Hump Day Husbandos: Itto Arataki (Genshin Impact)

All Articles Features Headliners Hump Day Husbandos
Lilia Hellal
November 16, 2022
1

Itto Arataki was released in Genshin Impact on December 14, 2021 – just in time for Christmas, what a treat – and remains my favourite character addition the game has ever had.

This is due to several reasons: some more obvious than others. Genshin Impact has its fair share of waifus, but it is always worth celebrating its truly glorious array of exceptional Husbandos also. While our love knows no bounds for my problematic favourite Tartaglia, the reasoning behind gushing over Itto is a lot more understandable. There won’t be much need to convince anyone here of this good boy deserving all the love and attention.

Who is Itto Arataki?

Itto, the self-proclaimed “First and Greatest Head of the Arataki Gang” is first heard of in the game as the troublesome leader of the Arataki gang from Inazuma, a disruptive “unofficial” group of Itto’s underlings. Or rather, his buddies. You see, the reality of Itto’s character is the complete opposite of what everyone has to say about him.

He’s the “Competitive Thug” whose hobby is actually entertaining children (unless he needs to make money to make ends meet), and whose never-ending goal is to seek rematches of specific contests that either ended in a draw — such as the sumo match he engaged in with a tengu as a child — or defeat, such as his conflict with Kujou Sara. The latter being fresh in his mind, he pursues particularly relentlessly to this day.

Why we love him

Itto was discriminated against in his childhood. He was mistreated by humans and blamed for robberies in his neighbourhood. He used to not be well off, and this situation would be further exacerbated once his parents died due to famine, and he was left to fend for himself. This issue perpetuates even in his adulthood, since the Tenryou Commission’s tendency to pin the blame onto him and his gang is based on assumptions. Considering that Onis are assumed to have explosive tempers and are expected to be troublemakers, the reality could not be further from the truth.

Despite his appearance and alleged behaviour of being a loud, good for nothing, Itto is a himbo through and through. Upon meeting him, Paimon will be quick to note that he’s “not the sharpest horn on the oni”. His tendency to force a rivalry between himself and Kujou Sara is the densest thing imaginable to witness, and his allergy to beans can even become truly comical when he is getting hospitalised for chowing down on them all for the sake of not backing out of a competition.

He’s headstrong and a knucklehead in the best way, and this is appealingly translated in how he interacts with kids especially. His conduct with children is almost absolutely a direct cause of his upbringing. He wants to please kids in an attempt to protect them from having to experience what he once did in any kind of capacity. He stands up for those bullied, and accepts competitive losses from them more often than not to keep them content and smiling.

Why you will love him

We said it once and we’ll say it again – Itto is all brawn, no brain. His antics of showing around his newly acquired “Vision” for all to begrudgingly see and hear about puts his tendency to be loud into perspective – he just wants affirmation and acknowledgement. He’s a big kid — easily identifiable with that childlike behaviour and boisterous energy he has going on at all times. But at the same time his compassion shows through clearly in all aspects of his characterisation.

A major point here is that he is somewhat prideful – he knows his own strength and goes out of his way to not resort to it. This is essentially due to him wanting to maintain a positive reputation for his Oni heritage. He’s not really a complete pea-brain when he is as introspective as he can be, but he is most certainly a legitimate sweetheart for always having the best of intentions. He is carefree and kind-hearted, and remains a greatly appealing mix of traits as one of Genshin Impact’s most entertaining and adorable characters to have ever graced its cast.

Finally, it’s always worth noting iconic voice actors for our Hump Day Husbandos and Waifu Wednesday picks. With Itto, he is voiced by Max Mittelman in the dub — Ryuji from Persona 5 and Leo from Fire Emblem: Fates — while his Japanese voice actor is Takanori Nishikawa of T.M. Revolution and Abingdon Boys School fame! How to further perfect an already flawlessly lovable dork.

Genshin Impact is available to play for free on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android, iOS and Microsoft Windows.

Join The Discussion

Rice Digital Discord
Rice Digital Twitter
Rice Digital Facebook

Or write us a letter for the Rice Digital Friday Letters Page by clicking here!

^{Disclosure: Some links in this article may be affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on them. This is at no additional cost to you and helps support Rice Digital!}