Makio Tanihara

Makio Tanihara (谷原マキオ Tanihara Makio^?) is a third-year high school student attending Kashi High School.

Appearance[]

Tanihara has short blue hair that stops near the top of his forehead and is parted on the left side. His eyes have a similar color and are often shown with tiny irises

His hair was slightly longer in junior high, and his eyes were less sharp.

Personality[]

Tanihara is a somewhat foul-mouthed and crude guy with a history of bullying others, notably Izumi Miyamura. However, in situations where he is uncomfortable, he becomes reticent and tends to internalize his thoughts while letting others act first. It's later implied that his behavior comes from an insecurity stemming from a need to fit in with his friends. After a dream involving Miyamura, he begins reflecting on his faults and seeks amends.

He has a slight fear of girls, partly due to the many girlfriends his womanizing brother brought home with him and his experiences with the many female characters in the series. Aside from this, he's relatively diligent, especially compared to his older brother.

Plot[]

In junior high, Tanihara was in the same friend group as Kouichi Shindou and ostracized Izumi Miyamura and the rest of the class. However, as Shindou began spending more time with Miyamura, they began falling out. He expresses worry at Shindou potentially being singled out by the class. At an unspecified time in junior high, he forgot to feed the school rabbits over summer break and blamed their deaths on Miyamura.

One day after entering high school, he recognizes Miyamura walking alongside Kyouko Hori and calls out to him. Though Tanihara tries to resume antagonizing him, Hori quickly repels him and his friend. He's seen later meeting with Shindou getting food, and looking roughed up as Tanihara recollects the events with Shindou, the latter wonders why Tanihara tries to talk to Miyamura despite claiming to hate him.

He later has a dream involving Miyamura that forces him to confront his antagonizing behavior and wrongful deeds. Upon waking him, he reaches out to an acquaintance to get Miyamura's phone number to reconnect. Due to Miyamura's phone being broken at the time, Tanihara couldn't contact him. Instead, he opts to visit his bakery and catches him just as the store is closing. A strained atmosphere between the two results in Miyamura recommending another shop, but Tanihara insists he wants to eat the cheesecake at his bakery. As Tanihara walks away, Miyamura recommends the fruit tarts as well. Tanihara expresses relief when he learns Miyamura's phone is broken rather than his calls being rejected. As he heads home, he reflects on feeling remorse and realizes he never had a reason to dislike Miyamura in the first place.

He is later seen spending time with Miyamura and Shindou about their past healing.

Relationships[]

Izumi Miyamura[]

In junior high, Tanihara shunned and bullied Miyamura and the rest of their class. Despite Kouichi Shindou becoming friends with Miyamura and sticking up for him, Tanihara and his friends continued antagonizing him. In high school, a chance encounter between the two began with Tanihara resuming his verbal abuse. However, Kyouko Hori, who was with Miyamura then, beat up Tanihara. Later, after witnessing Miyamura being violent with Hori, he came to fear Miyamura, thinking he was now even more dangerous than Hori.

As Miyamura began to pursue a friendship with Tanihara, he was initially resistant, partially worried that Miyamura was trying to pursue him romantically. However, after spending much time together, he now considers them friends, and he, Miyamura, and Shindou can often be seen together.

Kouichi Shindou[]

Tanihara and Shindou are friends from junior high school before they had a slight falling out after Shindou began spending more time with Izumi Miyamura, but they continued their friendship through high school. After Miyamura is added to their group, Tanihara plays the straight-man role, trying to keep Shindou (and Miyamura) in check. He sometimes gets tutoring from Shindou and is described as a quick learner once it's explained to him.

Yuuna Okuyama[]

Okuyama has taken a liking to Tanihara, despite his claims of not being good with children, and treats him like an older brother or guardian. While Tanihara does nothing to foster this image, he does not actively discourage it. Although Tanihara usually stays silent with Okuyama, she makes up for it, often telling him the details of her day, just like a child would tell a parent. On the rare occasions when he speaks, it's usually to give her brotherly advice or consolation. Tanihara also seems unaware of Okuyama's real name, usually referring to her as "Margarita", the stuffed animal Hori gave her.

Youji Tanihara[]

Youji is Makio's older brother whom he frequently badmouths where he is usually calling him a useless NEET or other similar terms.

Makio views Youji as unreliable, and Youji, with all his requests to borrow money and his playing around with girls, does nothing to counteract this image.

Kyouko Hori[]

Tanihara is deathly afraid of Hori. After getting beat up by her during their first meeting, he views her as an oni and, later, after seeing her jealous side, a hanya. This also makes him (initially) even more afraid of both Izumi Miyamura and Kakeru Sengoku as he witnesses them hitting Hori without her retaliating, making him think they're even more powerful than her.