Character Profile: Rin Kobayashi

Rin is the seven year old son of the Sakaguchi's new neighbors in Tokyo. From the very first, he was attracted to Alice, although he didn't understand why. He translated this attraction into a tendency to pick on her and bully her, thereby unknowingly repeating his behavior from his past life. A life-threatening accident, indirectly caused by Alice, is what wakes his memories of the other life.

Even though he acts like a complete brat, and becomes even worse after the accident, Rin is at heart still a kid. He struggles with the fact that the woman he loves (Alice) is much older than he is, while at the same time struggling with two sets of conflicting desires. One set of desires is actually Shion's consciousness, wanting to protect and save the Earth. The other set is his own, wishing to be nothing more than a regular kid and having fun. This dichotomy in his nature is what makes things increasingly difficult for him, as he slowly loses the distinction between what he wants and what Shion would have wanted.