An analysis on my favourite character of all time, Nomiya Tomomi from Takehiko Inoue’s REAL

Early in the series, we are introduced to Nomiya’s internal conflict and the core themes that surround his character. The story starts with him attempting to overcome his guilty conscience, one that had driven him to be fixated on his regret. He spends the first few chapters -

focused only on redeeming himself by seeking forgiveness. It causes him to forget that Natsumi has already moved on from their tragic accident. Feeling left behind, a short conversation with a doctor at Natsumi’s hospital helps him finally realise what he was struggling with -

all this time - his guilt, which perpetuated his need to seek acknowledgement that he was trying to better himself.
It’s a feeling that’s really difficult to overcome. His struggle was rooted in him being overly concerned about the people who he had unintentionally hurt, and it -

was only this genuine altruism which prevented him from moving on from his mistakes. It’s an incredibly realistic and multidimensional take on shouldering guilt, revealing how this irrational need to seek forgiveness can even lead to feelings of jealousy.

Seeing Natsumi move on without any need for compensation from Nomiya invalidated his efforts to improve himself, which only led him further into this downward spiral of guilt and self-deprecation. This all leads to a cathartic outburst of his hatred towards his current situation,

marking the turning point of his attitude towards his life. The phrase “no excuses” on his t-shirt only emphasises on this, as he begins to see things from a new perspective. He shouldn’t be using guilt as an excuse which prevents him from moving on, to pursue what he wants.

He realises that the only way to move on is to truly let go of this guilt, which marks the beginning of his redemption as a person, and a basketball player. His emotional journey from then on is nothing short of inspiring. He remembers his previous feelings of guilt, and -

continues to promise himself not to be clouded by those irrational emotions. By finally accepting this truth, and having the mental clarity to recognise his need to move on from his past, he is finally able to find self-forgiveness, which is what he was looking for all along.

This realisation that he is capable of bettering himself, is when he truly discovers the meaning of “joy”. From then on, his optimistic outlook towards life seems to completely shift the outcomes of his actions. While this usually is the work of “fate” in many works, Inoue -

portrays this shift only as a change in perspective. It perfectly captures the beauty of hope, which really opened my eyes about how sometimes, regardless of failure, the journey you take to attempt success might be something that feels even better.