Akio Takahiro
Akio Takahiro
An agent of Nudist Beach and Aikuro's younger adopted brother. He befriends Ryuko and aids her in her search for her father's killer.- The Alcoholic: Despite being a minor, Akio enjoys a cold beer when he can and his favorite drink is Scotch.
- Always Save the Girl: Akio has plenty of moments where he saves Ryuko from a tight spot.
- Amazon Chaser: He falls in love with Ryuko. Ryuko.
- Badass Normal: Probably the biggest in the entire cast. Akio is without a Goku Uniform for the first half of the story and manages to beat Sanageyama in a one-on-one match. (without transforming, but still.) Exaggerated during the final chapter where he fights Nui Harime without a Goku Uniform and still manages to outdo her.
- Bash Brothers: With Aikuro, though they are actually adoptive siblings.
- Battle Couple: With Ryuko.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Over the course of the story, Akio, much like Ryuko, gets dragged through seven circles of hell time-and-time-again. Unlike Ryuko, however, Akio usually leaves his fights with plenty of welts, bruises and cuts. His very first injury, which he got from his scuffle with Iori, left three big scars along the right side of his face and he hates them.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Ryuko, of course, as they butt heads early on into the story. It becomes Unresolved Sexual Tension once the two start to soften up to each other. The U.S.T. ends in Chapter 23.
- Big Brother Instinct: Towards his biological sister, Akiko. Justified, seeing how he never had the chance of being an older brother and would never want to squander the opportunity.
- Break the Cutie: Let's count the number of times life's used Akio as its personal punching bag.1. He was given up for adoption after birth.2. Is persistently unable to protect those close to him.3. Is constantly getting injured and maimed half of the time.4. He watches his biological parents get killed by Ragyo after promising his little sister he'd save them.
- Broken Ace: Akio may be strong, smart, good-looking, and the biggest Badass Normal in the entire story, but his life is a parade of pain and missteps. He was given up for adoption the day he was born, has been working for Nudist Beach since he was a kid, has been put through the ringer more times than Ryuko ever has, and is littered with self-doubt and insecurities and anyone he tries to protect either gets hurt or killed.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Another part of the dynamic between Akio and Ryuko. Interestingly, the story plays around with both roles. While both have their fair share of brooding and angst, Ryuko does most of it while Akio offers kind words of encouragement while facing his own personal demons.
- This trope is played more straight in the sequel, with Ryuko being a pillar of support for Akio and helps him raise Akiko. Although "gentle" isn't the first word that comes to mind when it comes to Ryuko...
- Byronic Hero: Let's see... attractive? Check. Educated, cunning, and sophisticated? Check. Emotionally conflicted? Check. Extremely self-critical and introspective? Absolutely.
- Child Soldier: He's been an operative at Nudist Beach longer than he cared to be.
- Clothes Make the Superman: He gains a Three-Star Goku Uniform when he begrudgingly joins Satsuki on her Tri-City School Raids Trip called Unlimited Regalia. It allows him wrist blades and plenty of throwing knives. The Mark II variant he gets for the final battle gives him a naginata in addition.
- Cool Big Bro: Akiko identifies him as this after only meeting him once.
- Covert Pervert: He may not look it, but underneath his cynical, serious attitude, Akio's as much of a Hormone-Addled Teenager as the next.
- This is further explored in the sequel, where Akio's feelings for Ryuko come full circle, turning him into a blushing, flustered mess.
- Deadpan Snarker: Moments where Akio DOESN'T have something sarcastic or particularly snarky to say are few and far between.
- Declaration of Protection: For Ryuko. Ever since the beginning of the story, Akio has been watching Ryuko's every move, ensuring her safety. This becomes more personal when Akio befriends Ryuko and later falls in love with her.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: To cement his badass status, after two weeks of being trapped in cage with Satsuki, Ragyo comes down with an offer: Pledge allegiance to her and he could have Ryuko, immortality and a dead Satsuki. What does he do? Calls her disgusting and that he would rather die.
- Fear of Thunder: Akio really hates thunderstorms. Probably more than Ryuko hates needles.
- Gibberish of Love: When his feelings for Ryuko emerge, he stumbles over his own words and acts like a complete doofus.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Akio has the classic three-gash claw mark scar on the right side of his face. They could most definitely be categorized as evil, but Akio's one of the good guys.
- In "First Comes Love", his scars have healed some, but are still quite prominent. Ryuko seems to like them, but Akio can't stand them.
- Guile Hero: A lot of Akio's success in his fights come from him outsmarting his opponents and shifting the playing field in his own favor. One example is his fight against Sanageyama.
- Hero of Another Story: In "Before My Body Is Dry", Akio is a Supporting Protagonist while Ryuko is still the main character, but the story is told mostly from Akio's point of view. In the sequel "First Comes Love", Akio is made into the main focus indefinitely.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Even if he does prove to be an invaluable friend and ally to Ryuko, Akio can't stop himself from feeling useless at times.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. Akio is usually a very selfless, civil, all around Nice Guy who is very close to his loved ones. However, his insecurities and self-loathing keep him from being a straight up nice guy.
- Happily Adopted: Akio is quite happy with the family he was adopted into, especially with Aikuro as a big brother.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Since the beginning, Akio has wished his life could have been a normal one. He even laments this after visiting his parents's house.
- Living Emotional Crutch: To Ryuko. Without his support, she's unresponsive and emotionally shut-down.
- He shares this role with Mako, who is still there to give her goofy and inspiring speeches to Ryuko.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Akio knows how to cook, can dance ballet and is much more sensitive and understanding. On the other hand, Ryuko is... Ryuko; loud, hot-headed, boisterous and impulsive.
- Martial Pacifist: Downplayed. Akio doesn't like the idea of using violence against No-Star students, seeing how they're just everyday kids trying their best to make it by. However, he's more than happy to open a can of whoop-ass when dealing with The Elite Four and School Club Leaders, seeing how they're more capable of defending themselves and kind of have it coming.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Inverted. Chapter 6, which is one of the more light-hearted and comedic chapters of the story, has Akio doped up on sedatives, turning him into a giggling air-head.
- Odd Friendship:
- With Mako. Even if her antics annoy him more than they do Ryuko, Akio takes her safety very seriously and the two clearly think the world for each other. He's also on very good terms with the Mankanshokus.
- Especially with Ryuko. While the two initially butt heads and get on each others nerves, they soon learn more about each other and about themselves and evolve as characters.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Mako and Ryuko, although it becomes significantly less platonic with Ryuko as the story progresses.
- Promoted to Parent: After his parents are killed, he becomes responsible for Akiko as her new guardian. (With a little help from Aikuro, Ryuko and the Mankanshokus).
- Sanity Slippage: After one too many Break the Cutie moments, Akio (understandably) starts losing it. Evident when he started to choke Nui because he thought she deserved to suffer. True, she's responsible for a lot of messed up stuff and she is a total bitch, but it's still rather unnerving to watch him torture her. He also ends up shooting himself in the foot because of this, as he tries to draw Nui's suffering out. So when Ragyo orders Nui to sacrifice her body to lend her power, Nui breaks free and kills herself anyways.
- Shout-Out: Akio's Unlimited Regalia is described as a mixture between DC's Deathstroke and Zero from Borderlands 2.
- Supporting Protagonist: While the story is told mostly through Akio's Point of View, he doesn't take the spot light and spends most of the story on the sidelines, routing for Ryuko and aiding however he can.
- This changes in the sequel, "First Comes Love", where Akio takes on responsibility as Akiko's guardian and adapts to having a normal life with Ryuko.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: In "First Comes Love", Akio is much more pleasant and carefree.
Akiko Takahiro
Akiko Takahiro
Akio's blood-related baby sister, who was raised by her parents Hiroshi and Kasumi long after Akio was given up for adoption.- Cheerful Child: Once she comes out of her shell, she is this to a T.
- The Cutie: She is small, sweet, shy, and cheerful, right down to the letter.
- Break the Cutie: On that note, losing her parents to Ragyo Kiryuin really dealt a severe emotional blow to her.
- Onee-sama: Of all people, she starts to look up to Nonon Jakuzure in this regard after she and the Elite Four save her and Mataro from a bunch of COVERS.
- Shrinking Violet: When she first meets Akio, she is shy and hesitant to interact with him, but warms up to him in time. According to Hiroshi, she's like this by default, but is "a ball of energy" back home.
- Token Mini-Moe: Of the Takahiro family.
