Wataru (わたる), full name Wataru Sasaki (ささき わたる), is a third year student at Hanazono High School that was first featured in Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special. He is described as being ambitious and observant. Wataru has his sights on the top position at his school and is willing to backstab others to accomplish his goal, though has never been able to take down Riki.
Appearances[]
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.
Following Yūya and Toshio's second fight with Kunio, Yūya calls in Wataru to take down Kunio. Acting behind Riki's back and only out of his own interests, Wataru is later seen outside of Nekketsu High School with a group of Hanazono High School students looking for Hiroshi. Wataru attempts to extort Hiroshi for cash and beats him up after he refused in order to lure out Kunio. He is then chased down by him and is questioned how he knows his name, though Wataru does not give Kunio an answer and fights him with the help of the other Hanazono students. On the following day, Wataru storms into Nekketsu High School's courtyard with a group of Hanazono students to pick a fight with Kunio. He is seen arguing with the Madoka and the Principal and eventually decides to hit Madoka after she had asked what Kunio did to get them all riled up. Kunio runs outside and leads Wataru and his men to the park in order to fight them off of school grounds. Wataru and the Hanazono students attempt to fight Kunio, though they are ultimately defeated. After the fight, Wataru mentions that Kunio isn't anywhere near Riki's strength and runs away after being asked who Riki was.
Wataru runs to Riki to tell him about the beatings he took from Kunio. Furious over his friend being beaten up, Riki calls Kunio out to a fight and would learn after their battle of what Wataru truly did and how he had backstabbed him. Sometime after this, Riki forces Wataru to apologize to Madoka and Nekketsu High School's Principal for what he did.
Riki Densetsu[]
Riki Densetsu is a prequel to the events of Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special.
Wataru witnesses the fight between Riki and Sakata and is enamored by the former's fighting prowess. He decides to follow Riki around after his influence has spread across the school and asks him if he's ever thought of getting a foothold over Tokyo. Wataru believes that it'd be a waste of time for a banchō at a school of their size to be living in such a small world. Riki agrees to the idea and the two head to Ikebukuro to build up his status. At the station, Wataru hands Riki the black handbag that is passed onto each of the school's banchōs and explains it's significance. The two are then approached by a group of thugs who notice the bag and fight Riki over it, though they are all easily defeated. Wataru proceeds to take Riki to a variety of shadier spots within Ikebukuro in order to gain more exposure within the delinquent world. After Riki got into a fight against a group of Taiyō Academy students, Wataru and Riki head back to Shinjuku and come across a mob of bikers riding outside of the station. Wataru points out that they're bōsōzoku and watches Riki get into a fight with them. Shinji arrives afterwards and informs Riki that he had just gotten into a fight with Okada from the Mushamonzen.
In the third chapter, Wataru is seen waiting for Riki outside of the Principal's office and asks him what happened. Riki doesn't give a direct answer and instead asks Wataru if he'd like to go to Ikebukuro to get something to eat, in which Wataru gracefully accepts his offer. Later in Ikebukuro, the two witness Sakata harassing a Nekketsu High School student and pretending to be Riki. A group of Mushamonzen goons arrive in search of Riki and attack Sakata as they believed he was the person they were looking for. Riki enters the scene and reveals him as the actual person they're looking for. After the fight, Wataru and Riki rush back to Hanazono High School after hearing that Okada has launched an attack on the school. At the school, Riki faces off a group of Mushamonzen members and is told by Wataru that they'll be attacking in Kabukicho next. Wataru is then entrusted with the protection of the school as Riki leaves for Kabukicho.
On the final chapter, Wataru is seen on the school's rooftop talking to Riki about the previous day and how the strength he showed in his fight against Okada got him excited for when they get back to getting a foothold over Tokyo. He notices Riki appears upset and asks him what's wrong, to which Riki tells Wataru that he feels like he's the cause for what's been happening and that if they continue acting so recklessly they'll only keep causing incidents like before to happen. He believes that he should stop what he's been doing all-together, though Wataru gives him a speech on how inspirational and important Riki's actions have been on others. Riki is motivated by Wataru's words and decides to continue building up his name. Wataru watches Riki leave and begins to show his true intentions as he thinks to himself about how he'll be able to do anything he wants if Riki's popularity rises high enough. Outside of the school's entrance, the two learn from Toyoizumi that the Mushamonzen's leader Maezawa is looking to meet with Riki. He then heads to an empty lot in Ikebukuro and fights off Maezawa's men.
On the next day, Wataru and Riki are waiting on the school's rooftop waiting for the Mushamonzen to strike back. The two head down to the entrance after hearing a noise coming from outside. Riki spots Mikoto of Blue Emperor knocked out on the ground and checks in on him, though Wataru appears confused and asks who he is. A group of Mushamonzen members then arrive on their bikes and attempt to attack Riki as Wataru keeps watch of Mikoto.
River City: Tokyo Rumble[]
In the story mode, Wataru and Sakata show up outside of Nekketsu High School to beat up Hiroshi. Kunio and Misako walk outside of the school and immediately spot the two before they run off. Kunio has Misako take care of Hiroshi while he runs off to look for the two. Wataru is seen waiting in a vacant lot and begins to fight Kunio once he arrives, though ends up defeated.
On the following day, Kunio and Riki's fight was about to start at the vacant lot, though they were interrupted by Ginjishi who would reveal Wataru and Sakata as his candidates the boss of the Tokyo Crew of the Kanto Lion Alliance. Wataru has his eyes set on having control over [Tokyo and attempts to fight Kunio and Riki. Upon being defeated, Ginjishi punches him and Sakata and deems them as useless. Wataru does not end up escaping and apologizes to Riki asking that he does not beat him up further if he tells them everything he knows. He goes onto explain who the Alliance is and that Majishi is planning to make a move on Ueno soon.
Later in the story when the protagonists are being chased by Shishiō's goons, Wataru finds the group and tells Riki that he's been looking for him. Wataru offers and leads the group to an empty apartment in Shinagawa which was a trap setup by Shishiō in exchange for Wataru gaining a position as a boss in the Alliance. In an attempt to gain power, Wataru joins the fight against the protagonists but loses once again. When Kunio, Shinji and Misuzu get ready to leave for the airport, Riki briefly stays behind to tell Wataru that he'll end up with no real friends if he continues to backstab others and that he'll be unable to accomplish any of his goals.
River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~[]
This remake of Super-Awesome Field Day re-imagines the events of that game. The story takes place after River City: Rival Showdown.
In the story mode, Wataru is first seen with Mamoru Tōdō late at night before the first round of the qualifiers. Tōdō hands Wataru a set of bombs and asks that he uses them as a way to eliminate Nekketsu High School from the tournament. At the end of the first qualifier round, Riki spots Wataru at Hanazono High School's booth and asks what he's doing, though Wataru starts to worry and makes claims he was only cleaning up the garbage like he was told to do before leaving the area. Hikaru Saotome and Tsuyoshi Gōda suspect that he's up to something.
After the second qualifying round comes to an end, Wataru is briefly seen being beaten up by Reihō Academy students for failing to eliminate Nekketsu High School from the tournament. Kunio spots the commotion and steps in to help which causes the Reihō students to disperse. Upon realizing he was Wataru, Kunio comments that the match against Hanazono High School would've been better if he was present, which leaves Wataru in shock that Riki lost to Kunio. With Kunio unsure of what Wataru has gotten himself involved in, he asks that he leaves Riki alone.
During the ending of the game, Wataru apologizes to Riki for what he's done. Riki comments that he's allowed to have big goals but asks him to not put others in danger in the process.
River City: Rival Showdown[]
River City: Rival Showdown is a remake of Downtown Nekketsu Story. The game takes place before River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~.
In the story mode, Wataru is seen during the second day at Hanazono High School backing up Hikaru Saotome on trying to explain to Kaoru Sonokawa that they weren't responsible for attacking Senridai High School students. If Kunio does not prevent Riki from being jumped by Kiyofumi Taira at Starpark Café, Kunio will instead assist Wataru, Saotome and Tōru Maeda in their fight against the Senridai students.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms[]
Wataru plays the role of Lu Meng, an intelligent and brave general in Sun Quan (Riki)'s army.
Lu Meng first appears during the final chapter where he'll spar against Guan Yu (Kunio) as apart of Lu Su (Mami)'s side quest. In Zhang Fei (Godai's)'s side quest, he and Guan Yu take some treasure they got from bandits in the area to Lu Su as a way to fund the provisions, but the two are informed that there already is a budget set aside for the provisions and that they currently aren't at a shortage. Lu Su asks that they instead use the treasure to purchase more oil needed for the fire-setting as Lu Meng has mentioned they weren't able to get enough with their initial budget. Lu Meng thanks Guan Yu upon receiving the oil he needed. When playing on the comedy route, Lu Meng will assist Sun Quan in his fight against Guan Yu.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next[]
Wataru retains his role as Lu Meng.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Sprites[]
Screenshots[]
Other Media[]
