Personality: Takeo, at a glance, is extremely easygoing. He treats everyone the same, whether they are his enemy (Sudou) or his best friend (Norio). He is so candid that he seems not to have a filter, which often flusters the females (or Norio) around him, as he will casually discuss sexuality, anatomy, and procreation in clinical detail. He rarely gets worked up or loses his calm. Underneath that exterior, he is a bit of a callous, self-serving jerk. There are few things he considers more important than his own desires, and he very bluntly admits when he is unconcerned about the welfare of another human being.
Therefore, it's a bit jarring when Takeo chooses to actively become involved in the lives of Shiina Tamai, Hiroko Kaizuka, and Sakura Akira. Initially, it would seem that his only interest is in finding out what draws the dragonets to Shiina, but as time wanes on, it becomes more apparent that he is starting to care for the three girls as an older brother would. He probably had the potential for affection to begin with, but did not realize that he did until he came to befriend the three main characters via his dragonet. (It is important to note that he masquerades as his dragon, "Hoshimaru," for most of the series, so much of the canon evidence for his personality comes from instances where Hoshimaru interacts with the girls. It may seem that Tsurumaru is a minor character, but when you take into consideration that "Hoshimaru" is on nearly every single page, it turns out that he has even more appearances than the protagonist!)
In examining Hoshimaru's actions, we see that Takeo takes immediate action when he needs to, that he does not hold much regard for human life. When Hiroko Kaizuka is about to murder Shiina Tamai's father, Takeo, as "Hoshimaru," beats the small girl to the punch line by strangling her to death. Never mind that Kaizuka is one of the three aforementioned girls whose lives Takeo becomes involved in as a protective figure. Later on in the manga, when Shiina begs "Hoshimaru" to abandon a battle with Hainuwele to go save her father's life, Takeo does not heed her cries for help and continues with the battle, which results in Shunji Tamai's death. (To his defense, however, not engaging Hainuwele in combat meant that many more people would have died in Shunji's place, as Hainuwele's owner Bungo was planning a massive attack on a civilian area. Whether or not Takeo knew this at the time isn't exactly clear.) Takeo, as Hoshimaru, actively goes looking for Shiina and Sakura when they're in trouble, like the anime's episode thirteen, where Hoshimaru flies in out of the blue to defend Shiina and her classmates from Oni. Again, this probably began as Takeo's curiosity in Shiina's deep connection to the dragonets, therefore he had to keep her alive to observe her long enough, but evolved to genuine concern.
Takeo is strangely obsessed with procreation. He has sexual intercourse with as many female characters as he can in order to impregnate them, stating that it's a typical male desire to want to spread one's DNA as far across the planet as possible. This seems to hint at an underlying fear that he will exit his life without having left an etch on the world. In the manga, he fathers eight different children within three years. He is somehow able to pay child support for all of them, as well as own his own house (and at 18-20 years of age no less!), but the manga never explains how. Inheritance, maybe?
The young man can be serious when he needs to be, but more often than not, he is stuck semi-permanently in a joking, laid-back frame of mind, and retains this attitude right up to his death. His last words are, jokingly, "I can't get it up." (He went sterile after excessive exposure to radioactive fallout.)
Takeo Tsurumaru
Therefore, it's a bit jarring when Takeo chooses to actively become involved in the lives of Shiina Tamai, Hiroko Kaizuka, and Sakura Akira. Initially, it would seem that his only interest is in finding out what draws the dragonets to Shiina, but as time wanes on, it becomes more apparent that he is starting to care for the three girls as an older brother would. He probably had the potential for affection to begin with, but did not realize that he did until he came to befriend the three main characters via his dragonet. (It is important to note that he masquerades as his dragon, "Hoshimaru," for most of the series, so much of the canon evidence for his personality comes from instances where Hoshimaru interacts with the girls. It may seem that Tsurumaru is a minor character, but when you take into consideration that "Hoshimaru" is on nearly every single page, it turns out that he has even more appearances than the protagonist!)
In examining Hoshimaru's actions, we see that Takeo takes immediate action when he needs to, that he does not hold much regard for human life. When Hiroko Kaizuka is about to murder Shiina Tamai's father, Takeo, as "Hoshimaru," beats the small girl to the punch line by strangling her to death. Never mind that Kaizuka is one of the three aforementioned girls whose lives Takeo becomes involved in as a protective figure. Later on in the manga, when Shiina begs "Hoshimaru" to abandon a battle with Hainuwele to go save her father's life, Takeo does not heed her cries for help and continues with the battle, which results in Shunji Tamai's death. (To his defense, however, not engaging Hainuwele in combat meant that many more people would have died in Shunji's place, as Hainuwele's owner Bungo was planning a massive attack on a civilian area. Whether or not Takeo knew this at the time isn't exactly clear.) Takeo, as Hoshimaru, actively goes looking for Shiina and Sakura when they're in trouble, like the anime's episode thirteen, where Hoshimaru flies in out of the blue to defend Shiina and her classmates from Oni. Again, this probably began as Takeo's curiosity in Shiina's deep connection to the dragonets, therefore he had to keep her alive to observe her long enough, but evolved to genuine concern.
Takeo is strangely obsessed with procreation. He has sexual intercourse with as many female characters as he can in order to impregnate them, stating that it's a typical male desire to want to spread one's DNA as far across the planet as possible. This seems to hint at an underlying fear that he will exit his life without having left an etch on the world. In the manga, he fathers eight different children within three years. He is somehow able to pay child support for all of them, as well as own his own house (and at 18-20 years of age no less!), but the manga never explains how. Inheritance, maybe?
The young man can be serious when he needs to be, but more often than not, he is stuck semi-permanently in a joking, laid-back frame of mind, and retains this attitude right up to his death. His last words are, jokingly, "I can't get it up." (He went sterile after excessive exposure to radioactive fallout.)