List of characters appearing in the manga Girl Crush, written in Eastern order.
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Main Characters
Momose Tenka
Current rank: C-30
Tenka in Vol. 6
The protagonist. A 15 year-old girl from Japan, she aims to become a K-pop idol after being inspired by her friend Erian.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Towards Harumi, the densest character in the manga. She's gotten over him for the most part, though it's clear their relationship is still very good.
- Audience Surrogate: Because she's foreign to the inner workings of Korea's idol industry, she's often this, requiring her friends and teammates to explain things to her (and us, the readers).
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She's one of the bustiest girls in the manga, along with Rebecca.
- Daddy's Girl: Played with. While their relationship is distant after her mother left the family, they care about each other a lot. Her father generally lets her do what she wants and supports her unconditionally, such as dropping out of high school to be a K-pop idol. So, yeah, pretty much the whole premise of the story.
- Dark and Troubled Past: With her Missing Mom, who cheated on her dad and ran away with her boyfriend. This causes a lot of ridicule and isolation during her elementary school years, had Harumi not step in and pull her out of it. In contrast to her current mature appearance, she's very grumpy as a kid and would throw Death Glare at everyone in the vicinity.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: She's incredibly sensitive to whispers and negative attention about her, not because she's unconfident, but because of her childhood past when people constantly gossip and judge her because of what her mother did. Sometimes, this gets so bad she psyches herself out, though she usually can pull herself back together quickly.
- One of the reasons why she likes Harumi is because he doesn't do this, and treats her the same way as he does to others.
- Fanservice Pack: Her breast size seems to have grown a full cup (or two) after she arrives in Korea. Compare her figure here
◊ to here.◊ - Heroic RRoD: Passed out during her monthly performance of Pinky Girl because of lack of sleep, and generally being too harsh on herself as a rookie.
- Important Haircut: She cuts her hair into a shoulder-length bob◊ when entering middle school, though she's since grown it back out to its current length.
- Jack of All Trades: She's decent at everything she puts her hands on—whether it's sports, dancing, studies, singing, makeup, etc.—but constantly falls short against specialists she encounters in the idol industry. Her main Took a Level in Badass running story is her attempts to turn this into a Master of All.
- The Kirk: Tenka is usually the bridge between the emotional crybaby Min-chae and the foul-mouthed, ambitious Ji-woo.
- The Leader: Literally. She's assigned to be team leader by LJH management, for a team consisting of her, Ji-woo, and Min-chae. While they're sometimes broken up by Mr. Lee to join different teams, Tenka's still this in their dorm room.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Gender-flipped example. Apart from their similar beauty, she's nothing like her mother—a heartless two-timing loose woman who cares solely for her own pleasures, and one who uses her beauty to get what she wants in lieu of hard work. In contrast, Tenka was incredibly studious and quiet as a child (her mother called her a "nerd"), growing up to despise others who judge her for her beauty and overlook her hard work.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: What Tenka thinks of herself as, especially early on with Erian. Her attempts on "getting even" with the latter is comically similar to various villainess tropes, yet she's actually much kinder than she lets on and ends up helping Erian a lot, like a Type B Tsundere. Additionally, she herself is often clueless when others manipulate her in turn, such as Soo-ah's subtle sabotaging of her performances and Xi-on's flirting with her.(to Ji-woo): Sorry, I'm a bit of a bitch.
- "Not So Different" Remark: To Soo-ah. They even describe each other with the exact same words, verbatim.(towards Soo-ah): She's the better version of me.
- Photographic Memory: Tenka can remember what Ji-woo said once and obscure K-drama lines to aid in her Korean studies, before she starts properly learning Korean. Her strong memory lays the foundation of her Power Copying ability below.
- Power Copying: Her real strength, but also the roadblock in her quest to not just improve herself, but also find what is "Momose Tenka" as an idol. She can mimic performances instantly and almost perfectly, earning praises from proverbial low-hanging frutis, but is often lost on how to improve after that, or when forced to freestyle on the spot.Tenka: I got wrapped up in a weird self-identity issue after that.
- Quirky Curls: There's always a pair of stubborn strands coming out of her side bangs which curl into large circles, mimicking a pair of earrings.
- Statuesque Stunner: Among the tallest girls in the trainee generation she's in, even taller than veterans like Soo-ah, and about as tall as May and Han-sol.
- Stepford Smiler: She's this even now, with all her expressions being masks and lies she uses to cover her empty true self. She's working hard to remedy this, but it's taking a while. It's gotten to the point she doesn't realize she's doing it. She doesn't even know how to do a sincere smile, requiring Xi-on to throw her off the roof into a pool for her to open up.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Her beauty is inherited from her mother, who's very similar to her except for a shorter, straighter hair. If anything, Tenka's already curvier than her mother.
- Technician Versus Performer: The Technician compared to Erian. Tenka would memorize dances down to the last detail, with her excellent athleticism allowing her to perform them perfectly. In contrast, when asked to assume the Performer role several times, she immediately shuts down.Tenka: I observe, memorize, and then recreate. I imitate things quicker and more accurately than others.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: Everyone is smitten by how pretty she looks, with Tenka receiving admiring glances from both genders. Not even Ji-woo is immune.
- Xi-on immediately assumed she's a "visual"—slang term for the best-looking member of a group and who's primarily there as eye candy—the moment they met (since her performing skills back then weren't up to notch, especially since she's singing his song, Night & Day).
Satou Erian
Erian in Vol. 2
Erian without makeup
Tenka's and Harumi's high school friend, who inspires the former to be a K-pop idol with her enthusiasm.
- Always Someone Better: Tenka considers her this. Even though Tenka is prettier, better at almost everything else, and Harumi's childhood friend, Erian always overshadows her with her own heartfelt performances. They're often objectively worse when graded according to technique, but Tenka is unable to channel the proper emotions necessary to take a performance to the next level, while Erian naturally does this with everything she does. ARC's scouts seem to agree with this, and inducted Erian into their fold while failing Tenka at the same time. Harumi's also more romantically interested in Erian, and considers Tenka just a good friend.
- Cosmetic Catastrophe: Just take a look at this.◊ Admittedly, she spent most of her time working and training, so she didn't have time (or money) to learn proper make-up.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Not normally, but after being taught proper make-up skills by Tenka, and gaining real confidence to go audition at ARC, her pupils turn into thin, sparkling white crosses.◊
- Girlish Pigtails: Tied her hair in low pigtails at school, but now ties them much higher up after becoming a trainee.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: Absolutely inverted. Erian works harder than anyone else to fulfill her dream to become a K-pop idol, to the point of living in Korea by herself, working ungodly hours at restaurants just to earn living wages, and quitting high school. This is Erian's one trait which both Tenka and Harumi admire—she shines the brightest when she works hard. It pays off when she's accepted into ARC's trainee program.
- Keet: Highly energetic, with a smile constantly splayed across her face no matter the situation. She's genuinely just that naive.
- Luminescent Blush: She herself admits she flushes heavily whenever she's nervous or lying to someone's face.
- Oblivious to Love: Completely oblivious to Harumi's affections on her, when Tenka was able to see it at a glance. Even Tenka felt sorry for him because of this.
- Put on a Bus: Because trainees' communication are monitored and limited, and since she's now in a different company to Tenka, they lost contact past the first part of the story, and there's no mention of Erian apart from Tenka's thoughts.
- Technician Versus Performer: The performer compared to Tenka. Erian typically just freestyles her performance, only caring about whether the emotions and vibes she wants to project come through or not, knowing everything will take care of itself by then.Erian: I didn't understand anything even after I thought about it, so I'm just going to do what I feel like.
- Title Drop: The term "girl crush" is first uttered by her, aimed at Tenka.Erian: ...our Shūtokudai High's girl crush!! Tenka Momose!!
- Unknown Rival: To Tenka. Erian worships the ground Tenka walks on, completely failing to realize the latter views her as a threat at first, then a target to surpass later.
Chan Ji-woo
Current rank: A-5
Ji-woo in Vol. 3
A young Ji-woo
An aspiring idol coming from a street dancing background. Often seen picking fights with people.
- A-Cup Angst: Played for Laughs. She's mildly jealous of how "thick" Tenka is, or how much higher Rebecca's "centre of gravity" is. Her bust size is about the same as Min-chae, so she has reasons for this.
- Animal Motif: Has subtle cat motif, with how mischievous she usually is.
- Crippling Overspecialization: While she's an incredible dancer, she often struggles with other roles such as singing. She has no problem imitating and performing easier songs, but for the more difficult ones, her voice is all over the place, making her unable to dance perfectly as well. Hyoo-na easily defeats her in their informal contest because of this. Also, her street dancing, based on hip-hop, doesn't suit some situations, so she lost to Rebecca's more classical lines when performing Freak.
- Dancing Is Serious Business: Ji-woo's an excellent dancer, perhaps the best shown so far in the manga. Hence, she takes dance battles very seriously, even challenging a boy who wanted to flirt with her once. In fact, had she kept her mouth shut, she would've passed ARC's audition with flying colours solely on the strength of her dancing.
- Deadpan Snarker: Ironically, Ji-woo usually uses extremely formal and polite language whenever she's feeling particularly sarcastic, or in the mood to tease others.
- Dyeing for Your Art: She herself admits her desire for this is too extreme for most, but she's fully intent on going down this path, no matter what it takes.Ji-woo: If there's a god of art, I would sacrifice my life to him.
- Experienced Protagonist: Ji-woo's very well known in the street dancing/hip-hop scene, winning awards since she was young.
- The Gadfly: Her calling card, especially when talking back to someone who challenges her ideals and dreams.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Very, very small heart of gold. While she generally means well, her lack of desire to play to social expectations on how she should speak means she speaks very bluntly. For example, she didn't even hesitate to abandon Min-chae in their first meeting, even though the situation was genuinely dangerous. She also has zero respect for authority, constantly challenging Tenka's or Hyoo-na's leadership during group assignments, or talking back to an ARC audition judge even at the risk of failing.(to Tenka): Arrogant girls like us aren't welcome there!
- Running Gag: Because of her foul mouth, she's usually dragged away by the scruff of her neck like a stray cat to stop her from causing more trouble. Tenka and Ye-bin usually take this role.
Im Min-chae
Current rank: B—14
Min-chae in Vol. 4
A 13 year-old girl (12 year-old in international age) who wants to be an idol to change her image.
- Animal Motifs: A baby chick.
- Baby Of The Bunch: The physically smallest character introduced so far in the manga, even smaller than the already-petite Erian.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: The best singer among the main protagonists. Her voice was so good it incited suicidal tendencies in an unwitting audience during her first appearance. So far, she's also the only one who could force Mr. Lee to dance from her voice alone, solo, when the various Rank A seniors (plus Tenka) couldn't.
- Bedhead-itis: Her bed hair is quite impressive, looking like a lion's mane.
- Big Eater: Often has cravings of junk food and sweets. She's the most enthusiastic when going to company buffets.
- Child Prodigy: At 13, she's the youngest among the current trainees by a good margin (apart from May). Both her parents are veteran musicians, and she's been trained practically from the womb.
- Companion Cube: Her electric guitar, "Mister Nam".
- Cute Clumsy Girl: She has poor body coordination, tripping and falling over a lot. Surprisingly, she's still quite flexible during idol training, with her small injury coming by way of an understandable response to safeguard her head.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Her pupils are shaped like a five-petalled flower. They turn into a menacing four-pointed cross◊ when she's genuinely angry. This is a trait passed down from her mother, Ro-mi.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Subverted. While she twisted her ankle during training for Day & Night, it ended up for the better since it led her group to switch to Pinky Girl, a song far more suitable for them (even the reluctant Ji-woo got promoted to Rank A afterwards, despite feeling very put-off by the song).
- Hypocrite: A childish example. She wants nothing more than quickly grow up and be a "cool girl", yet isn't above playing cute and acting childish to gain affection or goodwill from others.
- Limited Wardrobe: Usually seen in her plain T-shirt and baggy pants combo during practices, compared to the other girls who have an array of casual clothes to wear.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Min-chae's hair is the most flamboyant and fantastically drawn in the manga, almost unnaturally voluminous and with countless hair clips.
- Prone to Tears: Cries easily over every little thing, much to Rebecca's humour.
- Stage Mom: Her mother, a famous singer named Ro-mi, constantly drives away Min-chae's friends when they come over to play, since Min-chae has an endless list of vocal lessons she's arranged. They often get into arguments because of this, though Ro-mi is usually just humouring Min-chae's fits and letting her vent, since their relationship is actually much more casual.
- Technician Versus Performer: Firmly in the technician camp, especially when compared to May. While Min-chae is perfectly capable of expressing her emotions and improvising on the spot, it depends whether the song suits her skillset or not. If it doesn't, she struggles greatly, unlike the far more natural May. This is likely the result of her mother's intense training since she was small, so she can't extricate herself from being so technical.
LJH
One of Korea's "Big Three" entertainment agencies, along with ARC and YW. However, compared to those two—plus the rising SP—it's currently facing a serious downturn, owing to the various scandals its idols are involved with. Currently, it's planning to join forces with the aforementioned 2 agencies to thwart SP's rise by envisioning a joint girl idol group, managed by the "Big Three" themselves.- Battle Royale Game: Not only is this allowed, but actively encouraged. LJH has a firm belief true talent only shines after being polished in competitions.Ye-bin: You should train with the intention of beating them (the seniors). If you're not gredy... if you don't stand out, you won't be able to debut.
- Multinational Team: They have the Japanese Tenka and Thai May. Some of their members can speak Japanese, too (like Ji-woo, Mr. Lee, Soo-ah, and Xi-on).
LJH Management & Staff
Lee Jia-hwang
Lee in Vol. 5
LJH's main representative and the person responsible for LJH's idol training, doubling as both manager and talent scout. He's still an active performer, though he's understandably reduced his activities once he formally worked for LJH.
- Agent Peacock: Just look at him.Tenka: We can't trust someone who bares their nipples in public.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Lee says what and acts how he wants, but his advices and opinions are generally on point.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite the idol industry's harsh standards, he typically gives his trainees as many chances as possible, not minding if they fail a few times. Of course, this has a limit, and he has to kick people out every now and then. He also tolerated Min-chae practically shouting at his face and genuinely listened to her concerns (or demands), and overruled Tenka's rankings to set her up with SIVA's next project despite her passing out during her performance.
- Shaking the Rump: Played for Laughs. One of his cringiest songs, Eojjeolago Dance, was essentially him doing this for the entire thing. Min-chae and Ji-woo were naturally horrified at the prospect of dancing this choreography.
- The Tell: His body uncontrollably shakes when being presented by a good performance, just one step before he instinctively joins to dance.Random Trainee 1: The representative's starting to shake! They're almost there! One more push, and he'll start to dance!Random Trainee 2: Is that how it works?
Chae Ye-bin
Ye-bin's usual getup
Ye-bin without glasses
One of LJH's scouting department members, and LUMIUS's former lead vocalist. She manages Tenka, Ji-woo, and Min-chae.
- Clark Kenting: Her thick glasses completely obscure her pretty face (at least from Tenka's point of view), though this didn't prevent Min-chae from recognizing her at first glance, as seen in her character image.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Often follows Mr. Lee around and reprimanding him for his flamboyant demeanour.
- Ye-bin: Mr. Lee, please take care not to say things that can come off as sexual harassment.
- Kuudere: Non-romantic example. Typically doesn't say much, but has the best interest of her trainess at heart.
- Mysterious Past: Something happened to make her quit LUMIUS around five years ago, but it's never explained. She's moved on to managing trainees after that.
- Supreme Chef: Is a very good home cook, once cooking a full spread for Tenka and Min-chae to cheer them up. Quite unusual for a former idol and single woman.
- The Stoic: Generally emotionless and cold, but it's clear she cares very much about the idols in her care.
Park Sun-yeong
LJH's designated dance trainer.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Usually forms this duo with Bo-ra. Sun-yeong's much more open and straightforward, with a generally relaxed and supportive demeanour.
Goo Bo-ra
LJH's designated vocal trainer.
- Eyes Out of Sight: Her signature look, combined with freckles on her nose.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Usually forms this duo with Sun-yeong. Bo-ra's typically serious and solemn, with a more sombre appearance.
Uhm He-jin
A member of LJH's Rookie Development Department. She manages Soo-ah.
- Evil Mentor: Somewhat. She constantly instigates Soo-ah against her team members partially because the girl's far too passive and outwardly nice, more interested in keeping up appearances rather than prioritizing her ambition. As her assigned manager, He-jin naturally has to push her charge any way she can.
- Stern Teacher: As a mentor figure to Soo-ah, she's incredibly harsh and to-the-point, last seen threatening to fire Soo-ah if she didn't improve by the next evaluation. It's implied she shared Soo-ah's frustration for failing to debut so many times and got held back for so many years, causing her to snap and scold Soo-ah harshly.
LJH Trainees
A cast of around 30 young girls currently training under LJH. They operate based on a ranking system: Trainees are graded after monthly evaluations, with ranks ranging from A to C. Typically, they either form groups on their own, relying on casual friendship, or assigned groups by the management (typically Lee). For tropes involving Tenka, Ji-woo, and Min-chae, refer to their sections above.Group 1/"The Super Team"
- Early-Bird Cameo: Hyoo-na, May, and Rebecca first appeared in Chapter 23, 24 chapters earlier before they're properly named. Hyoo-na didn't even get a face—she's just a faceless silhouette in the background, recognizable only by her hairstyle.
- Super Team: Can't be more literal than them. Even their lowest-ranked member, Min-chae, has the potential to be in Rank A, had she not messed up her monthly evaluation and allowed Tenka's lost of consciousness to affect her.
Hyoo-na
Current rank: A-1
The current Rank 1, and the closest to graduating and debuting.
- The Ace: Hyoo-na's not ranked No. 1 for nothing. She easily trounces Ji-woo, currently ranked No. 5 just after her, to the ground when they competed.
- All Asians Know Kung Fu: A very capable martial artist, once judo-throwing and joint-locking Ji-woo to the ground without even looking.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Typically dresses in all-black clothes, Hyoo-na is one of the fairest and most principled girls in the manga, who's also a respected leader among the trainees.
- Foil: To Soo-ah. Both girls are incredibly experienced and talented, but with opposing personalities. Hyoo-na welcomes challenges and doesn't care for anyone else's attitudes, leads sternly, and maintains a perfectly stoic persona whatever happens. Soo-ah is terrible under pressure, tries to manipulate others to benefit herself, but presents a perfectly friendly, kind, sisterly persona to fool others. Physically, Hyoo-na's very slender with extreme Tsurime Eyes, compared to Soo-ah's more mature curves and Tareme Eyes.
- Odd Friendship: Despite their various clashes, she actually gets along well with Ji-woo as one of the few people who can handle the latter's personality. They're usually seen chatting in the background.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Hyoo-na's victory over Ji-woo for Ivy's part in Freak. To this point, Ji-woo is constantly described as a super-talented eccentric artist who's in no way inferior a performer to Tenka, as proven by her No. 5 rank. While Tenka also lost to the more experienced Soo-ah, it was marginal—yet Hyoo-na's win was so overwhelming Ji-woo didn't bother protesting the result and resorted to some childish taunting instead.
- The Stoic: See her character image? That's her expression for everything, never raising her voice or breaking her composure. We can only assume she can emote normally during performances, since acting is such an important part, but we never see her do this.
"May"/Chitra Jarat
Current rank: A-2
An aspiring idol from Thailand, nicknamed "May". She's actually the same age as Min-chae.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: As Min-chae's counterpart, she naturally has this. Compared to Min-chae's technique-filled singing, May's own is noted to be effortless and natural.
- Big Anime Eyes: The only character drawn this way, with her iris occupying much more of her eyes than other characters.
- Technician Versus Performer: Very much the performer when compared to Min-chae. As noted, May's singing is completely natural and stress-free, using the minimal amount of physical strength to hit her notes, not matter what they are. Being from Thailand, she also likely didn't have the same formal, elite musical background Min-chae was provided with (or forced into), meaning she came all this way relying on her natural talent.Min-chae: She's a natural-born singer!
- The Rival: May's voice is the only one who can rival Min-chae in pure quality and technique, so the shorter girl views May as this.
- Younger Than They Look: May looks like a perfectly normal young woman... but is still only 13 (12 in international age).
Rebecca
Current rank: A-4
- Buxom Beauty Standard: The only girl who can give Tenka a run for her money.
- Dainty Little Ballet Dancers: She's a former classical ballerina. Apparently, she's won some famous competitions in the past before joining LJH. Of course, unlike the trope, there's nothing "little" about Rebecca..
- Foil: To Ji-woo. Rebecca's incredibly friendly and sunny, while Ji-woo's very rude, confrontational, and challenging. Rebecca's dance training stems from classical ballet, while Ji-woo did street dancing and hip-hop (both winning various competitions in the past). Rebecca is a buxom, long-haired feminine girl, while Ji-woo's an androgynous short-haired non-binary girl.
- Gorgeous Gaijin: The only trainee with a Western name. While her surname is blurred, it's obvious that, too, is of Western origin instead of Korean. Her real heritage is still unclear, however.
- The Pollyanna: Incredibly chipper and easygoing. Essentially, she's Hyoo-na's exact opposite, though they generally agree on most things regarding to performances. Min-chae, on the other hand, is put off by how sunny Rebecca is all the damn time.
Group 2
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: When compared to Group 1. They have Soo-ah and Tenka who fill and perform similar roles (meaning they'll clash), a flashy dancer, an eccentric homely rapper, and a stoic cat-themed girl.
Sam Soo-ah
Current rank: B-8
Soo-ah in Vol. 7
A young Soo-ah
- Almighty Janitor: Her current rank is far lower than her actual ability... if we judge it only during her practice and training period. Her actual performance, though, with chips on the line, is usually mediocre because she easily gets stressed and thrown off her game. This is implied to be the reason LJH kept delaying her debut, even though her peers (like Ivy) have either long debuted themselves or got fired and kicked out.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Actually far more menacing, manipulative, and cowardly than the perfect persona she projects, though she generally keeps it within the boundaries of what's acceptable.
- Christmas Cake: Non-romantic example. Being the oldest of the current trainees at 20, she's understandably eager to debut as soon as possible, since idols are typically "retired" at age 25. She entered LJH at 13, meaning she's been training for around 7 years—double the amount of training usually required for idols to debut.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: The... "smoothies" she made are suspiciously-coloured liquid made specifically to cater to an idol's dietary needs. The taste is... subjective. Apparently, she's gotten around to forcing most of the trainees to partake as well.Tenka: It tastes... very effective...
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Played for Laughs when Han-sol accidentally let slip of how old Soo-ah actually is.Soo-ah: Back when I was still full of dreams, with stars glimmering in my eyes...
- Embarrassing Nickname: Despite her malicious intent, Soo-ah's genuinely uncomfortable being called "LJH's Miss Perfect". Ga-hyoun and Han-sol also call her "Eomma" ("mom" in Korean).
- Foil: To Hyoo-na. Both girls are incredibly experienced and talented, but with opposing personalities. Hyoo-na welcomes challenges and doesn't care for anyone else's attitudes, leads sternly, and maintains a perfectly stoic persona whatever happens. Soo-ah is terrible under pressure, tries to manipulate others to benefit herself, but presents a perfectly friendly, kind, sisterly persona to fool others. Physically, Hyoo-na's very slender with extreme Tsurime Eyes, compared to Soo-ah's more mature curves and Tareme Eyes.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Her main flaw. She's jealous of Tenka's youth, beauty, and talent, casting her as a minor antagonist in her arc later in the manga.
- Instant Expert: After Tenka fainted, Soo-ah effortlessly stepped in, having perfectly memorized the former's choreography within the first few minutes of the performance. It's helpful Pinky Girl didn't have any demanding choreography, so a veteran like Soo-ah could do it easily.
- Jack of All Trades: The perfect example of this trope, and Soo-ah has it worse than Tenka, because she's already approaching her limit while Tenka still has a lot of potential to tap into.
- Lascivious Beauty Mark: Has one underneath her left eye. And as you can see from her character image, she's plenty attractive.
- Manipulative Bitch: Having realized the limits of her talent, and seeing her same-age friends either leaving or debuting (like Ivy for LUMIUS), she turns to subtle psychological warfare against Tenka when she feels threatened by the latter's talent and rapid improvement.
- Nervous Wreck: Ocassionally slips into this despite her experience, resulting in her most recent drop in rank. It's implied she's quite close to the top before (around Hyoo-na's current rank) since she's usually the lead performer of the Rank A group.
- Nice Girl: To people she doesn't consider as threats, Soo-ah is a very friendly and kind young woman, plus a respected leader among the trainees.
- "Not So Different" Remark: To Tenka. They even describe each other with the exact same words, verbatim.(towards Tenka): She's the better version of me.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Her biggest fear, which is why she's perfectly willing to cast aside her youthful idealism for a more pragmatic approach in defeating her rivals.
Han-sol
Current rank: A-3
- Cuteness Proximity: Finds Min-chae incredibly adorable and enjoys teasing her.
- Dancing Is Serious Business: Much as the story and hype are centered around Ji-woo and Rebecca when it comes to dancing, Han-sol is actually the highest-ranked pure dancer in LJH, meaning she's still the best of them.
- Fangirl: Of Go-nu from SIVA, just like Ga-hyoun and Tenka.
Ga-hyoun
Current rank: B-6
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: Ga-hyoun specializes in rap parts—the first one introduced in the manga, since Ji-woo usually performs the same role reluctantly.
- Animal Motif: A dog, with the two dark bangs framing her face mimicking downturned dog ears, and in contrast to her good friend Mi-yu, who's a cat.
- Mr. Imagination: Noted to be very creative, especially with her rap parts.
Ahn Mi-yu
Current rank: B-7
- Animal Motifs: Obviously of a cat, like Ji-woo, but a much, much quieter version.
- Hellish Pupils: Befitting her cat motifs. Mi-yu's the only character to have this, apart from some super-deformed drawings of Ji-woo.
- The Quiet One: Very much the silent type, though in contrast, she excels in singing high notes when performing.
- Techno Wizard: Mi-yu's skilled in vocal and video editing. Ga-hyoun once wanted her to edit a video of Go-nu Tenka recorded for Han-sol. Of course, the latter protested.
LJH Idols
Individuals or groups who've graduated and debuted under the LJH brand. LUMIUS
LUMIUS's original members
LUMIUS's current members (left to right: Ga-eul, So-yeon, Ivy, Yui, Seung-hee)
- Connected All Along: Ivy and Soo-ah joined LJH at around the same time, and were friends during their trainee period.
- Curly Hair Is Ugly: Inverted. Ivy is considered very attractive and much idolized by her audience members, despite being the only young woman shown so far with very curly hair.
- Guest-Star Party Member: After Ye-bin's departure, the group was floundering for years, with rumours of disbandment rife. Ivy initially joined them straight after graduation as a straight example of this trope, but she quickly replaced Ye-bin as the group's leader (and has been occupying that position ever since).
- The Heart: Ga-eul is considered this. She never stands out too much or perform overly difficult or memorable parts, but she's the moodmaker of the team.Tenka: She's valuable just being there.
- Noodle Incident: Something happened among them to have Ye-bin leave the group, either a conflict between members or a personal choice for her. It's never exptlained.
- Self-Empowerment Anthem: Despite their vastly differing themes (and members), their two hit songs, Pinky Girl and Freak, are this. The former has a hidden message about how a seemingly cute, innocent girl can be selfish in their own way, while the latter is an energetic, powerful song about independent adult women.
SIVA
- A Child Shall Lead Them: A mild, but also not uncommon example in Korea. Xi-on's the youngest among his group, yet he's the "maknae center" and is the face of SIVA, since he's the most charismatic and casually handsome.
- Adaptation Name Change: In-universe example. Xi-on grew up in Japan, so his name has a Japanese version: "Shion".
- Bilingual Bonus: Xi-on's fluent in Japanese and English, though the manga doesn't make a distinction when he switches between languages.
- The Casanova: Xi-on's a classic example, though when it comes to his job, he's just as professional as everyone else. While he flirts a lot with Tenka, he's also genuinely trying to help her—though his advices leave a lot to be desired.
- Nice Guy: Go-nu is very mature and kind towards everyone, being the leader behind the scenes. No wonder Tenka, Han-sol, and Ga-hyoun adore him, while more casual fans like Ji-woo's school friends are more taken by the "bad boy" Xi-on.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Go-nu is basically this trope incarnate. Truth in Television, too, since his looks would've given him an advantage as an idol, since the studio was going to search for young men like him anyway.
- Team Mom: Go-nu constantly nags away at Xi-on and the other members for their unprofessional attitude, and generally takes care to smooth out relations with various staff members.
Others
Minato Harumi
- Childhood Friend: With Tenka, since their last years of elementary school.
- Hot Guy, Ugly Wife: Non-romantic example, though not because of a lack of effort on Harumi's part. Harumi himself is considered very attractive and popular in his school, but he's in love with the very much Hollywood Homely, plain Erian, rather than his extremely beautiful and popular Childhood Friend Tenka. Ironically, Erian is even denser than him in romantic matters, while Tenka has been pining for him for close to 5 years.
- Oblivious to Love: God damn, this guy is dense. No matter how much Tenka tried, it required a full-blown tearful confession from the girl for him to notice.
Im Ro-mi
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Her current getup, much to the shock of Min-chae's school friends. When she's still an active singer, she dressed more normally.
- Small Parent, Huge Child: Subverted. Min-chae inherited her petite build from her, who's also short.
- Stage Mom: Played with. On one hand, she micromanages Min-chae's schedules, training, and decided on her future one-sidedly, since Ro-mi knew her daughter's talent and personality the best. What she didn't know, however, was how Min-chae would grow, and this was the main source of conflict between the mother and daughter. Min-chae wanted more freedom, yet her personality was problematic enough Ro-mi was worried to give her said freedom. Ro-mi's advices often roam into The Extremist Was Right territory, given what Min-chae wanted were mostly misunderstandings stemming from a rebellious puberty streak. Other than that, they're quite casual around each other, and Ro-mi often entertained Min-chae's fits and allowed her to shout back freely.
BRIGHT ROSE
- Kaleidoscope Hair: Their main vocalist, Riona, used to sport her natural black hair when still active as a Japanese idol. In Korea, she dyed her hair fully blonde.
