Sandbox / The Red Ranger Becomes An Adventurer In Another World Tougo Asagaki

Back to main character page

Tougo Asagaki / Kizuna Red / Kizuna Black

^{Click here to see him as Kizuna Red} 

"Just like how I was chosen to become 'Kizuna Red', there has to be some reason I was sent to this world. 'Til I find the reason I was sent here, I won't go back. Well, I don't know how to get back anyway! So if I can rescue people who need help and go on adventures at the same time, I'll be sure to find my reason for being here and how to get home!"

The Hero of the story. He was the leader of the Kizuna Five, a Sentai team that fought back against the nefarious Enders to save humanity from their wrath. After giving his life to defeat the Ender King once and for all, he finds himself unharmed in a world of magic and chivalry. While searching for a way home, he discovers that this world is plagued with the many of the same problems as his own world. And so he vows to protect the innocent and help anyone he can as an adventurer until running into Idola Avorn, who hires him to help her with her magical research.

---

• Accidental Misnaming: Red misnames Poseidon repeatedly, first calling him "Sebastian" and later "Telesdon" despite being corrected the first time.
• Accidental Pervert:
  • Teltina purposefully neglects to tell Red that Idola is still using the hot springs as he prepares to take a dip in them himself. Both Red and Idola are horribly embarrassed by the affair.
  • Idola accidentally activates Red's Emergency Kizuna Warp by thinking about him while holding mana metal. She also happens to be in the bath at the time. Cue screaming as Red fumbles to get out of the bath. Afterwards, Idola performs a "thorough examination" of him to try and determine the connection between him, mana metal, and Kizuna Energy, giving him an eyeful of her breasts since she's wearing nothing but a bathrobe at the time.
• Action Hero: Red's typical solution to solving his problems is to beat up the bad guy causing them. After all, he's a sentai hero. He rarely needed to do anything else to save the day.
• Aesop Amnesia: Played for Laughs. After Red triumphantly declares that humans can challenge anything, including their animosity for one another, Idola asks if he's willing to challenge his own hatred of needles. By the time she turns around, Red is already striking his transformation pose and the guild explodes as he flees for the hills.
  Idola: Wait, if you don't challenge something you hate, you can't grow, right?!
  Red: This and that are two different things! BANSOU-CHANGE! [guild explodes]
  Guild Manager: You two! If you're gonna do that, take it outside!
• Afraid of Needles: Red will face down any monster or threat with gusto to protect the weak and helpless. He doesn't fear death and won't hesitate to make a Heroic Sacrifice if it means his friends make it out alive. But he hates needles so much that he'd rather use his Transformation Sequence to make the guild explode than take an injection.
  Red: [uncharacteristically meek] Please... anything but needles...
  Idola: You're kidding, right? What happened to that chivalry you showed when you were protecting me?
  Red: I was prepared for any injuries during a battle, but injections are different!
• All-Loving Hero: He strongly believes that people can overcome their differences through bonding together. Even after Rosie betrays him and tries to get him killed, Red easily finds it in his heart to forgive him (albeit, while running off the wrong idea). Then it's subverted when it's revealed that there are people even Red is reluctant to get along with, such as Professor Uragiris, who was transported to Idola's world a thousand years prior and has somehow extended his lifespan to the present day.
• Ascended Fanboy: Implied. According to Red, performing a Transformation Sequence is something that every man longs for in his heart. He was so excited to do it for the first time that something happened to all of his blood vessels at once, though he's cut off before he can describe exactly what happened.
• Audience Surrogate: Although he spent six months in the fantasy world before meeting Idola, many concepts still need to be explained to him, especially when magic is involved, introducing them to the reader at the same time.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The Maximum Kizuna Kaiser is perfect for taking on a huge monster after a Make My Monster Grow sequence... not so great against anything else. It's too big to use anywhere except a wide open field and its size makes it cumbersome to use against a small opponent of equal strength. On top of that, it can't run at full power because Red doesn't have the rest of the Kizuna Five with him to keep it charged, limiting the amount of time he can use it and leaving him exhausted powering it all by himself.
• Badass Normal: Downplayed. Idola notes that Red's body has the same composition as any other human in her world. Despite this, he's capable of nigh-superhuman feats of strength even without transforming, tackling Idola's golem through a window and later throwing a Diving Kick into a monster. But against truly serious threats he has to transform as a Henshin Hero.
• Because Destiny Says So: He fully expected to die finishing off the Ender King, but instead finds himself in Idola's world. He believes that there's a reason he was sent here and vows to figure out what that reason is before searching for a way home. After meeting Idola and surviving the dragon together, Red becomes convinced that fate brought them together and swears to help her achieve her dreams. It's implied that the reason he believes so strongly in fate is because his friend, Kizuna Silver, was a perfectly accurate clairvoyant who predicted her death Taking the Bullet for him despite their attempts at trying to invoke Screw Destiny.
• Berserker Tears: Red is shedding these the entire time he's transformed into Kizuna Black, as it channels his obsession with bonds, his despair and his fear of loss into power he hopes will protect his loved ones.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Red's Hot-Blooded and cheery, bond-loving personality make it easy for him to get all sorts of silly hijinks that drive Idola and Rosie nuts. It's easy to forget that he's more than a match for all but the strongest fighters in Idola's world.
• BFG: The Victory Kizuna Buster is a massive cannon as large as Red is. It runs on the power of the bonds of the wielders and can only be used at full power when its users put aside their differences and work toward a single goal.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Red is officially hired as a bodyguard for Idola while she conducts her research. While he's much stronger than her in a straight fight and far more experienced, Idola is quite strong herself and can hold her own in a fight against high-level monsters despite only recently becoming an adventurer.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Red is the Boke to everyone else's Straight Man as they react to his Stock Shōnen Hero antics and strange weapons from another world while explaining concepts to him. Idola is the most frequent foil to Red, and she's shocked when Misty barely shows any reaction to Red's Transformation Sequence.
  Red: [after getting a lengthy explanation about mana-metal] In other words, you're trying to protect the bond between magic and people!
  Idola: Um, yeah. I think that's somewhat close to what I meant.
• Book Dumb: Red isn't the brightest guy and the scenes of his life flashing before his eyes show him struggling to study. Despite this, he's a capable warrior and trope-savvy due to his adventures as the Red Ranger.
• Brought Down to Badass: When Red first arrived in Idola's world, he was completely unable to transform because he didn't have any bonds with anyone there, resulting in him running out of Kizuna Energy. He still manages to beat up monsters that are a struggle for veteran adventurers to fight with his bare hands until Amber's party runs into the boss monster, Orthros, who proceeds to ragdoll Red while he was trying to transform.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: While Red's Hot-Blooded Stock Shōnen Hero personality wouldn't be out of place in his own world, his obsession with bonds and constantly happy-go-lucky view on life makes him weirdo to the people of Idola's world. Of course, he's still Kizuna Red, a One-Man Army who treats high-level monsters like small fry.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: Red always has to slot his Bansou Plate into his his Bansou Brace and pose while shouting "Henshin! BANSOU-CHANGE!" to transform into Kizuna Red. The actual activation phrase is followed by, "Burn fiercely! The one who protects his bonds, Warrior of Flames, Kizuna Red!"
• Calling Your Attacks:
  • As one would expect from a Red Ranger, Red always calls his best attacks, all of them relationship-themed in some way, like his Burning Kizuna Punch and his Burning Kizuna Kick. Some of them are a little less conventionally named...
    Red: Marriage Shot! Engagement Burst!
  • Red winds up in a 1-on-1 duel with Azir after the latter defeated Ranya and stole her Transformation Trinket. The resulting battle is filled with the cacophany of both fighters calling their attacks. Lampshaded by Idola, who has to cover her ears because of how loud the two fighters are.
    Idola: It's so noisy...
• Cannot Keep a Secret: Double Subverted. Red says that he tried to keep his Secret Identity a top secret. Idola is flabbergasted at the thought of someone as straightforward as Red keeping a secret that important, only for Red to cheerfully admit that he was exposed a week after becoming a ranger.
• Catchphrase: As a Toku hero whose powers literally run on The Power of Friendship, Red is prone to inserting the words "bond" and "friendship" into the conversation whenever possible even when it makes barely any sense. He also ends fights with "Our bonds have prevailed!"
• Chaste Hero: Averted, despite being Oblivious to Love, he still is capable of noticing that Idola is quite the beauty.
• Chest Blaster: The Maximum Kizuna Blaster is a laser cannon in the Maximum Kizuna Kaiser's chest that fires a Wave-Motion Gun powerful enough to completely vaporize half of a dragon's body and keep going. This beam's range is long enough to be seen from huge distances. He later proposes using it to vaporize Lurguat's mansion, but Idola and Teltina point out that the resulting explosion would wipe out Akarina along with it.
• The Chosen One: Red's coming was foretold by the prophet that traveled with the Hero who sealed away the Demon Lord a thousand years ago. Said prophet assured the Sun Elves that a "red warrior from another dimension" would deliver them from a great disaster that would befall their village.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: As expected of a Stock Shōnen Hero, Red will help anyone in need without a second thought. Others around him are alarmed by how readily he agrees to aid people.
  Ranya: But please... would you lend us your strength?
  Red: [immediately] Yeah, sure!
  Ranya: A-An immediate reply!?
  Red: If there are people in trouble, I'll help them without question! Even if they're of a different race and we just met!
• Chick Magnet: Red's optimism, unflagging support for Idola, and tendency to make the impossible seem possible quickly earns her affections without him even thinking about dating her. Chapter 14 reveals that at least two members of the Kizuna Five expressed interest in him and he considers Kizuna Silver to be The Lost Lenore, with her death being his greatest failure.
• Clothing Damage: The right arm of Red's ranger uniform is ripped off and the visor of his mask is shattered by the time he defeats the Ender King. It's fixed by the time he lands headfirst in another world. His jacket is later shredded by a dragon while pulling a Diving Save to rescue Idola, but it's perfectly fine a few days later.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Red's toku hero sensibilities and unwavering belief in The Power of Friendship to the point of being a Love Freak makes him come across as airheaded and bizarre to the denizens of Idola's world. He's easily sidetracked by his desire to bond with others, sometimes struggles to read the room, and approaches everything with Hot-Blooded candor.
• Combined Energy Attack: All of Red's most powerful weapons, such as the Victory Kizuna Buster and the Maximum Kizuna Kaiser, run on The Power of Friendship between him and his allies. He can't even pull out the Kizuna Beasts if he doesn't have a bond with at least one person, even if he's only known them for a day or less. If he runs out of Kizuna Energy, he can be recharged by people overcoming their differences and lending their power to him and his weapons.
• Combining Mecha: The Maximum Kizuna Kaiser is formed from the Kizuna Beasts of all the Kizuna Five.
• Commonality Connection:
  • Red bonds with Teltina over their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others and knowledge that there are things only they can do to help others.
  • Red manages to talk down Conrad by explaining his own nerdy love of toys to the point out of being ridiculed for it back in his world. Red believes that Conrad can strive toward a world not unlike his own where children and adults alike can express their appreciation for toys without judgement.
• Covert Pervert: In spite of his usual behavior, Red is still very much a hormonal teenage boy. He has a preference for large breasts and Teltina later reveals that he steals glances at Idola and Ranya's chests much to his embarrassment. A recording left by Silver also reveals that Red kept stealing glances at her own chest every 5 seconds whenever they talked to each other.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: He has a second Bansou Plate that he hopes to never use again, but is forced to when he's critically injured by Abu Dhabi and Vidan. This plate unleashes his Superpowered Evil Side, the Warrior of Deep Obsession, Kizuna Black. This form is so dangerous that he's not sure if he'll come back from using it, begging his friends to stop him even if it kills him. After he defeats Abu Dhabi and Vidan with it, Red goes utterly berserk, forcing Rosie to take a severe shoulder injury to tear the Black Bansou Plate out of Red's Bansou Gear.
• Dark and Troubled Past: It's revealed in Chapter 14 that Red is an orphan who lost his parents in a car accident when he was still a young child. His remaining family and their friends refused to look after him on account of the costs of raising him, leaving Red with extreme abandonment issues and fear of loss. It's also revealed Kizuna Silver died protecting him against the Ender King's forces back when he was still on Earth. He feels responsible for making her premonition of her death come true by convincing her to join the Kizuna Five.
• David vs. Goliath: Red is the Goliath when he pulls out the Maximum Kizuna Kaiser to take on Rosie, but soon finds that it's simply too big to properly aim at and hit a much smaller target. Meanwhile, Rosie is strong enough push the Humongous Mecha back, and is only defeated when Red uses the Great Kizuna Sword to blow Rosie away. Super-Strength or not, something his size will be sent flying when confronted with hurricane-force winds.
• Declaration of Protection: Red promises to protect Idola and her dream of making everyone happy when they're cornered by the dragon hoarding all the mana-metal. He almost kills her immediately afterward with his Transformation Sequence, which she lampshades.
  Red: Idola! I told you didn't I? I've fallen for your dream. One day you'll definitely achieve it, and bring a smile to everyone's faces! It's an amazing dream! That's why, protecting you and your dreams is my duty!
• Defeat Equals Friendship:
  • Red's weapons seem to be designed with this in mind, given how they're named after acts of peacemaking and love (i.e. his Handshake-Calibur) even if the monsters on the other end don't feel it. Even his Humongous Mecha's proportionately-sized BFS is inscribed to look like a Band-Aid. Sure enough, Rosie begins to begrudgingly respect Red for his abilities after he sends Rosie flying into the distance, and Red suspects that they'll become great friends based on his past experience with people like Rosie.
  • When Ranya declares her resolve to defeat her Evil Former Friend Azir, Red says that's the perfect opporunity to reconcile. Ranya is baffled by Red and initially wonders if he's even listening to her, as there's no way things can just go back to the way they were now that she and Azir are enemies. But Red says that's how they can form an even stronger bond once they're able to sit down and talk, citing his own experiences after he was forced to fight his best friend whom he loves like a brother after said friend was transformed into a monster.
• Destructive Saviour:
  • Red's powers make him a One-Man Army on the battlefield, but his tendency to make stuff explode ruins all the drop items from the monsters he defeats. Because of this, he's never able to fulfill any quests to make money and no one wants to party with him out of fear for their paychecks. He also nearly kills Idola while trying to protect her as she's nearly caught in the explosion of his Transformation Sequence. Teltina lampshades what a Person of Mass Destruction he is, calling him far more dangerous than any of the monsters produced by the Seeds of Magic if left unchecked.
  • When faced with a monster with complete control over a city, Red proposes using the Kizuna Kaiser to obliterate it from a distance. Idola and Teltina point out that this would also leave the city in ruins. He then proposes having the Kaiser stomp all over the mansion, but the girls again point out that the shockwaves would still turn the city to rubble.
  • After Red completely loses himself to the Black Bansou Plate, Rosie has to stop him from destroying the Sun Village following Red's Curb-Stomp Battle over Abu Dhabi and Vidan
• Destructive Teleportation: The Emergency Kizuna Warp function of Red's Transformation Trinket works by using Kizuna Energy to break the user's body down into atoms and instantly reform them next to a person he has a strong bond with. Idola lampshades how terrifying that sounds after accidentally triggering it through the use of mana metal.
• Didn't Think This Through: Red still acts and fights like he's on a Sunday cartoon. Because of this, he's constantly destroying the valuable drop items he should be getting from monsters, summons the Maximum Kizuna Kaiser in situations it isn't suited for (i.e. in a cave), though admittedly he was prompted to do that by Idola, or against a human-sized target and sends Rosie flying with the Great Kizuna Sword before realizing that Rosie would probably die from being thrown such a distance.
• Do Not Call Me Sir: Ranya tries to call Red "Lord Legendary Red Warrior", but Red asks her to stop and just call him Red.
• Diving Kick: His Burning Kizuna Kick is a flying kick whose speed is boosted by his Turbo-Engine.
• Double Weapon: Red's Handshake-Calibur is a double-bladed sword whose handle is shaped like two hands clasped together in friendship. He can also split it back into tis component swords for Dual Wielding.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: A seven-year-old Red had eyes completely devoid of life at his parent's funeral after everyone else left while muttering about how they can't afford to take care of him. In that moment, he realized just how alone he was, beginning his obsession with bonding with others to soothe the pain in his heart.
• Dynamic Entry:
  • Red meets Idola by tackling her golem through a wall and window of her mansion. He also brings Idola to the Ruins of Wakenark by using his Turbo Engine to send them flying there, punching straight through multiple flying monsters in the process and leaving Idola covered in viscera and feathers.
  • He also performs a Diving Kick to rescue Rosie and Teltina from Lurguat's monsters.
• Elemental Hair Colors: Red's flaming red hair and eyes match his preferred element of fire, which mainly manifests in making stuff explode.
• Elemental Personalities: Red is the Red Ranger and the leader of the Kizuna Five. As such, he possesses the typical Hot-Blooded personality expected of one as well as the fire-based powers.
• Elemental Punch: His punches and kicks are accompanied by trails of fire from his costume to boost their speed and power as well as engulf anything he hits in flames.
• Embarrassing but Empowering Outfit: Downplayed. Red's Kizuna Red uniform lets him tap into his full power and is typical sentai fare. He's shocked when Idola calls it weird and tacky, as the kids loved it back in his world. Idola mutters that they must have been brainwashed to think such a strange outfit is cool. Misty also calls Red a clown for donning such an eccentric costume.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Tougo prefers to have others simply call him by his Ranger name, Red. He's actually a little disappointed that Rosie still addresses him by his full name.
• Experienced Protagonist: Zigzagged. Red is a sentai hero who defeated the Big Bad before being transported to Idola's world. Because of this, he's already a One-Man Army with all of his Mid-Season Upgrades, but he's completely lost in the world he finds himself in and needs Idola to guide him through everything.
• Fiery Redhead: Red has a head of spiky red hair and is extremely Hot-Blooded about everything.
• Fire Is Masculine: Red is a Stock Shōnen Hero brimming with Hot-Blooded passion. He's tall, muscular, and is able to make nearly anything explode by punching or kicking it.
• Fish out of Water: Red is a Henshin Hero currently residing in a fantasy medieval Magitek world.
• Foil:
  • Red is this to Idola. They're both kind and powerful people who want to make the world a better place. But while Idola is a genius magician who is snobby, manipulative, and conniving, Red is a Stock Shōnen Hero who's Book Dumb, obsessed with bonds, and tends to brute force his way through most problems.
  • Red is also this to Rosie. Both of them are extremely passionate and powerful warriors who use fire. But while Red is cheerful and openly friendly to everyone, Rosie is obsessed with Teltina and a Crazy Jealous Guy who is openly spiteful toward anyone who would interrupt his alone time with her. They both have deeply troubled pasts that define who they are in the present. While Rosie is obsessed with protecting Teltina, whom he's in love with, from harm, Red is obsessed with protecting everyone from harm because he's lost people dear to him, including his First Love.
• Friend to All Children: Red is immensely popular with kids in his world, who gather around him and want to play with him while gushing about how cool he is. To his dismay, Idola can hardly believe kids would like someone wearing such a weird uniform.
• Genre Refugee: Red's non-magical abilities baffle and bewilder Idola, and Red still acts like he's on a Toku show, completely lacking any kind of subtlety and approaching everything with his Hot-Blooded candor. This has its ups and downs, as while he's perpetual optimism and Chronic Hero Syndrome brings out the best in others, his lack of decorum and his overly destructive powers can create as many problems as he solves if Idola doesn't rein him in.
• Gratuitous English: Several of his weapons and attacks are named with a mixture of English and Japanese or just plain English, most notably his Maximum Mizuna Kaiser and its Maximum Kizuna Blaster.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Red is a capable hand-to-hand fighter who is also an expert at using his Handshake-Calibur, while Idola prefers to stand back and shoot magic. Also downplayed, as Red can summon numerous energy guns at will.
• Hates Being Alone: In a flashback, Kizuna Silver remarks that a "warrior of bonds" like Red must hate being alone, hence why he's so gung-ho about making friends and forging bonds with everyone he meets.
• Has a Type: If his interactions with Idola and a flashback to his first meeting with Kizuna Silver are anything to go by, then Red prefers beautiful girls with large breasts. His teammates even lampshade it.
• Having a Blast: Everything behind Red will explode as part of his Transformation Sequence, and his Burning Kizuna Punch will also make things explode even if nothing inside them is prone to detonating.
• Henshin Hero: Of the Super Sentai variety. Red is a sentai hero through and through, so naturally he transforms into Kizuna Red when it's time to fight. But when Rosie steals his Bansou Plate before the fight with the second Seed of Magic -empowered monster, Red is at the monster's mercy without his full power.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: When he's not punching something to make it explode, his most commonly used weapon is the Handshake-Calibur, a Double Weapon he's skilled enough to use with one hand while holding Idola in the other. The Maximum Kizuna Kaiser also possesses a proportionally-sized BFS called the Great Kizuna Sword.
• Heroic Build: The page where Red is falling after defeating the Ender King as his life flashes before his eyes shows that he's muscular beneath his clothes. He's also rather tall for a Japanese high schooler, standing at 185 cm, or about 6 feet tall.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Red seemingly dies in the opening of the story while finishing up the Ender King, only to land in Idola's world instead. He attempts this again after running out of kizuna energy to keep fighting, telling Idola to run while he holds the monster off. She scolds him for this, pointing out what a stupid idea that is considering she has healing magic.
• Heroic Second Wind: Red is knocked out of the fight while battling a monster created from a Seed of Magic due to using up too much energy from his failed uses of the Kizuna Kaiser and Victory Kizuna Buster. Thanks to the bickering adventurers putting aside their differences and Idola's healing magic, Red is recharged enough to transform again and finish the fight with a successful Victory Kizuna Buster shot.
• Heroic Spirit: According to Red, he can keep fighting as long as it takes to defend his friends through the power of his bonds, continuing to fight even after expending a lot of energy fending off Lurguat.
  Red: If it's to protect my friends, I can fight beyond my limits! That is the power of bonds!
• Hot-Blooded: YES. Red approaches almost everything in life with zeal and enthusiasm. Almost nothing is able to get him down and he's never not shouting at the top of his lungs as he rushes off to do some other improbable thing. His eyes even light up with fire when he's especially excited.
  Idola: How are you so passionate about everything?!
• Humongous Mecha: Red is able to summon his and his friends' Kizuna Beasts to create Maximum Kizuna Kaiser, an enormous robot capable of incredible feats of strength. Unfortunately, it's so huge that it's only useful in wide-open spaces and against Kaiju-sized enemies. And as chapter 3 has proven, it's definitely not meant for fighting human opponents, as Rosie learned the hard way.
• Hypocrite: Teltina's Armor-Piercing Question for Red points out that he left to face the Ender King alone despite his pride as a "warrior of bonds" and belief that bonds can overcome anything. Rather than reprimand him for it, she feels the same way, as she'd gladly sacrifice herself if it meant her friends and loved ones would be kept safe.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • He proudly declares that people can challenge anything, even their own hatred and insecurities, if they put their mind to it. But when Idola tries to get him to challenge his own hatred of needles for the sake of her research, he immediately high-tails it out of there.
  • He calls Teltina and Rosie strange for their unique relationship (a Bodyguard Crush suffering from All Love Is Unrequited). This earns him a dead-eyed stare of disbelief from Idola, given that he's way weirder than they could ever be.
• Ideal Hero: Red is effortlessly kind and considerate of others, mistaking Idola's golem for some kind of kidnapper and "rescuing" the two adventurers it was carrying out the door. Despite nearly dying and being Trapped in Another World, he places finding a way home second to figuring out why he was sent here and making the world a better place. Chapter 14 reveals that Red is a subversion, as while his altruism and kindness is genuine, it's also a desperate attempt to grapple with his deep-seated trauma and desire to belong after he was orphaned in a car accident and left utterly alone with no one to care for him.
• Idiot Hair: Red has a cowlick going backwards in his Shonen Hair and he's not exactly a genius despite his badass credentials as a Toku hero.
• I Gave My Word: According to him, a man never goes back on his word. He intends to make good on every promise he makes, whether it's making a Declaration of Protection or insisting that he's more than capable enough to accompany Teltina on her quest to destroy the Seeds of Magic.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: After Rosie is incapacitated Taking the Bullet for Red, Abu Dhabi's Evil Gloating about how everyone is going to die for the sake of the Demon Lord's revival triggers a horrible memory for Red when he failed to save someone. The sheer anguish he experiences is enough to send Red into an Unstoppable Rage while swearing to never let anyone die in front of him again. Chapter 14 reveals that Kizuna Silver died saving his life, having foreseen her death well in advance. This, combined with his trauma from losing his parents at an early age, is the reason he's so obsessed with forming bonds with others and terrified of losing said bonds, serving as bandaids for the gaping hole in his heart left by their deaths.
• In a Single Bound: Red can leap 30 meters as Kizuna Red, and can leap even further and faster with the help of his Turbo Engine, covering a half day's travel by wyvern in two hours. During this time, he's moving so fast that he doesn't even notice that he flew right through three giant flying monsters, covering Idola in their guts.
• Inconsistent Coloring: Red's hair color varies between the artist's official illustrations. While most illustrations give him red hair, at least one illustration gives him black hair.
• Innocently Insensitive: Red wears his heart on his sleeve and never has any reservations about speaking his mind. Because of this, he tends to say things without thinking about how it could sound, proudly announcing that he defeated the Seed of Magic monster with his team's Victory Kizuna Buster despite how confusing that is. His forwardness also clashes with the strict social hierarchies of the fantasy world, and Rosie wants to kill Red for his constant lack of decorum towards Teltina (even though she's fine with it).
• It Runs on Nonsensoleum: According to Red himself, his powers run on "Kizuna Energy" produced by his bonds with others. To Idola's frustration, it's incredibly vague and wishy-washy. So long as he's been introduced to someone and knows what motivates them, he considers it a bond and they're eligible to help him use his strongest moves and weapons, but the amount of power produced doesn't follow any kind of constants or rules. Lampshaded by Idola, who complains that it's full of loopholes in the way it decides what is and isn't a bond.
• Knight Errant: Red went to both ends of the world while trying to find a way home before realizing that this fantasy world has many of the same struggles as his own world. Because of this, he started travelling from place to place, helping everyone he could while raising his adventurer rank to figure out why he was sent here.
• Lightning Bruiser: Red can run at speeds of 33 m/s, punch with 20 tons of force, and take almost as much damage as he can dish out while transformed.
• Limited Wardrobe: Red arrived in Idola's world with only the clothes on his back and his transformation bracelet. He doesn't have the funds to get any new clothes, so he's always seen wearing what he had before coming to Idola's world. But the early pages showing his memories has him wear the same clothes in nearly every scene aside from one where he's wearing his school uniform over it.
• Love at First Sight: He's head over heels for Tenri Nikaidou, Kizuna Silver, at first sight. He left in Stunned Silence when he meets her face to face, and he has to deny his attraction to the other members of the Kizuna Five with a clear blush on his face.
• Love Freak:
  • Well, bond freak. Red is a Henshin Hero who runs on The Power of Friendship, so he believes that any problem can be solved with the power of the bonds between people. He inserts "bond" and "friendship" in his sentences whenever possible, and his response to any crisis to tell others to believe in the power of his bonds with them to help him charge up enough Kizuna Energy to spectacularly win the fight. Lampshaded by Idola, who is surprised that he doesn't talk about bonds after she offers to help him find a way home.
  • When the party arrives in Akarina, they're stunned to find that it's a ghost town where the streets are completely empty and no one is talking to each other despite its reputation as a bustling city. Red is so stunned by this that he makes it his mission to bond with every single person living there until Idola reminds him that they're looking for information on the Seeds of Magic.
• Magically Inept Fighter: He comes from a world where magic doesn't exist, so magic-powered items like his guild tag baffle him since he doesn't have any magic to make it work.
• Magnetic Hero: Red's optimism and kindness is infectious, and the aloof Idola soon finds herself feeling attached to him for how thoroughly supportive he is of her dreams. He also quickly finds common ground with Teltina, who is able to relax and laugh around him in a way she never could with Rosie. He gets along with most people so easily that his friends are alarmed to learn that there are people even he is reluctant to try and get along with.
• Manly Tears: Red is moved to tears when Idola promises to help him return to his world as part of achieving her dream of making the world a better place through magic. He even declares it must have been destiny that brought them together, embarrassing her with what sounds like a Love Confession.
• Meaningful Name: Red's parents named him "Tougo" using the characters for "light" and "enlightenment" in hopes that he'd make lots of friends by understanding their hearts and that he'd live a long, happy life. Red acts as the nearly fearless leader of the Kizuna Five, helping to save and inspire people every day with his Hot-Blooded charisma. He hopes to make a trillion friends one day and is fixated on bonding with as many people as possible. This fixation is revealed to be an obsession born from his abandonment issues after he was orphaned at an early age.
• My Life Flashed Before My Eyes:
  • All of Red's memories of his friends flash before his eyes after defeating the Ender King. The reel is cut short when he hits his head and sits up in Idola's world.
  • He has another one when he's knocked into a river by Lurguat's monsters after Rosie stole his Bansou Plate. In this flashback, he sees Kizuna Silver discussing his drive to forge bonds with others before Idola manages to resuscitate him.
• Nice Guy: Like most Red Sentai, Red's a big-hearted and outgoing person who always has good things to say about others.
• No Badass to His Valet: Red is officially hired by Idola to help her, and despite being vastly more powerful than her, his quirks and Hot-Blooded personality get her to pull her hair out and insult him when he's driving her nuts. She can also boss him around when needed, particularly when conversations require a more delicate touch. For the most part, Red takes his in stride, only showing mild confusion when she calls his uniform weird.
• No Indoor Voice: Red gets excited easily, so much of his dialogue is in starburst speech bubbles to emphasize how he's shouting all the time. Flashbacks show that his friends are surprised when he isn't making a lot of noise.
• Oblivious to Love: Red's passionate speeches and shouting about how it must be destiny that he met Idola could easily be interpreted as flirting or a Love Confession, giving her a Luminescent Blush. Red seems to be oblivious to this though, as he merely asks if she's okay after seeing her redden like this. Then it's outright subverted when it's revealed that he fell in love with Kizuna Silver at first sight and is still hurting after she sacrificed herself to save him.
• Oh, Crap!: This is his reaction when his Bansou Plate goes missing, leaving him unable to transform and at the mercy of Lurguat's monsters.
• One Head Taller: Idola only comes up to Red's chest, and the two of them are the focus of the story.
• One-Man Army: Due to his adventures as Kizuna Red, Red is comfortable with taking on entire armies of enemies, as it's natural for Rangers to be surrounded. Even the high-level monsters at the Ruins of Wakenark are nothing more than small-fry to him.
• One-Way Visor: Red's helmet features a visor he can see through but others can't, though the art sometimes lets us see his eyes so we can make out his facial expressions.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • While Red knows when to get serious and can't tolerate injustice, he's normally able to maintain a stiff upper lip even in the worst of times. So it's startling when his rage boils over after Abu Dhabi gloats about how everyone will die at his hands. When Red talks to Rosie over the latter Taking the Bullet for him, Red starts off cheerful and thanks Rosie for saving him. But Red's next speech bubble is color-inverted from the norm, black with white text, while he quietly begs Rosie not to do that ever again. The discrepancy is so jarring that Rosie can hardly recognize it as Red's voice.
  • When he's forced to use his Dangerous Forbidden Technique and become Kizuna Black after he's critically injured by Abu Dhabi and Vidan, he begs his friends to stop him even if it means killing him. His speech bubble is scratched and scraggly to emphasize Red's deadly seriousness.
• Otaku: Back in his world, Red has a habit of collecting toys that came with certain brands of snacks, going so far as to attend conventions involving them. His sister needled him over his childish and nerdy hobby but he continued to collect them right up to the point that he was sent to another world. Red uses his love of toys to bond with Conrad and convince him to release his Privilege Magic willingly.
• Perpetual Poverty: Because of his Destructive Savior tendencies, Red is always broke since he scorches all the valuable drop items, turning them into useless lumps of charcoal that he can't exchange for money.
• Playing with Fire: As Kizuna Red, Red is a "Warrior of Flame" and makes stuff blow up just by punching it.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Teltina points out that with Red's power, he's even more dangerous than the seeds of magic that she and Misty are trying to stop. His Humongous Mecha in particular can whip up hurricane force winds and leave huge gouges in the ground. Its Maximum Kizuna Blaster can wipe out the entire city of Akarina with a single shot and the Kaiser's stomping around is enough to flatten city blocks from the shockwaves.
• The Pollyanna:
  • Red is relentlessly positive. Even while beaten and dying from defeating the Ender King, he's able to find happiness in knowing that his friends and world are safe. Then he gets dropped into another world with no way home and sees that evils like slave labor are still around. Rather than angsting about it, he takes his predicament in stride and becomes a Knight Errant searching for the reason why he was chosen to arrive in this world.
  • Despite his positivity, there are hints toward Red being secretly a subversion. He instantly sympathizes with Grossa when asked if he has a place dear to him while getting flashbacks of his friends and declares that he'll help her take back the city no matter what. He also wonders aloud about what his friends are doing, and is stunned when Teltina points out the hypocrisy in a "warrior of bonds" facing the Ender King alone. After Rosie shields Red from an otherwise lethal attack, he quietly begs Rosie to never take an attack for him again.
• Portmanteau: Red's "Bansou"-themed names for his equipment are a portmanteau of two words meaning "equipment" and an alternate reading for "kizuna" or "bonds". Thus it literally means "friendship tools".
• The Power of Friendship: Red was the leader of the Kizuna Five, who literally derive their power from bonds and friendship. Red's weapons include the Handshake-Calibur, Marriage Beam Gun, and the Victory Kizuna Buster, all of which run on the bonds between himself and others. In fact, he can run out of power if people are infighting near him after he's already used up a lot of his energy, and he can't use his strongest weapons and attacks without someone he feels he's forged a strong bond with (i.e. shared goals, worked and fought together with). On the same note, his power is recharged when people overcome their differences and work together.
• Red Hot Masculinity: Red is a male hero who is passionate about everyone and everything, wields the power of fire and is overall a Hot-Blooded Stock Shōnen Hero.
• Red Is Heroic: Red was the Red Ranger on his team, and has red hair, red eyes, and a red costume. He's also a straightforward Stock Shōnen Hero out of place in a fantasy setting.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red is the Hot-Blooded, cheerful, and outgoing Red Oni to Rosie's aloof, cynical, and anti-social Blue Oni. This also goes down to their powers. Red invokes The Power of Friendship in all his attacks and considers the bonds he has with others to be his greatest strength, while Rosie's Sacred Sword will suck anyone else dry of magical power if they try to wield it. Official illustrations also color Rosie's hair and armor as a deep blue to underscore how he's Red's opposite.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Gender-inverted. Red's exuberant, Hot-Blooded Stock Shōnen Hero personality serves as a foil to Idola's opportunistic and grounded one. She reins him in when his larger-than-life personality is making things worse, and he inspires her to open up to others and seek her dreams as an adventurer.
• Screaming Warrior: As Kizuna Black, Red is wailing in anguish the entire time, as the plate is fueled by his despair and fear. He roars with rage when the demons try to attack his friends. All the while, his inner thoughts are filled with screaming about how he doesn't want to lose people he cares about again.
• Seen It All: Zigzagged. Red has gone through an entire series' worth of adventures with the rest of the Kizuna Five. So the idea of fighting an entire army on his lonesome or witnessing a Make My Monster Grow sequence is just business as usual for him. But even after six months in Idola's world, there's still much he doesn't know about it and he's surprised and impressed by everything new he encounters.
  Red: The enemy turning big after being defeated is already a part of my routine!
  Idola: That routine of yours is not normal.
• Sentai: Red was the Red Ranger in his home world, defending the innocent from the wrath of the Enders. He continues to carry his superhero sensibilities into the fantasy world, confusing the locals who have no frame of reference for his personality or abilities.
• Shaping Your Attacks: As Kizuna Black, he possesses a seemingly endless amount of bandage-shaped tentacles that he can use to trap his opponents and strike them. He can also shape them into larger constructs like an enormous fist, an entire salvo for Pile Bunkers, or lightning rods to ground electric attacks at will.
• Shonen Hair: Red's spiky, flaming red hair matches his Hot-Blooded personality and explosive fire powers to a T. He even has a lock of Idiot Hair to emphasize his Book Dumb tendencies.
• Showy Invincible Hero: Subverted. All of Red's attacks are obnoxiously loud and flashy and he's a One-Man Army able to wade into the toughest dungeons with ease. But he soon meets his match in the more dangerous monsters created from the Seeds of Magic as well as the World's Strongest Man, Rosie Mist. As the threat level increases, it becomes clear that Red is not as invincible as he first appears and takes his lumps with everyone else.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Abu Dhabi attempts to use a Breaking Speech to call Red a Hypocrite for trying to stop the demons from reviving the Demon Lord and reforging their bonds. But Red rebukes him, saying that any bond formed with evil intention to destroy the bonds of others deserves to be cut apart.
• Spin to Deflect Stuff: Red deflects the dragon's Breath Weapon by spinning the Handshake-Calibur in his hand rapidly, sending the flames around him and Idola and leaving them unharmed.
• Stepford Smiler: Chapter 14 reveals that Red's Love Freak tendencies and obsession with bonding is his way of coping with his deeply-ingrained abandonment issues and trauma from being orphaned at a young age. He tries to make good on his parents' wishes for him and make friends with as many people as possible as a means of grappling with his loss. But the thought of losing anyone else causes these bonds he uses as band-aids for the gaping hole in his heart to come loose, revealing just how terrified he is of being alone again.
• Stock Shōnen Hero: Red plays this hilariously straight. He's passionate about anything and everything, is super strong and fast, and is a highly emotional guy with Chronic Hero Syndrome. He approaches everything with wide-eyed joy and wonder and is obsessed with the Power of Friendship, to the point that he will run out of power if people are holding grudges against one another near him!
• Superpowered Evil Side: Red possesses an alternate form, "Kizuna Black", that harnesses all of his negative emotions, fear, despair, and loneliness, and channels it into power. This form is far more powerful than his normal transformation and can automatically stop attempts to subvert Transformation Is a Free Action. In this state, Red's fighting style becomes far more brutal and his power boost lets him No-Sell any attack Abu Dhabi and Vidan throw at him. The two demons are soon running for the hills after Red incinerates all of Vidan below the head. But given that this state is fueled by Red's desperation and worst impulses, he quickly loses control afterward and begins attacking the people he'd been trying to protect until Rosie manages to stop him by forcibly tearing the Black Plate out of his Bansou Gear.
• Supporting Protagonist: Although he gets top billing and is the main character, he travels with Idola to help her with her goals before his own because of his belief that he ended up in her world for a reason.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: He insists that he's absolutely the same as always and in no way entranced by the beauty of Tenri Nikaido, the then newly named Kizuna Silver, after being shocked into Stunned Silence at first sight.
• Sword and Gun: Red can wield both his Handshake-Calibur and his Marriage Beam Gun to go to town on a small army of monsters with ease.
• Sword and Sorcerer: He's the sword to Idola's sorcerer. His Lightning Bruiser abilities and preference for the Handshake-Calibur lets him dice up monsters up close, and he can resort to explosive punches and kicks if need be. Meanwhile, Idola is able to use all kinds of magic, from water to ice to healing spells, allowing her to take on some enemies herself as well as heal Red in times of distress.
• Taught by Experience: Red is an Experienced Protagonist who has experienced all kinds of tropey encounters firsthand. He assumes correctly that Idola's golem is a test, though he wasn't aware that his test hadn't actually started yet. He also laughs when Rosie tells him that he has no intention of becoming friends with Red, who hasn't met a single person who said that to him who didn't become a good friend later on.
• Tears of Blood: In a flashback to when he and the Kizuna Five are fighting the Ender King, Red's injuries simulate this trope as he cries actual tears over Kizuna Silver dying in his arms from taking a lethal blow meant for him.
• Transformation Is a Free Action:
  • Red never has trouble squeezing in time to transform into Kizuna Red, and can even do it while charging forward into a head-on clash against Rosie, the World's Strongest Man.
  • This is horribly subverted when Abu Dhabi and Vidan attack right after Red and the others exhausted themselves defeating Azir. Abu Dhabi impales Red in the middle of his Transformation Sequence, taking him out of the fight and leaving him powerless to stop the ensuing mayhem until he decides to use his Dangerous Forbidden Technique.
• Transformation Trinket: In typical Henshin Hero fashion, Red slides a Bansou Plate into his Bansou Brace to start the transformation into Kizuna Red.
• Translator Microbes: The "Kizuna Lingual Tuner" function of his Transformation Trinket instantly translates anything he says to those he has a bond with and vice versa, explaining how Red has no problems communicating despite being from an entirely different world.
• Trauma Button: Seeing others Taking the Bullet for him is an enormous sore spot for Red, as one of his closest friends, Kizuna Silver, died as she predicted she would saving his life even though they swore to Screw Destiny in the end. Seeing his loved ones get hurt and nearly killed in general is another trigger for Red, as he was orphaned at an early age and being told that life would be easier had he died with his parents.
• Trapped in Another World: Red finds himself in a fantasy world after he expected to die defeating the Ender King. Undaunted, he uses his new lease on life to protect the innocent as an adventurer while also trying to find a way home.
• True Companions: Based on how Red reminisces on his past, it's safe to say that he is incredibly close to all of his teammates, who all mourn his assumed death after he defeats the Ender King.
• Unknown Rival: Red is this to Rosie, who sees him as a rival for Teltina's hand in love and marriage. Despite Red being completely Oblivious to Love and only wanting to be friends with Teltina, his increasing closeness to her and ability to relate to her struggles angers Rosie.
• Unstoppable Rage: After Rosie is injured Taking the Bullet for Red, Abu Dhabi gloats that it was useless, as everyone would die by his hands sooner or later. This triggers a painful memory of Red's where he failed to save someone, leaving him trembling with rage as his costume darkens and cracks while giving him a power boost strong enough to easily punch Abu Dhabi straight through a building.
• Victory Pose: He jumps in the air with one fist raised above his head in triumph after passing Idola's test. He, Idola, and the two other unnamed adventurers with them also strike a "Super Sentai" Stance after defeating the monster produced by the Seed of Magic with the Victory Kizuna Buster.
• The Watson: As an outsider to Idola's world, Red has to have a lot explained to him, whether it's guild cards, magic, or simply who important people are given that his travelling companions are all far more informed than he is.
• Wave-Motion Gun:
  • The Maximum Kizuna Blaster fires an enormous beam from the Maximum Kizuna Kaiser's chest that completely vaporizes the upper body of the dragon it hits. Its range is so long that it can be seen by onlookers a huge distance away from the battlefield.
  • The Victory Kizuna Buster unleashes a huge laser that causes a massive explosion on impact. But it only works if all of its users are in sync and not arguing with one another, otherwise the beam will split in half and completely miss its target.
• What's Up, King Dude?: Due to his typical Hot-Blooded niceness and Fish out of Water status, Red quickly treats Teltina like an old friend without any of the stuffy decorum or manners. This enrages Rosie for not showing Teltina proper respect.
• The Worf Effect: Red is a powerful warrior who treats even high-leveled monsters like small-fry. Because of this, he's often used as a measuring stick for an enemy's power level, and he struggles against the first Seed of Magic monster and Rosie to demonstrate how dangerous they are. He's also at the complete mercy of the monster controlling Akarina, which is able to constantly attack Red's blindspots to prevent him from fighting back.
• Worf Had the Flu: His power is established early on, and Red struggling is a sign that things have gotten more serious, though it isn't always his fault. For instance, he takes up Idola's suggestion to use the Maximum Kizuna Kaiser inside a cave before realizing too late that the cave is too cramped for it to move, draining valuable energy that leaves him vulnerable after the Victory Kizuna Buster fails. But once his party overcomes its differences, the Victory Kizuna Buster is enough to instantly defeat the monster.
• Wrong Context Magic: Red's powers aren't magic and don't adhere to any known magical theories in Idola's world. Because of this, the seemingly arbitrary Power of Friendship it runs on is baffling to her, and almost anyone who sees him in action is either dumbstruck or wowed by his abilities. This, on top of being an otherworlder, makes him a prime research subject despite his tendency to drive her nuts.