The Name!

Well the last name of Imonoyama goes a long way in telling you about the character of Nokoru. The Imonoyama zaibatsu is a very large and influential business family that is well known throughout Japan. They are the founders of the CLAMP School which Nokoru attends, and a member of the family always acts as the Chairman of the school (in fact Nokoru is being groomed for the position as we speak and is the Chairman of CLAMP School in the manga X). The name Nokoru in Japanese means "to be left over". Of course my knowledge of Japanese is next to zero so anyone out there please feel free to correct me if you know I'm totally on the wrong track. What a sad name for such a cheerful and happy guy?

The Family

Nokoru is the ninth child and fifth son of the Imonoyama family. His older brothers are named Hajime, Tsuzuku, Owaru, and Amaru. His older sisters I think are also similarly named I think (if my translations are correct). His mother is the Chairwoman of the CLAMP School.

The Looks

Nokoru has a fair complexion and an abundance of golden-blonde hair that seems to be slightly wavy. His eyes are bright blue. All in all, the Leo Dicaprio of anime I guess. =And no I am not a Leonardo fan...never really was and never will be (I spent the first half of Titanic waiting to see the damn boat sink already). With Nokoru's looks, I suppose he could be mistaken for a girl very often, but that can be said of most anime characters and bishounen (Kenshin, Kamui, Subaru, Hotohori, Nuriko...this list goes on). It must be the special CLAMP style ^_~

The Personality

If I were to choose one word to describe Nokoru, it would have to be "charming". He's extremely courteous, always responsible, and he puts others before himself whenever possible. In fact, his overly ingratiating behavior made me quite ill when I first saw the anime. My first gut reaction was, what in the world is that blonde kid trying to do, pick up all the girls? What a faker! But as I continued to watch, it became clear to me that Nokoru had depth. Despite his appearance of always having everything under control, he hides a lot behind his cheerful facade. Nokoru likes to procrastinate and makes a big show out of putting off work. He must be lonely since not many people would accept him for being himself. Instead all the people see him as the wonderful kaichou and often do not choose to look beyond the title to the individual. But he takes his position and duties in stride and his serious side hardly ever shows - in fact we really don't see it in CCD till the last six episodes when Yudaiji shows up.

The Brains!

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Nobody can be as smart as the writers claim Nokoru is, unless you're a certified genius with an IQ of 195 (and even then I doubt you could do what Nokoru does). But anyway, Nokoru's real asset is his brain. He can figure out what wire to cut in order to deactivate a bomb. He knows the principles of supersonic sound. He can calculate the trajectory of a flying baseball in a matter of seconds. In fact, he's so smart that NASA wants him to work for them. It's scary...all I can say is that I hope I never run into anyone with such brainpower because it would scare me witless. Einstein look out, here comes Imonoyama Nokoru!

Women and Nokoru

Women make immense fools out of themselves when they encounter Nokoru. This boy has got even the university's female students drooling over him because of his charm. He's so popular and nice that all the ladies just mob him, but he's never rude or impolite to them. In fact, he opens all their gifts and remembers everything about every woman he meets. It's his special talent I suppose. He can sense a damsel in distress from miles away and he makes it his mission to help ladies in need of a hero, and they love him for it. However, despite his popularity with the opposite sex and the fact that he's super-duper nice to them, Nokoru doesn't seem to have signficant other in the anime series like his buddies Suoh and Akira do. He seems to spend most of his time setting up everyone else. Wouldnt I just love to see Nokoru meet up with a girl who could give him a run for his money!

The Fan

Nokoru, like the Chairman, always carries a fan with him and pulls it out at the most appropriate moments. Also, when he flashes it, the fan often has little catch phrases written on it that emphasize his point. It's really quite hilarious, and even though I've never been a big fan of guys with fans (I've seen enough Chinese movies like that to last me a lifetime) I have to admit that for Nokoru it works. The fan seems to be an Imonoyama trademark or something ^_~ *megitsune flashes a fan with the words "of course" on it written in kanji*