Ryuuichi Araki (荒木 竜一 Araki Ryūichi?) is an old friend of Suguru Aizawa where they even played together on the same team as before and he is considered to be a genius at passing that he is called the "Magician" for his effective passes. He is now a main force on the Enoshima High Football team.
Background[]
Even though Araki is a genius at football, he was not very well known before his selection into the national team. This is partially due to his overweight build as a child. Prior to the start of the series, he and Suguru Aizawa played on the same team. However, when it is time to move on to high school, a terrible misunderstanding caused a rift between them, which eventually led him to retire from football temporarily.
Appearance[]
Throughout the story, Araki's weight fluctuates greatly due to his voracious eating habit. At his heaviest, he is almost unrecognizable from his fit self, something that greatly shocked Kakeru Aizawa initially. Outside of football, Araki usually dons his school uniform along with round glasses. He still keeps his hair middle-parted and tied at the back.
Personality[]
On the football field, Araki is quick-witted and decisive, traits that make him a formidable player. He deeply loves football and is willing to go to the extreme (e.g. losing weight) to participate in matches. As the number 10 player of the Enoshima Football Team, he carries heavy responsibility and sometimes will blame himself when the team loses.
When he's not playing football, Araki has a more comedic and laid back personality. He is often shown to have an uncontrollable habit of overindulging in junk foods, which result in massive ballooning in weight and getting beat up by his fellow teammates. He is also one half of the comedy club along with fellow teammate Makoto Hyoudou.
He is often noted to be overly arrogant because he is a known to be a genius player. However because of this trait, he gets easily discouraged and attempts to run away if he encounters difficulty.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Mother
Araki is seen to have a very close relationship with his mother. When Kakeru and Nana came over to his house to ask his mom to help him diet, she willingly agreed because it's for her son's future. Later after the AFC cup is over, Araki insisted on buying a hand bag for her instead of taking the bus to the airplane with the rest of the U-16 team, resulting in him getting caught in a terrorist act and missing the plane back.
Friends[]
Araki and Suguru talking.
Araki and Suguru were teammates for a short time on the U-15 team. Araki was obviously surprised to see the Nation's ace Aizawa Suguru paying attention to him and made a fool of himself while trying to look cool. Because of Araki's arrogant personality, he got into a rough start with Takajo and got reprimanded by Suguru for his behavior. When Araki was sent on the field to play in the match, he and Suguru pulled off an astounding combo and the two began to become close friends.
Araki with Suguru
Attracted by the ideals presented at Enoshima High, Araki decided to enroll there to play football the way he wanted. Not understanding everything, Suguru expressed his disappointment in Araki and called him a "Naked King" for his foolishness. This seemed to affect Araki so much that it became the main reason he refused to come back to football.
Araki first met Kakeru during the opening day for the new first years. Although not recognizing Kakeru immediately, Araki quickly realized that Kakeru is Suguru's little brother after hearing his name. After briefly analyzing Kakeru's dribbling, Araki deemed Kakeru to not possess enough skills to survive in High School football. Despite this, Araki was very aware of Kakeru and secretly observed him during FC's practice match at the beach. He took note of Kakeru's major flaw but also his acute sense within the penalty area. Although Araki was reluctant to return to football due to being discouraged by his inability to break the SC's defense, Kakeru manages to open his eyes by suggesting a phantom pass route done by two people that would pierce a hole in their opponent's iron wall of defense.
As the series progresses they grow a friendship and mentorship where Araki starts to offer Kakeru advice occassionally such as refering to what Suguru Aizawa said to him, reassuring him after the Phi Trick got imitated that it was a compliment of his skills and not his only move, and reassuring his confidence on the pitch a few times. Araki also acknowledges Kakeru's development as a striker.
Araki and Hyoudou are close friends and partners in both football and comedy. On the field, they are both attacking midfielders. Outside of matches, they are known as the comedy duo "Yellow Card".
Position[]
Attacking Midfielder (Below Top)
Skill[]
Araki is known for his direct play, his assists and his incredible dribbling which is sometimes refered to as the "Araki Dance". He's able to both pass and shoot well.
| Technique |
|
9 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing |
|
10 | |||
| Shooting |
|
8 | |||
| Physical |
|
7 | |||
| Stamina |
|
3 |
Etymology[]
- The name Ryuuichi means "dragon" (竜) (ryuu) and "one" (一) (ichi).
- Ryuuichi's surname Araki means "rough" (荒) (ara) and "tree, wood" (木) (ki).