Taisuke Sawanaga

Taisuke Sawanaga ( 澤永 泰介 Sawanaga Taisuke)is a side character in School Days and Cross Days.

Background
Taisuke is the second child of Mrs. Sawanaga and Ayumu Inou, as well as the younger brother of Miki Sawanaga. He grew up in Aoi Town, where he attended middle school with Hikari Kuroda, Yuuki Ashikaga, and Tanaka. In one route of School Days, it's mentioned that in middle school, Taisuke had a crush on a girl surnamed Mori, only to be devastated upon learning that she was going out with a boy surnamed Shiba.

At some point, Taisuke became the best friend of Makoto Itou, whom he usually envies for his popularity with girls.

Appearance
Of the entire cast, Taisuke's nearly the tallest character, surpassed only by Tanaka and Nanami Kanroji. He's generally seen wearing the school uniform and his casual attire consists of a grey shirt and blue pants. At the pool, he's seen wearing a red speedo.

Personality
He's generally seen as a boisterous and relatively good-natured friend of Makoto who serves as a comic relief character with humorous outbursts and crying because of his misfortune, especially when it comes to his love life, or lack thereof. Taisuke is part of the film club of Sakakino High.

He is very perverted, rather shamelessly ogling the girls when opportune moments arise, such as in the anime when the girls wear swimsuits.

However, later in the game, it's shown that he has a habit of pressuring his girlfriends into having sex and apparently does not understand the concept of rape, since he seems to think whatever he does is normal, including raping Kotonoha Katsura, Sekai Saionji, or "Yuu". However, it's also implied that this is because he is simply too dense about reading people to understand the difference between reluctance/hesitancy and outright fear/panic. It may also be due to his sister's story (his sister having been raped and then going on to date the boy who raped her), as well as his own (having once been raped by his sister's boyfriend). In the case of Kotonoha, it's more understandable because Otome Katou lied to him by saying that Kotonoha was simply anxious and he should be forceful to break her out of it - thus making his subsequent rape of her an unwitting act. In another route, he does almost the same things to Sekai, being told by Kotonoha that he shall "cheer up [Sekai]". This incomprehension also lends itself to his having no qualms about swinging, as shown in Hikari's route, or threesome, as shown in the Goodbye, Sekai/Setsuna's Feelings route, though it seems he only does so if all parties involved agree as well.

While his denseness and bluntness in regards to sex and physical relationships are significant hurdles, he possesses redeeming qualities in that he can be a good boyfriend, thoughtfully asking those he dates what they want and if he can do anything for them. He even shows he could possibly be a good husband to Hikari in the L x H extension of To My Child (though this would be well into the future when he has potentially matured). It's also worth pointing out that, for all his forcefulness and perverseness, Taisuke tends to only do these things with someone either when he's in private, when they both agree or plan on it, or when the other person is his girlfriend. He also, should his girlfriend break up with him for whatever reason, take it rather amicably and, while often wishing to get back together with them, will respect their decision.

Despite his apparent idiocy when it comes to intimacy and reading someone's moods, Taisuke ends up being something of an idiot savant when it comes to reading people's feelings toward others - the height of irony, considering he fails miserably when he's the one interacting with someone, which is a deficiency he arguably shares with Sekai. He shows this when telling Makoto that he should do what he feels is right if the latter is having trouble deciding on who he likes, advising him that he won't be able to choose if spends too much time trying to not hurt anyone and that no choice will work out if he doesn't give the one he picks his best. Taisuke also tells Kotonoha to respect Makoto's decision in choosing another girl, saying that if she truly cares about him, she should respect his choices, which can stop her from going into Yandere mode and ultimately prevent a bad ending. In the With Kotonoha ending, Taisuke even goes as far as to reassure Kotonoha that he's rooting for her and hopes Makoto picks her, showing he's completely willing to let go of his own crush on her if Makoto's affections prove to be as genuine as Kotonoha's own.

Ultimately, Taisuke's concern about the well-being of others paints him as someone who generally means well. On the other hand, his rapist tendencies are attributed to his simply being an idiot that either doesn't understand what "personal boundaries" mean and thus doesn't realize he's doing wrong, or that he takes the moniker of "give it your all" far too literally to the point that he doesn't get his forcefulness isn't a good representation of love.

The Visual Novel
In the visual novel, he generally serves as a comic relief character for the most part. His part in the story depends on the player actions:

- If Makoto is devoted to Kotonoha, then Taisuke will try to ask out Sekai and can have a sexual relationship with her - albeit a rather one-sided and unwittingly forceful one as Sekai cannot get over Makoto enough to reciprocate. Makoto can take Sekai back and, depending on how its done, Taisuke will demand Makoto set him up with another girl or end their friendship. If Makoto doesn't take Sekai back, she'll ultimately stop seeing Taisuke anyway

- If Makoto is more devoted to Sekai and completely abandons Kotonoha, then Taisuke can start dating Kotonoha. He can then be seen having sex with Kotonoha, despite her protests - with one scene in a certain route taking place after being tricked by Otome with some "advice" that Kotonoha wants him to force himself on her but is too timid to ask. Then he can be seen having sex with Kotonoha again, with Makoto and Hikari watching together. Makoto can take Kotonoha back, but if he doesn't, she will - unlike Sekai - actually stay with Taisuke.

- In some routes, Makoto can also try to set him up with Hikari. He and Hikari can become a couple either by Hikari's own suggestion or with help from Makoto and Sekai.

Anime
As with the visual novel, he generally serves as a comic relief character, but he's heavily implied to have raped Kotonoha during the school festival. Unlike the visual novel, however, Kotonoha asks him to forget what happened and cuts all ties with him instead of dating him.

Manga
His role is downplayed in the manga, but he is still a close friend of Makoto. Aside from attempting to walk with Sekai through a haunted house during the fireworks festival, Taisuke does nothing to her or Kotonoha, nor is he shown trying to court either of them.

The Visual Novel
As with School Days, Taisuke can be seen raping Kotonoha in several endings. In Secret Fall, Kotonoha invites him to the school festival, trying to set him up with Hikari, only for him to rape her. In Sacrifice and Fulfillment, Yuuki asks Taisuke to save Kotonoha from Otome and her friends, which also ends with Taisuke raping Kotonoha.

In the "Yuu" routes, Taisuke coerces Yuuki into performing sexual acts with him and/or Makoto. He, along with Toyama and Matsudaira, can also gang-rape Yuuki in several routes. In Licentious Beast, he and the others confine Yuuki at Toyama's house and keep him as a sex slave, portraying Taisuke as either much less apologetic or far more dense (depending on whether he believes Yuuki is willing or not). In Only You, Taisuke meekly apologizes to Makoto after Toyama and Matsudaira beat the latter up for interrupting their gang-rape. Given that Makoto refers to Taisuke with his surname after that incident, it's likely that he cut all ties to Taisuke after that.

In Feelings Pile Up, Taisuke's attempt to force Kotonoha is foiled by Yuuki and he dances at the bonfire with Hikari.

Manga
As with the visual novel, Taisuke often teases Yuuki about his feminine appearance, going so far as trying to make the latter try on a maid outfit for Class 1-3's café. However, Taisuke is not as lustful as his visual novel self, though he does jokingly ask Yuuki to be his wife.

PureMail
In the Miki route, a young Taisuke can answer the phone when Kei calls the Sawanaga residence. According to Mrs. Sawanaga, Taisuke was very excited to finally talk to Miki's boyfriend.

Makoto
In the Visual Novel, he generally turns to Makoto for advice with girls and his help in finding a girlfriend by organizing a pool event. Makoto thinks of him as a friend and tries to help him. In the anime, he teases Makoto about his relationship with Sekai.

When Makoto's romance tip book fails to guide him well, he passes the book on to Taisuke.

Hikari
Hikari has had a crush on him since at least middle school, with Sekai and Nanami mentioning that she has done the cellphone charm with him since junior high.

In the Visual Novel, Hikari can start dating Taisuke after he decides to ask her out. Other ways include Makoto and Sekai making sure they spend time together at the pool the help them grow closer. However, if Taisuke is dating Kotonoha and Makoto tries to help Hikari win Taisuke, it doesn't work and Makoto ends up in a secret relationship with Hikari. In the L x H extension of To My Children, he and Hikari are married and have a child together.

In the anime, Hikari tries many times to get Taisuke's attention, but repeatedly ends up overlooked. She then seemingly gives up on him and starts sleeping with Makoto until Sekai claims to be pregnant, severing ties with Makoto to keep from ending up the same.

Kotonoha
In the visual novel, they get to know each other before the school festival. If Makoto completely abandons Kotonoha, she can start dating him. She can also be raped by Taisuke during the school event in certain routes, such as when Otome gives him "advice" on what to do.

In the anime, Taisuke's attention has been on Kotonoha pretty much from the start. He backed off while she was dating Makoto, but renewed his expressions of love when he thought they broke up. After learning that they hadn't, Taisuke confronted Kotonoha at the festival in hopes she would abandon Makoto. From the end of episode 9 to the start of episode 10 during the festival, it's uncertain how far he got with her, though a red ribbon was dropped from amongst her clothes followed by red ripples (which may indicate loss of blood or loss of virginity), which heavily implies that he may have raped her. Kotonoha then asks for him to forget what happened between them.

In the manga, Taisuke does not show interest in Kotonoha.

Sekai
In the visual novel, Taisuke shows great interest in Sekai. If Sekai doesn't have an affair with Makoto, then either Makoto or Kotonoha can encourage Taisuke to go after Sekai. Sekai can start dating him, but she is clearly unhappy in the relationship. She can be caught running away in anger after having sex with Taisuke, who cums inside her once at school if Makoto doesn't intervene. Sekai inevitably stops seeing Taisuke in most of these endings.

In the anime's first episode, Taisuke expresses jealousy at the thought of a cute girl like Sekai being interested in Makoto, after which he apparently loses interest.

In the manga, Taisuke shows little interest in Sekai, save for ogling her in gym class and wanting to walk with her through the haunted house during the fireworks festival. However, he's quickly persuaded by Makoto to go with Hikari.

Family
In the visual novel, Makoto mentions that Taisuke has a sister complex, to which he replies it's caring about his sister. He seems to have a good relationship with her as Miki apparently treats Taisuke to meals when her boyfriend is not around. In the second half of episode 7 of the anime, Taisuke mentions that his sister has told him that any couple who dances at the festival's bonfire won't break up.

Etymology

 * His given name Taisuke ( 泰介 ) consists of "peaceful" ( 泰 ) and "armor" ( 介 ).
 * His surname Sawanaga ( 澤永 ) consists of "swamp" ( 澤 ) and "eternal" ( 永 ).

Trivia

 * He can become a father in the L x H To My Child extension End of the Folly to Hikari, Kotonoha, and Sekai's sons, and possibly in Pushed Too Far to Sekai's child.