Ritsuko Kunihiro

Ritsuko Kunihiro
File:Rit.jpg
Gender	Female
Age	23
Hair Color	Green
Eye Color	Green
Race	Human Shiki
Status	Destroyed (2nd Death)
Cause of Death	Staked
Relatives	Midori Kunihiro Unnamed Mother
Seiyu	Sasaki Nozomi

Appearance

She has very long turqoise hair that spiral curls and reach her knees and blue eyes she is either seen in a long white skirt and black hight heel boots with black stockings and a blue blazer or a white shirt with elbow lenth sleeves with pink pants and brown boots but she is mostly seen in ther nurse uniform that consists of a knee length white dress and white stockings and white shoes and she also has to wear a white nurse hat that clips with bobby pins to her hair

Personality

Nurse at Ozaki Clinic. She has a dog named Taro. Tohru Mutou has a crush on her. She used to have a boyfriend, who disliked the isolated Sotoba village, and offered to marry her and bring her to the city. Ritsuko refused, as she couldn't leave the place where she grew up and her family.

Ritsuko is very kind and caring, and is desperate to help anyone who has been affected by the shiki and support families who have lost someone. She is always prepared to help the doctor and his patients. She is friendly to everyone and has never been aggresive or mean. She loves her dog, Taro and takes him on walks often, and that is how she got bitten. She has worked as a Nurse for years and loves saving lives, and this is why she refuses to kill someone for their blood, as she still considered herself to be a nurse and to continue preserving lives.

Death

Ritsuko's and Tohru's staked bodies

Later, she also gets bitten by two Shiki and dies, then she is revived. Waking up in the same cell everybody else did. However, she refuses to drink humans blood to live. For that, she slowly starts dying, while Tatsumi puts her in a cell with her co-worker whom she refuses to kill. She becomes mentally unstable as she yearn for blood, but still cares and lets her friend leave. She begins to hurt herself and cry constantly, because she would much rather die a saint than live as a monster.

She is staked in the heart like all the other Shiki, and Tohru stayed with her till the very end. He is seen in the last episode, to be laying on a wooden board with Ritsuko almost holding hands.

Relationships

Both Tohru and Ritsuko were good friends. They are often seen talking together, and in one episode Ritsuko is teaching Tohru how to drive and they seem to be having fun.

Although Tohru admits openly his feelings for Ritsuko and wants to take her on a date, despite Ritsuko being older, he still had a deep love and respects for her kindness. Although she doesn't admit it out loud, it can be clearly seen that in the end Ritsuko had a deep underlying love for Tohru and never had the chance to say it. Dying side by side with him is her way of saying she loved him.

Trivia

• Ritsuko is the first true shiki who adamantly refuses to drink human blood. Even at the point of starvation she staves off her instincts to drink.
• Ritsuko has the longest hair and the only hair that is turquoise in the anime

Ritsuko Gallery