WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for World Trigger, Season 2, Episode 11, “The Strong Ones,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Amatori Chika looks and feels like someone who needs to be protected, but her appearance directly contrasts with her immense trion energy. Her sniping abilities are some of the most powerful attacks in World Trigger, demolishing buildings with a single shot.
The addition of lead bullets showed that Chika's sniping could also be incredibly precise. She also knows the right time to assist with her teammates’ attacks and the best positions to take. Still, Chika's impressive sniping skill may have overshadowed her growth in other aspects, namely her quick reactions and accurate decision making.
Chika’s problem has never been her sniping, rather her inability to use regular bullets against people, fearing to see them vaporized at her hand. This fear makes Chika especially vulnerable to direct attacks since she can only defend herself with shields or lead bullets but can’t eliminate her opponents. On top of this, Chika can’t use lead bullets in conjunction with a shield since it takes all her trigger slots to fire lead bullets, making her an easy target for experienced fighters.
Chika’s weakness is exploited in Season 2, Episode 11, when Oji Squad discovers her position. She tries to run away from the attackers but can only defend herself against their barrage of bullets -- unable to fight back. Attacker Yutaka Kashio quickly catches up to her, and as he closes in, Chika pretends to hop while she runs as if to dodge a wire. This move works to stall Kashio’s pursuit long enough for Osamu to arrive and take him out.
Chika’s bluff works incredibly well on Kashio because while he was fighting Ikoma Squad’s Kai in Episode 10, he tripped on a wire and almost lost the fight, so he is especially mindful of cables. Chika’s earnest personality helped to sell the bluff since people don’t see her as deceitful. This scene demonstrates Chika’s growth in real-time since she can’t bail out like in previous battles due to her proximity to Kashio. She is quick to think on her feet and uses a simple but effective mind trick to misdirect him. Seeing her visibly more confident -- going from tense to smiling -- is massive considering where Chika's character began in terms of being sure of herself.
However, Chika and Osamu’s escape is not complete, with Oji is still hot on their trail. Plus, none of Osamu’s attacks work due to the significant power difference between him and Oji -- who can also stop Chika’s lead bullet by constantly attacking her with regular bullets, forcing her to shield up. Oji takes out Osamu with a brutal execution-style cut to the neck, and it now seems that Chika has nowhere to run. However, she surprisingly uses regular bullets and pretends to shoot at Oji, but instead, she attacks the ground, creating a distraction so she can get away.
Chika’s trick works as a double bluff since Oji already believes that she can only shoot lead bullets and is surprised when seeing her use regular ones, which slowed him down. Secondly, Chika has already tricked Kashio, so Oji thinks she is bluffing again with the regular bullets. As a result, he didn’t retreat or use a shield to defend himself. Fortunately for Oji, Chika cannot shoot at people; otherwise, he would have been blown away.
While Chika is not a cunning person by nature, she demonstrates an ability to make quick and accurate decisions, taking advantage of her opponents’ prior expectations. This also reflects Chika’s sniping skills which are all about decision-making and choosing the right timing, target and position, showing that growth in one area can often boost overall performances. As Chika's confidence grows, so does the effectiveness of her attacks -- but you can't overlook the massive strides she's made in self-belief.
