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Character name: Yoshitake Tanaka
Age: 16
Canon: Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Daily Lives of Highschool Boys)
Background:
When Yoshitake was around 8 or 9, he took to running around with a mask, and a red scarf, and went by the name Rubber Shooter. He was well known by a lot of the other kids like the one who beat up a third-grader, and a couple of fourth graders who were bullies and often times defended the weak and aided others in fights when needed. For example, he participated in what many students look back on as a huge battle against one of the scariest bullies in elementary school, known as Archdemon (who was actually a girl by the name of Habara), alongside many others.
His being the Rubber Shooter is what led to him meeting one of his best friends, Hidenori, though he didn’t know Yoshitake’s identity at the time. He witnessed Hidenori crying on the floor and handed him a whistle, telling him to blow on it the next time he needed help. Not long after Hidenori was being beaten up once again, and before he even had the chance to blow the whistle “Rubber Shooter” showed up and shot the bullies with rubber bands, causing them to flee once they realized who he was. When Hidenori asks why he showed up even though he didn’t blow the whistle, Rubber Shooter says, “of course I’d come to help an important friend!” Hidenori says that was the last time he ever saw him without realizing he’s been friends with him during high school. It’s not really stated whether Yoshitake recognized Hidenori as the boy he saved back in elementary school because when Hidenori goes back to that same spot years later in the skit High school Boys and the Biography of a Hero, he hears someone whistling Pachelbel’s Canon (Rubber Shooter was known for playing that on his whistle) and rushes to the spot where he sees Yoshitake with two rubber bands around his fingers, who responds with a “fancy meeting you here”, not at all reacting to the fact that he was “caught” so to speak by Hidenori, who proceeded to run away without saying a word.
Yoshitake attends Sanada North high school, an all boy’s school, with his two best friends Hidenori Tabata and Tadakuni. He spends a lot of time at Tadakuni’s house with Hidenori, usually reading manga or pretending to go on grand adventures, and generally just playing make-believe all the time. He has an older sister that he doesn’t seem to like very much, saying she’s far too violent.
Personality:
Yoshitake could indeed be considered "the fool" of his group. He may not be hopelessly stupid (though he is indeed a bit of an idiot) his logic is oftentimes so nonsensical and out of the blue that you have to wonder what's going on in the boy's head. For instance, when stealing the underwear of one of his best friend's sisters he explains that it's "tit for tat" and left his own underwear in its place. Yoshitake follows a logic that only he can understand most of the time. Sometimes Hidenori and he seem to be on the same page, but oftentimes Yoshitake is in a whole other book. Despite that, he can sometimes be quick to think and sometimes witty. In a scene where the guys are all playing trivial ping pong Yoshitake actually manages to get all the answers correct.
But while he may not be the brightest bulb in the bunch he makes up for it in his dedication to his friends. Even if sometimes his methods are questionable, his intentions are good. Like when Tadakuni’s sister is yelling at the guys and accusing them of taking her underwear (since she had previously caught them trying it on), Yoshitake notices Hidenori is wearing her bra. Later on, he notices Tadakuni wearing one as well. Sitting by the river bank, Yoshitake wonders what he should do as a friend. He considers it his duty as their friend to bring them back on the right path when they're "led astray", and wonders if he should "beat some sense into them until they apologize". But he quickly comes to the conclusion that a true friend would walk with them instead.
”...Someone who can bear the burden of their sins. Isn’t that what a true friend is?!”
Because of the reasoning above, Yoshitake goes back to Tadakuni's house, takes his sister's panties from the clothesline, and proceeds to put them on his head. In his own twisted way, he was doing what he believed a true friend would do. Instead of judging Hidenori and Tadakuni for what they did, he went along and "joined" them, so to speak. Yoshitake is certainly capable of acting as a friend without resorting to outlandish stupidity like in the example above. In one scene Motoharu's wallet is snatched right out of his hand by a thief on a bike, so naturally, he grabs a nearby bike and sets out after the thief. Only he can't actually ride one and ends up falling. Yoshitake, outraged that Motoharu doesn't know how to ride a bike, tries to help him get a head start to go after the thief. When that fails, Yoshitake tells him not to give up, encouraging him to try again. And again. And again, until Motoharu eventually learns how to ride a bike. By this time they had completely forgotten about the thief, but Yoshitake was happy his friend had learned how to ride a bike! Maybe not the best example of non outlandish stupidity but his reasoning actually made sense, he just lost it halfway through. Yoshitake is also a very thoughtful friend; he's the kind of friend that will make an extra copy of your notes if you're absent from school, ask what you want to do most on your birthday so he can make it happen, and destroy your prized model figure and wait until you're broken down into tears before presenting the brand new model he and his friends chipped in to get you. Basically, he is the kind of guy you can rely on to get you out of a pinch. To smack some sense into you when you're being dumb. Or to wear panties on his head if you're into that kind of thing.
He has a habit of wanting to be the hero all the time, something that no doubt carried over from his elementary school years as “Rubber Shooter”. It’s not often quite as blatant as it seemed to be in the little we see of him as Rubber Shooter, but at one point when Tadakuni’s sister is meeting up with a guy who had hit her, Yoshitake is one of the guys who shows up (in secret, though he’s the only one not wearing a disguise) and watching the interaction from a distance. When the meeting plays out perfectly calm with the boy apologizing and walking away, Yoshitake exclaims, "shit! I didn't get to be a hero!" Rubber Shooter was a very important chapter in Yoshitake’s life, as he obviously carried over some of those ideals as he grew older, but it’s worth mentioning that he usually wants to be the hero, but doesn't consider himself one.
In the last episode, he returns to that same spot he had “met” Hidenori and digs up a box from under a tree, it contains things associated with Rubber Shooter, like his mask, rubber bands, and a letter to his “future self” asking if he became a hero. Yoshitake reads the letter, laughs, and says “idiot, of course I couldn't." He will, however, fight against any brand of injustice, even if it seems relatively minor. When a girl on a train starts purposefully moving away from boys who sit/stand near her to make them feel bad (c'mon, that's like kicking a guy right in the junk to teenage boys), Yoshitake takes it upon himself to move near the girl, no matter how much she moves away. Once she turns red, thinking that he's "totally into her" and opens her mouth to speak, he gets up and walks away, leaving her to feel what she made all those other boys feel. He realizes he can't be a big bad superhero going around beating up bad guys, but he will always stand up for those who have been wronged.
All these weird and quirky traits aside, Yoshitake is a pretty average teenage boy when it comes down to it. He gets very self conscious like any other, despite trying to act cool and composed on the outside during most situations, loves to hang out with his friends and play video games (and sometimes pretend to be in one), and will do almost anything no matter how dumb for the people he cares about.
Age: 16
Canon: Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Daily Lives of Highschool Boys)
Background:
When Yoshitake was around 8 or 9, he took to running around with a mask, and a red scarf, and went by the name Rubber Shooter. He was well known by a lot of the other kids like the one who beat up a third-grader, and a couple of fourth graders who were bullies and often times defended the weak and aided others in fights when needed. For example, he participated in what many students look back on as a huge battle against one of the scariest bullies in elementary school, known as Archdemon (who was actually a girl by the name of Habara), alongside many others.
His being the Rubber Shooter is what led to him meeting one of his best friends, Hidenori, though he didn’t know Yoshitake’s identity at the time. He witnessed Hidenori crying on the floor and handed him a whistle, telling him to blow on it the next time he needed help. Not long after Hidenori was being beaten up once again, and before he even had the chance to blow the whistle “Rubber Shooter” showed up and shot the bullies with rubber bands, causing them to flee once they realized who he was. When Hidenori asks why he showed up even though he didn’t blow the whistle, Rubber Shooter says, “of course I’d come to help an important friend!” Hidenori says that was the last time he ever saw him without realizing he’s been friends with him during high school. It’s not really stated whether Yoshitake recognized Hidenori as the boy he saved back in elementary school because when Hidenori goes back to that same spot years later in the skit High school Boys and the Biography of a Hero, he hears someone whistling Pachelbel’s Canon (Rubber Shooter was known for playing that on his whistle) and rushes to the spot where he sees Yoshitake with two rubber bands around his fingers, who responds with a “fancy meeting you here”, not at all reacting to the fact that he was “caught” so to speak by Hidenori, who proceeded to run away without saying a word.
Yoshitake attends Sanada North high school, an all boy’s school, with his two best friends Hidenori Tabata and Tadakuni. He spends a lot of time at Tadakuni’s house with Hidenori, usually reading manga or pretending to go on grand adventures, and generally just playing make-believe all the time. He has an older sister that he doesn’t seem to like very much, saying she’s far too violent.
Personality:
Yoshitake could indeed be considered "the fool" of his group. He may not be hopelessly stupid (though he is indeed a bit of an idiot) his logic is oftentimes so nonsensical and out of the blue that you have to wonder what's going on in the boy's head. For instance, when stealing the underwear of one of his best friend's sisters he explains that it's "tit for tat" and left his own underwear in its place. Yoshitake follows a logic that only he can understand most of the time. Sometimes Hidenori and he seem to be on the same page, but oftentimes Yoshitake is in a whole other book. Despite that, he can sometimes be quick to think and sometimes witty. In a scene where the guys are all playing trivial ping pong Yoshitake actually manages to get all the answers correct.
But while he may not be the brightest bulb in the bunch he makes up for it in his dedication to his friends. Even if sometimes his methods are questionable, his intentions are good. Like when Tadakuni’s sister is yelling at the guys and accusing them of taking her underwear (since she had previously caught them trying it on), Yoshitake notices Hidenori is wearing her bra. Later on, he notices Tadakuni wearing one as well. Sitting by the river bank, Yoshitake wonders what he should do as a friend. He considers it his duty as their friend to bring them back on the right path when they're "led astray", and wonders if he should "beat some sense into them until they apologize". But he quickly comes to the conclusion that a true friend would walk with them instead.
”...Someone who can bear the burden of their sins. Isn’t that what a true friend is?!”
Because of the reasoning above, Yoshitake goes back to Tadakuni's house, takes his sister's panties from the clothesline, and proceeds to put them on his head. In his own twisted way, he was doing what he believed a true friend would do. Instead of judging Hidenori and Tadakuni for what they did, he went along and "joined" them, so to speak. Yoshitake is certainly capable of acting as a friend without resorting to outlandish stupidity like in the example above. In one scene Motoharu's wallet is snatched right out of his hand by a thief on a bike, so naturally, he grabs a nearby bike and sets out after the thief. Only he can't actually ride one and ends up falling. Yoshitake, outraged that Motoharu doesn't know how to ride a bike, tries to help him get a head start to go after the thief. When that fails, Yoshitake tells him not to give up, encouraging him to try again. And again. And again, until Motoharu eventually learns how to ride a bike. By this time they had completely forgotten about the thief, but Yoshitake was happy his friend had learned how to ride a bike! Maybe not the best example of non outlandish stupidity but his reasoning actually made sense, he just lost it halfway through. Yoshitake is also a very thoughtful friend; he's the kind of friend that will make an extra copy of your notes if you're absent from school, ask what you want to do most on your birthday so he can make it happen, and destroy your prized model figure and wait until you're broken down into tears before presenting the brand new model he and his friends chipped in to get you. Basically, he is the kind of guy you can rely on to get you out of a pinch. To smack some sense into you when you're being dumb. Or to wear panties on his head if you're into that kind of thing.
He has a habit of wanting to be the hero all the time, something that no doubt carried over from his elementary school years as “Rubber Shooter”. It’s not often quite as blatant as it seemed to be in the little we see of him as Rubber Shooter, but at one point when Tadakuni’s sister is meeting up with a guy who had hit her, Yoshitake is one of the guys who shows up (in secret, though he’s the only one not wearing a disguise) and watching the interaction from a distance. When the meeting plays out perfectly calm with the boy apologizing and walking away, Yoshitake exclaims, "shit! I didn't get to be a hero!" Rubber Shooter was a very important chapter in Yoshitake’s life, as he obviously carried over some of those ideals as he grew older, but it’s worth mentioning that he usually wants to be the hero, but doesn't consider himself one.
In the last episode, he returns to that same spot he had “met” Hidenori and digs up a box from under a tree, it contains things associated with Rubber Shooter, like his mask, rubber bands, and a letter to his “future self” asking if he became a hero. Yoshitake reads the letter, laughs, and says “idiot, of course I couldn't." He will, however, fight against any brand of injustice, even if it seems relatively minor. When a girl on a train starts purposefully moving away from boys who sit/stand near her to make them feel bad (c'mon, that's like kicking a guy right in the junk to teenage boys), Yoshitake takes it upon himself to move near the girl, no matter how much she moves away. Once she turns red, thinking that he's "totally into her" and opens her mouth to speak, he gets up and walks away, leaving her to feel what she made all those other boys feel. He realizes he can't be a big bad superhero going around beating up bad guys, but he will always stand up for those who have been wronged.
All these weird and quirky traits aside, Yoshitake is a pretty average teenage boy when it comes down to it. He gets very self conscious like any other, despite trying to act cool and composed on the outside during most situations, loves to hang out with his friends and play video games (and sometimes pretend to be in one), and will do almost anything no matter how dumb for the people he cares about.
