Tomohito Sugino

Sugino carries the classic look of a shonen lead, with short spiked black hair and eyes of dark blue. Red athletic wristbands are a regular part of his outfit, hinting at the sport that defines him. His time on baseball teams has left him with a sturdier, more muscular frame than most of the other boys in his class.

Lively and warm-hearted, Sugino approaches life with an easy cheerfulness and a clear passion for baseball. He mixes well with his classmates and rarely lacks for friends. A cautious streak runs through him too; he is wary of anything that might invite trouble or violence, which initially made him uneasy around Karma's habit of picking fights before the two grew close.

Baseball was his undoing at first. As a member of the main school's club, his pitches were too slow and kept getting hit, so he was cut from the regular roster. The demotion drained his drive to study, and falling grades landed him in Class 3-E. His story turns around early in the series when he tries and fails to kill Korosensei with an anti-sensei pellet baked into a baseball. The creature, comparing his build to a pro pitcher, points out that while his shoulders are ill-suited to fastballs, his flexible elbow and wrist make him a natural for breaking balls, restoring his confidence.

Across the arcs he chases both romance and rivalry. He engineers a Kyoto trip group partly to spend time with his crush, Yukiko Kanzaki, and later faces his old baseball team, led by former teammate Kazutaka Shindo, in a match Class E wins with borrowed dirty tactics. Afterward he tells Shindo he simply wanted to show his old friends the new ones he had made. He weathers the island poisoning, joins the school-play alongside Kanzaki, restrains Nagisa during the paintball civil war, and pitches rocks at a mercenary leader during the final breakout. After graduation he becomes an ace collegiate pitcher whose curveballs draw the notice of professional scouts.