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The Boy is the main protagonist of the 2017 indie RPG adventure video game Rakuen, created by Laura Shigihara. He is a young boy confined to a hospital bed who is visited daily by his mother, who brings him a special book titled Rakuen.
Personality[]
Boy is a quietly courageous ten-year-old confined to a hospital bed by an unnamed chronic illness. Though frail in body, he possesses an indomitable spirit and an unshakeable sense of empathy: he’s endlessly curious about the stories he reads, and he aches to understand the lives of everyone around him.
He is defined by a profound kindness and boundless curiosity. Though confined by illness, he approaches every new friend (both real and imagined) with genuine empathy, listening intently to their troubles and seeking to ease their pain. His imaginative spirit turns each challenge into an opportunity for connection: he greets oddball characters not with fear, but with compassion, determined to understand them. Patient and thoughtful, he never rushes through a task.
Biography[]
Rakuen[]
Boy’s story begins in a sterile hospital room, where his body is too weak to explore the world beyond his bed. When his mother brings him the mysterious storybook Rakuen, she tells him of a real, enchanted realm ruled by Morizora, the benevolent Guardian of the Forest, a being capable of granting a single wish. The mother shares with her son that they can actually journey into this storybook world together. The boy is also constantly visited at night by Yami, a mysterious emo teenager who apparently only the boy can see.
Eager for his wish to come true, the boy learns he must complete a series of tasks. His central mission is to gather pieces of music for the new friends he meets along the way, making melody the heart of his adventure. As he navigates this magical land (which mirrors and intersects with his own reality) he encounters quirky inhabitants, typical of this kind of fantasy world.
Beyond helping forest denizens, the boy also takes on assignments on behalf of other hospital patients, solving riddles, retrieving lost objects, and following clues to collect essential items. Each quest culminates in bringing joy and relief to his companions, rewarding him not with treasure but with the knowledge that he has lifted their burdens and in doing so, moved one step closer to the wish he so dearly hopes to receive.
As the lines between reality and the storybook world begin to blur, Boy's true journey becomes clear: by bringing hope to the sad and forgotten souls in the tale, he and his mother ind the strength to face their own fears. It is also clearly shown that the peculiar creatures that the child helps during the game serve as a kind of "avatars" for the hospital patients.
Later in the game, it is revealed that "Yami" is actually a manifestation of the depression, fears, and negative feelings the boy harbored, especially due to his illness and the death of his father. But with the help of his mother and all the friends he made throughout the story, he manages to come to terms with himself and overcome his fears. Finally, after completing all the musical pieces to awaken Morizora, the latter grants the boy's wish: to go to Rakuen. The boy then approaches a boat, where it is revealed that the boy was a terminally ill cancer patient. He bids farewell to his mother, comforting her through tears. As he boards the boat, manifestations of other hospital patients who have also died are also shown. His mother leaves, completely devastated by the loss, but determined enough to move forward.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The word "Rakuen" is the Japanese word for paradise; therefore, Rakuen can be seen as a mystical manifestation or representation of the afterlife, and the boy's desire to reach that place means, precisely, being able to rest in peace.