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East Side Wolves
You Satou
An ordinary boy who gets roped into the Half-Priced Food Lovers Club by Sen after witnessing one supermarket brawl for half-priced lunch boxes.
- Accidental Pervert: Not that he doesn't have plenty of perverted thoughts as well - it's just that there's never any overlap between his fantasies and the numerous public situations he finds himself in.
- Bash Brothers: With Ren, which earns them the nickname Two Dogs from Orthros.
- Blood Knight: Satou doesn't want to get easy bento by joining up with the Hounds, he wants to fight hard for it or else it doesn't taste good.
- Butt-Monkey: Mostly due to Ume. He gets slapped every single episode. He grows out of it by the end of the show... mostly.
- Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Think? Yes. Act? No.
- Chewing the Scenery: Not outwardly, but Satou's Internal Monologue tends to be rather... grandiose.
- Chivalrous Pervert: He is pervert but he has some limitations and ability to keep his urge in check.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Looks and acts like an ordinary moron but can do extraordinary things when situations call for it.
- Embarrassing Nickname: The Pervert, after he had to get to a supermarket in women's clothing to get there on time. It's a Long Story, except not - an overzealous security guard made him strip and sought to Ass Shove him with a D Battery for asking to go to Shaga's room, forcing Satou to flee without his clothes.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Don't let his Nom De Guerre fool you - by the end of the series, he's pretty much become the most respected wolf in the show. And that's just the 12-Episode Anime; he gets even more badass later on.
- Gag Penis: In episode 7 Ayame thinks he's using his as a rudder. It's actually the arm from the Half-Pricing God's costume.
- I Let You Win: It's implied that he has been letting Ume slap him around the entire time. When she tries to lay another hand on him, he quickly grabs her hand before she reaches him, leaving her stunned.
- Iron Butt Monkey: He escapes being burned in an incinerator with only a couple of bruises. And again in Episode 8, where he falls off a five-story building and lives. Those bandages were even only for show (a prank that Ayame pulled on him); he's perfectly fine.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When he learned in volume 11 that Sen was in love with Yuu but Yuu rejected her, he challenged him to a bento brawl, where he had to accept Sen's love if he lost. This counts as an example because Yō himself had feelings for Sen, and he still did all that (and beat Yuu) despite said feelings. Fortunately for him, Sen chooses him in the end, having learned from Ume what he had done for her.
- Male Gaze: Comes with being the viewpoint character.
- Naïve Newcomer: Initially. He grows out of it.
- Naked People Are Funny: So far, he's been stripped butt-naked four times (one by Ume, the others were accidents), and was burned naked in the incinerator when trying to save his clothes from getting thrown in.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Doesn't matter if you didn't have a choice; go to the supermarket wearing women's clothing just once, and you'll be forever branded as a freak or pervert. There were also other "incidents" that helped make that brand stick.
- Took a Level in Badass: He took several quickly.
- Unwanted Harem: Despite his Nom de Guerre and his behaviour, he does manage to gain the attraction of a few girls in the series (Ayame, the elder Sawagi twin, Asebi and Sen). Volume 12 is actually a series of epilogues where he ends the series with different girls which are Ayame, Sen, Ume, Ran, Marika, and Kyou. So basically he end with readers choice of his harem!
Sen Yarizui (Ice Witch)
The sole initial member of the Half Priced Food Lovers Club, she serves as Satou's guide through the world of half priced food brawls. Her turf is Hocky Mart on the east side.
- Beautiful Dreamer: She resembles an adorable white kitten in slumber.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She seems to have a strange thought process when it comes to food.
- The Comically Serious: She has her share of funny moments while keeping a straight face. The most memorable one is the time she read Hana's yaoi porn out loud in monotone.
- Cool Big Sis: Towards Satou and Hana she can be a very loving, kind and nurturing sister figure. She also has an actual little sister.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Ice Witch" comes from her trying to buy a Chu-Hi Ice (a vodka mixer) with her bento. Not that she was going to drink it.
- Emotionless Girl: Subverted — she's not emotionless, just a very laid-back Cloudcuckoolander with severely Skewed Priorities.
- Hair Color Dissonance: Is her hair supposed to be light blue or white?
- Kick Chick: As one might expect from the resident Lady of War in a martial arts show, she's got a fighting style chiefly based around graceful, acrobatic, and devastating kicks.
- Lady of War: What she turns into during the discount lunch rush - elegant, composed, and downright lethal. Her nom de guerre 'Ice Witch' may have a ridiculous origin, but it's very fitting.
- Mellow Fellow: If it's not got anything to do with discount supermarket food (or anything else that fits her deeply Skewed Priorities), she's so peaceful, relaxed, and open-minded that she almost comes across as an Emotionless Girl, alternating between comfortable contentment and mild curiosity.
- Naïve Newcomer: In the prequel.
- No Social Skills: Sen tends to be on the oblivious side. When Satou shows up after having been Dragged into Drag, her first thought is that male fashion has had some kind of paradigm shift.
- Obliviously Beautiful: Sen tends to notice Satou checking her out, then make an extremely naive conclusion."Is there something strange about my stretch routine?"
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: She wears black tights with her school uniform.
- Rei Ayanami Expy: A very serious and stoic young girl with short light bluish hair and reddish eyes. Unlike most of Rei's expies, though, she's not shy and repressed due to trauma or anything - she's just incredibly chill about anything other than bargain lunches.
- Sore Loser: Sen is really terrible at Virtua Fighter. After losing three times in a row to Ayame, Ren, and then Satou, she responds by chucking Satou's Sega Saturn out of the window.
- The Stoic: Her emotions never show in her face.
- Tsurime Eyes: Her sharp eyes represent her serious and composed personality.
Hana Oshiroi
A friend of Satou who also gets roped into the Half-Priced Food Lovers' Club by Sen along with Satou. A novelist whose specialty seems to be yaoi.
- Action Survivor: Oshiroi always sneaks in and grabs her preferred bento.
- Childhood Friends: Has been friends with Ume since elementary school.
- Nosebleed: With a certain fansubber making the perfect lines.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Whenever she gets into writing for her novel, which pretty much consists of "Saito" being raped.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Episode 3, but it quickly fails.You: What are you doing?
Hana: Nothing. Just making a text.
You: Liar. Why are you pointing the lens my way?
Hana: I'll only take five or so!
You: Five what!? That's not the issue here!
Hana: But only your crotch!
You: What the hell!? - Terrified of Germs: She seems to be this for other people - she doesn't want to use chopsticks to eat a bit from a meal that someone else is going to use more thoroughly right after, and she's constantly cleaning off Satou's hands whenever he happens to touch her.
- Too Kinky to Torture: In episode 2, although it was really just a back massage.
- Yaoi Fangirl: Her hobby is writing yaoi erotic novels. She's currently writing one involving Satou. Episode 9 says it has ten-thousand readers for the week she's on.
Yuu Kaneshiro (Wizard)
A third-year veteran bento brawler and Sen's mentor.
- Coat Cape: He wears his Badass Longcoat as a cape.
- Goomba Stomp: Favorite method of attack.
- Passing the Torch: Was the former President of the Half-price Bento Club when Sen came to school.
Monk/Bouzu
Voiced by: Ryoukichi Takahashi (Japanese), Tyson Rinehart (English)
- Baldness Angst: He takes offense when someone makes fun of his lack of hair.
- Eyes Always Shut: His eyes are kept permanently shut, though it's obvious he can still see just fine.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He's only referred to as Monk.
- Those Two Guys: With Goatee and Brunette.
Goatee/Agohige
Voiced by: Tomoyuki Higuchi (Japanese), Scott Freeman (English)
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He is only referred to as Goatee.
- Those Two Guys: With Monk and Brunette.
Brunette/Chapatsu
Voiced by: Eriko Nakamura (Japanese), Mikaela Krantz (English)
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She's incredibly well-endowed, which is the reason why she's The Faceless since all shots of her are Male Gaze shots of her chest, to illustrate how Satou only ever stares at her breasts and never at her face.
- The Faceless: Her face is never seen because of Satou's constantly staring at her chest and so is the camera.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Satou (and, by the extension, fans) never learns her name, so her title comes from the color of her hair.
- Those Two Guys: With Monk and Goatee.
- Unseen No More: In the BD/DVD version of episode 12 that we get to see her face for about a few seconds at around 16:00. In later appearance, she went back to being The Faceless.
West Side Wolves
Ayame Shaga (Beauty by the Lake)
Satou's cousin, known as the "Beauty by the Lake". Her turf is Ralph Store on the west side.
- Action Girl: One of most notable female fighter in series and the only known female wolf on west side.
- But Not Too Foreign: She's half-Italian.
- Cool Big Sis: Towards Satou.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Hers comes from an incident where she felt asleep in Lake Park after eating her first Honor seal bento.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Enough of one that she manages to distract guards at her school while they're chasing Satou apparently out for his blood judging by the ballistic vests and assault rifles they were using, just by popping in.
- I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Very fond of this tactic.
- Gamer Chick: She enjoys playing video games.
- The Glasses Come Off: When she gets serious.
- Ms. Fanservice: Blue eyes, buxom, and blonde only add her attractive look and she doesn't shy away from teasing Satou.
- Phenotype Stereotype: Blue eyes, buxom, and blonde sound like what Japanese people conception about Westerners' look.
- The Tease: As Shaga and Satou are cousin and know each other since children, she likes to tease Buttmonkey Satou.
Ren Nikaido Two Dogs (w/ Satou)
Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English)
- Bash Brothers: With Satou, which earns them the Nom De Gurre "Two Dogs".
- The Dragon: Starts off as this to The Monarch.
- Heel–Face Turn: After the fall of The Monarch.
- Likes Older Women: Has a thing for Matsuba.
- Tsurime Eyes: Out of the cast's eyes, his are the most dramatically triangular by far.
Kyo & Kyo Sawagi (Orthros)
Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (long hair) and Yui Horie (short hair) (Japanese), Kara Edwards (long hair) and Anastasia Muñoz (short hair) (English)
The elder, long-haired one fell in love with Sen because she defeated Monarch.
- Alternate Character Reading: Their names sound alike but are written differently.
- Blood Knight: It's the reason that their treatment by the Club of Heracles, i.e. simply letting them walk up and take the bento without fighting for it, was as traumatic as it was for them.
- Break the Cutie: Courtesy of the Club of Heracles.
- Casting a Shadow: Although they're unquestionably mundane, the anime plays their shopping basket techniques this way.
- Catchphrase: The long-haired twin tends to say "indeed, like…"
- Cute and Psycho: The long-haired Kyo begins spouting rather mean-spirited banter whenever she 'gets serious', only to regret it later on and want to apologize. Both sisters become the Tranquil Fury version of this when fighting as Orthros.
- The Dreaded: As a Deconstructed Character Archetype. Both are presented as virtually unstoppable. It eventually got to the point that everyone simply stopped fighting them all together because they were too strong. And for Blood Knights like them, it's the worst thing to ever happen to them.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The long-haired elder is the foolish one, while the short-haired younger is the responsible one.
- Goal in Life: They've wanted to be wolves since they were very, very little. Which is why the Club of Heracles's refusal to let them fight utterly broke them.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: They're identical, except for one twin having long hair and the other short hair.
- In Love with Your Carnage: A mild version; the long-haired twin has a crush on Sen for her fighting ability.
- Knight of Cerebus: Subverted.
- Malaproper: The elder constantly butchers common idioms, much to the younger's chagrin.
- Meaningful Name: The younger sister's "Kyo" means "mirror". Their nom de guerre is Orthros, a two-headed dog in Greek mythology that was defeated by Heracles.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Meanwhile, as she points out herself, the elder sister's "Kyo" is also used in the word for "heart attack".
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: They're introduced as quirky characters who seem to know a bit about the brawls but are too silly to be credible participants. They then proceed to curb stomp almost every single named wolf in the show during the course of one fight note .
- Polar Opposite Twins: The older in boisterous and out-spoken, the younger is quieter and more reserved.
- Creepy Twins: Usually they're just quirky, but then they show up to the fight and decide to speak in unison...
- Significant Name Overlap: A pair of identical twins with identical-sounding name (though written in different kanji) and they form a near-unstoppable fighting duo who goes by the name Orthros.
- Single-Minded Twins: When fighting as Orthros.
- Student Council President: The long haired one is the President white the short-haired one is the vice president.
- Theme Twin Naming: The twins' names are different kanji, but both are read as Kyo.
- Twincest: They often slept together and express affection to each other. Generally one-sided from the long-haired twin, though.
- Twin Threesome Fantasy: Apparently the elder Kyo's fantasy. It's unlikely to come true, since the twins eventually develop feelings for different guys; the elder for Yo and the younger for Ren.
Asebi Inoue (Reaper)
Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (English)
- Animal Motifs: Between her black hair and incredibly contagious bad luck, it's no wonder she likes cats.
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: She makes a bento for Satou to eat. He finds it doesn't taste bad... but the individual pieces taste like absolutely not what they have any right to (like a piece of broccoli tasting incredibly sweet) and scares the hell out of him.
- Iron Butt-Monkey: Falls down multiple flights of stairs and emerges unharmed.
- The Jinx
- Ayame carries a Protective Charm to...well, protect herself. Ayame initially warns Satou to avoid Asebi's touch, and when Satou asks why she let Asebi touch her Ayame pulls out the charm and it darkens when she puts her hand near it.
- In episode 11, her playing in a garden and catching a butterfly is quickly accompanied by over 10 caterpillars going down their strands and falling to the ground dead.
- The Pollyanna: Her first thought after her bed shatters, she almost loses a stuffed cat note , and she falls out the window through several branches?Asebi: Ah, it's another beautiful day!
- Red Baron: Earns the title "Reaper" when she is recognized as a shadowy force of destruction and chaos without actually participating in the battle.
Tadaaki Endo (Monarch)
Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (Japanese), Chris Rager (English)
- Evil Sounds Deep: He has a powerful and deep voice, and is a villain.
- Improbable Weapon User: He's seen swinging a shopping cart around like a club. One handed, to boot.
- Revenge by Proxy: He's unhappy about Matsuba's defeat by the Wizard, so he seeks to rewrite history by defeating the Wizard's successor, Yarizui.
- The Worf Effect: As of Episode 10, he's on the wrong end of this courtesy of Orthros.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: He tries to weaponize hunger, knowing it's a wolf's greatest asset in the brawls, by starving himself for a long period of time. Problem is, he tries to weaponize this in an effort to beat down an opponent, rather than actually go for the real prize (the bentos). As a result, it's not long before his hunger gets the better of him and he starts to slow down, making it easy for his enemies to take him down.
Retired/Other characters
Ume Shiraume
Ume is the Class Representative of Satou's class and Oshiroi's childhood friend who's a bit too possessive of her.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She has a calm and composed demeanor and has long black hair.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: A Deconstructed Character Archetype. Even though she's the Class Representative, Ume's fighting skills doesn't measure up to real brawlers.
- Break the Haughty: In volume 10, after she gets soundly defeated in a bento brawl while trying to protect Hana, she realizes her powerlessness, and entrusts the protection of Hana during bento brawls to Satou, the guy she frequently abuses.
- Catchphrase: "May I <insert threat>?" (She only says this right after actually beginning to act on the threat.)
- Childhood Friend Romance: She has a possessive crush on her childhood friend Hana who doesn't return those feelings.
- Class Representative: Before becoming the Student Council President.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She hates it when Satou gets close to Oshiroi.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: She frequently abuses Satou in retaliation for any perceived slight against Oshiroi, no matter how small.
- Everyone Has Standards: Although she can be pretty annoying towards Satou and possessive of Oshiroi, she's willing to back off when she gets overpowered by actual bento brawlers in Volume 10.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: She goes from calm to extremely angry with minimal provocation.
- Hime Cut: She's an Ojou and Class Representative with blunt bangs, bra strap length sidelocks, and mid-thigh length straight hair.
- Jerkass to One: Though she's an Aloof Dark-Haired Girl, Ume can be a jerk to Satou due to his relationship with Hana, at least until volume 10.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: After spending the entire series being a possessive lesbian, Ume finally gets defeated in a bento brawl in volume 10 and entrusts Hana's protection to Satou.
- Large Ham: Ume has an exhuberant and boisterous personality.
- Leitmotif: When she makes an appearance, Ume is accompanied by Jungle Drums.
- Ms. Fanservice: There's quite a few scenes of her naked sprinkled throughout the series.
- Oh, Crap!: Happens to her when Satou blocks her punch and later when she gets overpowered the bento fight during volume 10.
- Ojou: She comes from a wealthy family.
- Pet the Dog: Ume backs off the obsessiveness and acknowledges Hana and Yo joining the Half-price bento club.
- Psycho Lesbian: Ume wants to have Hana all to herself. She'll threaten and beat Satou whenever he gets near Hana.
- Repetitive Name: Ume Shiraume
- Satellite Character: Being a Clingy Jealous Girl for Hana is her defining character trait and she doesn't contribute anything to the series other than physically abusing Satou out of jealousy.
- Selective Obliviousness: Despite knowing Hana for so long, she seems to have no idea and can't believe it to be true when she hears her particular "tastes".
- Stalker with a Crush: She's very obsessed with Hana and can go as far as to knock her unconscious and abduct her to keep her away from other people. Well, until the aftermath of her battle with the bento brawlers in volume 10 at least.
- The Stoic: Most events don't impact her too much.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In volume 10, she gets easily defeated in a bento brawl and this forces her to admit Satou is the only one who can protect Hana. She still smacks Satou around, but for more legit reasons now.
- Tranquil Fury: Every time she appears, she delivers a brutal, jealousy-fueled beating to Satou, all while keeping a stoic expression on her face.
- Tsurime Eyes: She has sharp eyes to highlight her possessive and violent character.
- The Worf Effect: In Volume 10, she gets easily defeated in a bento brawl trying to protect Hana.
- Yandere: She doesn't want Hana to get friendly with anyone else. She regularly beats the crap out of Satou just because he talked to Hana.
Kiku Matsuba (Monarch Butterfly)
Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English)
- The Chessmaster: Despite her policy of not getting involved in the bento battles, she does a lot to actually set them up, including inviting all of the Wolves to the same waterpark for a bento battle in a pool.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She has a sizable bust that puts some of the other girls to shame. Played for laughs with her Omelettits recipe (which is boob shaped, as the name implies) and might have been inspired by her figure.
- Eyes Always Shut: Most of the time.
- Retired Badass: She retired from being a wolf once she got married.
Club of Heracles
Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Clifford Chapin (English)
- Bystander Syndrome: He uses this to his advantage to drive Orthros away from the brawls.
- The Coats Are Off: He does so after he realizes his plan won't work a second time. Complete with an "I'll Show You..." statement. Subverted as he was on the very wrong side of a Curb-Stomp Battle.
- Dirty Coward: His underhanded shaming tactics against Orthros and his swift defeat at the hands of Satou and friends make it clear that, for all his talk of maintaining the purity of the fights, he's little more than a bully who can't handle a little healthy competition.
- Faux Affably Evil: Each time he sees Orthros, he greets them warmly with a smile on his face before immediately switching to threats of violence.
- Hero Killer: Subverted. He took down Orthros by refusing to fight them, rather than by defeating them, and can't really hold his own in the brawls.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: He uses a variation on the old "nail that sticks out" line regarding Orthros: "If a nail sticks out too far to be hammered down, you have to rip it out!" Satou retorts that what you should really do is get a bigger hammer, or, in other words, become stronger.
- Villainous Breakdown: His smug attitude dissolves once Satou inspires the wolves to defy his plan.
Mikoto Uzu (Wolfsbane)
- Meaningful Name: Her wolf moniker is taken from Wolfsbane, a species of poisonous perennial plants thought to keep away werewolves.
- Stoic Spectacles: She's a serious girl with glasses.
- Threshold Guardian: To Sen.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Chopsticks nullify her attacks.
