For the manga, please go to Keita Iijima (Manga). For the film, please go to Keita Iijima (Film).
Backstory[]
Keita Iijima (飯島 敬太, Iijima Keita) was known to love comic books. Shinji Mimura viewed him as a coward and didn't trust him because when they both went to the center of town together Keita hid as Shinji was being mugged. Keita is described as being nice enough but he wasn't a loyal friend as he was a coward.
Appearance[]
Not much is known about Keita's appearance.
Friends and Enemies[]
Keita was friends with Yutaka Seto and was previously a friend of Shinji until there was an incident that made Shinji lose his trust in Keita.
It was during their second year near the end of the term in March when Shinji and Keita went to see a movie in Takamatsu. Yutaka was supposed to go along too but he had a cold. After the movie, the boys went to a book store where Shinji bought some imported computer books and then were heading towards the train station home when Keita forgot to buy a comic book and went back to the backstore alone. After he bought the comic, Keita went back to meet up with Shinji and found him in a brawl with several older guys.
Not wanting to get involved, Keita went back towards the bookstore and waited until Shinji arrived. Once Shinji came back, Keita lied and said that there was another comic that he wanted, then noticed Shinji's injuries and asked about them.
However, it is worth noting that Shinji didn't blame Keita for being a coward, as his uncle once told him a coward can't help what they are. What Shinji really blamed him for, was the fact that Shinji's new book had gotten dented during the fight, which he hated. The dent would now forever remind him of this incident. After this incident, Shinji kept a distance from Keita, but not so much to warrant suspicion from Keita or Yutaka.
In the Program[]
Keita hid near the farm and watched as Shinji and Yutaka carried some supplies with them. As he watched, Shinji noticed him and aimed his gun at him. Keita shrieked and begged Shinji not to shoot him and told them it was him. He proceeded towards them and was holding his knife in his right hand. Keita tells them that he saw a light and decided to check things out, once he saw that it was them, he wanted to know what they were doing so he could join them.
Keita then asked why Shinji was still pointing the gun at him and was told not to move. Keita then wanted an answer for why he couldn't join them as he thought they were friends. This didn't change anything for Shinji which made Keita throw the knife onto the ground as he was about to cry. When Shinji still refused to let him join, Keita began to think that it was because of the incident that happened between them in the past and he was sorry about what happened.
Keita moved in closer which made Shinji shout at him to not come any closer but Keita only shook his head and proceeded. This resulted in Shinji pointing his gun down and firing and while it made Keita stop, it was only briefly before he moved again. Shinji fired one more shot, intended as a warning shot, but accidentally hit Keita in the side of the chest, killing him instantly.
Etymology[]
- The name Keita means "respect, honor" (敬) (kei) and "big, great" (太) (ta)
- Keita's surname Iijima means "meal, rice" (飯) (ii) and "island" (島) (jima)