Kiyoharu Togawa

Forced to spend all his free time after school practicing piano, Togawa was something of an outcast to the rest of his high school classmates. During the last P.E. class of the first semester, Togawa agrees to compete in the 100m race against the fastest boy in his class and nearly beats him, earning an invitation to the school track team. Togawa soon dedicates his life to becoming the nation's fastest sprinter, but just when his goal seems within reach, he is diagnosed with osteosarcoma and loses his right leg below the knee. Togawa spends much of his post-amputation time in isolation, feeling that his life is over until he meets Tora, an older man with an identical disability, a rotational plasty. Tora, a cool jet-setting tattoo artist, acts as Togawa's mentor and introduces him to the world of wheelchair basketball through his team, the Tigers. Togawa is a fiercely competitive player and once quit the team because he felt the other players were not as serious as he was. Togawa misses the game and returns to the Tigers, but causes a mutiny on the team early in the series due to his "unrealistic expectations." More conflict arises when Togawa is offered a spot on the Japanese national team and is invited to join Dream, the Tigers' archrival. When they first meet, Nomiya Tomomi is so impressed with Togawa's skills that he compares him to NBA star Vince Carter, and often refers to Togawa as "Vince".