ryuren ran

He is the youngest of the five brothers of the Ran family. He is eighteen years old. It is said that, out of his four older brothers he was the most worthy of the name Ryūren Ran because he is a genius.

He calls his older brothers foolish and doesn't call them by their name, rather: Shūei, "foolish elder brother the fourth". Recently, he's called Shūrei, Soul Friend #1, and Eigetsu, Soul Friend #2 (He refers to Yōgetsu as Soul Friend #2.5).

He does things on his own time and is quite impulsive: when he was going to buy ingredients for chicken stew with Shūrei, he ended up buying soy beans, then he traded that for boiled eggs, then traded the eggs for spring onions, then the spring onions for wood blocks, then flowers, then fish, then straw, and then he gave away the straw to a little girl and just ended up with one stalk of straw.

Later in the series, he goes ghost hunting after hearing about a late-night ghost. He also pulls out his flute and plays it without warning, often off key. Since he can't be easily told what to do and is very unpredictable, he's necessary in the Ran family. Although, because of this behavior many find him weird and annoying, so they usually distance themselves from him. Shūrei was the only one who put up with him, so he said that she's now his soul friend.

He travels to different places playing cards, but is only allowed to wander around if he takes the official exams and finishes in the top three. He wanders off again and is finally seen again taking the final exams with Shūrei and Eigetsu. He declares that Eigetsu is also his soul friend since he's Shūrei's friend. He passes the Official Exams with the second highest score, taking the "Bougen" spot.

Though, while the others were all concentrating on studying in the dorms, Ryūren didn't study once and preferred to sleep, eat, and play his flute. The preparatory dorm he was staying in ended up being called the Cursed 13th Building because his flute playing drove other examinees insane and seven officials resigned after having incomprehensible conversations with him. After passing the exams, he decided to skip out on the Shinshi Ceremony, which inducts the examinees into becoming officials. He claimed that the wind called to him to start a new voyage. He most likely left to wander around again since he already fulfilled his promise in ending up in the top three in the official exams.

When Ryūren once again showed up in the palace, Ryūki gave him an important task, which he claims will help Shūrei and Eigetsu a great deal. This task turned out to be the delivery of the governor's seal to Sa Province. After helping out Eigetsu and Shūrei, Shūrei decided that she didn't want him to get involved any further because the situation might become even more dangerous. As he walks away from the capital, he tells himself that he knows it'll become more dangerous and that's why he wanted to stay. He mentioned that the only 2 people in the world that could take advantage of him would be his soul friend No. 1 and 2. Namely, Shūrei and Eigetsu.

The name, Ryūren, is not a name by birth. The clan enthrones it, and only once in every few years will there appear a clan member who is worthy of this name. In other words, the person who inherits this name will eventually become the head of the clan. Ryūren was given the name at the age of four, and possesses the tag "Twin Dragons of the Lotus Spring"[双龍蓮泉].

He claims to have no interest in becoming neither an official nor the head of the Ran clan. In season 2 we find out he wishes to marry Shūrei and Kurō is taking his proposition seriously.