Character Profile: Rain Mikamura

It would perhaps be best to begin by describing Rain Mikamura in a nutshell: a wealth of talent and skill. Among her many credits, she is a mechanic, an electronics expert, a doctor, and even (to some degree) a fighter.

She and Domon have known each other since they were kids, but since Domon left to train with Master Asia ten years earlier, we can assume that not much came of their early experiences. But when he comes back and becomes Neo-Japan's Gundam Fighter, she learns that she'd been selected (without any consultation or permission) to come along as his partner.

Things do not sync very well. Domon is brash and impulsive, bent on trying to solve the mystery of his brother Kyoji, and Rain is simply struggling to make sure Neo-Japan's efforts aren't cut short. Her patience is stretched to the limit and its bounds even pushed a little. But deep inside, she perhaps still wonders if she could ever get through to him.

Still, on a fundamental level, she and Domon look out for each other. Rain will always come to Domon's aid, and if Rain is in trouble, he'll see to her safety... still, she sometimes wonders if there is any way she can tell Domon all her feelings in a way he'd understand? As she saw when Allenby and Domon hit it off so naturally, it would seem she would need to address Domon like a fighter, but she's not a real fighter, try though she might (she's even piloted the Shining Gundam a couple times).

It may be that her father knows more about Rain than Rain herself does. She's got the spirit and determination. How else could she have used a brinwave transmitter to provide the crucial link Domon needed to switch over to the Burning Gundam? That's why Dr. Mikamura creates a third Gundam: a partner for the Burning Gundam, just as Rain is Domon's partner. Perhaps in the Rising Gundam, Rain can really express herself the fighter's way: through her fists. And failing that... what then?