- "This is EXACTLY the reason I hate young pricks like him. Oh, they lack patience!"
- —Shinya Akiba
Shinya Akiba is a character in killer7. He is an elderly member of Japan's ruling United Nations Party, and a close friend of fellow party member Hiroyasu Kurahashi. Together with his friend he helped rebuild Japan following its devastation during the Second World War. He despises the younger generation, especially inexperienced politicians like Kenjiro Matsuoka. Travis Bell describes him and Kurahashi as a pair of 'sly old foxes' who are the very 'incarnation of greed'. hand in killer7 describes them simply as 'dirty old men'.
Akiba and Kurahashi are introduced at the beginning of Target01: Sunset Part 2, where they are lamenting the seemingly inevitable destruction of Japan. When Kurahashi taunts Matsuoka into shooting them, Akiba reveals that killing one's seniors is the only way to move up within the party, and taunts Matsuoka by telling him he won't have any future if he doesn't take them out. Surprisingly, Matsuoka actually does kill them both before attempting to turn the gun on himself; when Kun Lan appears, however, both Kurahashi and Akiba are revived as special Heaven Smiles. Akiba personally gives Kun Lan permission to show him the light with the power of his God Hand.
After Matsuoka leaves Akiba, Kurahashi and Kun Lan all seemingly vanish; however, the two elderly politicians are found soon afterwards by KAEDE Smith, who snipes them in their exposed brain matter whilst they throw lumps of their own brains at her - when KAEDE shoots Kurahashi's tie, messing it up, Akiba exposes the vulnerable back of his shattered skull whilst he readjusts his friend's tie, and KAEDE promptly finishes him off for good.
The pair return one year later as Remnant Psyches at ISZK-LAND during the events of Target03: Encounterwhere they warn the Smiths that Japan's survivors will have their revenge on the world before vanishing forever.
Quotes
- "It's too late. We won't see any Fireworks."
- "This is what happens when you rely on boys."
- "We're prepared to die."
- "We've done it many times. Killing our seniors... but it's how we've always settled things."
- "I can say this much, this boy's got no future!"
- "This country... is big. It's too big."
- "You really think you're better than us, because we're old men? You're not getting out of here alive!"
- "Japan's not going down just yet. Not without a fight."
- "In Japan, 80 million lives disappear in an instant. An entire country destroyed and the world stands by in silence."
- "Our will lives on."