I really like Kyousuke. He’s an admirable character, in my eyes. A very capable and dependable leader, and it seems like hanging around him would never get boring. Someone you can have an infinitely good time with. That’s something Riki got across really well. But that’s just the beginning.
Even at a young age, in his ‘mission’ to find a circle of friends in which Rin feels comfortable, he gives Masato a place to belong, shows Kengo the world of fun he actually really desires, and snaps Riki out of cold depression. And he just does that, because he can, and he wants to.
Fast forward through I don’t even know how many awesome years, up until the bus incident. An immense tragedy about to destroy everything, leaving the two lone survivors in despair and depression until the end of their days. No. It must not go this way. The two of them must survive and live on. And through a miracle, a world is born.
Fast forward to Rin 2. This is where Kyousuke’s dedication towards his goal is more than clearly shown, and not in a good light. He doesn’t care about remaining in this world - to use this miracle to have some more good fun until their end. No, he wants to mature Riki and Rin and send them on their way, and to that end he will use whatever means he deems necessary. This is where we see Kyousuke’s “dark” side, and without love, you may see him as an antagonist. I never did. But, Kyousuke does mess up, he overestimates their accumulated strength, and just about all progress on Rin is lost.
Enter Refrain. Rin is even less sociable than at the start of the game, and Kyousuke, fully aware that it’s all his fault, lives in depression.
Or does he?
No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t let that failure get him down. He pushes on. He realizes that while Rin suffered a deep wound, that very same event gave Riki all the resolve and strength he had wanted him to get in this world. Through Lennon he still led Riki on, to baseball, presented himself as the equivalent of child Riki before Kyousuke met him, and ultimately he caused Episode Masato. Kyousuke led Riki through Refrain, until finally, everything was ready. They would live on, and that was enough.
Yes, he’s ruthless. He violates morality, as he himself says, but he does know how to achieve his goal. And he knows how to have fun doing it, but he never loses himself in that fun. I find that very admirable.
And besides all that he has the most awesomely random ideas ever, something the visual novel really manages to convey by more than just Riki telling us he does. Harye Hore UMAU!