This is a character sheet for the Gals! series:
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The Main Characters
Main Gals
Ran and her two best friends.- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Miyu is The Cutie (Beauty), Aya is a very Book Smart student (Brains), and Ran is a strong and athletic fighter (Brawn).
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Miyu is blonde, Aya has brown hair note , while Ran has her signature red highlight. The blonde and red hair come from bottles, but still.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Aya is shy, honest, and kind (nice), Ran is harsh and rude (mean), and Miyu is sweet but used to be a bad girl (in-between).
- Town Girls:
- Ran is the Butch. She's the tough, brash, reckless Action Girl of the show, and has a violent temper.
- Aya is the Femme. She's intellectual, soft-spoken, and Prone to Tears. In the main trio, she's the only one with long hair and the only one who is not a fighter.
- Miyu is the Neither. She's sweet and cute, but like Ran, she can fight, used to be a violent criminal in the past, and has Boyish Short Hair.
Ran Kotobuki
Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)
The series' main character, the middle child of police detective parents. She refuses to become a police officer and instead spends her days in Shibuya having fun with her best friends Miyu and Aya. Despite this, Ran has a strong sense of justice and will help her friends and others alike if they're in trouble.- Badass Normal: Can take down a robber just by throwing one of her own boots at the guy.
- Babies Ever After: Confirmed by
Word of God to have had three kids with Tatsuki. - Berserk Button: it's really not a good idea to bully girls as long as Ran is around in Shibuya.
- Trying to insinuate that she would make a good cop or saying she should follow in her family's footsteps is an easy way to piss her off.
- Men who are too forward or too thirsty for action during a date earn an immediate clock to the face from Ran. Even once she gets an actual boyfriend in Tatsuki, she'll still give him a good sock for trying too hard to get a smooch out of her.
- Big Eater: She can eat quite a lot when she's hungry enough.
- Book Dumb: Absolutely terrible at all the school subjects, except for physical education. She hates school and learning, so she doesn't care.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Her friends noted that she has a very good memory, and could do well in her academics if she wanted to. Unfortunately, she's so averse to studying that her grades are very low. She's also incredibly effective when it comes to detective work and enforcing the peace when the situation calls for it. All the more reason for people to assume she'll grow up to be a fine officer to her dismay.
- Chaste Hero: Despite the Gals' fame as promiscuous, she's still a virgin and proud of it, and in fact advises people to not even give a single kiss until they're sure of their partner's feelings (one of the people she advised this way was Miyu, whose problem with her boyfriend was that he was waiting for her to get older for that kiss).
- Dude Magnet: Being attractive, outspoken, and badass, she has gained a fame as the most popular of the Gals and easily attracts many guys.
- Fiery Redhead: Ran's hair has a distinctive red streak and she's definitely the most excitable character in the show.
- Fangirl: Is a very passionate fan of Pink Panther X and has occasionally dressed up as the character.
- Genki Girl: She's always very carefree and energetic, and seems to have no angst in her life.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: She tends to shout a lot when she gets angry, which happens often.
- Happy Dance: A chibi Ran is often seen in the scene segways of the series, happily doing some para-para.
- In Love with Love: She enjoys the idea of being in a relationship but hates the kinds of men she attracts. She even falls prey to a predatory guy who fakes a relationship with her because she enjoyed being in a relationship so much that it blinded her to the red flags. Ironically, she manages to remain completely ignorant of Yuya's affections for her throughout their entire relationship despite him being just the kind of guy she would go for.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ran can be pushy, rude, and selfish at times, but her heart is typically in the right place and she will help others out even if there's nothing for her to gain.
- Kick Chick: Ran's signature attacks are her Ran Kick and Platform Boomerang. Though that doesn't stop her from punching and kicking in equal measure during a normal scrap.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A twist where she's the main character, and it's primarily her girl friends she encourages to live life to the fullest. In fact, for the guys, Rei, who would usually be The Stoic target for such a character, is primarily annoyed by her antics, she primarily uses the hapless Yuya for favours, and Tatsuki is just as crazy and energetic as she is.
- Middle Child Syndrome: Inverted; out of her siblings, Ran seems to have the most interactions with her parents (especially her father). However, this has less to do with her being a middle child, and more because of her rebellious tendencies.
- Moral Myopia: Ran's quick to point out others' flaws, but never address/correct her own.
- Oblivious to Love: Yuya has an obvious crush on her and is very opens about his feelings, but she remains oblivious to it and doesn't remember Yuya's name. Tatsukichi only made it as far as he did with Ran because he blared his love for Ran from the rooftops and asked her directly to be her boyfriend and even then her inability to properly reciprocate causes friction in their relationship.
- Passing the Torch: Played for laughs in the backstory. She used to dream of being a police officer, but after finding out that officers aren't allowed to wear make-up, accessories and the fashion she likes, she decides that she doesn't want to become a police after all, and passes on the dream to Sayo.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Often clashes with Mami Honda, as both are vying for the title of "Japan's No.1 ko-gal".
- Stock Shoujo Heroine: Downplayed; she's more tough and assertive than most examples and can even be pushy and rude at times, but she still has a few typical traits (Book Dumb, Big Eater, Genki Girl, occasionally The Ditz, a strong sense of justice, always willing to help her friends and other people). Amusingly, there is one episode where she suddenly acts more like the typical, soft-spoken heroine, only for her friends to spend the episode trying to change her back.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She's brash, outspoken, reckless and very physically strong; she had, at one point, she complains that Miyu is too girly and tells the latter to snap out of it. However, she almost never leaves her house without make-up and jewelry, is willing to spend hours to do her nails and evidently takes great pains to make herself look good.
- Totally Radical: While everyone in the series speaks like this in the Japanese and English version, Ran is far and beyond the biggest user of dated slang.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Rei and sometimes Miyu.
- You Are What You Hate: For someone who doesn't want to be a police officer, Ran has shown plenty of times of how she has the skills to be one: the strong sense of justice, detective skills, willingness to help out others, etc. Subverted as, in the end, Ran decides to become one to better protect her beloved Shibuya.
Miyu Yamazaki
Voiced by: Haruna Ikezawa (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)
A friend of Ran's, Miyu is typically (typically) nicer than her friend and almost always smiling. She is in love with Ran's older brother, Yamato.- Almost Kiss: A running gag in the series is how Miyu and Yamato's kisses are interrupted by various things going on.
- Badass Adorable: Miyu is cute and, like Ran, can kick ass when needed to.
- Beta Couple: She and Yamato are already together from the start of the series, and their relationship seem to be the most happy and stable out of the three main ones.
- Beware the Nice Ones: It took a very stressful period and sexual harassment, but the one time Miyu snapped, the harasser was on his knees begging for his life in less than ten seconds. And he was lucky enough that Ran was there to give Miyu a Get a Hold of Yourself, Woman!, or else...
- Broken Bird: Miyu was this in her gang years, a tough troublemaker due to her parents' divorce and her mom's lack of affection to her.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her parents got divorced when she was in 3rd year of her elementary school. She was then raised by her neglectful mother, who clearly thinks of her as a burden. This causes her to become a feared gang leader in her middle school years.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Well, sort of. She started to fix her attitude and becomes a good student after Ran defeated her in a brawl. Though in a possible subversion, it wasn't her defeat to Ran that caused to change, but the kindness that Yamato showed to her in the aftermath of the brawl.
- Genki Girl: She's normally very upbeat and is more eager to join in Ran's wild antics than Aya.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: An inverse to Ran. A sweet Perpetual Smiler with a bubbly disposition and an obsession with any and everything romantic but as the other tropes relating to her show, she's not afraid to get dirty and can keep pace with Ran when the situation calls for it. This is further reflected in her specific styling as an Ath-Galnote .
- Kneel Before Zod: Back when she was a gang leader, Miyu wanted to force everyone who pissed her into submission. And the one time she snapped, she actually made the offender kneel and apologize.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: There have only been one or two times where Miyu was pushed hard enough to fight back unrestrained and in both cases, she proves that going straight hasn't dulled her fighting edge AT ALL.
- Martial Pacifist: Enforced by Ran and Miyu herself. Although she's left her violent criminal life in the past, both she and Ran know that if she's forced to throw down, she will THROW THE HELL DOWN if not held back and therefore she's often relegated to sideline backup at best.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: If Miyu's cheerful, bubbly disposition is disrupted, it's time to find out what's wrong. If Miyu's tone starts to drop back to how it was when she was a hoodlum, either leave her alone or be prepared to face the consequences. That is because she is...
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: At one point in Volume 2, Miyu is treatened by Harue with a knife, and the former does not even blink. She even calmly asks Harue whether she wants to go a few rounds or not. This is happening after two years of Miyu going straight and not getting involved in gang activities.
- Retired Outlaw: She used to be a violent gang leader, whose behaviour is far worse than Ran's. Now, she's one of the nicest, most modest, and hardworking of the main characters. Still it's for the best interest to not piss her off. See the tropes above.
- Scholarship Student: She needs to have certain average to keep her scholarship; it becomes a plot point a few times.
- Third-Person Person: Refers to herself as "Miyu", to signify her change as the cutesy Nice Girl she is now known as.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The manga explains that Miyu turned a new leaf and disbanded her gang, but there is no explanation about the aftermath of Miyu's former subordinates. Whether they also redeemed themselves or got arrested and put into the juvenile rehabilitation, we will never know.
Aya Hoshino
Voiced by: Oma Ichimura (Japanese), Kimberly Pause (English)
A studious girl Ran met in the first episode when she catches her doing Compensated Dating. She stops her and tells her to live her own life. Soon after Aya became good friends with Ran and Miyu.- Adaptational Dye-Job: Aya's hair is brown in the manga, but black in the anime.
- Animal Motifs: Often associated with moles throughout the series since Episode 17; tends to be shy, often brooding over things on their own, dark and gloomy impressions...
- Book Smart: One of the top students in her school.
- Brainy Brunette: Aya, who has brown hair note , is the smartest of the gang, being an honor student, and is trying to get into Tokyo University.
- Dogged Nice Girl: For Otohata. She spends a lot of time pining after him and trying to get him open up to her. Otohata, being the insensitive type, usually regards her affections with indifference or annoyance. He gets especially impatient with her when she cries, which she does often.
- Heroic BSoD: Gets one when her parents tell her to stop seeing her friends so she could study more.
- Nice Girl: She's one of the nicest people in the main cast.
- Not So Above It All: She's the most serious out of the main characters, but this doesn't stop her from liking Pink Panther X (a children's show) and knowing a lot about its plot.
- Non-Action Gal: The only one of the three main gals who can't fight or defend herself adequately. This gets her into trouble on a few occasions when she's caught by herself.
- Reflective Eyes: At one point in Episode 5, her questioning friends are reflected in her eye.
- Prone to Tears: She bursts into tears very easily, and at one point Ran wonders if half her head is made out of tears.
- Shrinking Violet: Shy and softspoken, she often gets freaked out by her peers' weirder antics.
- Stepford Smiler: Aya tends to bury her worries underneath a smile and won't confront her issues until they blow up in her face. This happens several times over the course of the series concerning her studies, her love life and her general outlook and sense of control over her life.
- The Smart Girl: She's an honor student, and is aiming to go to Tokyo University after graduating Hounan. This gets somewhat deconstructed as the series goes on where it's revealed that Aya isn't actually inherently intelligent and actually doesn't enjoy studying all that much but still has to work hard in order to keep up her grades, leading to many an emotional breakdown when the pressure gets to her.
- Tender Tears: Prone to this, whether happy or sad.
Rei Otohota
Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)
A student at Meisho Number 1 High School, Rei is also considered the number 1 popular guy due to a magazine article as being the coolest teenage guy in the area. Is good friends with Yuya and often finds himself bumping into Ran more often than either one would like. He's also Aya's boyfriend.- Chick Magnet: Is voted as No. 1 most desirable guy in his school.
- The Comically Serious: Never smiles, even if he's in a funny moment... which makes the scene funnier.
- Indifferent Beauty: A male example. He's considered the most handsome guy around, but he's always aloof and seems to find his Chick Magnet status annoying.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rei can be very blunt with his words, but he's not a bad guy. He just has a hard time expressing himself.
- The Not-Love Interest: He and Ran has a Meet Cute introduction when Ran pretty much robs him of his bag, and he ends up giving it to her voluntarily when she tries to give it back. Afterwards, they continue to have a Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl dynamic that sometimes borderline on Ship Tease. Even though he admits to having a crush on her at one point, this never goes anywhere as Ran remains together with Tatsuki and Otohata eventually reciprocates Aya's feelings.
- Phrase Catcher: "You made her (Aya) cry!"
- The Stoic: He's very impassive, and tends to regard everything that goes on in his surrounding with an indifferent attitude.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Has a younger cousin who looks almost exactly like him. When the girls met the kid, they thought Otohata had shrunk down.
Yuya Asou
Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)
Also a student at Meisho Number 1 High School, Yuya placed 2nd in the same magazine article that said Rei was the coolest and most handsome teenage guy in Shibuya. As such, his nickname is Number Two ("nii" in the Japanese version, the Japanese word for two). He is in love with Ran and will help her out when the need arises.- Always Second Best: Half of the time, Ran doesn't even remember that Yuuya's name is in fact "Yuuya" and not "Second Place".
- Dogged Nice Guy: Yuya is madly in love with Ran and would do everything he can to please her: e.g. helping her with homework or buying her expensive gifts. Unfortunately, Ran is Oblivious to Love, and thought that he was just being nice. Instead, she almost immediately agreed to date Tatsuki when the latter confessed to her after they went to a few parties together.
- In-Series Nickname: Number Two in the manga, Second Place in the anime.
- Love Epiphany: Inverted. After spending the better part of the series with massive crush on Ran, he finally realizes that he's no longer likes her romantically after seeing her fool around with Tatsuki and did not feel jealous about it.
- Official Couple: He and Mami become a couple in the second season of the anime, as well as the manga.
- Second Love: Yuya fell for Ran at first sight but finally comes to care for Mami.
Tatsuki "Tatsukichi" Kuroi
Voiced by: Yukimasa Obi (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)
Ran's boyfriend who loves para-para, to the point where he calls himself the "para-para king of Machida". He and Ran get along quite well, even though they don't really date, much less anything else romantic.- Animal Motifs: Monkey, obviously. He is actually able to talk to monkeys, and is often gets mistaken as one.
- Babies Ever After: Confirmed by Word of God to have had three kids with Ran.
- Birds of a Feather: He and Ran are very similar, as both are very laidback individuals who cares more about having fun and enjoying life, rather than being bound by authority and academics.
- Book Dumb: He does very poorly in school, despite being very skilled in pretty much everything else.
- Hidden Depths: Although he appears to be just as wild and carefree as Ran, he is very insecure about being "worthy" for her. Especially since Ran hangs out with other guys a lot, and seems to trust Otohata with her feelings more than she does with him.
- Insecure Love Interest: He occasionally feels inferior to Otohata, which is not helped that Ran has No Sense of Personal Space towards the latter, and the two are often mistaken as a couple by other people.
- Keet: He's just as energetic and carefree as Ran.
- Large Ham: Whenever someone says snappy and mean words against him, he always says "your/her/his words stabbed through my heart!" loudly with comically sad face.
- Power Copying: He can acquire complex skills by 'aping' (as he himself said) someone who is demonstrating them.
Supporting Cast
Yamato Kotobuki
Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanaese), Paul Locklear (English)
Ran's older brother, who's a police officer in Shibuya, and often helps out Ran and her friends. He and Miyu are a couple.- Big Brother Instinct
- Clark Kent Outfit: His uniform or bagged street clothes hide a lean and muscular body, with the strength to match.
- The Jailbait Wait: For how much Miyu and him wish to be intimate, they won't do more than the occasional kiss (when they aren't interrupted), and are explicitly waiting for their marriage.
- Like Father, Like Son: like his father, he's a cop.
- Official Couple: Him and Miyu, whom he later gets official engaged to later in the series. And, in the final manga chapter, marry
Taizo Kotobuki
Voiced by: Ginzo Matsuo (episodes 1-24), Fumihiko Tachiki (episodes 25-51), John Gremillion (English)
Ran's father. He tries to lead Ran into becoming a police officer like the rest of her family, but she refuses.- Action Dad
- Doting Parent: Mainly to Sayo, though sometimes with Ran as well.
- Happily Married: To his wife Kiyoka.
- Large Ham
Kiyoka Kotobuki
Ran's mother. Also a police officer.Voiced by: Yuko Kobayashi (Japanese), Christine Auten (English)
- Happily Married: To her husband Taizo.
- Parental Substitute: In volume 9, she tells Miyu that she sees the latter as a daughter when Miyu briefly moves into the Kotobuki household after her mother abandoned her.
Mami Honda
Voiced by: Aya Ishizu (Japanese), Allison Sumrall (English)
Ran's rival and the "Queen of Ikebukuro". In the manga they later form a truce. This does not happen in the anime.- Clingy Jealous Girl: To Yuya. Justified by the long string of cheating boyfriends she had before him and her knowledge he was in love with Ran before they went together (and stayed in love with her for a while after: she mistook his attempt to play peacemaker during one of her fights with Ran as a love declaration, and acted on it). Becomes less jealous when Yuya realizes he has fallen for Mami and declares it in public.
- Last-Name Basis: Always refers to Ran by her last name.
- Official Couple: with Yuya.
- Rich Bitch: Anime only.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: with Ran Kotobuki.
- The Ojou
- Villain Decay: She and Harue start off as legitimately threatening gang leaders, and their appearances are Played for Drama as much as the other Villain of the Week characters up to that point. As they appear more often, she increasingly becomes an example of Evil Is Petty, and her and Ran are more likely to fight through a Cooking Duel than a street fight.
Harue Kudou
Mami's right hand gal with her own Dark and Troubled Past as a gangbanger in Shibuya.- Deadpan Snarker: Always has a snide remark ready when the situation calls for it.
- Flat Character: Aside from her shared past with Miyu, she's never much more than Mami's number-two.
- Friendly Enemy: Even after burying the hatchet with Miyu, Harue's loyalty to Mami and hatred of Ran keeps her at odds with the main group.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: Same as Miyu but more prevalent. Even though she's given up the life of a gangster, she's still rather dangerous when she want to be, able to pull strings to put Miyu through hell and still having the kinds of connections that can get her some extra manpower when she feels she needs it. Even in casual situations she's still got a hard edge to her.
- Retired Outlaw: Was once running with the Eagles gang in Shibuya. Once it dissolved, she moved on and became a gal in Ikebukuro.
- Revenge Myopia: She's hell bent on getting Miyu back for beating up her gang and costing her the love of her then-boyfriend. Thing is, she doesn't know the full story behind it...
- Token Evil Teammate: While Mami may be stuck-up and obsessed with beating Ran out as number one gal, she's still an honest and on-the-level gal. Harue isn't above doing sketchy or flat-out criminal acts to get what she wants however.
Sayo Kotobuki
Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese), Hilary Haag (English)
Ran's energetic little sister. She's a large fan of Odaiba Cop, and solves crimes with her boyfriend Masato. Unlike her older sister, she wants to become a police detective when she grows up.- The Baby of the Bunch: In her family.
- Dumb Blonde: Averted. Sayo's pretty smart.
- Genki Girl: She makes Ran look sluggish.
- Kiddie Kid: Sayo's 14 in the beginning of the series, but looks, sounds, and acts like an elementary school girl.
- Official Couple: with Masato.
- Older Than They Look: Sayo is only two years younger than Ran, but her small stature and general behaviour makes her seem like a grade schooler instead.
- Verbal Tic: she adds "datchu" at the end of her sentences. The dub changes it to "You bet."
Masato Iwai
Sayo's boyfriend who acts as her partner as they act as junior inspectors/detectives.Naoki Kuroi
Tatsuki's younger brother who loves skateboarding. He frequently gets in trouble with Yamato (since skateboarding on the streets is not allowed) and falls in love very easily.- Animal Motifs: Like his older brother, he is often compared with a monkey and shares his ability to communicate with the,.
- Serial Romeo: He falls in love very easily and would immediately declare his latest crush as his soulmate, relentlessly pursuing them until he eventually gets heartbroken because all the girls he's fallen for (Ran, Miyu, Sayo and Aya) all had boyfriends.
- Sibling Triangle: Had a brief one when he initially fell in love with Ran, who is dating his brother, even challenging the latter to a duel to win her hand. Ran obviously chooses Tatsuki, and the whole rivalry ends when Naoki gets over her to fall for Miyu instead.
Miyu's Mom
Voiced by: Kazura Murai (Japanese), Allison Keith (English)
Miyu's very rarely seen mother, who treats her daughter rather poorly. She only appears in two episodes of the anime.- Abusive Parent, Parental Abandonment, and Parental Neglect: All of these. She rarely sees Miyu and blames Miyu for her divorce thus refusing to look at Miyu. She was abandoned by her own mother and in the end abandons Miyu. The only thing she does for Miyu is give Miyu enough money to live off of until Miyu gets a job and a place to stay on her own.
- Betrayal by Inaction: She hooks up with a man who's supposed to be helping her out with the bills and Miyu's schooling but eventually he just stops doing so. Rather than trying to get him to help or finding other means, Miyu's mom simply decides that it's an easy out for her to leave Miyu behind.
- Gold Digger: It's heavily implied she makes her money by sponging off wealthy men. She suggests Miyu do the same if she wants to live more comfortably.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Is almost always dragging on a cigarette when we see her.
- It's All About Me: By the point we first see her, Miyu's mom is entirely done with the responsibilities of taking care of Miyu, wanting only to support herself. She achieves this in the end by abandoning Miyu to her fate so that she can stay with her new man.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: No matter what Miyu has to say to her she's not in the mood to hear it and will shut her down in an instant.
- Small Role, Big Impact: We only ever see her twice in the anime but her neglect and eventual abandonment of Miyu causes several big shake-ups in the status quo and no small amount of pain and suffering for Miyu.
- Struggling Single Parent: And by the time we meet her, she's thoroughly sick of it and Miyu.
- The Faceless: we never see her face. Subverted in the manga, where we do get to see her face the few times she shows up.
- Jerkass
