Characters / Lovely★Complex

Characters in Aya Nakahara's Lovely★Complex!

Risa Koizumi

Risa Koizumi

Voiced by: Risa Hayamizu (Drama CD), Akemi Okamura (anime, JP), Amber Lee Connors (anime, EN)

Risa is 172 cm tall and thin and has light red hair and brown eyes.

Risa is seen as impulsive and strong-willed, rarely willing to display her softer side. She is a tsundere. She is also very clumsy and apparently talks a lot, usually in not such a good way.

It is strongly stated by the other characters that she is very funny for a girl and a fun person to hang out with. At the same time, she also implies she is not cute and girly, the type of girls that are very appreciated in Japan, possibly due to her tall stature. Her favorite artist is Umibozu, her admiration for him going to the point of obsession.

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• A-Cup Angst: After meeting Hitomi, a rather buxom woman who flirts with Atsushi, Risa comments that she has no breasts with a rather dejected look on her face.

• Angrish: Slips into this occasionally, when she gets very irritated (frequently by Otani's remarks).
• Animal Motifs: She is often associated with bunnies, and has a lot of bunny-shaped stuff in her possession.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Koizumi can instantly drop angst, romance, or anything she's doing at the moment when she sees swimming pools, rickshaws, or Umibouzu.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Koizumi often has moments where she truly cares for Otani, despite their constant bickering.
• Bad Liar: Anyone could see what she's thinking because it's written all over her face.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Otani. Their relationship starts like this, although it's entirely seen from a tsundere's perspective, with Otani often acting as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• Birds of a Feather: With Otani. Nobu and Nakao are very aware that they have many things in common aside from their height. and in the manga, they obtained 100% compatibility at the Love Machine.
  Otani: Maybe our compatibility...really is 100% after all!
  Koizumi: ...(Surprised)
  Otani: Except for the height.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Redheaded Girl to Nobu's Blonde and Chiharu's Brunette.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Koizumi's relationship with Otani is mostly played as a Manzai comedy pair routine, which is why they are both seen as the Class Clowns by their peers (classmates and teachers included). She usually plays the part of the Tsukkomi to Otani's Boke, although they exchange roles once they start dating.
• Book Dumb: Risa is depicted as not being very smart, since she is doing poorly in school and she is also seen sleeping in class.
• Bunnies for Cuteness: She has an attachment for things that are shaped like bunnies. Many of her possessions features them — a red purse, a necklace, a ring, her cellphone, bath items, among other stuff.
• Caught the Heart on His Sleeve: To Otani, to physically stop him from walking over to talk to his ex-girlfriend.
• Childhood Friend: Risa has been friends with Haruka since they were in Elementary School.
• Class Clown: With Otani, even if it's entirely accidental. They are seen as their class' comedy pair known as the "Hanshin-Kyojin" and usually play the Boke and Tsukkomi Routine around their peers.
• Class Representative: With Otani. Averted, because they are actually the "Class Clowns".
• Cute Clumsy Girl: She is very clumsy (and she is often falling around, like that time at the Umibouzu's concert), even in moments when she doesn't have to be acting like that (such as the time she was standing in row with the rest of her class... when she was falling asleep and snoring loudly).

• Dogged Nice Girl: She becomes this when she realizes her crush on Otani. It doesn't help that all of her friends, usually Nobuko and Nakao, are constantly encouraging her on in her pursuit of him.
• Dude Magnet: Even if people don't usually look up to her for her beauty and her tomboyishness, she has her fans as Otani, Haruka, and Kohori are all attracted to her. When She Cleans Up Nicely for a modelling photoshoot with Mimi, two guys talk about how they find her cute and one of them implies that he wants to make a move on her after the photoshoot... before Otani scares them off.
• Effortless Amazonian Lift: It's implied that Koizumi is stronger than Otani, as she can carry him in her arms after he fails to escape from a crossdressing cheering event in their class.
• Establishing Character Moment: The scene that serves as her introduction has her standing with her classmates, while she is asleep and snoring loudly. When she immediately wakes up, she yells "DAMN IT! My summon monsters have been annihilated!", while everybody laughs at her statement.
• Everyone Can See It: Everyone in their friends' circle and at school, know that she and Otani are perfect for each other.
• Fiery Redhead: She has a really hot temper, making her really impulsive in some of her decisions.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: With Otani. They are so good at this that they become a comedy sensation at their school, although it's very unintentional, and usually Played for Laughs.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Although Koizumi is supposed to be the older sibling, she is the Book Dumb and Hot-Blooded sister to her younger brother, Takato, who is very stoic and smarter than her.

• Gamer Chick: She is very fond of JRPGs and otome games, and it's one of many reasons why people tend to qualify her as a tomboy. At one point she became too obsessed with them, that she fell for Maity, her class' teacher assistant, just because he looked like Cain, a character from her favorite Visual Novel.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Risa is fond of using this method to calm people down or get them to think more rationally. She punches Otani twice, and Mimi once followed by "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Gonk: Risa is normally pretty good-looking, but she can make some rather... strange faces if she's in a bad mood or is trying to be more "traditionally" cute.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: With Otani. Even after the former has kissed her of his own accord.

• Huge School Girl: The premise of the series; Koizumi is 1.70 m (5'9"), quite a bit taller than average for a high school aged Japanese girl. She's terrified of growing any taller than she already is.
• Insecure Love Interest: To Otani. She thinks very highly of Otani's ex-girlfriend, Kanzaki, wondering why would he pick her over his ex-girlfriend. This is partly because of his hard and cold behavior around her and his inability to tell her how he feels.
• Insult of Endearment: She calls Otani as "midget" and "shrimp", even after their Relationship Upgrade... although she does so in a considerably softer manner than before.
• Ironic Name: Her last name, "Koizumi", means "little spring (the water kind, not the season)" in Japanese, and she is taller than any other girl in her school. This is lampshaded in the first scene of the series.
  "I've been tall ever since I was young. When we line up for morning assembly, I'm always at the end. But I happen to be named "Koizumi". Sorry, it's not "Oizumi" (big spring)."
• Lady Swears-a-Lot: Risa has a pretty foul mouth at times, at least to the extent the manga can get away with.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Her relationship with Otani is seen as such by the rest of their classmates, that they even lampshade it.
  Girl: Ahahaha, They're at it again~
  Guy : It'd be better if you two did a "married couple" comedy duo for the school festival.
  Otani: ARE YOU STUPID! DON'T SAY SUCH STUPID THINGS!
  Koizumi: How embarrassing~ What "married couple"? It's still too early!
  Otani: *smack* DON'T GET INVOLVED TOO!
• The Matchmaker: Since she had a crush on Suzuki when he was newly transferred to their class, she got involved in a deal with Otani to help him to hook up with Chiharu, while he helped her to hook up with Suzuki. However, they fail because Suzuki and Chiharu had a mutual interest in each other, while she ended up developing a Matchmaker Crush on Otani.

• One Head Taller: She is taller than Otani by a head.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Risa likes to hand these out after punching people to get them to calm down and think more rationally. She has done this to Otani and Mimi.
  Risa: [Risa punched Otani.] AHOU! It doesn't matter if you're tall or short! You're a man as long as you have a *beep*!!.
  Otani: Girls shouldn't use such indecent words!
  Risa: Just shut up, WILL YOU!? PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CALLING YOU SHORT FOR ETERNITY ALREADY! WHAT’S SO EMBARRASING ABOUT BEING CALLED SHORT BY A SINGLE GIRL!? If you're going to be bothered by such trivial matters... Beat ... Then you don't even have the right to like anyone! LOSER!

• Sacred First Kiss: Her first kiss was an Accidental Kiss with Otani, from all people. She was confessing (again) her feelings towards him, and since he was sick, he falls asleep when he barely touches her lips with his. The worst part of this accident is that he later confesses that he was also distracted by a random rice grain that was stuck on her hair.
• Second Love: Koizumi is actually Otani's second serious love interest, after things with Kanzaki (his ex-girlfriend from Middle School) didn't work out as he wanted.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: When she has to model with Mimi in a photoshoot, because they were missing models, the stylists make her look more beautiful and cuter than her usual self◊.
• Statuesque Stunner: Half of the premise of the series is that she's a girl taller than average. Overlaps with Huge School Girl. She's more on the gangly side of tall rather than voluptuous, though.
• Stock Shoujo Heroine: Downplayed; she fits the typical shoujo protagonist mold for the most part, as she's a clumsy and Book Dumb girl who still has a good heart and cares about her friends. However, she's a good deal more aggressive and outspoken than most examples, though she does have some feminine interests. Unlike most examples, she's also a Huge Schoolgirl who's a good deal taller than her love interest Otani, who's short for a boy.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Initially, the only thing Risa visibly has in common with her family is her tremendous height. However, we find out from her grandfather that her grandmother was even taller than her, and in his flashback she's a dead ringer for her grandaughter.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Koizumi is the Huge Girl to Otani's Tiny Guy. She is a girl who's taller than average and he is a guy with a height below most average guys.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: While she definitely does not fit the Japanese feminine ideal, being loud mouthed, aggressive, and outspoken; she does have a number of feminine hobbies, particularly fashion and hair. Her hairstyle changes often in the series, and she even helps Nobuko with her outfits. Upon graduating, she decides to go to cosmetology school and become a stylist.
• Tsundere: Type Unsorted, but that is mostly due to the indecisive and hard-to-read behavior of her love interest. Unlike Otani, Risa tries to be deredere with him. The problem is that when she tries, he ends saying things like "gross" or "weird" and that makes her mood changes of a "deredere" one to "tsuntsun" in seconds.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo : Played with. She falls in love with Otani, but Otani rejected her at first because he can't see her like "more than a friend" (because she's taller than him). Finally, she gives up with Otani and she has a fangirl crush on Maity-sensei. Otani gets unwillingly jealous of Maity, and finally realizes about his feelings for Risa in a Green-Eyed Epiphany.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Otani. After they make a "truce" and hook up each other with their love interests (and fail) and after their deal about who gets a boyfriend/girlfriend first, they spend more time together and become close friends (while still fighting.)

Atsushi Otani

Atsushi Otani

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Drama CD), Akira Nagata (anime, JP), Howard Wang (anime, EN)

Otani is a really short guy, standing only 157 cm by 12th grade. He has a small stature but he is a bit muscular due to his constant basketball training. He has orangey brown hair and brown eyes.

Otani can be tough and rude on the outside, trying to look more manly. At heart, however is kind, silly, naive, oblivious, funny and a good friend. Like Risa, he likes Umibozu, water parks, games and the two tend to do things others wouldn't (like riding a rickshaw). Also, he displays a happy and care-free attitude, much like his girlfriend.

He is quite popular with girls even though he is completely oblivious to Risa's, Seiko's and Mimi's feelings towards him.

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• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Otani can instantly drop angst, romance, or anything he's doing at the moment he sees swimming pools, rickshaws, or Umibouzu.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Otani often has moments where he truly worries and cares for Koizumi, despite their constant bickering.

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Koizumi. Their relationship starts like this, although it's entirely seen from a tsundere's perspective (from Koizumi's side), with Otani often acting as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• Berserk Button: He has a short temper, and can get easily irritated...
  • If people (like Koizumi) make fun of his small height.
  • If people call him an idiot.
  • If Risa starts showing feelings for another guy. This guy is really, really jealous... but given what happened with his ex–girlfriend, you can't blame him.
• Birds of a Feather: With Koizumi. Nobu and Nakao even realize that they have many things in common, although their height is not one of them.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Otani's relationship with Koizumi is mostly played as a Manzai comedy pair, which is why they are both seen as the Class Clowns by their peers. He usually plays the part of the Boke to Koizumi's Tsukkomi, although they exchange roles once they start dating, as he gives more Dope Slaps to Koizumi's statements and actions.

• Chick Magnet: He is very popular with the girls, even though he has an attitude problem and only if his height gets out of the question. Girls like Kanzaki, Mimi, Risa, and Seiko have fallen for him, although many of them have admitted that it's because they see him as "cute".
• Class Clown: With Koizumi. They are their class's "manzai duo" known as "Hanshin-Kyojin" and usually play the Boke and Tsukkomi Routine around their teachers and classmaters.
• Class Representative: With Koizumi. Averted because they are the Class Clowns.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: He is very jealous when other guys woo Koizumi, although it's very subtle. Despite his height, he can even scare other guys out.

• Everyone Can See It: Despite he is Oblivious to Love, everyone and their dog knows that Risa and him are perfect for each other.

• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: With Koizumi. They are so good at this that they become a comedy sensation at their school, although this is unintentional, and usually Played for Laughs.

• Friend to All Children: Otani likes to interact with kids a lot, and he has 10-year olds as his basketball friends (as they are more or less his same height). One of his future career dreams is to become a teacher, and he eventually decides to study to become an Elementary School teacher.

• Green-Eyed Epiphany: While Otani is very subtle about his jealousy towards any kind of guy that may like Koizumi, even though he was never able to see her more than a friend, it's until the moment she's suddenly swooning over Maity (their class' teacher assistant) that he realizes that he likes her more than that. This epiphany was purposefully invoked by Maity, as he wanted to make Koizumi "happy" through his "magic".
• Green-Eyed Monster: Part of his Crazy Jealous Guy persona is that he easily gets very jealous towards anyone who is close to Koizumi implies to take her away from him, even though he knows that he doesn't have to worry about it, since she is always going to be in love with him. There has been a couple of incidents whe he has been assertive to scare those guys away (including one time where he implied to use violence towards Kohori, if he saw him with Koizumi again), too.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Has a fuse as short as his height.
• Has a Type: Otani likes short, cute, and helpless girls, and he seems to think that they need to be feminine and a bit shy. Ironically, he ends up falling in love with a temperamental Huge School Girl, who isn't seen as very feminine by her peers.
• Insult of Endearment: He usually calls Koizumi with names such as "amazon" and "totem pole", even after they start dating. However, he considerably uses them in a softer way than before.
• It's All About Me: Otani is often arrogant and holds a high opinion of himself.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He acts as a jerk, but he definitely cares for his friends, especially Koizumi... even though most of the times, he has a lot of moments where he is more of a jerk with her, due to his tsundere nature.
• Keet: His usual state. Small? Check. Cute? check. Colorful? check. Energetic? check, check and check.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Even before they were officially dating, his relationship with Koizumi was seen in a similar way as that of a married couple, thanks to their constant bickering. Everyone in their school believed it was part of their "comedy pair routine", even if it was purely unintentional (for his disdain).

• The Matchmaker: When he had a crush on Chiharu, he got involved in a deal with Koizumi to help her out to hook up with Suzuki, while she helped him to hook up with Chiharu. However, they fail because Suzuki and Chiharu had a mutual interest in each other. He eventually developed a Matchmaker Crush on Koizumi, even though he was completely oblivious to it at first.
• The Napoleon: Half of the series premise is based on the fact that Otani is a guy with a height below most average guys. He is very easy to trigger as he doesn't like to be reminded that he is shorter than his friends, even though Otani does his best to excel in things like basketball.

• Oblivious to Love:
  • Not only is he initially completely oblivious to Koizumi being head over heels in love with him, even writing off an outright declaration of love from her as a joke.
  • He also doesn't realize that his childhood friend Mimi is also madly in love with him.
• Oblivious to His Own Description: Koizumi describes Otani as her perfect guy and he does not get it despite it being a perfect description of him.
  Otani: What kind of guy is he?
  Risa: An idiot.
  Otani: Huh?
  Risa: He’s an idiot… but he’s a good guy. He’s shorter than me, but he’s so sweet that I don’t care.
  Otani: Is that so…Don’t tell me the reason you’ve been coming to watch basketball… is because this guy you like is on the team?
  Risa: Shocked.
  Otani: It’s that freshman, Yamamoto, right?
  Risa: Huh!?
  Otani: If it’s someone shorter than you, and he’s on the basketball team, it has to be Yamamoto. No, wait… Ikeda is pretty short too…
  Risa: You’re an idiot.
• Older Than They Look: Since he is shorter than the average Japanese man, he is mostly confused for a kid by many people.

• She Is Not My Girlfriend: With Koizumi. Even after the former has kissed her of his own accord.

• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Tiny Guy to Koizumi's Huge Girl. Tiny Guy to Koizumi's Huge Girl. He is a guy with a height below most average guys and she is a girl who’s taller than average. Do the math!
• Tiny Schoolboy: In contrast to Koizumi who's taller than most girls, he's a good deal shorter than other boys his age.
• Tsundere: A rare male example of Type A with heavy emphasis on the "tsun" part. Otani is often showing the "tough" kind of love, rarely expressing directly his feelings for Koizumi. His pet name for her could be considered "idiot" or "stupid" since he always calls her that way, even when blushing.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: With Koizumi. Played with. Risa falls in love with Otani, but Otani rejected her because he can’t see her like “more than a friend” (maybe because she’s taller than him too). Finally Risa gives up with Otani and she have a fangirl crush on Maity-sensei… Otani gets unwittingly jealous of Maity and finally realizes about his feelings for Risa in a Green-Eyed Epiphany (invoked for Maity-sama.)
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Koizumi. After they make a "truce" about hook up each other with their love interests (and fail) and after their deal about who gets a boyfriend/girlfriend first, they spend more time together and becomes close friends (they still fight, of course.)
  • Nakao mock Otani quite often too,and Otani yells at him when he does or when he say something (he considers) stupid.
  • With Yoshi in the manga. Otani gets angry about him because he's a jerk, but he is his friend anyways.
  Otani punches Yoshi.
  Yoshi: That hurt!
  Otani: No matter what you say, you are annoying! You are just trying to act cool!
  Yoshi [punches Otani]: I'm not really freaking trying to act cool!
  Otani: If that's how it is, it's really not cool at all!
  Yoshi : Shut up,tiny! I can't be friends with someone so tiny!
  Yoshi : It's like you're the one who is tiny! What should I do since we don't have a relationship?
  Otani: We do have a friendship! YOU ARE MY FRIEND!

Nobuko Ishihara

Nobuko Ishihara

Voiced by: Saori Higashi (anime, JP), Hayden Daviau (anime, EN)

• Beta Couple: With Nakao. They were the only couple inside Koizumi and Otani's circle of friends, before Chiharu and Suzuki hooked up. They tend to act very lovey-dovey as newlyweds around each other.

• Cool Big Sis: Despite being a year older than Seiko, Nobu wants to act as a cool big sister to her... even if Seiko is more up to date to fashion and that she may come up as wiser than her in some love topics.

• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Nobu is Koizumi's best friend since they both started high school. She is always there when she needs help.

• Shipper on Deck: She ships Koizumi/Otani so hard, that seeing Koizumi with another boy irritates her at no end.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: With Nakao. They tend to act as newlyweds with their friends, sometimes even referring to each other with endearing names like a married couple would do.
• Team Mom: Despite being the same age as Koizumi and Chiharu, she acts similar to a mother to them, especially with Koizumi. This is evident when she gets worried that someone (especially Otani) would hurt her, to the point that she wouldn't doubt to use violence to make across her argument. Nobu even self-declares herself as the "mom" of the bunch.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Risa's Tomboy.

Heikichi Nakao

Heikichi Nakao

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Drama CD), Yasuhiko Tokuyama (anime, JP), Alejandro Saab (anime, EN)

• Beta Couple: With Nobu. They were the only couple inside Koizumi and Otani's circle of friends, before Chiharu and Suzuki hooked up. They tend to act very lovey-dovey as newlyweds around each other.
• Break Her Heart To Save Her: He tries to act like a womanizing jerk so that Nobu wouldn't feel guilty about leaving him. It didn't work.

• One Head Taller: He's about the same height as Risa.
• Perpetual Smiler: He smiles even when he is being insulted!

• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Otani's Manly Man
• Shipper on Deck: Wanted Risa and Otani to get together.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: With Nobu. They still have their issues, though.
• Stepford Smiler: In the episode "Premonition of Separation?! Risa and Ōtani Walk Separate Paths". He pretended to be happy for Nobu, but he was really sad to think of her going.
• Supreme Chef: He reveals that will take care of the Japanese sweet shop of his father.

Chiharu Tanaka

Chiharu Tanaka

Voiced by: Kazuko Kojima (anime, JP), Sarah Wiedenheft (anime, EN)

• Beware the Nice Ones: Suzuki fails to get into the same college as (sweet, meek, quiet) Chiharu, and seriously considers breaking up with her because he feels insufficient as a boyfriend. When she finds out, she picks up a desk and throws it, just barely missing him. She remains angry enough for a while to involuntarily tear magazines in half whenever she remembers it, too.

• Brainy Brunette: The smartest girl in the group.
• Does Not Like Men: More out of shyness than misandry.

• Innocently Insensitive: Says that she doesn't consider Otani a guy because of how short he is.

• Technicolor Eyes: Violet Eyes in a Shrinking Violet girl.

Ryoji Suzuki

Ryoji Suzuki

Voiced by: Masaya Onosaka (Drama CD), Kenjiro Tsuda (anime, JP), Aaron Dismuke (anime, EN)

• Cannot Spit It Out: In the manga, he didn't have the courage to tell Chiharu how he felt for her. That is until Risa intervened.
• Delicate and Sickly: Suzuki gets sick relatively often, to the point that he has to attend summer school with the rest of the gang because he missed a midterm. This comes up again when he fails the entrance exam for the school he wants to attend with Chiharu because he had the flu. His mother blames it on him and the fact that he hasn't "strengthened his body".

• Innocently Insensitive: Says that he doesn't consider Risa a girl because of how tall she is.

• Only Sane Man: He may not be as hyperactive as the others, but he's not oblivious to their erratic nature.
• Pair the Smart Ones: He and Chiharu get the highest scores in the group, provided that his weak immune system doesn't get in the way...

• The Quiet One: He is the most quiet compared to anyone else in the anime and manga.

• Twice Shy: Both he and chiharu are smart, yes, but they're also both very quiet and shy. Even when they do get together, their romantic expression is pretty subtle in comparison with Nakao and Nobuko's constant affirmation of their love for each other, or Atsushi and Risa's affectionate bickering

Haruka Fukagawa

Haruka Fukagawa

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Drama CD), Masaya Onosaka (anime, JP), Tom Laflin (anime, EN [teen]), Elsie Lovelock (anime, EN [child])

• But Not Too Foreign: Although Haruka was born in Japan, his grandmother is actually from England.
• Childhood Friend: He has been friends with Risa since they were in Elementary School.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Since he admires and likes Risa as more than just a friend, he openly clings to her and often expresses an intense hatred towards Otani. When he hears that Otani rejected her feelings (the first time), he practically flips out about the news.

• Gender-Blender Name: Since "Haruka" is mostly a feminine name, many of his classmates bullied him when he was a kid.
• Lady Killer In Love: Sorta. He's a massive The Casanova, but insists he's only "preparing" himself to date Koizumi via dating all of these girls. She obviously ain't pleased.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: During their childhood, Haruka was the Feminine Boy to Risa's Masculine Girl. He used to be very sensitive and quiet (and he was mostly friends with girls, too), while Risa was tougher and louder.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Upon reuniting with Risa, he gives her one or two bear hugs.

Seiko Kotobuki

Seiko Kotobuki

Voiced by: Fujiko Takimoto (JP), Oz Ryan (anime, EN)

A girl who Otani briefly dated. He broke up with her after he found out she was transgender.

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• Dumb Blonde: Seiko isn't very smart with certain situations, but she is wise in love topics, as she is the one who keeps encouraging Koizumi to not give up her love towards Otani.
• Genki Girl: Seiko is very, very cheerful and upbeat towards everything, especially in front of her friends. In the manga, it's shown that she only gets depressed one time when she realized that her voice was breaking, although she later finds out that it was just a side-effect of the flu.
• Meaningful Rename: Seiko's original name as a male was "Seishirou", but she later changes it as Seiko, as soon as she was embracing her identity as a woman.
• Trans Tribulations: Seiko is a trans woman and while usually a light-hearted character, one manga chapter is about her voice breaking. She's so distraught over her low, manly voice that she ended up outright de-transitioning. She's eventually able to get her old voice back after getting a needle for a cold.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Otani has the surprise of his life when he finds out that the cute girl who was going after him was actually transgender.

• Vocal Dissonance: One manga chapter had her voice break, making the contrast jarring. She gets so depressed that she temporarily goes back to living as a boy. When her voice reverts, Seiko transitions again.

Minor Characters

Mayu Kanzaki

Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka (anime, JP), Elizabeth Quedenfeld (anime, EN)

• Cute Sports Club Manager: She seems to like basketball players, both short and tall.
• First Love: For Otani. This worries and surprises Risa upon discovery.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With her boyfriend. He's about 6'4'' of tall and is nicknamed "The Junior High Super Giant".

• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She and Chiharu look very similar. This may have been the reason why Otani pursued Chiharu.

Umibouzu

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (anime, JP), Brent Mukai (anime, EN)

A famous rapper whom Risa and Otani love.

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• Face of a Thug: His wife even says that, despite his angry appearance, he's actually a very kind person.
• High-School Sweethearts: With his wife. They had a setback when he confessed in high school, but they eventually started dating a couple of years later.
• No Name Given: "Umibouzu" is only an artistic name that he uses. His real name is never mentioned in the series.
• Teen Idol: A famous rapper that both Koizumi and Otani like.

Kuniumi Maitake

Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (anime, JP), Gianni Matragrano (anime, EN)

A student teacher who teaches Koizumi and Otani's senior class.

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• Bishie Sparkle: Maity carries these with constantly him wherever he goes, along with rose petals. This is probably in part because he's somewhat of a parody of stereotypical romance leads of the era.
• Chick Magnet: A majority of his female students, including Koizumi, consider that he is one of the most handsome teachers at their school. They even started a fanclub, immediately after he is introduced to their class.
• Cool Teacher: He does his best to help his students, even with the silliest of the situations, with a little help of his "magic".
• Expy: To Koizumi, he looks and sounds like Cain, a character from her favorite otome game.
• Hot Teacher: He is one of the most handsome teachers at Maido Academy, and many female students fall easily for him (too bad he is engaged!). He is even the trope's page image!
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Maity is one of these to the absolute extreme, which is part of why there's a whole Instant Fan Club devoted to him.

Kiyoji Nakano

Voiced by: Masashi Hirose (anime, JP), Marc Swint (anime, EN)

Risa and Otani's homeroom teacher. He was the one initiated the "All Hanshin-Kyojin" name calling for Risa and Otani.

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• Cool Teacher: While he may not be as visible as Maity up there, Nakano is ultimately a good teacher who cares about his students' academic success.
• Dodgy Toupee: In the movie, he tries on several wigs. Some of them are fairly obvious.
• The Gadfly: He takes delight in messing with his students, primarily Risa and Otani.
• Shipper on Deck: He paired Risa and Otani together quite frequently.

Mimi Yoshioka

Voiced by: Kae Araki (anime, JP), Marissa Lenti (anime, EN)

A girl in Otani's neighborhood who has a crush on him.

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• Anguished Declaration of Love: Makes one when demanding to know why Otani is dating Risa.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She seemed nice around Otani, but really lets her colors show when she's alone with Risa.
• Betty and Veronica Switch: Koizumi is a Fiery Redhead that has very few feminine traits, although she's very kind-hearted. Mimi is a friend from Otani's childhood, who is a "very cute" girl who works as a model. However, Mimi is actually the opposite of what she claims to be, as she is very egotistical, very jealous, and is a little possessive. At first glance, Mimi is the Betty, but when her true personality is revealed, she is the Veronica.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Towards Otani, but she gets better.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: She can't stand it when Risa tries to comfort and/or relate to her.
• The Fake Cutie : Towards Otani.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Turns into this when she realizes that Risa does understand her.
• Patient Childhood Love Interest: She has had a crush on him for years and had been waiting for him to be taller than her.

• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has black hair, pale skin (in anime), and happens to be a model
• The Rival: To Risa over Otani's affections.

• Third-Person Person: More obvious in the Manga, but Mimi refers to herself in third person a part of her Fake Cutie act. She switches to normal speech when she's not trying to woo Otani.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: She's about the same height as Risa. This is the reason why she gets upset with her relationship with Otani.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: When compared to Risa, she's almost as girly as Nobu.
• School Idol: A famous model.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Otani. She lives right next to him and has loved him for years. Unfortunately, Otani never noticed until she told him.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Becomes this to Risa after finally giving up on Otani.
• Yandere: She is in love with Otani and has been patiently waiting for him to grow taller so that they could start dating. When she meets Risa, Mimi becomes so violently jealous of her new rival that she tries to stab Risa's hand and threatens to make her life miserable if she stayed with Otani.

Kazuki Kohori

Voiced by: Hiroki Shimowada (anime, JP), Kdin Jenzen (anime, EN)

A young high school boy who works at Ikobe with Risa. He quickly develops feelings for her, which hurts Risa's relationship with Otani.

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• Almost Kiss: He was dangerously close to kissing Risa while she was asleep.
• Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Tries to put the moves on Risa while she's napping.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Paired up with his gullibility.
• Likes Older Women: He's implied to be about 15 years old and he's pursuing Risa, who's a senior in high school.
• Super Gullible: Kohori was willing to believe that Maity and Haruka were Rosa's secret lovers, and that Nobuko and Nakao were her parents. He also gets conned multiple times.
• The Rival: For Risa's affections.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Like Otani, he's shorter than Risa.