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ANYWAY. Back to Kirihara. I didn't really notice Kirihara at first, actually. When I first laid eyes on Rikkaidai, my attention sprung, almost instantly, at Yukimura, for no other [good] reason than, "Whoa, he looks super girly. I like him." I've watched most of the Tenipuri anime series (believe me, it was DIFFICULT watching some of my favorite players lose), and paid especially great attention to the Vs. Rikkaidai arc, mainly because that's an important standpoint for Seigaku. Heading off to represent Kanto. MMM-mmm-mmm. I don't think Kirihara was ever the type to get instantly liked either. Considering his brash personality and style of tennis. And more importantly, if you're a Fuji Syusuke rabid fangirl who dislikes watching Fuji lose (.... in a way, I kind of want Fuji to lose, for character development purposes, Fuji squirming in defeat would be a very interesting find), you're probably going to find Kirihara quite annoying. Yeah, he's really annoying, and in my standards, he's not the best looking character in Tenipuri. To be honest, when I was watching the VS. Rikkaidai arc, I felt like I was watching a child [Kirihara] getting jealous of another kid's awesome skills - that is, when he was in a match with Fuji. I don't think it was until the Junior Selection camp thing.. was when my mind began to open up to this "Kirihara" that was so highly spoken of among Rikkaidai. I noted him for his demonic eyes and dirty style of tennis, but that was about it. I just labeled him "gay" like alot of other characters. He actually went through and made some effort to change in the Junior Selection arc [I favor the anime side, please remember that, the manga side shows no change in his aggressive personality]. It made you feel kind of sorry for him, because everyone else thought he'd be a demon and totally injure everyone in practice matches!11 But he didn't. He shifted his style immediately. And while he still has tendencies to lick his lips when he's angry, he will not take his aggression out on injuring opponents. That's a giant leap. Especially for Kirihara, who I labeled "batshit crazy" and "gay" in the beginning. I instantly attached myself to him. I also favored Rikkaidai over Hyotei, which was a big plus, concerning my growing fandom for Kirihara.
What makes me like him is the way he tries to battle things all on a whim. He'll play tennis without formulating some sort of insanely well thought-out strategy, but works on alot of running around, tricking people, and brute force. It's kind of amusing to me. Red-eyes creepy demon mode sort of freaks me out, but that's all a part of his pride issues, and I can completely understand him. Well, understand him good enough, I guess. I can't really put myself in his disposition, but I imagine his path being a tough one - trying to be "number one" and beating Renji, Yukimura and Sanada. He doesn't remind me of me (some people like characters because they are reflections of themselves), but what draws me to him is his bad-boy attitude that never seems to die. In my eyes, he's a fearless, boundless, courageous individual that turns the heat on during a match when necessary. I'm not particularly fond of his manga counterpart, but I accept him. I favor his anime side more, because that change is what made me believe that he is not some mindless killing machine on a tennis court. Though I do think, in it's own creepy way, it's cute.
