TV-Series
Description
Makoto Ito is the central character of School Days, a first-year high school student in class 1-3 at Sakurano Academy. He lives with his divorced mother and has a younger sister named Itaru who lives with their father. He has short black hair and brown eyes, and is generally considered an ordinary student.
At the beginning of the story, Makoto is portrayed as a mild-mannered and somewhat shy teenager who secretly harbors feelings for Kotonoha Katsura, a girl from a neighboring class whom he admires from a distance during his train commute. His life becomes complicated when his seatmate, the outgoing Sekai Saionji, discovers his crush and actively helps him start a relationship with Kotonoha. This triangle forms the emotional core of the series.
Makoto’s personality, however, is marked by indecisiveness and a weak will. He is initially kind-hearted and sociable, but as he becomes entangled in multiple romantic involvements, his character deteriorates. He grows increasingly selfish, apathetic, and impulsive, driven more by physical desire than genuine emotional connection. He begins to cheat on Kotonoha with Sekai, and later pursues other girls such as Setsuna, Hikari, and Otome, often without regard for the feelings of those involved. His motivations are rooted in a craving for attention and a deep inability to commit, which leads him to make choices that repeatedly hurt the people closest to him. At times he shows flashes of guilt and attempts to remedy situations, but these efforts are usually too little, too late.
Makoto’s role in the story is that of a catalyst for tragedy. His actions directly drive the emotional breakdown of both Kotonoha and Sekai. In the anime adaptation, his inability to take responsibility for Sekai’s pregnancy and his continued infidelity push Sekai to murder him in a fit of jealous despair, after which Kotonoha, having lost her sanity, kills Sekai in revenge. In the visual novel, the outcome varies depending on player choices. He can end up in a committed relationship with one girl, achieve a polyamorous arrangement, or meet similarly violent ends. His development, therefore, is heavily dependent on the medium and the path taken, but the most famous version charts a steady descent from a shy admirer into a compulsive womanizer whose lack of moral strength results in his own destruction.
Key relationships anchor his development. With Kotonoha, he shares an initial sweetness that curdles into neglect and emotional abuse as he grows bored with her shyness. With Sekai, he moves from friendship to a secret physical relationship, exploiting her feelings while refusing to end things with Kotonoha. His friend Taisuke Sawanaga serves as a confidant, often unaware of the depth of the turmoil. Makoto’s interactions with other girls like Setsuna, Hikari, and Otome further illustrate his pattern of seeking immediate gratification without considering consequences.
Makoto possesses no supernatural abilities. His notable skills are social: he has a natural charm that initially draws people to him, and he can manipulate situations to his advantage. However, these abilities are ultimately his undoing, as he becomes increasingly reckless and loses the capacity to form genuine bonds. His gradual loss of emotional insight mirrors the overall deterioration of his character.
Throughout the series, Makoto’s journey functions as a cautionary study in how a lack of emotional maturity, combined with unchecked desire and an unwillingness to face difficult choices, can lead to devastating outcomes for himself and those around him.
At the beginning of the story, Makoto is portrayed as a mild-mannered and somewhat shy teenager who secretly harbors feelings for Kotonoha Katsura, a girl from a neighboring class whom he admires from a distance during his train commute. His life becomes complicated when his seatmate, the outgoing Sekai Saionji, discovers his crush and actively helps him start a relationship with Kotonoha. This triangle forms the emotional core of the series.
Makoto’s personality, however, is marked by indecisiveness and a weak will. He is initially kind-hearted and sociable, but as he becomes entangled in multiple romantic involvements, his character deteriorates. He grows increasingly selfish, apathetic, and impulsive, driven more by physical desire than genuine emotional connection. He begins to cheat on Kotonoha with Sekai, and later pursues other girls such as Setsuna, Hikari, and Otome, often without regard for the feelings of those involved. His motivations are rooted in a craving for attention and a deep inability to commit, which leads him to make choices that repeatedly hurt the people closest to him. At times he shows flashes of guilt and attempts to remedy situations, but these efforts are usually too little, too late.
Makoto’s role in the story is that of a catalyst for tragedy. His actions directly drive the emotional breakdown of both Kotonoha and Sekai. In the anime adaptation, his inability to take responsibility for Sekai’s pregnancy and his continued infidelity push Sekai to murder him in a fit of jealous despair, after which Kotonoha, having lost her sanity, kills Sekai in revenge. In the visual novel, the outcome varies depending on player choices. He can end up in a committed relationship with one girl, achieve a polyamorous arrangement, or meet similarly violent ends. His development, therefore, is heavily dependent on the medium and the path taken, but the most famous version charts a steady descent from a shy admirer into a compulsive womanizer whose lack of moral strength results in his own destruction.
Key relationships anchor his development. With Kotonoha, he shares an initial sweetness that curdles into neglect and emotional abuse as he grows bored with her shyness. With Sekai, he moves from friendship to a secret physical relationship, exploiting her feelings while refusing to end things with Kotonoha. His friend Taisuke Sawanaga serves as a confidant, often unaware of the depth of the turmoil. Makoto’s interactions with other girls like Setsuna, Hikari, and Otome further illustrate his pattern of seeking immediate gratification without considering consequences.
Makoto possesses no supernatural abilities. His notable skills are social: he has a natural charm that initially draws people to him, and he can manipulate situations to his advantage. However, these abilities are ultimately his undoing, as he becomes increasingly reckless and loses the capacity to form genuine bonds. His gradual loss of emotional insight mirrors the overall deterioration of his character.
Throughout the series, Makoto’s journey functions as a cautionary study in how a lack of emotional maturity, combined with unchecked desire and an unwillingness to face difficult choices, can lead to devastating outcomes for himself and those around him.