The tragedy of Kiryuu Ousuke
Hello, everyone! It has been a while!! I haven't been posting much in the last few months, and many things have been happening in the KOT world. I'm back with an essay/character analysis on one of my favorite "Kono Oto Tomare!" characters: Kiryuu Ousuke.
If you are not up to date with the manga, be aware that there are major spoilers!! There is so much I want to say about him. He is such a polarizing character, with such a complex psyche it just makes me want to dissect his behavior every time he appears. I will share some of my thoughts about him with you. Ousuke is first introduced to us as a happy-go-lucky guy. One of the two male members of the Meiryou Koto Club (Although we never knew much about Tsutsumin until recently). He seems shallow, a flirt, and it doesn't look like he takes much seriously. It is also a mask. A shield he wears to guard an insecure little boy that is afraid to be left alone, and who has taught himself to be a leader in the darkness. We can glimpse early on that there's more to Ousuke than what he shows, in some of his off-handed comments while talking to the Tokise Koto Club. With a smile that makes goosebumps raise in your arms, he lets us readers know that with just a glimpse, he can see inside the hearts of every person he crosses. He understands their behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses... And he will use them to guide his club and himself toward his goals.
I will go ahead and say it: He is scary. He is the kind of guy who would be a tyrant and a villain if he used his abilities for evil. And that's where his character becomes beautiful and devastating to me. He doesn't become one. He becomes a leader with one of the purest and most ancient purposes known to mankind. Make the woman he loves happy. We learn of Ousuke's backstory in chapter 23. A sickly child, he describes his own childhood as "Just my room and the scenery outside the window. The hospital bed and the smell of medicine. And a sweet melody coming from somewhere I don't know". Growing up isolated is hard. Being sick is just terrible. Not being able to do anything to change that is miserable. You understand that other children go outside, play, fight, make up, and laugh with one another. And while you want to do the same, build relationships, and just do as others and live, your body betrays you. Other children will hardly change their routines to accommodate you... Even less if they barely see you and they don't know you at all. So, simply put, Ousuke circumstances leave him starved for human connection with no ability to change his situation. We can see that when some of his classmates invite him to play with him on one of the rare occasions he is able to attend school. Ousuke knows he shouldn't, but he agrees to play with them because this is his chance to actually make friends... And maybe he will not be so lonely if he can fit in, just that one time. But he collapses, and the parents of the other children scold them for putting Ousuke's health at risk.
The kids get mad at Ousuke because "They got in trouble because of him". Ousuke's illness is thrown in his face. There is a clear line drawn between himself and the other kids. A line that tells him that "He is meant to be alone".
And suddenly Asano appears in his life. A lively girl who wears her heart on her sleeve, she is the one person who extends her hand to Ousuke to lead him to a bright world full of music, smiles, and belonging.
She is not like the other kids. Instead of disregarding Ousuke, she finds a way for them to be together. Ousuke's illness was such a huge part of his life, it practically became his identity. And Asano looked at the illness and said "This is nothing". Alone in his room, Ousuke always longed for the sweet melody that he could hear in the distance. Asano took Ousuke's hand and brought him to that unknown place that would become his home, and the one thing he would protect with his life. No, not the koto. The girl who brought the koto to him and destroyed with a smile any notion of him "meaning to be alone".
From here, we, for the first time, see what the real Ousuke is like. He is happy and so open with his emotions! And allow me to inform you, he will not hesitate to tell anyone who will listen that he loves Asa-chan. And that love gets thrown in his face like it's something foul. Other children start taunting them for being so close. "Asano, you like younger boys? How dirty"... But Asano won't be intimidated and pretty much tells them to go take a hike. It reminds me in some way of Chika when he said that telling someone you love them should not be something to be embarrassed about. Again, this girl WILL tell you how she feels and will wear her emotions on her sleeve.
However, the bullying escalates, slowly turning into harassment. And Ousuke is terrified. Not for him, but for her. Because if it gets worse, there is no way he can stay by her side without her being hurt. Without her ultimately losing her smile...
So Ousuke puts on a carefully crafted mask that will shield her from hurt. A mask that will hide the real Ousuke, but will allow him to be by her side to protect her.
And in the process, Ousuke discovers that he has a very very rare talent. While he doesn't like people (in general) all that much, he can see them. For him, they are like a book laid open for him to read, and the information he learns from those books molds his mask. People will not hurt Asa-chan, not on his watch. He understands how much of himself to show people, who he has to become in front of them for them to put their trust in him. Because having their trust also means they also hear his suggestions. Having their trust means they will not want to hurt or harass those he loves.
No, Ousuke does not like people. He has been burned too many times for that to happen. People can be shitty and will throw your weaknesses in your face. But Ousuke loves, fiercely. And he will do anything in his power to protect the happiness of the few he gives his love to. And at the top of that list, by far, is Asano.
We, as readers, come to understand where those veiled smiles of his come from. And is a privilege reserved only for us. Because no one else gets to see behind his mask anymore.
Not Yotchan, who was his first koto teacher. He believes Ousuke understands and adjusts to people so well because he likes them. Ousuke in response gives him the smile and says "I wish it was because of such a beautiful reason".
Not his classmates nor clubmates, who only know a happy-go-lucky guy who they rely on when it comes to koto. A guy who will smile and laugh with you and actually gives incredible suggestions, who somehow brings the very best out of their sound.
Not even Asano... The only person he will drop his mask with... But who is not able to distinguish the Ousuke who always said "I love Asa-chan" from the masked one who will flirt and be a playboy with every other girl.
I called this post "The tragedy of Kiryuu Ousuke" because, for me, Ousuke is the one character in this manga whose efforts simply never give him the reward everyone is rooting him to get: To Asano to look at him and realize he is a man who loves her fiercely and sacrificed his own self just to be by her side and protect her smile.
Because, for Asano, there never really was a change. That child grew up alongside her and grew to be a social butterfly. He is funny, he is happy, he is a flirt, and he takes the koto very seriously. He brings brightness and certainty to the koto world she loves so much.
Ousuke truly developed a rare skill. He is able to see others for who they truly are... And he doesn't judge them for it. When you pause and look at it you come to realize that Ousuke truly doesn't blame people for the things they do or how they act, even if they hurt him. Ousuke objectively understands that those behaviors come from people's circumstances. And as such he is the one who adjusts to them. He is the one that, within his capabilities, molds himself to fit. Who communicates, will hear their concerns, and will try to fix everything so everyone in the bright world Asa-chan brought him to can be happy.
And above it all... He also sees himself as he truly is behind the mask. Every insecurity, every weakness, every ugly part... He acknowledges and faces them. And only we, the readers, get to see them through his eyes.
And this is the moment to address the elephant in the room. Ousuke's biggest insecurity: The fact that the person he loves most in the world... Loves someone else.
You see, being able to understand people so well is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, he is able to discern, regardless of appearances, the goodness within people. With one glance.
He is also able to see the bullshit. The people who lash out because of some bias. And he will call them out on it.
On the other, he can also see that the girl he loves has a smile that is reserved uniquely for their school advisor. That he is the one she will look for when she needs a shoulder to cry on, and whose approval she will ask for just after a major performance.
And it hurts. Because maybe all his work, all his efforts to protect her happiness and her world are meaningless. Because maybe it is his own selfishness and need to be by her side that confined him behind the mask. Because maybe she never needed him to do that. Because maybe she only needs Yotchan, and he is just a secondary character in her life, while for him, she is his life.
And it is a tragedy because he makes peace with that fact. He is not expecting Asano to recognize the Ousuke behind the mask. He in fact doesn't even expect her to return his feelings. Because he will be happy as long as he can be by her side while she smiles. And any insecurity that may threaten that? Even if they are his own feelings? Even if it's his true self?
He will crush it.
And I, as a reader who got the privilege to look at his true self, can just root for his tragedy to end. Because I want to be a little bit selfish, and let the guy truly win. Not the Nationals everyone is so focused on, and he wants to gift to the girl he loves to get one of those smiles... But a future where she smiles at his side... And she looks at him and loves him for who he truly is.
