Noboru Taki serves as the music teacher and band director at Kitauji High School. He is Tooru Taki's son and the widower of Chihiro Taki, who succumbed to a terminal illness early in their marriage. Her death plunged him into severe grief, causing him to abandon music education for several years, unable to engage with instruments or sheet music. He returned to teaching five years later specifically to fulfill his late wife's unrealized dream: leading her alma mater, Kitauji High School, to win gold at the All-Japan band competition.

Professionally polite and methodical, Taki masks a demanding and critically blunt demeanor during rehearsals. He values student initiative and merit-based advancement, implementing auditions to determine seating that overrides traditional seniority, triggering initial friction within the band. He gradually earns respect through his serious commitment to musical excellence. Outside rehearsals, he displays a quieter, more melancholic personality, occasionally revealing awkward or hyperactive tendencies when excited. He dedicates extensive hours to schoolwork, arriving early and leaving late, often listening to recordings of other school bands to refine his methods.

His rehearsal techniques emphasize student self-assessment and goal-setting. He exhibits an unconscious bias toward brass instrumentation due to his background as a trombone player, leading him to later recruit specialists for woodwind and percussion sections. A notable trait is his preference for conducting without a baton, adopted as a tribute to his wife’s conducting style, contrasting with his depiction in manga adaptations where he uses one.

Taki’s role evolves across the series: a temporary substitute teacher facing a one-year deadline to achieve nationals success in the novels, to a permanent faculty member in the anime continuity, allowing continued band involvement. His personal investment deepens, illustrated when he refuses a parent’s demand to remove a student from the band, prioritizing the student’s wishes. In *The Movie – Our Promise: A Brand New Day*, he selects competition pieces and oversees auditions while maintaining rigorous standards. Alumni and former band members attend performances under his direction, highlighting his lasting impact.

Taki’s backstory reveals a rebellious youth transformed by personal loss. He wears his wedding ring on the anniversary of Chihiro’s death and keeps a white flower hairpin she owned, which appears symbolically across media. His incremental growth parallels the band’s journey, culminating in a gold medal at the nationals during Kumiko’s third year, fulfilling the promise tied to his return to teaching.