| “ | I tried talking to... every person I thought was my friend... But none of them knew it was me. ...Only I... remembered. | ” |
— Mitsuba, Chapter 19, Volume 4
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For the New Present version of the character, see Mitsuba Sousuke
Mitsuba Sousuke (三葉惣助), commonly called Mitsuba (ミツバ), is a ghost haunting Kamome Academy Middle School's lockers. He was a student at Kamome Academy's Middle School division and was a member of the photography club before his death.
Originally, Mitsuba Sousuke was a former classmate of Minamoto Kou who died prior to the beginning of the series, and he became a ghost who spent time in the school lockers, until Yugi Tsukasa forcibly turned him into the Broken Neck. Hanako then killed him to end his suffering.
Sometime later, he was recreated by Tsukasa, who had him consume the former School Mystery No.3's heart resulting in him becoming the current representative of the 3rd School Mystery.
For clarity, the Mitsuba who became Broken Neck is referred to as "Original", while the Mitsuba who became the 3rd Mystery is often referred to as "Current" or "Fake". They are further distinguished with the original Mitsuba wearing a yellow scarf and the current Mitsuba wearing a red scarf with tassels. For all intents and purposes, both Mitsubas are in essence, one character.
Appearance
Mitsuba's uniform
Mitsuba's appearance is androgynous—many of his classmates have commented on his girly looks, as he tends to wear mostly pink outfits. He is a slender and relatively tall middle school-aged ghost with pink hair and eyes. He has a mole under his left eye and has medium-length hair with bangs that cover his right eye, and the back of his hair is usually tied up into a small and short ponytail with bobby-hairpins holding it up. He also wears a teal helix piercing on his left ear.
The Original Mitsuba dons a yellow scarf with light brown stripes and a long-sleeved pink sweater over the Kamome Middle School division uniform; its sleeve always covers his right hand. Following his recreation by Tsukasa in Volume 6, the Current Mitsuba has been shown to wear a new red scarf with tassels on both ends.
Mitsuba's neck scar
He has a scar on the back of his neck, presumably a mark from the accident that caused his death. It can be assumed that the burn marks on one side of his scarf were a result of the incident.
Young Appearance
After being bullied by his former classmates for his cocky, girlish appearance and foul-mouthed attitude, he later changed himself to be more passive, friendlier, and inadvertently dull when attending Kamome Gakuen. His first meeting with Kou was when he had softer eyes and a gentle smile plastered on his face. In addition, his short hair was tied up into a ponytail and his bangs were parted to the side.
No.3 Appearance
In his School Mystery No.3 clothes, he wears a tattered black jacket embellished with eyes over his regular clothes. His hair is speckled with black feathers. His red sneakers are changed into a pair of black boots with shackles attached to his right shoe. His remaining arm is replaced with a bird talon. His scarf becomes red, with golden trinkets and a lock attached to it. The scarf extends into bony exoskeletons, which Mitsuba can use and control as appendages.
Throughout the series, he has repeatedly been noted to be good-looking, and Mitsuba himself acknowledges this. On the contrary, the (now former) 3rd School Mystery remarked that he is only slightly above average in terms of looks.
Gallery
Personality
Mitsuba is cocky, foul-mouthed, and overly confident in himself, particularly his looks; he often will brag about how cute he is. He also has a tendency to call people by rude nicknames and isn't afraid to insult others. He knows how to get on people's good sides and sometimes acts nice to someone if he wants something from them, or to falsely trust him. He has also been shown to be quick to cry, especially in threatening situations.
Due to his personality making him a target of bullying in elementary school, he created another, gentler personality in middle school to get along with others better. During this time, Mitsuba was nice, considerate, and friendly with everyone. This fake persona was created in an attempt to make friends, however it failed as Mitsuba ended up forgettable, thus making no friends.
Despite being rude and loud, Mitsuba also has a more mellow side to him. He gets noticeably dispirited when talking about his past and gets lonely easily, though he seems to have a hard time being honest, choosing to hurl harsh words instead. However, at times he is able to genuinely express happiness and kindness.
He is very fond of his camera and photography, almost to the point of obsession, according to Kou. He was a member of the school's photography club and had won several awards.
Past
In his earlier years of being in school, Mitsuba was often bullied for his cocky attitude and girlish appearance. He believed that by changing his persona to be passive and caring in his first year of junior high, he wouldn't get bullied and perhaps make some friends. It seldom worked out, however, much to the misfortune of Mitsuba when he was labeled a boring background character.
In the next years, he reverted back to his old personality. Yet on the accounts of the classmates that were in his junior high classes, his former teacher, and the photography club, all of them said that Mitsuba rarely talked with anyone. When Nene and Kou visited Mitsuba's house after helping his mom tend to his grave, his mother told them that much of his enthusiasm about photography came from his father--which innately led him to learn how to use the camera. Although he won awards for his photographs, he mainly took pictures of nature and other animals he'd come across. Whenever his mother suggested if he wanted to take a picture of her, Mitsuba arrogantly commented her disastrous fashion sense and urging her to put on some makeup. Despite how cocky and conceited he was, Mitsuba still honed caring intentions but didn't express them openly. He planned to wish his mother a happy birthday by cooking curry for her, which made his mother overly-happy despite her son's complaints of doting on him too hard. But in the midst of running to buy the missing potatoes in winter, it was confirmed that he died in an accident on the road while on the way for potatoes and it would become the last day that his mother would ever see him.[1]
Abilities
Low-Level Supernatural (Formerly)
Mitsuba is visible to the human eye, though distorted, when he grabs a person's hand and asks them if they know who he is at the school's lockers. In other circumstances he is invisible to normal people, except for those with supernatural affiliations such as Kou.
"Bent-Neck Boy at the School Entrance" (Formerly)
In this form, Mitsuba seems to have lost all of his humanity. His body is made out of eyes and camera parts, loosely bound together with bandages, and has an exposed chest crevice. Instead of tears, black substances flow from his eyes and mouth. He uses his bandages to attack and wrap his victims.
He does not respond verbally to anyone and appears as if he does not remember Kou. Yako later reminisced that when her rumor was altered, she felt like herself, but as if a different side of her came out. It is possible Mitsuba still recognized his surroundings, yet could not answer to them.
Number 3's Powers
After consuming Number 3's heart, he becomes the School Mystery Number 3. He now has command over the Hell of Mirrors boundary. The boundary and its arms now respond to his requests, shown by how he is able to forcibly remove Nene and company from the boundary. With his new powers, Mitsuba is able to manifest in the Kamome Academy's mirrors. He is also able to access every reflection that was captured within those mirrors and used it to gain information on his past.
He uses his exoskeleton-like scarf as an extension of himself, utilizing them as extra limbs. Whenever he is overwhelmed with distress, the scarf moves involuntarily and attacks whoever he perceives as threatening.
Trivia
- Mitsuba's favorite snack is flan pudding.[2]
- His biggest concern is that he can't build any muscles.[2]
- The 三 in Mitsuba means three, a reference to his position as No.3.
- Though there are no official birthdays, Japanese fans celebrate March 28th as Mitsuba Day, as his name can also be read as 3, 2, 8.
- His last name, Mitsuba, comes directly after Minamoto in alphabetical order (as exemplified by the class roster in the Picture Perfect arc) and in the first term of their junior high year.[3]
- He's scared of lightning to the point of crying, but the remade Mitsuba believes Tsukasa is scarier.[4]
- Mitsuba's Japanese voice actor, Kobayashi Daiki, and stage actor, Mihara Daiki, both share the same first name.
- One of the panels in the Red House arc shows Mitsuba after his death with his right hand revealed, missing two fingers. This seems to be the reason he covers his hand as a ghost.[5]
References
- ↑ Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Manga: Chapter 74
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Manga: Volume 4 Extra Pages
- ↑ Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Manga: Chapter 42
- ↑ Aidairo's Twitter Post: Sept. 11th, 2020
- ↑ Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Manga: Chapter 77
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