Ryou Masaoka pilots the Titan-model Fafner, an older design that's brutal on whoever's in the cockpit—even short fifteen-minute runs can wreck you. He took over as school council president from Kenji and has a reputation for being genuinely kind-hearted despite dealing with chronic illness. He's the type who gives solid advice to friends without making a big deal of it: he's pushed Kazuki to be more social, reassured Shouko about her place in her family, and supported Yumi through rough patches.
He volunteers for piloting duty pretty straightforwardly. Life expectancy isn't exactly great anyway, he figures, and he wants to contribute something meaningful. Plus, even living alone on such a small island surrounded by good people, he's never felt isolated.
When Plan-L gets underway, Ryou's shocked to find Yumi already aboard the ship—and she's keeping her distance from him for a while. The weird silver lining? Piloting the Titan Model actually lets him operate without the constant physical breakdown he usually deals with on land. The real problem is his dog, Puku. He can't take the dog with him, which means an impossible choice between leaving it behind or worse. Karin steps in to adopt Puku, solving that crisis.
Later, Yumi pushes for reduced pilot rotation times, but the brass won't budge. Ryou backs her up hard, arguing to the commander that her father wouldn't have designed this plan carelessly—and he eventually gets them to listen. That speech wins Yumi's trust back, and they're properly on the same side again.
When an escape route is discovered after the mission ends, things look hopeful. But first they've got one last job: keep the Festums away from Tatsumiya Island for good.
Friend/partner: Ikoma Yumi
Friends: Minashiro Soushi, Makabe Kazuki, Kuramae Karin
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
