Kanou Shinka

Kanou Shinka (加納神華) is a character introduced in Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index. Despite being small and timid, he takes the name of Aihana Etsu in order to find clues on what had happened to his friend Frenda Seivelun, and with a little help from Kamijou Touma and Hamazura Shiage finds the strength within himself in order to protect the memory of Frenda.

Appearance
Kanou Shinka is a short boy who appears to be about twelve. He has shoulder-length brown hair, and wears a black hooded jacket with bears ears. He wears black shorts with it, as well as a blue shirt and socks.

Personality
He is described as a crybaby, and is shown to be timid and easily frightened. It is likely because of these qualities that St. Germain was able to easily manipulate and sweet talk him. Despite this, his heart is in the right place as he is willing to go meddle in the affairs of the Dark Side of Academy City and fake his own identity just to search for his friend and, even after finding out about her death, is willing to fight for the sake of his memory of her.

Background
Frenda Seivelun was Kanou Shinka's friend, despite him being oblivious to her involvement with the Dark Side of Academy City. She once told Kanou that she admired his crying because he could shed tears for anyone's tragedy while she herself was unable to do so. Frenda later divulged to him that she has a secret base in the Dianoid which she said was a place that had no connection to the "light or the dark".

She later disappeared from his life and later, not knowing that she had died, he tried looking for her whereabouts. But his meddling in the Dark Side of Academy City was noticed by Yokosuka. Yokosuka beat him up and suggested to him to make use of Aihana Etsu's identity, with Kanou not knowing that Yokosuka was working for Aihana in helping other people through the use of his name.

Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index
He first appears after being beaten up by Yokosuka and recalls his words to him. He later decides to assume the identity and become Aihana Etsu in order to search for Frenda. Using a fake ID he goes into the Dianoid as he believes it would have a clue in finding out what happened to Frenda. He deceives thugs from the "darkness" on his way to the Dianoid using the name Aihana Etsu, but later runs into a girl who is also using Aihana Etsu's identity, forcing him to run away. He then ends up in the bottom-level of the Dianoid, finding Hamazura Shiage and Stephanie Gorgeouspalace there as they were transporting goods using the Power Lifter. He tries to use Aihana Etsu's name again but it only intimidates Stephanie. Scared, Kanou runs away again as she argues with Shiage.

Tired of running, he later ends up on the same floor as Kamijou Touma. Seeing his state, he buys him a bottled water. After divulging on how he is in the Dianoid to rescue a girl, Kanou once again introduces himself as Aihana Etsu, the 6th-ranked level 5, but Touma however is not intimidated. He introduces himself to Kanou, prompting him to panic that he is before Kamijou Touma after hearing many rumors about him. Kanou later runs away just as soon as St. Germain makes his move on Touma.

Shinka hides away scared after witnessing St. Germain's Chambord attack. As he becomes encouraged after remembering Frenda's words to him, St. Germain appears before him in a form of an old man. He faints and later finds himself on the roof of the Dianoid with St. Germain. Initially frightful of him, St. Germain manages to calm him down and offer him a drink. St. Germain later shows to Shinka that he eats pills. Then, St. Germain reveals that he is also after him, Kanou Shinka, not Aihana Etsu. He talks circles around him until he tells him he has to leave in order to retrieve "Anne's Shield" from TV Orbit. He then implies that Frenda is already dead and that Shinka may lose his chance in finding the last vestiges of her. He allows Shinka to roam freely in order to do what he needs to do. Before leaving he introduces himself to Shinka. As the battles against St. Germain continue in Dianoid, Shinka once agains swallows his fears and decides to act. He ingeniously uses his cellphone to draw Anti-Skill to the Dianoid before leaving the roof, making sure that there is a rock between the entrance and the door so it won't close and lock like the rest of the Dianoid.

Frenda Seivelun
Shinka is a friend of Frenda Seivelun, despite not wholly knowing much about her and the world that she lives in, certain that there was a place for him in her heart. During the course of his investigation regarding her disappearance Shinka continually relies on Frenda's words to him, giving him strength to carry on with what he needs to do. Shinka cares for her, and with a little prodding from St. Germain was willing to get revenge for her sake after discovering her death. In the end, it is also Frenda's words that allowed him to turn against St. Germain and his lies.

As for Frenda herself, she also considered Shinka one of her friends, making up a gift for him for his friends, and assuring that there are also strengths in his weaknesses.

Character Art Designs
According to Haimura Kiyotaka, the outline he was given for Kanou Shinka was a little vague so he worked at it for a while. It was pointed out early on that he was going the "trap" route for this one but he hadn't fully shaken it off with the first design. After being told he could make him more of a "moe" character if he wanted, Haimura continued to the next design. The hooded jacket that Kanou wears is based off the bear-suit type worn by Lain in her bedroom in . Haimura thought that the hood hiding or covered the head was perfect for Kanou's position of borrowing someone else's reputation and obscuring his own identity, meaning it was only natural for him to remove the hood after he cast off the assumed identity at the end.

Quotes

 * (From NT Index 12): "To hell with Academy City. To hell with Level 5. To hell with the hierarchy! To hell with the pyramid structure!! I overcame it all. I’ve made it through the first gate! Now… Now no one can stop me. I’ll have you show me where you’ve hidden that girl!!"