Kensuke Hanasaki

**Kensuke Hanasaki** (花崎健介 *Hanasaki Kensuke*) is one of the two main protagonists of *Trickster: Edogawa Ranpo 'Shōnen Tantei-dan Yori*. He is a member of the Boy Detectives Club.

## Physical Appearance

Hanasaki is an average-sized teenager with flat brown hair, sky blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin.

Despite how thin he may look in his clothes, Hanasaki has a considerable amount of muscle. In school he wears the standard school uniform, outside of school, Hanasaki wears an orange tracksuit with a red streak down the sides, black running shoes, and grey briefs.

## Personality

   Hanasaki is a very energetic and confident boy who is described by as a "*Hardcore Aldrenaline Junkie, living for those thrills*" by Makoto Noro*.* Through his own initiative he is good at acting on his own which has been responsible for several successful missions. He is quick at taking action immediately whenever his sense of justice is stirred and he hold his own against multiple threats. One such instance was dispatching more than one thug threatening a girl. Hanasaki is also very adaptable, thinking nothing of jumping out a building and using gadgets to cushion the fall, to wielding a machine gun and infiltrating Twenty Faces sky fortress itself.

However, he also can be mean and rude when he is angered. As some would describe, he can be a "spoiled brat".

Hanasaki's determination can be lost in translation such as with interactions with Kobayashi. When he discovered information about his brother naturally he wanted to find out more but Kobayashi mistook this for Hanasaki ignoring him.

## History

Kensuke was an orphan and was adopted into the Hanasaki family. That is where he met Haruhiko, his stepbrother. Even though they were not related by blood, they acted like real siblings.

Mr. Hanasaki wanted to send Kensuke back to the orphanage, but Haruhiko was against it and therefore he disappeared and Kensuke became the eldest son.

## Synopsis

Hanasaki proves himself an accomplished and practical member of the Boys Detective Club. He comes across Kobayashi during a mission he was undertaking as part of a mission. Hanasaki is intrigued by this power of an impenetrable, destructive barrier and Kobayashi himself. He makes a promise to help Kobayashi end his torment from the mist that stops him from dying, as this was the only way of preventing Kobayashi of running away out of fear the barrier could kill someone.

Hanasaki and Kobayashi undertake missions with Hanasaki truly attempting to get Kobayashi to find something to live for and have fun together. He covers for him such as in instances of when Kobayashi's shield destroys the chains of a swing, and encourages Kobayashi.

Kensuke tried to ask Akechi to help find his brother, but he refused every time. In episode eight, Kensuke asks Akechi to help him become stronger.

With his brother found, out of frustration that Akechi knew all along, and from a lack of support from unresponsive people around him, these pressures culminated in Hanasaki being captured by Twenty Faces. Subject to a drink that contained Twenty Faces brain washing properties, Hanasaki is manipulated by Twenty Faces against Akechi and the Boys Detective Club. Twenty Faces uses Hanasaki to lure Akechi into a trap, though Akechi ventures by himself to rescue Hanasaki anyway. Kobayashi also manages to go where he is and is successful in rescuing Hanasaki.

After this incident Hanasaki experiences physical conditions resulting from the stress of the kidnapping and brainwashing he was subjected to. Akechi has also disappeared and the non-understanding members of the boys detective club are also of no help to him. They have little concept of the predicament Hanasaki was in, from the knowledge that Akechi wasn't helping him in the one way he asked for, namely finding his brother (for his part Akechi felt that Hanasaki was better off with his his brother out of his life). The lack of support from his supposed friends was another factor in Hanasaki rightfully needing some space from his unsupportive peers. The members also seem completely oblivious to the fact Hanasaki was brainwashed by a drink from Twenty Faces himself and unjustifiably are not there for him when Hanasaki needs it.

Kobayashi, despite his circumstances does attempt to be there for Hanasaki, and the school therapist and other support is on hand to help Hanasaki from these ordeals. Understandably from everything, Hanasaki still needs his time and one day he shrugs off the interaction from some thugs and meets a young man called Hide. He has just finished filling the van of the previous thugs with bags of rubbish as payback for their littering. Impressed with this, and with Hide's charm Hanasaki finds himself returning to the upbeat, confidant go getter he himself was and can become again to a much greater extent.

He walks back with Hide but still under the weather, he is hesitant when he is told other people will be there. Hide reassures him that won't be the case and when they meet the other self styled hooligans, Hanasaki finds himself returning to who he was before, laughing and joking with Hide and the other people present. Their planned feast is cut short when Hide places bullet proof armour on Hanasaki, that him and the other hooligans are also wearing. They plan to carry out vigilante justice on a murderer on behalf of a mother and Hide wants Hanasaki to join in.

On the way, Hanasaki confirms that he likes Hide, and likewise, but he felt he had to be on the other of this conflict with Kobayashi who will also be there. During the incident Hanasaki returns to Kobayashi where the latter throws himself infront of a bullet firing towards Hanasaki. Everything Kobayashi had done, despite Hanasaki's efforts was focused around an absolute and strong desire of dying. Seemingly mortally wounded, Hanasaki and Ryo still manage to transport the cloth Kobayashi fell on and transport him back to the club base. With Kobayashi's wish seemingly being fulfilled, and with nothing left for him at the club, Hansaki takes a suddenly arrived Hide's proposal to leave with him, taking the lead down to the exit.

Hanasaki begins ignoring calls from everyone, and in a surprise visit from Hide he tells him he can’t just be another one of his hooligans, and that when Hanasaki tries in things they don’t work out. For now he seems focused on the expansion to his house for the arrival of his brother and possibly a new renovation for Kobayashi to live in.

He then decides what he wants to do is see Kobayashi and the two of them are reunited with Hanasaki returning to the Boys Detectives Club. Kobayashi has been pained by flashbacks and so they mean to investigate a location with a Ferris wheel for answers. Ryo isn’t exactly forthcoming, being difficult by not putting the past in the past, and because of that Hanasaki stays whilst him and Kobayashi travel to the destination. It takes Noro resorting to her owl to pester Hanasaki into changing his mind, of which he does. Calling Hide and Furukawa they both arrive to transport Hanasaki where he re-joins Kobayashi.

They investigate Kobayashi’s old house before they leave to intervene in an incident where they are responsible for saving a man’s life.

In response to Twenty Faces attack, a machine gun wielding Hanasaki uses his weapons and gadgets to fight back and evade the assault from enemy robots. Taking charge of the situation he manages a daring infiltration of Twenty Faces sky base where, along with Akechi, and Kobayashi they manage to stop Twenty faces plans before falling into the sea from the destructing fortress. He reaches for and manages to gather Kobayashi and together they manage to make it through and stay together with them now both official members of the newly established Boys Detective Club headed by Ryo.

## Relationships

### Yoshio Kobayashi

Out of fascination and decency, Hanasaki was apparently the first person to take an interest in Kobayashi. Even with Kobayashi refusing all human contact, Hansaki never gave up on him, buying him food to eat and keeping him company. He told Kobayashi he would help him fulfil his wish to stop him running away but his true purpose was to give him purpose and joy in life.

Despite the literal and metaphorical barrier, Kobayashi also furthered the deep bond between him and Hanasaki. He returned the care Hanasaki had shown him in his own way by getting Hanasaki for missions thinking that would help after the incident.

Despite wanting to die, his shield going down when he was around Hansaki was very strong evidence that he wanted to live around him. Kobayashi moved infront of a bullet aimed at Hansaki to defend him. He cried when he felt Hanasaki was leaving him. He done the previously unprecedented thing of calling Hanasaki and following him all the way to Twenty Faces sky fortress to help Hanasaki.

### Hide

Hanasaki finds Hide when he is at a low point from the pressures he was weathering. Hide's forward, bright and cheerful personality is exactly what Hanasaki needed considering what he had endured. They formed a instant friendship with them able to feel at ease and joke around one another. Even though Hide may have originally wanted another member of his self styled hooligan gang, even coming to the Boys Detective Club to pick Hanasaki up, evidently he thought more of that for Hanasaki. Hide went to the lengths of getting a construction workers job to meet Hanasaki again after he was ignoring his calls, needing time to himself. He said to get him involved if Hanasaki wanted to rejoin the Boys Detective Club and thought nothing of using his van to collect Hanasaki and bring him to where Kobayashi was. He took part in a mission but left them to iron out their differences with other members of the club. He also took the limited opportunity to take part in his own mission but overall Hide was a very good friend for Hanasaki and vice versa for now and the future.

## Etymology

* The name **Kensuke** means "healthy, strong" (健) (**ken**) and "forerunner, herald" (介) (**suke**).
* Kensuke's surname **Hanasaki** means "flower, blossom" (花) (**hana**) and "cape, peninsula" (崎) (**saki**).
	+ **Hanasaki** 「花咲」 translates as roughly "blooming flower", which is seen from "I'll make flowers bloom all around the world with my smile", a lyric from "Kimi Dake No Boku De Iru Kara" in Opening 1.

## Trivia

♦ Hanasaki has to go to school once every month when it's required.