou acknowledge his strength except for Manabe, Minaho and Konoha.
In episode 11, he didn't join the search for Konoha when he heard that she left.
In episode 12, in the match between Inazuma Japan and Mach Tiger, he stopped Tamugan Jar's shoot. However, he failed to stop Tamugan's hissatsu, Ivory Crash which gave Mach Tiger the first goal. Ibuki then got angry and frustrated for not being able to stop it.
In episode 13, in the second-half, he wasn't fast enough to use Wild Dunk to stop Ivory Crash because he still hadn't grasped the timing completely which gave Mach Tiger the second goal. On the second time, it was successful and stopped Ivory Crash.
In episode 14, he tried to stop the chain shoot of White Hurricane and Panther Blizzard but failed which gave Resistance Japan the first goal. When he noticed his hands got burnt due to the force of the ball, he was shocked because it was different than all the shoots he had caught before. After seeing how Tenma, Tsurugi and Shindou were able to play equally against Resistance Japan, he and the other 7 members felt helpless of how weak they were. Then, he tried to stop Hakuryuu's White Hurricane with Wild Dunk but failed because White Hurricane was too fast and it scored the third goal. The match ended with Resistance Japan winning. He then joined the other members of Inazuma Japan training in the Black room to improve themselves.
In episode 15, he and the other 7 members kept training in the Black Room. He started to train on stopping the shoot of the hologram Hakuryuu. When Tsurugi asked him why did he chose his position as goalkeeper, he replied that by being a goalkeeper, he can play on his own without relying on anyone. However, he was annoyed when Shindou complained that he wasn't fit to be a goalkeeper. He continued to train and even skipped dinner. Kusaka and Tenma came to give him some rice balls to eat. Kusaka asked him if he could assist him on training but he refused because he preferred training on his own, even when he played basketball. In the match against Storm Wolf, he tried to unleash Wild Dunk to stop Gold Fever. However, Gold Fever was faster because he couldn't bring out Wild Dunk in time and it scored the first goal. After unable to stop the shoot, he was depressed.
In episode 16, he was frustrated because he was unable to stop Maxim Adrov's shots. After the second time failing to stop Gold Fever, most of the team couldn't trust him on protecting the goal and decided to steal the ball and play on their own. When Ibuki notice their plays, he remembered his past when he used to play basketball and realized what Shindou was trying to tell him. Then, at the third time of Gold Fever, he managed to unleash Wild Dunk and stopped it but the ball still remained on the field. For the first time, he called Shindou out for help to get the ball, which made Shindou smile at Ibuki because he had realized; he then used Einsatz to help Ibuki. The two of them reconciled and he was happy that Shindou finally acknowledged him as the goalkeeper of Inazuma Japan. Later, he told Manabe and Minaho to stop Maxim and he was able to use his new hissatsu, Rising Slash and completely successfully stop Maxim's Gold Fever. After this, everyone trusted each other again and managed to score a point, making the score 2-1.
In episode 17, after the defense line was broken by Rolan Lazarev, he blocked several shoots. When he was about to block Dmitri Sobirov's shoot, Dmitri actually feigned it and Maxim Adrov scored a goal using his head. While all the other members were further discouraged, Tenma told them that he didn't want this to be the last match, which shocked them. After listening to Kusaka's speech, Ibuki also said some encouraging words.
After the match resumed, he got ready to block Maxim's shoot but Dmitri scored instead, and he failed to block the shoot. While the others thought about the two scores, Tenma encouraged them, saying that they could score two goals together. He then received a pass from Minaho, and thrown it back to Minaho, remembering his experience with getting past the basketballers. He was shocked to see Morimura unleashing some aura of Soul. He was also shocked to see Storm Wolf members revealing to be aliens and seeing the floating spaceship.
In episode 18, after Bitway Ozrock and Gouenji explained to Inazuma Japan about Grand Celesta Galaxy, he got angry and complained because he thought that Inazuma Japan participated the prelims of FFIV2. However, Bitway replied that the tournament that they participated wasn't FFIV2 prelims but Grand Celesta Galaxy A Block Preliminaries.
In episode 19, he was seen training in the Black Room. Then, Shindou came and the two of them had a conversation together. He told Shindou that he had understood the most important thing but he felt pressure since they will have to face aliens to protect the Earth. However, Shindou told him about a person who used to tell him that soccer is the harmony created by eleven members, which was Endou Daisuke. After telling him this, Shindou left the room. The next day, he and the other members of Earth Eleven had a match against Raimon.
In episode 20, he and the other members of Earth Eleven went searching for the suspcious person in the Galaxy Nauts Gou who turned out to be Nishizono Shinsuke. In Sandorius, he and Minaho were seen eating filet skewers and Minaho wondered what kind of meat it was. Then, when they realized what it was made of, Minaho suggested that they should pretend that they didn't see anything.
In episode 21, he reunited with the other members of Earth Eleven as some of the them brought some strange items that they got from the city. He was seen wearing a strange looking mask. During practice, he was unimpressed by Shinsuke's goalkeeping skills and said that Raimon's goalkeeper isn't a big deal which made Shinsuke frustrated.
In episode 28, he was grouped with Shindou, Minaho, and Konoha to go find the red stone on another volcano in Gurdon. He saved Konoha from the mechanical bird that was controlled by Rodan Gasgus to let Shindou, Minaho, and Konoha have the chance to escape. Later, Shindou came back and saved him. Though both of them then got thrown off a cliff by the mechanical bird.
In episode 29, he and Shindou fell down to an outstretch of rock and attempted to get back up, but failed. As the two prepared to climb the rock again, Roglos Gordon appeared before them and brought them to the eastern tribe. Shindou and Roglos talked about the red stone. Roglos said that they knew nothing about the red stone,which made Ibuki impatient and he demanded Roglos to tell them the truth. He was also shocked to hear that Roglos and Arbega were father and son. Later, they had dinner together and Ibuki also ate a lot of the food of the eastern tribe.
The next day, he and Shindou watched Roglos soaring in the sky and were spellbound at the sight. The duo themselves were then brought up into the sky and were dropped off to a volcano. At this point, Ibuki also activated his Soul along with Shindou.
In episode 31, he and Shindou managed to get back to the stadium and joined the second-half of the match against Gurdon Eleven. He was put as goalkeeper in place of Shinsuke. Later, he unleashed his Soul, Mammoth, and stopped Ves Horne's hissatsu, Kazangan.
In episode 37, during the match between Faramdite, when Rodan Gasgus jumped to make a shoot, Ibuki also jumped to take the ball. But, Rodan then instead pushed Ibuki down with the ball. And, he got his right leg injured after it slammed against the ground hardly. Later, he still managed to stop all the shoots and also used his new hissatsu, Gekirin Dunk to stop Rodan's shoot, Kazanrai.
In episode 38, the Shitennou's members of Faram Dite kept shooting the ball continuously in an angle that made Ibuki have to use his right leg that was injured to stop the ball, and even extended to play roughly. During half-time, he decided to let Shinsuke replaced being the goalkeeper for second-half after Tenma noticed his leg was injured.
