Ikuo Takabayashi

""It's not fair for her to force her own ideas on the rest of us! There must be so many things you wanna know, Kouichi."''"

- Ikuo's last words to Kouchi.

Ikuo Takabayashi (高林 郁夫, Takabayashi Ikuo) was a student from 9th Grade Class 3 in 1998, and one of the "Deaths of June". His maternal grandparents, Kensaku and Keiko Numata are owners of Sakitani Kinenkan. His appearance is exclusive to the anime, since in the manga he is only mentioned by Yuuya Mochizuki.

Appearance
Ikuo was a fair skinned thin boy with below average height. He had short greenish-brown hair, which was divided into 2 large locks between his forehead, green eyes, and freckles on his face.

Ikuo wears the standard male uniform, but wears a dark blue vest instead of a Gakuran.

His design in the manga is absolutely unknown, since this character was never seen there, just a mention of his name by his classmate and good friend.

Personality
It is shown that Ikuo used to be quite a quiet boy, but despite that he seemed to get along with the rest of his classmates. He reveals in Rough Sketch that he wants to be a runner, but has a heart condition that makes that dream impossible. He also shows great courage: only he is willing to tell Kouichi Sakakibara the reason why everyone was ignoring him and Mei, even though he knew what would likely happen if he did.

Plot
A quiet boy who sat in the back of the class, Ikuo was frequently absent from school due to his weak heart. In "Rough Sketch", he was among the students who welcomed Kouichi to Class 3 on his first day.

Ikuo was one of the students Izumi pulled into the all class meeting to discuss her new countermeasures. In "Build Limbs", when Kouichi asked him and Yuuya to walk home with him, Ikuo was willing to tell him the truth, saying how he didn't like how Izumi Akazawa was handling the situation. Before he could reveal anything, however, he immediately had a heart attack and died. He is one of the "Deaths of June."

He later appears in Kouichi's nightmare in "Body Paint", accusing Kouichi of causing his death, suggesting Kouichi felt guilty about it.

In the manga, his death is off-screen and is only mentioned by Yuuya, who received this news in a phone call. Unlike the anime, in the manga, his death was the catalyst for the class ignoring Kouichi, rather than being caused by it.

Etymology

 * The name Ikuo means "cultural progress, perfume" (郁) (iku), and "husband, man" (夫) (o)
 * Ikuo's surname Takabayashi means "tall, high" (高) (taka), and "grove, forest" (林) (bayashi)

Trivia

 * He is ranked C in Another characters ranking.
 * His home address is 7-10 Tobiicho Yomiyama City.
 * He and Yuuya are friends in the anime, but only passing acquaintances in the manga and novel. His role is more or less given to Suguru Yamada in the film, though other than the location of their deaths the two characters have little in common.
 * Ikuo died on June 4th.
 * He does not appear in the manga but is mentioned. His role is vastly expanded in the anime.
 * In Chapter 8 Page 1 Kouichi refers to Takabayashi as "Her." This is a fan translation error, however, as the official English release uses his correct gender.

Gallery

 * Main article:Ikuo Takabayashi/Image Gallery