Haru Yoshida

Haru Yoshida is the male protagonist of the Tonari no Kaibutsu-Kun anime and manga.

Haru appears as a a high school first year student who attends the same school and same class as the female protagonist, Mizutani Shizuku. He was suspended from school because of having a misunderstanding with upperclassmen before the start of the manga/anime, but his suspension was over by the time the story starts.

Appearance
Yoshida Haru is a handsome young man with messy, curly, black hair that falls over his face and almost reaches his shoulders in length and also it is shown that he has muscular build. In Robico's color illustrations Haru's eyes are usually brown, sometimes gray, and occasionally other colors. In the anime his eyes are gray.

He was known as the school "monster" and started off as intimidating, but after Shizuku's compliment he should try smiling more, he focused on smiling and gained popularity quickly.

His usual outfit consists of the school uniform: a white dress shirt with a blue tie, grey checked pants, and white Converse sneakers.

Personality
Haru appears to be a violent, intimidating person even though he means well. As the plot progresses, it is revealed that his aggressiveness is a front; he is actually quite innocent, naive and very clueless. Haru also has awkward social skills due to a traumatic incident that happened during middle-school. Since then, he became unable to properly communicate with people except for when he's with Shizuku.

Despite appearing like a pessimistic cynical person, he is actually quite the nice person. Aside from being passive aggressive and violent he is unpredictable and sometimes does not think before he speaks. He impulsively does what he pleases, such as raising Shizuku's skirt in front of her father or asking Shizuku where her mother is. He is honest and means well in everything that he does.

Haru is very intelligent in school. He often receives first place marks without needing to study. Because of this, Haru tries little to none when it comes to school and this often irritates Shizuku, who hates to come in second in grades.

Despite seeing Shizuku as his first true friend (and love), when it comes to relating with others, he is still clueless most of the time, but is persistent and doesn't give up easily. He is also very protective about the people that he cares about.

He can be jealous (for example, if he sees Kenji anywhere near Shizuku), and can get violent and quite possessive.

Trivia

 * His blood type is O.
 * His given name, Haru means spring while his surname, Yoshida means lucky ricefield.
 * When he was young, he spent the majority of his time alone by himself.
 * Essentially, Haru doesn’t have any special interests in people but after knowing Shizuku, aunt Kyouko, and Oga-sensei, the kind of people who showed concern for him, it seems that he has become a person who likes steady quietness.
 * He really likes games like the Rubik’s cube, origami, etc. where in he can play all by himself.
 * In the original concept Haru was meant to have straight, light brown hair.
 * While it has not been confirmed, some believe that Haru has Asperger's Syndrome, due to him appearing to have the following symptoms (sourced from http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/tc/aspergers-syndrome-symptoms#1)
 * Not pick up on social cues and may lack inborn social skills, such as being able to read others' body language, start or maintain a conversation, and take turns talking.
 * Dislike any changes in routines.
 * Have a formal style of speaking that is advanced for his or her age.
 * Another more plausible hypothesis, would be that Haru has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). It also is interesting pointing out that some people tend to misdiagnose ADD with Asperger's Syndrome and viceversa. Haru exhibits the typical impulsiveness and inattentiveness from the ADD spectrum (getting into fights, problems with discipline, always doing something else, like taking care of his chicken). Haru's difficulties with social interaction can also be explained by this diagnosis, as some children with this condition have difficulties communicating or interacting not because of a difficulty in exercising empathy, but only simply because they fail to pick up social clues due to their inattentiveness.