Reiji Kurose

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### Relatives

Yuko Kurose (mother)
Kazu (step-brother)
Unnamed grandmother
Unnamed grandfather
Nagi Aoe (love interest)

## Appearances

### Debut

Chapter 1

**Reiji Kurose** (黒瀬 令児 *Kurose Reiji)* is the protagonist of the series, Boy's Abyss. He is a highschool student in an unnamed rural town along with his childhood friends Chako and Gen. While feeling hopeless about his future, he happens to meet Nagi Aoe, a member of up and coming idol group *Acrylic* of which he and Chako are both fans, at a convenience store near his house. After showing her around town, she offers to commit suicide with him at the Lover's Abyss.

## Appearance

Reiji is a highschool boy of rather skinny build. Gen notes that he lacks muscle and consists of skin and bone, questioning how he expects to work at his father's construction company if he does not have the strength to fill the role.

He has white hair (as coloured on the Volume 2 cover) that is kept past his ears but above his shoulder, well kept though a bit scrabbly. His hair colour is a notable feature that he takes after his mother.

Many characters note his resemblance to his mother, including Gen, Shino'oka, and Esemori, who immediately recognized her as his son when he ran into him by coincidence several years back.

## Personality

Reiji is shown as a quiet and timid character at school. He has one friend, Chako, who attends a prestigious girls school, with whom he can talk about his interests with. Though he has not demonstrated a pattern of following idol activities, he has shown interest in Acrylic after being introduced by Chako, specifically Nagi Aoe, one of the members who has recently announced a hiatus. While seemingly listless in regards to other aspects of his life, he seems more relaxed when thinking about her.

He does not fight back when pushed to do things he does not necessarily want to do, as shown in his relationship with Gen. Gen treats him as his personal errand boy, with Reiji going to the convenience store to purchase him cigarettes despite it being illegal for a minor to purchase tobacco. When Chako questions why he doesn't just cut ties with him already, he questions how he could even fathom doing so. Despite the discomfort he experiences, he opts to staying obedient in order to minimize conflict in his relationships.

At home, he holds a great amount of responsibility, as his grandmother is needing more and more care with age, his step-brother is a shut in after flunking his university admission test, and his mother is busy with work as a nurse at the local hospital. When his teacher asks him to give higher education an option, as he has the marks to pursue it, he immediately declines even giving it a thought. His mother is busy and he expresses that it is his purpose to help lighten her burden and help her financially. Though it is evident that he does not have any innate aspirations to join the work force, he will simply do what he thinks is the most obvious next choice. He wordlessly helps his grandmother clean up her messes, and continues to maintain a neutral composure with his brother, who continually verbally abuses him and his mother while staying cooped up in his own room while Reiji and his mother have to share a room.

He eventually confesses his frustrations to Nagi right before they planned to commit suicide together in the rain, admitting that he feels stifled. Always having others talk about how their struggles are worse, he always felt as though he was never allowed to admit to his own issues. He feels as though he has been forced to grow up too fast in order to shoulder the burdens of those around him, and though he tries to act nonchalant in order to be of aid to them, he still resents them, as he feels as though they have taken his life away from him in order to make their own more bearable.

Throughout the series, he is shown to be easily swayed by what others want from him and wordlessly following their expectations, though he later begins to develop an ability to resist and stand up for what he thinks should happen.

## Relationships

### Nagi Aoe

Nagi Aoe is Reiji's favourite member from a Japanese idol group, *Acrylic*, which was introduced to him by his childhood friend Chako. The two meet by chance at the convenience store twice, the first time when Reiji is trying to buy cigarettes for Gen, and second when Reiji returns to purchase bento boxes for dinner for his family. Reiji is initially shocked as she tells him she can't sell cigarettes to him, something that has never happened before and indicated that she is new, following official protocols rather than the unspoken rules set in the town. It is not until the second time he returns to the convenience store that he sees her face behind the store and realizes that she is his idol. Shocked that she would show up in a rural area like his hometown, she too is surprised to find that she is recognized in such a place. After he shows her around the town, she suggests they commit suicide together at the Lover's Abyss. Though originally perplexed at the abruptness of such a drastic suggestion, Reiji is also stunned at how she was able to observe his own hopelessness towards the future within such a short span of time. Afterwards, the two return to her residence and she planned to take his virginity in her idol costume. However, due to Reiji's inability to get it up, they end up having a conversation and he realizes that he had held onto an idealized perception of her and that in reality, she's just a person too. She then takes his virginity without the costume on and he feels as though he held the "real" Nagi. Immediately afterwards, her husband, Esemori walks in and he feels as though she tricked him into sleeping with a married woman and begins to doubt their relationship as a whole.

The next day, Reiji sees her while he is with Gen, greeting his future co workers to be, when he catches sight of Nagi watching the scene from around the corner. and after his conversation he grabs her hand and runs into the rain. After he confesses all of his troubles to Nagi, she suggests that he leaves it all behind and make a choice over his own life: to throw it away. When he questions why she wants to die so badly, they discover a distinguishing difference between the two of them. He wishes to die to leave the life he is living, while she wishes to die because she feels she has nothing to stay for. They attempt to die once again, but are stopped by Kurose's homeroom teacher, Shibasawa.

### Sakuko Akiyama

Sakuko Akiyama, more notably known as Chako in the series, is the childhood friend of Reiji who introduced him to Acrylic, and by association, Nagi Aoe.

### Yuri Shibasawa

Shibasawa is Reiji's homeroom teacher and is the first character to encourage Reiji to leave behind the life he is following in order to entertain the possibility of another path, like pursuing higher education. Though initially maintaining a normal student-teacher relationship, with Shibasawa expressing concern over Reiji's future and life after graduation, this changes drastically when Shibasawa catches Reiji attempting to commit suicide with Nagi in the midst of a typhoon. Finding Reiji in a vulnerable place, she wants to offer him support in order to help him get back on his feet.

### Yuko Kurose

Yuko Kurose is Reiji's mother. Yuko has a strong desire to keep Reiji in the town forever, going as far as to lie to and manipulate both Reiji and people close to Reiji's life such as Gen and Shibasawa.

### Kosaku Esemori

1. ↑ *Shounen no Abyss* Manga: Chapter 17 (Page 8)
2. ↑ *Shounen no Abyss* Manga: Chapter 1 (Page 24)
3. ↑ *Shounen no Abyss* Manga: Chapter 7 (Page 12)
4. ↑ *Shounen no Abyss* Manga: Chapter 1 (Page 30)
5. ↑ *Shounen no Abyss* Manga: Chapter 2 (Page 26)