Characters in Junji Ito's Lovesickness manga.
Ryusuke
Spoiler
Ryusuke has returned to his hometown recently, and learning that the crossroads fortune is even more popular than it was previously. He dislikes the practice because of a past experience, where his dismissal of a woman requesting a fortune from him resulted in her committing suicide.
When he learns about the Pretty Boy In Black roaming the crossroads and giving fortunes that drive people to despair, he starts hounding the area himself in hopes of catching him.
- Acquitted Too Late: The townsfolk realize that Ryusuke is not the Boy In Black as believed, but only after he apparently sacrificed his life to stop him.
- Ambiguous Situation: It is noted in-universe as peculiar that the Boy in Black suddenly shows up when Ryusuke moves into town after an absence of ten years, something which makes him look suspicious both to his fellow classmates and the eyes of the law, but it's never made clear what his connection to the BiB might be, if there even is one. It could all be some sort of coincidence, but the manga keeps throwing possibilities at us.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Exactly what he becomes as the Boy In White is unclear, a ghost or something else, but he roams the crossroads akin to the Boy In Black.
- The Atoner: Ryusuke believes that his 'fortune' told as a child was the start of this whole mess and proceeds to roam the crossroads and giving positive fortunes, in hopes of making up for his previous dismissal. It becomes his defining role as the Boy In White.
- Determinator: Becomes hell-bent on catching the Pretty Boy In Black. Not even when a mob of suicidal ghosts taking a hold of him can stop him from opposing that guy.
- Ear Ache: Gets thumbtacks pierced through his earlobes in his sleep, to further his visual similarity to the Boy In Black, in an effort to frame him.
- Good Counterpart: Although for a while he didn't want anything to do with intersection fortune-telling, he eventually realized that the best way to counteract the evil influence of the Boy in Black would be to use fortune-telling to help people, and finds himself enjoying it. It does become a worrying compulsion, though. When he becomes the Boy In White, he has a more obvious parallel to his foe.
- It's All My Fault: Blames himself for the suicide of Midori's aunt, believing that his harsh words while in a bad mood were the catalyst to cause her to commit suicide.
- It's Not You, It's Me: He distances himself from Midori after learning that the woman he once gave a fortune to was her aunt. His guilt of being the one that likely caused her suicide leaves Ryusuke to think he doesn't deserve to be around Midori.
- Last Stand: After Midori's death, he wends his way through the throng of Boy in Black-obsessed teen spirits until he's within sight of his archnemesis, pulls a knife—and is immediately torn apart by the mob. And that's that...for his mortal self.
- Mistaken Identity: After Suzune opens her neck with a box-cutter while they're talking together, people in-school and around town (including the cops) start suspecting that he might be the Boy in Black. Even he starts suspecting it when the evidence starts building up. Nope! It's just Suzune manipulating his friend Tejima into framing him.
- My Greatest Failure: When he was six years old he got into a fight with his parents and swore he'd run away from home. As he was stalking furiously down the street, a pregnant woman asked him to perform an intersection fortune-telling, and asked if her love for the married man she was seeing would bear fruit. He told her "Like hell it will!" and stormed off. She killed herself.
- Prophet Eyes: Gains them as the Boy In White.
Midori
Midori is an old childhood friend of Ryusuke, happy to hang out with him again after he moved back. Her aunt got a crossroads fortune and committed suicide eight years ago, with the recent trend of further suicides bringing the memories to the forefront.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: After ripping another bunch of love letters to Ryusuke as 'the Pretty Boy from the Crossroads', she breaks down in tears and tells him that she loves him so much and he's cold to her. He does reciprocate her feelings, but thinks he doesn't deserve to be with her.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Ryusuke holds her in his arms as she dies of blood loss.
- Driven to Suicide: She commits suicide to let go of her hatred towards Ryusuke for her aunt's suicide.
- Exact Words: When she wonders what to do when learning of Ryusuke's role in her aunt's suicide, the Boy In Black tells her to 'hate him for the rest of her life'. After tormenting Ryusuke physically for a while, she commits suicide to spare the two of them any further problems, but also fulfilling the Boy's words.
- Heroic Suicide: Since the Boy in Black has a Compelling Voice, committing suicide was a way to free herself from his compulsion to hate Ryusuke and keep herself from harming him.
- Locked Out of the Loop: She doesn't know that Ryusuke was the one that gave her aunt her crossroad fortune before she committed suicide. When he finally tells her, she ends up feeling conflicted.
Suzune
Suzune is a schoolmate of Ryusuke and Midori's close friend. When trying to help them out with trouble between them, she gets a crossroads fortune from the Boy In Black. She follows his advice to focus on her own heart, leaving her to openly woo Ryusuke.
- Driven to Suicide: Commits suicide when Ryusuke's latest rejection pushes her over the edge.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She's had a crush on Ryusuke since he transferred, but stood back when he and Midori seemed interested in each other. It isn't until she gets her fortune from the Boy In Black that she decides to go for Ryusuke herself.
- Stalker with a Crush: Becomes obsessed with Ryusuke and follows him around, despite him making it clear that she has no chance. Her ghost also seems to confuse Ryusuke and the Boy In Black with each other.
- Together in Death: Her ghost begs people like Tejima to bring Ryusuke to her, so that they can be together again.
Boy In Black
The Pretty Boy from the Crossroads or simply called the Boy In Black is a mysterious figure that can be found at the crossroads during foggy nights. He gives fortunes to any that seek advice, but his words are harsh and often cause the seeker more despair than actual help.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist of the series, as he intentionally gives harsh answers to people seeking help, be it that they don't have problems worth worrying over or that their love will never be fulfilled.
- Compelling Voice: Gives spiteful, cruel advice to those who ask for it, and his victims find themselves compelled to take it to heart. Even into mass suicide.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: His pale skin and dark hair in contrast with his dark clothes are mentioned repeatedly.
- Head-Turning Beauty: His fine features and atmosphere around him are so stunning, people looking at him are initially stunned into silence. His beauty is oft-mentioned, and anyone that got a fortune by him becomes obsessed with him.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: It would seem so. After making hundreds of teenage girls become obsessed with him to the point of killing themselves all at once for his sake, their spirits still haunt the intersections begging passers-by to perform fortune-telling about the boy they love. The pleas of the humans who try to get through to them fall upon deaf ears, but Ryusuke as The Boy in White advises each and every one of them to show The Boy in Black their love that night. BiB is last seen nervously glancing at the massive horde of lovesick teen girls closing in on him from all angles as they all vanish from human sight.
- Lean and Mean: He's unnaturally tall and his fortunes cause the rash of suicides to plague the town.
- Prophet Eyes: His eyes are completely blank.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Exactly who or what the Boy In Black is remains unclear, though several options are brought up. In-universe speculation is that he is the spirit of the baby that Midori's aunt was carrying when she committed suicide, returning as a form of revenge, or even a real person in the form of the older son of the man Midori's aunt was having an affair with, as he disappeared around the time said aunt committed suicide. Whatever his origin, it's clear that he disappears along with the spirits of the suicidees and the Boy In White.
- Mysterious Past: Here's what we know: He showed up in town exactly the same time that Ryusuke moved in, and he seems to appear most frequently around the area where six-year-old Ryusuke first cruelly rebuffed a woman who wanted him to perform a divination for her, leading to her suicide. That's all.
- Sadist: He seems to enjoy causing despair to people wanting his advice, telling the women that proclaim they love him so much they could die to 'go die', and even laughs after commanding their spirits to pay a visit to their grieving families.
Midori's Aunt
Midori's aunt was having an affair with a married man and ended up pregnant. Looking for advice on what to do — to give up on him or keep hoping that he'll choose her — she came across a young Ryusuke.
He was in a bad mood at the time and clearly getting asked a question beyond a child's capacity, so his retort to her question was harsh. She committed suicide the next day.
- Driven to Suicide: Committed suicide after getting a crossroads fortune.
- No Name Given: Her name is never mentioned.
- One Degree of Separation: Not only is she Midori's aunt, but the man she had an affair with is also the man having an affair with the unnamed woman in the second chapter, whose disappeared older son might be the Boy In Black.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She only appears for a few pages in a flashback, but her suicide became news in Nazumi and left Ryusuke with major guilt.
The Troubled Woman
The woman that stopped Ryusuke and Midori at the crossroads, asking them for advice. She had an affair with a married man and became pregnant, but doesn't know what to do.
Despite Midori and Ryusuke giving her advice on what to do, she keeps asking them for more advice on what to do next, including with her behavior becoming more erratic.
- Kill It with Fire: Commits self-immolation, though if it was due to a genuine suicide attempt or trying to cause a bigger problem for herself remains unclear.
- No Name Given: Her name is never mentioned.
- Offing the Offspring: She kidnapped the young son of her affair partner and killed him, believing that it might lead to him choosing her. And to create a 'bigger problem' for herself.
- One Degree of Separation: The man she's having an affair with is the same man that Midori's aunt had an affair with.
- Serial Escalation: Despite being given advice at the crossroads, she continues to become more and more erratic, all because the Boy In Black told her to 'find a bigger problem'.
Kotaro Tejima
Tejima is a friend of Ryusuke's from his previous school and came to Nazumi for a short vacation. Hearing about the crossroads fortunes and its mysterious, black-clad character, he decides to see what it's about.
- Frame-Up: He pierced Ryusuke's ears in his sleep to further his similarity to the Boy In Black, put black clothes into his bed and mentally tortured Ryusuke into believing he was the Boy In Black. All so that he'd commit suicide and Tejima would fulfill Suzune's ghost's wish of being with Ryusuke again.
- Last-Name Basis: He's only referred to as Tejima.
- Put on a Bus: He's mentioned to have suffered a mental disorder from the events in the third chapter and gets taken to a hospital.
The Trio
The salaryman, Mitsuru, and Miyuki
Three characters that appear in the final chapter. They all were seeking a crossroads fortune and obtained one from the Boy In White, who gave them advice and to pay it forward by answering fortunes themselves.
- Death Seeker: The salaryman was looking for an easy way out after becoming tired of life. He seems to have given up on this at the end, though.
- No Name Given: The salaryman's name is never mentioned.
- Second Love: Mitsuru and Miyuki to each other, having previously been unlucky in love. They found each other after the Boy In White gave them hopeful advice on finding love anew.
