Waku was an energetic and confident young boy who acted like a stereotypical shōnen main character. He was previously a talented soccer player and is considered popular. He wanted to become a professional player and his friends thought he had the talent for it. However, he found out that his salary-man father was a soccer player just like him in his youth and even played at the national level. The fact that someone just like him didn't make it shook Waku's resolve and he stopped playing soccer. If he had not quit the team he wouldn't have been at the summer class and become a pilot. He was chosen to become the first pilot of the children. After the battle with Bayonet, they celebrated on Zearth's shoulder. When Ushiro patted Waku on the back he fell off the side into the ocean. They thought that Ushiro accidentally pushed him but he actually died a moment before when his time as a pilot ended. His chair was a simple plastic folding chair. In the manga the number of casualties is unspecified, but in the anime there are 2,343 casualties.

(Source: Wikipedia)