OVA
Description
Kyōsuke Irie serves as the head doctor of the Irie Clinic in Hinamizawa and the coach of the village's little league baseball team, the Hinamizawa Fighters. The children typically address him as "Kantoku" (meaning "manager" or "coach"). Tall in stature, he has light brown hair parted in the middle, green eyes, and wears oval/circle-shaped glasses. His work attire features a black suit vest over a dark gray collared shirt with a yellow tie, while his casual wear includes a yellow shirt. His baseball uniform is a red-white-yellow shirt with "Hinamizawa" on the sleeve and the number "1".
Born into poverty on December 3, Irie aspired to become a doctor from childhood, often playing the role of a doctor with friends and serving as the class health monitor. He gained acceptance into a prestigious Tokyo medical school, though not at the top of his class. His parents celebrated with an expensive party despite financial strain. His father worked as a stern and silent construction worker, while his mother was sensitive. During college, Irie received letters detailing his father's sudden violent outbursts. His mother later fled to his apartment due to escalating abuse, but his father died in a fight with street thugs before Irie could intervene. A medical professor suggested his father's violence stemmed from an organic brain syndrome caused by frontal lobe trauma from a construction accident. This motivated Irie to specialize in psychosurgery, aiming to help others with similar conditions.
Irie gained recognition in neurosurgery for successful lobotomies, earning the moniker "the young genius". However, a high number of failures and ethical violations, including performing lobotomies without consent after the practice was banned, resulted in his banishment from the medical community. His controversial research attracted "Tokyo", a secret organization, which recruited him for Takano Miyo's research group on Hinamizawa Syndrome. The Irie Clinic was established as a cover for this research, with Irie as the nominal director, though Takano held actual authority due to "Tokyo's" reluctance to place a young woman in charge. Irie accepted his role as a scapegoat, including responsibility for approving Emergency Manual #34, which mandated the extermination of all villagers. In arcs like Tatarigoroshi-hen and Minagoroshi-hen, he committed suicide via sleeping pill overdose to avoid arrest when the plan activated.
Irie maintains complex relationships with several characters. He exhibits an obsessive interest in maids and lolicon culture, often half-jokingly proposing to marry Hōjō Satoko when she is older and gifting her maid headbands. This behavior draws criticism from colleagues like Chie Rumiko. Despite this, he genuinely cares for Satoko, suppressing her Hinamizawa Syndrome symptoms with regular injections. He once considered dissecting her for research but abandoned the idea due to Rika Furude's influence, dedicating himself to finding a permanent cure instead. He similarly cares for Satoko's brother, Satoshi, whom he placed in a pharmacological coma in 1982 after Satoshi developed terminal-stage Hinamizawa Syndrome and murdered his aunt. Irie concealed Satoshi in the clinic's basement, treating him while contributing research toward Satoko's cure.
His relationship with Takano Miyo is defined by manipulation and ignorance. Takano selected him for his malleable personality and unethical background, though she initially viewed him as incompetent. Irie remained unaware of her role in orchestrating tragedies, including Rika's parents' deaths and plans to vivisect Satoshi and Satoko. He complied with unethical acts, such as vivisecting a construction manager under Takano's suggestion, and only realized her true intentions in Matsuribayashi-hen when Rika alerted him. He shared a friendly rapport with Tomitake Jirō but never suspected Takano's involvement in his murder.
Across various story arcs, Irie's actions reflect conflicting motivations. In Tatarigoroshi-hen, he initially believed Keiichi Maebara's confession to murdering Teppei Hōjō but later deemed Keiichi delusional after contradictory accounts. After Takano's apparent death, Irie vowed to prevent the incident from becoming part of Oyashiro's curse but was found dead from suicide days later. In Minagoroshi-hen, he supported protests against Teppei's custody of Satoko and administered emergency injections during her breakdowns. During the Watanagashi Festival, he identified Tomitake's cause of death as an H173 injection but lied to Detective Ōishi, later committing suicide after Takano initiated the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. Matsuribayashi-hen explored his backstory and efforts to cure Hinamizawa Syndrome, culminating in his alliance with Rika to stop Takano.
In the Rei timeline, set 35 years after the original events, Irie participates in town meetings. An early concept envisioned him as a ruthless antagonist who would reveal Satoshi's preserved brain to Satoko. This was discarded after objections from the development team, leading to Takano assuming the primary antagonist role. This original concept later inspired the portrayal of Dr. Hiroaki Nitta in the alternate continuity "Hinamizawa Bus Stop".
Born into poverty on December 3, Irie aspired to become a doctor from childhood, often playing the role of a doctor with friends and serving as the class health monitor. He gained acceptance into a prestigious Tokyo medical school, though not at the top of his class. His parents celebrated with an expensive party despite financial strain. His father worked as a stern and silent construction worker, while his mother was sensitive. During college, Irie received letters detailing his father's sudden violent outbursts. His mother later fled to his apartment due to escalating abuse, but his father died in a fight with street thugs before Irie could intervene. A medical professor suggested his father's violence stemmed from an organic brain syndrome caused by frontal lobe trauma from a construction accident. This motivated Irie to specialize in psychosurgery, aiming to help others with similar conditions.
Irie gained recognition in neurosurgery for successful lobotomies, earning the moniker "the young genius". However, a high number of failures and ethical violations, including performing lobotomies without consent after the practice was banned, resulted in his banishment from the medical community. His controversial research attracted "Tokyo", a secret organization, which recruited him for Takano Miyo's research group on Hinamizawa Syndrome. The Irie Clinic was established as a cover for this research, with Irie as the nominal director, though Takano held actual authority due to "Tokyo's" reluctance to place a young woman in charge. Irie accepted his role as a scapegoat, including responsibility for approving Emergency Manual #34, which mandated the extermination of all villagers. In arcs like Tatarigoroshi-hen and Minagoroshi-hen, he committed suicide via sleeping pill overdose to avoid arrest when the plan activated.
Irie maintains complex relationships with several characters. He exhibits an obsessive interest in maids and lolicon culture, often half-jokingly proposing to marry Hōjō Satoko when she is older and gifting her maid headbands. This behavior draws criticism from colleagues like Chie Rumiko. Despite this, he genuinely cares for Satoko, suppressing her Hinamizawa Syndrome symptoms with regular injections. He once considered dissecting her for research but abandoned the idea due to Rika Furude's influence, dedicating himself to finding a permanent cure instead. He similarly cares for Satoko's brother, Satoshi, whom he placed in a pharmacological coma in 1982 after Satoshi developed terminal-stage Hinamizawa Syndrome and murdered his aunt. Irie concealed Satoshi in the clinic's basement, treating him while contributing research toward Satoko's cure.
His relationship with Takano Miyo is defined by manipulation and ignorance. Takano selected him for his malleable personality and unethical background, though she initially viewed him as incompetent. Irie remained unaware of her role in orchestrating tragedies, including Rika's parents' deaths and plans to vivisect Satoshi and Satoko. He complied with unethical acts, such as vivisecting a construction manager under Takano's suggestion, and only realized her true intentions in Matsuribayashi-hen when Rika alerted him. He shared a friendly rapport with Tomitake Jirō but never suspected Takano's involvement in his murder.
Across various story arcs, Irie's actions reflect conflicting motivations. In Tatarigoroshi-hen, he initially believed Keiichi Maebara's confession to murdering Teppei Hōjō but later deemed Keiichi delusional after contradictory accounts. After Takano's apparent death, Irie vowed to prevent the incident from becoming part of Oyashiro's curse but was found dead from suicide days later. In Minagoroshi-hen, he supported protests against Teppei's custody of Satoko and administered emergency injections during her breakdowns. During the Watanagashi Festival, he identified Tomitake's cause of death as an H173 injection but lied to Detective Ōishi, later committing suicide after Takano initiated the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. Matsuribayashi-hen explored his backstory and efforts to cure Hinamizawa Syndrome, culminating in his alliance with Rika to stop Takano.
In the Rei timeline, set 35 years after the original events, Irie participates in town meetings. An early concept envisioned him as a ruthless antagonist who would reveal Satoshi's preserved brain to Satoko. This was discarded after objections from the development team, leading to Takano assuming the primary antagonist role. This original concept later inspired the portrayal of Dr. Hiroaki Nitta in the alternate continuity "Hinamizawa Bus Stop".