Ryuji Takayama

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Ryuji Takayama is a fictional character and the most prominent character in Ringu cycle appearing and mentioned in all of Koji Suzuki's novels Ring, Rasen, Loop and The Birthday and playing the hero in the 1998 Ring and appearing in the film version of Rasen and Ring 2. Ryuji is most memorably played by Hiroyuki Sanada in the movie series. He has also been played by Yoshio Harada in Ring: Kanzenban and Tomoya Nagase in Ring: Saishuushou who also was used in the Ring (Movie tie-in) manga as opposed to Sanada.

[edit] Character

In the novels, Ryuji is happy-go-lucky, strange and wants to see everything there is to see. Koji Suzuki once said in an interview that Ryuji was based on his character while the rest of him was just fictional. Throughout the novels, Ryuji is an important presence and is even more important than Sadako is at times.

[edit] Suzuki's novels

In Ring, Ryūji Takayama is an odd man who claims to be an occasional rapist, and apparently (most likely due to some psychotic defect) has no fear. As soon as Asakawa explains the story Ryūji believes him, and wants nothing other than to see the tape. Asakawa shows it to him, and although Ryūji remains cool and nonchalant he agrees there is a powerful aura around the tape, and asks Asakawa to make him a copy to study at home, which Asakawa does.

In Rasen a former classmate, Andou, from medical school performing the autopsy on Ryūji. He discovers messages in Ryuji's throat, one says RING and the other says cycle for the woman's menstrual period. After watching the tape, Mai Takano, Ryūji's student-girlfriend falls pregnant with Sadako as a result. She dies and Sadako is reborn. With the help of Andou, they bring Ryūji back to life through advanced cloning. Sadako and Ryūji then plot to spread the virus throughout the world using the diary of his dead friend, Asakawa.

In Loop, a man named Kaoru Futami is the hero. He falls in love with a beautiful young woman named Reiko who already has a son infected with a cancer called HMCV that has been affecting not only humans but other animals and even plants to which there is no cure. When Reiko falls prey to the cancer also when she becomes pregnant with Kaoru's child, he travels to Canada in search of a cure for the virus when his father tells him about Project: LOOP. Kaoru so discovers that he is actually a clone of an artificial life form that once lived in a computerized world called LOOP. The man he is a clone of is Ryūji Takayama, who apparently managed to crack the LOOP code and call the outside world. Kaoru realises that he is the cure to the HMCV virus and is implanted into LOOP world because in order to obtain the cure to the virus to save Reiko, Kaoru has to die. When in LOOP, Kaoru is reborn through Sadako instead of Ryūji, and Kaoru from then on lives under the name of Ryūji Takayama.

[edit] Ring Movies

Ryuji Takayama's character in the film series is very different to how it is in the novels. His personality, his lifestyle and his relations to other characters are changed. The only things that the two Ryujis have in common is their names. In the novel, Kazuyuki Asakawa is Ryuji's best friend whereas in the films, Asakawa becomes Reiko Asakawa and she is his ex-wife and Ryuji becomes the father of her child, Yoichi. Ryuji and his family all suffer (or are gifted) with a similar power to what Sadako and her family had called ESP. Despite his estranged personality, Ryuji clearly cares for his family and risks a lot to help and protect them from the curse of Sadako.

Other variations are his relationship to other characters, in particular Mai Takano. In the novels for example his relationship with Mai appears to be romantic. In the films however, only in Rasen is she ever mentioned as being his girlfriend but as a result of its failure at the box-office many do not count it as part of the Ring series. In the rest of the series, such a relationship does not exist possibly because of the responsibilities Ryuji has as a father as well as his more intimate relationship he shares with Asakawa and hinted romantic feelings Ryuji appears to still have for Reiko during Ring. Whereas one could interpret that Mai may have romantic feelings for Ryuji, but he does not appear to reciprocate her feelings; to him, she is just his student and probably his best friend.

Rather than being a villain like in the novel, despite his lack of heroic qualities, Ryuji is the closest thing to a hero in the films.