Here are the characters of Maria Watches Over Us. Unmarked spoilers abound.
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House of Chinensis
Yumi Fukuzawa
Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese) and Sarah Hauser (English, Animax)Foreign V As
The main character, a shy, insecure freshman at Lillian Girls' High School who caught the attention of Sachiko while praying at a statue of the Virgin Mary. The upperclassman promptly gives her a rosary, inducting her into Yamayurikai, Lillian's Absurdly Powerful Student Council as Sachiko's petite sœur ("younger sister", or technically her successor as Rosa Chinensis), setting off events that eventually turn the otherwise shy Yumi into a better person through her interactions with the rest of the Yamayurikai. Upon entering second year, she is elevated as Rosa Chinensis en bouton and eventually takes Sachiko's first-year relative Touko as petite sœur.- Ambiguously Gay: She doesn't show any interest in men. She's instead very close to Sachiko, Sei, and Touko.
- Big Sister Instinct: She can be worried about her brother Yuuki and wondering if her little brother is fine. She might be protective of her younger brother Yuuki.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Prefers to keep her problems to herself instead of airing it out to her friends.
- Character Development: Slowly turns from Shrinking Violet to Plucky Girl as the series goes on.
- Girlish Pigtails: Yumi wears her hair in pigtails almost constantly.
- Little Big Sister: She is shorter than her little brother Yuuki.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Yumi is a plain, ordinary teenager who draws the attention of the School Idol.
- Plucky Girl: Becomes this thanks to Character Development.
- Prone to Tears: Yumi gets teary-eyed sometimes, such as when she weeps in Sachiko's arms after Touko rejected her rosary the first time around.
- Secret-Keeper: Pretty much Yoshino's confidant regarding her many issues.
- Shrinking Violet: Initially, but she grows out of it as the series progresses.
- Signature Headgear: Wears a pair of ribbons to tie her Girlish Pigtails. The anime is notable for giving her a different pair each day.
Sachiko Ogasawara
Voiced by: Miki Itō (Japanese) and Candice Moore (English, Animax)Foreign V As
Yumi's grande sœur ("older sister", or predecessor) as Rosa Chinensis en bouton of Yamayurikai. She encounters Yumi near the statue of the Virgin Mary, to whom she gives her rosary to induct her as petite sœur because she, as (until then) the sole sœur without a successor, is slated to play Cinderella alongside her on-and-off fiancé Suguru — a role she's not to thrilled to have. As they spend more time together, Sachiko trains Yumi in the ways of Lillian, while Yumi adapts her to the life of a commoner, all the while uncovering her personal demons. After Youko's graduation, she fill the latter's position as Rosa Chinensis.- Ambiguously Bi: She's all-but-stated to be in love with Yumi and she hates men, yet she had a crush on her male cousin in the past.
- Arranged Marriage: With Suguru, though they eventually cancel the deal when it became clear that their hearts belong to someone else.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Shares the same problem with Yumi.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Tends to react negatively whenever other girls get too close to Yumi.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Both her father and grandfather openly have mistresses, unabashedly dividing their time between home and paramour, which naturally drives her dislike for men.
- The Ingenue: So much so Yumi even has to teach her the basics of a commoner's life, such as how to buy her first pair of jeans and how to order from a fastfood chain.
- Prone to Tears: Breaks down while she explains the reason she gave her the rosary, and during her congratulatory speech to the graduating third-years.
- Troubled, but Cute: A rare female example.
Youko Mizuno
Voiced by: Emi ShinoharaForeign V As
Sachiko's grande sœur and (until her graduation) the Rosa Chinensis of Yamayurikai. Having attended Lillian since middle school, she was tricked by the previous Rosa Gigantea and Rosa Chinensis into taking up Sachiko. She eventually eases up into her new role as the latter's mentor, and eventually becomes instrumental in inducting Yumi into the Yamayurikai. Throughout her stay at Lillian she always looks after Sachiko's wellbeing. Upon graduation she takes up law.- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Wants to do this, so although she prefers to study liberal arts, she instead opts to take up law, much to her tearful dismay.
- Guile Heroine: Becomes instrumental in helping Sachiko adopt Yumi as her petite sœur.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Sei.
- The Mentor: To Sachiko.
- Out of Focus: For most of the first season, which is justified given that she has to take exams.
- Plucky Girl: Never gave up on trying to defrost Sachiko even until graduation.
- Put on a Bus: By way of graduation.
Touko Matsudaira
Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya
Sachiko's younger distant relative, first-year entrant to Lillian High during Sachiko's third year and Yumi's second, and an accomplished stage actress. While she tends to be very rude to Yumi (especially because she's very close to Sachiko, whom she admires), going so far as to reject Yumi's offer to become her petite sœur, the latter's kind, helpful personality starts to rub off on her, whether she admits it or not. Eventually, Yumi discovers her terrible secret — she is an orphan, adopted by her current family after her biological parents were killed in a vehicular accident that left her as sole survivor. After Yumi helps her deal with them, Touko, grateful and at peace with herself, finally accepts Yumi's rosary and is thus vested as both Yumi's petite sœur and Rosa Chinensis en bouton in waiting.- Alpha Bitch: She initially comes off as this, until she begins accumulating Pet the Dog moments and Yumi discovers things that made Touko build emotional walls around herself.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Shares the same problem as Yumi and Sachiko.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: The nature of her (initial) conflict with Yumi over Sachiko's attention.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Fears that all help she may receive — including Yumi's offer to become her grande sœur — could stem from pity.
- Generation Xerox: Inherited her (adoptive) mother's twintails and association with the Drama Club.
- Humanizing Tears: Breaks down crying in Noriko's arms when she realized that she may have been too mean to Yumi, and later sheds Tender Tears after confiding her story to Yumi.
- I Owe You My Life: As much as she is grateful to the Matsudairas for saving her after her biological parents' death, she just cannot find the courage to express them, because she cannot break through her lingering guilt that she could do nothing to repay all the kindness she thinks she doesn't deserve.
- In-Series Nickname: "Mechanical Drill" by Sei, on account of her corkscrew pigtails.
- Never Be Hurt Again: Her motivation for distancing herself.
- Parental Abandonment: Her biological parents were killed in a car crash, and with no one from her family able to take her in, she was adopted by the Matsudairas. In a moment of Contrived Coincidence, her adoptive mother happens to be her biological mother's old classmate at Lillian.
- The Power of Acting: Justified, given that she is a stage actress.
- Tsundere: A deconstructed Type A; I.E. what are the realistic conditions for a Type A Tsundere; a fear of getting close to people and feeling undeserving of affection. It's an unusual role for a Type A specialist such as Rie Kugimiya.
House of Gigantea
Sei Satou
Voiced by: Megumi ToyoguchiForeign V As
Sei, Rosa Gigantea (until her graduation) of Yamayurikai, is the polar opposite of most of her fellow student council members: loud, rough-around-the-edges and loves to push people's buttons. Unlike the other members of the Yamayurikai, she selected the two-years-younger Shimako as her petite sœur — after personal tragedies that marred her second-year life, during which time she started devoting herself to books. After graduation, she enters Lillian University as an English and American Literature major and has bought herself a yellow Volkswagen New Beetle.- Bifauxnen: More so compared to most of her fellow Yamayurikai members, even more so when she enters college.
- Bookworm: Started her love for books during second year as a way of coping with personal tragedy.
- Break the Cutie: Suffered a lot of personal tragedies during eleventh-grade, and as a result she has become a little bit less hyperactive than she used to.
- But Not Too Foreign: She is half-Caucasian, as evidenced by her stature, blonde hair, gray eyes and cheekbone structure.
- Drives Like Crazy
- Gayngst: She's unable to find happiness with Shiori when the latter became a nun. However, by the series itself, Sei's gotten over her angst and is openly lesbian.
- Hate at First Sight: she definitely despise Suguru.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Youko.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Being likely the only out-of-the-closet lesbian in a school filled with pretty girls.
- The Mentor: To Yumi, in the event Sachiko is unable to fulfill that capacity.
- Put on a Bus: Graduates midway through the second season. Downplayed, however, as she enters Lillian's college division, meaning she can still visit her old friends.
- Statuesque Stunner
- Team Mom: Surprisingly, this rather nonconformist girl is also one of the most mature members of the Yamayurikai.
- The Tease: Sei frequently teases Yumi in particular.
Shimako Toudou
Voiced by: Mamiko NotoForeign V As
Prim, proper and gentle, Shimako, Rosa Gigantea en bouton of Yamayurikai, is one of Lillian's most admired freshmen. Amongst the principal first-years she is the most quiet, though that hides her deep sense of resolve. She was picked by Sei as her petite sœur at the tail end of the latter's year-long Heroic BSoD, and thus has a two-year gap. Come second-year she was elevated as Rosa Gigantea — a position she will hold for two straight years — and, after some vacillation, handpicks Noriko as her petite sœur.- Cloudcuckoolander: Kind of weird at times.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Hidden resolve aside, she also has lots of insecurities, such as feeling herself unworthy of becoming Rosa Gigantea.
- The Quiet One: Lampshaded in one episode by Yoshino.
- Shrinking Violet: Was this initially, thinking of relationships as more of a burden than help. It wasn't until Noriko called her while she's in Italy that Shimako realized that it's less of a "cage" than a "nest" to which she can find solace whenever she's down. Ever since she starts to be more outgoing.
- Silk Hiding Steel: There's a lot of resolve beneath that prim, quiet facade.
Noriko Nijou
Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu
A girl with an obsession for anything Buddhist, who finds herself undergoing some culture shock when an unexpected turn of events force her to attend Lillian, a strictly Roman Catholic school. With the school's nature very foreign to her, she finds solace in the form of the likewise solitary Shimako, who then chooses her as petite sœur and Rosa Gigantea en bouton.- Fish out of Water: Often fails to understand the Catholic lifestyle, which causes a lot of culture shock, from the antiquated Sailor Fuku to their version of Japanese Honorifics.
- Hot-Blooded: Not that it shows with her appearance, though.
House of Foetida
Yoshino Shimazu
Voiced by: Haruna Ikezawa (Japanese) and Candice Moore (English, Animax),Foreign V As
A freshman with a heart condition who has to be frequently cared for by her cousin and grande sœur, Rei. Despite this, Yoshino is rather tomboyish and independent, which clashes with Rei's wishes to protect her. One heart surgery, however, and Yoshino finally finds the chance to release all those pent-up energy. Come second year she is elevated as Rosa Foetida en bouton, though she hasn't chosen her petite sœur yet.- Clingy Jealous Girl: Doesn't react well whenever Rei and Eriko are being too close for comfort.
- Genki Girl: After many years ridden with a heart condition, post-surgery Yoshino finally has a chance to release all those pent-up hot blood.
- Girlish Pigtails: Wears her hair as a pair of braids.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Yumi, with whom she becomes comfortably close enough to reveal her issues to her.
- Hot-Blooded: Shows this after her surgery.
- Kendo Team Captain: Vice captain to be more precise, during her third year, letting her former rival Chisato Tanuma take the position of captain so she can focus on her Yamayurikai duties.
- Protectorate: Of Rei, which causes some clashes with the independent Yoshino.
- Returning the Wedding Ring: Actually returning the rosary, but in this case it's more Yoshino declaring her independence rather than her wanting to sever her sœur relationship with Rei.
- Smarter Than You Look: Which makes Yumi mistake her for a psychic.
- Tsundere: Type B — especially nice to everyone, but tends to lash out on Rei whenever she's upset or Rei is being too overprotective. She ultimately becomes comfortable enough with Yumi to reveal her deep-seated issues.
Rei Hasekura
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Japanese) and Candice Moore (English, Animax)Foreign V As
Yoshino's next-door neighbor, cousin and grande sœur and Rosa Foetida en bouton of Yamayurikai. Despite her masculine looks and role as captain of Lillian's kendo team, she's very feminine — she loves sightseeing, reading shoujo manga, and does domestic chores for Yoshino, much to the latter's consternation due to Rei's sometimes overprotective nature. Come third-year she is elevated to Rosa Foetida in place of Eriko.- Bifauxnen: Looks the part and practices kendo, but is actually very traditionally feminine.
- Declaration of Protection: Her vow for Yoshino, which sometimes clashes with the latter's yearning for independence.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Downplayed by her bifauxnen looks.
- Kendo Team Captain: She's the captain of a kendo team.
- Prone to Tears: Admits that without Yoshino to take care of, Rei is just a weak, timid and lonely crybaby.
Eriko Torii
Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese) and Sarah Hauser (English, Animax)Foreign V As
Rei's grande sœur and (until graduation) Rosa Foetida of Yamayurikai. Eriko is smart and gifted, but also enigmatic and eccentric. After graduation she went on to study arts.- Forehead of Doom: Sei frequently made fun of that back since childhood, which fuels their rivalry.
- It Amused Me: Her reason for picking Rei as petite sœur.
- Put on a Bus: By way of graduation.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Falls head-over-heels in love with a teacher from Hanadera, to the point of proposing to him. Even though he only sees her as a student, she convinces him to get to know her further before refusing marriage.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Sei.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Or in her case, Why Did It Have to Be the Dentist?
Nana Arima
Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame
Yoshino's petite sœur. Initially a third year at Lillian Junior High School who Yoshino convinces to pretend to be her petite sœur to help keep Eriko off her back. Yoshino eventually chooses her to be her actual petite sœur and she enters her first year in Lillian High School as Rosa Foetida en Bouton.- Becoming the Mask: Initially only pretends to be Yoshino's sœur (something that Eriko sees through almost immediately), but eventually does accept Yoshino's rosary.
- Crash-Into Hello: How Yoshino and her initially meet.
- Generation Xerox: Played with, she look alot like Eriko even though she's not being related to her. In fact, when Eriko picks her as the one she'd recommend to Yoshino, Sei and Youko comment that she's choosing Nana because she looks like her.
- Surprise Party: How Yoshino welcomes her to the Yamayurikai on her first day in high school.
Schoolmates Within Sachiko's Year
Minako Tsukiyama
Voiced by: Yuko Kaida (Japanese),Foreign V As
Editor-in-chief of Lillian's weekly circulation newspaper, "Lillian Kawaraban" and grande sœur to Yumi's classmate Mami.- Intrepid Reporter: Sometimes, much to Yumi's discomfort.
- Serious Business: She takes reporting seriously.
Shiori Kubo
Voiced by: Akiko Nakagawa
Sachiko's old classmate and Sei's former lover, whose turn to the nunnery broke Sei's heart.- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Ultimately chose the life of a nun over Sei because the calling was far too much for her to resist. This decision broke Sei's heart.
- Parental Abandonment: Her parents died when she was young.
Shizuka Kanina
Voiced by: Rino (Japanese),Foreign V As
Known as "Rosa Canina", Shizuka was the star singer of Lillian's choir. She has taken interest in Sei, but eventually also towards Shimako.- Cannot Spit It Out: Her longing for Sei's love.
- Gayngst: Her focus chapter (the Bonus Chapter of Volume 19 of the light novels) revolves around her coming to terms with the fact that she will never have the chance to confess to Sei, thus explaining her bold move by running for the Yamayurikai Council Elections just for the one shot of being noticed by Sei.
- Put on a Bus: Left in her second year to further pursue her singing career in Italy, though she'd contact Shimako every now and then.
Mifuyu Uzawa
Voiced by: Yuki Masuda (Japanese), Foreign V As
Sachiko's classmate with a borderline obsessive affection for her.- Foil: Like Yumi, she is an Ordinary High-School Student and a fan of Sachiko's.
Schoolmates Within Yumi's Year
Mami Yamaguchi
Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (Japanese),Foreign V As
Yumi's friend, a staff member of "Lillian Kawaraban" and Minako's petite sœur.- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Minako's red.
- Straight Man: Tries her best to be Minako's voice of reason. Minako, however, also tries her best to tone down her serious attitude towards reporting.
Tsutako Takeshima
Voiced by: Rina Sato (Japanese) and Emily Woo Zeller (English, Animax),Foreign V As
Another of Yumi's peers and star of the Photography Club who sidelines at "Lillian Kawaraban". Unlike most characters, she's a fiercely independent girl who refuses to be locked into any sœur.- Companion Cube: Rarely seen without her camera on hand.
- Straight Man: Serves as Yumi's emotional support among her peers, and tends to defuse tensions within the Yamayurikai with a shot of her camera.
Katsura
Voiced by: Noriko Shitaya (Japanese), Foreign V As
Yumi's classmate and a tennis player. Chisato Tanuma
Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (Japanese)Foreign V As
Member of the kendo club and Rei's admirer.- Hero-Worshipper: Towards Rei.
- Kendo Team Captain: Becomes this when Rei graduates.
Schoolmates Within Touko's Year
Kanako Hosokawa
Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu
A quiet, aloof freshman and a Yumi fangirl, who doesn't like it whenever the latter hangs around with males.- Berserk Button: The idea of Yumi hanging around with men.
- Broken Pedestal: Doesn't take well the fact that Yumi hangs around with males, thinking that her "pure" sempai has been "possessed" by another entity. In the end, Yumi helps repair their broken friendship, and Kanako begins to respect her once more, Warts and All.
- Does Not Like Men: To a possibly greater extent than Sachiko.
- Freudian Excuse: Why does she hate men? Her own father had an affair and a baby with her former sempai, Yuuko. In the end, though she eventually reconciles with Yuuko.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Played for Laughs in the Omake.
- Loony Fan: A minor example, in that Yumi feels pressured whenever she has to entertain Kanako.
- No Social Skills: Other than fangirling over Yumi, which made the latter initially unaware of Kanako's issues.
- Romantic Runner-Up: Ultimately fell short of Yumi's choice.
- Yandere: The sight of Yumi hanging out with men riles her up, not minding for once that Yumi is exceptionally nice to everyone, female or male. She has a justifiable reason for it, though, and in the end learns to move out of this tendency.
Shouko Naitou
Voiced by: Marina Inoue
A member of the Photography Club who has come to admire the Yamayurikai and intends to join them.- Fangirl: Of Tsutako.
Hanadera Boys' High School
Suguru Kashiwagi
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese) and David Lee Mc Kinney (English, Animax)
Sachiko's fiance and student council president of Hanadera, Lillian's Buddhist-oriented, all-male counterpart.- Arranged Marriage: With Sachiko, though they eventually terminate it out of recognition for each other's differing romantic attention.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Don't let his smile fool you he's actually a Jerkass.
- Cool Car: Owns a Maserati 3200 GT
.
- Incompatible Orientation: In love with Yuuki, who is straight.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he tends to be very mean-spirited, he nevertheless cares for Sachiko in his own, quiet way, shows gratitude to Yumi for helping his fiancee with her problems, and once even warned Touko of further alienating any prospective friend should she keep up her "jerk acr".
- Straight Gay: And heavily implied to have a crush on Yumi's younger brother, Yuuki.
- The Tease: He loves teasing anyone not in a sexual, but flirty way.
- Troubled, but Cute: A very attractive young man but has his moments.
Yuuki Fukuzawa
Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Ichiki (Japanese) and Candice Moore (English, Animax)
Yumi's younger brother who was born within the year. After Kashiwagi's graduation, he becomes Hanadera's Student Council President.- Big Brother Instinct: Has shades of this, despite being younger than Yumi.
- Big Little Brother: He is taller than his sister Yumi.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Suguru is in love with him.
- Hero of Another Story: The SpinOff Oshaka-sama mo Miteru shows us his own story at Hanadera.
- In-Series Nickname: Is called "Yukichi" at Hanadera.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Several characters have noted how the siblings have similar faces.
- The Leader: Of the Levelheaded type.
Lillian Women's University
Kei Katou
- Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga
- Nice Girl: Lets Sei and Yumi into her dorm to dry off, even thought she barely knows Sei.
