Ritsu was born under the zodiac curse of the monkey, and it's shaped everything about him. His parents spent his entire childhood apologizing for his existence—literally apologizing for everything he did—which left him deeply insecure. He genuinely believes he doesn't deserve to exist, that he's essentially stealing oxygen from the world just by breathing.
He's always felt more comfortable dressing feminine, which only added to his parents' constant apologies. The look works on him; Tooru initially mistook him for a girl until he transformed in front of her. That moment actually became important for Ritsu, though. Tooru somehow managed to convince him that his life has value—he just hasn't discovered his purpose yet.
Shigure, predictably, loves messing with Ritsu's insecurities and tendency to believe whatever he's told. It's the same dynamic Shigure has with his editor, Mitsuru, and when those two meet, they immediately recognize themselves in each other.
The name itself is pretty intentional. Takaya chose it based on the eighth month of the traditional Japanese calendar—odakaritsuki, or "rice harvest month"—which corresponds to the monkey sign. In retrospect, Takaya mentioned wishing she'd given Ritsu a bigger role in the story's main plot.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
