Noboru Kuroda

Noboru Kuroda, an angsty, nihilistic 13-year-old schoolboy living in Yokohama, is the protagonist of the novel. Like many teenaged boys, Noboru and his gang of friends believe that human life is meaningless and that society is just a set of pointless conventions adults have invented to hide the truth. But unlike most teenagers, they actually act on these beliefs, to disastrous effect. Noboru strives to be emotionless and coldhearted: for instance, he viciously kills a small kitten at the behest of his group’s leader, the chief, and he even proudly boasts about his own father’s death. At the same time, he’s also childishly obsessed with sailing and the sea. He dreams of living the adventurous, solitary life of a sailor—like Ryuji Tsukazaki—and has taught himself practically everything about ships.