Maki Katsuragi

* Tennis
* School (Previous)
* School (Current)
* Casual
* Original

**Maki Katsuragi** (桂木 眞己 *Katsuragi Maki*) is one of the main characters of *Stars Align*. He is a transfer student as well as a part-time worker and the son of Aya Katsuragi and the latter’s ex-husband, Kenji Kyobate. Despite having no past experience in soft tennis, he joins the Shijo Minami Junior High boys’ soft tennis club and is quickly discovered to have a natural talent for the sport. He plays as the front player with Toma Shinjo as his partner.

## Appearance

Maki is short in stature with a fair complexion. He has black hair and royal blue eyes. He wears a sun visor when playing soft tennis, an item that usually only girls wear, leading to ridicule from his teammates.

## Personality

Maki is a relatively taciturn individual who likes mathematics and greatly enjoys reading books on astronomy, particularly one titled "Astronomical Almanac". He is impatient and would rather run up eight floors than wait for the elevator. He is quite independent, commenting that he can look after himself when Toma Shinjo, his childhood friend, announced to the class that they should help Maki if he seems to be struggling.

He can be somewhat provocative and blunt with his words, unabashedly declaring that the existing members of the soft tennis club were hopeless at the sport despite playing it for a year. However, he seems to be more thoughtful than one may think, as Toma realises he may have said those words to motivate the other members to work harder.

According to other characters, he is the type to easily become arrogant. Due to the abuse he suffered by his father when he was younger, his father's presence terrifies him, and he becomes emotionally distraught whenever he's around.

Maki has been shown to be incredibly observant, being able to deduce that the current doubles pairs for the soft tennis club followed a "leader and lackey" structure and were not composed with tennis in mind. Although he had only known the soft tennis club members for a short time, he was able to create new pairings for all the members to better complement each member's playing style, ability, and personality. Despite being new to the sport, Maki is also able to design a training schedule that even Toma, an avid soft tennis fan, approves of and compliments. Maki has been observed by Yuta and Toma to be able to sense how others feel pretty easily and can come up with solutions to help them.

Maki is hardworking and responsible, taking care of all the household chores, including taking out the trash, grocery shopping, laundry, and cooking as his working mother, Aya Katsuragi, is too busy with work. He is a great cook, with Kanako Mitsue commenting that his cooking tastes better than the cooking at her home.

## Plot

### Childhood

Maki attended the same elementary school as Toma. As a young child, Maki was physically abused by his father. When his mother left for work, his father was tasked to watch over him. This abuse left him traumatised, and he becomes paralysed at the sight of his father.

### Shijo Minami Boys Soft Tennis Club

Initially, Maki had no interest in joining the soft tennis club. When his childhood friend, Toma Shinjo, attempted to recruit him for the club after school, he firmly declined the offer. However, Toma changes his recruitment approach when Yuta Asuka revealed to Toma that Maki's single mother struggles to cover his school expenses and that, as a result, he may not want to join a costly club. Toma offers to provide equipment and a uniform set for Maki, assuring him he does not need to worry about money. Additionally, Toma remarks that his older brother, Ryoma, approves of Maki joining the club. Because of this, Maki jokingly demands that he would join if Toma pays him for his "manual labour". To his surprise, Toma takes the remark seriously and offers him ¥10,000 (around 91.53 USD) for each month he’s in the club (amounting to ¥30,000 for three months of activities), as well as ¥10,000 more if he wins a match during the Summer Match and extra money if need be. Toma then gives Maki a racket and tells him to meet him at the locker rooms by the tennis court after school the next day.

Maki is introduced to the tennis team’s advisor, Sakurai-sensei, who allows Maki to start club activities, and then Sakurai-sensei introduces Maki to the entire soft tennis team. As a welcome for Maki to the team, the team runs 20 laps around the court, where Maki and Toma are the only ones who finish without tiring out, despite Maki not having been in a sports club before. Toma tells Maki that they can definitely win a match together, and the rest of the team joins to give Maki a welcome.

The following day, Maki is taught the basic rules of soft tennis by Toma, and Toma demonstrates some swings for Maki to practise on. After school, Yuta, Mitsue and Toma join Maki in doing some shopping, and they end the day by walking over to his apartment.

After Toma leaves the team, Maki calls him and says that it would be problematic if Toma left the team, since then Maki wouldn’t be able to receive payments for being on the team. After Toma returns to the team, Maki proposes that the team change their tennis pairings, as he feels that the current pairings are inadequate. Maki decides to pair Taiyo with Nao, Tsubasa with Shingo, and Itsuki with Rintaro. Maki’s plan succeeds as his teammates play better during the 15-points practice match using the new arrangements.

His seemingly unemployed father periodically visits Maki's apartment complex to collect money that Maki and his mother cannot spare. Maki's mother attempted to get a restraining order on him, but unfortunately it has not officially gone into effect yet. One day, Maki's father visits the apartment and discovers his soft tennis racket. He says with a seething voice that, because Maki has his "dirty genes", he will always amount to nothing and violently destroys the racket.

The next day, Maki lies to Toma that he forgot to bring his racket, but is confronted afterwards by Toma, and Maki tells Toma the truth. Maki, together with Toma, confront Maki’s Father together in Episode 5, and Toma helps Maki tell his father not to bother him anymore. When Maki’s father threatens to kill Toma, Maki steps in and tells him if he lays hands on Toma he would kill him. After Maki’s father leaves, Maki thanks Toma for his help.

During the practice match with Misaki Academy boys’ soft tennis team, Maki and Toma play against the aces, Arashi Oji and Shinjiro Sunaga. Arashi and Shinjiro manage to win the first 2 sets. However, Maki realises that Arashi was controlling the whole game, and so Maki makes a plan to take advantage of the pair’s weakness. Maki and Toma manage to win the third and fourth sets. During the final set, Maki and Toma manage to make the score even, causing the game to go into a deuce a few times. Arashi and Shinjiro manage to work together to win the match in the end.

The next day, Sakurai-sensei invites them to a BBQ by the river. While everyone is having fun, Arashi and his dog join in the party. Maki helps to cook some food, including Okinawan fried noodles, which was well-received and impressed everyone, especially Arashi.

The next day, Sakurai-sensei told the team that club activities have been temporarily cancelled due to a complaint from Nao’s Mother, but also announced the summer tournament participants. Maki, along with Yuuta, dress up as girls to obtain information on Joy Kusakabe, a player from Hatanouka Middle School, as well as Toma and Maki’s upcoming opponents. They managed to sneak a camera and obtain footage of Joy’s playstyle. Maki also had a conversation with Yuta as Yuta was insecure about themselves and their gender.

After the suspension, the boys’ team had a practice match with the girls’ team. However, Shingo’s younger sister went missing before the match, and was locked inside the infirmary by Nao. Maki was able to find her and the practice match could continue. The boys team has improved and could play equally with the girls team.

The next day, Tsubasa withdrew from the tournament because he broke his right arm, and Shingo refused to play with any other person other than Tsubasa, and withdrew as well. Nao and Taiyo then had to participate in the tournament. After school, Maki and Toma met Arashi and met the Itsue brothers, the prior year’s champions, while walking.

During the summer tournament, Maki and Toma lost the first set to Hatanouka Middle School. Maki told Toma to serve to the back of the court in order to avoid Joy. Maki’s method was successful as Ootomo was not able to receive the serve. Maki and Toma proceeded to win the next 3 sets, thereby winning the match against Hatanouka Middle School, saving the team from disbandment and leaving the audience shocked. They win the next two matches against Yamashita and Sakai from Oonishi High School as well as Nakatani and Kimura from Umagomekita High School, and proceed to the finals against the Itsuse brothers.

Before the finals match, Maki asked Arashi about how to win against the Itsuse brothers, in exchange for Okinawan Fried noodles, only to have Arashi reply that there was no way Maki and Toma were going to win against them, considering that Maki just started soft tennis a few months back.

Maki and Toma were so overwhelmed by the Itsuse brothers that they were not able to score a single point against them in the first 2 sets, despite Maki telling Toma to play as usual. Maki and Toma managed to win 2 matches against the Itsuse brothers by catching them off guard with a playing style similar to Nao and Taiyo’s, but eventually lost in the last match after the Itsuse brothers came to their senses. Despite Maki and Toma losing, they acknowledged the game as a great game and were congratulated by the rest of the team after the match.

Later in the day, when Maki reaches home, he sees Shou instead of his mother, and Shou informs him that his father has taken their money again. Maki realises that his family can never be happy if his father was still alive, and goes to buy a knife at the convenience store to kill him so that his family can be “free”. The show ends with Maki carrying the knife and standing in front of his father’s apartment.

## Playstyle and Abilities

Maki displays an impressive affinity for soft tennis despite having no prior experience in the sport or any other athletic club. In his old apartment, there was no elevator, and thus Maki is used to running up several flights of stairs daily. Due to this, he has shown to have a considerable amount of endurance, being able to keep up with Toma when they ran twenty laps around the court. He has also been shown to have good reflexes, being able to catch a runaway cat that slipped into his classroom even while immersed in a book. He is also notably observant.

To the astonishment of the other members, Maki picked up soft tennis very quickly after Toma showed him the basics, including proper grip and correct form while swinging. His rapid improvement motivated his once-apathetic teammates into practicing properly and working hard to become better players.

## Relationships

### Aya Katsuragi

Aya Katsuragi is Maki’s mother. Maki and Aya have frequently moved houses to escape Maki’s abusive father, Kenji Kyobate. Aya works hard at work to support Maki, while he takes care of the housework. The two have a happy relationship.

### Toma Shinjo

Toma Shinjo is Maki’s friend. The two first met in elementary school, though Maki left. In their second year of middle school, Maki moved to Shijo Minami Middle School where he was reunited with Toma.

Toma convinces Maki to join the school’s boys’ soft tennis club after witnessing his good reflexes and natural athletic skills. Maki makes a deal with Toma, stating that he will join the club if Toma gives him money. Toma accepts, and the two boys pair up, and become the strongest pair on the Shijo Minami Middle School boys’ soft tennis team.

Maki also confides in Toma, especially in Episode 5, when Toma asks Maki what happened to his racket. Toma and Maki are close friends and support one another, for example when Toma confronts Maki’s father for him, and Maki speaks up for Toma when his father threatens to kill him.

### Yuta Asuka

Yuuta and Maki are good friends. Maki recruited Yuuta to be the manager of the boys’ soft tennis team, as well as comforted them when Yuuta felt that they don’t know who they want to be. Maki told Yuuta that he himself is also unsure about who he wants to be, and that Yuuta is not alone, which leads him to talk about Shou (Maki’s mom’s friend), who’s a trans man, and explain to Yuta that having these feelings and doubts are okay. Maki also calls Yuta “Yuu”, a gender-neutral nickname that their sisters gave them, and that Yuta likes more than their masculine given name.

### Fujita Shou

Maki and Shou are seen to be very close, as Maki’s mother is usually out for work. Shou takes care of Maki when his mother is unable to. Maki mentions that Shou helps him study, and that he has always been there for him. Maki also says that he really loves Shou, and always has, and considers him a part of his family. Shou seems to be close enough to Maki to tell him that he’s a trans man.

### Kenji Kyobate

Kenji is Maki’s Father. When Maki was young, his mother, Aya Katsuragi, would be at work, and Kenji would stay at home and take care of Maki. However, Maki suspects that when he was young, his father would get frustrated about having to care for him and take out his anger on Maki, which makes Maki afraid of him. Maki mentions to Toma that when he sees his father, fear hits him and he just “shuts down”. Kenji frequently visits Maki’s apartment to obtain money, but only when Aya is not at home and Maki is alone. Kenji treated Maki badly when he was younger, and so Maki is still afraid of him in the present; however, Maki thinks that he should be stronger so that he doesn’t get scared by his dad anymore. In the last episode, Maki shows deep hatred towards his father and says that as long as he is alive, his family will never be free. He goes to his dad’s apartment and takes out a large kitchen knife from his backpack and is prepared to kill his father.

### Itsuki Ameno

Maki and Itsuki don't have a very strong relationship. They talked in episode 3 when Itsuki hit a boy with a racket. They talked a bit about family life and that Maki was pissed off about what he said as well. Along with that Nao and some other teammates explain Ameno's home life and what his mom did as reason to why he doesn't change with the group. After a bit though, he warms up and changes with Maki there. Maki didn't care and just asked about practice.

### Match History

[a]Details of the individual score for each match set was not shown in the anime.

## Quotes

* (*Maki to Toma while running*) You'll be sorry tommorow when you can't walk! **- Episode 2**
* (*Maki to Toma* *after finishing a 20-lap run*) Hey, Toma. I guess I'll be counting on you **- Episode 2**
* (*Maki to Yuu*) Oh, I get it. You like Toma, right? [...] That's cool. Who you like is who you like. **- Episode 2**
* (*Maki to Boys Team*) I figured out why you're so awful. Your pairs combinations are what's bad. We just have to change them up. All of them. **- Episode 3**
* (*Maki to Yuu*) I think it can be hard for people to figure out for themselves who they are. - **Episode 8**
* *(Maki to Yuu*) Is it that important to decide between being a man or woman? Or does it even matter? Is it strange to worry about that sort of thing? - **Episode 8**
* (Still *Maki to Yuu*) You can't understand a pain of the heart you don't feel. But I think you can imagine the pain at least. I don't force myself to understand. But I think it's good to put myself in their shoes. - **Episode 8**
* (*Maki in front of Kenji Kyobate Apartment*) This can't go on... As long as he's alive..., we will... never be free. - **Episode 12**

## Trivia

* Maki's name used to be ***Maki Kyōbate***. But since his parents are divorced and his mother taken custody of him, Maki's name become ***Maki Katsuragi***
* Maki blood type is B
* Maki likes mathematics and astronomy.

### **Etymology**

* The name **Maki** means "truth, reality, Buddhist sect" (眞) (**ma**) and "self, snake, serpent" (己) (**ki**).
* Maki's surname **Katsuragi** means "Japanese Judas-tree, cinnamon tree" (桂) (**katsura**) and "tree, wood" (木) (**ki**/**gi**).