charbios: Noriyasu Seta
Seta spends a good deal of his time traveling the world on one expedition or another. His goal seems to be to find evidence of an ancient turtle civilization that once flourished in Japan. During the course of his excavations near the Hinata Beach Tea House in the anime, he uncovered an ancient stage where, he theorized, the ancient inhabitants once performed plays devoted to the gods. After the destruction of the Hinata Beach Tea House during the Urashima family traditional play production, Seta offered to let them use the ancient stage for their play in exchange for a role in the play (Journey to the West.) What was intended to be a mock battle became fiercely real, unfortunately, and the stage was ruined. A hot water geyser surfaced from under the stage, forming a very large new hot springs bath. Haruka was able to recover the costs of rebuilding the Tea House by charging admission to the bath.
Seta is also something of an adventurer, and possesses a van that shares his indestructible nature, and apparently has a submarine mode. In the past, Haruka had a major crush on him, though he seemed oblivious. They went on many expeditions together, which are alluded to often in the manga. He had a child with Sara's mother, an American, who later died. Her last request was that Seta marry Haruka. This wish was granted, and Haruka and Seta married at the ruins of Todai, capital of the Turtle civilization.
Seta is Sara's guardian, and she refers to him as "papa."
Seta is Naru and Kitsune's former tutor. He's Sara's adopted father. He is an archeologist and an awesome fighter (he actually defeated Motoko). He employed Keitaro for a short while. He is a very bad driver. Everytime he drives, he ends up crashing into something and gets out of his van with his head bleeding. He works as a part time substitute in Toudai. Seta is said to have failed the Toudai entrance exam three times and only managed to pass the fourth time. In my opinion, he lives in his van.