| Ritsu Kisaragi | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Ritsu Kisaragi |
| Birthdate | June 6th |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair Color | Blue |
| Eye Color | Yellow |
| Height | 178 cm (5'8") |
| Known Relatives | Kyoya Kisaragi (younger brother) |
| Allegiance | |
| |
| Additional Information | |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Grade | Third Year Class A |
| Occupation | Violinist Orchestra Club President Head Dormitory High School Student |
| Real World | |
| Manga | Volume 1 Chapter 0 |
| Anime | Season 3 Episode 1 |
| Created by | Yuki Kure |
| Voiced by | Katsuyuki Konishi (Anime & Game) |
| Other Information | |
|
La Corda D'oro Blue Sky | |
Ritsu Kisaragi (如月 律 Kisaragi Ritsu) is the current president of the Seiso Orchestra Club and head of the Linden Hall Dormitory. He is the older brother of Kyoya Kisaragi and a childhood friend of Kanade Kohinata who is a third year student thus his shirt is embossed with the blue color of the third year students. It should be noted that unlike in the first Kiniro no Corda year color specialization has changed: red for first years, green for second years and blue for third years. Also, the anime specialized in the summer uniforms meaning that majority of the uniforms are white and blue mixed with the year color specializations.
Appearance[]
Ritsu has blue hair that has bangs going on either side, yellow eyes and oval-shaped glasses.
He wore standard summer uniform of Seiso Academy.
Personality[]
Ritsu is a calm and pragmatic guy who exhibits his true qualities of being a music prodigy and he adopts a rational approach when faced with difficult or tricky situations. He functions as the "brain" of the Orchestra club & often avoids showing any direct emotions. Violin and music are both very important to him. He is shown to be a very cold person (as noted by Kanade when she sees him after a very long time in the first episode). He decides things for himself and for others, Despite being cold, he does trust and cares about the people close to him. When he was younger, he was shown to be very kind and cheerful who would often help out Kanade Kohinata. At one point in the anime it is indicated that Ritsu was Kanade's first love due to his cheerful and loving nature towards her. His sole aim is to defeat all the other prominent schools in Japan, in the National Concours and to make Seiso Gakuen, the No. 1 in Japan. His willingness to sacrifice in order to achieve his goal has ended up taking a toll on his health.
In actuality, his coldness and brusqueness is fostered by an inability to understand why he could not initially succeed in Nagano. It was when he decided to leave that he blatantly tells Kyoya and Kanade that he doesn't care even if he has to abandon them but wants to achieve his dreams. Due to this attitude he actually made a great divide between himself and his younger brother which though he subtly tries to repair when Kanade and Kyoya come to Seiso it becomes apparent it will need time and also genuine dedication in his part to do so (as Kyoya directly and openly shows his animosity towards him). This could be why Kyoya was selected as first violin by him to face Jinnan High School. Chiaki Tougane is his respected rival and he wanted his brother to fight for him and give him a chance to either abandon or fight for him. Initially, Kyoya is hostile but Ritsu does this because at that time music is the only way he knows how to bond (though Kanade is also as unfocused at first as Kyoya maybe he also chose Kyoya for he has better merit in the beginning it might be his personal reason). This somewhat makes them a bit less ambivalent though it can be noted that Ritsu does need to work more.
Ritsu may have realized his selfishness and aloof personality at the end because at the start of the anime he doesn't even warmly called Kanade "Kanade" but "Kohinata-kun" as a senpai would do to a kouhai making Kanade very sad at his distant and changed personality. It could be that he was confused by his non-fame as a cheerful kid so wanted to adopt a more aggressive attitude to succeed as he grew older. Due to his loneliness because of this distance (which he brought on himself) and his ambitious streak he developed a cold exterior to probably not think much on it and be socially acceptable.
Though it is a momentary lapse he can't play the violin for a while due to his hand being so hurt. Despite that he has natural leadership qualities and decided to still serve as tutor and maestro for the ensemble.
At the end of the anime he is shown to be more cheerful not only because he attained his goal but because he has seemingly realized his shortcomings. In his inner monologue he finally warmly calls Kanade "Kanade" reminiscing fondly how he met Lili and told him so earnestly about her as a talented violinist and getting the ring from him. It can be said that he finally reclaimed his genuine love and affection for Kanade though if these are strictly friendly or just plain attractive or a blooming of a romance is not discerned.
In the anime, he is the only person who has seen Lili in this installment of Kiniro no Corda as opposed to the original series where Kahoko Hino and Akihiko Kira could both see him.
In his game route as depicted by 4shiki site that his personality does develop from his cold barricades to his former cheerfulness with Kanade but he needs nudging to express himself. If Kanade does chose him he does at one point warmly confesses his love for her and decides to officially date her with no problems whatsoever.
History[]
When Ritsu was younger, he decided on his own to leave his hometown and enter Seiso Academy where he could learn more about the violin. He tells Kyoya Kisaragi that if he ever stayed back at their hometown, he wouldn't be able to progress as much as he wanted to know more about the world of music and the need to face more difficult and challenging rivals, leaving Kyoya and Kanade Kohinata behind.
Two years prior to the start of the series, Chiaki Tougane and Ritsu were the competing finalists in the solo division at a national competition. Ritsu won the event, but there was a judge who gave Chiaki's performance a score of zero, which was Genichi Tougane where Chiaki wants his father to approve his music in this rematch against Ritsu.
Later on, it's also shown that Ritsu met Lili and Lili gave him the ring that Kanade is now wearing, although he isn't sure if that meeting was a dream or not.
Etymology[]
- The name Ritsu means "law" (律).
- Ritsu's surname Kisaragi means "like" (如) (kisa) and "moon" (月) (ragi).