Kou is a kid full of surprises. On the surface, he seems to be what he is: an impulsive person who speaks in a rude way. Many say he seems like a delinquent but whenever people bother to get to know him, they see he’s actually a very thoughtful and kind person. Kou wants to be helpful to people due to losing his mother at a young age and knowing all he can do is support his family by taking care of the house. He’s a well-accomplished cook and baker, with everybody stating that his food is really delicious. It’s not something that everybody knows about him but there are a lot of things that people don’t know.

The Minamoto family is a family of exorcists, being very famous for it within that circle. Through this line, Kou can see spirits and other types of supernaturals which are beings that most can’t. In this family, it’s important that they all become exorcists, which Kou keeps trying to do. However, with his three siblings, he’s the weakest. His older brother, Teru, is seen as an amazing person who not only works full-time as an exorcist and is impressively skilled at it but also is the student council president. The youngest, Tiara, has shown that she seems to have a huge load of spiritual power and she really might become the best exorcist that has been seen in quite some time. This leaves Kou, left out, and working hard to try to live up to expectations. Even if most of these expectations are ones that he puts onto himself. Mostly because, if you ask Kou, nobody expects anything from him. He's too weak for that.



What marks Kou over and over is that he feels like a disappointment. If you ask Kou, he will tell you without hesitation that he’s weak. He is a powerless person that nobody can rely on even if he desperately wants to be someone that people can fall back on. He wants to be this for his brother, their family name, and his friends. It stems from losing his mother at a young age and seeing how hard his older brother works, frustrated that all he can do is do the housework and take care of their sister. Their father is always working so Kou and his older brother are the ones to take care of their very young sister. Kou explains it isn't something he hates...but it's frustrating that he can't do more. Kou may come into the scene, yelling and confident…but inside he’s anything but. Even later, after his first appearance, he will admit he doesn’t really think he knew what he was talking about. There’s no qualms about being open about his shortcomings, he knows. Nobody has to tell him because he beats it into his own brain over and over.



While Kou begins the series as a confident kid ready to become an exorcist and be strong, he suffers devastating blow after devastating blow. Especially in the form of Mitsuba, a classmate of his who died. While Kou was not close to Mitsuba when Mitsuba was alive, he gets to know him as a supernatural in the span of one afternoon. It was a short time but it drastically changes Kou. They became friends and for once, Kou felt like he was doing something worthwhile in trying to help grant Mitsuba’s final wish. Or what he thought was his final wish. But when he watches his friend’s spirit become twisted and broken from the hands of another, as Kou is easily disarmed and unable to save his friend. When he sees this friend return, or really just a pieced together supernatural that looks like Mitsuba with a piece of Mitsuba’s soul; Kou becomes obsessed with making this Mitsuba’s wishes come true. Even if that means dying himself, even if that means possibly becoming something ugly. He cannot let down another person. Especially as he struggles with trying to save his friend, our protagonist, from dying very young.



Kou is young and naive yet, surprisingly, more emotionally mature than one would think. When he’s in a house that will grant his every wish, a house that makes him confront all of his deepest wishes; he remarks that while he knows these things he sees are things that he does superficially wish for (his brother becoming less work-focused, his friends being able to see supernaturals, Mitsuba proclaiming he needs Kou, Hanako asking Kou to destroy him, his mother coming back to life), he admits he knows they are things he cannot have. The world isn’t easy, it isn’t black and white, and Kou understands. He might wish that things could be easier but he knows things shouldn’t be that easy. The world cannot function like that and the people he cares about shouldn’t change just because he wants them to.