Neku's best friend

Neku's best friend
Gender	Male
Status	Deceased (presumed)

Neku's best friend is a character mentioned in This Day Ends with You!. Very little is known about him. The Another Day version of Neku Sakuraba blamed himself for his death.

Background

Neku's best friend was a classmate at his school, and they knew each other when Neku was thirteen years old. Neku considered him his one real friend and classmate he could talk to as an equal. The friend introduced Neku to Sanae Hanekoma and the graffiti at Udagawa Back Streets. One day, the two planned to meet at the mural but the friend died on his way in an accident. Neku feels guilty because if he did not ask them to meet, it would not have led to the chain of events resulting in his friend's death. The grief almost "broke" Neku.

It is unknown whether Neku's friend existed in the main universe or just Another Day's universe. However, when Rhyme is Erased in the main universe, Neku thinks, "Dammit... I feel like crap. This is just like that time... That time? What time? I can't remember." This suggests his best friend's death happened in both universes, leading to speculation that this is the reason why main universe Neku developed an asocial personality, in order to not experience hurt again. Additionally, Neku's entry fee was taken but Neku still senses remembering a terrible event from his past in spite of his amnesia, implying Neku was deeply affected by it.

Instead of closing himself from other people, Another Day Neku did not let his friend's death turn his personality asocial, shown by his willingness to fight other people, even apparent strangers, in Tin Pin Slammer, as well as through his interactions with people in the scenario. It is also known that Another Day Neku has already known Hanekoma for two years in this universe, another influence for this Neku to not let the grief consume him.

It is unknown whether Neku's friend had competed in the Reaper's Game, or what their fate was if they had. There are also no available photos for Neku's best friend, as they were never identified or pictured.

Quotes

• "Thinking back on it now, it was him. He's the reason I met Mr. H. I wouldn't have found the mural in Udagawa if he hadn't told me about it. He was my one real friend--the only guy in my class I could talk to as an equal. I was fine with that. Just him and me. Man, I miss him... Not that I have a right to... Not after I killed him. I'll never forget that day... We were set to meet up at the usual spot. I asked him to come. I was waiting in front of the CAT mural... but he never came. Only later did I hear about the accident. I was so mad. Then I felt awful... I shouldn't have asked him there. If not for me, he'd still be here... It's like I killed him. Now I feel like it's going to happen again. Like I'm going to lose Mr. Hanekoma. I don't think I could take it. It almost broke me last time. If it happened again, I..." (Neku discussing his friend)

Trivia

• In the anime, Joshua asks Neku if he has any connections, but Neku denies this, saying he was always a bit of a loner, suggesting Neku's best friend either does not exist in the main universe, or was not Neku's friend in the main universe. However, it is unclear if this was simply something the developers of the anime forgot, if Neku did not feel comfortable telling Joshua about a traumatic aspect about his past, or if this only applies to the anime universe, as the game and anime can be considered separate universes.
  • Alternatively, it is possible that Joshua may have taken Neku's memories of his friend, as it appears Joshua took away Neku's memories of his own death since when Kitaniji returns Neku's memories, Neku still lacks the memory of his death. This would explain Neku's reaction on Day 4 where he can only subconsciously recall a traumatic time. If this theory is true, it is unclear why Joshua would take away Neku's memory of his friend. One possibility is due to Joshua wanting to see how much Neku could be able to change without survivor's guilt to stunt his growth. Another possibility is Joshua wishing to become Neku's new best friend more easily.