Misako (みさこ) is a third year student at Nekketsu High School that was first featured in Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club – Soccer Story. She is the manager of her school's soccer club and is described as being active and as someone who would put herself on the line for Kunio and his friends.
In Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka and the River City Girls continuity, she is the girlfriend of Kunio.
Appearances[]
Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club – Soccer Story[]
Misako debuts in Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club – Soccer Story as the manager of Nekketsu High School's soccer club.
Misako introduces herself to Kunio at Nekketsu High School and requests his help. The majority of the soccer team got food poisoning and now doesn't have enough players, so she asks if Kunio's dodgeball team can fill in for the missing soccer players. Kunio feels bad for Misako and agrees, though the dodgeball team isn't interested in helping. Misako then convinces everyone by offering a kiss on the cheek if they win. During the ending of the game, Misako fulfills her promise by giving each player a kiss on the cheek and decides to give Kunio a kiss on the lips.
In the PC Engine version of the game, Misako is voiced by Yumi Tōma.
Nekketsu Kōkō Soccer Bu: World Cup Hen[]
Kunio-kun's Nekketsu Soccer League[]
Misako appears in the intro of the game informing everybody that she is unable to travel with the team, though promises to be in close contact to cheer them up. Kunio is then able to call Misako on the Meeting screen.
Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka[]
Misako appears as a playable character and is the girlfriend of Kunio.
Misako bringing up Kyōko and the state of his school to Riki.
Misako is first talked about by Hiroshi when he informs Kunio in prison about the rumor spreading that she may be cheating on him with Daiki. When Kunio and Riki later find her by the pool at Nekketsu High School, Kunio asks her where his white uniform and hints towards the rumors about her, though she heads off to run some errands and lets him know Daiki should be on the top floor of the school. Misako goes to meet with Kunio and Riki after getting their uniforms back and is then asked by Kunio why she took such a liking to Daiki in his absense. Misako claims this was a misunderstanding and that she would never cheat on him, though Kunio remains doubtful. Riki rudely interrupts the conversation and states Kunio should not be worrying about this right now as they're still wanted fugitives. Misako angry with Riki's comments towards her suggests that his girlfriend Kyōko is in trouble and that Hanazono High School was also taken over in his absence. Kunio asks Misako if she plans on joining them as he and Riki get ready to leave, though Misako is hesitant in going until she makes up her mind as she watches Kunio walk away. She catches up to Kunio and decides to join the two.
Misako getting ready to use her interrogation technique against Ryūta.
The group proceeds to fight their way through the destroyed Hanazono High School and make their way to the rooftop where they find Ryūta harassing Kyōko. Upon being defeated, the group presses him for answers and discover that he's been acting under Shinji's orders and that he is additionally being backed by the Sanwakai. Misako asks Ryūta for Shinji's whereabouts, though she kicks him in the groin after not getting any answers to the surprise of the boys. The group leaves with Kyōko also joining the party after being told that Shinji is likely at the amusement park. They find Ryūsaku at the park entrance and learn that Kunio's lookalike is a guy called Ken who comes by to talk to Shinji after Kunio was mistaken to be him. The protagonists fight their way through the amusement park and eventually find Shinji at the kart tracks. After being defeated, the group chases after him on Kunio's motorcycle to the Blue Emperor's hideout. They then fight their way through the hideout and find Shinji hiding inside where they proceed to fight him for a second time. After the fight, Shinji warns the group that they'll end up being killed if they continue looking into Ken. Outside of the warehouse, Takayama informs the protagonists that Sabu is the mastermind behind the entire scheme and that Ken is rumored to be Kunio's twin brother. Misako is shocked by the information and tells Kunio to not think about it too much after noticing he was lost in thought over Ken actually being his brother. The group all head over to Roppongi after Takayama mentions that he was last seen there.
Misako after being shot by Sabu.
Outside of the disco club in Roppongi, the group fight against Lisa and Joe as they were ordered to kill Kunio. After the fight, Lisa runs into the club to look for Kinji and the group comes to the conclusion that he was the one who gave her their orders. The group find Kinji inside of the club and fight against him and Lisa after he refused to give out any information on Ken's whereabouts. Following the battle, the protagonists are told that Ken is currently at the pachinko parlor in Shinjuku. Later inside of the parlor, Misuzu is spotted on one of the pachinko machines with Misako noticing the boys feeling distressed. When Misuzu comes to talk to Kunio, Misako asks who she is and calls her weird, in which Riki tells her to be quiet so she doesn't upset Misuzu. The group then face off against Misuzu as she was looking to let off some steam after her losing streak on the machines. After the fight, the protagonists head upstairs where they find Sabu and Ken. Misako and Kyōko are shot by Sabu at the end of their meeting to the shock of the boys. Kunio runs over to Misako in a panic as she looks up to him believing that her time is up and expresses how grateful she is that Kunio is okay. Kunio pleads with her to keep it together and not talk as he promises to take her to the hospital, though she asks Kunio to go after Sabu and Ken before she passes out. Outside of the parlor, Mamoru calls an ambulance to get them to the hospital while Takayama leads Kunio and Riki to Sabu's villa in Izu.
During the ending of the game, Takayama reveals to the boys that Misako and Kyōko have survived.
Kunio no Oden[]
During a festival at Nekketsu High School, Misako is running her own oden stand though is struggling with sales. Kunio passes by and feels bad for her, so he decides to eat at her stand. Liking the food, he attempts to help boost her sales by claiming that any student will lose their prestigious title if they pass by without trying the food. This move attracts familiar faces from the other schools and devolves into a competitive eating contest.
In the game, Misako appears on the title screen with Kunio and on the background of the versus screen.
River City Soccer Hooligans[]
Misako appears during the opening of the game where she opens her computer and sends an e-mail out to the player introducing herself. She mentions that her team will be participating in the World Hyper Cup with Kunio leading the charge to become world champions. She ends her message by stating that she won't be able to go with them, but is hoping she'll be sent messages about all the countries the team visits. From this point, Kunio is able to call Misako on the phone on the Meeting screen.
During the ending of the game, Misako calls the team in excitement over their victory.
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special[]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special is a remake of the original Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun and acts as a reboot starting from a new continuity.
Misako pleading with Kunio not to go after the Blue Emperor goons.
In the story mode, Misako is first seen at Nekketsu High School looking for Kunio at the request of Madoka. She introduces herself to Kunio and asks him to come with her, though Kunio mentions how cute he thinks she looks which makes her step back in disgust and make it clear that she hates delinquents. Misako is later seen in the second chapter as she walks into the Principal's office to inform Madoka of a situation that's currently going on outside. Madoka asks Kunio to not go, though he ignores her and walks outside to the sight of Blue Emperor members riding on their bikes in front of the school. Kunio demands them to stop being a disturbance and tells them to wait over at the park to settle things. Misako comes outside and urges Kunio to not go after them, though he doesn't listen and asks her to tell Madoka about where he went. Misako waits for Kunio to return and lets him know that she's done what he asked. Inside of the school's courtyard, the two come across Kōji practicing dodgeball with another student. Kunio is asked to pass back the ball and ends up throwing a super shot that takes Misako by surprise. She mentions that Kōji is a member of the dodgeball club, though appears frustrated when she notices that Kunio already took off without listening to what she had to say. Inside of the school Misako asks about Kunio about his plans and mentions that she has to go back to class, though she gets annoyed with him after Kunio jokingly comments about how he'll come to admire her greatness. At her gym class, Misako apologizes to Kunio for being late and asks him if he'd like to play basketball with her classmates.
In the final chapter, Misako and Madoka arrive at the hospital to check in on Hiroshi after he had gotten stabbed by the yakuza. When Hiroshi confesses to Madoka that Kunio has went after his assailants, Misako begins to panic about Kunio, though Madoka assures her that he'll be able to handle himself just fine.
River City: Tokyo Rumble[]
Misako angry with Kunio for continuing to get into fights.
In the beginning of the story, Misako is first seen walking outside of Nekketsu High School with Kunio and spots Hiroshi beaten up. Seeing Sakata and Wataru Sasaki next to him, Kunio chases after the two and asks Misako to take care of Hiroshi. Later on another day, Kunio meets Riki outside of the school and gets ready to leave for Yokohama, though Misako angrily walks out realizing that he's planning on getting himself involved in street fights again. She questions why he chooses to get into risky situations, but Kunio dodges the question and instead tries to explain that he's only going up against a few punks with Riki attempting to back his sentiment up. Misako angrily tells Riki that Kyōko is going to be angry with him when she finds out, so Riki asks Misako to stay quiet about what they're doing as he doesn't wish to see her mad. Misako shrugs the whole ordeal off and just asks the two to promise that they don't get themselves hurt.
From this point on, Misako will be seen outside of Nekketsu High School and can be talked to in order to switch the CPU controlled ally.
River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~[]
Misako appears as a member of Team Misuzu and is able to be played outside of the story mode. Misako is equipped with a bokken before each match and is able to use the Dragon Tail Kick and the Spin Attack.
River City Melee: Battle Royal Special[]
Misako returns as a member of Team Misuzu and is involved in the story mode. She is able to use the Ryūbi Ranpū Kyaku and the Spin Attack.
River City Girls[]
In this continuity, Misako is reimagined to be snarky, brash, impulsive, quick-tempered, and always ready for a fight. She appears as one of the main protagonists alongside Kyōko. She is voiced by Kayli Mills.
Misako and Kyōko after hearing about Kunio and Riki's kidnapping.
Misako starts off with Kyōko in detention until they decide to bust out of the school after learning Kunio and Riki have been kidnapped. The girls run throughout all of town fighting anyone that gets in their way in search of any information on Kunio and Riki's whereabouts. Throughout their search, they frequently come across their love rivals Kazumi Hasebe and Mami Shimada who degrade the girls and suggest that the boys are instead in love with them. By the end of the game, the girls have made their way through the Sanwakai tower and defeat Sabuko, who is the acting matriarch while Sabu is incarcerated.
Defeating Sabuko, the girls kick her out of the window and crash into the sauna nearby where they find Kunio and Riki relaxing. In the bad ending, the boys don't remember who the girls are and set off to go find Hasebe and Mami. In the good ending, the girls instead kick Hasebe and Mami out of the window with the boys now knowing who Misako and Kyoko are, they proceed to offer taking them on a burger date.
River City Melee Mach!![]
Misako's moveset would be changed to instead use the Hyper Tornado and the Rolling Attack, two of her original moves from Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms[]
Misako plays the role of Zhuge Liang, a renowned strategist who is known as the sleeping dragon in Fulong. Her River City Girls counterpart plays the role of Da Qiao, the older of the sisters.
Zhuge Liang meeting The Brothers of the Peach Garden.
In the story mode, Liu Bei (Gōda) enlists the help of Zhuge Liang in the fifth chapter after Sima Hui (Takaoka) mentions her and Pang Tong (Kaori) being the two up and coming tacticians. Zhuge Liang agrees to join under Liu Bei's wing after testing him, Guan Yu (Kunio), and Zhang Fei (Godai). Shortly after joining, Zhao Yun (Sugata) warns Liu Bei and Guan Yu of Cao Cao (Yamada)'s army approaching from Bowang. Zhuge Liang uses this to prove her intelligence to the crew. The crew defeat Cao Cao's troops being led by Xiahou Dun (Ryūichi). Shortly after, Liu Cong surrenders to Cao Cao, leaving all of Jinzhou as his territory. Zhuge Liang suggests fleeing, though Liu Bei insists on helping the people of Xinye escape. Zhuge Liang then comes up with the strategy where Zhao Yun evacuates the people out of the city and launching a surprise attack after tricking Cao Cao's army into thinking the city is empty.
Zhuge Liang negotiating an alliance with Sun Quan's army.
At the end of the chapter, Zhuge Liang suggests Liu Bei works with Sun Quan (Riki)'s army to put a stop to Cao Cao. In the final chapter, Zhuge Liang heads to Chaisang alone and convinces Sun Quan, Zhou Yu (Kyōko), and Lu Su (Mami) to join forces with Liu Bei to defeat Cao Cao's army. Zhuge Liang starts getting prepared for battle with her first asking Guan Yu to help clear the bears and tigers off Mount Nambyeong so she can change the wind's direction. Guan Yu later asks her for help in gathering 100,000 arrows as part of Zhou Yu's demands, to where Zhuge Liang then requests 20 straw materials be delivered to her. Once Guan Yu hands off the materials and later meets up with Zhuge Liang in Lukou, she's put together a makeshift boat out of the straw materials that they then use to take arrows shot by Cao Cao's army for themselves. During the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun assist Guan Yu in the fight against Zhang He (Kinoshita). In the ending, Zhuge Liang joins the others in rebuilding the country.
In the China Heroes gamemode, Misako is able to be unlocked by completing the Moderate difficulty in the story mode. Misako is able to use her Hyper Tornado and Rolling Attack from Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka without a weapon, have access to all tactician attacks with any fan equipped, and uses here famous Tiger Tank as her special attack. Her River City Girls counterpart was added into the English release of the game as a bonus character and is unlocked by default. This version of Misako copies her moveset from River City Girls and translates it to this game's control scheme.
River City Girls Zero[]
The River City Girls counterparts of Misako and Kyōko appear in the game's newly added intro and outro. Kayli Mills returns to voice Misako in English with Honoka Kuroki voicing the newly added Japanese dub.
Misako after spotting Kunio on the cartridge.
Misako walks into Kyōko's room wondering what she's up to, with Kyōko telling Misako that it's an old video game that Skullmageddon sold to her depicting their first adventure together. Misako notices Kunio on the cartridge's label and becomes instantly intrigued in figuring out how to play. Kyōko mentions Skullmageddon throwing in a free SNES with her purchase with Misako then proceeding to plug in the console to Kyōko's TV. The girls then play through the entirety of Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka. After the girls finish playing the game, they talk about what happened in the game while also questioning if any of it actually happened. Kyōko asks where Sabuko was in the game not knowing who Ken is, to which Misako asks why Ken looked so handsome. Kyōko teases Misako for saying this only because he resembles Kunio. The girls then proceed to leave the house and go look for Kunio and Riki, foreshadowing events that later happen in River City Girls 2.
River City Girls 2[]
Misako retains her role as one of the main protagonists alongside Kyōko. Kayli Mills returns as her English voice actor with Honoka Kuroki returning from River City Girls Zero as her voice actor in the Japanese dub.
The story starts right with Sabuko's defeat and Misako and Kyōko heading off to their lunch date with Kunio and Riki. Sabu now knowing of Sabuko's embarrassing defeat breaks out of prison and quickly takes control of River City. On their way to class, the girls are expelled from school by Ken and are then kicked out of the window by Ryūichi and Ryūji Hattori. The group all head back to Kyōko's house to play videogames. Two months pass since then and Kyōko's Mom informs the crew that the sequel to Vampire Punchers has been released with a few copies still being in stores at the mall. Students were paid by the Sanwakai to wait outside of Kyōko's house to ensure the group doesn't get in the way, so they must all fight their way towards the mall. While at the mall, the group gets sidetracked and go see a movie, though coincidentally end up meeting Ken once again. The group faces off against Ken and wins, to where he then attempts to pull his gun on Misako and Kyōko. Unfazed, the girls continue to make fun of him until a knife with a note knocks the gun out of his hands, to where he then runs away. The girls find out the note came from Sabuko looking to team up after going to the requested location.
Throughout the rest of the story, the group travels all throughout the town taking down Sabu's subordinates (Blaire, Tsuiko, and Primo) for their emblems to get inside of the Sanwakai Tower. In Uptown, the group meets Provie and are mistaken to be yakuza, so they fight her to prove that they aren't associated with any yakuza goons. Provie was looking for Ken to get him to tell the location of her friend Chris, but because of the group's altercation with him earlier he left the place and left Provie back to chasing him down. Misako offers to help Provie find Chris and to also beat Ken, to which she reluctantly agrees. In Downtown, the group is informed by Hikaru Saotome to go look for Marian. The group eventually head into the subway where they find Marian working for the Sanwakai under Blaire's spell, which wears off after the group beat her in a fight. Marian then agrees to join the group in fighting.
Misako and the others getting ready to fight Sabuko and Ken.
After Primo's defeat in Ocean Heights, he reveals the girls will need a fourth emblem to get into the Sanwakai Tower which is held by Ken. The group fights their way to the rooftop of the now destroyed River City High to face off against Ken once again with Ryūichi and Ryūji assisting him in battle. Ken is defeated once more, hands his emblem to the girls, and flies off on a helicopter telling the girls to drop by the Sanwakai Tower for their rematch. Sabuko waits for the group outside of the school and betrays the girls by informing them that her men have strapped explosives to their friends. After saving everybody, the group heads off to the Sanwakai Tower to the sight of Sabuko putting Ken in his place and attempting to make an escape in a helicopter. The group eventually makes their way into the underground of the Sanwaki Tower where they defeat Sabu and end his plans for good.
In the post-credits cutscene, Misako is seen back at Kyōko's house with the rest of the group playing Vampire Punchers 2. Misako gets up to get the door and gets a surprise visit from Hasebe and Mami looking for a rematch, though informs the two that their adventure is already over and that they're too late.
Other video games[]
CODE SHIFTER[]
Misako and Kyōko appear as a playable dual character. A remix of the shop theme plays when playing as them in Story Mode.
Baseball Superstars 2020[]
Mighty Fight Federation[]
Misako makes a cameo appearance during Kunio's arcade mode ending.
Other media appearances[]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (4koma Manga Kingdom)[]
Kunio-Kun! Nekketsu Battle![]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (TV Series)[]
Kaho Takashima plays the role of Misako in the Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun 2013 TV series from NOTTV (her full name in the series is Enjōji Misako (えんじょうじ みさこ, Enjōji Misako).
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Rantō Enbu-hen[]
Misako is played by Ami Maeda.
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Gaiden River City Girls[]
Misako was to be played by Arisa Sonohara, though the play would be cancelled due to one of the cast members testing positive for COVID.[2]
Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister![]
In Season 1's "Mahiro's Time of the Month", Misako and Kyōko make a cameo appearance as Mahiro and Mihari play River City Girls together.
Trivia[]
- It is suggested in a trailer for Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special that Misako may have been intended to be playable in the Battle Royal mode as she appears in a segment about the gamemode, though she is not playable in the final release.
- Misako's combat-style in most Kunio games is largely based around kicking and conventional martial arts, perhaps in relation to her interest in soccer. Three of her four special moves in Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka utilize her lower-body; a flying knee, spin-kick, and mule kick; the remaining special is an aerial somersault. Her moveset in River City Girls is substantially different, focused more on upper body attacks and fighting dirty, likely to make her more distinguished from Kyōko. In one memorable scene of Kunio-Tachi no Banka, Kunio and Riki delegate to Misako the responsibility of torturing a boss to confession by kicking him in the groin.
- Her launcher move in River City Girls called "Nutcracker" even refers to it as an interrogation technique.
- A flashback sequence in River City Girls depicts Misako more akin to how she appeared in Technōs character art, with a bow and natural hairstyle. In this scene she also performs an aerial spin kick that is not part of her moveset in River City Girls, but resembles a move she has in many other games.
- According to River City Girls director Bannon Rudis, at one point they had planned to give her a floss-dancing attack as a complement to Kyōko's dab attack, but decided it was too cringe.
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