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.

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. Secretly, Kazu wanted to be a Tamer himself and be just as good as Takato and the others. His chance came when he went to the Digital World, although he and Kenta did seem out of place as the others had Partners, he made the best of it until he did finally get a partner of his own in the form of.

Kazu was the only one who stood by 's side when he was injured while the others went to rescue Jeri. The two became closer as Partner and Tamer, both in battle and in the multitude of jokes Kazu told, as Guardromon seemed to like to copy him though Guardromon doesn't always understand; at one point, Kazu told Guardromon to watch Suzie, and when Suzie flew away, Guardromon said he "watched the whole thing". During Gallantmon's battle with Beelzemon, 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. Later, during the D-Reaper's rampage he and Kenta save a bunch of 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 Locomon's rampage Kazu, Guardromon, Kenta, and MarineAngemon met with Henry and Lopmon (Who Henry accidentally misplaced with Terriermon when he left his sister Suzie, but managed to switch them back later) and followed Locomon on a small Train car with Guardromon providing the thrust for them. During the Parasimon attack Kazu and Guardromon assist in the battle and then attended Rika's Birthday party at the end of the movie.