"You gotta think outside the box." Ōharano Etsugo
Ooharano Etsugo ( 大原野越吾 ) is a first-year stand-off on the Kanagawa High School Rugby Club and the tritagonist of the series. He is Jinkou's most experienced player, having played rugby since he was in the fourth grade.
Appearance[]
Ooharano has golden eyes, arched eyebrows, and an up-turned nose. His hair is golden blond and wavy, reaching to just below his chin, and he has a double-ahoge that gives the appearance of two antennae. Ooharano is of average height and has a pear-shaped build with a trim waist, wide hips, and somewhat thick, muscular thighs. He has much more muscletone than most of Jinkou's backs because of his background of rugby experience.
He is generally regarded as one of the best-looking members of the Jinkou rugby club, and it is said that girls at school are incredibly attracted to his appearance but can't stand his personality[1]. He was also the first pick to model the rugby team's new windbreakers.
He wears the regular Jinkou boys' school uniform, a white button-up and black slacks, but he is rarely seen wearing the optional gakuran. The jersey he wears during games is the proper team uniform: a red jersey with black stripes running horizontally around the chest, the kanji for Kanagawa written on the left side of the chest, and the number 10 on his back to denote his position, and of course white shorts and a white helmet, During practice, he swaps the team jersey for a black polo with two white vertical stripes drawn down the chest.
Outside of school and rugby, he can be seen wearing unzipped hoodies layered over t-shirts and shorts, which are usually a similar length to his rugby shorts. In one promotional image, he is wearing black leggings beneath his shorts.
Personality[]
Ooharano is jaded, sarcastic, and above-it-all, carrying himself with a demeanor of superiority. He has been described as a prince and a rockstar because of his attitude.[2] He likes to hold an image of being cool and collected, but in reality, he has a short temper and poor emotional control. Also, his social skills are severely lacking.
Ooharano has admitted to having a brother complex. He cares about his little brother, Tatsuru, more than anyone or anything else in the world. Ooharano is very protective and loyal to a fault, but because of his low emotional intelligence, he doesn’t understand what Tatsuru wants or needs from him. Still, all Ooharano wants is to be a good big brother, even if he doesn’t know how exactly to achieve that.
His philosophy on success is that the only person you should be comparing yourself to is yourself. He believes that everyone has strengths they can tap into, even if they are not obvious or conventional. He also believes that you can turn your weaknesses into strengths, if you know how to use them.
Ooharano speaks using polite language, but he says very disrespectful things. He is prone to making death threats when agitated.
Skills[]
Game Sense[]
As the most experienced first-year in the team, he orchestrates the offense, and can set up intricate and advanced set plays like dummy passes, and flat skip passes to a second receiver past the player next him or cross-field grubber kicks, where the ball travels forward and bounces along the grass, and drop kicks over three forwards. The trouble is: His skills are far superior to any other backs in the team, who have only played for less than two years.
Graceful Dodging[]
Cross-field kicks[]
Normally a right-footed player, he can make cross-field punts with his left foot, but his left-footed conversions are not as accurate from wide out.
Reverse Kick[]
Trivia[]
- Ooharano's phone case has an image of Moomintroll on it, suggesting he is a fan of the Moomins franchise.
- He owns a Pomeranian named Pomekichi who gets tired easily and dislikes exercise, even though Ooharano walks him nearly every day. During junior high, Pomekichi was his only friend.
- Before committing to rugby, he played both soccer and baseball. This makes him one of four known members of the Jinkou rugby club to have previous soccer experience, and one of three to have baseball experience.
- The other soccer players are Kifune, Ebumi, and Maroudo.
- The other baseball players are Shinshi and Kibi.
- Bowling is the only sport he doesn't have a natural talent for.
From chapter 6 of the manga
