Makoto Murase

Makoto Murase (村瀬 真琴) is the male protagonist of Paradise Noise.

Under the username Musa Boy, Makoto has been secretly crossdressing online while posting his music arrangements to pull in more views. His secret is found out by his high school music teacher, and he is roped into performing the accompaniment piano pieces for the odd-numbered classes.

Appearance
Makoto is a fairly androgynous teenage boy with gray hair and eyes. His standard outfit consists of his school uniform's bone white blazer over a black jacket with a yellow hood and cotton blue pants. When crossdressing, he wears his sister's black sailor uniform and a long flowing wig with identical hair color.

Personality
Makoto holds a deep passion for playing music, both on his own and with his peers. He didn't want Rinko's skills to be used simply for the school's accompaniment pieces, nor did he want Shizuki to stop playing with them because of her mother. His passion frequently has him in awe at the others' performances, whether that be Rinko's piano, Shizuki's drums, or Akane's multiple talents.

Despite his passion, Makoto dislikes being forced to play. He shows repeated irritation at Hanazono-sensei's requests to write and perform accompaniment pieces. His sense of revenge is somewhat petty, as he arranges the accompaniment in such a way Hanazono-sensei would need to play a duet with him, giving her the harder part of the piece.

While he has no qualms about crossdressing for views, he gets embarrassed and defensive when his secret is threatened. He also sees the situation—that people mostly watch him for his feminine body while crossdressing, not for his music—as a little concerning.

Background
As a junior high student, Makoto—who had been posting his music videos on the internet—was persuaded into crossdressing for them by his older sister. He was skeptical of it at first, but his debt to her gave him no choice. His first video in his sister's sailor uniform garnered him a six digit view count, over ten times his previous total views. He continued to post his crossdressing videos into high school, where he would be found out by Hanazono-sensei.

Musical Ability
Makoto is a "Jack of some trades, mediocre in all," type of person when it comes to his skills. He is able to fluently play the keyboard, guitar, and bass, as well as sing, but his overall skill in all of them is not noteworthy.

However, it could be said that his forte is in analyzing, arranging, and composing. For example, he is able to guage the tempo of a piece and input his own accompaniments, albeit the execution of said accompaniment is questionable.

He does miss the smaller details related to specific instruments, however, such as the small tone differences in a way you hit a piano's keys dubbed "excess noise".

Misao Hanazono
After learning of his secret, Hanazono-sensei does not shy away from using Makoto as her errand boy. While Makoto is obviously irritated by her laziness and lack of responsibility, he carries out her requests diligently.

Rinko Saejima
Makoto has a bickering and bantering relationship with Rinko, even during their meeting in the music room. The haughty girl often makes snide remarks regarding his amateur music ability or inappropriate sexual behavior, the latter being entirely unfounded. Makoto does his best to retort, seemingly unhurt by her insults. Makoto himself was curious about Rinko, mostly regarding why a piano prodigy like her would attend their normal school. Once finding out she was unsatisfied with her performance's excess noise, he came up with a game to flip her mindset regarding excess noise. The game worked, solidifying their relationship as friends.

Shizuki Yurisaka
Makoto's attention was caught by Shizuki when her ikebana was displayed at the school's entrance. The two met in the music storeroom, where he would listen to Shizuki's drum playing and be quizzed on drum players. While they didn't necessarily share the same wavelength, the two began hanging out in the storeroom, with Rinko sometimes dropping by. Shizuki inherited the idea that Makoto was a sexual offender from her, although she seemed more convinced of the idea than Rinko was, who was mostly just throwing shade.

Etymology

 * 村 (むら)
 * 瀬 (せ)
 * 真 (ま)
 * 琴 (こと)

Trivia

 * His username Musa Boy is derived from the Greek goddess of music, Muses.