Ryokan Kurita

The largest and strongest player in the Deimon American Football club. Kurita lives in a temple with his father, who is the director of a Buddhist sect. His father believed that to grow up big and strong, a young boy had to eat a lot, but unfortunately it seems he has overfed his son. Kurita, as his name would suggest, has a head shaped like a chestnut. He is a very sweet, kind-hearted individual and the only thing bigger than his body is his heart. He became Sena’s second friend after entering Deimon High School. When playing, Kurita shouts his kiai “Funnuraba!” when exerting extra effort. Before coming to Deimon, he attended the Shinryuji school, but was forced out because Kongo Agon was chosen over him for the special athletic scholarship, so he came to Deimon High along with Hiruma and Musashi. Like Hiruma. Kurita is crazy about American football and tries to encourage everyone to join though he does not go to the same extremes as his demonic compatriot. He can get so worked up that he’s been known to begin morning practice as early as 2:00 AM.

His “apprentice” is Komusubi, who practices with him whenever he can. His biggest dream is to compete in the Christmas Bowl. He is somewhat dim-witted (nearly giving away Sena’s other identity) and is insanely strong (he accidentally destroyed a small truck by hugging it). Also, whenever fights ensue, between the Deimon members, he always stops them by flattening all of them. Though he normally looks rather comical, he’s dangerous when he’s actually fired up. When Musashi rejoins the team, Kurita’s “alternate personality” is revealed during the games. Kurita’s face changes as his eyes inflame and become bigger, his eyebrows thicken, and his face tightens up. He gains even more strength than usual in this “form” (although he can quickly change back when he gets happy, but change back again as the game resumes).