| Takeo Gouda | |
|---|---|
| |
| Kanji |
剛田 猛男 |
| Rōmaji |
Gouda Takeo |
| Gender |
Male |
| Manga Debut |
Chapter 1 |
| Japanese Voice |
Takuya Eguchi |
The protagonist of the story and a first-year student at Shuei High School. He is very tall and muscular, with a face that easily scares those around him. But Takeo is also extremely kind and selfless, quickly helping others without a second thought throughout the story.
Appearance
He is extremely tall and big for a person his age along with having an intimidating face, to the point most people mistake him as an ill intentioned person and as being older than he is. His face looks somewhat scary, especially when he is serious or angry and can easily scare others around him. He has a clean cut haircut with bushy eyebrows, a huge nose, and pursed lips which resemble those of a gorilla. Some also describe him as being as big as a bear. He has no sense of fashion. He is most often seen in his school uniform which consists of a blue blazer (which he always leaves unbuttoned) with matching blue pants and a white shirt underneath, a brown belt, a blue tie with red stripes, and black shoes. When at home he is almost always shown wearing a brown robe with matching brown pants. When out or on a date, he only wears plain t shirts with shorts.
Personality
He is a kind, selfless person who is willing to help others even when he is not given credit for it. He has a a strong sense of justice and despises those who hurts others, infringe on the law, and especially those who hurt or insult his friends, defending them fiercly with all his might. While he will get angry at those who hurt others, he tends not to hold grudges as shown by his friendship with Suna who was confessed to by all of Takeo's crushes but Takeo never once blamed Suna, and instead understood it was because of his appearance and how Suna was simply cooler and always attractive. He is very hyper and energetic, and his emotions always shows through his face. He is also simple minded, naive, and trusting. He is very impulsive and will usually fight first talk second and jump into making promises without hearing the rest of it, saying it is the responsibility of a man to protect others and keep promises. He seems to not like technology, as he gave Yamato his email by writing it down rather than infrared and when he texts Yamato who writes long detailed texts with emoticons, he writes simply with short sentences (usually writing sentences only two to five words long with a thumbs up). He is straightforward and wishes people could be more honest with their feelings and understands love can be painful, due to the number of rejections and times his crushes have fallen for his friend Suna. This also was partially the cause for his low self esteem, because before meeting Yamato he felt he could never find love. He is extremely athletic and is often asked by high school sports teams to participate in certain tournaments for them. Despite this, he is humble about his abilities, stating that there is always someone better than him. He is not popular with females due to his appearance, but is fairly popular with males due to his strength, sense of justice, care for others, and friendly personality. He is not very intelligent, as he has bad study habits, doesn't know simple terms or most of the names of the baked goods Yamato brings, mistakes certain words for others (such as hand baked and mistaking it as baked with hands as an ingredient rather than baked using hands), and can't even remember important dates. He also doesn't understand the idea of personal space like when he stared at Yamato wondering why she couldn't be honest with her feelings (at the time thinking she liked Suna) and also forcing Suna to practice kissin with him and pushing him down placing syringe wrap over his mouth so he could be ready to kiss Yamato (much to Suna's horror, disgust and protest). Perhaps due to his naive trusting nature or simple ignorance, he is also a poor judge of character as he is quick to believe someone and will always help someone who asks him regardless of consequences. He can also be unintentionally insensitive as he can't gauge a mood or understand what to do or say in certain situations. His poor judge of character was shown when Suna pointed out that all of his crushes (except Yamato) talked bad about him behind his back and usually only got close to him to get close to Suna (whom they all confessed to and were rejected by since he didn't want to date someone who would talk bad about his friend) and thought Yamato's friends would be nice since she was and they ended up talking bad about him behind their back (though they quickly took it back after he saved them from a fire and now support Yamato's relationship with him). He is also not very clean, as he usually has bad habits like picking his nose, scratching his but, and having a very disorderly room in general. His two most important relationships throughout the series are Yamato and Suna. He loves Yamato dearly and respects her, not pushing their relationship too far and always wanting her to be happy. He also cares for Suna, having never gotten angry about his crushes liking Suna instead of him and respecting their friendship, even comparing it to the story of the red demon and blue demon where Takeo is the red demon who was scary and wanted to make friends with humans but couldn't and Suna as the blue demon who helped the red demon make friends by pretending to destroy the village with the red demon coming in to help, and leaving so his friend wouldn't be in trouble for associating with him.
Background
Ever since kidnergarten, Takeo has known Suna. Many people ask why they are friends and that is something even Takeo questions not because he doesn't have trust in Suna and their friendship but because the two don't look compatible as friends due to their strikingly different appearances and personalities (the two are virtually polar opposites). Because the two have lived in the same apartment complex, were neighbors, and their moms were friends, they played a lot together as kids. While their mothers got along, initially the two didn't as the two had different ideas about what to play and were never on the same wavelength. However, they never fought and over time their friendship grew. Their friendship truly started when one day Takeo noticed Suna playing on the swings lonely and sad about his dad who was suffering from an illness and decided to cheer him up by showing him how to use the swings. This made Suna laugh as Takeo fell into a bush but allowed them to truly start their friendship. When they were in kindergarten, the two were the main leads Takeo mentions when they were in kindergarten, Takeo once peed in his pants and Suna laughed but then threw a bucket of water over him to make sure no one would find out. On a field trip when Takeo was hungry but spilled his lunch Suna gave half of his lunch to Takeo.
Plot
Relationships
His two closest and most important relationships throughout the story is Yamato and Suna.
Yamato
Yamato is his girlfriend whom he loves and treasures deeply. He immediately liked her the moment he saw her but believed her to have feelings for Suna (due to misunderstandings and because of his previous experience of his crushes falling for Suna). Wanting the two people most important to him to be happy, he told Yamato what a great guy he was only to cause Yamato to cry. After Suna helped clear the misunderstanding and play matchmaker for the two, they have been a couple ever since.
Suna
Suna is his best friend. Throughout their childhood they have been best friends. While not always on the same wavelength, the two care greatly for each other and would do anything for the other. The two are polar opposites, with Takeo being the brawn and Suna being the brain. Despite this, the two do share some common personality traits as the two are both kind, friendly, and helpful (though Suna is mroe subtle and will help those he cares for while Takeo is bold and willing to help anyone).
Quotes
Trivia
- According to Suna, the type of girl Takeo likes is the cute type who are always happy and smiling, seem nice and friendly, and look like they would give him a chance.
- Whenever he helps someone in need, Suna is always given credit by the person Takeo helped but Suna is not bad and always corrects them saying it is Takeo who did the good deeds but his good looks, charm, charisma, and cool personality always makes people mistake Suna for doing good deed.
- His mother is a pro wrestler.
- Takeo compares his relationship with Suna to the story of the red demon and blue demon by Hirosuke Hamada.
- In the second volume of the series, Takeo asked Suna to allow him to practice kissing on him so he would be ready for Yamato, much to Suna's disgust. This would technically make his first kiss be with Suna (though he put plastic wrap between their mouths).
- His birthday is on January 1.
- He is extremely skilled in athletics and has even been scouted. When he went ice skating for the first time, he was so skilled he performed a triple axel into a ina bauer and was given a business card. The only sport he is bad at is basketball because he falls for all the feints and dancing because his steps are too big.