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Akihide Karatsu (Japanese: 唐津明秀 [Karatsu Akihide]) is a Gunter who embarked upon Halliday's Easter Egg Hunt alongside Daito.
In the movie, his real name is Zhou, an American Chinese.
Personality
In contrast to Toshiro Yoshiaki, whom Akihide sees as a brother figure but is cold and untrusting of others, Akihide is more friendly to other gunters (namely those in the High Five) and connects with Wade Watts on a better level than Daito did. He reaches out to Parzival to inform him of Daito's digital and physical death at the hands of IOI.
Egg Hunt
Shoto successfully completes the Hunt up to the Battle of Castle Anorak, where his avatar is killed by Mechagodzilla piloted by Nolan Sorrento. Up to his acquiring the Jade Key, he had gotten the Copper Key and opened the First Gate at the same time as Daito until his death, both in the OASIS and in real life, at the hands of IOI. Shoto contacts Parzival and informs him of Daito's death by showing him a simcap of Daito's destruction at the hands of IOI, and a news article of his death. Shoto gives Parzival Daito's Beta Capsule, trusting that he will be able to use it when the time is right to exact vengeance on IOI.
Trivia
Akihide's OASIS name, Shoto, is complemented by Daito's name to form Daisho, the Japanese term for long and short swords worn by traditional samurai.