Mikoto Kondō

Mikoto Kondō [近堂 水琴, Kondō Mikoto] is a student of the Seitetsu Gakuin High School and is the childhood friend of Natsuru Senō. Prior to meeting up with Natsuru during the events of Kämpfer, she had also been close friends with Akane Mishima. She had been deferred from school as she was out of the country, accompanying her dad who was working as an archaeologist abroad.

Mikoto was transformed into a Kämpfer by Kaede Sakura in the hopes of drawing out Shizuku Sangō, who had by then defected over to the Blue Kämpfers, and to break up the strong bond between the team. This was done during the Miss Seitutsu Beauty Contest, when Mikoto caught one of the Entrails Animals and her would-be Messenger: Asphyxiated Stray Dog. This backfired, as Shizuku guessed correctly that the Moderators would not abide a traitorous Kämpfer, and Natsuru recognised her even in her Kämpfer form within seconds of meeting her. She defected as well after discovering that the female Natsuru was in fact the male Natsuru and the redhead gunslinger was actually Akane.

Mikoto is always depicted as the most energetic of the group, often butting into situations unnecessarily. She would often jump into situations without thinking things through, and usually lets her emotions drive her rather than any sort of intention of reaching a goal.

As a result of her adventures abroad, Mikoto began to love curry wherever she went. Her passion for curry grew to such and extent that if it were defiled in any way, she would immediately retaliate, often physically. She often cooked the dish for Natsuru, possibly in an attempt to win him over. However, considering Natsuru's seemingly weak tolerance to it, this would only serve to annoy him rather than impress him.

Mikoto was the second Red Kämpfer to be seen in the series and was the last Kämpfer to join Natsuru's group. She is currently allied with Shizuku Sangō, a fellow Red Kämpfer, and Natsuru Senōand Akane Mishima, both Blue Kämpfers. Her weapon is of a Schwert type; a long katana. Her Messenger is Chissoku Norainu, or Strangled Stray Dog.

Normal Appearance


Mikoto is slightly smaller than most of her group, excluding Akane. Her hair is light-brown in colour, kept in a bob cut that reflects her relatively tomboyish nature. She is surprisingly pale considering the amount of time she has spent outdoors. Her face is relatively round, coupled with her bright eyes, gives her a energetic appearance. She is not afraid to bare skin in the presence of Natsuru; their first meeting during the events of Kämpfer had her in a kitchen apron and nothing else.

Kämpfer Appearance


Mikoto's transformation carries the same theme as Shizuku's. However, where Shizuku's transformation only turns part of her hair white, for Mikoto, this effect is carried over to her entire body. Her hair grows out to be more unruly, and turns snow-white. Her uniform, if she is wearing it, is cut shorter at the sleeves, and is coloured black where it would normally be white and vice versa. Her face also becomes more angular and her eyes sharper. Her bracelet is covered by the sleeves of her inner shirt.

Mikoto's appearance change is by far the most drastic, and so she does not worry about being caught as a Kämpfer. This corresponds with her rather impulsive nature. Regardless, she was easily identified by Natsuru, though this may be due to their close bond more than anything.

Personality
Mikoto is energetic and optimistic, but impulsive. She often takes things far too lightly, much to the annoyance of her teammates. She is most driven by her emotions, sometimes even placing the interests of the group second to her own. Her impulsiveness makes her a terrible secret keeper; while the others kept the knowledge of Kämpfers to themselves, she did not hesitate in revealing to Akane and Natsuru about the Kämpfers and her involvement in them.

While she is not a deliberately controlling person, she most often gets her way as she her bubbly nature often makes her ignorant of the views and opinions of others. It is not known whether she has no control over her display of emotions, or whether she just does not bother to restrain them, as the more likely case. While mostly seen to be ignorant of others, she has displayed a high level of intelligence at times, much to the surprise of her teammates.

She has a deep crush on Natsuru, though it was not explicitly mentioned whether is was from when they were younger or when she had come to visit him. She is too proud to admit her feelings for him, yet at the same time wishes that he would notice her. She also feels nervous when Akane and Shizuku make advances on him, as she feels that it would be impossible to compete with them. During the time when she thought the male and female Natsuru were dating, she felt ecstatic when she discovered the female Natsuru was a Kämpfer, and the anticipation of eliminating her drove her into a killing frenzy.

When it was revealed to her that the Kämpfer Natsuru was her Natsuru, she felt betrayed by him, and for a while was very angry and upset at him, as she felt that Natsuru does not trust her.

Mikoto is perhaps the only one of the group who is genuinely excited to be a Kämpfer. To her, being part of a war is much like being in a game, and that is perhaps all she sees it as. While she works alongside Shizuku in uncovering the Moderators, she does it more to be part of a group rather than any feelings of hatred towards them. She seems to have no qualms about eliminating enemy Kämpfers, though it may be that she simply has not thought about what happens to them afterwards.

Fighting Style
Mikoto is a Schwert User, and wields a sleek katana. Her blade is much longer than Shizuku's knives, though Shizuku's ability to throw them and redirect them at will easily makes up for this. Like other Schwert Users, her katana seems to be indestructible, and is able to cut through anything that is not a Gewehr-type weapon or another Schwert-type weapon. She is able to deflect Zauber-type attacks and bullets, but usually opts to avoid them rather than face them.

While faster than Akane and Natsuru, she is not as graceful as Shizuku, and resorts to deep-slashing, hard hitting moves rather than applying any sort of finesse. She is much more agressive than the others when fighting, and is usually the one to charge at the enemy headfirst. She however sometimes gets too focused on a particular target allowing others to flank her. She also does not seem to account for the environment around her during battle at least at first.

Trivia

 * In the anime, Mikoto's Kämpfer form was first seen during the cultural festival. In the manga, she only encountered Natsuru after the cultural festival in the library, destroying the books in the ensuing battle.
 * In the anime, Mikoto first learned of the others' identity during the battle at the Cultural festival. In the manga, she learned of them in a similar battle at a public bath during Sakura's sleepover.
 * Her anime counterpart was blindsided by Shizuku during their initial fight, whereas in the manga she let her guard down, assuming Shizuku was a friend, allowing Shizuku to knock her unconcious.