Tsuyoshi Naoe

* Manga
* Anime

**Tsuyoshi Naoe**  (直江 剛, **Naoe Tsuyoshi**?), nicknamed **Tsuyopon** (つよぽん?), is one of the four male protagonists of the Nijiiro Days series. He is an otaku and the boyfriend of Yukiko Asai who has the same interests as him.

## Appearance

Tsuyoshi is a handsome young man of an average build and a shorter height with straight short dark-blue hair that he wears in side bangs where it mostly covers the left side of his face, his eyes are a lighter blue in comparison to his hair and he often wears a neutral (**not helping or supporting either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartial**/**having no strongly marked or positive characteristics or features**) face and earbuds.

He is often depicted in his school uniform or casual clothing when outside of school.

## Personality

Tsuyoshi is known to be a very stoic (**a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining**) and a quite unpredictable guy who is normally seen wearing a neutral expression, making it hard to read what he is thinking about. He is also quite an unpredictable guy and is not very good at reading the atmosphere. He says that he is quite antisocial and used to be a guy who didn't talk with people until they approached him. Prior to meeting Yukiko Asai; his girlfriend, he didn't have any interest in love or dating, and only focused on studying, hanging out with friends and live in the 2D world. He seems to live in his own little bubble and sometimes doesn't take his surroundings into consideration, and before he didn't really socialize with people and nor was he good at dealing with them.

Despite his quiet personality, he can become very talkative when talking about anime, manga, and games. However, he is a bit of embarrassed about this and doesn't tell people his hobbies and nor does he want people to find out. He is very smart and is the smartest one in the group, shown when he was the only one not to fail his tests and being one of the three (Anna Kobayakawa and Yukirin) to tutor his best friends. He is said to be quite lazy and an indoor-person who seems to be quite uninterested in things, but he is genuinely very nice, polite and caring, especially towards his girlfriend and friends. He is not very good at showing his emotions which is why he can come off as stubborn and dishonest at times. He also doesn't prefer being affectionate with Yukirin in public, saving it for when they are alone, and although he doesn't show it, he is actually head-over-heels for her.

## Background

Not much is known about Tsuyoshi's background, but he is the only child and lives with his parents.

One year before the start of the series, he and Yukiko Asai began dating.

## Relationships

### Yukiko Asai

Yukirin and Tsuyoshi are the only couple in the series that were already in a relationship before the start of the series. Despite having almost opposite personalities, Tsuyoshi treasures and loves Yukirin dearly where they also have same interest and hobbies, allowing them to have a "best friend love relationship" and sympathize with each other. They are both otakus and into games, but Yukirin is more into cosplay. He does not show much affection to her when they are around other people and expresses his love for her through body language (like holding her hand), but sometimes kisses her in public anyways. He cares for her deeply and he sometimes calls her a "Goddess". Even though Yukirin is the most straight-forward in their relationship, Tsuyoshi sometimes takes her out on dates and shows how much he appreciates and treasures her. Tsuyoshi has once claimed that Yukirin's smile is the cutest thing in the world in Chapter 41.5.

It is also later revealed in the manga that Yukirin was the first girl Tsuyoshi hung out with when they first met they met in a manga store, which Yukirin described as "fate". After that, they coincidentally met a second and third time. After this, they exchanged numbers and began to get closer to each other, but they couldn't meet often due them going to different schools. Tsuyoshi also mentioned that he was very comfortable being with her and that she was the first girl he called by first name. Because they were in the same age and had the same interest, they became very good friends. However, Tsuyoshi noticed that he felt something special towards her and that she was very special. One day, on Christmas, Tsuyoshi was sick and Yukirin decided to visit him. And there, their relationship blossomed as they realized their romantic feelings were mutual. On that day, Yukirin took care of him with a nurse outfit and he stated that it was the happiest Christmas he ever had.

They still remember how they met very fondly where Yukirin stated that the moment she met Tsuyoshi, she already knew that he was going to be her soulmate and Tsuyoshi has also said that he wants to be with her forever. They have been together for over a year and Tsuyoshi has also stated that ever since he met Yukirin, he has had a more fulfilling life.

In Episode 13, she comments on how "A while back, I went to Shiretoko with Tsuyopon. The open-air baths there were amazing, too! The scenery was breathtaking!" When Nozomi Matsunaga asks, "Do you go on a lot of vacations", Yukirin replies by saying, "Once in a while. We went to Tokyo during summer break!"

He later attends a university in Tokyo and continues a long distance relationship with Yukirin.

In **Vol. 16 Ch. 57.4**, although it was not fully shown, they had their first intimate relationship.

~ **Fun Fact**: If they ever were to get married, she would be known as **Yukiko Naoe** (直江 幸子, *Naoe Yukiko*) and they would have one or two children together with combined names and they would look like one/or both of their parents while they would also have the same personality as one/or both of their parents:

* A son named **Yoshiyuki Naoe** (a combined name of Tsu**yoshi** and **Yuki**ko) - (直江 義之, *Naoe Yoshiyuki*)
	+ **Appearance**: Yoshiyuki inherited his parent's traits such as:
		- Yukirin's black hair (it is said that Yukirin's natural hair color is black before she decided to dye it orange) and hairstyle (bangs parted in the middle)
		- Tsuyoshi's blue eyes
	+ **Personality**: Like his mother Yukirin, Yoshiyuki is a very kind and cheerful boy who always has a smile on his face.
* A daughter named **Tsukiko Naoe** (a combined name of **Tsu**yoshi and Yu**kiko**) - (直江 月子, *Naoe Tsukiko*) or **Yoshiko Naoe** - (a combined name of Tsu**yoshi** and Yuki**ko**) - (直江 芳子, *Naoe Yoshiko*)
	+ **Appearance**: Tsukiko/Yoshiko inherited her parent's traits such as:
		- Tsuyoshi's dark-blue hair color/hairstyle (bangs covering the left side of her face) except she has longer hair and neutral face expression
		- Yukirin's fuchsia-colored eyes
	+ **Personality**: Like her father Tsuyoshi, Tsukiko/Yoshiko is a stoic girl who always has a neutral expression on her face.

### Natsuki Hashiba, Keiichi Katakura and Tomoya Matsunaga

Tsuyoshi is best friends with Natsuki, Keiichi and Mattsun who have known each other for two years and are very close to each other. Although Tsuyoshi is quite lazy, he is shown to care deeply about his friends and he also supports them. Tsuyoshi also lets them copy his homework from time to time.

Natsuki, Keiichi and Tomoya laughing at Tsuyoshi's nickname **Tsuyoponnu**Tsuyoshi glaring at his friends for making fun of his nickname while Yukirin happily hugs him from behind
In Episode 3, they laughed at Tsuyoshi for being called "Tsuyoponnu" (a nickname that Yukiko Asai affectionately calls him), which makes him glare at them for it.

### Anna Kobayakawa

Although Anna and Tsuyoshi don't interact much with each other, there were a few episodes where they have like:

* In Episode 1, when he overhears her say that "It seems these gentlemen don't speak Japanese.", he comes to her rescue and he talks to the two men in a different language.
* In Episode 3, he invites her to his house for tutor sessions and he talks about how "I thought one-on-one tutoring would be best."
* In Episode 24, they communicate with each other inside the train where they talk about Natsuki Hashiba and he gives her some advice.

### Mari Tsutsui

Although Tsuyoshi and Mari haven't interacted much, they have talked with each other once like:

* In Chapter 51, when Tsuyoshi asks Mari "Why did Kobayakawa-san choose to study at Nanahoro?", she replies by saying "She mentioned that she can get into the law department with an average passing score. To be an administrative scrivener or something like that." After which, Tsuyoshi asks Mari "How about you, Tsutsui-san?", she replies with "I want to take nutrition welfare. I almost decided on cosmetology, but I think taking nutrition welfare is important! Beauty comes from within!!"

### Nozomi Matsunaga

Although Tsuyoshi and Nozomi haven't interacted much, they have talked with each other once like:

* In Chapter 52, they talked about Keiichi Katakura and Tomoya Matsunaga.

## Etymology

* The name **Tsuyoshi** means "sturdy, strength, robust, tough, hard, rigid, strong" (剛).
	+ **Tsuyoshi** (剛) can also be written/read as **Gō** (剛).
* Tsuyoshi's surname **Naoe** means "straight, direct" (直) (**nao**) and "bay, inlet" (江) (**e**).

## Trivia

* Tsuyoshi likes to create doujinshis.
* Tsuyoshi can make figurines out of chocolate.
* Tsuyoshi is the shortest of the male main characters.
* Tsuyoshi is bilingual (**a person speaking two languages fluently**).
* Tsuyoshi's father was seen in Chapter 50, Chapter 51 and Chapter 52.
* Yukiko Asai is the only one that Tsuyoshi shows his left eye which is often covered.
* Tsuyoshi's character song is Soba ni Iru kara, which is sung by his voice actor Koki Uchiyama.
* In Episode 11, Tsuyoshi is seen shaking when he carries Yukirin bridal style, which shows that he isn't a strong person.
* Tsuyoshi once considered breaking up with Yukirin just because she dyed her hair from black to orange. However, it seems like he never intended doing it, but he didn't like her dyeing her hair either way.
	+ This is because he is a black hair moe.
* In Episode 3, it is shown that Tsuyoshi's mother has the same hairstyle (bangs covering the left side of her face) and hair color as him except she has chest-length hair that appears to be in a much darker-blue color and it is tied in a low ponytail where it rests on her right shoulder.

### Miscellaneous

* Koki Uchiyama (Tsuyoshi's voice actor) has voiced many characters from each of the same anime series along with Shizuka Ishigami (Yukiko Asai's voice actress), Ai Kayano (Nozomi Matsunaga's voice actress), Nobunaga Shimazaki (Keiichi Katakura's voice actor) and Takuya Eguchi (Tomoya Matsunaga's voice actor):
	+ **Female Voice Actresses**: Koki voices characters from each of the same anime series with two female voice actresses.
		- Koki and Shizuka voices two characters from each of the same anime series:
			* Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
				+ Koki voices Rui.
				+ Shizuka voices Makio.
			* Type-Moon's Fate
				+ Koki voices Shirou Tokisada Amakusa from Fate/Apocrypha and Tristan from Fate/Grand Order.
				+ Shizuka voices Celenike Icecolle Yggdmillennia from Fate/Apocrypha.
		- Koki and Ai voices two characters from each of the same anime series:
			* Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
				+ Koki voices Rui.
				+ Ai voices Kanae Kocho.
			* Hori-san to Miyamura-kun
				+ Koki voices Izumi Miyamura.
				+ Ai voices Yuriko Hori.
	+ Male Voice Actors
		- Koki and Nobunaga voices two characters from each of the same two anime series:
			* Heroines Run the Show
				+ Koki voices Yujiro Someya.
				+ Nobunaga voices Aizo Shibasaki.
			* Jujutsu Kaisen
				+ Koki voices Toge Inumaki.
				+ Nobunaga voices Mahito.
			* Haikyu!!
				+ Koki voices Kei Tsukishima.
				+ Nobunaga voices Rintarō Suna.
		- Koki and Takuya voices two characters in Haikyu!!:
			* Koki voices Kei Tsukishima.
			* Takuya voices Yūji Terushima.

## Gallery

* Anime
* Manga

Tsuyoshi with Tomoya Matsunaga, Natsuki Hashiba and Keiichi Katakura.

Tsuyoshi and Yukirin