katou yuusuke
Name:加藤勇祐 (Katou Yuusuke)
Born: 1st August
Starsign: Leo ("Shishiza" in Japanese)
Blood Type: O
Summary: Into all sports, (Yuusuke is) a boy with senses that rival an animal's. Currently he's a member of the basketball team. He's frankly honest, even though he's also unreasonably thick-headed. (Yuusuke is) the son of a large Kanazawa hotel owner.
***Geek Note!***
Kanazawa (金沢) is a Japanese city. What's geekish about that? Kanazawa is situated in Ishikawa-ken (石川県 - Ishikawa Prefecture). Remember who voices Yuusuke? That's right. Ishikawa Hideo. 石川英郎. Yep. Tell me that wasn't deliberate!
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Yuusuke is my least favourite of the M characters, simply because I think he's a dolt (lol). That wasn't a very good start, was it? Gomen. I don't mean it quite so harshly. Even the manga bio says he's thickheaded. So I guess I can be forgiven for thinking so too - right? He's really not perceptive - he takes things at face value and often doesn't see the deeper meanings at all. He also doesn't understand the meaning of tact. He's very well-meaning and straight down the line - things are black or white for Yuusuke and that's that. But he is unwaveringly loyal and, really, his thick-headedness means that he's good-natured and quick to forgive slights against him, no matter how grave the insult. Perhaps because he sees the world on such a simple, open level, he's not the kind of person who does very well at concealing things or motives from other people. And - I will say this for him - stupid as he is, he's fundamentally kind-hearted. Basically, he's not overly smart - but his heart is in the right place.
Aside from that doltishness, Yuusuke is a fairly active, impulsive and, most of all, sporty kind of guy. He's extremely enthusiastic and into everything with gusto and vim. He loves all kinds of sports, is involved in training some of the younger members of the Seiryuu Academy and there are few who can compete with him. He's also the captain of the basketball club, although his lack of perception means he doesn't always know how to handle his rather irritating second in command. In the OVA he's shown playing basketball and besting one of his comrades quite easily. In the manga, he and Arai are pretty close friends although they do have occasional misunderstandings. Yuusuke certainly seems able to get Arai to do things - even unwillingly and hungover - that maybe others wouldn't be able to do. Arai is quite a bit smarter than Yuusuke, however, and can also manipulate his friend equally well. Arai is not averse to playing tricks on Yuusuke, either, but Yuusuke is not the kind to hold a grudge and quickly gets over the embarrassment of his friend's pranks.
Whether they're a good influence on each other is another matter entirely...;)
Not everything about Yuusuke is a joke, however. His people run a hotel in Kanazawa, and he loves his hometown a lot - preferring it to Tokyo. However it was his choice to come to Tokyo to study because he doesn't want to be forced into following his father's footsteps and taking over as head chef at the hotel. Yuusuke is the only son of three children (he has an older sister, Masumi, and a younger one, Ai). His father only agreed to let him go to the Seiryuu Academy on the understanding that when he graduated he'd come back and take up his proper position, but Yuusuke is always trying to avoid it, much to his family's dismay. His true talent is sports, and at the end of the PLUS manga it's revealed that his basketball playing has attracted NBA attention. His competitive instinct also allows him the occasional moment of perception, even allowing him to empathise with and advise Takagi when Takagi pushes the "M" thing a step too far.
Yuusuke is a terrible student, so how he graduates is a mystery to me. He sleeps through a lot of his classes thanks to early morning training meets with the basketball club, as sport is the be all and end all of his existence, pretty much. He also reads a lot of manga and from things he says to Mikimaro it's quite likely he skips off classes to read manga in the toilet from time to time (!).
Yuusuke also has an overwhelming fixation with food. I guess it's all the calories he burns on the sports court...or the fact his father is a pro in the subject...but he seems to eat enough for the whole team. :) He also likes girls, but is pretty hopeless at getting or keeping them. At one point he even saves a girl from drowning, but when it comes to social interaction he is awkward and clumsy, meaning that he often scares them off (much to his dismay!)
In one of the drama CDs, Nakamoto (rather meanly) compares Yuusuke to a dog - but I think the comparison is a good one. He's loyal, over-eager, and exciteable...with a highly sensitive sense of smell, boundless energy and an insatiable appetite. Just like a puppy :)
Brief note: Yuusuke is another one whose name is written in several ways. Often it's written as "Yusuke" but the first character of his name is 勇 which means courage. This is pronounced "yuu" with a long vowel, and so his name is most probably meant to be Yuusuke :) His surname "Katou" is also often romanised "Kato" or "Katoh" in both English and Japanese sources. Neither of those are incorrect. I just prefer to romanise the characters that are there - i.e in this case "Ka+to+u".