Character subpage for the second-year students.

Note: all characters are categorized according to Class at the beginning of the story.

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Class 2-A

Kaguya Shinomiya

For more info about her, see her page.

Ai Hayasaka

Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori (Japanese), Amanda Lee (English), Jéssica Cardia (Brazilian Portuguese)
Played by: Mayu Hotta

Debut: Chapter 3 (Manga), Episode 1 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hayasaka.png

^{Click here to see her after the Class Trip arc}

A second-year student at Shuchi'in and valet of the Shinomiya family, specifically for Kaguya. Her family has served the Shinomiyas for generations and gained their trust. Ai was personally assigned to enter Shuchi'in with Kaguya and support her high school life.

Adaptational Badass: Her Ninja Maid status is dialed up ever so slightly in the anime. Not only is she able to snipe a drone with a Catch and Returned baseball after performing a Wall Run, but she redirects Fujiwara with ease.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair is dirty blonde in the live-action movie rather than blonde.
Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Gives one to Fujiwara in Chapter 62 after being complimented on her beauty by the latter. She also does this to Erika when they indirectly compliment her in Chapter 50 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya.
Ambiguously Bi: While she has stated a desire for a boyfriend a few times, later chapters start teasing the possibility of attraction between her and Fujiwara. While it's mostly played as a joke, a Flash Forward during her final chapter includes her cuddling with Fujiwara and mentioning how she occasionally lives in her house. Even if it's purely taken as a dream she's having, her sleeping face specifically shows that she's enjoying it.
Ascended Extra: She was originally created to be a background character in Chapter 3, but went on to become the most prominent character in the series outside of the Student Council because the author took a liking to her.
Be Careful What You Wish For: She comments on multiple occasions that it would be better if Kaguya and Shirogane would just confess their feelings for each other rather than bother with the whole Duel of Seduction. Once they actually do get together, Kaguya's constant bragging about their relationship annoys her far more than all her denials ever did.
Beleaguered Assistant: While not normally the case, in Chapter 42 she's this when Kaguya keeps asking her for help as Hayasaka is trying to bathe.
Beneath the Mask: invoked Extras states that she has many modes like gal and maid mode, but her real personality is actually similar to Kaguya's in that she gets scared a lot and cries easily. This was shown in Chapter 42 when she realizes that she wants to be in love too with the biggest blush on her face. Shown again in Chapter 58 when she starts crying out of frustration for failing to seduce Shirogane. The rap battle chapter has Hayasaka (as Haasaka-kun) rap to Kaguya about how she's frustrated with putting on all of her personas for the latter's sake, and how she wants to find love and act for herself for once, putting all of her previous grievances into the limelight for the first time. On a more serious note, it's revealed in Chapter 179 and several chapters afterwards that she utterly loathes herself and believes she's a terrible person for spying on Kaguya.
Best Friend: Of Kaguya, as they're practically family to each other. While Kaguya does have friends, Hayasaka is the only person who knows Kaguya as a whole, warts and all.
Birds of a Feather:
- For all the grief she gives Kaguya over her inability to just confess to Shirogane, she has her own unhealthy view of romance. She thinks that to get someone to love you, you have to put on a facade. Shirogane calls her out for hiding behind masks, despite him also doing his best to keep up the image of the perfect student and council president.
  Hayasaka: If you don't put on an act, you won't be loved.
- She only acts like her normal true self around her mom, at which point she's exactly like Kaguya when she's squeeing over Shirogane. Like Kaguya, she believes she's a monster behind the mask and that she's unworthy of love.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Invoked and subverted. She's a massive Deadpan Snarker and is absolutely able to put on different acts: a cheerful teenage girl in front of her friends (the "Gal mode"), a level-headed maid who carries out duties flawlessly, and occasionally gives her mistress grief over her absurd demands, and an anti-Miyuki version, Haysaca-chan, a maneater who picks up men in Roppongi and Azabu and leads them around by the nose. That said, Ai is not actually nasty and is in reality a genuinely kind person who loves Kaguya and would do anything for her.
The Blind Leading the Blind: In Chapter 177, Kaguya asks Hayasaka what place and activities she would recommend on a first date for Ishigami. While Kaguya is initially impressed with Hayasaka's plan, she eventually finds out that Hayasaka was just fantasizing about what her ideal date would look like. Kaguya, feeling sorry for asking Hayasaka for advice and then acting insensitively about it, nonetheless presents the plan to Ishigami. He likes parts of the plan, but in his usual Brutally Honest way, he points out several logistical flaws in it and can't help but comment that "this plan radiates thirst" because it's built around visiting a famous make-out spot. This earns him a volleyball in his face from an eavesdropping Hayasaka.
Blind Without 'Em: Downplayed. Hayasaka is nearsighted to the point that things become blurry from only a few feet away, and wears contacts in her day-to-day life.
Brief Accent Imitation: When she's showing Shirogane into the Shinomiya estate during the sick episode, she stuffs her bra slightly, wears bright blue color contacts, and adds a slight accent to her speech so that she'll look and sound like a foreigner.
Broken Pedestal: Downplayed; in Chapter 196, Hayasaka's high opinion of Maki is tarnished a bit after spending an afternoon with her, Shirogane, and Ishigami, and seeing Maki's Butt-Monkey tendencies underneath all her talent and eloquence. Hayasaka even muses that Maki's habit of being dishonest with herself is pretty familiar. Still, the girls end up bonding and becoming friends from the experience.
The Butler Did It: She's been acting as a spy for the eldest Shinomiya sibling Oko since the day she started working for Kaguya. This leads to quite a bit of guilt on her part.
But Not Too Foreign: She's a quarter Irish, implying that, unlike the rest of the main cast, the color of her eyes and hair is not cosmetic to fit the manga, as the early chapters point out.
Childhood Friends: With Kaguya, having known each other since infancy (though they were separated when they were two and didn't see each other again for another five years).
Composite Character: A slight example. In the Offical Doujin's Kindergarten A.U., she takes up Kaguya's status as Shirogane's primary love interest (Kaguya still exists, but she's aged down to kindergartner with a Precocious Crush on Shirogane), even end up getting married at the end..
Compressed Hair: Her Hayasaka-kun persona wears a black wig that is far too small to hide all her normal hair.
Conditioned to Accept Horror: Hayasaka works insane hours, gets maybe 4 hours of sleep a day, and her employment runs afoul of child labor laws. She has never questioned any of it due to it having been her lot in life since the day she was born.
The Confidant: Having known Kaguya since they were children, Hayasaka is one of the few people around whom Kaguya's amiability is genuine. One of the reasons she hates herself so much is that she's been betraying Kaguya's trust since the day they met and leaking almost all her secrets to her eldest brother Oko.
The Consigliere: Hayasaka is Kaguya's closest adviser and friend, and the only one that knows absolutely every side of hers. This is also the reason why she can be openly blunt and snark at her boss without any repercussion.
Consummate Liar: The narration notes that she lies as easily as she breathes. Given that she has to juggle several alter egos at the same time, this is a very useful skill to have.
Cool Big Sis: She's the only person in Kaguya's life who resembles a family and takes care of her most personal needs. She even admits to viewing Kaguya as a little sister in Chapter 75.
Cosmic Motifs: She has a subtle stellar motif, with her nails, Line ID, and phone case all having a star pattern. It's symbolic of her devotion to Kaguya since the moon is almost always accompanied by stars.
Cosplay Otaku Girl: While she mostly does it for the sake of her job, Hayasaka really enjoys dressing up in various outfits for her different personas and coming up with elaborate backstories for them.
Covert Pervert: The first thing she does upon finding out that Kaguya and Shirogane kissed is ask Kaguya what it was like, despite there having been far more important questions at the time.
The Cynic: Believes that people cannot be truly loved for who they are. It says a lot about her since she has never shown her real personality around others.
Deadpan Snarker: Very much so, especially regarding Kaguya's obvious feelings for Shirogane. In an official "Snark Test" included in Volume 4, the highest snark level is called "Hayasaka Level".
Hayasaka: Well, Miss Kaguya, your plans all relied on the assumption that the president would invite you to go with him. And you know what happens when you assume things.
Kaguya: And why exactly are you looking through your boss' notes, Hayasaka?
Deliberate Under-Performance: It's implied that Hayasaka deliberately keeps herself at exactly 114th place among the test ranking to avoid drawing attention to herself. Given her line of work, it's not like she'd have to get into a good college to ensure stable employment. When she retires at the end of the Class Trip arc, she ends up placing 20th on the following exam.
Desperately Craves Affection: Hayasaka wishes she could spend more time with her mother, wants friends, and increasingly gets more frustrated the more she hears about Kaguya and Shirogane dating, to the point that she tried to give a Forceful Kiss to Fujiwara and writes down in a notebook what her ideal date would look like. When Kaguya shows Ishigami the plan with her permission so he can use with for his first date with Tsubame, he comments that whoever wrote it must really want to be kissed and has no experience in dating at all.
Disguised in Drag: Whenever Fujiwara comes over to the Shinomiya estate, she disguises herself as a butler.
Doppelgänger: Albeit with the limiting factor that they are different in height, she can impersonate even Kaguya under the right circumstances.
Dude, She's Like in a Coma:
- Gender inverted. She thinks that Kaguya should've taken advantage of Shirogane's sleep to kiss him.
- Played straight earlier when Shirogane visits a sick Kaguya and she insists that he should not take advantage of her in her weakened state while emphasizing how easily he could get away with it, in a desperate attempt to advance their relationship.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite everything she does for Kaguya, Kaguya seems to underappreciate her personal valet sometimes. When she learns that Hayasaka is quitting her job, she becomes aware that she took Hayasaka's service for granted, and asks Hayasaka to reconsider, not realizing that Hayasaka also wants to quit so she no longer has to lie to Kaguya.
Earn Your Happy Ending: With both her and her dear friend Kaguya free from the Shinomiya family's influence, Hayasaka has a dream about a happy future with her first restful sleep in years.
Easily Forgiven: Downplayed during the Class Trip arc:
- Shirogane is angry, when he learns that Hayasaka lied about her identity, but he quickly realizes that she exposed herself to him because she needed his help.
- Kaguya is furious when she finds out about Hayasaka having spied on her for the past ten years, but manages to forgive her after a long talk. Considering the fact that this was the first time that Kaguya had ever forgiven anyone in her life, it might as well count as her acting as if it never happened in the first place.
Entertainingly Wrong: She initially misinterprets Karen's shipping tendencies as her being a Stalker without a Crush towards Kaguya and inserts herself into her and Erika's social circle to keep an eye on her. By the time she realizes that Karen is just a harmless idiot, it's far too late to come up with a plausible excuse to separate herself from them.
Epic Fail: Kaguya challenges her to seduce Shirogane in a day, only for Shirogane to nearly seduce her without even actively trying to. She ends up venting her frustrations to Kaguya for the whole ordeal.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Chapter 187 has her shortening her hair to a shoulder-length bob cut after she's officially no longer Kaguya's maid. Combine that with her wearing the proper Shuchi'in uniform and she almost looks like a different person.
False Friend: Zig-Zagged. With the exception of Kaguya and later Shirogane, pretty much all her friendships are fake on her end as she only hangs out with people to gather gossip for her job. Mirin and Subaru do see her as a genuine friend, though they are Locked Out of the Loop about Hayasaka's life as Kaguya's valet. After they stick up for Hayasaka during the Class Trip arc, she starts trying to be a real friend to them in turn.
Fangirl: For Disney. When Kaguya floats the idea of going on a first date at Disneyland to her, she goes on a lengthy tangent about how the parks should be used to appreciate Disney characters instead of romance.
First-Name Basis: Kaguya starts to call her by her first name "Ai" in Chapter 187, now that she's no longer her maid and is just her friend. This is especially unusual for Kaguya since she typically refers to everyone else by their last name or title, even the student council.
For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: When her class does a cosplay cafe for the culture festival, she just wears her work outfit.
The Gadfly: On top of being a Servile Snarker, Hayasaka loves to mess with Kaguya at any given opportunity as a form of stress relief for her job. She does do this to other people (Shirogane being the most prominent), but the fact that she spends most of her time around Kaguya means she tends to get a lion's share of the teasing. Chapter 111 shows that she inherited it from her mother.
- In one instance, Shirogane is on the phone with Kaguya, and offhandedly mentions that he's taking a bath. Hayasaka helpfully points out that Kaguya is therefore speaking with a naked man, with predictable results.
- She just loves teasing her best friend when it comes to Shirogane. Hayasaka will sometimes make it seem like she's trying to make a move on Shirogane, like when she's pointing out that friends can eventually become lovers or when she asks Kaguya for permission to give Shirogane chocolate, totally out of obligation. As usual, Kaguya acts accordingly.
The Glasses Gotta Go: Implied. She is incredibly nearsighted, but is only shown wearing her glasses while going through her morning routine, and instead wears contacts in her day-to-day life. While it isn't specified if she does so because it's more fashionable, it wouldn't exactly be out of character if that were the case.
Got Me Doing It: She ends up having a Kaguya-esque Imagine Spot when Kaguya says that she wants to get the same phone model as Shirogane.
Gyaru Girl: She dresses in kogal fashion while at school. Starting in Chapter 187 however, she starts wearing the standard Shuchi'in uniform, although she still keeps her blue scrunchie on her wrist.
Hereditary Hairstyle: After her Important Haircut in Chapter 186, she styles it into a bob that was clearly inspired by her mother (though her mother's hair lacks the single large fringe). It's also later revealed that her Hayasaka-kun appearance is modeled after her father.
Heroic BSoD: Only for the slightest moment at the end of the Class Trip arc. Hayasaka desperately didn't want Kaguya to find out that she was acting as The Mole from the beginning, or, after Kaguya's elder brother, Unyo, told her about it, to show indifference and declare that she knew from the beginning. If Kaguya hadn't forgiven her, Hayasaka would have crossed the Despair Event Horizon and would have been taken away by Unyo.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Hayasaka was forced into a life of harsh servitude, that has robbed her of a happy childhood and youth, but she does treasure Kaguya above all. And this is exactly why she hates herself, as she has reported on Kaguya to her eldest brother from the beginning. Fortunately, both Shirogane and Kaguya gave her a happier ending after finding out.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kaguya. While their relationship is technically that of a mistress and a servant, Word of God says that they're more like very close sisters. Hayasaka is proverbially Kaguya's right arm... and the logical part of her brain. After Hayasaka resigns from her position as maid, they become this trope fully, with her being the only one Kaguya is on a First-Name Basis with.
Hired Help as Family: Hayasaka's family has a long-running Legacy of Service with the Shinomiya family, and she in particular is shown to have a close sisterly bond with Kaguya despite technically being her valet.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: To Kaguya. Hayasaka is a master multi-tasker, capable of pulling off miracles for the sake of Kaguya, and without all the neuroticism that her dear friend and employer have.
I Call It "Vera": Chapter 172 reveals that she has a taser for self defense which is apparently named "Zappy-kun".
I Can Explain: Insists this after Kaguya sees her using the Shinomiyas' fancy bath. Fortunately, Kaguya doesn't care about that.
I Just Want to Be Free: She was born into servitude, which robbed her of a normal childhood. While being treated as a joke, when she mentioned that she wants to switch jobs, she was serious. Not only is her job full-time with next to no time for any hobbies or proper sleep (for the last ten years), but she also has to constantly lie and report on her best friend and honorary sister. At the end of the Kyoto trip, she finally is relieved of her duties and can properly be friends with Kaguya.
I Just Want to Be Loved: She mentions at several points that she wants to be able to fall in love just like Kaguya has, though she doesn't have anyone that she's interested in.
I Just Want to Be Normal: She really wishes she didn't have to juggle several identities and have a boyfriend of her own. Too bad babysitting Kaguya is a full-time job on its own.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Hayasaka spends most of her time attending Kaguya and watching over her. While she does have friends in school, she doesn't show anyone but Kaguya and her mother what she's really like in the manga. She eventually lets out her frustrations in a rap battle with Kaguya, angrily declaring that she doesn't want to hide who she is and that she also wants (male) friends and to date someone.
Important Hair Accessory: She wears a blue scrunchie to hold up her hair that was a gift from Kaguya when they were children and represents their friendship. She also installed a phone in it, and (in the anime) it blinks with red lights when Kaguya needs her help. After having to cut her hair during the Class Trip arc, she stops wearing it in her hair and instead uses a star and crescent moon hairpin (which represents the same thing but is far more upfront about its meaning due to them no longer hiding their relationship). She still has the scrunchie, but it's now used as a wristband.
Important Haircut: She cuts off her ponytail with a knife in order to prevent one of Unyo's servants from holding onto it. This keeps her from being able to wear the scrunchie Kaguya gave her anymore, marking the metaphorical end to their master-servant relationship (she ends up keeping it as a wristband instead).
Informed Attractiveness: She'll often get a comment remarking how hot she is.
It Was a Gift: A flashback during the Class Trip arc reveals that the blue scrunchie she always wears was a gift that Kaguya gave her when they were children.
Ivy League for Everyone: Her "Haasaka-kun" persona is a Harvard graduate to drive home the fact that he's supposed to be a Teen Genius.
Just Friends: Overall subverted regarding her relationship with Shirogane. Despite teasing Kaguya about planning to seduce Shirogane early in the series just to prove a point, and her friends mistakenly believing she's in love with him due to a Sustained Misunderstanding, Hayasaka has stated several times she only sees him as a friend. After the class trip, she properly asks Shirogane to be her friend in Chapter 195, when she gives him Friendship Valentine Day's chocolate, though her uncharacteristic uneasiness makes it look more like a confession.
Hayasaka: Just to make it official... Will you be my friend?
Lady-In-Waiting: She's the daughter of a Shinomiya Group branch director and serves primarily as Kaguya's personal attendant.
Laser-Guided Karma:
- After scaring Kaguya with the rape thing, Hayasaka has to scan the sheets with a microscope.
- After making Kaguya paranoid about the karaoke networking event Shirogane is attending, she ends up having to stake it out herself.
Legacy of Service: Her family has served the Shinomiya family for generations.
Like Brother and Sister: Eventually she becomes this to Shirogane after she admits she's actually Kaguya's maid.
Locked Out of the Loop: While she's aware of the relationship between Ishigami and Iino, she appears to not realize the true nature of it, given that their romance arc goes completely unresolved in the version of the future she dreams about.
Manipulative Bastard: Not in a bad sense, but she is absolutely capable of being manipulative, and knows to anticipate people's thoughts and use them to her advantage during her missions. Fujiwara is the only exception.
Master Actor: Hayasaka is able to juggle multiple alter egos with only minor changes to her appearance in an effort to keep her identity as Kaguya's valet a secret from her classmates. It helps that the people she's trying to fool are neither in her class nor in her circle of friends.
Meaningful Name: It's only natural that the one who did the most legwork to try and get Kaguya and Shirogane together would have a first name that means "love".
Meido: She wears a maid outfit at home, but her tasks are much more varied than simply taking care of Kaguya.
Meta Guy: She usually makes observations about Kaguya's situation that most readers would be saying at that point in the manga.
"The home visit, the fireworks, the birthday, and the moon-viewing. How do you explain all these events and still not make any progress?"
Mirror Character: Ignoring her physical differences and her sarcastic snarkiness, Hayasaka as her true self could easily be mistaken for a second Kaguya, especially given how she reacts when trying to seduce Shirogane.
Mistaken for Gay:
- Not so much mistaken, but invoked, since she tells Fujiwara in her "Haasaka-kun" disguise that she is only into men, to troll Kaguya. As Shirogane's sister Kei misinterprets her brother's constant chatting with "Haasaka" (as a girl) for romance, Fujiwara is led to believe that Shirogane and "Haasaka-kun" are in love with each other.
- Fujiwara believes that the Hayasaka she knows from school is gay after Hayasaka gave Fujiwara a Forceful Kiss in a moment of weakness.
Mistaken for Romance: Hayasaka's relationship with Shirogane is purely platonic, but is frequently mistaken for romance by the people around them.
- Kaguya isn't always sure whether Hayasaka could actually develop feelings for him since that one time where Hayasaka tried and failed to seduce him under one of her disguises just to prove a point. For her part Hayasaka just loves teasing Kaguya about growing closeness to him. Like in Chapter 108 when she let Kaguya believe for a short while that he asked her out on a date (he actually wanted tell her something through rap music).
- Invoked in Chapter 93, albeit as a failed romance, when Hayasaka wanted people at a mixer with them to think he previously rejected her Love Confession. Her objective was to fulfill Kaguya's orders to keep other girls from flirting with him.
- During the class trip to Kyoto, Hayasaka's friends assume she is in love with Shirogane after seeing them together from afar, which prompts Kaguya to react accordingly. In truth, Hayasaka sought his help.
- Later chapters show that the misunderstanding followed them back to Shuchi'in, where Hayasaka's Important Haircut and her personality seemingly becoming more sullen overnight (she actually just dropped her kogal persona because she doesn't need it anymore) are mistaken for obvious signs of heartbreak.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Subverted. Kaguya thinks sometimes Hayasaka could betray her trust because of how she treats her valet sometimes, but it's always just a misunderstanding. The twist is that Hayasaka has been betraying Kaguya from the start, though she did so reluctantly and regrettably.
Mixed Ancestry Is Attractive: She is mentioned in her character profile to be a quarter Irish, and the only time it is ever directly addressed by another character in-series is when Go is commenting on her looks at a mixer.
The Mole: She has been reporting to Kaguya's eldest brother since the day she was assigned to work for her, leaking all of her personal secrets to him. Her greatest fear is Kaguya finding out and rejecting her.
Ms. Fanservice: She's an attractive young woman that wears a maid outfit at home. Chapter 42 has her spend most of the chapter in nothing but a bath towel.
Ms. Imagination: Her frustration over not being able to date someone has led to her writing down what she imagines her ideal date would look like, which she presents to Kaguya. Kaguya's reaction to finding out that Hayasaka is fantasizing a lot about dates and somewhat pitying her only frustrates Hayasaka even more.
Mundane MacGuffin Person: As Kaguya's maid, she has lots of potential blackmail material on all of her older brothers. This makes her a highly-prized target by the three brothers due to their Succession Crisis, and they begin targeting her once she chooses to leave Kaguya's employ.
Nice Girl: Despite her different personas and enigmatic nature, Ai is ultimately just a nice teenage girl who loves Kaguya as a sister and would do anything for her.
Ninja Maid: She can - and has needed to - flip over security lasers, maintain multiple alter egos, and find blackmail material.
Non-Uniform Uniform: Hayasaka removed the collar from her school uniform, and cut the skirt short. She notes that it's "more or less within the loopholes in the regulations" when Kaguya points it out (it still ends up getting her in trouble with the public morals committee despite this... or rather it would if Iino wasn't such a pushover). It's implied that even though she describes her garb methodically describing femininity as a "weapon", Hayasaka is very much enjoying the perks of youth by wearing it, and was just pandering to Kaguya.
Not Herself: Subverted. Post class trip (now released from her service to the Shinomiya family), Hayasaka behaves harsher and more distant in school, which is actually more true to how she usually behaves. Her Gyaru Girl friends in school assume it's how she copes with having her heart broken by Shirogane.
Not So Above It All:
- She's nearly as sheltered as Kaguya when it comes to romance, though less ignorant. Her reaction to hearing Kaguya suddenly kissed Shirogane is a blushing meltdown and being told it was a French kiss has her call it lewd and on par with having sex on campus. After hearing the news that Kaguya had her first time, Hayasaka could not help but grab a pillow as she becomes a blushing mess.
- Even though she goes the extra mile for Kaguya, juggling multiple fake identities and maintaining lifestyles for all of them, it's shown that there's a significant part of her that does those things for the mere fun of it. If it weren't the case, she wouldn't do most of the stuff she does.
- Chapter 177 reveals that Hayasaka is writing down her fantasized dating plans, which Ishigami comments must definitely come from someone who has never dated and Desperately Craves Affection. Hayasaka, who was eavesdropping, then angrily throws a volleyball in his face.
Not So Stoic:
- Even as stoic as she is in her default personality, she sheds tears after reading Sweet Today.
- She's considerably embarrassed when Kaguya makes her try to seduce Shirogane... and in turn, Hayasaka starts falling for his courtesies. She's so mad that Kaguya has to apologize to her, though this makes her see why Kaguya fell for the guy.
Obfuscating Stupidity: She has always placed at exactly 114th place in all of the end-of-semester exams. Considering that she got a similar education and lives with the best possible study partner in the school (and already has stable employment that would cancel out the need for her to get into a good college), it's clear that she's doing it on purpose. It's also implied that she's lowering the bar intentionally so that this doesn't become an additional burden for her, as she's busy enough as it is. The Volume 20 extras reveal that, now that she no longer has to maintain her dumb Gyaru Girl persona and can focus more on her studies, she got 20th in the latest exam.
Oh, Crap!: When she witnesses firsthand why Kaguya likes Shirogane so much, she's so bewildered and embarrassed that she admonishes Kaguya for intentionally putting her in a situation that brought her so close to falling for the guy herself.
Pastimes Prove Personality: Kaguya states she likes to watch videos of things being crushed in a hydraulic press in her free time. Chapter 179 shows her doing this before going to sleep.
Patchwork Kids: For the most part she looks like a younger version of her mother, though when we're finally introduced to her father it's clear that she inherited his bad eyesight.
Phenotype Stereotype: Subverted. She has the stereotypical blonde hair and blue eyes, but she's actually part Irish (which would normally be depicted as a redhead).
Precision F-Strike: Drops one about Kaguya's father for his horrible parenting.
"Drop dead, asshole."
Pretty Freeloader: Her final chapter hints at, and the volume bonus out right says, that she becomes a NEET after graduating, since she has a sizable savings and feels no hurry to get back into the work force she alternates from living with Fujiwara (Kaguya kicked her out after three days due to her newfound laziness) and traveling around the world.
Promoted to Love Interest: In the Offical Doujin's Kindergarten A.U., she is Shirogane's primary love interest (Kaguya still has a crush on him, but it's instead a Precocious Crush). They even end up getting married.
Properly Paranoid: When Shirogane asks why she doesn't ask the Shinomiya Family for protection from people who want to know what she knows about the Shinomiya Family, she admits she trusts them least of all. Considering one of Kaguya's brothers is there in Kyoto specifically for that information, she's right not to go for them.
Quiet Cry for Help: When Hayasaka approached Shirogane about her real work and when she showed herself to him being close to Kaguya during the Kyoto arc, she left hints that she is sick and tired of her life as a servant, who hides behind multiple masks. In the latter case, Shirogane realizes that she is in trouble and needs his help.
The Reliable One: Shown to be a very competent maid and valet, such as when she obtains required items for the sister school banquet ahead of time for Kaguya and Shirogane due to rain.
Sarcasm Failure: She's taken completely off guard when Kaguya finally admits that she's in love with Shirogane and can only utter a Flat "What" before getting embarrassed.
Sarcastic Devotee: While she does loyally follow Kaguya's orders, she spends a lot of time snarking at her.
Secret Identity: Hayasaka goes the extra mile to pretend she isn't Kaguya's servant. She has a gyaru persona, a "Smithee A. Haasaka" persona from another school, and a Teen Genius butler persona to keep up illusions.
Secret-Keeper: She's the only person who knows how antsy Kaguya actually is behind wraps. And was the very first person to be told of of her and Shirogane's Relationship Upgrade (though Karen found out first). She later admits to Shirogane that while she may be under orders to report everything Kaguya says, does, or thinks about to the Main House, their relationship is the one thing that she's managed to keep a secret.
Secretly Wealthy: In terms of personal wealth, she is the independently wealthiest character among the teenaged cast with over 40 million yen in savings thanks to having served as Kaguya's maid for a decade ^(!).
Secret Test of Character: Her meeting with Shirogane at a karaoke bar served for her to determine what is it that Kaguya saw on him. Much to Hayasaka's own embarrassment, there was plenty to like.
Servile Snarker: She is very loyal to Kaguya, but she isn't above making fun of Kaguya's stubbornness. In fact, Kaguya is the only person she snarks at since she often hides her true personality from others.
Shipper on Deck: She really supports the idea of Kaguya and Shirogane getting together, and often asks Kaguya outright if she likes him.
Shrinking Violet: Her real personality, according to the volume extras.
Siblings Wanted: Played with. Hayasaka is very much in the same line of thought when it comes to Kaguya as Kaguya herself does for her; that is, Hayasaka considers Kaguya her family and treats her like her little sister.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Downplayed with Kaguya. Kaguya is dark-haired and has red eyes, while Hayasaka is fair-haired and has blue eyes. However, they are similarly intelligent and have similar personalities.
Significant Birth Date: Played with. Her birthday is listed as April 2 (public) in the official fan book. While the date itself isn't significant, the fact that it's listed as public means that she was probably born sometime in March and the official date was changed so she and Kaguya would be in the same grade.
Situational Sexuality: She has always framed her goal as a boyfriend, but plants a kiss on Fujiwara in a moment of desperation. Both are freaked out by it.
Songs of Solace: Played with during the mixer where she sings a song of unrequited love to try and make Shirogane uncomfortable enough to head home by framing it as her dealing with the supposed grief of him rejecting her a while back.
Smarter Than You Look: Inverted. She actually has the lowest grades among the second-year cast (yes, even below Fujiwara). Though the fact that she's the only one outside of the top ten whose ranking didn't change suggests that she's Obfuscating Stupidity to avoid drawing attention to herself (since she doesn't exactly need to get into a good school when she already has stable employment). This is proven to be correct, as after leaving her job as Kaguya's servant she instantly clocks a 20th ranking in stark contrast to her previous 114th.
The Stoic: Always has the same calm expression and demeanor. Almost, anyway.
Strong Family Resemblance: She looks like a slightly younger version of her mother.
Sue Donym: All of her alter egos are named Haasaka. For instance, she introduces herself to Shirogane as "Smithee A(i). Haasaka".
Sweet Polly Oliver: She has no problems pretending to be "Haasaka-kun", a ridiculously talented butler persona who she even made a convoluted backstory for.
Sweet Tooth: According to the narrator, Hayasaka finished "most of" a multilayered cake Kaguya bought.
Thinks Like a Romance Novel: While not as bad as Karen, Hayasaka has some very strong views on how romance should be. She records (logistically impossible) fantasies of her own ideal dates in a notebook and rejected Kaguya's heartfelt "I love you, please go out with me" practice confession on the grounds that it was "too boring".
Triple Shifter: Working for Kaguya while also attending school means that she gets maybe 4 hours of sleep a day.
Turn the Other Cheek: She has a monumental patience for Kaguya's neuroses and whims, which goes to show how much she loves her mistress.
Unexpected Virgin: Despite having a mature and confident demeanor, Hayasaka is inexperienced in romance as she never had a boyfriend.
What the Hell, Hero?:
- When Kaguya intends to give a ride to Shirogane during a typhoon, Hayasaka admonishes her because it would mean that she would have to give her car seat to Shirogane and walk home by herself under heavy rain. Kaguya was just joking about making her walk home in the rain, but too late: Karma has already struck in the form of Shirogane accidentally soaking her.
- Hayasaka berates Kaguya for setting her up with Shirogane on a dare, on which she was dangerously close to succumbing to his niceties.
- She also gives one of these to Shirogane after one of the Shinomiya siblings give him one billion yen if it meant he'd be out of Kaguya's life, with him supposedly accepting it despite being in love with her. He quickly makes it clear he has no intention of staying away from Kaguya, and has other reasons for taking the money.
When You Coming Home, Dad?: Her mother wasn't able to see her often when she was a child and instead left daily messages in a notebook. Chapter 87 reveals that this is still an issue when she doesn't show up at the sports festival.
Wrench Wench: While it's not a major part of her character, she has a passion for computer engineering. Kaguya reveals that she built her own mini-computer and based on the image we saw, she really enjoyed it. She also geeks out when reading all of the special features that Kaguya's new smartphone has and constructed several Shoe Phones for her job as Kaguya's valet.
You Keep Telling Yourself That: In spite of all her moaning and snarkiness, there's little to nothing she wouldn't do for Kaguya.
Young and in Charge: Hayasaka is the de facto head of all the servants in Kaguya's mansion despite being 17, as she's been working there the longest. Narration in Chapter 179 mentions that as a minor, her tight schedule and heavy responsibilities are outright illegal, but the Shinomiya family's wealth lets them avoid child labor laws.

Mirin Hinokuchi & Subaru Suruga

Voiced by: Yuka Nukui (Hinokuchi), Yuka Morishima (Suruga)

Debut: Chapter 25 (Manga), Episode 6 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hinokuchi_and_suruga.jpg

Hinokuchi (left) & Suruga (right)

Two classmates of Kaguya's and Hayasaka's, who often hang out with the latter in school.

Alliterative Name: Suruga.
Alternate Character Reading: Mirin's name in Kanji can also be read as Misuzu. In Chapter 211, furigana is given that make it clear her name is to be read as Mirin.
Entertainingly Wrong: Due to being Locked Out of the Loop about Hayasaka's true profession and relationship with Kaguya, they consistently draw the wrong conclusion. They believe Hayasaka is pining for Shirogane, seeing how close they seemingly are. Based on Kaguya's reaction to their assumption, they also believe that a Love Triangle is going on. After Hayasaka goes through an Important Haircut and starts acting more like her usual self (and not like her usual ditzy Genki Girl gyaru persona in school), they assume it's because she had her heart broken at the end of the class trip and that Kaguya won the Love Triangle.
Gone Horribly Right: Being the daughter of an advertising executive, Mirin knows just how effective a pretty girl in a cute costume can be, and thus has Kaguya stand outside their cosplay cafe during the culture festival. Of course, what she wasn't able to take into account was the extra adorable factor of Kaguya's innocent smile when thinking about confessing to Shirogane so they quickly become swamped with customers.
Gossipy Hens: Hayasaka initially befriended them because they're both chatty, which made them useful for keeping track of the going-ons of the school.
Gyaru Girl: Like Hayasaka, they both dress in kogal fashion.
Location Theme Naming: Subaru's surname is derived from the Sugura province of Japan, which when combined with the fact that Mirin's last name translates to volcanic crater means that they are collectively referring to Mount Fuji (which is located in the Sugura province and is where Hayasaka's counterpart in the original Tale fo the Bamboo Cutter burned the Elixir of Immortality).
Locked Out of the Loop: While both of them know that Hayasaka has a job that keeps her from hanging out with them after school, neither of them is aware that she's Kaguya's valet. Subaru even compliments Hayasaka on her maid "cosplay" during the culture festival.
No Name Given: Neither of their names was revealed up until an omake in Volume 18. And even then it never specified who is who until Volume 19.
Satellite Character: The two of them almost exclusively interact with or talk about Hayasaka, though Chapter 153 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya implies that Mirin is also friends with Erika offscreen.
Those Two Girls: They always appear together, and very little is known about them as individuals other than what their parents' jobs are (Hinokuchi has a parent that's an advertising executive, and Suruga's parent is the president of a famous IT company).
True Companions: While Hayasaka doesn't think she's actually friends with them, Kaguya judges them to be this in Chapter 183, when they don't say anything about Hayasaka hugging Shirogane the previous night because "she is [their] friend" and "It's mean to spread rumors behind someone's back."

Class 2-B

Miyuki Shirogane

For more info about him, see his page.

Chika Fujiwara

For more info about her, see her page.

Nagisa Kashiwagi

Voiced by: Momo Asakura (Japanese), Bryn Apprill (English)
Played by: Natsumi Ikema

Debut: Chapter 6 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kashiwagi_6.png

A female student in the same year as Kaguya, Shirogane, and Fujiwara. She occasionally interacts with the student council, in which she typically either receives or provides love advice. Is currently going out with Tsubasa.

All Women Are Lustful: Most of the time, Kashiwagi is the one that makes advances on Tsubasa.
Ambiguously Bi: There have been a few points that suggest that she might have actually had a crush on Maki, like the fact that she constantly imitates her, asked to dance with her during the bonfire, and blushed when thinking about how much Kaguya resembles her. She also explicitly tells Hayasaka and Fujiwara that she finds them attractive and wouldn't mind kissing either of them (although it's possible that she just said that to keep them away from the student council room). What's less ambiguous is her having a dreamy look when Iino asks to teach her about kissing (in order to tie a cherry stem). Fujiwara even comments on it.
Audience Surrogate: Many of her thoughts and reactions resemble those that readers would have in regard to the student council's antics.
Babies Ever After: Kashiwagi and Tsubasa ended up having a baby together by the end of Chapter 274. Promotional artwork depicting the cast as adults also show that they go on to have at least one other child.
Bad Liar: Maki notes that Kashiwagi tends to avoid eye contact whenever she attempts to lie. When trying to break up with Tsubasa for Maki's sake, Kashiwagi tries to pass it off as realizing she was Loving a Shadow, but this tendency immediately gives her away, and Maki forces her to admit the real reason.
Beta Couple: With Tsubasa. While they have their issues and come to the Student Council for help; they are dating and openly communicate with each other, while Kaguya and Shirogane refused to admit their feelings and are stuck in a constant war to make the other confess. That is, until Chapter 160.
Beware the Nice Ones: A member of "The Shuuichin VIPs who do heartless actions without giving them a second thought".
Birds of a Feather: Even though the two may not acknowledge it, she shares quite a bit in common with Kaguya as far as their intense and possessive tendencies in romance, and the two often seek each other out for advice and counsel.
Characterization Marches On: In her introductory chapters, it seemed Kashiwagi was going to be fairly similar to her boyfriend, taking everything the Student Council says and does at face value. However, over time she instead becomes the Only Sane Woman and Audience Surrogate, with bits of The Smart Girl and The Gadfly mixed in. Then in Chapter 97, she seems to go a completely different direction from both her previous characterizations, instead becoming a Clingy Jealous Girl almost bordering on Yandere (though her boyfriend did mention she's pretty possessive in Chapter 76).
Chekhov's Gunman: Chapter 1 shows her name on the end of semester exam scores when the narrator is explaining how Shirogane is at the top of his grade.
Childhood Friends: She's been best friends with Maki since elementary school. It's implied that it may actually be romantic on her part, though nothing concrete is stated (much like with her sexuality).
Clingy Jealous Girl: A more restrained example, but Chapter 97 reveals her to suspect her boyfriend of cheating for the smallest infractions (such as eating with and being tutored by Maki). She even goes as far as hiring a detective to observe his movements.
The Confidant: Kaguya goes to her for advice when it comes to matters of love. And while she has yet to tell Kaguya herself, she's also the only one outside of Hayasaka who definitely knows that Kaguya and Shirogane are head over heels for each other and is fully supportive of their relationship.
The Corruptor: By accident. Her getting to first base with Tsubasa in Chapter 97 was the first romantic kiss that Kaguya had ever seen, so she ended up replicating it during her First Kiss with Shirogane.
Did They or Didn't They?: In Chapter 48, Kashiwagi and her boyfriend see the student council for some more love advice, and because of their demeanor around each other and how they talk about their vacation together, it sounds like they've gotten more intimate. By the end of the chapter, neither one of them gives a straight answer, even though they both tricked the council into thinking they were going to be a couple of Makeout Kids when they got alone time in the student council room. Chapter 138 answers pretty plainly that they did.
Elegant Classical Musician: She plays the cello, which she initially picked up because Maki was also taking lessons.
The Friends Who Never Hang:
- Despite being close friends with Karen and Erika, she almost never interacts with them if Maki isn't also present.
- She and Shirogane have been classmates for at least two years and there is a fair amount of overlap between their social circles (Kaguya, Tsubasa, Maki), yet the number of times the two of them have directly interacted can be counted on one hand. Unsurprisingly, she isn't among the group that comes to see him off at the airport when he leaves for Stanford.
The Gadfly:
- In Chapter 48, she performs several increasingly romantic interactions with her boyfriend while in the student council room to rile up the council members, knowing that they are right outside the room and watching.
- In Chapter 85, she tells her boyfriend that she'll be alone at home that night. When Iino accuses her of wanting to bring her boyfriend home, she turns it around by claiming she just wanted her boyfriend to call her, and suggesting Iino's accusation (and by extension her) was lewd.
Housewife: Chapter 165 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya implies that she's on her way to becoming one of these due to the cultural expectations of doctors' spouses in Japan. It's also worth pointing out that she's the only second year who doesn't have any post-university plans beyond "get into a good company" or the responsibilities of taking over their Family Business (since she has an older brother).
Hypocritical Humor:
- After discovering Kaguya and Shirogane's Secret Relationship, she comments to herself that they really shouldn't be doing this sort of thing (hugging and flirting) in school. This coming from the girl who was caught making out with her boyfriend in a locker during the culture festival.
- She doesn't see the appeal of the necklace Kaguya got from Shirogane despite Tsubasa having given her a similar gift in the past and loving it.
I Have This Friend: She lampshades the trope when Kaguya uses it.
I Just Want to Be You: According to her profile in the Volume 17 extras, she has an unhealthy desire to be Maki, which puts all her imitations of her in a very different perspective.
Important Hair Accessory: She wears a red hairpin on the left side. The Yonkoma bonus chapter reveals that she started wearing it because Maki used to have an identical looking one.
Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: It's mentioned in the Yonkoma bonus chapter that she has been deliberately imitating Maki ever since they were children due to their friendship. Ironically, the only time it actually bothered Maki was when she unknowingly imitated her by stealing her crush.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Platonic version; after finally learning about Maki's crush on Tsubasa, Kashiwagi tries to break up with him so her best friend has a chance instead, despite this clearly breaking her heart. Fortunately, Maki realizes what's going on and talks her out of it, declaring that she's unwilling to date Tsubasa if it comes at the cost of Kashiwagi's happiness.
Locked Out of the Loop: Chapter 273 confirms that she had absolutely no idea that Maki had a crush on Tsubasa, and it's likely that Maki would have taken that secret to the grave had she not accidentally overheard it.
Love Makes You Dumb: Not directly, but her grades did hit a sharp decline once she started dating (dropping from 4th to 27th over the course of two semesters) because she spends most of her precious study time tutoring her boyfriend.
Manipulative Bitch: Downplayed on the bitch part since she's typically genuinely nice, but she has been shown to manipulate both the Student Council and even her own boyfriend for her own amusement.
Meaningful Name: Nagisa translates to "beach" or "shore", exactly the sort of name you'd expect from someone whose family runs a shipbuilding company.
Must Make Amends: After realizing in Chapter 167 that not teaching Kaguya about the meaning of French kisses properly led to a far too intense First Kiss, Kashiwagi is worried that Kaguya could develop into an extremely perverted woman. To rectify her mistake, she lends Kaguya a porn DVD for women to properly educate her about sex.
Nice Girl: A kind and polite girl, who is president and founder of the Volunteering Club, no less.
Non-Idle Rich: Her family runs a major shipbuilding company and her grandfather is the head of the Japan Business Federation. She's also the president and founder of the school's Volunteering Club, which does charity work.
Not So Above It All:
- Chapter 97 outs her as an untrusting Clingy Jealous Girl bordering on Yandere, a sharp contrast to her otherwise Only Sane Woman and Straight Man roles.
- She also gets mad at her boyfriend for the most petty of reasons (i.e. she gets upset because he rarely gets upset), showing she has as many innocent and dumb romantic insecurities as the Student Council does.
Only Sane Woman: Occasionally takes this role when juxtaposed with the antics of the student council, and sometimes even her own boyfriend.
Properly Paranoid: She expresses worry in Chapter 167 that Kaguya's sheltered upbringing would lead her to develop some weird fetishes, especially if her first time with Shirogane is abnormal. Jump forward 60 chapters, and Kaguya ends up developing a fetish for eyeball licking.
Secret-Keeper: As one of Shuchi'in High's most influential students, she is aware of Ko Ogino's true character.
Secret Secret-Keeper: She figures out Kaguya and Shirogane's Secret Relationship almost immediately and tries to help them have some private time. Gets upgraded to a proper Secret-Keeper in Chapter 167 when Kaguya goes to her for more love advice and admits that they're dating.
Shadow Archetype: What Maki is to Kaguya, Kashiwagi is to Fujiwara. Friends for a long time and are genuinely close, but she ends up dating her best friend's crush without knowing about the said crush. And while both are intelligent, Kashiwagi can feign ignorance while Fujiwara is a full-blown Genius Ditz.
Shipper on Deck: Like most of the school, she ships Kaguya/Shirogane. She gets really excited when she discovers that they've had a Relationship Upgrade.
Sickeningly Sweethearts: How the student council views her and her boyfriend.
Smug Smiler: Very capable of doing these whenever she successfully Trolls or outsmarts the Student Council members.
Tareme Eyes: One of Kashiwagi's notable features to show that she is a Nice Girl.
Teen Genius: She is shown to consistently place in the top 10 test scores of her class. Under her tutelage, her boyfriend also managed to remarkably increase his rank score from 139th to 84th.
Teen Pregnancy: Chapter 274 reveals that she is three months pregnant with Tsubasa's baby.
Too Much Information: Kashiwagi has a bad habit of sharing a bit too many details about her love life with Tsubasa, to the point that Maki has to block it out.
Unknown Rival: She is completely oblivious to the fact that Maki considers her a rival for Tsubasa's affection. However, it only took her overhearing Maki ranting about it for her to understand what happened.
Yandere: Mostly Played for Laughs. She threatens to kill her boyfriend, Tsubasa, and Maki if it turns out they are having an affair, and states they would already be dead if the affair was sexual. And when she finds out that both Tsubasa and Maki are friends with Ishigami, she gives him a Death Glare that horrifies him as she states she wants to be his friend.

Tsubasa Tanuma

Tsubasa Tanuma / Kashiwagi's Boyfriend

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro (Japanese), Brandon McInnis (English)
Played by: Yūtarō

Debut: Chapter 6 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsubasa_74.png

^{Click here to see him after summer break}

A male student in the same year as Kaguya, Shirogane, and Fujiwara. He constantly asks Shirogane and the Student Council for love advice, but more often than not ends up inadvertently messing with them in some way. Despite this, he has a (mostly) healthy relationship with Kashiwagi. Due to his plain looks and personality (and the fact that they don't quite care about him), the student council members don't learn his name until Chapter 109, so they mostly referred to him as "Kashiwagi's Boyfriend".

Tsubasa is the grandson of Shozo Tanuma, one of the greatest doctors in the world and the Shinomiya family's physician.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Literally. In the manga, he dyes his hair grey after the summer break, but in the anime, it's dyed brown.
Babies Ever After: Like father, like grandfather, like son, Tsubasa ended up getting Kashiwagi pregnant at the age of 17 (three months before his 18th birthday). Which he doesn't mind as Tsubasa is over the moon at having a child, and in fairness they're both from wealthy enough families that many of the usual issues of teen pregnancy are blunted. Promotional artwork depicting the cast as adults also show that they go on to have at least one other child.
Character Development: Getting together with Kashiwagi boosts his confidence a lot.
Chick Magnet: He has a stable relationship with Kashiwagi and Maki is head over heels for him as well. It's later played for laughs because, as it turns out, Kashiwagi and Maki like each other more than they like him.
Connected All Along: Turns out the doctor who examined Kaguya in Chapter 79, Shozo Tanuma, is his grandfather. Also, one of the four Ramen Emperors may be his great-grandfather (or possibly great-great-grandfather given the family's habit of having children at a young age).
A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 6 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya is told from his perspective, and tells the events directly leading up to his introduction in the main series. Given the fact that it's set before he and Kashiwagi started dating, the narration simply refers to him as "the boy".
The Ditz: A bit air-headed and unwise in his actions and words.
Dye Hard: He starts dying his hair over summer break because Kashiwagi likes men who look assertive. Promotional artwork released post-series reveals that he eventually goes back to his natural black hair as an adult.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's almost exclusively referred to as "Kashiwagi's Boyfriend", even after his Given Name Reveal. The anime profiles are the only exception, as they refer to him as "Male Student".
Extreme Doormat: Ishigami describes him who lacks any sense of agency and just does whatever his girlfriend tells him to do.
Foil: Generally, Tsubasa is the result of a person who while insecure about his feelings for the person he likes, ultimately doesn't care about how foolish he looks when showing his affection and throws away his pride to do so. This is very much unlike all of the main protagonists, who initially cling to their pride and refuse to really say how they feel.
The Friend Nobody Likes: His tendency to piss off the student council by obliviously bragging about his relationship makes them reluctant to deal with him. This somewhat changes later on when he, Shirogane, and Mikado become a group of friends who talk about relationships and give each other advice. Helps that at this point, Shirogane is in a happy relationship with Kaguya.
The Generic Guy: This was his primary characteristic early on. He had average grades, average looks, little to no personality to speak of, and wasn't even referred to by name until 103 chapters after his introduction (the student council literally just referred to him as "Kashiwagi's Boyfriend"). Although he did start getting better grades thanks to his girlfriend's tutoring, and he started dyeing his hair after the summer break.
Given Name Reveal: It took 103 chapters from his introduction before his name was revealed. Before that, he was just referred to as "Kashiwagi's boyfriend". This is lampshaded by Shirogane, Ishigami, and the narration. His last name was only confirmed via a tweet by the author almost 4 years after his introduction and is never actually spoken in-series (though it is used in Kashiwagi's character profile and a caption in Chapter 180).
Henpecked Husband: Tsubasa is very passive by nature, so Kashiwagi calls the shots in their relationship. A comment that he makes in Chapter 215 about seeing breasts from below also implies that she's usually on top when they have sex.
Hidden Depths: He's interested in medicine, and hopes to become the kind of doctor that saves lives in the future.
Hospital Hottie: Maki loves him since he visited her so often when she was hospitalized.
Innocently Insensitive: Constantly does things that inadvertently piss off the Student Council and even Kashiwagi.
It Runs in the Family: Chapter 147 reveals that his grandfather and father both got a girl pregnant when they were 17 While he initially seems to have avoided following in their footsteps by the time of his 18th birthday, Kashiwagi turns out to be 3 months pregnant shortly afterward.
Love Makes You Dumb: Inverted due to dating Kashiwagi, as she regularly tutors him, and his grades jumped up from 139th position to 34th by two semesters.
A Man Is Always Eager: Subverted, most of the time it's Kashiwagi that makes advances on him and he's been apprehensive about being intimate in more public places like the school festival or a park. The times when he does try to forward their relationship have been mostly chaste like asking the student council why he made her mad or trying to hold her hand. Considering his family history, he might be consciously trying to defy this trope.He kind of succeeded, as he was three months shy of turning 18 when impregnating Kashiwagi.
Mistaken for Cheating: Subverted. He was not cheating on Kashiwagi with Maki, though Maki was trying to break them up so she could have him for herself.
Nice Guy: Despite frequently ticking off the Student Council, he is still this ultimately. Kashiwagi and Maki claim this as one of his positive attributes. He's not even upset when he learns that Shirogane lied about having relationship experience, and is instead glad that Shirogane is opening himself up to others.
Satellite Love Interest:
- There's a reason he's constantly referred to as "Kashiwagi's Boyfriend". Nearly every appearance he makes centers around her in some fashion. Even when he went to the Student Council, alone, he ends up talking more about Kashiwagi than he does himself. His name is only revealed when Maki confesses to the Student Council boys that she loves him too.
- This is made more apparent during the culture festival, where Kashiwagi tells Maki that she likes her more than she likes him. Even worse is the epilogue volume, where Kashiwagi outright considers dumping him in the hopes that Maki won't be sad about her relationship with Tsubasa anymore.
Secret-Keeper: Chapter 215 reveals that he knows about Kaguya and Shirogane dating. It's never specified if he was told or if he just figured it out due to how obvious the two are.
Super Gullible: The guy instantly believes anything Shirogane says, no matter how ridiculous it is.

Maki Shijo

Voiced by: Kana Ichinose (Japanese), Hope Endrenyi (English)

Debut: Chapter 6 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maki_9.png

Kashiwagi's best friend who has a crush on her boyfriend.

13 Is Unlucky: As befitting her role as the resident Butt-Monkey, she's on the cover of Volume 13.
A-Cup Angst: Becomes dejected upon learning that Tsubasa likes big boobs.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Her eyes are purple in the anime.
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the manga, she and Shirogane are already acquainted with one another by the time of her first focus chapter due to being classmates. The anime makes no mention of this and instead treats it as the first time they've ever talked.
Alone Among the Couples: In the wrap-up for the culture festival, she finds herself surrounded by various couples dancing around the bonfire.
Maki: "I hope you all catch fire."
Ascended Extra: Appears as early as Chapter 6 alongside Kashiwagi and Tsubasa, but only appears sporadically in backgrounds and omakes until she finally receives a proper role and character introduction in Chapter 98.
Big Sister Bully: To her younger twin brother Mikado, who she likes to roughhouse with for the pettiest of grievances.
Big Sister Instinct: Once the two of them reconcile, Maki becomes quite protective of Kaguya, even offering to take her into the Shijo family just before the start of the final arc.
Birds of a Feather: Maki ends up developing an Odd Friendship with Shirogane and Ishigami because she considers them her comrades in unrequited feelings.
The Blind Leading the Blind: In Chapter 144, Shirogane comes to her for love advice. She points out that she is probably the worst person he could ask since she is very unlucky in terms of love and she is usually the one who comes to Shirogane or Ishigami for advice. However, since Shirogane would like her opinion on Ice Kaguya's behavior, and because of their similarities, Maki can actually perfectly empathize with Kaguya.
Brainy Brunette: She's a brown-haired girl who is considered to be Kaguya's equal, scoring only a single point less than her on exams.
Broken Ace: Maki is Kaguya's intellectual equal, beautiful, rich, and has a circle of close friends and a loving family. The only thing that deeply upsets her is her unlucky love life, where her crush and her best friend are dating, and she can't give up on them.
Bros Before Hoes: Gender-inverted; despite her jealousy about Kashiwagi and Tsubasa's relationship, she refuses to do anything about it because Kashiwagi has been her best friend since childhood. When Kashiwagi tries to dump Tsubasa so Maki can date him, Maki actually gets angry that Kashiwagi thinks she'd want to do so at the expense of her friend's happiness.
Butt-Monkey:
- To a worse extent than even Ishigami, considering the fact that even her own friends' attempts to cheer her up or help her only cause her more suffering. During the Kyoto trip, she visits a shrine that is said to help cleanse someone from bad things like bad relationships and terrible luck.
- How did she become friends with Shirogane and Ishigami? The two were out for a walk and the former accidentally stepped on her head.
- During her trip to India, she finds some solace in the fact that everyone is likely having the same type of romantic frustrations as she is. Her narration is overlayed with Shirogane and Ishigami progressing with their relationships with Kaguya and Tsubame respectively just fine.
Calming Tea: She really likes her tea, with it being implied that she drinks it to help soothe her constant love problems. Her second focus chapter even has Ishigami offer her passion flower tea specifically because its high alkaloid content makes it a good antidepressant.
Cannot Spit It Out: She's described as "the type of girl who can't get a boyfriend because she'd rather bottle up her feelings than act on them", which is why she lost out Tsubasa to Kashiwagi.
Cerebus Retcon: Her mutual distaste with Kaguya is revealed to be an extension of their respective families' bad blood with each other. Maki originally wanted to become friends with Kaguya when they first met before Maki's father told her to stay away from Kaguya.
Chekhov's Gunman: Was mostly a gag character that only appeared in the background when the manga first started out. She would later be properly integrated into the supporting cast after she's revealed to be Kaguya's cousin.
Childhood Friend Romance: It's revealed near the end of the series that she's been in love with Tsubasa for a long time. It's not clear exactly how long, though going by Kaguya's estimation, they would have been around 10 since it had to have been at a time when the Shijos were still going to the Tanuma family hospital.
Childhood Friends: She's been best friends with Kashiwagi since elementary school.
Conflicting Loyalty: Between her crush on Tsubasa and her friendship with Kashiwagi. She seems to be leaning towards the former though, and during the School Festival, Kashiwagi gets a hold of her heart once again, prioritizing her over Tsubasa.
Connected All Along: Maki turns out to be a descendant of the Shinomiya bloodline, and thus a distant relative of Kaguya (specifically, her second cousin twice removed.)
Cute Little Fangs: Shows these during many of her surprised or indignant reactions, to highlight her slightly childish and naïve nature despite her intellect.
Deliberate Injury Gambit: Discussed. After seeing Ishigami have to wait on Miko hand and foot when he accidentally broke her arm, she seriously considers getting Tsubasa to do the same to her so he'll spend time with her. She never goes through with it, though.
Earn Your Happy Ending: While she ultimately doesn't get together with Tsubasa, she's (mostly) made peace with that fact, and her final chapter implies that she finds someone else.
Elegant Classical Musician: She used to take cello lessons, though it's unknown if she still plays.
Establishing Character Moment: Her first limelight story, Chapter 98, begins with Shirogane accidentally stepping on her head while she lay collapsed on the road after realizing that her plan to sour Tsubasa and Kashiwagi's relationship backfired, firmly establishing her as the ultimate Butt-Monkey and Third Wheel of the series.
First-Name Basis: One of the biggest differences between her and Kaguya is that she almost always addresses people she's close to by their given names, something that Kaguya never does. When she does this with Hayasaka, she admits that she only does this with those who she considers her equals.
Girlish Pigtails: She styles her hair this way currently. It's unknown when she started doing so, as flashbacks to the beginning of freshman year show that she used to let her hair hang loose with a small hairpin (which inspired Kashiwagi's current hairstyle).
Heroic BSoD: She has a major one at the start of Chapter 98 when she has to lie about her feelings for Tsubasa after hearing that Kashiwagi was jealous. She even faints on the road till Shirogane and Ishigami find her by accident while they were hanging out.
Hoist by Her Own Petard: She recommends that Tsubasa give Kashiwagi a heart necklace that she secretly thinks is a lame gift (as do all the Student Council girls), hoping to strain their relationship further while Kashiwagi is already getting suspicious over all the time he's been spending with her. She's left devastated when the present instead leads to Kashiwagi passionately making out with him out of gratitude, putting the couple back on track.
Hopeless Suitor: It has been noted that she doesn't really have any chance of getting together with Tsubasa due to how far his relationship with Kashiwagi has developed.
If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Provides a sort of retroactive example in Chapter 225 when she threatens to murder Shirogane on Kaguya's behalf when asking if he tried to force her to do anything during Their First Time.
I Need a Freaking Drink: Non-acoholic example. She has Ishigami prepare an entire pot of tea for her after learning that Kashiwagi is pregnant with Tsubasa's baby.
In-Series Nickname: Ishigami calls her "Tsundere-sempai" in the original Japanese and "Ms. Steal-Yo-Man" in the English dub of the anime.
Insistent Terminology: Proudly declares herself a member of the Shinomiya family and looks down on others as commoners, despite being in a very distant branch from the main line and not even sharing the same last name.
Instant Expert: Just like her cousin Kaguya, Maki tends to pick up on new skills very quickly. This is demonstrated in Chapter 196 when she tries swinging a baseball bat for the first time and gets a home run on her first try.
Irony: Chapter 129 reveals that she is incredibly artistic, able to make a massive balloon sculpture of a whale and other sea creatures by herself. Despite this, Art is the only class that she doesn't get an A in.
It Amused Me: When her brother transfers to Shuchi'in Academy at the beginning of the senior year, she tries to get him involved in Karen and Erika's antics (since they think he's a fellow fan of Kaguya) for no other reason than because she found the whole thing hilarious.
It Runs in the Family: Being distantly related to Kaguya, Maki is also very intelligent, scoring only a point below Kaguya in exams. She also switches between displaying arrogance and cuteness just as easily (with the exact same facial expressions, no less) and is sensitive to loud noises. When Shirogane comes to her for advice, she is able to understand Kaguya's point of view and sympathizes with it immediately. She figures out who Shirogane was talking about just from how alike she and Kaguya are. Amusingly, they're also both conscious about their breast sizes when pressed.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Her sense of honor doesn't allow her to disrupt a happy couple such as Tsubasa and Kashiwagi. Not only that, but she also wants everyone (Ishigami, Shirogane, Kaguya…) to be happy in love even if she cannot be.
Jealous Romantic Witness: Exaggerated. Maki deals with seeing Kashiwagi and Tsubasa be intimate with each other on a near daily basis, which leads to her spending most of her screentime miserable.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can be pretty rude and ill-tempered, has frequent temptations over how she wants to break Kashiwagi and Tsubasa apart, and has a knack for bullying her younger brother for the pettiest of grievances, but is ultimately one of the most caring characters in the series who puts her friends before herself. Even when Ishigami and Shirogane casually suggested that she should steal Tsubasa from Kashiwagi, she never does so because she still loves them too much for her to do that. She even develops a protective streak towards Kaguya when their relationship becomes more amicable following the events of Chapter 168.
Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: In Chapter 156, she quickly ducks into a nearby empty classroom in the middle of a conversation with Ishigami when Tsubame shows up to talk to him. She also admonishes Iino for not doing the same.
Lineage Comes from the Father: Inverted twice over. According to the family tree provided at the end of Chapter 98, her claim to being a legitimate member of the Shinomiya bloodline is traced through her maternal grandmother.
Lovable Alpha Bitch: She constantly looks down upon people around her like Shirogane and Ishigami, referring to them as imbeciles and "commoners", though she opens up her true feelings to them quite easily.
Love Hurts: A Running Gag is that she is always following Kashiwagi and her boyfriend while crying.
Made Myself Sad: She has a bad habit of making herself depressed when she talks about her lack of luck when it comes to romance.
The Misophonic: She shares Kaguya's sensitivity to loud noises, though it's unknown if this extends to strong stimuli in general.
Mood-Swinger: She constantly switches between being smug, depressed, and acting hot and cold towards others, just like her relative Kaguya.
Never My Fault: Played with. She accuses the person (Shirogane) who taught Tsubasa the Kabe Don as the source of her troubles despite the fact that she wasn't quick enough to confess her feelings beforehand. She acknowledged this as her fault 10 chapters later, while adding that she was too scared of confessing her feelings (with Shirogane and Ishigami quickly sharing her pain).
No Badass to His Valet: When around Shirogane and Ishigami, Maki's haughty and prideful behavior quickly drops, which is why they treat her very informally.
No Name Given: Played With. Technically, her name appears as early as Chapter 31 (in the exam results). However, it's not made clear that she's the same character as the Unlucky Extra that is occasionally seen following Kashiwagi until Chapter 61. She finally introduces herself by name properly in Chapter 98.
Odd Friendship: Maki initially only went to Shirogane and Ishigami to vent to them over the frustrations of her unrequited feelings for Tsubasa, but over time develops an actual friendship with them and considers them her equals.
One-Steve Limit: Averted. Another Maki appears as a jock's girlfriend in Chapter 26 and the president of the Tabletop Gaming Club usually goes by the nickname Makki-senhai. A fourth Maki is also mentioned during a Flash Forward, though in this case the overlap is justified since it's perfectly in character for Kashiwagi to name her firstborn son after her best friend.
Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Maki tends to rub off the wrong way on people that she meets because she cannot help but express herself contentiously as if she was looking for a fight. Kashiwagi knows that her intentions are always less belligerent than what she shows, but she's not shy in telling Maki to just be sincere and not seek a quarrel all the time.
Passed-Over Inheritance: For whatever reason, her brother is stated to be the heir to the family company despite her being the elder twin.
Post-Stress Overeating: Karen takes her to a cake shop after Erika's disastrous attempts to cheer her up, and she's shown angrily stuffing her face.
Prone to Tears: Maki is frequently reduced to a crying wreck whenever she is reminded of her romantic woes, but especially whenever she sees Tsubasa and Kashiwagi being lovey-dovey. Kaguya later weaponizes this fact after Maki insults Shirogane, an act which Ishigami calls her out on.
The Resenter: Downplayed. Maki is extremely jealous of Kashiwagi for dating Tsubasa, but she always tries to put their friendship before her envy. Appropriately, the manga volume where she appears on the cover is green.
The Rival:
- Being only a point below Kaguya herself, she's her academic rival off-screen and they are fully aware of each other. Makes even more sense when it is revealed they are actually distant relatives.
- She thinks of herself as one for Kashiwagi when it comes to Tsubasa, but cannot bring herself to actually act upon it because she cares about Kashiwagi too much to do anything. As it turns out, Kashiwagi tells her that she likes her more than she likes Tsubasa.
Secret-Keeper: Being Kaguya's cousin, she's one of the few students in the school who knows about Hayasaka's job.
Secret Secret-Keeper: She already knew about Kaguya's crush on Shirogane as early as autumn of their freshmen year (when Kaguya first fell in love), though she doesn't bring it up until after Kaguya and Shirogane have already started dating.
Sensory Overload: Maki has trouble dealing with loud noises, a trait that she shares with her cousin Kaguya.
Shadow Archetype: She's basically what Kaguya would be if Shirogane was dating Fujiwara, right down to the same birthday, reactions, facial expressions, and lines of thought. Even her hair and eye colors are a more muted version of Kaguya's (brown and pink instead of black and red). Fittingly enough, this is partly why the two didn't like each other until they make up towards the end of the story.
- Also inverted, as Maki is Kaguya if she was raised by a loving family. As such, Maki doesn't share any of Kaguya's issues with self-hatred or distrust in others.
Sheltered Aristocrat: She is rather innocent when it comes to things like sexuality, thinking that a first time means a kiss. Though she doesn't take it to the same extreme as Kaguya.
Shipper on Deck: She is shown encouraging Ishigami to confess to Tsubame during the Culture Festival arc, though beyond that she doesn't seem to have any particular investment in them becoming a couple as the series never focuses on her feelings on the matter after that point. That being said, she isn't too unhappy about Kaguya dating Shirogane, though it did take time for her to adjust.
Significant Birth Date: As befitting her role as Kaguya's Shadow Archetype, the two of them were both born on January 1st.
Single-Target Sexuality: She only has her eyes for Tsubasa, even after he started dating Kashiwagi, and the latter confesses to Maki that she prefers her best friend a lot more than her boyfriend. When Shirogane suggested that she move on and find someone else in Chapter 193, she flat-out declares that she's not content with giving up her crush. Chapter 273 reveals she had a crush on him for seven years. Despite this, she outright forbids Kashiwagi from breaking up with him just to make her happy.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Despite Ishigami pointing out that Tsubasa is just an Extreme Doormat, Maki is quick to defend her crush, adding that Tsubasa is someone that she's comfortable talking to.
Springtime for Hitler: She gave Tsubasa the idea of getting a lame heart necklace as an anniversary present in the hopes that it would make the two of them break up. Kashiwagi loved it so much that she started making out with him in the middle of the hallway.
Stalker with a Crush: Towards Tsubasa. She's often following him and Kashiwagi whenever the two have some free time.
Straight Man: She often finds herself playing this role to Erika and Karen in We Want to Talk About Kaguya.
Strong Family Resemblance: Shirogane and Ishigami notice that Maki and Kaguya share many mannerisms and attitudes as a result of being brought up in the same way.
Sudden Name Change: Her last name was listed as Ichijo in the original release for Chapter 31. It was changed to Shijo in the tankobon.
Teen Genius: She's ranked third in terms of test scores among the second-year students, scoring only a single point less than Kaguya. She also gets straight A's in everything but Art. She even ends up getting accepted to Stanford University after applying on a whim, and unlike Kaguya and Shirogane she didn't have the advantage of a letter of recommendation from the principal.
Third Wheel:
- As Kashiwagi's best friend, she's constantly hanging out with her and her boyfriend as the hanger-on despite her crush on the latter. The manga shows that a lot of time Kashiwagi forces her to hang out with them, much to her anguish.
- To her horror, she accidentally sees Kaguya and Shirogane sharing an intimate moment in the omakes of Chapters 38 and 175.
Throw the Dog a Bone:
- Chapter 98 allows her to finally vent about her crush.
- Her epilogue chapter, despite getting two major zingers inflicted on her, ends on the note that she will get over Tsubasa and Kashiwagi someday, and furthermore that her romantic resolution will happen someday in the very near future. It's implied that the next person who stepped into the Student Council room while she was soothing her broken heart will be her future love interest.
Too Much Alike: Part of the reason she and Kaguya can't get along very well—they are both too similar. Even when she wants to thank Kaguya for spending time with her, she makes it seem like she just wants to insult and show off her skills to her "auntie".
Tsundere: Even more than Kaguya, natch. Ishigami even calls her "Tsundere-sempai".
Unlucky Extra: She can often be seen in the background looking shocked (usually in scenes involving Kashiwagi and Tsubasa being intimate). In Chapter 98, she finally gains a speaking role and name introduction, turning into an Ascended Extra.
The Unreveal: Her final chapter ends with someone walking into the student council room and the narration implying that she falls in love with them after finally getting over Tsubasa, but we're never actually shown who they are.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Gradually becomes this with Shirogane and particularly Ishigami.
What Does She See in Him?: Ishigami is baffled by her attraction to Tsubasa. Not so much for his looks, but rather the fact that he's an idiotic Extreme Doormat.
What You Are in the Dark: Every time Maki is given an opportunity to capitalize on Tsubasa's vulnerabilities and snag him for herself (because love is war, after all), she doesn't. The very last time this happens, when Kashiwagi deliberately breaks up with Tsubasa because Maki liked him first, Ishigami even points out the easy win, but Maki shows her character when she says going for the rebound when her crush and her friend are hurting is not what she'd ever want.
Why Can't I Hate You?: Maki is very upset that her friend, Kashiwagi, got together with the boy she was interested in first. However, she also admits that Kashiwagi is the one person she just can't hate, because Kashiwagi views Maki as the person she loves the most. This leads to Maki forbidding her from breaking up with Tsubasa just to make her happy.
With Friends Like These...: Claims to view Kashiwagi as a precious friend, yet openly states her contempt for her for "stealing" the boy she has a crush on. Turns out, Kashiwagi cares more about her than she does about said boyfriend.

Go Kazamatsuri

Voiced by: Yuu Okano (Japanese), Clifford Chapin (English)

Debut: Chapter 61 (Manga), Episode 16 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/go_7.png

A classmate and friend of Shirogane's. One of the few known "impures" attending Shuchi'in.

All Love Is Unrequited: He has a crush on Erika, but she's too dense and obsessed with Kaguya to notice. It might also be a case of Incompatible Orientation given that she's Ambiguously Gay.
All There in the Manual: Pretty much everything known about him comes from the Volume 10 extras.
Hero of Another Story: He is an impure who entered Shuchi'in in order to find information about his missing older brother. He's also the assistant to a famous detective and helped solve multiple cases. Outside of a few minor mentions, none of this is ever brought up in the series proper and he mostly just exists to show that Shirogane has friends outside of the Student Council and (in the spin-off) have a crush on Erika.
Kid Detective: He's the assistant of the famous detective named Hajime Echizen and the two have apparently solved many cases together, including the disappearance of his older brother.
Maybe Ever After: Chapter 192 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya implies that he marries Erika at some point in the near future due to her opening up a ramen shop named Miso-Matsuri (though it is possible that they were merely business partners).
Scholarship Student: He's one of only four known impure in the cast (the other three being the Shirogane siblings and Takano), though this is only mentioned in his character profile.
Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: When he meets one of Hayasaka's disguises at the mixer and learns that Shirogane had previously turned her down (while Shirogane is sitting right next to him), he immediately excuses himself due to how awkward the situation is.
Those Two Guys: He's rarely seen without Saburo.

Saburo Toyosaki

Voiced by: Masamu Ono (Japanese), Ricco Fajardo (English)

Debut: Chapter 61 (Manga), Episode 16 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saburo.png

A classmate and friend of Shirogane's.

All Love Is Unrequited: He has a thing for Karen. It's just too bad that she's Student Council-sexual.
All There in the Manual: Pretty much everything known about him comes from the Volume 10 extras.
Clark Kent Outfit: A shot of him in a public bath in Chapter 187 reveals that he is surprisingly muscular.
Eyes Always Shut: He apparently only opens his eyes when he shows his true power.
Mistaken for Gay: Karen spent months thinking that he's in love with Shirogane due to some out-of-context remarks by Fujiwara. The misunderstanding wouldn't be cleared up until during winter break.
No Romantic Resolution: Both the main series and spin-off end without any mention of him either ending up with Karen or being rejected by her.
One-Steve Limit: Averted. One of the four Ramen Emperors is also named Saburo.
Reformed Bully: He tried to sabotage Shirogane's grades in the past, but now he competes with him fairly.
Those Two Guys: He's rarely seen without Go.

Class 2-C

Karen Kino

Voiced by: Madoka Asahina (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (English)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 1 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karen_6.png

A member of the Mass Media Club and one of the main characters of We Want to Talk About Kaguya. She is a massive Kaguya/Shirogane shipper.

Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: She's shown fawning over Fujiwara in the OVA, while in the manga her view of her ranges between troublemaker and terror depending on the situation.
Alliterative Name: Karen Kino.
Ambiguously Bi: Karen almost certainly has a crush on Shirogane, though she also constantly fawns over Kaguya (as well as Fujiwara in the OVA). And that's not even getting into her Pseudo-Romantic Friendship with Erika.
Ambiguously Christian: Certain dialogue suggests that she might be a Japanese Christian, such as comparing Kaguya to Jesus, attributing various Ship Tease moments between Kaguya and Shirogane as being Good Fortune from God, and outright quoting the Gospel of Luke when she sees their First Kiss.
Ascended Extra: She's a Recurring Extra who ended up getting her own Spin-Off.
Audience Surrogate: She's essentially the embodiment of the entire Kaguya/Shirogane shipping fandom incarnate. Her reaction after luckily spotting Kaguya and Shirogane kissing on the rooftop during the Festival arc is almost exactly how the fans reacted out-of-universe to the same event.
Berserk Button:
- To her, shipping Shirogane with anyone other than Kaguya is a sin in itself. Funny enough, she's fine with the idea of Shirogane being a harem king so long as Kaguya is his alpha girl. She does, however, change her mind when she realizes that Kaguya is really the only girl for him.
  Karen (after Erika proposes that Fujiwara is better suited for Shirogane than Kaguya): That's blasphemy Erika...The President is Kaguya-sama's super darling! The only man capable of winning Kaguya-sama's pure, dignified heart is the President!
- Do not badmouth Shirogane or insinuate that he's involved in shady dealings. She'll pull a (fake) knife on you.
Blood from the Mouth: A comedic example. After she catches a glimpse of Kaguya and Shirogane kissing, she passes out and starts to bleed out of her mouth as she's nearly killed from sheer joy. Although it ended up being subverted when We Want to Talk About Kaguya revealed that the blood was actually from her biting her tongue to stay focused.
Born Lucky: Karen seems to have almost superhuman luck when it comes to witnessing romantic moments between Kaguya and Shirogane to the point that she happened to be in just the right spot to see the very start of their Duel of Seduction, their first two kisses, and their Relationship Upgrade all by complete coincidence.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Putting aside her constant fangirling, she is a fairly skilled journalist. Which is why she and Erika were named the new heads of the Mass Media Club in their senior year.
Cassandra Truth:
- In We Want To Talk About Kaguya Chapter 84 (which is set directly sometime after Chapter 96 of the main manga), in spite of always being Right for the Wrong Reasons with regards to Kaguya and Shirogane, Karen actually hits the bullseye this time in correctly identifying Kaguya's reasons for making Oyster Fried Rice in the fried rice contest from that chapter (that it was because oysters were Shirogane's favorite food) and that the one ingredient she and Erika lacked in their version of oyster fried rice was the love Kaguya put into it for Shirogane. Too bad Fujiwara shoots her down immediately both times despite being on point.
- When she and Erika request for the umpteenth time to listen to Shizuku's story of how she was rescued by Kaguya, she claims it's the point where Kaguya and Shirogane's stories became intertwined. Chapter 121 of the main series shows that this is a lot more accurate than she could have realized.
Childhood Friends: Her parents and the Koses have been on good terms ever since she was little, so she and Erika spent a lot of time together growing up.
The Cuckoolander Was Right:
- While Karen is a bit delusional over some of Shirogane's and Kaguya's actions as affection or that they were already dating, she is right to assume that the two have strong feelings for one another for a long time and don't have interest for anyone besides each other.
- Karen was completely right that Kaguya made a cake as big as a wedding cake for Shirogane’s birthday. While Erika thinks that’s insane, Hayasaka knows that’s the truth.
- Karen was also correct that the reason Kaguya went to the hospital was that she was "lovesick," something that brings back embarrassing memories for Hayasaka.
Color-Coded Eyes: As someone who ships the red-eyed Kaguya and blue-eyed Shirogane, her eyes are naturally a shade of purple.
Covert Pervert: Any sexual innuendos, innocent or not, are usually picked up by her, while Erika is left clueless. To be fair, what else would one think when your friend on the phone tells you that they are "making kids on the bed"?
Karen: My delusions are rated for all ages!!
Crying Wolf: Erika never believes her claims of having seen shippy moments between Kaguya and Shirogane because she's always talking about stuff like that even when nothing is happening. The narration even refers to her as "The girl who cried 'ship'."
Curtains Match the Windows: Karen (initially) has brown eyes and hair.
Date Peepers: Subverted. While she's perfectly fine with seeing romantic moments between Kaguya and Shirogane by accident, she draws the line at actually waiting around for something to happen.
A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 116 focuses on her and Erika as they interview several students about the upcoming culture festival, and doubles as a Poorly Disguised Pilot for We Want to Talk About Kaguya.
Ditzy Genius: Karen might be a fangirl who has shipping on the brain 90% of the time, but she still regularly scores among the top 30 of her class during the end-of-semester exams. Even when she neglected her studies, she still placed 40th.
Dumbass Has a Point:
- She and Erika reason that Ishigami is a good guy because they trust Kaguya and Shirogane's judgment over the first years' gossip.
- She makes a good point that if Erika follows Kaguya on Twitter, she might see all of Erika's private tweets, which are nothing but praises for Kaguya.
Early-Bird Cameo: She's the very first character shown in the very first chapter of the manga, but her name isn't given until Chapter 116.
Everyone Has Standards: She may be a rabid Kaguya/Shirogane shipper, but even she has standards she's not willing to cross:
- Karen is a massive Shipper on Deck for Kaguya/Shirogane, but she is not a stalker. When she spots them on Christmas Eve, she opts against sticking around to see if they kiss.
- Despite her penchant for writing doujinshi featuring Kaguya and Shirogane getting entangled in various romantic scenarios she comes up with each other, she draws the line at coming up with R-18 fantasies involving them since they're still actual people she knows and that thinking up of such things with this in mind goes beyond weird and creepy for her.
- When a classmate states that a rabbit statue at a shrine symbolizes fertility and childbirth, Karen initially refuses to pray to it, finding it creepy to wish for Kaguya and Shirogane to have a healthy baby together.
Fangirl: She's a Kaguya fangirl, though not to the same extent as Erika. She's also a Shirogane fangirl, including having a crush on him.
Friendship Denial: Karen regularly interacts with Ishigami in We Want to Talk About Kaguya, and looks on happily when he's being comforted by the Cheer Team during the sports festival, but she states that they have a strict business relationship when Erika asks if they're friends (he acts as the editor for her Kaguya/Shirogane doujinshi). This denial is probably for continuity purposes since Maki is established in the main series to be the first girl to consider him a friend. Due to Out-of-Context Eavesdropping, Ishigami understands she doesn't want to be associated with him, but in context, Karen mainly said she's not close enough to Ishigami to ask for another favor since she's already the one "indebted" to him.
Given Name Reveal: She was the very first character introduced in the series, but she didn't have her name revealed until Chapter 116.
Gone Horribly Wrong: Not only was she the one responsible for having Kashiwagi ask Tsubasa if he had a girlfriend, but she was also the one who suggested that Tsubasa go to Shirogane for love advice. All this while trying to hook him up with Maki.
Good Fortune from God: Played for Laughs. She claims that things such as seeing Kaguya and Shirogane riding on a bike together or sharing an umbrella are a gift from the heavens.
Karen: There is a God. He preaches the President x Kaguya-sama gospel...
Heroic BSoD: Seeing Kaguya and Shirogane's Relationship Upgrade causes her brain to temporarily burn out because she can't reconcile it with every last bit of information she gathered that pointed to the two of them already being a couple.
Hidden Depths:
- She's rather knowledgeable about insects (having read an encyclopedia on them in her father's study) and was able to correctly identify a species of cockroach on sight when it was a good distance away.
- Due to her family owning a publishing company, she can identify different types of paper just by feeling them.
Hypocritical Humor: In We Want To Talk About Kaguya Chapter 156, she claims that shipping wars surrounding people you know is pointless and people shouldn't force those opinions on others. When Erika asks how that's any different from her constant Shirogane/Kaguya fantasies, she claims that she's merely "spreading the word".
I Should Write a Book About This: Chapter 191 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya has Ishigami giving her the idea for a series where two characters engage in a Duel of Seduction based on a conversation he had with Shirogane back in Chapter 162 of the main series. She immediately gets to work on something that she titles Kaguya-sama Wants to be Confessed To and even comments that it's a good enough idea to win the Shogakukan Manga Award.
Inconsistent Coloring: The manga initially depicts her with eyes that are the same shade of brown as her hair. They would later be changed to lavender and standardized by the anime.
In-Series Nickname: "Shiptrash".
Insanity Immunity: She's immune to the shojo mentality that most people get from reading Today Will be Sweet because she's already in that mindset 24/7.
Locked Out of the Loop: Played with. From the beginning, she acts amiably with Ishigami and is undeterred by the (false) rumors that led to him becoming a pariah, because she actually has no clue about the rumors, despite ironically being part of the Mass Media Club.
Loophole Abuse: Both she and Erika manage to get unbanned from the Mass Media Club by stating they could call Shirogane president because everyone still refers to him that way despite his term ending, as they could see it as a nickname akin to a prince.
Love Is Like Religion: Taken rather literally. She is such a rabid Kaguya/Shirogane shipper that she routinely compares their assumed love for each other to an act of God, even claiming that the idea of one of them going out with somebody else is blasphemy. She goes so far as to directly quote the bible whenever she sees them engaged in a particularly romantic activity like holding hands during the fireworks festival or their First Kiss.
Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls: She draws her own Kaguya/Shirogane doujinshi and eventually gets Ishigami to act as her editor.
Ms. Fanservice: She and Erika get subjected to a lot of Costume Porn in their spin-off's supplementary art, ranging from cheerleaders to maids to swimsuits. Meanwhile in the main manga, after Go and Saburo explain how sexy they find wet hair to Tsubasa, Karen is one of the first girls to emerge from the baths, as if to demonstrate this.
Ms. Imagination: Her imagination tends to go wild when it comes to Shirogane and Kaguya. Erika even calls her delusional thanks to this.
My Significance Sense Is Tingling: During the Final Arc, Karen senses the moment Shirogane asks Gan'an for Kaguya's hand in marriage. Later that night, she felt the moment Shirogane saved Kaguya in a helicopter and proclaimed his love once more.
Named After Somebody Famous: She's named after Ki no Tsurayuki, a Heian-era poet.
No Romantic Resolution: Unlike Erika and Kazamaturi, nothing is ever stated about whether or not she ever returns Toyosaki's feelings for her.
Oblivious to Love: She's completely unaware that Toyosaki has feelings for her because she thinks he has a thing for Shirogane instead.
Oh, Crap!:
- Her reaction when she sees Erika "comforting" Maki about Kashiwagi and Tsubasa's relationship upgrade.
Karen: What on God's green earth is that girl doing?! She doesn't know a thing about love!
- Her general reaction when the topic of real-life doujins comes up out of fear of something finding out about her hobby.
Properly Paranoid: Karen is the only person (aside from Hayasaka, Maki, and Kashiwagi that is) to discover Shirogane and Kaguya sharing their kiss during the end of Culture Festival, but prefers keeping this a secret from both Erika and Fujiwara due to their disapproval of Kaguya dating someone else (as seen back in Chapter 84 of the We Want to Talk About Kaguya). Considering how Fujiwara didn't take the couple's relationship well in Chapter 223 of the main series, Karen made the right call.
Right for the Wrong Reasons:
- She is 100% correct about Kaguya and Shirogane being hopelessly in love with each other, though her reasoning is rooted in fangirlish delusions rather than any real observations of reality.
- During the events of the final arc, she correctly deduces that Hayasaka is acting as Shirogane's bodyguard on Kaguya's behalf, but she thinks it's to keep away potential suitors rather than Oko's goons.
Secret Secret-Keeper: She is one of the few students who knows the truth behind the Phantom Thief incident, and the only one who bore witness to both Kaguya and Shirogane's First Kiss and Kaguya's Love Confession.
Sequential Artist: She draws Shirogane/Kaguya doujinshi.
Shipper on Deck: She ships Shirogane/Kaguya and Maki/Tsubasa. She takes the former very seriously. Makki-senhai has her contact saved under the name "Shiptrash". Chapter 142 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya reveals that she's actually been shipping them since the day Shirogane sent their Duel of Seduction into motion.
Smarter Than They Look: Karen (despite her delusions) is a top student who usually scores in the top 30 and often tutors Erika. It helps that she lacks Erika's airheadedness so long as shipping isn't involved.
Squee: All of her Shirogane/Kaguya fangirlisms were rewarded once she accidentally happened upon their First Kiss, complete with Nosebleed and overemotional fainting.
The Straight Man: Often finds herself playing this role for Erika.
Super-Strength: She was somehow strong enough to stab a spoon hard enough to stick on a table.
Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Unlike Erika, she isn't afflicted with "Shoujo manga mentality" after reading Today Will be Sweet because the condition is a permanent fixture of her mind.
Those Two Guys: She's rarely seen apart from Erika.
Unrequited Love Switcheroo: A very mild, Played for Laughs example. Normally she and Erika are completely dismissive or oblivious in regard to Toyosaki and Kazamatsuri's advances, but when the guys decide to spend time with a different duo of girls Karen is immediately pissed off.
Write Who You Know: In-Universe. Her idea of paying back Ishigami for acting as her editor is offering to write a manga about him should he ever fall in love.
Yaoi Fangirl: She thinks that Ishgami's ideal dating partner is Shirogane (presumably with Ishigami in the role of a mistress given how hard she ships Shirogane/Kaguya).

Erika Kose

Voiced by: Ayaka Asai (Japanese), Kristen McGuire (English)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 1 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/erika_8.png

A member of the Mass Media Club and one of the main characters of We Want to Talk About Kaguya. She is a massive Kaguya fangirl.

A-Cup Angst: It only ever comes up once, but she briefly expresses jealousy over Fujiwara's chest size.
Adaptational Intelligence: Played with. In the manga, she is completely oblivious to Kaguya and Shirogane's obvious attraction to one another prior to seeing first-hand proof of their Secret Relationship, while in the anime she appears to be fully aware of it. On the other hand, this means that she gets caught up in the rest of the school misinterpreting Shirogane asking Kaguya to help with his re-election as a Love Confession (something she was only able to recognize the true meaning of in the manga because she had no idea that they were attracted to one another).
Ambiguously Gay: Erika has admitted to having a crush on Kaguya, but she denies having any romantic or sexual feelings for her (claiming that it's more of a platonic idolization). It's never specified if she's telling the truth or if she's just in the closet. Also, the one time she shows interest in getting a boyfriend it's because she wants Kaguya to come to her for relationship advice.
Ascended Extra: She's a Recurring Extra who ended up getting her own Spin-Off.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Putting aside her constant fangirling, she is a fairly skilled journalist. Which is why she and Karen were named the new heads of the Mass Media Club in their senior year.
Cathartic Chores: Her idea of stress management is to grind up miso paste (due to her family owning a miso company).
Characterization Marches On: The first chapter depicts her as a Kaguya/Shirogane shipper on par with Karen, unlike the pure Kaguya Fangirl she would eventually become.
Childhood Friends: Her parents and the Kinos have been on good terms ever since she was little, so she and Karen spent a lot of time together growing up.
Covert Pervert: When Maki mentions that she's already had her first time (thinking that they were talking about kissing), she starts asking for details.
Cuteness Overload: Just making eye contact with Kaguya can cause Erika to pass out from joy. It ended up causing a rumor among the student body that Kaguya could kill someone by looking at them. That said, she does eventually reach the point where she can carry out an extended conversation without collapsing, which is good since Kaguya never would have been able to learn photography from her otherwise.
A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 116 focuses on her and Karen as they interview several students about the upcoming culture festival, and doubles as a Poorly Disguised Pilot for We Want to Talk About Kaguya.
Deliberate Under-Performance: She deliberately tries to get 3rd place on the end-of-semester exams so her name will be listed right after Kaguya's on the class ranking (she gets 50th instead).
Dumbass Has a Point: Seeing as she is completely oblivious to all forms of romance, she's the only person in the entire student body who picked up on the fact that Shirogane's supposed confession behind the school was actually about him asking Kaguya to help with his reelection campaign.
Everyone Has Standards: Erika does have a degree of journalistic integrity in spite of her constant fangirling, stating that using gossip about someone's dating life as clickbait is gross and unfitting to be hosted on the club's website.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Parodied. She spends the timeframe of "The First Kiss Never Ends" arc with her hair down solely to imitate Kaguya. The second she sees that Kaguya has reverted to her normal hairstyle, she goes right back to normal.
Fangirl: She's a massive Kaguya fangirl.
Foil: Erika is the foil to Fujiwara when it comes to ramen. While Fujiwara unintentionally impresses the ramen goers, Erika disappoints them with her lack of knowledge and skill.
Given Name Reveal: She had been present since Chapter 1, but her name wasn't revealed until Chapter 116.
Green-Eyed Monster: She shows jealousy over Ishigami's relationship with Kaguya in Chapter 47 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya.
Idiosyncrazy: Just about everything she does can be traced back to her obsession with Kaguya, even with things that a normal girl her age would do like studying for exams or getting a boyfriend.
Ignored Epiphany: She figures out in Chapter 97 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya that Maki has a crush on Tsubasa, making her realize that she's been Innocently Insensitive towards her for months, only for Maki's denials to cause her to assume it was a misunderstanding.
Innocently Insensitive: Due to her complete obliviousness over Maki's crush on Tsubasa, she believes that her depression was caused by her not being able to spend time with Kashiwagi and attempts to cheer her up accordingly. This does far more harm than good, especially when she refers to Tsubasa as Kashiwagi's "destined partner".
In-Universe Nickname: Makki-senhai refers to her as "Miso-chan" in Chapter 171.
Irony: Early on in We Want to Talk About Kaguya, she expresses a desire for a boyfriend so Kaguya will come to her for relationship advice, despite her being the least qualified person to talk about such things due to a combination of her general cluelessness towards love and the implication that she has no interest in men. Once it's revealed that Kaguya desires to be a photographer, Erika becomes the most qualified person in the cast to give her advice due to her role in the Mass Media Club.
Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: She grew her hair out so she could look just like Kaguya. She would have tied it up with a ribbon as well, but she felt that it was a bit much. This is also why she immediately says that Karen should be the new president of the Mass Media club when Asahi asks them to pick between themselves, because she wants to be a vice-president like Kaguya.
Loophole Abuse: She and Karen convince Shizuku that they should be allowed to call Shirogane president despite his term ending because everyone, including Kaguya, still refers to him as such, akin to a nickname like "prince."
Maybe Ever After: Chapter 192 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya implies that she marries Kazamatsuri at some point in the near future due to her opening up a ramen shop named Miso-Matsuri (though it is possible that they were merely business partners).
Named After Somebody Famous: She's named after Kose no Oumi, a Heian-era painter.
Not Me This Time: Karen suspects that Erika was the one who sent Kaguya a love letter back in Chapter 12. She actually has written hundreds of such letters to Kaguya... but she never sent any of them.
Oblivious to Love: Erika takes this one step further. She's completely clueless about anything related to love, whether it be Kazamatsuri flirting with her, Maki's crush on Tsubasa, or Kaguya and Shirogane's mutual attraction. That said, Chapter 192 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya implies that she eventually picks up on Kazamatsuri's crush and marries him.
Odd Friendship: She's become rather friendly with the Tabletop Gaming club by winter break, even helping them assemble pieces for the updated version of Happy Life they were planning to sell.
One-Note Cook: Everything that she makes involves Miso in some way. This includes things like churros.
Pastimes Prove Personality: Averted. Most characters are in clubs that reflect their personalities or family businesses. Erika is obsessed with Kaguya and comes from a family that produces miso paste, but she is neither in the Japanese Archery Club nor the Home Economics Club. In the case of the former, she compares it to being too close to the sun, and the latter is because she's bad at sewing.
Perverse Sexual Lust: Her first crush was the mascot for her family's miso company.
Secret Secret-Keeper: She finds out that Kaguya and Shirogane are dating during the final day of the class trip when she and Karen (who already knew) catch sight of the two of them together.
Shipper on Deck: She ships Shirogane/Fujiwara and Kashiwagi/Tsubasa.
Stalker without a Crush: She begins following Ishigami after he became friends with Shiranui, wanting to know how he ended up becoming friends with all three of her top 3 girls in the school (Koromo, Kaguya, and Tsubame). It's bad enough that Ishigami ends up asking Karen how to get her to stop.
Those Two Guys: She's rarely seen apart from Karen.
Trademark Favorite Food: She's a big fan of anything with miso in it, owing to her family owning the in-universe equivalent of Japan's largest miso producer. This extends beyond simply eating the stuff, as her idea of stress management is to grind miso paste, and her first childhood crush was her company's mascot.
Uptown Girl: While it's never directly addressed by the narrative and she's oblivious to his advances, there is a significant wealth gap between her and Kazamatsuri. Chapter 192 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya implies that the two marry at some point in the future.
You Keep Using That Word: Played With. When she overhears Ishigami calling Karen "Namamono^note-senpai," Karen covers her tracks by telling Erika "all living things are namamono", only for this to backfire when Erika starts casually flinging the word around. Since Karen can't correct this without causing embarrassment, she's reduced to shouting at Erika not to use words she's only just learned.

Momo Ryuju

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese), Katelyn Barr (English)

Debut: Chapter 39 (Manga), Episode 8 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/momo_8.png

President of the Astronomy Club and daughter of the local yakuza boss. Prior to Shirogane's election as president, she had served as the student council treasurer.

Adaptation Dye-Job: She has brown hair in the manga, but the anime makes it electric blue.
Beautiful Tears: She gets teary when admitting how much she owes Tsubame for keeping her from dropping out of school. Kaguya expresses a desire to tell Shirogane how adorable she looks.
Dare to Be Badass: She's the one who originally encouraged Shirogane to wear the mask of a confident genius in order to attract Kaguya.
Dark and Troubled Past: Something happened to her in the past which nearly resulted in her dropping out of school. While the exact details haven't been given, it's implied that she was a victim of bullying.
Debt Detester: Chapter 137 reveals that she owed Shirogane a favor. It's unknown what he did for her, but whatever it was it was enough for her to stay up all night helping him prepare his Grand Romantic Gesture for Kaguya.
The Dreaded: Being a perpetually angry Yakuza Princess has already given her a fearsome reputation. She's also one of "The Shuuichin VIPs who do heartless actions without giving them a second thought".
Foil: To Ishigami, of all people, as she is basically his female counterpart. Both of them are gamers, served as the student council treasurer, and are shown to have a belligerent relationship with a specific authority figure. Although the two never met, Ryuju is the first person to agree with Tsubame's plan on vindicating Ishigami from his status as a pariah in chapter 201.
Gamer Chick: Her Establishing Character Moment has her hanging out on the roof of the school while playing games on her phone.
Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She owns a Tiny Headed Pip (which she uses as a pillow) and has at least one other large teddy bear in her room. Given who she is, she probably isn't worried about the other students making fun of her.
Hero of Another Story: A fair bit is implied about her past with Shirogane and Tsubame, though it never goes into any details. The author mentioned in an interview that if he ever wrote a hypothetical Kaguya-sama Zero, she would be the female lead.
Inconsistent Coloring: Her initial cameo appearance in Season 1 depicts her with dark brown hair. Come to her proper appearance in Season 3 and it's now electric blue. Her hat also goes from brown to white.
Informed Attractiveness: While she isn't drawn as ugly, the reader learns in Chapter 166 that she is said to be one of the four "Impossible Girls", the four most beautiful girls in Shuchi'in High School (excluding the student council) who are impossible to approach and date.
Irony: She previously served as treasurer for the student council, not the sort of position you'd expect the daughter of a crime boss to be appointed.
Never Bareheaded: She always wears a white hat.
One-Steve Limit: Averted. There's another Momo listed on the first-year class ranking in Chapter 105.
Perpetual Frowner: The closest she's gotten to a smile is a look of neutral annoyance, until the graduation party the 66th council held for the previous Student Council President in Chapter 202.
Phoneaholic Teenager: Most of her appearances have had her playing on her phone.
Prophetic Name: She's named after the Jewel from a Dragon's Neck, the gift that Shirogane's namesake was tasked with finding in order to win the hand of Princess Kaguya in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. She's also the one that helped Shirogane set up his Grand Romantic Gesture (which just so happened to be a giant balloon playing the part of a pearl surrounded by a dragon).
Secret-Keeper: As one of Shuchi'in High's most influential students, she is aware of Ko Ogino's true character (although it's specified in Chapter 201 that she wasn't involved in seeing that he was punished for his actions). She's also one of the only students who knows the full truth of the balloon thief incident.
Shameless Fanservice Girl: Downplayed. Momo doesn't dress provocatively, but her lack of manners means that she often sits in a way that would leave her underwear exposed. Of course, it's probably less a case of "I don't care if anyone sees", and more "I know no one is stupid enough to look".
Shipper with an Agenda: She's the one who initially pushed Shirogane to pursue Kaguya. She didn't have any vested interest in their relationship though, she just found his constant moping over Kaguya ignoring him to be annoying.
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: This appears to be her relationship with Kojima, due to their families being on opposite sides of the law.
Sitting on the Roof: Justified. It's mentioned in the light novel that her role as the Astronomy Club president means that she is the only student with a personal key to get onto the roof.
Small Role, Big Impact: She doesn't get a lot of screen time, but she's the one who convinced Shirogane to adopt his "Mr. Perfect" persona to win Kaguya over (making her directly responsible for the Duel of Seduction the series revolves around).
Theme Naming: She's one of the many people named after Kaguya-hime's impossible tasks. In particular, she takes her name from Ootomo no Miyuki (Shirogane's namesake)'s task item, the Jewel from a Dragon's Neck.
Tomboy with a Girly Streak: You wouldn't guess it from her personality, but Momo loves stuffed animals (to the point that she actually brought one to school in Chapter 116) and the curtains in her bedroom have pictures of cute little sheep on them.
Tragic Dropout: She mentions during Chapter 201 that she probably would have dropped out of school had it not been for Tsubame. The exact circumstances behind this have never been specified.
Yakuza Princess: Her parents are the head of the Ryujugumi. Erika and Karen both think that she'd have them offed if they piss her off, and she doesn't exactly do a good job of convincing them otherwise. This also comes in handy during the final arc when she gets some of her father's goons to act as Iino's bodyguards at Shirogane's request.

Hayato Hongo

Debut: Chapter 66 (Manga), Episode 17 (Anime)

A second-year student who ran against Shirogane during his reelection.

Alliterative Name: Hayato Hongo.
Ascended Extra: He only appeared in two pages before Kaguya coerced him into dropping out of the race in the main series. We Want to Talk About Kaguya gave him A Day in the Limelight, giving the reader a better look at his personality.
Break Them by Talking: Kaguya leaves him a gibbering mess when getting him to drop out of the race for student council. The fact that he indirectly badmouthed Shirogane within earshot of her probably didn't do any favors in getting her to go easy on him.
Butt-Monkey: From what little is shown, nothing goes right for him. He tries to run for student council president which ends with him dropping out after Kaguya scares him shitless, and his attempt to court Shuchi'in High's most beautiful girls earns them the title of "Impossible Girls".
Casanova Wannabe: The "Impossible Girls" (Osaragi, Tsubame, Momo, and Koromo) got their title because all four of them turned him down when he tried to ask them out.
A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 58 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya focuses on his attempts to increase his chances of getting elected, before Kaguya nips it in the bud in the main series.
Horrible Judge of Character: He tried to get an impartial journalistic view of Shirogane from Karen and Erika, two characters whose primary character trait is their obsession with the student council.
No Poker Face: Even Karen and Erika (who aren't exactly the most observant bunch) could instantly tell what his intentions were.
Shout-Out Theme Naming: He's named after the first two Kamen Riders, Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji.
Trauma Button: Even mentioning siraitia grosvenorii (a fruit native to China that is about 300 times sweeter than sugar) is enough to make him break into a cold sweat ever since Kaguya served him some while giving him a Breaking Speech.

Class 2-D

Shindou Watanabe

Debut: Chapter 211 (Manga)

The leader of Class D and the ace of the school's soccer team.

Back for the Finale: He shows up for 2 chapters at the beginning of senior year and then completely disappears from the plot, only to make a small cameo in the final chapter taking part in Kaguya's Grand Romantic Gesture to Shiorgane alongside the rest of the school.
Big Man on Campus: A very popular student who's a local sports star, and regarded in the same light as Maki, Hayasaka's clique, and the student council.
Gonk: He's not very pretty to look at with his overexaggerated lips and bizarre haircut, not that it hurts his popularity.
Remember the New Guy?: Mercilessly lampshaded and parodied. Despite being a very popular student in his own right, Kaguya has never heard of him and constantly reacts to people gushing over him by asking mentally "Wait, who is he?"
Two First Names: Inverted. Shindou is a common family name, which is why Kaguya initially falsely assumes Shirogane wouldn't be in the same class as her in their third year.

Transfer

Mikado Shijo

For more info about him, see this page.

Characters / Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Second-Years

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Class 2-A

Ai Hayasaka

Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori (Japanese), Amanda Lee (English), Jéssica Cardia (Brazilian Portuguese) Played by: Mayu Hotta

Debut: Chapter 3 (Manga), Episode 1 (Anime)

Mirin Hinokuchi & Subaru Suruga

Voiced by: Yuka Nukui (Hinokuchi), Yuka Morishima (Suruga)

Debut: Chapter 25 (Manga), Episode 6 (Anime)

Class 2-B

Nagisa Kashiwagi

Voiced by: Momo Asakura (Japanese), Bryn Apprill (English) Played by: Natsumi Ikema

Debut: Chapter 6 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

Tsubasa Tanuma / Kashiwagi's Boyfriend

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro (Japanese), Brandon McInnis (English)Played by: Yūtarō

Debut: Chapter 6 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

Maki Shijo

Voiced by: Kana Ichinose (Japanese), Hope Endrenyi (English)

Debut: Chapter 6 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

Go Kazamatsuri

Voiced by: Yuu Okano (Japanese), Clifford Chapin (English)

Debut: Chapter 61 (Manga), Episode 16 (Anime)

Saburo Toyosaki

Voiced by: Masamu Ono (Japanese), Ricco Fajardo (English)

Debut: Chapter 61 (Manga), Episode 16 (Anime)

Class 2-C

Karen Kino

Voiced by: Madoka Asahina (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (English)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 1 (Anime)

Erika Kose

Voiced by: Ayaka Asai (Japanese), Kristen McGuire (English)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 1 (Anime)

Momo Ryuju

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese), Katelyn Barr (English)

Debut: Chapter 39 (Manga), Episode 8 (Anime)

Hayato Hongo

Debut: Chapter 66 (Manga), Episode 17 (Anime)

Class 2-D

Shindou Watanabe

Debut: Chapter 211 (Manga)

Transfer

Alternative Title(s): Kaguya Sama Love Is War Ai Hayasaka

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Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori (Japanese), Amanda Lee (English), Jéssica Cardia (Brazilian Portuguese)
Played by: Mayu Hotta

Voiced by: Momo Asakura (Japanese), Bryn Apprill (English)
Played by: Natsumi Ikema

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro (Japanese), Brandon McInnis (English)
Played by: Yūtarō