Player Name: Otter E-mail: themodestotter (at) gmail (dot) com Preferred Contact: AIM: Otterbeans (But Email or PMing forsaintcecilia would be fastest) Timezone: US Central Current Characters in Victory Road: N/A
Character Name: Kazuki Hihara Series: La Corda d’Oro Timeline: Post Manga End Canon Resource Links:Here’s the Wikipedia page. HOWEVER, this canon is super duper obscure and old to boot, so… here’s a full history, because you’re probably gonna need it.
Just a warning: Kazuki is from one of those canons that is ridiculously huge in Japan. He’s originally from an otome (male harem datesim) game that as of now has 6 iterations, all of which he is in, a manga adaptation, an anime adaptation of the manga adaptation, drama cds, live concerts… Like I said, ridiculous. I’m mainly taking him from the manga/anime but I have also played a few of the games and listened to drama cds so if it’s alright I might slip in happenings from them on occasion too. But it’ll still mostly be manga/anime since that’s the easiest to keep up with. The extra fluff is just that: Fluff. None of it changes his basic character. If this bother you just let me know, and I’ll reel back a bit.
Starting off with some basic information: La Corda d’Oro is a male harem game/manga/anime, in which Kazuki is one of the dateable characters. The plot revolves around the player character, adapted as Kahoko Hino in the manga/anime, receiving a magic violin from a fairy and then being forced to participate in her school’s music contest. The dateable boys in the series are all participants in said contest, and all play different instruments. Kazuki is a third year and plays the trumpet. His bff is Azuma Yunoki, who is in the same class as him and plays the flute.
Kazuki is one of those characters that is completely unburdened by any sort of sordid past. He has a mom and a dad and an older brother that are all nice adjusted people just as he is very nice and adjusted. His childhood was totally normal. He was very energetic and quite the athlete. In middle school he was the fastest runner on the track team. However, he never had much interest in competition. Not because he felt unchallenged or superior, just that he didn’t have the drive to be better than others. He lacked a competitive spirit. He just wanted to have fun!
It was at that time that he discovered the trumpet. An upperclassman played it, and he was mesmerized by the instrument. When he got his first chance to play it, he immediately fell in love. Instead of having to focus his concentration, he felt like he could be free and let all his energy out into song. He then quit the track team and joined the orchestra club. He stills likes sports a lot (especially basketball!), and jogs every morning, but now he doesn’t worry about competition anymore.
It was pretty late in Kazuki’s life to get into music, especially compared to all the other contestants (aside from Kahoko of course). As a result, his music isn’t quite as refined as the others. For example, he’s not very good at overly technical pieces. However, he has a very likeable and accessible style that takes advantage of his energetic nature. He also likes to play familiar songs, like pieces from soundtracks, so he has appeal with the non-classical music crowd as well. When he was announced to be a participant in the contest, he was very happy about it, although he never showed any real interest in winning. Again, it’s just a chance to have fun to him, and to introduce more people to the joys of music!
Fast forward to the time of the contest, where the manga starts. Kazuki’s story arc focuses very heavily on his infatuation with the heroine. Kazuki, at first, was very big-brotherly towards Kahoko. When she struggled with the violin at the beginning, he was the one that told her to relax and just go with it, because “music is supposed to be fun”! She was often thankful for his good cheer and kind words, and he helped her out of a few sticky situations. As they met and spoke more and more, he became more and more smitten; he liked her honest nature, her music, and her attention.
This is run of the mill, considering that this is an otome we are talking about and it’s inevitable that all the guys fall in love with her, duh. Kazuki only stood out in being the first to realize that he’d fallen in love with her. For a while this made him even more cheerful than he was regularly, which was impressive considering his already extremely upbeat nature. But things don’t go so well for Kazuki.
Because of her magic violin, Kahoko began to feel guilty about her participation in the contest. After all, the rest of the contestants were people that had studied music for a long time and really worked hard for what they have. She was obviously upset, and Kazuki noticed. He’s an emotional guy and people around him being upset makes him upset too, especially for someone that he likes so much. But instead of letting him help her like usual, she ran away. He realized then that he was not as important to her as he would have liked to be. Later, a pep talk from him did encourage her to continue with the contest, but it’s still not quite what he wanted. He wanted her attention and was losing out pretty badly to Len other contestants.
His depression affected his performance in the third round of the contest and he did tremendously badly. He just couldn’t play the trumpet when he wasn’t happy. To rub salt in the wound, Kahoko already felt better thanks to Len, so there was no excuse for Kazuki’s behavior other than jealousy. When she came to check on him after his poor performance, he had a hard time explaining himself to her, and mumbled to himself, “why can’t it be me?” She reached out to see if he was alright, and he gently hit her hand away then ran off in a fluster and apologies.
He then went to Azuma with the most obvious use of the “I have a friend” gambit ever known to man, and said that his “friend” messed up bad and wanted to apologize to the girl he likes, and wondered if he should just tell her how he feels. Azuma replied saying that telling her his feelings may make him feel better, but what about her? Did she really need that in her life? This of course confused our very simple Kazuki, and he had to take some time to work it all out in his head and his heart.
Later, he decided to try and practice his trumpet in the park. There, he ran into Kahoko. She suggested that they play together, but he was unsure of himself, and told her he wasn’t up to snuff these days. Noticing that he was feeling depressed, she reminded him of what he told her when they first spoke: “music is supposed to be fun”! Here he had an epiphany and realized he didn’t have to force his feelings on her. He should just be who he was, and have faith that someday she might find his feelings on her own, and accept him.
(She doesn’t. She picks Len, because he’s the default love interest. Poor Kazuki never had a chance.)
His next big story contribution has more to do with Azuma-- After the contest is over, Kazuki found out that Azuma wasn’t planning to continue with music as a career. This was because he’s from one of those crazy old families that is famous for flower arrangement and he’s the third son and has to support the family and blah blah blah that’s another story entirely. But this concerned Kazuki a lot, because despite Azuma’s cool appearance, Kazuki knew he loved the flute. They grew distant because Kazuki didn’t know what to do, and Azuma was avoiding him.
During this time, Kazuki accidentally became an idol.
No, seriously.
His mother was asked by a co-worker to help out with a commercial shoot where they needed an amateur trumpet player. Kazuki didn’t want to, but she hassled him into it. At first they only meant to use his hands as he played, but the producer noticed that he was fucking adorable and a good fit visually, and suggested they use him for the full shoot. Easily bullied, Kazuki ended up being the model for the commercial. And of course, everyone saw it.
He got really popular at school, completely against his will. From this point on in the manga he spent half his time running the hell away from fangirls because they scared the crap out of him.
But this brought up the opportunity for him and Azuma to have another important encounter. After the commercial’s success, Kazuki was invited to go to an after party thrown by the producer, who turns out to be a cousin of Azuma. Azuma is there too of course, who had bullied Kahoko into coming with him. Azuma knew Kazuki would be there and since Azuma also knew Kazuki still had a raging crush on her, this was doing him a favor. At least, that’s what we’re led to believe. Azuma’s intentions are hardly ever clear.
Kazuki mentioned to the producer that Azuma is a friend of his, and he commented that Azuma had gone about his education in an undedicated manner by going to a school that concentrated on music. Kazuki loudly protested this, by saying that Azuma was wonderful, well liked by all, an amazing musician, and that there was no way all of that could be a waste. At the same time, Kahoko was trying to get Azuma to talk to Kazuki and make up, and Azuma overheard. He broke them up, and apologized to his cousin for Kazuki’s behavior, who apologized in turn for what he had said.
Azuma told Kazuki that he wasn’t sure about his future yet, but made up with him, saying that despite anything, he was glad that he was his friend. In the end, Azuma stood up to the matriarch of his family when he decided to continue on with his music education, and he winds up giving credit for this to both Kazuki and Kahoko.
That’s pretty much it… Nearly every detail of Kazuki’s part in Corda ever. He's kind a B-lister on the dateable boys roster, so he really doesn't get any more attention from the canon. as much as it saddens me.
How did he react to Kahoko confessing to Len, and vice versa? Unfortunately we don't really know. The manga and anime just kind of end there. However, I can't imagine him being terribly bereft over it. He matures a little over the course of the story, so I think he would just be happy that Kahoko is happy.
In the future, he plans to go to the Seisou affiliated college and become a music teacher! And this actually does happen, he shows up in Kiniro no Corda 3, a later installment of the game series, aged up as a teacher to the new player character. Hot. He is the sole character from the original cast to appear in later games.
Kazuki Hihara | La Corda d'Oro 1/2
Name: Otter
E-mail: themodestotter (at) gmail (dot) com
Preferred Contact: AIM: Otterbeans (But Email or PMing forsaintcecilia would be fastest)
Timezone: US Central
Current Characters in Victory Road: N/A
Character
Name: Kazuki Hihara
Series: La Corda d’Oro
Timeline: Post Manga End
Canon Resource Links: Here’s the Wikipedia page. HOWEVER, this canon is super duper obscure and old to boot, so… here’s a full history, because you’re probably gonna need it.
Just a warning: Kazuki is from one of those canons that is ridiculously huge in Japan. He’s originally from an otome (male harem datesim) game that as of now has 6 iterations, all of which he is in, a manga adaptation, an anime adaptation of the manga adaptation, drama cds, live concerts… Like I said, ridiculous. I’m mainly taking him from the manga/anime but I have also played a few of the games and listened to drama cds so if it’s alright I might slip in happenings from them on occasion too. But it’ll still mostly be manga/anime since that’s the easiest to keep up with. The extra fluff is just that: Fluff. None of it changes his basic character. If this bother you just let me know, and I’ll reel back a bit.
Starting off with some basic information: La Corda d’Oro is a male harem game/manga/anime, in which Kazuki is one of the dateable characters. The plot revolves around the player character, adapted as Kahoko Hino in the manga/anime, receiving a magic violin from a fairy and then being forced to participate in her school’s music contest. The dateable boys in the series are all participants in said contest, and all play different instruments. Kazuki is a third year and plays the trumpet. His bff is Azuma Yunoki, who is in the same class as him and plays the flute.
Kazuki is one of those characters that is completely unburdened by any sort of sordid past. He has a mom and a dad and an older brother that are all nice adjusted people just as he is very nice and adjusted. His childhood was totally normal. He was very energetic and quite the athlete. In middle school he was the fastest runner on the track team. However, he never had much interest in competition. Not because he felt unchallenged or superior, just that he didn’t have the drive to be better than others. He lacked a competitive spirit. He just wanted to have fun!
It was at that time that he discovered the trumpet. An upperclassman played it, and he was mesmerized by the instrument. When he got his first chance to play it, he immediately fell in love. Instead of having to focus his concentration, he felt like he could be free and let all his energy out into song. He then quit the track team and joined the orchestra club. He stills likes sports a lot (especially basketball!), and jogs every morning, but now he doesn’t worry about competition anymore.
It was pretty late in Kazuki’s life to get into music, especially compared to all the other contestants (aside from Kahoko of course). As a result, his music isn’t quite as refined as the others. For example, he’s not very good at overly technical pieces. However, he has a very likeable and accessible style that takes advantage of his energetic nature. He also likes to play familiar songs, like pieces from soundtracks, so he has appeal with the non-classical music crowd as well. When he was announced to be a participant in the contest, he was very happy about it, although he never showed any real interest in winning. Again, it’s just a chance to have fun to him, and to introduce more people to the joys of music!
Fast forward to the time of the contest, where the manga starts. Kazuki’s story arc focuses very heavily on his infatuation with the heroine. Kazuki, at first, was very big-brotherly towards Kahoko. When she struggled with the violin at the beginning, he was the one that told her to relax and just go with it, because “music is supposed to be fun”! She was often thankful for his good cheer and kind words, and he helped her out of a few sticky situations. As they met and spoke more and more, he became more and more smitten; he liked her honest nature, her music, and her attention.
This is run of the mill, considering that this is an otome we are talking about and it’s inevitable that all the guys fall in love with her, duh. Kazuki only stood out in being the first to realize that he’d fallen in love with her. For a while this made him even more cheerful than he was regularly, which was impressive considering his already extremely upbeat nature. But things don’t go so well for Kazuki.
Because of her magic violin, Kahoko began to feel guilty about her participation in the contest. After all, the rest of the contestants were people that had studied music for a long time and really worked hard for what they have. She was obviously upset, and Kazuki noticed. He’s an emotional guy and people around him being upset makes him upset too, especially for someone that he likes so much. But instead of letting him help her like usual, she ran away. He realized then that he was not as important to her as he would have liked to be. Later, a pep talk from him did encourage her to continue with the contest, but it’s still not quite what he wanted. He wanted her attention and was losing out pretty badly to
Lenother contestants.His depression affected his performance in the third round of the contest and he did tremendously badly. He just couldn’t play the trumpet when he wasn’t happy. To rub salt in the wound, Kahoko already felt better thanks to Len, so there was no excuse for Kazuki’s behavior other than jealousy. When she came to check on him after his poor performance, he had a hard time explaining himself to her, and mumbled to himself, “why can’t it be me?” She reached out to see if he was alright, and he gently hit her hand away then ran off in a fluster and apologies.
He then went to Azuma with the most obvious use of the “I have a friend” gambit ever known to man, and said that his “friend” messed up bad and wanted to apologize to the girl he likes, and wondered if he should just tell her how he feels. Azuma replied saying that telling her his feelings may make him feel better, but what about her? Did she really need that in her life? This of course confused our very simple Kazuki, and he had to take some time to work it all out in his head and his heart.
Later, he decided to try and practice his trumpet in the park. There, he ran into Kahoko. She suggested that they play together, but he was unsure of himself, and told her he wasn’t up to snuff these days. Noticing that he was feeling depressed, she reminded him of what he told her when they first spoke: “music is supposed to be fun”! Here he had an epiphany and realized he didn’t have to force his feelings on her. He should just be who he was, and have faith that someday she might find his feelings on her own, and accept him.
(She doesn’t. She picks Len, because he’s the default love interest. Poor Kazuki never had a chance.)
His next big story contribution has more to do with Azuma-- After the contest is over, Kazuki found out that Azuma wasn’t planning to continue with music as a career. This was because he’s from one of those crazy old families that is famous for flower arrangement and he’s the third son and has to support the family and blah blah blah that’s another story entirely. But this concerned Kazuki a lot, because despite Azuma’s cool appearance, Kazuki knew he loved the flute. They grew distant because Kazuki didn’t know what to do, and Azuma was avoiding him.
During this time, Kazuki accidentally became an idol.
No, seriously.
His mother was asked by a co-worker to help out with a commercial shoot where they needed an amateur trumpet player. Kazuki didn’t want to, but she hassled him into it. At first they only meant to use his hands as he played, but the producer noticed that he was fucking adorable and a good fit visually, and suggested they use him for the full shoot. Easily bullied, Kazuki ended up being the model for the commercial. And of course, everyone saw it.
He got really popular at school, completely against his will. From this point on in the manga he spent half his time running the hell away from fangirls because they scared the crap out of him.
But this brought up the opportunity for him and Azuma to have another important encounter. After the commercial’s success, Kazuki was invited to go to an after party thrown by the producer, who turns out to be a cousin of Azuma. Azuma is there too of course, who had bullied Kahoko into coming with him. Azuma knew Kazuki would be there and since Azuma also knew Kazuki still had a raging crush on her, this was doing him a favor. At least, that’s what we’re led to believe. Azuma’s intentions are hardly ever clear.
Kazuki mentioned to the producer that Azuma is a friend of his, and he commented that Azuma had gone about his education in an undedicated manner by going to a school that concentrated on music. Kazuki loudly protested this, by saying that Azuma was wonderful, well liked by all, an amazing musician, and that there was no way all of that could be a waste. At the same time, Kahoko was trying to get Azuma to talk to Kazuki and make up, and Azuma overheard. He broke them up, and apologized to his cousin for Kazuki’s behavior, who apologized in turn for what he had said.
Azuma told Kazuki that he wasn’t sure about his future yet, but made up with him, saying that despite anything, he was glad that he was his friend. In the end, Azuma stood up to the matriarch of his family when he decided to continue on with his music education, and he winds up giving credit for this to both Kazuki and Kahoko.
That’s pretty much it… Nearly every detail of Kazuki’s part in Corda ever. He's kind a B-lister on the dateable boys roster, so he really doesn't get any more attention from the canon. as much as it saddens me.
How did he react to Kahoko confessing to Len, and vice versa? Unfortunately we don't really know. The manga and anime just kind of end there. However, I can't imagine him being terribly bereft over it. He matures a little over the course of the story, so I think he would just be happy that Kahoko is happy.
In the future, he plans to go to the Seisou affiliated college and become a music teacher! And this actually does happen, he shows up in Kiniro no Corda 3, a later installment of the game series, aged up as a teacher to the new player character. Hot. He is the sole character from the original cast to appear in later games.