12 Days of Anime 2019 – Dungeons and Dragons, Sorrel, and Kuranosuke

Artist Unknown

This year, in my ongoing quest to make friends and get out more, I joined a Dungeons and Dragons circle. Up until then I’d not played a single session and already had way too little free time to spare, but “What could one more hobby hurt?”, I naively thought… As it turns out, D&D is pretty addictive, time-consuming, and expensive (if, like me, you’re partial to pretty dice), who knew? But I’m already far too invested in my party and I’s adventure to back out now, so I suppose I’m in it for the long haul… Anyway, in typical Ty style, I just had to find some way to incorporate my love of anime into my new pastime, so, when creating my character I considered the anime characters who most bewitched and inspired me. After much deliberation I finally settled on the one I wanted to base my own character on: Princess Jellyfish’s Kuranosuke. Thus, my character, Sorrel, was born… 

Kuranosuke has been one of my all-time favourite anime characters ever since I first laid eyes on him nine whole years ago (damn, has it really been that long!?). He’s fierce, beautiful, and comfortable enough in his own skin to do, say, and wear whatever he wants (including chicken fillets). Kuranosuke’s got a passion for fashion, and is a bit of a ladies’ man, but what he values even more than either of these two things is spending time with Tsukimi and the other Amars, who, in spite of their weird ticks and grungy appearance, are good, warm, genuine people. These are just some of the qualities that I’ve tried to incorporate into Sorrel… 

Sorrel is an elf, an Eladrin, to be precise. Being an Eladrin means that his appearance is ever-changing, ever-evolving, much like Kuranosuke’s. Sorrel is of noble birth, but, in spite of the luxuries this afforded him, he turned his back on his cold, strict, and loveless family to live a free and whimsical existence (again, much like Kuranosuke). Sorrel’s love of music prompted him to set out on the road, in order to find inspiration for his songs (can you guess what class he might be? Ha, ha!). Soon after he met the other members of the party, who wound up being just as strange as Princess Jellyfish’s Amars. At first, Sorrel wasn’t sure what to think of his newfound companions, but he soon warmed up to them, forming deep and long-lasting friendships. 

The most meaningful of Sorrel’s relationships is his relationship with Matilda, or Tilly, for short. Sorrel first met Tilly during the party’s visit to an *ahem* adult establishment. What? Much like Kuranosuke, Sorrel has a soft spot for the ladies! So enamored with Sorrel after their night together (in what was my proudest moment as a D&D player so far – I kept rolling criticals for performance!!!), Tilly decided to up and join him on his travels. Sorrel used to be a little loose with his lovin’, but, after spending more and more time with Tilly, he renounced his old playboy ways. Tilly’s definitely a bit sassier than Tsukimi, but, like Tsukimi, she’s got a good, sweet heart. This, paired with the fact that she’s just a little helpless (she’s a healer, not a fighter), really brought out Sorrel’s protective side. Much like Kuranosuke would do anything for Tsukimi, comfort her, protect her, fight tooth and nail for her, it wasn’t long before Sorrel would do the same for Tilly… 

To any fellow D&Ders reading this – have you ever based one of your characters off of an anime character? If so, who? Let me know in the comments section below!