Characters / Aggretsuko – Other Characters

Aggretsuko Main Character Index
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Friends and Family

Retsuko

Puko

Voiced by: Rina Inoue (Japanese), Allegra Clark (English), Cecilia Guerrero (Latin American Spanish)

A cougar who is Retsuko's childhood friend. She manages to make it out there without being tied to a job.

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• Bourgeois Bohemian: Played with. She has the carefree attitude, flitting from job to job without a care or a fixed address, and the interest in small business...but on the other hand, she's also solidly pro-economic stability and the establishment, ultimately recognizing that while she could never do it, responsible people are important, too.
• The Bus Came Back: She only appeared for a couple of episodes early on in season one, but reappears in the Christmas Episode as well as a few more episodes in the second season.
• Childhood Friends: Has known Retsuko since they were younger, and they get along pretty well.
• Hidden Depths: Season 5 reveals that she has a talent for graphic design, designing all of Retsuko's campaign posters.
• Hope Spot: She presents Retsuko a business opportunity with a shop selling imported goods. Unfortunately, later on, Puko reveals she wouldn't be able to afford to pay rent for a building and will be shipping stuff out from her home. She states that while they might be able to have a physical shop eventually, it won't be happening anytime soon, dashing Retsuko's hopes of leaving for a new job.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Season 2 shows how her business is going. While she enjoys it and is much more hard-working and responsible than before, she's still pretty laid-back, lets her employees flake on her whenever they feel like it, and gets kicked out of her office space because she didn't realize rent was a monthly thing, but laughs and shrugs it off like usual.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Puko's return to Tokyo makes Retsuko realize she doesn't just hate her job, she hates the direction of her life, and kick offs her attempts to find a way out.

Retsuko's Mother

Voiced by: Maki Tsuruta (Japanese), Kaitlyn Robrock (English), Adriana Casas (Seasons 2 & 3) and Laura Ayala (Season 5) (Latin American Spanish)

Retsuko's well-meaning, but very pushy and overbearing mother.

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• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Her introduction to the audience has her send a picture of a childish-looking dress with frills and ribbons all over it to Retsuko, saying that she'd look great in it, revealing that she already bought it and had it shipped to Retsuko's apartment, and then forcing Retsuko to wear the dress so she can take a photo of Retsuko in it. The photo in question later turns out to be part of her plans to matchmake Retsuko against her will.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She made her first appearance in a 2017 post from the Japanese Aggretsuko Twitter account, two years before her debut in the second season. She is seen in a photo with a very young Retsuko.◊
• The Generation Gap: Most of her arguments rely on Appeal to Tradition (especially as it applies to Japanese society) especially as it applies to marriage with several lectures that are all too familiar to Millenials.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: While she is hypocritical regarding her daughter's love life (she constantly tries to matchmake Retsuko against her will, even though she admits that she married her husband because she "followed her heart" and didn't need any matchmaking to decide that for her), it turns out that she's fully right in what Retsuko wants, giving her the confidence to realize she does want to find a romantic partner. One could say that her matchmaking was to try and give her daughter the push she needed in the first place.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Apart from looking similar, it turns out that Retsuko gets her spontaneous bouts of rage from her mother, but without the kanji for rage and the heavy metal.
• My Beloved Smother: A constant pain of stress and embarrassment on her daughter. It's so bad she visits Retsuko's apartment without warning her prior (she has a copy of her key without telling Retsuko).
• Parental Hypocrisy:
  • She fervently matchmakes her own daughter against her will, and yet she mentions that she married Retsuko's father because she followed her heart and didn't need some stinking matchmaking to do it for her.
  • She tells Retsuko to make sure to lock her door so someone doesn't break into her apartment, only to break into Retsuko's apartment herself to clean it since she made a copy of Retsuko's key without telling her.
• Pet the Dog: She's surprisingly supportive of Retsuko getting her driver's license and even offers to chip in some money for the lessons. Her stated reason for this may also count: Retsuko's father is having some health issues and Retsuko having her license would make it easier for him to get to his appointments.
• Stat-O-Vision: When she meets Haida at Retsuko's apartment door, she immediately begins Terminator-scanning her daughter's apartment (complete with one glowing red eye and robotic stomping noises whenever she takes a step) for proof of cohabitation. She finds it in the form of Haida's toothbrush.
• Technologically Blind Elders: Averted. She's apparently skilled enough with image editing software that she doctors Shirota's photo to make him look significantly more attractive than he is in real life, thus making Retsuko more willing to meet him.
• Unnamed Parent: She's Retsuko's mother, and she's never given an actual name.

Retsuko's Father

Voiced by: Yohei Azakami (Japanese), Tony Oliver (English), Óscar Gómez (Latin American Spanish)

Retsuko's reserved and calm father.

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• Armor-Piercing Response: Though his wife is very hard on Retsuko trying to get a boyfriend, he calmly responds that everything will be fine with Retsuko as long as whoever she fell in love with is a reliable man, which he tells his daughter right when Retsuko is dealing with Haida being a hobo without a job, panicking her even further.
• Camera Fiend: He likes taking photos of any milestones Retsuko reaches in life.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Retsuko had the impression that he doesn't like Haida as her boyfriend. Their first meeting goes swimmingly well after Haida makes a great speech about his unfortunate lack of a job, which Retsuko's father doesn't have complaints against...until he takes a photo that puts Haida out of the picture with his wife and daughter. Thankfully, he’s gotten over this by the finale.
  Fenneko: He literally wants [Haida] out of the picture.
• The Ghost: For most of the series, he was only briefly mentioned by Retsuko and his mom.
• The Stoic: Compared to his wife, it's very clear Retsuko didn't inherit his quiet attitude.
• Unnamed Parent: He's Retsuko's father, and he's never given an actual name.
• Unseen No More: Although he's indirectly mentioned in the Season 3 finale, it's not until the fifth and final season's premiere when he makes his first physical and speaking appearance.

Haida

Shishido

Voiced by: Kousuke Miyauchi (Japanese, English singing), Jamison Boaz (English)

A boar that Haida used to play with in a punk band back in high school.

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• Delinquent Hair: His hair is styled in a messy red mohawk.
• Full-Boar Action: His image as a leading punk vocalist plays this up.
• Jaded Washout: Despite what his reassured, devil-may-care appearance would suggest, he's quite self-conscious about his life – besides unemployment, his girlfriend recently dumped him and married someone of better economic standing. He bitterly admits he feels he got stuck in trying to make a childhood rockstar dream true and only now has he realized this "bohemian" perspective has gotten him nowhere.
• Shadow Archetype: During their brief reencounter in season 4, his negative situation and gloomy perspective on his future come to represent in Haida's eyes a possible future for him should he not prove himself to the world and especially Retsuko. This becomes a foreshadowing for Haida's situation during the early parts of Season 5.
• Sunglasses at Night: Lampshaded by Haida. Shishido fires back that they’re part of his punk rocker costume.

Shikabane

Voiced by: Mewhan (Japanese), Lisa Reimold (English), Georgina Sánchez (Latin American Spanish)

A 21-year-old skunk girl that Haida meets online at the beginning of Season 5, who works as a freelancer.

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• Ambiguous Situation: She only explains that she prefers "living" in an internet café over hard and strenuous work just to rent a pricey apartment, and it is implied she can handle her temp work income for her internet lifestyle better than Haida. How she ended up there in the first place remains a mystery. Her time with Retsuko seems to inspire her to at least try to make a fresh start in her life.
• Creepy Monotone: Due to her depression, her voice is almost void of emotion. She never raises her voice even when there’s something that upsets her.
• The Cynic: Though Haida wants her to go back on her feet, her view on that is very depressing. She feels that she can't tolerate having a full-time job and having to pretend to smile for people when she doesn't want to, and she counters him by saying that at least she's honest about how she lives now. Haida really can't counter that argument. By the finale, she's trying to make an effort to go back out there.
• Dark Is Not Evil: She’s a purple skunk with black clothes, and she is initially presented as a Toxic Friend Influence for Haida, but after he tells her that she’s partially responsible for his homelessness, she tries to help him out by giving him a temp job while he’s searching one more stable and letting him sleep her private booth, until Retsuko and her friends finds him. Fenneko even thanks her for taking care of him in his current state.
• Despair Event Horizon: She reached it long time ago due to her becoming disillusioned by the hardship of her life and society's expectations. After a karaoke session with Retsuko, she seems to take steps to improve her situation.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: To reflect the depression she has going for her, her eyes lack the distinct shine that other characters have.
• Exhausted Eyebags: Take a closer look at her dull eyes after she seemingly stops coming to the net cafe, and you can spot bags under her eyes.
• Forum Speak: In the English dub, she speaks to Haida with a lot of internet slang, even in person ("No cap", "Cringe", "Take the L", etc.).
• Mistaken for Cheating: Due to Gori and Washimi's unreliable ideas, Retsuko fears that Haida might be cheating on her with a girl he met in the game Aggresive Heroes. This only gets worse when she along with Fenneko, Kabae and Anai see him at a cafeteria with Shikabane, and more when they return together to their shared cabin in the internet cafe. Luckily, the situation clears up.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She has this reaction when she learns that Haida got kicked out of his apartment and spent a good chunk of his savings on the online Gatcha events they participated in together. As she outright admits, he might not have ended up in such a situation if she hadn’t kept dragging him back online to play with her instead of finding a job like he said he needed to, and she immediately tracks him down to help him back on his feet afterward when this news hits her.
• Not So Stoic: She eventually has a karaoke session with Retsuko. Although we don't get to see what they sing about, they both end up with Death Voice faces.
• Only Known By Her Nickname: Her online and offline friends only know her as "Shikabane", and she prefers to keep her real name a secret.
• G.I.R.L.: Inverted; Shikabane allows anyone she’s playing with online to believe she’s a boy, which makes it quite a shock for Haida when a female skunk walks into his Internet cafe booth and introduces herself as his online friend. Shikabane explains that she started doing this because when the guys she used to play with learning that she is a girl, they get the wrong idea and wanted to meet in real life, which made her annoyed and uncomfortable. She made an exception for Haida, however, because he previously mentioned having a girlfriend.
• The Stoic: No matter what the situation, she always keeps a cold deadpan expression, though she occasionally breaks a very light smile. It’s implied throughout the season that this is because the hardships of her life have left her suffering from depression, with both Retsuko and Haida noting that she always acts as if she has just given up on life and turned her back on the world while trying to be satisfied from living off of “crumbs”.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Played with. Her initial appearance online paints her as this, since she responds to Haida always saying he needs to log off for a bit and focus on finding a new job by goading him into playing with her anyway and informing him of new rare Gatcha events that cause him to blow whatever little money he has left. However, after hearing he was kicked out of his apartment and was forced to resort to staying in an Internet cafe after spending 300k yen on their MMORPG, she realizes and acknowledges the hand she had played in his downward spiral and works to atone for her mistakes by helping him find some freelance work until he can get a stable job again and letting him stay in her private booth.

Dokachin

A dog construction worker who hires Haida when they meet at the internet cafe.

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• The Gambling Addict: Shikabane thinks he's got money issues because he tends to lose all his work money on gambling.
• Hidden Depths: Despite also living in the cafe, Dokachin seems as if he has life together. In fact, he's paying child support and/or suffering from a serious gambling addiction.
• Nice Guy: Acts as something of a community pillar for the other people living in the cafe, helping them adjust to the living space and give them temp work to make ends meet.
• Put on a Bus to Hell: By the time Haida visits the internet cafe again, Dokachin has disappeared because he broke his hip, lacks the money to go to the hospital, and can't make amends paying his ex-wife for child care—and Shikabane theorizes that he was using his “child support” excuse as a cover up for his gambling addiction. Since he never gave anyone his contact info, neither Haida nor Shikabane have any idea if he's OK. He's shown in the finale, though only to the audience, rallying behind Retsuko's political campaign.

Jiro Haida

Voiced by: Yohei Azakami (Japanese), Matthew Mercer (English), Ernesto Rocha (Latin American Spanish)

Haida's 25-year-old younger brother. He's been a lot more successful than Haida in life and it's caused them to be at odds with each other.

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• Aloof Big Brother: Inverted. Jiro is aloof towards Haida, but he's the younger brother in this case.
• Character Development: Though he won the election, he seems to have wised up about his position by ensuring that old politicians should stop working on politics past 65 to spite his controlling father. He also seems to make amends with Haida.
• The Dutiful Son: Between him and Haida, he got all the political ambition.
• Everyone Has Standards: At the end of the Season 5 finale, he makes it very clear that he wasn't the person responsible for hitting Haida with a truck. Haida replies that he already knows he would never do that since they're brothers.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible to Haida's Foolish. They may have SOME irresponsible interests in common, though - someone putting up posters for Jiro's political campaign likes green Chuck Taylor All-Stars, drives an expensive, fast motorcycle, and has a helmet with great big hyena ears on it. Hm.
• Hope Spot: His debut up until the family feud showed him completely indifferent at best or reprimanding at worst of Haida until he wishes Haida to part ways with a lot of money from Juzo. Turns out that the last act was Jiro being a dick to Haida to call him a dumbass.
• Parental Favoritism: Since Juzo abhors Haida, he prefers Jiro, except only for political reasons.
• Shared Family Quirks: He has the same annoying way to blow his nose into a napkin like Juzo and Haida do.
• Sibling Rivalry: Things are downright frigid between Jiro and Haida. They start to thaw just a little bit once Jiro starts to understand just what kind of firebrand his brother married.
• Smug Smiler: He smiles constantly during his political campaign in order to come across as approachable to the public, but Ikari criticizes him as being this trope, and Retsuko points out in her rap that there's no smile behind his eyes at all. Though it seems he has gained a genuine drive to help Japan without pleasing his father's outdated and draconian political views.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Clearly gets his looks from his mother. Their head shapes are nearly identical.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Does this on Haida. After the family feud, Juzo makes it when Haida comes home, and hands Haida a lot of money from Juzo as "severance" pay from the family so Haida isn't connected to Juzo. After Haida wrestles with the idea to turn down the money, he takes it. Cue Jiro chuckling and calling Haida a dumbass and a loser for still falling so low (worse is, he was right, because Haida mentally squee'd looking at the money).
• Young and in Charge: He's only 25 and yet he's running for a spot in the House of Representatives, which is repeatedly pointed out in his campaign. The downsides to his youth become apparent as we see more of him: he's only in the game at his age because of his father's money and influence, consequently he's pretty much a puppet of his father until he finally grows a spine.
• Youngest Child Wins: Seems like Jiro has all the luck compared to his punk slacker hot mess of an older brother.

Juzo Haida

Voiced by: Katsuhisa Houki (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English), César Beltrán (Latin American Spanish)

Haida's father, a politician who's been part of Japan's House of Representatives until he had to resign by the events of Season 5 because of his deteriorating health.

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• Abusive Parents: It is suspected but not confirmed he was willing to have someone maim his own son via vehicular assault to scare Retsuko out of running for office.
• Arc Villain: For Season 5.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Played with. Ultimately he succeeds at setting up Jiro as the successor of his government seat, but it’s implied it only happened because Jiro tells him to stay out of the way so he can promote legislation forcing politicians to retire at age 65 and makes it clear he’s not going to let his father pull his strings anymore. What’s more, Retsuko’s loss still ended up stirring up a lot of youthful unrest and anger, which means politicians with his mindset can’t just get by sitting on their laurels anymore. Although Juzo merely laughs at this, it’s pretty dang clear that he’s not getting nearly as much out of Jiro’s victory as he had hoped.
• Berserk Button: Flies off the handle when Haida tells him he only got his money through dumb luck, and is visibly seething when Haida says he hasn't done an honest days work in years.
• Establishing Character Moment: It doesn't take a lot to reveal how old-fashioned Haida's dad really is; specifically what he thinks of Retsuko, the people from the internet cafe, and the new generation he thinks is exploiting Japan's way of life. Long story short, he appears to make Pre-Character Development Ton look like a saint.
• Fat Bastard: He's so fat that his health is failing because of it and all he does is boss around his sons while thinking Haida is nothing but a disappointment.
• The Generation Gap: If his rant of how everyone in Japan has an "equal" chance at becoming wealthy is of indication.
• Heinous Hyena: Unlike Haida, he plays the trope completely straight; he's a hyena who's also a morally corrupt, politically incorrect Fat Bastard and he serves as the Arc Villain of the show's fifth season.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Since he's sick, he can't drink alcohol. But when he's annoyed by Haida pointing out that he's a bastard who just got lucky into becoming a successful politician, he downs an entire bottle.
• Jerkass: Take Ton, strip him of any and all redeeming traits, and multiply his nastiness by about 100. That's Juzo.
• Kimono Is Traditional: He only ever wears a kimono, reflecting his belief in old-fashioned Japanese values and how he looks down upon the newer generation.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Even though his son Jiro won the election, Jiro plans to pass a law that will make his father and other politicians at age 65 or older step down. When that happens, Juzo will be forced to retire and no longer have any hold over his family. How fitting that his favorite son would call him an old fossil and force him out of work because of how he treated Haida and put his expectations on his son Jiro, ending up jobless.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: Jiro succeeds Juzo just as he planned, but it's only because Jiro promoted legislation that would force politicians to retire at age 65, which means Juzo will be out of the job soon and no longer able to control his son's career.
• Parental Favoritism: Prefers Jiro over Haida since the former is far more successful and didn't embarrass him with the damning song that Haida sang when he was in a band. That being said, his preferred treatment of Jiro isn't any better with his intentions to use him as a political puppet.
• Politically Incorrect Villain:
  • He is disgustingly callous to the poor, calling the people who bunk at internet cafes like his son did failures.
  • Juzo acts even more misogynist to Retsuko than Ton ever did, repeatedly calling her a "chippy" (a dated way of saying "slut/whore") in the dub and thinks Haida should be ashamed of taking support from a woman.
• Shadow Archetype: He's what Haida would become if he truly gave into his obsession of becoming successful at the expense of others, as shown in Season 4.

Retsuko's Romantic Partners and Dates

Shirota

Voiced by: Chiharu Sasa (Japanese), Dave B. Mitchell (English), Héctor Estrada (Latin American Spanish)

"Be honest. When you first saw me, were you disappointed?"

A friendly polar bear who is set up on an arranged date with Retsuko.

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• Beary Friendly: He's a polar bear who's genuinely a nice dude.
• Big Beautiful Man: Shirota has a thick midsection, due to a mix of being a Big Eater (according to his mom) and his time playing rugby, which is only part of his cute and huggable appeal.
• Interspecies Romance: Downplayed, as it's a one-time arranged date. But he's a polar bear while Retsuko is a red panda.
• Lovable Jock: Shirota's mother reveals he's a former rugby player, and despite his somewhat intimidating stature he's nothing but polite and sweet.
• Meaningful Name: The "Shiro" (白) in Shirota means "White," the color of his fur.
• Minor Flaw, Major Breakup: Discussed between Retsuko and her mom. Retsuko knows he's a great guy who'll make her happy, but she's still unsure of what she wants and tries to nitpick minor flaws as an excuse not to see him, which her mother calls her out on, but can't talk her out of. Retsuko later kicks herself for letting him get away.
  Retsuko's Mom: The sock thing is an easy fix, dear.
• Nice Guy: He's so nice that, as Retsuko's mother points out, Retsuko actively has to make up reasons as to why she doesn't want to keep seeing him:
  Retsuko: There is tons wrong with him! He was wearing white socks with a suit! And he had one of those Velcro wallets straight out of the 90s! He had a way-too-friendly personality, and a cute smile to go with it! He's down-to-earth and has a good job and I'd bet he'd be really nice to me if we got married!
• Small Role, Big Impact: He's there for one scene and one flashback. However, he's such a genuinely nice guy and Retsuko hits it off so well with him that it causes her to rethink how she's pursuing romantic attachment, particularly when it's discovered he's moved on when she tries to call him again.
• The One That Got Away: Despite her reservations about arranged dating and being put off by the realization that her mother clearly used Photoshop on his photo to make him look more attractive, Retsuko seems to genuinely hit it off with Shirota. Even when she's explaining to her mother why she doesn't want to see him anymore, it seems more like she's trying to convince herself that it would be a bad idea. This, unfortunately, bites Retsuko hard when she expresses interest in trying to reach out to him again in Episode 6, only to learn he's going steady with another woman.
• Romantic False Lead: Retsuko and Shirota's date goes surprisingly well which makes it surprising when Retsuko decides to stop seeing him one episode later. Unlike the case with Tadano, Retsuko doesn't actually seem to find any flaw with Shirota that makes her want to stop pursuing him- it's her own fear and hesitation that leads to her breaking off their relationship before it goes anywhere.

Tadano

Voiced By: Chiharu Sasa (Japanese), Griffin Burns (English), Carlo Vázquez (Latin American Spanish)

A slacker donkey who secretly is a huge tech mogul.

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• The Ace: He's a slacker, but the revelation that he's a tech mogul should give one the idea, with a touch of very charismatic attitude.
• Amicable Exes: Even after breaking up, it's clear he and Retsuko are still on good terms, including her coming to him for help near the end of Season 4.
• Animal Stereotypes: Averted. He's a donkey that is easy going and polite. Actually Double Subverted. Even though he and Retsuko share a genuine bond, he won't change his feelings on marriage and family, because he's stubborn as a mule.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: A strange example. He can't be bothered to learn how to drive a car...because he flies his own personal jet. According to him, driving a car means having to follow rules, while flying doesn't need him to look any ways and follow any rules. Also to note, he's made a super AI that could revolutionize the world.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: His final line for Season 3 includes an Aside Glance to the camera, as if he was telling the audience the importance of it.
  Tadano: "What's important is having enough courage to trust in your choice... *looks towards the audience* right?
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: In a sense. He slacks around, but is a genius and wants to change the world. He also feels that people shouldn't waste their time and such focusing on dead-end jobs and wants to legit change the world for the better, thinking far more than one can see.
• Creepy Blue Eyes: Whenever he starts talking about his outlook on life or work, his blue irises get noticeably bigger. It's not so much that he's creepy, just that talking about his personal passions and beliefs can make him come off really pushy when he gets like this.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Unfortunately. Tadano doesn't think he's one for marriage or kids, something Retsuko wants. As a result, the two (from the looks of it at the end of "Wonderful Life") split up on friendly terms, albeit still heartbroken.
• Endearingly Dorky: In Season 5, Haida takes him to the internet cafe where he was staying. Tadano dorks out over the place, gushing over its soda fountain, its manga library and its cozy cubicles. He likes it better than his 200 SM (that's 2,150 SF, or the size of a good-sized house, especially in Japan) apartment. Later on when Haida calls him, he reveals he bought the cafe and it's heavily implied that he's living there and quite happily so. He still instantly transforms the place into Retsuko's campaign HQ.
  • In the event that puts them back in contact, Haida is attempting to move a big bag of Persimmons he was given. Nobody likes them, not even foodie Anai ("Not even a little!") When Haida calls Fenneko and asks her if she wants them, she hangs up on him. Cue Tadano, devouring the maligned fruit in ecstasy and nerding out about how unique and special Persimmons are.
• Epic Fail: He seems to be utterly incapable of driving a car, to the point he was still in Class 1 after Retsuko has passed, which it was noted 3 months had passed.
• Foil:
  • To Resasuke. Both of them end up being Retsuko's love interests by the end of their respective season, but the difference is how they go about it. Whereas Resasuke barely notices Retsuko's needs, Tadano could give her the world, something that she had wanted out of Resasuke. The problem, then, is that the one thing he can't give Retsuko is his hand in marriage.
  • To Haida. Tadano is a tech genius, gets to know Retsuko on a personal level, is clearly reciprocating her affections and is pretty calm even if he gets turned down in the end. Haida, on the other hand, isn't that much of a tech genius himself, hardly ever has the courage to know much about Retsuko, his relationship remains a messy one-sided love, and he is very quick to panic and get drunk whenever Retsuko loves someone else other than him. As of Season 4, it even seems like a Friendly Rivalry has developed between them.
  • Even more so when it is revealed in Season 5 that Haida is a Secretly Wealthy scion of a big political family who preferred to work a white collar job than succeed the family into politics. This is opposed to Tadano, a self made billionaire, who disdains the notion of hard labor and would live a life of luxury. This also makes it so that they're polar opposites as to how they treat their wealth when Retsuko is involved: Tadano would rather draw Retsuko in on his lifestyle, at the cost of her dreams and ambitions, while Haida would rather throw back his family's offer of a "severance pay" on their faces the moment they mock Retsuko's convictions.
• Hair Dissonance: The show usually leans very accurate in the colors of its characters so presumably Tadano's lilac and blue fur are supposed to be a stand-in for grey.
• Interspecies Romance: He's a donkey while Retsuko is a red panda.
• Irony:
  • In Season 1, Retsuko was desperate to marry a rich guy just so she could quit her job. She falls for Tadano despite believing him to be an unemployed slacker. After she learns he's rich, he encourages her to quit her job so he can support her. However, by this point Retsuko realizes she wants to Marry for Love (and have kids) whether or not she quits her job. Since marriage is the one thing he can't give her, they break up.
  • Post-capitalism really isn't what one would expect to find from a wealthy young tech mogul. Especially ironic when he makes a statement about it while flying his own private jet.
• It's All About Me:
  • Very subtle, but he eventually tries to convince her to quit her job so she can spend all her time with him. He also refuses to budge on the "marriage and kids" front, even though it's what she wants, betraying that even though he's a genuinely nice and cares about her, he wants a relationship on his own terms, with Retsuko at his beck and call but being unwilling to compromise to make her happy.
  • He's so focused on giving people the freedom to do what they want that he doesn't consider that he's destroying what they want. He acknowledges that his AI would destroy jobs but argues that it gives people the freedom to pursue other, less mundane things. He never considered that people might simply enjoy their mundane jobs. Similarly, the examples he gives Retsuko about what freedom for her means are things he has accomplished, and never asks what freedom means for her. This is foreshadowed when Retsuko is trying to teach him how to check his blindspot; he doesn't consider it necessary despite the very real danger of him hitting a passing motorcyclist because it's pointless for him.
    • Ultimately, this trait is downplayed and subverted. He's heartbroken that his girlfriend chose a different path because of their different desires in life, but he does not hold it against her. He remains friends with her and even befriends his former romantic rival for her. He does what he can to support the both of them as friends. It's clear that he wants both his ex-girlfriend to find happiness with someone who can give her the happiness he couldn't give her and wants his former romantic rival to get together with his ex-girlfriend because he genuinely cares about him as a friend and knows the two of them will be happy together.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: In Season 4, a pissed-off Haida arm-wrestles him for mistakenly thinking that Tadano was going out with Retsuko again, but Tadano easily defeats him. In a post-credits scene, it turns out Tadano overdid it and got a sore arm for it, saying that he didn't want to lose to Haida.
• Nice Guy: He genuinely is a well spoken, friendly, and very caring, especially of Retsuko. Sadly though, he's ultimately so focused on his very idealized worldview that, even though he genuinely loves Retsuko, he's unable to provide her with what she really wants.
• Odd Friendship: With Haida in Season 3. Well, that is what Gori believes she sees, anyway. Feels more solidified in Season 4, with some shades of a Friendly Rivalry.
  • By Season 5, Tadano seems to just genuinely enjoy hanging out with Haida.
• Romantic False Lead: Despite Retsuko loving him, Tadano doesn't see any point in marriage or kids. He'd rather have Retsuko with him and practically give her everything she wants, except those two things, of course. It should be noted however that he does love Retsuko, but he doesn't find the idea of marriage and kids something he'd be into.
• Secretly Wealthy: When first introduced, he wears casual clothing and takes driving lessons alongside Retsuko. He's later revealed to be a successful tech mogul who doesn't even need to drive, leaving that to the AI he created.
• Shipper on Deck: In Season 3, Gori asked him if he tampered with the matchmaking app to get Haida and Retsuko's compatibility to 100%. He shrugs off the question, and instead tells the importance of having the courage to trust oneself, which implied that he did rig it for the sake of Haida.
• The Slacker: Retsuko and the receptionist at the driving school both think he's just this, not realizing his Hidden Depths.
• Stronger Than They Look: Season 4 reveals that he is much stronger than his Brilliant, but Lazy demeanour and tech mogul job would suggest. When Haida confronted him in arm-wrestling, Tadano immediately defeated him once the initial confusion and surprise wore off. Note that Haida has been hitting the weights for the entire season. The season finale credits scene reveals that he strained his arm defeating Haida.
• Stubborn Mule: Double Subverted. He initially doesn't seem to have any of the stereotypical traits donkeys and mules usually have in media, and the reveal that he's actually a successful tech mogul subverts the usual "lower class beast of burden" portrayal donkeys are given. However, what ultimately ends his relationship with Retsuko is his stubborn refusal to get married to her.
• Tech Bro: A young and wealthy tech entrepreneur who made his money with self-driving car AI. He's casually dressed and has a lax personality. He's not a bad person, and is in fact quite caring to Retsuko, but his visionary worldview is incompatible with hers.

Seiya

Voiced By: Yūki Kaji (Japanese), Gideon Emery (English), Ricardo Bautista (Latin American Spanish)

A virtual unicorn from the game Heartthrob! Virtual Boyfriend whom Retsuko has fallen in love with at the beginning of Season 3.

Unlike the rest of Retsuko's crushes, Seiya is more of a joke option to the audience since he's just a character from a VR game.

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• Advertised Extra: He's shown in the poster for Season 3 alongside the rest of the new characters, but his role is nothing more than a stealth depression phase for Retsuko that doesn't live past the first episode.
• Animal Metaphor: He is a unicorn, and as the only mythical animal in the series, this symbolizes how he's just a fictional character In-Universe.
• Bishie Sparkle: His multicolored hair gives off this effect.
• Furry Confusion: He is the only character to be directly referred to by their species, suggesting he is a literal anthropomorphic unicorn and not just a human represented with an animal like the rest of the cast is written as^note occasional Furry Reminders and jokes such as "caught you red panded" aside. It's possible the special notice is because he's fictional in-series, and thus could be nonhuman even as a character, but the waters are still muddy.
• Kiss Me, I'm Virtual: Functions as a virtual boyfriend to the players who buy his game.
• Manipulative Bastard: Not consciously due to his being a video game character, however he clearly uses his programmed charm and good looks to manipulate players into spending money on his game.
• Microtransactions: Seiya often asks the player to buy him new clothes. Retsuko ends up spending 20,000 yen in one night.
• Pretty Boy: With long hair and copious Bishie Sparkle, and the fact that he's a unicorn (typically associated with femininity), Seiya is clearly meant to parody the beautiful Prince Charming type of love interest.
• Unicorn: He's a beautiful unicorn with pastel-colored hair. Since most of the characters in the series are real life animals, the fact that he's a unicorn represents how he's nothing more than an imaginary plaything that Retsuko is wasting her money on.

OTMGirls Group

Hyodo

Voiced by: Sota Arai (Japanese), SungWon Cho (English), Diego Estrada (Season 3) and Dafnis Fernández (Seasons 4 & 5) (Latin American Spanish)

The intimidating leopard manager of the idol group. Retsuko accidentally bumps into his van and more or less is forced to work for him as the group's accountant to repay the debt.

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• Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
  • In Season 4, he learns that Retsuko's Death Metal songs have garnered her a massive following with millions of subscribers while his idol group can barely manage 1000 views in one video. Shamelessly, he tries to get her to join forces with him, obviously to suck up from her success. Of course she ditches him the next second.
• Back for the Finale: He returns in the Season 4 finale after being absent since the end of Season 3 to aid Retsuko in uncovering Haida's window dressing.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • During their first meeting, Retsuko assumes his constant complaints of his neck hurting was because she had bumped into his van while he was inside. It turns out his neck is sore because he forces himself to headbang during the group's performances in order to make the pathetic amount of fans go wild.
  • Retsuko initially assumes he's the kind to gouge her for all she's worth given that he didn't stay at the site of the accident and wants to avoid talking to any of the police or insurance brokers. As she slowly finds out, he is simply bad at managing finances and has a face of a thug; he's actually quite reasonable when all is said and done.
• Cats Are Mean: He's a leopard who can be quite cold, selfish, and degrading towards the idol group he manages.
• Didn't Think This Through: A huge part of the reason his idol group doesn't take off is because of his own incompetence as a manager:
  • He orders a lot of merchandise products to be made more than they can sell them.
  • When Retsuko first learned about them, their concerts were below 20 unenthusiastic fans (forcing Hyodo himself to rally them up by headbanging).
  • Their social media account was not made by themselves and they all thought someone in the group made the page.
  • The idols don't get paid at all (which is the reason Manaka even works as a retail store clerk).
  • It's not until Retsuko starts to grow a spine and go against Hyodo's ideas by overhauling all the above issues. Unsurprisingly, the group finally starts to turn in a profit.
  • Even after he starts letting Retsuko take more initiative with the group's finances, he still gives into this habit by buying the group new instruments to play, before telling them he intended for them to learn instruments in the first place and without giving any thought as to how they'll learn them in so little time.
• A Dog Named "Dog": His name is basically just the Japanese word for "leopard".
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Had it not been for him, Haida and Himuro would have been severely injured from falling out the window at the end of Season 4.
  • Arguably invoked again when he and the OTM Girls, are used by the Party of rage to get Retsuko to be their candiate, after asking her failed repeatedly.
• Face of a Thug: He's really not that mean at all, even if he can be hard on the group at times - he just wants them to be successful and his shortcomings as their producer are more due to genuine incompetence rather than malice. But he is an intimidating, blunt, constantly frowning leopard, so anyone would be forgiven for thinking he's bad news.
• The Gambler: Not literally, but his ideas to promote the idol group are a bit too ambitious that he goes all in regardless of how crazy and unproductive they can be. Manaka comments he is always taking them all for a ride. Hyodo himself even later comments that he's "a gambler" and is "going all in" on a risky bet.
• Hidden Depths: By night, an idol group manager. By day, he cleans building windows. He doesn't want anyone to find out what his day job is. Retsuko eventually finds out by accident just because Hyodo was fuming when learning she had gained massive popularity.
• Jerkass Has a Point: "Jerkass" maybe a bit strong but he did actually have reasons why he was spending so much money.
  • He may have bought 300 badges despite having around only 20 dedicated fans, but that was due to the fact that was the minimum amount the company would make at a time.
  • The reason why he kept buying more despite having a backlog? Because the fans would not buy the same item twice in a row so they needed new product for every show.
  • Why he bought a bass and drum set despite the girls not knowing how to play? Because a last minute cancellation for a once in a lifetime gig just opened up and he knew if the group was going to break out this was their best shot. Even Manaka later admits she agrees with his decision.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Outside his intimidating idol group practices, he is actually not that bad of a guy. He doesn't really corner Retsuko when she confronts him about the ¥200,000 debt and he lets the girls celebrate for a job well done. He also ensures they're safe.
• Money Dumb: Part of the reason why the OTM Girls can't take off is due to his bad money management. He spends way too much in merch to sell for the small amount of fans they have, so things that should give them money actually become a drain on the group's funds.
• Obliquely Obfuscated Occupation: He has a vague day job in the city, but refuses to disclose what it is and flips out whenever the idols ask about it. Manaka assumes he must have a degrading office job. The last episode reveals that he's a window washer.
• Only in It for the Money: In Season 5, he sides with Ikari and literally kidnaps Retsuko to force her to become a running choice for the House of Representatives just because she's already an unknown sensation for her Death Metal videos, so he naturally does all this because her fame can be leeched off to his idol group to help them become more famous. It works. To make a point, he knows that it's her choice to quit if she wants to, though he says this after the stunt made his group famous.
• Perpetual Frowner: He constantly has the same intense, serious expression on his face. You'd be forgiven for thinking it was just part of his "mysterious producer" shtick, but he still has it when Retsuko spots him on his day job as a window cleaner.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Or have a pink casing on their smartphone, at least.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: When Retsuko refuses to become a singer for OTMGirls, he resorts to changing the song lineup for a performance without her knowledge to include a song that requires her, forcing her to either join or let the entire performance fail, gambling that she, when pressured, actually would want to join. He also forces the whole group to each learn to play an instrument at performance level, within a ridiculously short time frame and with the ultimatum that if they don't pull it off, their biggest performance ever will bomb.

Manaka

Voiced by: SAYUMI (Japanese, English singing), Deva Marie Gregory (English), María José Guerrero (Latin American Spanish)

"Gummies and wet wipes stat."

The lead chinchilla idol singer.

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• Batter Up!: Brings out a baseball bat with nails stuck in it when Retsuko starts having stalker problems.
• Foil: To Retsuko, as both are of similar age and work meager day jobs (Manaka works as a convenience store clerk, while Retsuko is a put-upon Office Lady). Manaka, despite her age, still strives and works passionately to make it as a pop idol and isn't ashamed of who she is. Retsuko, however, is much more passive and too hesitant to push forward, while also trying to keep her hobby of singing death metal a secret from most people.
• Fourth-Wall Observer: In the Youtube shorts, she directly references the fact that Retsuko is a character created by Sanrio, who competes for popularity with other mascot characters (referring to Sanrio's annual "Sanrio Character Ranking" that begun in 1985). She at least tries to dance around the subject, trying to find a way to talk about the fact that they're mascots without blatantly saying so before giving up and saying so directly.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's the leader of the group, so she can come across as a diva sometimes and tells Retsuko to run an errand for her when they first meet. However, she later shows a more caring side and is very concerned about Retsuko when a stalker starts harassing her.
  • In season 5, Masuo introduces himself to Manaka by dumping 100 handshake tickets in front of her, the exact same way Retsuko's stalker introduced himself previously. He then asks to be introduced to Retsuko. Manaka's reaction is... protective of her friend. To say the least.
• Location Theme Naming: Coupled with Hidarin's and Miggy's names being "left" and "right" in Japanese, hers means "center," reflecting their positions on the stage.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: She's perfectly willing to act like a diva and bully Retsuko, but also tries to push Retsuko to improve herself and find happiness. She almost instantly switches from being jealous of Hyodo's plan to make Retsuko the star to angry at the idea of Retsuko letting her nerves keep her from stardom.
• Not So Stoic: While she's not as stoic as Fenneko, she mostly talks in a deadpan tone of voice. When she tries to warn Retsuko about becoming a potential murder victim by a stalker. Manaka's voice is raised showing that she's extremely scared for her and hoping she doesn't get killed.
• Odd Friendship: Despite their very different attitudes and personalities, Manaka and Retsuko become good friends and get together to hang out even after Retsuko leaves the group.
• Older Than They Look: She's 26, a year older than Retsuko, but she still acts like a typical teenage Idol Singer (most idols are known to change careers once they turn 25, since the Japanese idol industry puts more value in fresh, youthful talent). Not even Hidarin or Miggy knew she was that old.
• Phoneaholic Teenager: Subverted. She looks and acts like a teenager and is often seen staring at her phone, but she's actually in her mid 20's.
• Sarcastic Devotee: She regulary calls Hyodo a cheepskate and admits he comes up with strange ideas, but she still respects him as her boss.
• Still Believes in Santa: She didn't learn that Santa wasn't real until well into high school, and kept believing that four-leaf clovers actually brought people luck well into adulthood.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Sugary to her adoring fans, but icy is her real attitude. However, she simply is too blunt and isn't exactly a real Alpha Bitch.

Hidarin & Miggy

Hidarin is voiced by: ARISA (Japanese, English singing), Christine Marie Cabanos (English), Monserrat Aguilar (Latin American Spanish)

Miggy is voiced by: RIMA (Japanese, English singing), Xanthe Huynh (English), Fernanda Ornelas (Latin American Spanish)

Hidarin (left) and Miggy (right)

A pair of guinea pigs and the other two members of the group.

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• Ambiguously Related: Despite appearing to be sisters, it is never openly stated if they are until the Christmas episode of the OTMGirls YouTube short series confirms that they are twin sisters.
• Ban on Politics: Miggy objects to the band discussing social distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic, on the grounds that inevitably fans will get upset whenever they stop social distancing.
• Deadpan Snarker: The Youtube series gives them two different flavors, with Hidarin being a Cuckoosnarker and Miggy being a regular one.
• Divergent Character Evolution: They develop more distinct personalities from each other in the OTMGirls Youtube series. Hidarin is spacier, while Miggy is a bit sharper (and actually a bit similar to Manaka).
• The Dividual: Outside of their different fur colors and hairstyles, there isn't anything to differentiate them, and they're never seen apart. They'll even sometimes Speak in Unison.
• Girlish Pigtails: Miggy wears part of her fur in pigtails, reflecting how she's a girly Idol Singer and to differentiate her from Hidarin.
• Location Theme Naming: Their names are derived from the Japanese words for "left" (hidari) and "right" (migi), reflecting their usual positions when the group performs (Hidarin is on the left of Manaka in the center while Miggy is on the right).
• Morality Pet: Though Manaka acts like she doesn't care much about them, she'll agree with other people's ideas when the girls give her some long stares.
• Neologizer: Hidarin's family invents the word "beeb" to refer to the act of getting retweeted by Justin Bieber to become famous. Hidarin doesn't realize that it's a family word and assumes the other two know what it means.
• Sarcastic Devotee: As part of their more fleshed-out personalities in the web series, they've evolved into this. While liking Manaka and willing to follow her lead, that doesn't stop them from puncturing her Alpha Bitch façade or trolling her.
• Straight Man: Miggy frequently serves as a contradictory voice to ideas fielded by Hidarin or Manaka.
• Those Two Girls: They only serve as background performers for the idol group but have no focus to develop themselves.

Tanaka, Bakkun and Zukkun

Tanaka is voiced by: Rarecho (Japanese), Tony Azzolino (English)

Bakkun is voiced by: Shingo Katou (Japanese), Zeno Robinson (English), Fernando Moctezuma (Latin American Spanish)

Zukkun is voiced by: Sota Arai (Japanese), Brian Kimmet (English)

Tanaka (left), Bakkun (center) and Zukkun (right)

"Manaka, you're the best! Towering above the rest! If you don't believe us, put our love to the test!"

A devoted group of OTMGirls fans, comprised of Tanaka, Bakkun and Zukkun, a horse, tapir and owl respectively. They attend every gig and for a while seem to be the group's only source of support and income. Later on they are hired as part of the OTMGirls' support staff.

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• All There in the Manual: Their names are only listed in the credits.
• Ascended Fanboy: They start out as huge fans of OTMGirls. After the group becomes more popular, they seem to have been hired as extra staff for them, since they help out with keeping the crowds under control during events.
• Beady-Eyed Loser: Of all the characters shown, Tanaka has the smallest black bead eyes and is a badly-dressed, shy, awkward and homely nerd.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Zukkun sports a rather impressive pair of Big Owl Eyebrows.
• Celeb Crush: They have nothing but undying adoration for the OTMGirls.
• Comic Trio: Unlike the sinister fan, these guys are harmless dorks with good hearts.
• Fanboy: All three of them are huge fans of OTMGirls. They're willing to fly out to Hokkaido to see them and buy any merchandise they can, and they're even more knowledgable about the group than Hyodo, their own manager.
• Formerly Fat: Zukkun, as well as the other two members of the group, has grown taller and gained rock-hard muscles and abs by Season 5.
• Good Counterpart: They are this to The Unhinged Fan. While they seem utterly obsessed with OTMGirls, they never take their devotion too far as they are just genuine fans of them and are respectful of their privacy and personal space. Meanwhile The Unhinged Fan goes out of his way to stalk, harass, and attempt to murder Retsuko; just because she changed their band too much. This shown particularly later on when the trio become muscular, protective bodyguards to the girls.
• Gonk: They seem designed to look like awkward nerds. Tanaka has his bad hair and suit, Zukkun is a perpetually sweaty nervous wreck, and Bakkun has his toothy grin.
• Hunk: In contrast to the above, in season 5 all three of them have significantly bulked up and have become the OTM's bodyguard squad, most likely to protect the girls from unhinged fans after Retsuko's incident with one.
• Hidden Depths: They are goofy characters who are Played for Laughs, but they know more about OTM than even OTM themselves, and share this knowledge with Hyodo to eventually help identify the stalker fan by the limited edition patch on his jacket.
• Meaningful Name: Bakkun's name comes from Baku, the Japanese word for tapir (along with referring to a dream-eating tapir-like monster from Japanese mythology).
• Money Dumb: They will splash their cash on anything vaguely OTM-related and cheerfully agree to buying an absurd amount of CDs for a single they haven't even heard yet. All three of them fly out to Sapporo just so they don't miss out on attending a show. Hyodo tells Manaka to be extra nice to them as they spend so much money on them.
• Otaku: Of the wota (idol fan) variety; they're huge fans of OTMGirls in particular, even in the beginning when they're still trying to make it big.
• Reused Character Design: For some reason Tanaka bears a notable resemblance to the nameless horse man Tsunoda went out with on Christmas Eve.
• Undying Loyalty: They stick with OTM through their drastic style change, which apparently alienated a few of the original fans.

Other Characters

The Yoga Instructor

Voiced by: Sota Arai (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English), Joaquín López (Seasons 1 & 2) and Dan Osorio (Season 4) (Latin American Spanish)

"Protein!"

A kangaroo who is the instructor of a yoga class that Retsuko, Washimi, and Gori take together. They had travelled to India and learned the secrets of yoga before opening a studio back in Japan. Their name is unknown because the only word ever said by them is "Protein"... That's it.

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• The Big Guy: The strongest and one of the largest characters presented in the series so far.
• Dumb Muscle: Initially comes across as this, until their Hidden Depths were revealed.
• Enlightenment Superpowers: Intense yoga and meditation allow her to access the knowledge of the universe. Specifically: the number of the karaoke song Retsuko loves to sing, its significance, and mentally reach across space and time to telepathically impart this knowledge to Gori.
• Gender Lift: In the Netflix series, both Japanese and English, the Yoga Instructor is referred to in masculine pronouns. Their bio for the mobile game however refers to them with neutral pronouns and mentions that Retsuko thought they were female at first, but now she's not so sure.
• Hidden Depths: They seems like Dumb Muscle, who obsesses over protein and bulking up, but is actually very insightful and wise.
• Lady Looks Like a Dude: In the TBS shorts, even though the instructor looks and sounds like a testosterone-logged male, and even has an Adam's apple, she is revealed to be a woman. Retsuko doesn't realize this until Gori mentions that everyone in the gym is a woman.
• Nice Girl: They're running a yoga class just to help out her students with their stress and so they grow stronger, for seemingly no reason other than being passionate about it and that they wants to help them out.
  • In the Netflix series, they has zero reason to help Washimi and Gori get Retsuko to open up. Yet they do, upon merely seeing Washimi and Gori attempt to ask Retsuko to hang out for dinner and Retsuko declining, and is able to figure out the situation without actually hearing any of it.
• No Name Given: At least not that we know of, so far...
• One-Word Vocabulary: "PROTEIN!"
• Trickster Mentor: Though only because of their own limited vocabulary. They figure out that Washimi and Gori want to befriend Retsuko but the latter is too shy, and that the answer to helping Retsuko relax is getting her to open up about her love of death metal karaoke. The Yoga Instructor telepathically gives Gori a mysterious number, the number to type in Retsuko's favourite karaoke song but, being unable to explain, they have to figure out its significance.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: In the TBS shorts, Retsuko is disturbed when she finds out that the instructor is female. She and her friends in the Yoga class are scared that they will also turn into overly masculine body builders.

The Unhinged Fan

Voiced by: Sota Arai (Japanese), Ben Lepley (English)

^{Click here to see him without his mask}

An entitled llama and long-time OTMGirls fanatic who despises the direction the band takes after Retsuko becomes a member.

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• Arc Villain: Of Season 3. Him stalking and harassing Retsuko becomes a major threat to her career with the OTM Girls.
• Ax-Crazy: Attempts to stab Retsuko with a boxcutter in the middle of a crowded business district. Luckily, Haida put a stop to that.
• The Bad Guy Wins: He tries to kill Retsuko because he believes she's ruining OTMGirls and, while he fails and gets arrested, Retsuko is so badly traumatized by the attempt that she ends up quitting the band.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Retsuko realises that the OTM Girls blog is being run by a complete stranger with no actual affiliation. This turns out to be him.
  • He's seen as early as episode 2 as part of the audience at the OTMGirls concert.
  • Haida walks into him as he's leaving Retsuko's concert, having discovered what's going on. You could be forgiven if it was supposed to just make Haida look a bit more awkward as he slunk off.
• Determinator: Is willing to spend no less than two thousand dollars on handshake tickets just to harass one of the band's singers.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He tries to fatally stab Retsuko in public during the Season 3 finale after intimidating her at a band "meet-and-greet" and continually stalking her, all because of his apparent belief that Retsuko's changes she did to the band made them worse compared to their older style.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Before he made himself "known" to Retsuko, a sharp-eyed viewer can see him attending the previous concerts without his mask.
• Entitled Bastard: Believes the current members of OTMGirls are below his standard and does what he can to let them know his thoughts.
• Evil Is Petty: He litters after buying the boxcutter he intends to attack Retsuko with, carelessly tossing the plastic bag and case aside as he walks down the street. Because it wasn't evident enough already that he was a dick.
• Faux Affably Evil: When he greets Retsuko, he holds her hands and calls himself her biggest fan...right before hurling abhorrent insults at her.
• Hate Sink: There is absolutely nothing redeemable about him. He starts to stalk Retsuko maniacally, takes photos of her moves outside the stage and uploads them on the fake OTMGirls Twitter account he himself created out of pure disturbing stalking behavior, makes sure to collect as many handshake tickets he can to have a free pass to shake Retsuko's hands just so he can go "The Reason You Suck" Speech on her for a long time, and to top it all off he purchases a box cutter and tries to kill her in the middle of a crowd.
• It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: Invoked. He blames Retsuko for taking the band in a direction which he doesn't like, but has made it stand out. Outright calling the newer fans "simps".
• Jerkass: And the biggest one in the series, too. Ton would blush at how horrible and sexist this creep is.
• Karma Houdini: Played With. He is stopped by Haida, restrained by passersby and subsequently arrested. On the other hand, it is mentioned in the English dub that he made bail and publicly posted Retsuko's personal information online such as her workplace, home address, etc; this leads to Retsuko having a Heroic BSoD and leaving OTMGirls after one final concert. It remains to be seen whether he is prosecuted and punished.
• Knight of Cerebus: While every other character, even the jerkasses, have their funny moments and most characters are revealed to have sympathetic sides, there's absolutely no humor played when he's onscreen and there isn't anything redeemable about his behavior. Even after his attempt on Retsuko's life, it ends up causing a tonal shift in the show where the final two seasons have a major, dramatic arc during the final half of the show involving an antagonist.
• Laughing Mad: He is last seen laughing uncontrollably when he thinks he succeeded in killing Retsuko.
• Loony Fan: A dark example for the OTMGirls. His obsession with the group and his dislike of how their music is changing after Retsuko joins causes him to stalk, harass, and threaten Retsuko and he eventually tries to stab her with a boxcutter.
• Malevolent Masked Men: He always wears an ill fitting mask after officially debuting. It's always slightly askew, shifts around when he's getting angrier, and outright falls off when Haida tackles him to stop him stabbing Retsuko.
• Mask of Sanity: Throughout the season he never speaks above a calm creepy tone. However he is Laughing Mad when he believes he killed Retsuko. Almost like a Rule of Symbolism, he loses this mask after his facemask falls off.
• No Name Given: His name is never revealed. Even the credits only list him as "Emblem Man" in the Japanese version and "Unhinged Fan" in the English dub.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: In the English dub, one of the first things he does when meeting Retsuko is call her an "attention whore" and a "slutty cocktease".
• Small Role, Big Impact: Mostly appears in the background for a few episodes, and doesn't actually have any lines until the penultimate episode, ultimately resulting in less than five minutes of screentime (even when you count his appearance in Retsuko's nightmare). Still manages to make a huge impact, for both the characters and the audience. He's what causes Retsuko to quit the band and return to her office job, and what causes Haida to choose her over Inui.
• Stalker without a Crush: A disturbingly realistic example. He's a Loony Fan of OTMGirls who despises Retsuko for, in his opinion, changing the band for the worst. He eventually tries to kill her for it.
• Straw Misogynist: Just about every other word out of his mouth is a spiteful insult towards the female gender.
• Villainous Breakdown: After Haida stops him from stabbing Retsuko, he loses his previous eerily calm attitude, screaming at Haida to let go of him before descending into a Laughing Mad fit.
  The bitch had it coming! Who's the famous idol now, huh? Huh?!
• What Happened to the Mouse?: His ultimate fate is not made clear in the English dub as that specifically mentions he made bail after being arrested for attacking Retsuko. He isn't mentioned again, leaving viewers to wonder if he was tried and convicted.
• Wicked Heart Symbol: He has a heart-shaped OTMGirls patch on his jacket that only further highlights how unhinged he is.

Masuo Ikari

Voiced by: Yohei Azakami (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English), Alfonso Obregón (Latin American Spanish)

An eccentric, short-fused aye-aye and a member of Japan's House of Representatives. Masuo is the leader of the Party of Rage, an obscure political party that markets itself through anger. After learning about Retsuko's Death Voice, he desparately wants her to join his party.

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• Bait-and-Switch: He tries to ask Manaka about Retsuko by purchasing a huge stack of handshake tickets, not realizing it sets off a huge red flag and gets him branded as another Loony Fan just like the last guy who did that. It later turns out he was just trying to find her to recruit her to his campaign, but everyone agrees he didn't exactly make a good first impression.
• Butt-Monkey: He gets beat up several times because people assume he's a creep or a stalker in wanting to meet Retsuko — and in all fairness, his lack of social cadence definitely doesn't help his case.
• Didn't Think This Through: His plan to get ahold of Retsuko to try and get her to run as a candidate for his political party? By doing the exact same things as her stalker and assaulter did, plus more; from buying a large number of handshake tickets, following her to her home, stalking her both before and after work, and finally capping it off by approaching her in a dark street without making any arrangements to explain who he is beforehand. The fact he is neither arrested nor given any worse punishment more severe than a boot to the head from Haida and a beatdown from justifiably concerned fans is remarkable.
• Hot-Blooded: Befitting a man who runs a political party centered entirely around being angry.
• Memetic Mutation: In-Universe. While his unorthodox methods haven't generated much clout for the Party of Rage, they have resulted in him becoming an internet meme as Retsuko & Haida discover while web searching him. To the extent that some internet users are using his angry face in a manner akin to a Rage Face.
• The Napoleon: Is the same size as Aggretsuko and Fenneko and has a fuse as short as his height. He's even described in the last episode as "an angry little man".
• Poor Communication Kills: He makes his intentions for meeting Retsuko come off as creepy and suspect, and instead of just telling people who he is and what he wants, he has a habit of making it look like he's pulling a weapon on them when in reality he's just trying to show them his business card.
• Punny Name: His surname "Ikari" is a play on the word for "anger".
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: He went viral on the internet for unleashing a slew of vulgarity in the middle of a government assembly.
• Sophisticated as Hell: The guy's a member of the Japanese Diet and also a wacky rageaholic who believes political discourse can be facilitated through death metal. Even more so in the Japanese version, where his normally overly polite mode of speech clashes with all the crazy stuff he talks about.

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