(picture above by Haruka - do not use without her permission)By Ganymede (James Sanghyun Han). All information accurate and gathered from various parts of the eleven-volume ここはグリーン・ウッド (Koko ha Green Wood) manga by 那州雪絵 (Nasu Yukie) and from all six episodes of the OAV series of the same name. As all info is culled from the OAV and the manga, feel free to copy spoiler and background information for use on your own website, but first PUT IT INTO YOUR OWN WORDS if you intend on doing so. If for some reason you want to copy my words exactly, link yourself to M . I . S . T.
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One warm morning in early April, the day a dark-haired boy named Masato was born into the Ikeda family, another baby boy was found sleeping peacefully under a forscythia tree at the Kohryu Temple in Uguisudani, Tokyo, the Buddhist temple run by the Ikeda family. Flower petals had fallen all around the little sleeping beauty, making him seem more like a gift from the heavens than like a lost child.
The Ikeda family had large, loving hearts and quickly adopted the boy as their own. As the child was already about two weeks old, they treated him with the priority that virtually all Asian families give to their firstborn sons, while Masato, though no less loved, was considered to be the secondborn child.
 The little boy found under the blossoming forscythia in the Taito district later grows up to become Ikeda Mitsuru, a gorgeous youth with purple eyes and brown hair (though in Nasu Yukie's color manga art his hair is closer to blond, and he has been seen with brown, blue, and even green eyes), born in late March - an Aries, with a blood type of A. In the anime, he is blessed with a VERY sexy, husky/light tenor voice provided by the voice acting talent of Iwata Mitsuo. When we first meet Mitsuru, he is an eleventh grader at the prestigious boys' school Ryokuto Gakuen (Ryokuto Academy) and dormitory president of Ryokurin Ryou (Ryokurin Hall), the dorm more commonly known as Greenwood since it's easier to pronounce than "Ryokurin Ryou."
The dorms at Ryokuto Gakuen are independently run facilities in every way, so Mitsuru's job as dorm president is not small, nor is it a meaningless office like typical student offices in many other high schools. During his time at Ryokuto Gakuen, Mitsuru lives in Greenwood room 211, and is best friend and roommate to Tezuka Shinobu, who, like Mitsuru, is in eleventh grade at the start of the series and who also holds a student body office (Shinobu is student council president of Ryokuto Gakuen in his eleventh grade year).
At first glance, many people may be put off be Mitsuru. Besides having a perfect face which many people instinctively distrust, he has an aggressive, almost loud manner, and along with Shinobu, he subjects the new tenth-grader, Hasukawa Kazuya, to various pranks that torment the boy, using his sempai (upperclassman) rank to his advantage. He even makes an egotistical remark about how a face like his deserves high maintenance!
However, Mitsuru is extremely likable. He exudes an alertness and a boyish charisma, and he is friendly and easygoing, bright both mentally and attitude-wise. His pranks are at their worst inconvenient and are never downright malicious, and frankly, Kazuya is in dire need of learning how to loosen up as many of the pranks are things most people would laugh off without even caring about them. Furthermore, we learn that much of the reason Mitsuru "torments" Kazuya is that he is conditioning him to be the next dorm president, and indeed, when Mitsuru becomes a twelfth grader and Kazuya takes over his job as dorm president in his eleventh grade year, we notice a marked growth in Kazuya, who has finally become a person who will stick up for himself and go after what he wants. Mitsuru's help during Kazuya's crisis with Igarashi Miya merely is another confirmation of his good-heartedness.
As for Mitsuru's remark about his face, it is not egotistical at all - any wounds inflicted on Mitsuru's face miraculously heal in less than a minute, so yes, his face DOES deserve high maintenance to keep such regenerative properties working.
Mitsuru plays trombone in the school band and likes to smash old shoji screens (you know, those Japanese paper doors ^_^) with loud vigor and powerful hands when his family does the annual heavy cleaning of the Kohryu temple. His personality and looks have won him a great number of female fans in other schools, and though he does flirt with Hasukawa Sumire (Kazuya's sister-in-law and first love) in the manga and comments on her prettiness in the OAV series, he never seems to have any true interest in any girl (yes everyone, this means great yaoi fanfic possibilities with Shinobu ^_^). For Valentine's Day one year, he received forty-seven gifts of chocolate from his female fans, some of whom stop by the Greenwood dorm periodically on the hopes of seeing their adored "Ikeda-sempai."
 As the elder of the two Ikeda boys, Mitsuru is heir to the Kohryu Temple. However, ever since he could remember he has known that he was an adopted child since his parents did not try to hide that fact from him, and he has never been comfortable being the heir since he doesn't think of himself a "true" Ikeda - although the Ikedas have always done nothing but treat him as their first child, as their blood child. Indeed, Mitsuru looks nothing like his and Masato's mother, while the resemblance between Masato (nicknamed Sho) and their mother is striking. Mitsuru is plagued with a feeling that he can never be as close to his family as a blood relation would have been. Although this sense of alienation and aloneness is very strong and is the reason why he lives in the Greenwood dorm even if his house is close to Ryokuto Gakuen and he could have been a commuter, Mitsuru does realize that it is a completely self-imposed feeling, a feeling that stems from his own insecurity.
He even says that he couldn't have been a real gangster (in reference to his junior high years, when he was in a gang) because his family had too much love and open affection for him, and indeed, Masato is torn by the fact that his older brother insists on making himself a stranger in order to shield himself from his self-inflicted hurt, as well as to perhaps ensure that Masato, the "true" Ikeda, will be the one to inherit the Kohryu Temple.
Mitsuru is definitely more than just an exuberant pretty boy - he has his problems and issues, and it is only his strength of character and lack of "screen time" that prevent us from seeing his lovable, vulnerable side that often. As Shinobu comments about his best friend, it is amazing that someone who knew from birth that he was originally an unwanted child could thrive to become such a strong person. And besides his strength, he is gorgeous, blessed with a good heart, amazing charisma, and a sweet, bright nature. Few make the mistake of not falling in love with Mitsuru.
M . I . S . T
Ganymede's Palace
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