Character Information

Name/Alias: Yuusuke Nisaka
Fandom: Koi to Uso
Canonpoint: ch. 39, after his talk with Yukari Nejima
Gender: Male
Age: 15

Physical Description: Nisaka is a slim teenager of about average height at 174 cm. He has short dark hair with a fairly long fringe that falls over his brow, light–colored eyes, and long eyelashes that tend to give him an effeminate appearance. He has been referred to as particularly handsome many times in his canon, with looks so notorious he’s apparently almost always being fawned over by any girl he comes across. He doesn’t emote that much, which means his usual expressions usually fall under impassive and apathetic, if not downright cold. He has the typical slouch of any adolescent teenager, which only further perpetuates the idea of his being a “cool and mysterious” type.

History:
WORLD OVERVIEW—

In the not-too-distant future, the country of Japan is suffering from severe under-population. In order to combat the low birth rate, the government enacts the “Yukari Law” which “enables the government to analyze the genetic information of citizens in order to decide the best possible marriage partner for each individual.” Calling this the “Red Thread of Science” (as opposed to the “Red Thread of Destiny”), the Yukari Law is essentially government-mandated marriage partnerships that are arranged for each individual at the age of 16.

Technically, these partnerships are not mandatory. However, while individuals are given the right to refuse the arrangements, the societal backlash is often too severe to be worth it. A refusal of the arrangement is notated on the individual’s personal record, which is available for universities and employers to view and more than enough of a reason for either institution to refuse them. Not only that, the other party involved will also be just as affected, leading to two separate lives that can essentially become ruined in the eyes of society.

CHARACTER OVERVIEW—

Nisaka, like many of his peers, is a product of the Yukari Law and has spent his entire life well aware of this “promise of a happy, stable future.” However, like a good handful of his peers, he has grown quite disillusioned to the idea and even participates in a (admittedly playful and futile) pact to “never marry.” It isn’t until much later, however, that the core reason for Nisaka’s discontent becomes clear.

Flashback to a handful of years prior, when Nisaka is still in middle school, and he finds himself in the unfortunate (but apparently familiar) situation of being at the receiving end of a jealous boyfriend’s ire. Despite his (admittedly half-hearted) attempts to tell the elder student otherwise, the boy is convinced Nisaka is a villain hell-bent on taking his girlfriend away from him. Enter our bumbling protagonist, who is somehow even more bumbling and awkward and meek in this past than he is at the present (a sure feat) and happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite Nisaka’s best attempts to keep the fight between himself and the jealous boyfriend, Nejima makes his presence too known, and winds up getting involved. Before Nisaka can even diffuse the situation, Nejima pulls a rather comical move – instead of calling his mom like he’d meant to, he accidentally called the police…

Flashforward to the present, where Nisaka and Nejima have now become the best of friends thanks to that hilarious situation – one that Nisaka still likes to look back on fondly. And laugh and laugh and laaaaaugh. As the years went on, both boys grew, and so did their friendship; so much so that it’s implied Nisaka decided to attend the supbar high school they’re at simply to follow Nejima there, despite possessing grades that could have gotten him admittance to a better, more prestigious school.

As Nejima’s life begins to spiral into a strange and twisted tragicomedy romance thanks to his government arrangement, Nisaka finds himself the unwilling participant in the world’s worst misunderstanding: basically, Nejima becomes convinced that Nisaka has feelings for Misaki, whom Nejima himself has been in love with since he was five, while he battles his own burgeoning feelings for his arranged partner, Lilina. But little does Nejima know, Nisaka’s true feelings are actually… for Nejima himself.

While not much is known about Nisaka’s past, recent chapters have hinted at a personal encounter with his government in the form of a mandatory “special course” he’d been selected to attend during his middle school years. Not much is known about this course (it’s implied it is considerably different from the sex-ed “special course” the main characters are made to take), but given Nisaka’s visceral reaction with regards to it, it can be inferred that the course itself was traumatizing to an extent.

Personality: On paper, Nisaka is one of those people that if you met them in real life, you’d probably hate every fiber of their being. He’s pretty much perfect; looks, skills, brains – he’s got it all, and then some, and all without really trying, either, which just makes him even more annoying. In Nisaka, there is this effortless sort of grace that is somehow just withdrawn enough to be magnetic. Whether it be standing idly while waiting for someone at the train station or having a quiet argument with a classmate in the middle of the hall, he has the sort of presence that just commands attention.

…Though more often than not, that attention is usually unwanted. That’s right – he’s humble too. The nerve of this guy, seriously! Attention, compliments, even indirect praise will get him shying away; the more direct the praise, the more flustered he gets, and the more flustered he gets, the huffier his responses become.

The thing is, half of the time Nisaka isn’t even aware he’s doing anything particularly commendable. Not because he’s ignorant or dense, but simply because he often isn’t. Because of his looks, because of this “cool guy” reputation he’s unwittingly built for himself, it somehow makes even the most mundane gesture seem extraordinary in comparison. It doesn’t help that his best friend, and thus the person he spends the most time around, gets easily excitable and often compliments him without even realizing how uncomfortable or uneasy it makes him.

In fact, it’s in those moments that Nisaka seems to almost resent his good looks. It takes only a quick look at his background to see why. Many causes of his life’s troubles seem to stem almost entirely from his appearance: larger, angrier senior students challenging him to fights because their girlfriends happened to fawn over Nisaka; other students “volunteering” him for clubs or performances simply because he has the look; and an adolescence full of crushing, excitable girls who want nothing more out of him than to be his girlfriend.

If it were up to Nisaka, he’d rather not be the center of any attention. Despite how his good looks might make him stand out, every part of his personality is all about blending in and slinking off into the background. Quiet, unassuming, and aloof (almost to the point of being completely impassive or uncaring), he’s more the type to stand back and let things happen than step forward and take a stand.

–Though that is not to say there haven’t been exceptions. After all, his first meeting with Nejima involved his rather hasty attempt to try and save the other boy from the aggressive attention of the bully currently picking on Nisaka himself. So it seems less about a general apathy, and more about knowing when to pick his battles. Nisaka hadn’t cared about the bully until another person unwittingly got involved, and it was only then that he thought to actually attempt to diffuse the situation.

Generally, there are few things he finds worth the effort. Whether due to his natural skill in everything he does or an inherent defeatist attitude, Nisaka doesn’t often have the motivation to really try. Even in something as simple as conversation, it’s rare for Nisaka to beat around the bush, preferring to simply cut straight to the point… even if it means coming off a little blunt or rude. And unlike Nejima, Lilina, and even Misaki, Nisaka is shown to be the most resigned to his fate with regards to the Yukari Law. A pivotal moment in the canon has Nisaka cruelly berating Lilina for her naïve outlook on the matter, easily recanting all the ways in which her plans at matchmaking could have serious repercussions for all those involved. Given his feelings towards Nejima himself, Nisaka is all too aware of how much of his best friend’s life he could ruin if he were to ever even think about pursuing that kind of love.

There is no greater example of this than the conversation he has with Nejima the day after their camping trip. Thinking the other boy had finally figured out his feelings, Nisaka is all too quick to apologize for them. “Just do whatever you want,” he tells Nejima, “I’ll work with that.” There is no grand confession, no overture of intention, not even an imploring look of hope. Before it’s even begun, Nisaka has already given up, and has settled for simply working with whatever Nejima will give him.

It’s frankly made him a little bitter and vindictive. Perceptive enough to realize both Nejima and Misaki’s feelings for one another, he doesn’t hesitate to call Misaki’s attention over to a picture of Nejima’s new and pretty fiancé. There’s no denying the almost sadistic look of pleasure on his face when he tries to make a scene out of it, despite his overall casualness over the affair. In fact, if there’s anything more likely to fuel him into doing anything, it’s this underlying feeling of acrimony towards the hopelessness of his own situation. He’s well aware he’ll never get the life he wants, no matter how pretty or smart or fun his arranged fiancé turns out to be, and it has only made him resigned to a future of unhappiness.

Abilities: Nisaka is a regular human so he holds no special powers or abilities. He’s been noted to be good at basically everything he does, but due to his lackadaisical nature, he doesn’t really excel in anything apart from his grades – and even then, he doesn’t appear to be a genius so much as naturally apt at studying.

Samples

Dialogue: voicetesting post
Exposition/Introspection: TDM toplevel