Ryūnosuke Fujinami

Ryūnosuke Fujinami is a major character in Urusei Yatsura. Ryūnosuke is usually wearing a gakuran like her male peers and a sarashi. Wanting nothing more than to be more feminine, she is saving up money to buy a bra and sailor suit, in the belief that bras cost several thousand yen (most probably thanks to her father). At one point, Shinobu Miyake promised to buy her a bra if she posed as her boyfriend in order to scare away gang leader Sōban; but as usual, Ryūnosuke's father interfered. Ryūnosuke's personality is surprisingly complex, shaped extensively by her background and the demented influence of her father. At her best, Ryūnosuke combines some of the best attributes of womanhood and traditional Japanese manhood. She is confident, kind, compassionate, forthright and honest. She has a personal code of honor that she takes very seriously; she will not strike other girls, and she considers her word to be her bond. She sticks up for those who are in need, and can be surprisingly chivalrous; girls flock to her as much for her "gentlemanly" attitude as for her androgynous beauty when dressed in her usual apparel. In many ways, she's a better "man" than her father, who is dishonest, sneaky, an incorrigible liar and never upholds his promises. At her worst, however, Ryūnosuke can be quite thuggish. She has a short temper and speaks quite coarsely when angered. She favors a direct approach and, when not dealing with girls, she is quick to resort to violence. She often expresses her anger by throwing things or hitting whoever has made her angry. When she gets worked up, she can forget about little details and act impulsively, such as when she tries to steal Shinobu's bra at the end of their abortive date. She is at her worst when interacting with her father, whom she considers her bitterest enemy. Ryūnosuke's honorable nature can be something of a weakness. She has at least twice put herself at a disadvantage because she couldn't take what she considered a dishonorable approach; she refused to wear the sailor suit that Class 2-4's boys got for her because she felt she had to succeed at her father's challenge to beat him first, and agreed to return to harsh training in the mountains after her father beats her in a duel with a cheap trick. Whilst Ryūnosuke can be more worldly than her father, such as recognizing the foolishness of setting up a beach cafe on a deserted island four miles offshore from the nearest village, she can also be quite naive. Her father has repeatedly tricked her since she was a young age in order to not have to share delicious foods like chocolate or cake, although she has grown to recognize these were lies as she aged, and on her first Valentine's Day at Tomobiki High, is able to successfully trick her into believing that eating chocolate gifted to her by a girl on Valentine's Day will make her turn into a boy. She also hates to be touched, due to the constant physical abuse she received from her father's hands growing up. Perhaps the most notable aspect of Ryūnosuke's personality is her relationship with femininity. Ryūnosuke is deeply unhappy with being forced to dress and act like a boy, and yearns to be a woman - to dress like a girl, act like a girl, and recognized as a girl by others. Her great issue, besides her father's active and ongoing interference, is that she simply doesn't know how to act like a lady. It deeply troubles and annoys her when others mistake her for a boy, typically eliciting an angry confession - she even repeatedly endures attacks from Asuka Mizunokōji in her drive to correct the androphobe's mistaken impression ofRyūnosuke's gender. Early in the series, she goes on a "date" with Ran hoping that she can learn to be more ladylike from her, and her efforts to acquire girl's clothing are a recurring element in her stories. She holds a deep admiration and envy for other girls, and idealizes proper feminine behavior; somewhat hypocritically, she is shown to look down on tomboyish girls, as seen when she first meets Benten. When her sarashi is stolen whilst bathing one night and a sweet potato vendor addresses her as "young miss" for the first time ever, Ryūnosuke is ecstatic, forcing him to repeatedly call her that term, and even resolves to never wear her sarashi breast-bindings again... though she is forced to give up on this when it causes the Class 2-4 boys to amp up their perverted behavior. It's brought up in her first meeting with Ten that she literally doesn't know how to act around kids because her only memories of "expressing love" are from her father doing things like yelling at her and giving her noogies, something that also becomes apparent when she attempts to duel Benten in a contest of womanhood. It's called out by Ataru Moroboshi that she has no grasp of the womanly dialect of Japanese, and when she is initially presented with flower arranging implements during her brief feud with Benten, she has no comprehension of what they're supposed to do with them. In short, Ryūnosuke hates being seen or treated as a boy and wants to be seen and treated as a girl... unless that means enduring the lecherous attentions of Ataru or the other perverted boys of Tomobiki High. Relating to this is Ryūnosuke's attitudes towards romance, which are very mixed. She doesn't like being touched, and this isn't helped by the fact that it most frequently comes when Ataru or some other guy is trying to get gropey. When Shūtarō Mendō asks her to be his girlfriend, she flat out declares that she isn't interested in boys. When Sakura asks Ryūnosuke about her first love, Ryūnosuke's immediate response was that it was a female teacher she had as a small child, and when she thinks of other people she really liked, she realizes they were all girls. She has been on dates with both Ran and Shinobu Miyake, although with ulterior motives both times - to study feminine behavior and after being offered a bra to do so, respectively. She even nearly kisses Shinobu on their date, although when Shinobu slaps her, Ryūnosuke clarifies that she got carried away in her excitement at finally owning a bra. At the same time, Ryūnosuke has also expressed that she is not attracted to girls. When discussing her first love with Sakura, she clarifies that the girls she liked, she liked in a non-romantic sense, and even declares that if she had to think about it, she would like a guy who is "tough and wild as the ocean, and stronger than me", which leads to her agreeing to duel the boys of Tomobiki High School to see if she can find one who measures up. She is annoyed by the fact that the girls at Tomobiki shower her with love letters and Valentine's Day chocolates despite knowing that she's a girl, regarding it as yet another attack on her fragile sense of femininity. When Ran kisses her, she freaks out, and fights to prevent Ran from giving her a second kiss to restore her drained strength, even having a minor breakdown when Ran succeeds. She is repulsed when magnetic lipstick nearly compels her and Lum to kiss, fighting to avoid making lip contact. She rejects the idea of becoming Kurama's husband, especially if that means turning physically into a boy. When she meets Nagisa Shiowatari, she rejects her fiancée's pleas for a kiss because she abhors the thought of kissing someone that she believes at the time to be another girl. In conclusion, Ryūnosuke is a noble yet confused soul, torn between the womanhood she dreams of having and the manhood she has been forced to embrace.