| Akira Amamiya | |
|---|---|
| |
| Age | Unknown |
| Status | Deceased |
| Height | Unknown |
| Weight | Unknown |
| Birthday | Unknown |
| Romance | Unknown |
| Relatives | Yuuko Amamiya (adopted sister) |
Akira Amamiya (雨宮 明 Amamiya Akira) is an art teacher at Otobane Academy in Otowa, Japan. Despite being a teacher in the school, he breaks the rules and smokes within the facility and he repeatedly provokes Yuu Himura to try get him to join his art club, which Yuu refuses to do.
Akira lives alone in a large house with Yuuko Amamiya (Akira's 16 year old adoptive sister), whom he repeatedly beats and molests sexually.
Adoption of Yuuko Amamiya[]
It is unclear how Akira could have ended up as Yuuko Amamiya's adoptive brother and guardian, as no adoption agency would ever agree to such an arrangement. In Melodies episode 2, Yuu Himura narrates that Yuuko was adopted by 'distant relatives' (note the plural noun). It is possible that Yuuko was originally adopted by Akira's parents, who were distant relatives of Yuuko. They adopted Yuuko after the death of their own daughter, who was killed in the great earthquake that killed Yuuko's own parents. The theory is that Akira's parents perished themselves some years after the adoption, and so Akira - now an adult - became Yuuko's guardian by default.
The large size of Akira's estate lends evidence to this theory, as he has no obvious wealth to purchase such a large house himself.
Akira's Abuse of Yuuko Amamiya[]
Yuuko's scars and wounds
Akira is physically and sexually abusing Yuuko Amamiya (Akira's adoptive sister) who lives alone with him.
In Melodies episode 6, Yuuko escorts Yuu Himura to the church, where she strips naked and shows him her body, which is covered with past and current injuries. She reveals to him that Akira first raped her on Christmas day when she was 14. She then proceeds to calmly enumerate each injury to him, one by one, for several minutes of airtime. As she continues she grows more agitated, talking faster and faster, all while blaming Yuu for everything that happened to her. The scene is very disconcerting to watch.
The physical and sexual abuse has warped Yuuko's personality, and she shows signs of severe psychological trauma. She unreasonably blames Yuu for her plight, claiming that if he had only accepted her as his sister back at age 6, that none of this would have happened.
Akira's abuse is willful and deliberate. (He is not insane.) This is evidenced by his giving a knife to Yuuko, telling her that she can attack him with it at any time to stop the abuse. This is a classic tactic used by abusers to control their victims, as it dissuades them from instead going to the authorities. For the same reason he insults Yuu and challenges him to a duel, again to misdirect his attention from going to the authorities.
It is unclear why Yuu did not go to the authorities after he escaped with Yuuko. It is possible that she simply urged him not to, or that she feared he would be taken away from her.
Key Problem[]
Akira lost his younger sister in the great earthquake where he had deeply cared for his little sister (imouto) and he originally saw Yuuko Amamiya as her literal replacement. At first, he was very happy and treated Yuuko like a princess, pretending that she was his own sister come back to life. But over time Yuuko's demeanor and appearance had inevitably diverged from his cherished sister and he began to despise her that he began to abuse her.
Akira is obsessed with his dead sister and he tries to draw her face in his home art studio hundreds of times. But he cannot 'remember' how she looked and fails repeatedly. His failure angers him and he takes it out on Yuuko. In Melodies episode 9, Yuu Himura finally confronts Akira inside his home. Akira attacks Yuu and beats him, and he drops his sketchbook. Akira picks it up and sees Yuu's exquisite and tender loving drawings of Yuuko. His mind snaps and he runs into his studio and starts a fire with his cigarette. He sits alone, staring at all of his own failed drawings of his own dead sister, as he burns himself alive.