typically, the first question you might wonder to yourself when hearing about someone's fav character is "why?". of course, they might provide a variety of different answers, some rather simple while some grand.

i'm not sure where my answers would lie in terms of their scale, however i can say for certain that they aren't simple. i don't consider myself to be an average fan. some might describe my fixation as "intense." whether if it is or isn't is not up for me to decide, for you can decide that for yourself if you continue reading.

let's get one thing out of the way: This guy scares me. i don't know how to explain it, but i feel like i'm being haunted by this guy, that's genuinely the best way i can describe it. i feel like it is god's personal mission to put things around in my day-to-day life that will make me think about this guy and it pisses me off.

i think it is just because he eats up a good majority of my thoughts thus naturally i'm going to seek things that remind me of him even when i'm not actively doing so. i think about him *all* the time. when i'm at work, in class or even at home, he's on my mind. my brain seems to think it's funny to include him in everything i do too... i'm always thinking to myself "would he do this? would he like this sort of thing? would he order this? would he frequent this sort of establishment? like this sort of media? read this sort of book? it annoys me, so i can't imagine how people who entertain me feel.

he is the first thought to greet me upon waking up, and he is the last one to kiss me goodnight. i think my affection for keiji comes from two sources, one being empathy while the other being cuteness aggression.

a conversation between mishima and keiji during ytts leaves me with the impression that keiji has no actual close friends, if anything maybe acquaintances if not just co-workers (if he has that sort of job). taking into account his self-loathing, he probably thinks that he's not good enough to be friends with anyone, because why burden someone with the likes of you, right?

keiji notably doesn't want anyone to know about his issues either, and as someone who also has a mental illness that causes them psychosis, i can understand why. he doesn't want people to know that there's anything wrong with him because he doesn't want to be seen as 'damaged goods' for it. however, how can he truly expect to connect with others fully or ever truly heal if he isn't honest about it? his deflection for his issues that he thinks will protect him will only bring his detriment. but i get it, and it's hard to be honest about these things because you have no idea how the other person will view you afterwards or if it'll change how they treat you.

i like to think that such an issue wouldn't exist between us considering we suffer from similar issues. you don't feel the need to perform in front of someone you know is just like you and won't judge you for such things. cause i mean, how can you? i like to think that if keiji really did find a serious partner (me btw) like that, he'd be willing to do better for them. i'd do the same for him lol.

other than that though... i do think keiji is enamoring. he's so stupidly cute to me that i wish i could strangle him for it. his stupid sayings and his stupid attitude and face have taken up a permanent spot in my heart. i wanna tuck him in my purse and run away. here's some things i like about keiji:

1. i like how charming he is

2. i like his stupid haircut

3. i like the fact he's nice to kids like gin

4. i like how he too can be humbled by people like shin and sou

5. i like how much of a bum he is

6. i like his insomniac behavior

7. i like the fact he mumbles to himself

8. i like how unserious he is and the fact he's always got a stupid act on

9. i like how in comics he is concerned about food (greed)

10. i like how beneath his friendly policeman act he is just a blunt awkward little idiot

11. i like the fact he quit the police force upon realizing it was corrupt

12. i like how serious and straightforward he was as a rookie detective... so cute lol

13. i like his aloofness

14. i like his droopy expression

15. i like how his hair has been described as "fluffy"

16. i like the fact he's a manwhore

17. i like how cute he looks when he's freaking out lol

however, don't think i blindly support this idiot. i love him but i think he's the worst at times too. i get that he's in a death game and he's more than likely prioritizing his own life, but there's things i think keiji deserves to be criticized for:

1. how he is obviously manipulating sara to stay on her good side

2. how he puts a lot of responsibility and burden on sara and exploits her

3. thinking it's okay to tell sara that he's putting his life in her hands

4. thinking it's okay to make a weird joke about going on a date with her (even if he isn't romantically interested in her, he's still trying to keep sara under his thumb so he has a less likely chance of dying)

5. how he's lazy and useless as hell

6. constantly lying about himself to seem put together and trustworthy

7. only felt bad for megumi after killing her #LMAO

8. how he quite literally does not do jack shit

9. being hypocritical to shin

10. voting for kanna in the second main game because he can for some reason respect a 13 year old's suicide wish (???)

11. how he was willing to abandon gin on the 1st floor in chapter 2

12. how genuinely pathetic he can be at times

13. just generally annoying

14. selfish and greedy

but… do you truly love your fave if you refuse to see the bad parts of them? something i've noticed amongst western yttd fans is that they try very hard to erase the exploitative nature of keiji and sara's relationship (meanwhile the eastern side is like How can we make more keisara art). they try very hard to say that their relationship is *just* father/daughter or mentor/protege, and to a certain extent i can agree and see that, but you're erasing an entire nastier section to their relationship. i would be lying to you if i said keiji wasn't exploiting sara; he is and he knows it. i don't think keiji is grooming sara for any Freakay reason, but i do think that he's grooming her to feel the need to play leader and have responsibility over the group but by his terms.

i personally think keiji, much similar to shin, also knew about the %s before they were revealed (their first trial rooms were literally across the hall from one another. i don't think it's too far fetched for me to say that keiji probably went in after shin and saw the % papers. however, this is if keiji isn't asu-naro affiliated lol.) which is why he was so adamant on having sara, who has the highest survivability %, do everything and having everyone put their trust in sara from the get go. even at the cost of his morals, he was willing to exploit sara's high survivability % so he could selfishly have a better chance of surviving too. dunno that's just a #GameTheory though i could be wrong

but even with all that, i still do love keiji. i still think he's an interesting character and i'd love to dissect his brain. i think for me personally he's been a positive addition to my life. it's really hard to engage in bad habits if the perpetual "keiji would be so disappointed in you" feeling follows it LMAO. i think i'm calmer, less willingly to entertain stupidity, less of an overthinker. even my music taste has calmed down, i used to listen to a lot of nightclub music and scary music, but now i'm somehow listening to music i classify as libra music or isn't making me feel like i'm being hunted down lol. i think that's all i really have to say for now.

i think in terms of how well the fanbase understands keiji as a whole, i can't say i've seen many who've hit the hammer on the nail. there are two popular types of keiji mischaracterization i've seen run rampant:

1. daddy dom (not true... he is a power bottom imo. he's lazy and wants other people to do the work for him, given that they can.)

2. boomer tries way too hard to get along with the teens (he's a millenial. not sure why we're making jokes about how he uses outdated memes incorrectly when we should really be joking about what vines he thinks are funny.)

while i can understand where these sentiments come from, i am respectfully and kindly telling you to stop and rethink. we've lost the plot, okay? i feel like the formula for keiji is pretty simple to understand, yet somehow we've strayed from the source. i feel like we're losing the gauge on how much of a loser this guy is.

adding on from my previous point, i have poured hours digging into the different YTTD tags, art accounts, fanfictions, and social media posts from a variety of eastern and western countries in regards to keiji and i have reached the forementioned conclusion before that majority of his fans have lost the plot. in addition to that, not many people seem to do him justice. this is moreso in terms of how people treat him and view him... mainly how they react to him for his treatment of sara and the infamous "'cause you're cute" line. look, don't get me wrong, i think keiji's a freak just as much as the next guy does, but do i actually think keiji has malicious intents like that? no. but does nankidai or the fanbase ever do justice for him either? no, and it's deeply unfortunate and i hope it changes cause it's super irritating seeing people genuinely entertain the idea.

i'm saddened at the lack of trivia for him. don't get me wrong, i'm grateful for what we have now, but i'm trying to dig into his heart and mind. the fact the game isn't finished means i'm missing a lot of critical info, which is infuriating cause i know he's gonna be a key part in the next chapter. it's gotten to the point where i've guesstimated an astrological natal chart for him just so i can look into possibilities of the type of life he has. i wanna know literally everything!

here's my list of keiji fun facts* i've inferred from either comics or in-game dialogue:

1. he loves kinoko no yama (chocorooms in the west) and is in the kinoko no yama faction which i dont see people talk about, but i think is so cute! chocorooms have been a favorite snack of mine for awhile now... so i'm glad we share that :]

2. keiji gets hot easily and seems to hate getting hot (unless in a sauna setting), which makes me think that he naturally runs more hot than others

3. has an affinity for fried food... he seems to like things such as hamburgers, stuffed peppers, and tempura... so i imagine this stretches to other fried foods as well

4. probably has shoulder or neck pain, from what i'm unsure but i assume slouching and/or stress and being a gym rat

5. he's a gym rat. that should've been obvious by comparing his younger self with his current self but he also drinks raw eggs. i only see gymbros do this without revulsion. on this same note... i whole heartedly believe he deadlifts

6. prefers black coffee (LOSER!!!)

7. might buy all his clothes from department stores i fear

8. probably has little to no friends lol fuckin loser

9. bisexual orientation

* these are all inferenced. keep that in mind as i could always be wrong lol.

here's some ships i think accurately represents me and keiji:

1. mrs and mr fox (fantastic mr fox)

2. pam and jim -,-' (the office)

3. marie and stein (soul eater)

4. retsuko and tadano (aggretsuko)

5. haruhi and tamaki (ohshc)

6. sophie and howl (hmc)

7. sawako and kazehaya (kimi no todoke)

8. lady and the tramp (do i gotta say like)

9. mia and godot (ace attorney)

10. emma and aleksander (veil)

11. maomao and jinshi (the apothecary diaries)

12. ruby and tom (ruby quest)