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Hashihime protagonists
Tamamori
"What, is that how you address me?"
Born in Aizu. A miserly, menial, lazy person with a fatal attraction to books. 20 years old. He has a vain personality, enough to wear glasses just to make himself look serious and clever, and this vanity is his only strength.Although he had followed his childhood friends to the Imperial Capital of Tokyo, he failed to achieve anything of worth and lives in an old bookstore called Umebachidou in the 1st Area of Jinbocho, Tokyo's book town.
While he still allegedly aims to get accepted into the Imperial University, he has entirely lost sight of reality through fantastical books and films, to the point that he now has pretensions of writing his own novels. According to his friend Kawase, he's a genius at writing absolute garbage at breakneck speeds. Perhaps due to being a writer, he has a habit of losing himself to his own world.
- Acting Out a Daydream: All the time, to the point where at times it's difficult to tell apart Tamamori's daydreams and reality.
- Always Save The Boy: Going back in time to stop Minakami from dying is his main motivation even if he chooses to deny it. However, this is played more straight for Kawase who has only treated him poorly, but Tamamori resolves to save him much faster than with Minakami.
- Animal Motif: He's associated with cats. His actual name, "Tama" is often used for cats, and Minakami owns a cat.
- Break the Cutie: Over and over, due to the many loops.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Or so he claims to be. He is intelligent in certain areas, but it's not good enough for him to be considered intelligent.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Even just the smell is enough to get him drunk.
- Covert Pervert: No matter how much he tries to hide it, he's not that great at hiding his perversion. Kawase has no problem mocking him for this.
- Dissonant Laughter: Whenever Tamamori is stressed or upset, he tends to let out an undignified laugh. It tends to piss off his friends.
- Driven to Suicide: In some loops he just can't hold on anymore and tries to kill himself. He never succeeds.
- Funny Schizophrenia: At first, Tamamori's hallucinations and imaginary friends are played for laughs to show his artistic mind. Once the masked man shows up, Tamamori can't tell if he's real or a figment of imagination.
- Happily Adopted: His parents died when he was young and he was raised by grandmother. He appears to have no issue with that.
- Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: He claims to love busty women with huge asses. It's later revealed he has always love Minakami since they were kids, making it part of his Unreliable Narrator persona.
- High Hopes, Zero Talent: He wants to be a writer, however, his stories appear to have no pull.
- Imaginary Friend: Tamamori has two — Haruhiko and the Frogman. Subverted with Haruhiko who is something more complex than that.
- Innocently Insensitive: One of Tamamori's main flaws is his inability to stop himself from saying something that could hurt the feelings of those around him.
- Living Emotional Crutch:
- Is one to Minakami.
- Naoshi also calls Tamamori out on him having Minakami and Kawase as one. Without them, he loses his will to live.
- Love Epiphany: He has this when he realized the whole reason he wanted to become a writer was because he fell in love with Minakami when he told him his story as kids.
- Purely Aesthetic Glasses: As it turns out early on, Tamamori doesn't actually need glasses to see — he just thinks they make him look smarter, and he also imitates Hanazawa.
- Reincarnation Romance: With Minakami. Unlike Minakami he's not aware of his past lives, though.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The reason some other routes happen.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Invoked. Tamamori can see very well, he just wears glasses because Hanazawa does, and he thinks they make him look smart.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Again, with Minakami. They appearer to have found and loved each other in many lives, though they never managed to be together completely until this.
- Took a Level in Badass: After going through multiple loops, he eventually starts to develop a backbone that motivates him to do whatever it takes to save his friend. It's taken more to the extreme in Kawase's route where he refuses to be killed by his future self and fights hallucination with hallucination.
- Tsundere: Though his internal thoughts often betray his behaviors.
- Uke: Though he's asked to top a couple of times, he bottoms in every sex scene.
- Unreliable Narrator: Constantly, he goes as far as conjuring illusions over people so he doesn't have to face reality. Like the fact that Kawase once tried to murder him.
- Using You All Along: Or so he claims.
- You Are Worth Hell: Toward Minakami and Kawase. He's willing to go back in time over and over just to make sure that they survive.
Minakami
"Now, don't be so troubled."
Born in Aizu. Eldest son of a brewer. Currently lives in a volunteer's house in Koishigawa Area 2, attending the Imperial University's department of literature.Slit eyes. 21 years old. A man of common sense who has a gentle personality and dislikes conflict. On the other hand, he also has a bumbling side, like forgetting his hat or losing his wallet all the time.
A bookworm of such a caliber that might really be called a sickness, once he starts reading a book, he'd be unable to take his eyes off of it, forgetting to eat or even sleep. Always carries a book with him. Has read all the books in the Umebachidou store.
While he apparently lives for Tamamori's stupid novels and even promises to turn them into movies, he commits suicide before realizing any of them.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Or so he thought. Tamamori actually has loved him all along too, but was unable to realize it due to his personality and the power of the Hashihime.
- Animal Motif: He's associated with fish. Tamamori owns a fish who passes away the same day Minakami does, and Minakami and Tamamori were fish when they met for the first time.
- Berserk Button:
- The moment Tamamori's life is placed in actual danger, he doesn't hesitate to grab a katana and try to save his life.
- Also generally mistreating books or insulting Tamamori's novels will cause him to become...intense.
- Bookworm: His most defining characteristic, initially. One of the first things we learn about him is that he has read every book in the bookshop Tamamori works at.
- Death Seeker: He has been this for a larger part of his life, until the shopkeeper finally gives him a chance to go through with it.
- Despair Event Horizon: Contributes to his suicidal ideation.
- Driven to Suicide: Every route starts with Minakami killing himself due to a combination of Gayngst and the guilt of having had to kill Tamamori's mother as a kid.
- Extreme Doormat: A deconstruction of sorts. Minakami had failed to get into the university like Tanamori but decided to pretend he got in. He distances himself from Kawase because of the lie he decided to go with. It's so bad that he becomes an easy target for the Shopkeeper to give him an excuse to kill himself when he no longer has the will to live.
- Gayngst: Part of the reason he's Driven to Suicide is the fact he's a young homosexual in 1922 Tokyo.
- Happily Ever After: With Tamamori, in his route. Though they live separately initially, Minakami spends the night with him every time it rains and eventually asks him to move together in his short story.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Most of what he does or did was to protect Tamamori.
- Love Confession: He's the only character that gets to confess and gets confessed to in more than one route.
- The Many Deaths of You: While Tamamori gets to witness Minakami's death many, many times due to "Groundhog Day" Loop, the specifics change depending on what is going on. When Minakami kills himself, he either hangs himself over the bridge, hangs himself in his room, stabs himself with a pen or slices his throat. The few times where he is killed instead of choosing death himself, it is due to either blood loss or decapitation.
- Meaningful Name: Both Minakami and his real name use the kanji for "Surface" and "Water". He was the original holder of Tamamori's Hashihime.
- Nice Guy: He's initially presented as the most normal and nicest member of the cast.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Minakami's suicide is what starts the plot.
- Poor Communication Kills: With Kawase. He never tells him why he's avoiding him at the university and Kawase assumes he hates him. Minakami failed to get into the university but pretends to be a student in order to look smart in front of Tamamori. He feared that Kawase would expose this if he ever got to talk to him about his classes. By not saying anything, Minakami thinks that Kawase's dislike toward him isn't justified.
- Reincarnation Romance: He fell in love with Tamamori 500 millions of years ago as prehistoric fish, and he has loved him ever since.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Among Tamamori's love interests, he's the one that's given the most focus, coupled with the fact Tamamori is the reincarnation of his beloved and the one Tamamori loves in every route, he's generally considered the "True Route" of the game.
- Straight Gay: While all the boys harbor romantic feelings for Tamamori, Minakami is the one the game put emphasis on being homosexual.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Due to the fact he used the power of the Hashihime as a kid to save Tamamori, he was forced to kill Tamamori's mother. When he offers his life to Tamamori as a compensation later, Tamamori doesn't care.
- Time Travel: He traveled back in time 23 times as a kid to save Tamamori.
Kawase
"Dirty people like you exist, so I turned out the way I am."
Born in Aizu. Tamamori and Minakami's childhood friend. While he has such a pretty face as to get himself bona-fide groupies, his unpleasant sarcasm is the fly in the ointment.Lives alone in the Ikeda House, a western mansion located in Hongou District Area 3. A genius student in the Imperial University's medical department. 20 years old.
It's his daily routine to make fun of Tamamori, going to hang around the Umebachidou whenever he has even a little spare time. He actually has no appreciation for the arts or antiques and finds Jinbocho to be a dusty, dinky town, which he detests. Clean freak.
Despite his personality problems, Tamamori and Minakami think he's a good person at heart... as he enjoys Minakami's suicide and finds it entertaining, however, there's something off about him as a human being. His darknesses are deep.
- Abusive Parents: Twice. His father, then later his adoptive father.
- All Love Is Unrequited: In his route, he claims Tamamori could never love him because of his feelings for Minakami. Tamamori proves him wrong.
- Assassination Attempt: He tried to kill Tamamori as a kid. He actually succeeded originally, though his plan eventually failed due to Minakami's powers.
- Broken Ace: A genius at the university on top of being rich and handsome. Many people wish to be him, unaware of how bad he has it emotionally.
- Broken Bird: While it's apparent that there are some cracks in his snarky facade, how much is unknown to his friends. Tamamori is able to dig deeper into his cracks in Kawase's route seeing how broken he is.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: His first death is the most horrifying in the game, rivaled only by Hikawa's death in Hanazawa's route. In game, you cannot see the full image of how damaged his body is when the masked man bends his body and stuffs him into the chimney. Tamamori describes his body as that of a paper crane.
- Deadpan Snarker: It doesn't matter the time, place or the direness of the situation, Kawase always has something witty to say.
- Defiled Forever: Invoked. Kawase has always wanted to taint Tamamori due to his own trauma, but never had the courage to actually do it. During their sexual encounter in his route, he mentions this to him during it. Naturally, it also turns out another reason he doesn't believe Tamamori could ever love him is because of this.
- Dissonant Serenity: He underreacts to Minakami's suicide. Kawase believes he's just a bad friend. However, it might also be his trauma kicking in. In Minakami's route, Minakami commits suicide in the library in his manor. Because Tamamori's POV is focused on how upset he is that Minakami killed himself before he could yell at him, it ignores Kawase's reaction outside of the "How am I going to clean all of this up?"
- Distressed Dude: He ends up the main victim of his own route of the Shopkeeper once the Shopkeeper notices that Tamamori is no longer going down the "correct" path of the writer. It doesn't help that unlike Minakami and Hanazawa, he doesn't have that many ways to protect himself when cornered.
- Erotic Asphyxiation: Seems to be a fan of it.
- Gaslighting: Is a victim of this. Hanazawa blames him for being the reason Hanazawa's father is dead and only helps him kill Ikeda because of how much more in debt he will be. Kawase is convinced that he's a horrible person for even killing these people and not just taking the abuse for others.
- Hates Being Touched: It comes with being an extreme germophobe.
- Heroic Sacrifice: While Kawase will never view it as such, Kawase protects Katou from the masked man when he comes to kill Kawase. Katou survives but is unfortunately traumatized.
- Hidden Depths: He's the one who seems the most aware of what is going on, and he's able to perceive Hanazawa's resentment toward him and Minakami's feelings for Tamamori.
- Jerkass: Kawase isn't a nice person at all.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His friends know he has a heart somewhere, but it's hard to believe given how he acts.
- The Many Deaths of You: Kawase is able to stay out of the overall drama and horrors in other routes due to not having a close attachment to Tamamori. However, in his own route, he is subjected to horrifying deaths from getting squished into the chimney, neck snapping, decapitation and stabbing.
- The Medic: Kawase's goal is to become a military physician in order to follow after Hanazawa. He already demonstrates his use with medicine and drugs that help and hinder Tamamori at given points in his route.
- Non-Action Guy: Compared to his other friends, he's not good at protecting himself. Granted, he's studying to be a military physician, so his strengths are in medicine.
- Poor Communication Kills: Kawase is convinced that Minakami hates him due to constantly avoiding him at the university, so Kawase decides to resent and hate him as a result. He doesn't realize that Minakami never got into the university to begin with, and the reason Minakami is avoiding him is in fear of being caught in a lie.
- Promiscuity After Rape: Played with. While Kawase refuses to let anyone near him or touch him outside of Tamamori, he's developed a rather perverted mind that can only be described as this.
- Sexual Extortion: Implied to be what happened between him and his adopted father. In exchange for being able to stay in the mansion and study at the university, Kawase had to offer his body up to Ikeda. The worst part is that Kawase wasn't even the first person Ikeda exploited, as he has a hidden library of diaries detailing his prey.
- Sympathetic Murderer: He murdered both his real father and his adoptive one, both abusive.
- Terrified of Germs: Double subverted. He's fine touching Tamamori, but he has shown on multiple occasions that he cannot stand the idea of getting dirty. He did not directly kill his adoptive father and had to ask Hanazawa for help.
- Threesome Subtext: At the end of his route, due to the Shopkeeper's memories, Kawase is aware of Tamamori's feelings for Minakami, so he wouldn't mind sharing him if Tamamori asked.
- Trauma Button: Combined with his germophobia, any time he gets liquid splashed on him, his mood drops dramatically. Whether it's because of blood or another liquid that comes to mind when these events happen, is unknown.
- Trauma Conga Line: His entire life has been nothing but one miserable experience after another.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: His relationship with Tamamori, though more from his side and with heavy emphasis on "vitriol".
Hanazawa
"I will cut away those delusions of yours."
Born in Aizu. A doctor's son. Super-classical Japanese Man who's blunt and curt but passionate about justice and righteousness. Left Fukushima to join the Army Cadet Academy after graduating from middle school. His current rank is Army Second Lieutenant.While he used to be close to Tamamori and his friends, they slowly grew apart, and have been estranged for 8 years since. Recently, he's been appearing in Jinbocho and Hongou, where the Imperial University is, for unknown reasons.
While he's perpetually scowling, in the past he used to smile only for Tamamori, treating him like his own little brother. Not even a trace of that remains.
He used to be an artillery officer, but has ended up in the Army Scientific Research Unit, perhaps due to his fondness for flights of fancy. Appears to have a best friend who's a Captain in the Army Engineering Corps.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Tamamori only ever saw him as a brother, and he's frustrated and angry he's not the one on Tamamori's mind.
- Asshole Victim: In most of the routes, he tends to be killed by the masked man at least once. After his first death, it is hard to feel sorry for him as Tamamori hates him.
- Broken Pedestal: To Minakami, Kawase, and especially to Tamamori. He is the only one that is able to move to the next timeline with the knowledge that Hanazawa can no longer be relied on.
- Deus Sex Machina: He drugs and rapes Tamamori to try to transfer the power of the Hashihime. It fails.
- Kick the Dog: In every route, he has at least one instance of dog kicking and it tends to involve his old friends. He denies Tamamori a happy ending in one timeline and then he lets Kawase die to the masked man in another. Plus, he has no problem using Tamamori in his own route and rapes him to try and take his power.
- Odd Friendship: With Hikawa of all people. He seems to genuinely care for him and trust him.
- Patriotic Fervor: His character in a nutshell.
- Seme: Again, while all the men end up topping Tamamori, he's the one that fits the stereotype the most.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: All the cast fit, but Hanazawa more than the others to his stature and musculature.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: The time he spent away from his friends has changed him to the point where he no longer sees them as such, if at all, and Tamamori declares how he's not the same guy they knew eight years ago.
- The Worf Effect: At the beginning of all routes the masked man decapitates him without a chance to fight back. This is after the game establishes he has the most combat experience out of the four friends and was gun-ho about getting rid of the man who might have killed Minakami.
Hikawa/"Professor"
"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! That was creepy, wasn't it? To suddenly do that...I'm sorry, I'm such a creep, I'm sorry..."
A man with an eyepatch who wanders into the Umebachidou at dusk. Real name Hikawa Kijuurou. While he always speaks politely and softly, his mannerisms are nervous and suspicious, and he constantly seems to be ill at ease. Tries very hard to smile often, but it always ends up looking very, very stiff and forced.Appears to have become a regular customer at the Umebachidou only after Tamamori started working there, and very little is known about his background. While nobody knows what he's researching, he always says, "Please call me Professor."
A collector of tin toys. Seems to have heard about Tamamori from somewhere and is a crazy, diehard fan of his works. Does things like giving Tamamori a tin goldfish watering can as a sign of friendship, creeping Tamamori out.
- Crush Blush: Whenever he is around Tamamori.
- Dissonant Serenity: He shows signs of being unaffected by his maid's obvious bloodlust. Tamamori just assumes he's oblivious. But as shown in multiple routes, he seems unaffected by the corpse of either his friend or his maid at the hands of the masked man.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Played with. He met the shopkeeper as a kid, but also Tamamori later in his own route.
- Morality Pet: For Hanazawa. As the only person Hanazawa actually cares for, he makes sure that Hikawa is protected.
- Odd Friendship: With Hanazawa of all people.
- Only Friend: To Hanazawa.
- Stalker with a Crush: His route is a rather positive take on it. Other routes, not so much.
- Yandere: In Minakami's route at least, he is capable of being pressured into kidnapping Tamamori and has no problem shooting Minakami when he's in the way of his plans.
Man in a Noh Mask
"Oh."
A mysterious man who lives in the Umebachidou's basement. Wears a Noh mask and speaks with a slight stutter. He chases down Tamamori whenever he finds him, but seems to bear no ill intent. From Tamamori's perspective, however, the man's very existence is like an enemy to him.Violent to anyone who isn't Tamamori, and beats both Kawase and Hanazawa to death without any explanation.
His goal is a mystery. His reason is also a mystery.
While Tamamori suspects that he has something to do with Minakami's suicide, nothing is known about him in the end. Judging from his voice, appears to be in his late teens. Despite appearances, he is one of Tamamori's love interests.
- All Just a Dream: In the alternative world/timeline created by Tamamori's time traveling all the routes are considered dreams, and he's the only one who is truly alive. Not true for the other routes, however.
- Ax-Crazy: But not in his route.
- A Day in the Limelight: His route essentially. But even there, he's not given a lot of characterization.
- The Juggernaut: Once he shows up on screen, there is a high chance that someone who is not Tamamori will be killed relatively quickly. No one has the strength to be able to combat him. The only times he's able to stop is if Tamamori is able to outsmart him.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Most of the time.
- Older Than They Look: In the final route, he's at least 30 years old, about the same age as Tamamori. He's show to not have aged a single day.
- Parental Incest: Averted in the main timeline in which the Shopkeeper never treated him as anything but his child and Tamamori has no interest in him. Played straight with the Tamamori of his route's timeline that sees him as his own child while harboring romantic feelings for him at the same time. He didn't raise Kaoru however.
- Super-Senses: Seems to posses a superior sense of smell.
- Would Hurt a Child: He kills Nanoshi in every route but Kawase's at least once. However, he didn't hurt Katou when targetting Kawase.
Other characters
The Shopkeeper
"Calm down, my boy, and try counting to a hundred."
Owner of Umebachidou Antiquarian Books. A generous landlord who lets Tamamori stay on his second floor for practically nothing after the latter was chased out of his prior lodgings. Appears to be chronically ill and entrusts Tamamori with the storefront.Has the strange policy of only opening for business on rainy days. It's unclear whether this is profitable, but he doesn't seem to be in any trouble financially.
Always shuts himself deep inside his room. Even Tamamori has only talked to him through the sliding paper door. Judging from his voice, he's in his 50s. Always gently warns Tamamori when he's about to lose his way.
He doesn't know that his store has a basement.
- Abusive Parents: Though he did love Kaoru in his own way, he knows his actions and the way he raised him are wrong.
- Big Bad: He's the reason why Tamamori is going back in time and why Minakami continues dying. In other routes, he plays a direct role in the murders instead of trying to guide Tamamori to the desired outcome.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: He's determined to stop the Bad Future from happening, even if it means murdering the man he loves.
- Shipper on Deck: He's pleased when Tamamori grows closer to Minakami and tries to push for that developmement.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Minakami.
- Stealth Mentor: Through Haruhiko, at least in Minakami's route. Subverted in Kawase's route where he drops the act very early on.
- The Unseen: He appears as a silhouette for a great part of the novel, to the point where Kawase even wonders if he actually exists.
- Walking Spoiler: Anything past his name is a giant spoiler which reveal a great deal of the story.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Despite everything that happened, he found himself unable to kill Minakami as a child. Granted, his feelings for him may have played a part in that.
