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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.
- Animal Motif: He's associated with cats. His actual name, "Tama" is often used for cats, and Minakami owns a cat
- Acting Out a Daydream: All the time
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Or so he claims to be
- Break the Cutie: Over and over, due to the many loops
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Even just the smell is enough to get him drunk
- Driven to Suicide: In some loops he just can't hold anymore and tries to killhimself
- 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
- Happily Adopted: His parents died when he was young and he was raised by grandmother. He appears to have no issue with that.
- High Hopes, Zero Talent: He wants to be a writer, however his stories appear to have no pull
- Idiot Hero
- Imaginary Friend: Haruhiko and the Frogman
- Lazy Bum
- Living Emotional Crutch: To Minakami.
- 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
- 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: He 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.
- Purely Aesthetic Glasses
- Tsundere: Though his internal thoughts often betray his behaviors.
- Using You All Along: Or so he claims.
- 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.
- Uke: Though he's asked to top a couple of times, he bottoms in every sex scene
Minakami
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.
- Animal Motif: He's associated with fishes. Him and Tamamori were fishes when they meet for the first time and Tamamori owns a fish who passes away the same day Minakami does.
- 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.
- Bookworm: His most defining characteristic, initially
- Berserk Button: The moment Tamamori's life is place 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
- 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
- Eyes Always Shut
- Driven to Suicide: By a combination of Gayngst and the guilt of having had to kill Tamamori's mother as a kid
- 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 in more than one route.
- 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
- Reincarnation Romance:He fell in love with Tamamori 500 millions of years ago as prehistoric fishes, 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 Tamamouri, 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 time traveled 23 times as a kid to save Tamamori
Kawase
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 his later his adoptive father
- Assassination Attempt: He tried to kill Tamamori as a kid. He actually succeeded originally, though his plan eventually failed due to Minakami's powers.
- All Love Is Unrequited: In his route, he claims Tamamori could never love him because his feelings for Minakami. Tamamori proves him wrong
- Erotic Asphyxiation: Seems to be a fan of it.
- Hates Being Touched: Obviously.
- Hidden Depths: He's the one who seems the most aware of what is going, and he's able to perceive Hanazawa's resentment toward him and Minakami's feelings for Tamamori
-
One True Threesome: Due to the Shopkeeper's memories, he's aware of Tamamori's feelings for Minakami, so he wouldn't mind sharing him if Tamamori asked. - Rape as Backstory
- Sympathetic Murderer: He murdered both his real father and his adoptive one, both abusive.
- Terrified of Germs: Or so he claims. He's fine touching Tamamori, though.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: His relationship with Tamamori, though more from his side.
Hanazawa
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.
- Deus Sex Machina: He drugs and rape Tamamori to try to transfer the power of the Hashihime. It fails.
- Odd Friendship: With Hikawa of all people. He seems to genuinely care 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 most fit the stereotype.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: All the cast fit, but Hanazawa more than the others to his stature and musculature.
- The Stoic
Hikawa
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 Doctor."
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: Constantly.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Played with. He meet the shopkeeper as a kid, but also Tamamori later in his own route
- Lonely Rich Kid
- Mad Scientist
- Odd Friendship: With Hanazawa with all people
- Stalker with a Crush: Though a rather positive take on it
Man in a Noh Mask
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.
- A Day in the Limelight: His route essentially. But even there, he's not given a lot of characterization.
- Ax-Crazy: But not in his route
- Malevolent Masked Men: Most of the time
- Parental Incest: Thankfully averted in the main timeline in which the Shopkeeper never treated him as anything but his child and Tamamori has no interest in him
- ... but 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.
- PTSD: According to the tips, the reason for his limited speech capacity
- Super-Senses: Seems to posses a superior sense of smell.
- Third-Person Person
- 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.
Other characters
The Shopkeeper
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.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: He's very decide to stop the 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
- Stealth Mentor: Through Haruhiko, at least in Minakami's route
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Minakami
- The Chessmaster
- Purely Aesthetic Glasses
- Time Travel
- The Unseen: He appears as silhouette for a great part of the novel, to the point Kawase even wonder 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
