Kazu Shioda

Kazu Shioda (塩田) is a character in the and  series Digimon Tamers.

Appearance
Kazu is a young boy with lightly tanned skin, spiky light brown hair and dark blue eyes. He is slightly taller than the other Tamers in his age group. He wears a dark blue T-shirt with a stylized cross resembling the Crest of Reliability, yellow-cream shorts, reddish brown wristbands, olive green socks, and blue and grey shoes. He usually wears a dark blue and dark green tennis visor, though he doesn't wear it during school hours.

During winter, he wears a maroon jacket with a furry white collar and a pocket on the left breast over his regular outfit.

Description
Kazu is one of Takato's closest friends and is also an avid player of the DigiBattle Card Game. In fact, he is a much better player than Takato and Kenta. He is very confident in his abilities and loves bragging about his superiority compared to his friends, but Kazu's friendship with Takato and Kenta is very close and deep, usually calling them "chumley" in the dub.

Kazu is known as the comic relief of Tamers due to the fact that he makes so many jokes and wisecracks to keep the entire episode amusing. He often does these jokes with Kenta and they make quite a pair. He's also had his share of one liners by himself, and with Guardromon, often ending up in mass confusion.

With all his bluster and comedy, Kazu is a true and loyal friend. He is eager to help out however he can, and even in dire situations, he refuses to give up as long as his friends need his help.

Etymologies
Name used in Japanese materials. Officially romanized in Digimon Tamers: Official Encyclopedia V. Kazu Shioda
 * Hirokazu Shiota (塩田 博和)
 * Ja: Shiota (塩田). A Japanese surname meaning "salt rice paddy".
 * Ja: Hirokazu (博和) A masculine Japanese name meaning "abundant peace".

Name used in the English dub of Digimon Tamers.
 * Kazu. A short version of Hirokazu.
 * Shioda. An alternate reading of Shiota.

Story
When Takato beats Kazu during a routine card game by applying his experiences as a Tamer to the game, Kazu is confused, but he is even more confused when Takato mentions having real life experience. He and Kenta want more details, but when they see Guilmon, they freak out and run away. For a while, he struggles to deal with the reality of what he saw, and he and Kenta distance themselves from Takato. However, when he sees Guilmon fighting as WarGrowlmon, he understands what being a Tamer is all about, and reconnects with Takato. Kazu proves how good a friend he was by giving Takato a Blue Card he made himself, saying it should work since Guilmon also came from a drawing and became very real. The card works and it proves to be the one that saves the day.

Kazu joins the Tamers as they go to the Digital World to rescue, hoping to meet his own Digimon partner while there. After he, Rika Nonaka and Kenta are separated from the others, they meet and befriend a Jijimon and Babamon, and Kazu and Kenta pretend fight them for fun. Later, they encounter the Tamer Ryo Akiyama and his partner. Kazu is very excited to meet the famous "Digimon King" who disappeared ten months ago, but inadvertently insults Rika, causing her to split from the team for a while.

After the team reunites, and Takato, Henry and are lost, the team reaches a  village terrorized by. When an who had been trying to save the Gekomon is wounded, Kazu is the one to help him and heal him. Though the Andromon de-digivolves into due to his injuries, he becomes a valuable ally to the children, and a D-Power appears before Kazu, making him Guardromon's Tamer.

During 's battle with, Kazu saves him by having Guardromon attack the demon. Guardromon isn't powerful enough to inflict any damage, but it gives Gallantmon time to recover and defeat Beelzemon. As Kazu and Guardromon get closer, Guardromon tends to copy his Tamer, but sometimes Guardromon doesn't understand him or takes him too literally; at one point, Kazu told Guardromon to watch Suzie, and when Suzie flew away, Guardromon said he "watched the whole thing".

Later, during the D-Reaper's rampage, Kazu and Kenta save several cops from an ADR-07 and rescue Takato, Henry, Rika, Jeri, Ryo and their Digimon from inside D-Reaper when its defeated. When the Digimon have to return to the Digital World, Kazu is upset to see his partner go.

During 's rampage, Kazu,, Kenta, and meet with Henry Wong and , who Henry had accidentally switched with  earlier, and follow Locomon on a small traincar propelled by Guardromon. During the attack, Kazu and Guardromon assist in the battle, and afterward attend Rika Nonaka's birthday party.

Music
Kazu has one Japanese image song, ""HEROKazu" no Rock 'n Roll" ("HEROKazu's Rock 'n Roll"), sung by Yukiko Tamaki. He has an additional image song, a duet sung by Tamaki with Kiyoyuki Yanada as, called "Danshi Team" ("Boys Team"). Tamaki and participates in the male characters' rendition of "The Biggest Dreamer" in the Digimon Music 100 Title Memorial Box.

Notes and References
Hirokazu Shiota Shiota Hirokazu