Masaki Takigawa

* LN
* Anime
* Full Body

**Masaki Takigawa** (滝川雅貴, *Takigawa Masaki*?) is a senior shrine priest at Yata Shrine and later becomes the coach for the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club. He holds a fifth *dan* rank in kyudo.

## Appearance

Masaki is a tall young man with a lean, well-balanced body and is seen to have big biceps due to training. He has shoulder-length straight black hair that he keeps tied back with long bangs that reach his eyes, and clear blue eyes that are described as "bewitching" by Minato Narumiya. His fingers are often described as long. He is usually seen wearing the white hakama of kyudo. He cuts his hair early in season 1 to a shorter length.

When he becomes the coach for the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club, he cuts his hair shorter.

## Personality

Masaki gives off the image of a mysterious, refined young man, but he is actually more laid-back and down-to-earth than he seems, and has the air of an old man despite his young age. He is noted act roughly and sloppily in many things except in kyudo. He seems to dislike formality, asking everyone to call him "Masa-san" instead. He is friendly and good at explaining things, qualities that make him a good coach in the eyes of the members of the Kazemai kyudo club. He is also good at listening and giving advice, something he does with Minato Narumiya frequently. He is not above speaking more vulgarly, such as when coaching Minato to overcome his *hayake* at the Yata no Mori Kyudojo.

Despite his easygoing nature, Masaki also has a more serious and stubborn side to him when it comes to kyudo and his grandfather.

## History

Masaki has been doing kyudo since the age of three, with his grandfather as his master. His grandfather was strict on him, as he was with all of his students. Sometime in his third year of high school, Masaki's mother remarried, but he did not take on his new family name immediately. Masaki won at the Inter-High that year, but his grandfather was not satisfied and tells him that he is just playing around with kyudo. This triggered the break-off in their relationship, and then Masaki got *hayake* around that time. His grandfather was furious at him for not hitting perfectly, and he was treated as someone to be ignored. After that, he went to university but did not join the kyudo club, instead going out of the prefecture to ask a famous teacher to teach him. During that time, his grandfather passed away. Wanting to do something to reconcile with him, Masaki decided to shoot ten-thousand arrows at the Yata no Mori Kyudojo.

## Story

### First Meeting at Yata no Mori Shrine

At night, Masaki is doing his daily hundred shots at the Yata no Mori Kyudojo. He goes to collect his arrows from the target and is surprised to see Minato Narumiya there, who had been watching him shoot. He calls for Fuu, an owl, and talks to it, saying it was the one who was more surprised and that who knew there was someone over here. Minato asks if Fuu is the owl, and he says yes. He took care of Fuu a long time ago when it was injured and named it after careful consideration. Fuu bites at Masaki's fingers and he strokes its wings. Minato notes that it seems attached to him, but Masaki says that it only got used to him and comes when he calls only because it thinks he will feed it skinned mice. Masaki lets Minato touch Fuu, warning him not to make loud sounds. He then tells Minato that he is bleeding from the back of his left hand. He offers to bring him into the kyudojo for some medicine, amused that Minato seems suspicious of him.

They head to a waiting room in the kyudojo. Masaki puts Fuu on Minato's shoulder. He then opens a drawer to find the medicine, but accidentally makes its contents fall out, not for the first time. He retrieves a tube of ointment from the scattered contents and gives it to Minato. He notices Minato looking up at a flickering bulb on the ceiling, and explains that though he has a replacement bulb, it was too much of a bother for him to fix it. Minato does it for him, and he thanks him. He does not seem to notice Minato's sarcasm when he tells him that he should replace all of the lighting with LEDs so he won't have to fix it as much. Masaki goes outside to release Fuu back into the woods, and then offers Minato a drink. Minato refuses it, thinking that it is alcohol, but it turns out to be canned coffee when Masaki tells him to get a better look at it.

After Masaki finishes his coffee, he resumes shooting as Minato watches. He jots something down in a notebook and Minato asks him how many targets he hit. Masaki tells him he is not keeping track of that, just the number of arrows he shot. He had shot eighty times today, and he plans on shooting a hundred every day for a total of ten-thousand arrows. When Minato asks why, he says he is just doing it on a whim and smiles.

### Second Meeting

Masaki is shooting in the kyudojo again when Minato arrives at the shrine. He spots him hiding behind the bamboo fence again and beckons him. When he doesn't immediately come, he goes towards the edge of the *shajo* and beckons him as though he is a cat or dog, annoying him. Masaki tells him to get inside quickly as it is raining and he looks like a ghost, but Minato does not want to make the *shajo* dirty. Masaki reassures him that it can be mopped up, then lends him a beginner's training uniform for him to change into and tells not to be so formal.

After Minato changes, Masaki offers him a can of coffee. He also gives him a oyaki with red bean paste. After he finishes his coffee, Masaki adjusts the *nakajikake* (nocking area) of his bow. Minato asks if Fuu cannot come today. Masaki tells him that he will call it on the next sunny day, as he is the perfect shoulder perch for it. When asked how long he shoots for, he says that he usually does it until nine at night, but lately he only seems to be doing it in the daytime. When he wants to use the kyudojo, he takes the key out of the mailbox and leaves the fee on the reception desk. He mentions that couples seem to sneak in here at night, and jokingly asks Minato if he wants him to teach the basics when he mutters that this was supposed to be a sacred dojo, causing him to call him a perverted old man.

Masaki continues to work his bowstring before unexpectedly asking Minato if he would like to shoot for a bit. Minato declines, and snaps at him when he asks again. When Minato tries to leave, Masaki tells him he can let out anything that is bothering him here. After a time, MInato tells him about getting *hayake* in his last middle school tournament, how he couldn't fix it no matter how hard he tried, and how everyone gave up on him. Masaki sympathizes with him, telling how painful that must have been for him. Minato is shocked by his sympathy and asks for his name, then introduces himself. Masaki introduces himself as well and tells him to call him Masa-san. Minato confesses that he doesn't want to do kyudo anymore, but he feels like it's trying to call him back. Masaki asks if he still wants to draw a bow, to which Minato replies yes, but he does not know how to overcome his *hayake*. Masaki tells him that he himself had overcome *hayake* in the past.

## Shooting Technique and Ability

Masaki is an exceptionally talented Kyudo prodigy. He almost always hits the center of the target, and once landed 211 hits consecutively. He was taught by his eighth "dan" ranked grandfather Akihiro Yasaka, and now holds a fifth "dan" rank himself.

He developed target panic in High School days, during this time he was unable to hit any of his shots. He was able to overcome it after travelling the country and meeting new instructors.

## Relationships

### Minato Narumiya

Minato admires Masa very much and their student-teacher relationship has a fruitful influence on Minato, allowing him to gradually heal from his target panic and again find enough inspiration to go back to archery again. Masa's grandfather was the one who inspired Minato to practice kyuudo in his childhood, which was the event that Masa attended as well.

### Tomio Morioka

Tomio and Masaki are acquaintances who knew each other long before taking over the Kyudo club. Tomio cares for Masaki and knows about his past issues with his grandfather. He often listens to his problems, gives him advice and encourages him to have more faith in himself as a coach.

### Akihiro Yasaka

Masaki's late grandfather. He was Kyudo teacher from a young age and was very strict with him growing up. He and his grandfather had a falling out in High School after Yasaka dismisses his grandson's Inter High tournament win and troubles with target panic. Masaki did not speak to his grandfather for the following college years, and they were not able to make amends before his death, much to Masaki's regret.

## Trivia

* The name **Masaki** (雅貴) means "elegance" (雅) (**masa**) and "precious" (貴) (**ki**).
* Masaki's surname **Takigawa** means "waterfall" (滝) (**taki**) and "river, stream" (川) (**gawa**).
* Masaki's favorite drink is coffee, whether or not is brewed or canned.
* Masaki's duties as priest include exorcisms and prayers for good fortune.
* Masaki's least favorite food is eggplant, as he does not like the texture. In the anime is sliced onions.
* Masaki's favourite food in the anime is ginger pork.
* Masaki's hobbies include going around to different cafes and enjoying their coffee, reading, and hitchhiking.
* Masaki's special skills are driving and parallel parking.
* Masaki lives in an apartment close to a temple.
* It is heavily implied that Masaki was the middle school boy mentioned in the prologue who's watching the kyudo match Minato and his mother saw. (It was later revealed to be true at the end of Episode 13.)
* Masaki is neither a cat nor a dog person. He prefers his owl, Who.
* Masaki likes the sea.
* Even if Masaki had the chance to time-travel, he would choose to stay in the present.

## References

1. ↑ Tsurune Volume 1, Chapter 2
2. ↑ Tsurune Volume 1, Chapter 1
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Kyudo Boys Questionnaire
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *Tsurune* Anime: Episode 1