 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This personality revolution only occurs in the anime, from what I understand. After Kirihara's embarassingly long match with Fuji during the Kanto Championship, he's made an effort to change. We don't see this until the Junior Selection Camp arc. He was one of the Rikkaidai that was selected for the camp, and [he was] stuck in the same group as Kamio [of Fudomine, Mr. Rhythm], which posed a problem for both of them. They really dislike eachother, Kamio and Kirihara, and yet, as the camp rolls along, they get a little more tolerant of eachother. You see, Kamio is another aggressive kind of character in the series, and I sort of see him in Kirihara's light, only less angry and more noisy. Kamio seems to hold a bit of a grudge towards Kirihara for injuring Tachibana, and Kirihara does nothing but provoke Kamio into playing a tennis match, instead of properly apologizing. It's quite obvious the arrogance in Kirihara's personality hasn't left him, but something else has. Kamio keeps refusing, and they end up in a psuedo-physical brawl.
Well. The drama doesn't stop there. One night, Kirihara is seen falling down the steps by Horio [a Seigaku first year in the tennis club, volunteering], and Horio spots someone at the top of the staircase, but he cannot see who it is - just a shadow of a figure running away. Kirihara isn't injured badly, but he seems to know who ran away. When his group meets up to check out his injuries, he says it's nothing, and to forget about it, because he fell down on his own. The others seem to think otherwise. They begin to suspect Kamio, who walks into the meeting room gleefully, with everyone staring at him in dismay. They explain the situation to Kamio, who denys it was him, and Kamio sets out to find the actual culprit, because it is, without a doubt, against his pride to be blamed for a crime he never commit.
The group (Ryuzaki's group includes Echizen, Momoshiro, Kamio, Kajimoto, Kamio, The Silver/Golden Pair, and Kirihara) tries to look around the premisis of the area where Kirihara had fallen to find clues (obviously, Kirihara just stood around with an annoyed face), and finally! Echizen had a lead. He found a small barette underneath.. something. It turns out that the culprit was An Tachibana, Kippei Tachibana's younger sister (2nd year, Fudomine, regular on girls' tennis team, a volunteer as well). And it also turns out she didn't push him, but intended to smack Kirihara's face for being such a wise-guy about her brother's condition (which was all thanks to him). An, during the night Kirihara got injured, confronted him about hurting people during camp. She says she wouldn't forgive him, but he's claimed he's changed. Instead of elaborating "change" (which would seem useless in trying to convince An, she's already set on believing he's an asshole), he changes to mocking her older brother, with his usual attitude. He's about to go downstairs, when she tries to slap his face, but he dodges it, and instead, falls down the steps, getting injured.
Why did I tell you this story? Because it shows how much people don't trust him, especially those who have witnessed Kirihara's daring feats on the tennis court. It really tells you that through this distrust (of others around him, and especially because the selected ones will become his teammates), began a spark of change within him. It's not that he needed to please An or other around him, but I believe he stopped injuring people because his pride wouldn't allow it any longer. The feeling of winning shouldn't be to shoot down your opponents, rather, to appreciate the fact that both of you gave it your all, and that's what counts. Thus, injuring his opponent would leave the theory I just mentioned, left in the dust, and all you'd have, if you walked down that path, is a limit that will be ready to be broken (as quoted from Sanada). You can tell that Kirihara struggled to change himself - the side that contained his "devil" had provoked him, in one scene from episode 138, and it had almost destroyed his spirit at one point. However, meeting with Echizen and playing a short practice match with him, really showed his teammates, and his [temporary] captain (Sanada) that the Junior Ace of Rikkaidai will not be underestimated, and furthermore, will not continue to injure people for a simple win. After all, the journey (game) is more important than the end or the start. so to speak. [STFU. Linkin Park is awesome.]
