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Main Characters
Kokonotsu Shikada
- Voiced by: Atsushi Abe (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Kokonotsu, at least according to his father, has a thing for large breasts. Which partially explains his attraction to Hotaru.
- Cursed with Awesome: Kokonotsu has an uncanny ability to discover how to make sweets better tasting and appealing. This makes running a sweet shop perfect for him and is a huge reason why his father is extremely pushy about him taking over the family business even though Kokonotsu really wants to be a manga artist instead.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Kokonotsu at times with Hotaru, who will occasionally but inadvertently use Erotic Eating. Or occasionally say things in a way that can be taken in the wrong context, such as asking him to be an adult... by drinking a non-alcoholic drink that looks like beer but is actually apple or pineapple juice.
- Oblivious to Love: According to Tō, Saya has been in love with Kokonotsu for a long time and her feelings for him are very transparent. Kokonotsu is just too dense to realize it.
- Punny Name: Kokonotsu's given name (ココノツ) is just one kanji away from being the Japanese word for "coconuts" (ココナツ), which his friends use as a nickname for him. It is also a homophone of the Japanese numeral 九 (ここのつ, "Ninth"), referring to his destiny of becoming the ninth head of his family business.
- Refusal of the Call: Kokonotsu is adamant in his refusal to take over his family's business despite the constant prodding from his father and Hotaru.
- Weirdness Magnet: He seems to have an innate ability to attract all kinds of weird personalities into his circle of friends. While he himself is quite quirky on his own, he's the tamest of the entire cast.
Hotaru Shidare
- Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu (Japanese), Tabitha Ray (English)
- Bad Liar: Hotaru couldn't put up a convincing act to save her life at all. Her attempts at persuading Kokonotsu something isn't suspicious is to tell him that it's not suspicious while not being the least bit subtle about it.
- Big Eater: Being a very dedicated dagashi enthusiast, Hotaru gobbles them down like it's going out of style. And yet, somehow, she doesn't seem to gain any weight from an entire summer of junk food-eating.
- Born Unlucky:
- Slowly but surely, Hotaru seems to be shaping up to be the diametric opposite of Saya, who manages to win at anything Hotaru throws at her in an instant while she herself often fails miserably.
- She also has horrible luck with promotional prize draws, having at one point gone through dozens of dagashi packets without winning once.
- Brief Accent Imitation: Hotaru puts on a hilariously overblown British accent in Episode 9. She also imitated a Kansai accent, rendered in the dub as a southern US hick accent.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Hotaru gets plastered after one drink of Non alcoholic Beer.
- Captain Morgan Pose: Hotaru tends to do this in an epic fashion, especially whenever she fails. Kokonotsu also did this once with his father when they were stuck on a rock off the coast.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She's not the most in touch with reality and much of the series' comedy comes from people reacting to her eccentricities.
- Cool Big Sis: Hotaru is this to a group of little boys, who call her "boss".
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: While it may not be possible to pin Hotaru's fashion sense down to any single Gothic Lolita style, it clearly takes pointers from the "dark" and "casual" varieties.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Hotaru has multiple rings in her iris that are a bit on the creepy side.
- Cue jokes about Hotaru having the Rinnegan.
- Genki Girl: Hotaru is extremely energetic, especially when it comes to talking about sweets.
- The Idiot from Osaka: Hotaru reveals she was "born and bred" in Osaka. She then immediately starts nibbling on a bowl of rice, and comments on a random candy with a hick accent. End of the issue shows she's a filthy liar.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: She doesn't even change her demeanor whatsoever when Tō accidentally comes across her when she's naked after a shower. Whenever Kokonotsu is Distracted by the Sexy, she never notices the ramifications when she engages in Erotic Eating or occasionally says things in a way that can be taken in the wrong context or even vice-versa, such as when she accidentally caught Kokonotsu about to blow into a straw she was using a moment ago. Far later on, when Kokonotsu accidentally comes across her taking a bath, she just casually invites him in to take a bath with her and doesn't think anything is odd about that.
- Large Ham: Hotaru very much acts in this manner, especially when it comes to eating or describing snacks.
- Limited Wardrobe: Hotaru rarely wears anything else besides her trademark "casual lolita" outfit, switching to a different, mostly black one in winter.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Hotaru is a fairly textbook example: she barges suddenly into Kokonotsu's life, is extremely quirky and energetic, and her presence helps bring him out of the funk he's been in. She even looks a lot like his "ideal" girl he's been drawing in his manga.
- The Scrooge: Hotaru is especially guilty of this, despite coming from a rather well-off family. She would always bring the least amount of money possible anywhere, and would often fall for either ill-conceived get-rich-quick schemes or gambles that usually go south in an instant.
- Serious Business: Anything dagashi-related is extremely serious business to her.
Saya Endō
- Voiced by: Manami Numakura (Japanese), Sara Ragsdale (English)
- The Ace: Saya is shown as being the absolute best at any game they play, to the point that Hotaru calls her "Master".
- A-Cup Angst: More like "A-Cup Anger". Saya gets rather upset after seeing Tō's modifications made to Kokonotsu's drawings of her and Hotaru... and thought it was all Kokonotsu's doing.
- Born Lucky: Saya seems to be this, allowing her to win consecutively at prize draws and dagashi promotions. Ironically, the same thing could not be said about her chances with Kokonotsu himself.
- Clingy Jealous Girl:
- Saya doesn't take it well when she first hears about Hotaru. She angrily fills a coffee cup, then loads a lot of sugar into it after Kokonotsu asks for a second cup. Fortunately for him, he drinks it and compliments her coffee, defusing the situation at least for now.
- She also flips the hell out when she first sees Hajime - an adult woman - living with Kokonotsu, until the latter's situation is explained.
- Covert Pervert: Saya, after she takes his comment about "tying up Hotaru" the wrong way, has an Imagine Spot where Hotaru and Kokonotsu are engaging in BDSM complete with Hotaru in bondage rope harness while he whips her.
- And even before that, she seemed really happy when Kokonotsu accidentally touched her chest with his elbow while the two of them and Hotaru were all crammed in a box while hiding from Kokonotsu's dad.
- Cute Little Fangs: She has a rather prominent one.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Saya is the Responsible to her brother's Foolish.
- Mistaken for Gay: In the later chapters of the manga, Hajime is convinced that Saya has a crush on Hotaru, even leaving them alone for a while to give Saya some room to "confess". Saya herself is completely unaware of this.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Saya and her brother have this. Saya has Cute Little Fangs most of the time, but when smiling at full width, both get full-on shark teeth.
- Punny Name: In Western order, "Saya Endō" matches the name of a popular edamame crisp snack food distributed by Calbee.
- Tsundere: Saya is a Dere type. Overall a nice and pleasant person to everyone, but gets flustered whenever her crush on Kokonotsu is brought up. Or, you know, you just happened to be her brother who loves riling her up nearly all the time. Interestingly, she only occasionally plays up the tsun card with Kokonotsu every once in a while as she's usually seen actually being really nice to him whenever they talk.
Tō Endō
- Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Justin Pate (English)
- Butt-Monkey: Tō always seems to find in himself at the receiving end of a beatdown from his sister.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Definitely the Foolish of the two.
- Instant Expert: Tō turns out to be a supreme monjayaki cook despite never having had any meaningful experience in the kitchen beforenote .
- Sunglasses at Night: Tō wears sunglasses 99% of the time, including at night and indoors.
Supporting Characters
Yō Shikada
- Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese), Jeremy Inman (English)
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Despite his good nature, Yo's tendency to goof off and munch on his own stock makes him this to Kokonotsu.
- Cloud Cuckoolander:
- The Gadfly: Yō seems to have made a hobby out of teasing his son on top of trying to persuade him to take up his mantle as owner of Shikada Dagashi.
- Manchild: Despite looking to be somewhere in his forties, Yō is one of, if not the most childish member of the cast, often foisting his duties onto his son and munching on dagashi like a little kid.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Yō is usually seen working different odd jobs in each of his appearance when he's not at the store or goofing off, to generate additional income since dagashi-selling on its own isn't profitable enough. Or so he claims.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: It's possible Yō is doing this just to bring out Kokonotsu's knack of dagashi.
Hajime Owari
- Voiced by: Chinatsu Akasaki (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English)
- Brilliant, but Lazy: She definitely has shades of this. If her resume is to be believed, Hajime managed to enroll into Hitotsubashi University before dropping out, which is among the most prestigious institutions in the world, period. She also demonstrates considerable knowledge of HTML and JavaScript, which she uses to set up a website for Shikada Dagashi. She's also capable of driving a mini delivery truck competently, indicating that she has at least a standard Japanese driver's license.
- Cool Big Sis: Hajime is 20, five years older than the main trio, but she's more of a Foolish Sibling to Kokonotsu's Responsible one. But she succeeds in winning over Hotaru's boys.
- Heavy Sleeper: The number one reason why she keeps being late for work.
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Hollywood Homely: Despite her fairly conventionally pretty design, Hajime considers herself too crummy and unhealthy to be of any worth when Tō jokingly suggests she pays for the store's "protection" with her body. - Limited Wardrobe: Hajime has few other clothes besides her Office Lady outfit. Enforced, since those are the only clothes she owns, as she'd be homeless and jobless if not for Kokonotsu taking her in and all her pay goes to cover her living expenses.
- Opaque Lenses: Hajime gets a pair of these whenever she's confused.
- Punny Name: "Beginning-Ending" ("Ending-Beginning" in Japanese name order)
- Unkempt Beauty: Hajime has messy hair and poor hygiene but Saya still gets jealous of her from looks alone. And she Cleans Up Nicely in an Imagine Spot.
- Verbal Tic: She has a habit of appending or stressing the "-ssu" sound at the end of most words.
- Womanchild: Hajime is socially awkward, dropped out of college, cannot hold down a job and once missed a job interview over a toy, unable to decide whether or not to buy it.
Beniyutaka Shidare
- Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese), Christopher Wehkamp (English)
- Feet-First Introduction: The camera focuses on his shoes as he makes his entrance.
- Large Ham: Hereditary, it seems.
- The Nicknamer: He has a habit of giving his employees quirky nicknames to "spice up" the shopping experience at his store. Veers straight into Giver of Lame Names territory when it comes to giving Hajime one, though.
- Refusal of the Call: He wants to run a convenient store rather than inherit the Shidare dagashi enterprise, much to Hotaru's chagrin. Apparently he used to like dagashi but denies it in the present day.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He has the same exotic, Rinnegan-like eyes as his sister.
