Information.
Character ⇒ Koutarou Sasaki
Canon ⇒ Eyeshield 21
Timeline ⇒ Post-chapter 303 | Some time after Koutarou is dragged away for jumping onto the field to rave about kicking.
Age ⇒ Seventeen
Gender ⇒ Male
Sexual orientation ⇒ Smartsexual Hetero~
Eye color ⇒ Black
Hair color ⇒ Black
Height ⇒ Taller than average but not the lankiest guy around. Other ⇒ Very snazzy hair! He constantly carries around a combs and runs it through.
Clothing ⇒ He wears tight black pants and colorful, button-up shirts. There's a smidge of retro in there. Think Dolce and Gabana.
Background ⇒ First things first: Koutarou is Bando High School football team's ace kicker. Remember that! As for how he got there, let's go on a little ride. The world of Eyeshield 21 takes place is modern day Japan, no bells or whistles. Just your average Japan in your average Kantou region in your average high school called Bando. Beneath all the soccer teams and tennis and everything else, a fascination with American football runs deep. In the case of Bando, they didn't always pride themselves on a kicking team. No, they had decent players -- good players. So good that they used to taunt the kicking team and call it a waste of time. They were a purely offensive-defensive team; and good at it, too. Talent like that doesn't go unnoticed. The best players were recruited to Teikoku Academy, and suddenly Bando was left with only a kicking team.
Koutarou of course got an offer, don't get him wrong, it's just that kind of low recruiting ain't his style. He turned them down and vowed that Bando would build their strength through him, through the power of the kick.
Enter Hayato Akaba, one of the key players in Koutarou's life. Akaba's one that Koutarou insists he could do without. The guy goes on about music and plays the guitar, and for some reason Koutarou can't stand him. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't hurt when he found out Akaba also transferred into Teikoku. Koutarou's confrontation inspired Akaba to return and together they made Bando a power to be feared through the almighty kick. They resolved to qualify for the Christmas Bowl and show Teikoku just what they missed out on. They've also worked together to develop a codename for Koutarou kicks based on guitar chords, and Koutarou does have moments where he speaks that musical lingo Akaba's down with.
Now enter Musashi, also known as the "60-Yard Magnum". This is the guy Koutarou deems as his rival, an ace kicker like himself. He first appears on Deimon ground in search of Musashi, kicking it up like the guy has never seen before. What he finds out is that Musashi has given up football in order to help his father's business. Koutarou, devastated by Musashi's lackluster, is deeply disturbed by Musashi's saying that he had left because Deimon was a weak team.
Now Koutarou's not the kind of guy who just gives up. He pursues Musashi and implores that he return to kicking, not only to challenge him face-to-face, but also for the sake of Deimon as a team. Koutarou has done such reckless antics such as stealing microphones and screaming to Musashi over them or stalking Deimon games all in the name of a smart kicking ace. Koutarou finds Musashi and flaunts his kicking skills quite often.
Koutarou's strife pays out in the end. In the match against Deimon, Musashi finally returns as a full-time player, and Koutarou is given the opportunity to kick against the fabled 60-Yard Magnum. He's up front about his fail-proof strategies and the same tactics are employed throughout the match, showing how much of a one-track mind he has. In the end, the game is decided by a single point; the Bando Spiders lose by a field goal. Koutarou is absolutely crushed. It's his fault that Bando lost, he thinks. After all, he's the kicker. Just one kick and that outcome could have been different. Next year, he vows; next year Bando will win with the kick team. Akaba agrees.
Finally, there's Julie, the team manager and his childhood friend. Koutarou likes Julies. He wants to go out with her. You know how it is when young love blossoms into something. The only problem is that Julie keeps turning him down; not rejecting him, turning him down. Good thing Koutarou's not the kind of guy who sits back and takes that for an answer. Thus far, he's asked her out three times.
Personality ⇒ Let me restate something important: Koutarou is Bando High School football team's ace kicker. And he knows it. Sure, he's quick to show just how amazing his kicking really is and stake his name on the line, but he understands that he must live up to his hype or else face humiliation. That's not something he deals well with; but ten again, he can't afford to lose and he never does. His kicking precision? 100%.
But he has his not-so-amazing sides as well. For one thing, he's loud and passionate. This combination prompts him to announce all his plans and humbleness is a foreign concept to him. He's confrontational, so very much. He's quick to declare rivalries and doesn't let them go even when the other party doesn't reciprocate. He's very proud; if rubbed the wrong way, he can hold onto a grudge like no other. He has a hard time saying sorry or thanks. He tends to eavesdrop on such things and just not talk about them. Drama is a part of his daily life and he can relapse into vivid descriptions of TL;DR. All is the charmed life of Koutarou Sasaki.
He's rather concerned about appearances. He's almost always seen flicking a comb in his hand or running through his hair. The habit is particularly bad when he's extremely emotional but he also does it without much thought when has nothing better to do. If he's not combing his hair, you know it's serious.
Another dominant trait is the way which he speaks. He doesn't come off as the sharpest tool in the shed but that's alright because he isn't, however much he might like the word "smart". He downright abuses this word. Things he likes are smart, those he dislikes are not smart, and Koutarou is the smartest kicker of all and there isn't anything smarter than kicking.
His final reoccurring behavior is spitting, though this is mostly directly at Akaba. If Koutarou doesn't like somebody, he'll spit on them or their most prized possessions. His spitting is also smart.
Koutarou is a die hard fan of kicking when it comes to football. He can appreciate a good kick even when it's not his own, and he jumps into self proclaimed kicking contests whenever he finds somebody worth his time. He'll even go out of his way to find them. He prides himself in being able to kick anything to a precise location every time. It's said that his kicks are most elegant.
Koutarou is direly loyal to his teammate however much he may dislike them as a person. He would never betray them and trusts they won't betray him, either. Part of the reason he's a successful kicker is because he relies so heavily on his teammates to know where the ball will land and take it from there. He'll also put people in their place when they put down their teammates or close ones as well, even if he doesn't know any of the parties in question.
The guy is your friendly rival, the kind who yells for you to come and face him like a man and is all buddy-buddy afterward. He doesn't take losing bitterly as long as it is a fair match and everybody gives it their all.
Abilities ⇒ In case you forgot, Koutarou is Bando High School football team's ace kicker. He has a refined kicking style with stunning accuracy. He can pinpoint exact locations and send footballs flying towards an intended target every. Single. Time. He's also skilled with kicking objects besides footballs with the same results, even soda cans with drink still left inside.
He also has the best hair in the entire series. His total comb count is over nine thousand and yes, he uses every single one of them.
Affection ⇒ He's okay with touching, generally. Like, manly pat kind of touching. Flirting is okay but he's pretty serious about Julie since he's been chasing her his entire life.
Fighter ⇒ Challenging to kicks is fine and dandy and he'll be more than willing to kick some not smart person's ass. Contact me first if it's serious so we can work details out.
Other permissions ⇒ No fourthwalling, "KICKING IS SO SMART" for telepaths, mentioning anything is game.
Other ⇒ IT'S SMART!