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Main Characters
Itsuki Hashima
Itsuki Hashima
Voiced by: Yūsuke Kobayashi (Japanese), Stephen Fu (English)
The protagonist of the series and a professional writer. Has an obsession with the little sister genre and specializes in it.
- All Men Are Perverts: Itsuki isn't shy about being a pervert or his love of little sister characters. He tones it down around Chihiro, but anyone else is fair game.
- Babies Ever After: Has a son named Sora with Nayuta at the end.
- Birds of a Feather: He and Nayuta get along really well, both being professional authors, openly perverted and having similar interests.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a genuinely talented writer whose books sell pretty well, but he spends more time goofing off and making excuses not to work. It gets to the point that his editor Toki has to lock him in the writer's retreat in the publisher's basement to get him to finish volume 5 of Sisterly Combat/Mahou Academy before the deadline. He gets better at this as time goes on.
- Curtains Match the Window: Brown hair and eyes.
- Deadpan Snarker: Primarily at Nayuta and Haruto's expense.
- Friendless Background: Growing up he never really had any friends beyond Ayane Mitohara briefly and that ended after he confessed to her and was shot down.
- The First Cut Is the Deepest: Ayane rejecting him destroyed him emotionally and led him to become the little sister obsessed author he is today.
- Heroic BSoD: Learning Chihiro's real gender gave him quite the upset. Now that he realizes that he has an actual little sister, he can't pour all of his love of the imouto genre into his published works because he felt gross writing about them and starts churning out bland popcorn novels. Eventually, he stops writing altogether for half a year and ends up breaking up with Nayuta.
- I Just Want to Be Special: As he puts it, he wants to be the protagonist.
- Insecure Love Interest: He secretly returns Nayuta's feelings, but she's so successful and such a literary genius that overshadows him. Itsuki doesn't think himself good enough for her as a result of the difference between them as writers.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's very arrogant about his writing skills and can be a tactless ass, but at his core he's a good brother and friend and is fairly supportive. He also doesn't hesitate to offer Chihiro money with no strings attached.
- Missing Mom: His mother died when he was in middle school, which traumatized him quite a bit. He visits her grave every year to tell her what he's been up to and misses her dearly.
- Oblivious to Love: He's oblivious to Miyako's feelings for him until she yells her confession to him. He's left wondering about the signs he missed.
- Parental Issues: He has a very strained relationship with his father Keisuke after Keisuke married Chihiro's mother, as well as because of Itsuki's interests in little sisters and his career choice. They stopped talking after Itsuki moved out, but briefly see each other when Itsuki drops Chihiro off after they hung out. They come to an understanding in volume 11 when Itsuki returns home to check on Chihiro.
- Relationship Upgrade: At the end of volume 6, he confesses to Nayuta in her hospital room after she works herself to exhaustion as a result of her attempts to keep up with Itsuki when he gets his anime adaption. She already knew how he felt due to overhearing him talk about his feelings with Haruto.
Chihiro Hashima
Chihiro Hashima
Voiced by: Nozomi Yamamoto (Japanese), Arielle O'Neill (English)
Itsuki's stepbrother who shows up regularly to clean his place and cook for him. Actually his stepsister who hides her gender.
- Big Brother Worship: She thinks Itsuki's pretty amazing and was the one who made the effort to bond with him. Just being allowed to come along to an aquarium with him and hang out made her day.
- The First Cut Is the Deepest: She develops a huge crush on Haruto and confesses to him, he rejects her and she locks herself in her room for a week and sends Itsuki very edgy depressed texts.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She gets jealous of a robot vacuum cleaner that Itsuki won in a contest. She then realises pretty quickly how foolish that is. Played for Laughs.
- Little Sister Heroine: Defied. While she is a big presence in Itsuki's life, to the point where finding out that she actually is his sister changes his career path for months, she is not the "heroine" and is actively trying not to be one. The title of "heroine" goes to Nayuta.
- Nerds Are Naïve: Chihiro is an Otaku and a lot of the more perverted stuff that Nayu says to her goes right over her head. She also had no idea what a vibrator was when she came across one in Ashley's home and bought Ashley's lie that it was a massager until Haruto explained it to her.
- Nice Girl: She's a kindhearted young woman who goes out of her way to cook for Itsuki and clean his place asking nothing in return, and is friends with all of Itsuki's friends who all treat her like a younger sibling. She does struggle to get along with Nayuta sometimes, but tries her best anyway.
- Otaku: She loves anime, building Gundam models and playing board games and enjoys tabletop gaming with the group.
- The Baby of the Bunch: She's still in high school and is treated like a kid sibling by Itsuki's friends.
- The Reliable One: She cooks and cleans for Itsuki and points out that Itsuki wouldn't survive without her. She's also this to Ashley when she works for her to the point that Ashley's pigsty of an apartment is pristine in just a few hours.
- Supreme Chef: She is a fantastic chef and no matter what she makes, it's restaurant quality and is praised by the people who eat it.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: She hides her real gender at first because their father thought she was in danger when he found out about Itsuki's obsession during his novel debut.
Nayuta Kani
Nayuta Kani
Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English)
A fellow author at Itsuki's publisher who is far more successful then he is. Is madly in love with Itsuki and is not shy about it as his novels changed her life.
- All Women Are Lustful: She is not shy about how much she wants to have sex with Itsuki, to the point that Itsuki deflecting her offer's one of the main sources of comedy. When they finally start dating, she's the one who initiates sex every time.
- Ambiguously Bi: Her attraction to Itsuki is obvious, but she's also very enthusiastic about being naked with Miyako and Kaiko and fooling around a little.
- Babies Ever After: Has a son named Sora with Itsuki at the end, as well as getting pregnant with a daughter ten years later.
- Birds of a Feather: She and Itsuki get along really well, both being professional authors, openly perverted and having similar interests.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She is a very eccentric young woman who spends most of her time goofing off naked in her hotel room or hanging out with Itsuki and their friends, regularly slacks off with her writing and ignores all contact with her editor. But she's such a literary genius and GF Bunko's best selling author that she gets away with it. They even pay for a hotel room for her that's close to the office.
- But Not Too Foreign: She's part Russian.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: If she thinks someone's a threat to her dating Itsuki, she gets pretty annoyed. One of her first conversations with Miyako was demanding to know if she was in love with Itsuki. Infact she meets Kaiko because she sees Kaiko as a threat because Itsuki became more open to underwear and lingerie as a result of their professional relationship.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mostly at Haruto and somewhat with Itsuki. It's mostly playful with the latter.
- Friendless Background: She had no friends growing up and was relentlessly bullied to the point of dropping out of high school and becoming a shut-in.
- House Pseudonym: Nayuta Kani isn't her real name. Even Itsuki doesn't know it. It's later revealed to be Kazuko Honden.
- Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: She does this at the start of Volume 4 after Itsuki's birthday as she thinks over the fact that Itsuki does return her feelings but won't admit it to her yet.
- No Social Skills: She isn't the most socially graceful character and has no filter. It's mostly Played for Laughs.
- Prone to Tears: She cries a few times in the series. First because Itsuki rejects her shortly after meeting, the second because she learns that Miyako got turned downby Itsuki and felt bad, then as she explains why she worked herself to exhaustion to Itsuki. The last two have her reduced to Inelegant Blubbering.
- Relationship Upgrade: After working herself to exhaustion, Itsuki finally confesses to her at the end of volume 6.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: She cannot write unless she's naked and will happily take advantage of any chance where she can be naked.
- Single-Target Sexuality: She loves Itsuki and only Itsuki. His writing saved her during her darkest hour and she's held a flame for him ever since.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Haruto. She calls him Prince Manwhore and they regularly mock each other but it's clear that they respect and like each other.
Miyako Shirakawa
Miyako Shirakawa
Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (Japanese), Sara Ragsdale (English)
A friend of Itsuki's from when he went to college, she befriends the rest of the cast and later goes on to work for their publisher.
- Catchphrase: "What am I even doing?" is her reaction to being involved in a number of situations, usually involving Nayuta or Kaiko.
- Cool Big Sis: Plays this role for Nayuta, who thinks Miyako is just the coolest.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: She has no idea what she wants to do with her life, she's at university but isn't sure what kind of career or life she wants to live and often feels empty and aimless, especially compared to her friends.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: She has extremely low self esteem and considers herself to be a pathetic and awful person.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She has feelings for Itsuki but instead chooses to back Nayuta, especially after he rejects her.
- Nice Girl: She's a genuinely kind & empathetic person who supports her friends despite their eccentricities. She went out of her way to befriend Itsuki when they were in college and kept in touch with him. This kindness is what made Haruto fall for her.
- Prone to Tears: She cries the most out of the main cast due to her empathetic nature.
- Reluctant Fanservice Girl: She's very resistant to being naked around Nayuta or Kaiko as often as she is as well as modelling nude for them both. She gets a little more used to it as time goes on.
- The Reliable One: Ends up becoming this during her time working for GF Bunko for the editors, on her first day she ends up getting Nayuta to finish her book before the deadline. She's then offered a full time job at GF Bunko with an open window.
Haruto Fuwa
Haruto Fuwa
Voiced by: Satoshi Hino (Japanese), Alejandro Saab (English)
A fellow author friend of Itsuki's, his light novel series Chevalier of the New World is being turned into an anime as the story begins.
- Aborted Declaration of Love: He has a crush on Miyako, however he found out her feelings for Itsuki and decided to "keep going on his pace." Subverted at the end of volume 5 where he confesses to Miyako, expecting to be shot down. She considers it for a bit but gently rejects his feelings.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: He fell for Miyako because of her kind hearted and empathetic nature, crying in sympathy because she understood how much it sucks to fail at something you worked hard on.
- Chick Magnet: He's good looking and a few women end up interested in him, including Ashley Ono, Ui Aioi and Chihiro.
- Covert Pervert: Despite his cool appearance, he loves maid characters and owns a lot of adult games and figurines.
- Heroic BSoD: He has a breakdown after seeing how shitty the Chevalier of the New World anime adaption turned out after all the hard work he put in and ends up shutting himself in his room for a few days. Miyako's heartfelt reaction to his breakdown and Itsuki taking him to Akihabara to check out how well their latest books sell helps him pull himself out of his funk, but it's still a sore spot for him later on.
- Oh, Crap!: Pretty much anytime he ends up around Ashley Ono, he panics.
- Shipper on Deck: He encourages Itsuki to just go out with Nayuta already since they're Birds of a Feather and she's clearly devoted to him. He admits to himself that he has an ulterior motive of encouraging it so he can try and make a move on Miyako.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Nayuta. He snarks at her obsession with Itsuki and how obvious she is about it, but there's a mutual respect and friendship.
Supporting Characters
Setsuna Ena
Setsuna Ena
Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga (Japanese), Stephen Sanders (English)
A famous illustrator under the pen name Puriketsu. He has an ass fetish and is infamous for being notoriously hard to keep in contact with.
- Big Eater: In episode 3.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He's one of the most talented artists who work with GF Bunko, but he's also very hard to get in touch with and extremely lazy.
- Fetish: He has a butt fetish, to the point that his pen name Puriketsu literally means "Jiggly Ass"
- No Social Skills: He definitely doesn't know how to talk to girls his own age, creeps out Chihiro and sexually harasses her whenever they meet.
- Real Men Hate Sugar: He doesn't like "foods that are too sweet".
Ashley Ono
Ashley Ono
Voiced by: Manami Numakura (Japanese), Amber Lee Connors (English)
A tax accountant who dresses in gothic lolita, she has a bit of a sadistic streak when it comes to helping her clients.
- A-Cup Angst: She mentions to Chihiro that a lot of guys she's dated have cheated on her or left her for women with bigger breasts, and to never believe them if they say small breasts are ok.
- Ambiguously Bi: She's mentioned that she's had a few ex-boyfriends in the past, but she also had a sexual relationship with Kasuka Sekigahara in the past.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite her sadism and the way she messes with Haruto and Itsuki, she's an incredibly talented accountant who triples Itsuki's tax return through using many legal loopholes.
- Covert Pervert: See Sadist.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Her dress style when she's with clients or in public. When she's at home she sticks to simpler clothing.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's a bit of a sadist and loves screwing with her clients, especially Haruto. But she is also a fairly nice woman and treats Chihiro really well as her employer and Secret-Keeper.
- Older Than They Look: She's 32 but looks like a teenager.
- Sadist: She makes her clients reveal their fetishes through their expenses, but raises their tax return in exchange.
- Secret-Keeper: She is currently the only one among Itsuki's acquaintances who knows about Chihiro's real identity.
- The Trickster: Just see what she does to her clients.
Kenjiro Toki
Kenjiro Toki
Voiced by: Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese), Eric Vale (English)
Itsuki's editor at GF Bunko.
- Drowning My Sorrows: He's often seen drunk when overly stressed with his job. Which is most of the time.
- I Did What I Had to Do: As he says at one point, he'll do whatever it takes to make sure a writer or illustrator meets their deadlines.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Whenever he gets overly stressed. Which is a lot of the time, given his hectic schedule and the eccentric writers and artists he works with.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As angry and abrasive as he can get when it comes to Itsuki, he's fan of Itsuki as a writer and proves to be a reliable & supportive editor. He also helps setup Miyako with a job at GF Bunko with no strings attached.
Kaiko Mikuniyama
Kaiko Mikuniyama
Voiced by: Akane Fujita (Japanese), Jad Saxton (English)
A newbie manga artist who gets the job of drawing the manga adaption of All About My Little Sister (Mahou Academy in the anime).
- Ambiguously Gay: She's never shown any interest in men and has quite a few intimate moments with Nayuta and Miyako.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's got an underwear fetish and wears panties on her face when she draws, but she's an amazing artist who wins Itsuki over with the quality of her work and how well she understands his characters.
- Fetish: She has an underwear fetish to the point that she refuses to draw anyone completely naked. It nearly costs her her job drawing the manga adaption of Itsuki's novel until they come to an understanding and Itsuki comes to appreciate underwear.
- Mangaka: What she does. It causes quite a bit of conflict with her parents when they find out, but she managed to smooth things over.
- Wearing It All Wrong: That ribbon she wears on her head? Yeah, that's a pair of panties. And she wears them on her face before she draws.
Makina Kaizu
Makina Kaizu
A light novel writer who has been in the industry for over 10 years.
- Cool Old Guy: He's only in his mid-30s, but he's a veteran of the light novel industry, having been an author for over 10 years and has some pretty valuable advice for the main cast, who all have a great deal of respect for him.
- Hidden Depths: He's very health conscious and has a lot of sound advice on maintaining good health.
- Otaku: He's into building models.
- Starving Artist: Despite being an industry veteran, a lot of his work gets cancelled a few volumes in as it's fairly formulaic and following existing trends. Haruto considers him the definition of a mid-level writer.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: He cheated on his long term girlfriend by sleeping with Kasuka for her book research, but if he hadn't she probably would have slept with the first sleazy guy who agreed to.
Satoshi Godo
Satoshi Godo
Editor-in-Chief of GF Bunko and Toki's boss.
- Benevolent Boss: His defining trait as Editor-in-Chief of GF Bunko.
- As Editor-in-Chief, he's pretty open minded about Itsuki and Nayuta's eccentricities and lets them do their own thing since their books sell really well.
- He never chastises Toki when he comes into work clearly hungover or wearing clothing from yesterday.
- He gives Miyako a job just because Toki referred her. He also offered her a full time job with no deadline on when to accept once she's graduated from college because she was such a hard worker and got them out of a few tight spots.
- He covers the costs for Miyako's going away party when her time at GF Bunko comes to an end.
- As soon as he learns that Nayuta's in the hospital, he immediately goes there to check on her and lets Itsuki come along even though they were in the middle of a recording session for a Drama CD.
- Face of a Thug: He looks like he belongs in the yakuza, which caused some trouble with the police initially until they got to know him.
Kirara Yamagata
Kirara Yamagata
Nayuta Kani's editor.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Editor to be precise, but Nayuta causes her endless trouble when it comes to meeting deadlines and keeping in contact.
- Hidden Depths: She is attempting to be a writer herself, but her job prevents her from getting much work done.
- Worth It: She considers all of the stress of being Nayuta Kani's editor to be worth it since she's a fan of Nayuta's writing and can read the Landscape series before anyone else.
Minor Characters
Ayane Mitohara
Ayane Mitohara
Voiced by: Natsumi Takamori (Japanese), Amanda Gish (English)
A girl from Itsuki's past and the daughter of Keisuke's housekeeper at the time. One of two women who influenced Itsuki into who he is today.
- Cool Big Sis: What she thought she was to Itsuki, to the point that she showed up at his house one day after his mother died to cheer him up and keep him company.
- The First Cut Is the Deepest: She was on both sides of this, being rejected by the guy she was interested in and then having to reject Itsuki and destroying their friendship as a result.
Kasuka Sekigahara
Kasuka Sekigahara
An extremely talented light novel writer and longtime friend of Makina and Ashley, her books inspired Itsuki to become a light novel writer.
- Ambiguously Bi: She lost her virginity to Makina Kaizu as part of her book research, but she also had a sexual relationship with Ashley Ono for research, but they slept together at least once after they broke up.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: She was a bit out of touch with reality at times.
- Cool Big Sis: Was this to Itsuki for the brief time they knew each other, making a point to give him some sound advice as a writer on how to be happy while dealing with all of the darker aspects of the job.
- Innocently Insensitive: She slept with Kaizu and dated Ashley for book research without any regard for how she hurt them once she didn't need them anymore, but it wasn't with any malicious intent.
- Posthumous Character: She died of pancreatic cancer before Volume 1 on December 24. Kaizu, Ashley and Itsuki all miss and mourn her whenever the day comes around.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Her books, specifically A Sister's All You Need were what inspired Itsuki to become a professional author.
- Stepford Smiler: Despite her perky nature, she was secretly hurting because of all of the negative reviews online and from dying.
- Title Drop: In-Universe. Her final series was called A Sister's All You Need.
Keisuke Hashima
Itsuki's father and Chihiro's stepfather. He has a strained relationship with Itsuki by the events of the story.
- Arranged Marriage: Had one with Itsuki's mother which turned out pretty well until she passed away from illness.
- Happily Married: With Itsuki's mother until he died and with Chihiro's mother when he remarried.
- No Social Skills: As revealed in his backstory, socializing has never been one of his strong suits. Deconstructed in that his inability to communicate with Itsuki has led to their estrangement by the time of the main story.
- Parents as People: He was fairly reasonable as a parent, letting Itsuki read as much as he wanted as long as he kept his grades up. While Keisuke wasn't as controlling or restrictive with him as his parents were to him, he never really tried to get to know his son and automatically assumed the worst of Itsuki and that he would sexually assault Chihiro if he knew Chihiro was a girl. Part of this led to Itsuki's estrangement with him throughout the series.
