Oji Karasuma
Oji Karasuma (烏丸 大路, Karasuma Ōji?) is a fictional character from the manga and anime series School Rumble.
Fictional character biography
Karasuma is Tenma Tsukamoto's love interest, often depicted as a stonefaced eccentric. Although it seems like Tenma's feelings for him are unrequited, behind his poker face he sometimes shows true concern for her in the story. His parents live in the United States.
In the beginning of the story, Karasuma announced he was moving to another city, to the despair of Tenma who wrote him an absurdly long anonymous letter (because she forgot to put her name in) asking him to not leave. If her plea worked or not is a mystery, but for some reason he chose to stay. But Tenma's days near her beloved seem to be numbered as he apparently was allowed to stay for only another year. As the school year goes on, the two get increasingly closer thanks to Tenma's own incredible determination to be with him.
In an effort to get even closer to him, she and her friends set up a special event where they'll be able to walk and talk together[1], the last event of their school year. Unfortunately for her, it's soon revealed that Karasuma will not attend this event, as that will be the day he will be leaving for America (it's also revealed he has some sort of medical condition)[2]. Kenji Harima, overhearing this, is rather distraught, only concerned over how crushed Tenma will be. Going down a path of questionable morality, Harima decides he'll try and crush any lingering feelings of Japan in Karasuma so that he would leave quicker, and thus leave Tenma for only Harima to court. When he goes to speak with him, Harima calls him chicken, and that he shouldn't let go of his love for Tenma, or his manga. This talk actually has an opposite effect, and it is here Karasuma reveals his feelings for the lovestruck girl, remarking that he intends to ask her to be his girlfriend [3].
According to the last Japanese poll performed by the publishers of the manga, Karasuma is currently the sixteenth most popular character in the series.
Personality
Karasuma is a largely unemotional character, reacting calmly in stressful situations. Although he is usually shown looking out the window during class, he is not unaware of the goings on around him. He has a few quirky habits. These include tending to wear his school uniform when he is not in school, skiing in a snowman costume, and dressing up as a kappa during rainy days instead of using an umbrella, embodying a Japanese pun on the word for raincoat, and enjoys eating curry. Karasuma is also a member of the organizing committee for the school sports festival, and has acted as a coach/referee on a few occasions in an unofficial capacity.
Karasuma is very tolerant of Tenma's proposals, and also exhibits great empathy towards her when she encounters difficulties. He goes to some lengths to help her out on several occasions, especially after he severely disappointed her by being unable to quickly decide if he liked her or packaged curry better early in the series. He has also shown to be considerate to others as well. In one occasion, he inspired Harima to not give up on his dream, and allowed him to stay at his apartment for a few days.[4] He also did not disclose to others that Harima was working as a mangaka after discovering this fact.
Abilities
Karasuma is secretly a famous mangaka, publishing his works under the pen name of Nijō jō (二条丈). He is the judge for a mangaka contest sponsored by his publisher that seeks to promote new talent. Harima was an admirer of Nijō jō's until he found out that he was really Karasuma. His enviousness of Karasuma has led him to cast the latter as the villain in two of his manga stories who stands between the hero (who can be easily recognized as Harima himself), and his love interest (who in turn can be easily recognized as Tenma). In the musical realm, he is a guitarist and a member of a band comprising several of his classmates.
Karasuma also seems to be a highly accomplished fighter, being able to adeptly dodge any flying projectile and deflect Harima's flying attack using only two fingers. He has a great deal of endurance, displayed when he led Tenma and Harima on a prolonged, roundabout route to school via bicycle at high speed, being the only one of the three who was not exhausted.
Name
His surname, Karasuma (烏丸), can be misread as Torimaru (鳥丸), which Kenji Harima mistakenly called him once. His names are likely puns on famous Kyoto landmarks. One of the main thoroughfares in Kyoto is Karasuma Avenue (烏丸通 Karasuma-dōri), as well as the namesake of the Kyoto Subway's Karasuma Line, which parallels its route. This is very similar to his given name, as Ōji (大路) means "main street" in Japanese. Also, his mangaka nom de plume, Nijō-jō (二条丈） is clearly also a play on Nijo Castle (二条城 Nijō-jō) or Nijo Castle, a famous historical landmark in central Kyoto that is near Karasuma Avenue. Finally, the name Ōji (大路) is consistent with the punning on Kyoto, as Kyoto is the traditional seat of the Imperial family in Japan, and Ōji(王子) means prince. The Kyoto Gosho or imperial palace where the Emperor of Japan lived until 1868 is accessible via the Karasuma exit of the Kyoto subway.
