"Young": RYOGA HIBIKI

The Japanese anime "Ranma 1/2" provided limited details about the supporting character who also had a bad sense of direction. Tales follows the journey of the sensitive and attractive gay Japanese man as he tries to forge a new life in the United States, far away from a past full of pain, heartbreak and sexual confusion.

Hibiki was born in Osaka, Japan. His father had abandoned his mother Miyami Natsume to raise their son on her own. Natsume remarried to a man named Hibiki Tamoru and changed Ryoga's last name from Miyame to Hibiki to eliminate the memory of Ryoga's father. Hibiki moved to Nerima when he was age 9. He attended Shinjuku's School for Boys in which Ryoga met Ranma Saotome, his first boyfriend. Although Saotome was unsure of his budding friendship with the sensitive and shy HIbiki, Hibiki looked up to his strong and daring "boyfriend." As the boys got older, pressure from both Ranma's parents and fellow classmates forced Ranma to suddenly shun away his persistent playmate. Ranma finally challenged Ryoga to a fight to prove his manliness and discard rumors about his own homosexuality, The heartbroken Hibiki, not knowing how to deal with his own sexuality either, simply complied to the duel. By the time Hibiki reached the schoolyard for the duel after wandering aimlessly all over Japan, Ranma had already left with his father on a training mission to China.

Hibiki followed Ranma to Jusenkyo, China. An accident caused Ryoga fall into "Spring of Drowned Pig" in which he became cursed as a pig. Ryoga blamed his misfortune on Ranma. When he returned to Japan, Ryoga's anger increased when he found out about Ranma's many female fiances including Akane Tendo, who Ranma directed some affection towards. He used his ability to turn into a pig to incite jealousy from Ranma as Akane's pet P-Chan.

After partaking in a series of conflicts relating to Ranma's affections for both men and women, Ryoga realized that Ranma could not choose who to love. He tried to abandon Ranma and his homosexual tendencies to pursue the affections of pig-loving Akari Unryuu. Ryoga tried to make his relationship with Unryuu work out but he realized that he was still in love with Ranma. Following the Saotome-Tendo tragedy, Ryoga returned to Nerima with hopes to take his former boyfriend Ranma out of his miserable situation and live together in Tokyo. By the time Ryoga had reached Nerima, Ranma was right about to marry Akane Tendo and told Ryoga that he was no longer in love with him and that the relationship that they had was platonic.

Hibiki at first considered suicide but ended up at the airport rather than the edge of the ocean thanks to his bad sense of direction. He decided that he would leave Japan for good and start a new life in the United States, thus escaping the nightmares of his past. In San Francisco, he befriended openly gay Korean Ryan Hitomi and joined HItomi's group of friends in San Francisco's Castro District, a gay friendly neighborhood. With HItomi's help, Hibiki started establishing his place in San Francisco's gay community. Even though it is a struggle to live in a completely new world, Hibiki has finally started letting go of the past and focus on his future.

Ryoga Hibiki's model is Andrew from DannyDan.com.