This is a character sheet for the shoujo manga Marmalade Boy!

Spoilers for certain characters have been left unmarked. Proceed with caution.

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The Main Couple

Miki Koishikawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miki_9.jpg

The Lovable Stepsister

Voiced by: Mariko Kouda (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English), Laura Orlazábal (Spanish), Amalica Cantadero (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Hinako Sakurai (2018 Movie)

A high school student and an avid member of Toryo High School's tennis club. She's a cute, outspoken and cheerful girl, but can be just as insecure and bratty. She's frustrated with the fact that her parents decided to get a divorce and remarry, but when she sees how happy the adults are, and meets her new stepbrother Yuu for the first time, she slowly begins to get used to the idea.

All-Loving Heroine: Though she can be feisty and irritable, she has a pure heart, never holds grudges, and many of the friends that she had to "compete" with for Yuu or tried to snatch her up for themselves eventually enter her circle of close friends. Even with her nonsensical family, she always tries to be understanding towards them.
Always Someone Better: Miki constantly fools herself into thinking that every other girl is a better match for Yuu than she is. Arimi and Jinny are popular, arguably more mature, and have a better fashion sense, Suzu is younger and a regional celebrity, and Anju is Yuu's kind childhood friend. Outside the Love Dodecahedron, she admits that she sees her closest friend, Meiko, as generally more sophisticated, attractive, and Book Smart.
Bad Liar: Generally is so, and she fails at hiding the fact that she was awake when Yuu kissed her.
Book Dumb: Surprisingly averted for a shoujo heroine, as her grades aren't awful compared to a lot of the others. The only exception is her studies in English, while not being a subject at her school, she still struggles to speak the language properly.
Boyish Short Hair: She had this when she was in middle school, and even then she was an avid tennis player. When Meiko suggests she cut her hair after Ginta rejects her, she jokes she wouldn't have any left.
Bratty Teenage Daughter: To a degree, as unlike most examples, she tries to be levelheaded compared to her silly parents. As such, she comes across as bossy and irritable when she gets in the middle of their antics. It's taken into full force once her parents decided to divorce and re-marry, where she actively voices her disapproval of it.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Yuu is mostly a cool and collected guy, but sometimes he's prone to bouts of bitterness and depression. When this happens, Miki attempts to comfort and understand his reasons so she can help him out. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't.
Butt-Monkey: Her clumsiness often gets the best of her, especially during physically activity (getting hit in the face with a basketball or even running into a light post). She's also prone to being teased by Yuu and the other guys.
Cool Big Sis: She becomes this for Rikka and Saku in the sequel.
Cooldown Hug: Gives this to Yuu after he begins to walk away while evidently upset at her avoiding him.
Dude Magnet: Several boys in the series are in love with her, including Yuu, Ginta, Kei, and Michael. Even in middle school, Ginta admits that she was actually pretty popular with the guys back then.
Fiery Redhead: Has mahogany-colored hair, and has a very mustard-spicy temper whenever she gets riled up.
First Kiss: She had hers stolen by Yuu after she pretended to be unconscious in the infirmary. She was unsurprisingly horrified and disgusted.
Flirty Stepsiblings: With Yuu, and their relationship is the point of the whole series.
Food as Characterization: After comparing Yuu to marmalade, Yuu retorts by comparing her irritability to the tartness and spiciness of mustard.
Friend to All Children: As seen in the movie, she's more than happy to goof off and have fun with little kids and participate in their games.
Genki Girl: Particularly at school and around her friends, she's a lively girl who has the cheerfulness of a small child.
Girlish Pigtails: This is among the many varieties of hairstyles she wears.
Girl Next Door: Of the stepsister variant, to Yuu.
Gratuitous English: She makes a quick effort to learn basic English to prepare for the arrival foreign exchange student, Michael, which results in this in the original Japanese release. This scene is surprisingly kept in the dub, where sounds like she forgot how to speak English despite using it in the series up until that point.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Meiko, as far back as middle school.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Her self-esteem is nearly non-existent whenever she gets to know another girl. She regularly compares herself to them and calls herself as a clunky little kid in comparison.
He Will Not Cry, so I Cry for Him: Averted, she cries along with the distraught Yuu at the beach while holding him to her chest.
Hollywood Genetics: In the anime, she has red hair while both her parents are brunettes.
Just a Kid: Her cheerful personality, clumsy nature, and many of her youthful hairstyles all give people this impression of her. This is how she initially compares herself to Arimi after the latter is seen wearing makeup, and is also Jinny's first impression of her. While it's also one thing he loves about her, Yuu even points this out and at one time notes that she would probably be mistaken for a child if she wore a kimono. This is also how she herself feels about both Kei and Michael.
Kawaiiko: She mixes this with some Shorttank traits.
Like Brother and Sister: Despite being attracted to each other early on, her friendship with Ginta evolves into this. They have no problem teasing and enraging each other, but when they're in distraught, they're usually among the first people they can go to aside from their lovers or (at least in Miki's case) Meiko.
Long-Distance Relationship: She has one with Yuu after he goes to study abroad. It doesn't work out at first.
Love Confessor: Regarding Yuu, until he confesses to her a second time.
Love Martyr: To a degree, towards Yuu. To say Yuu has underlying issues would be an understatement, but despite her own flaws, Miki wants to be there for him, as she was the bright spark in his eyes that he had been missing for a long time.
Magnetic Hero: Thanks to her sunshine personality, she eventually managed to befriend all of her romantic rivals.
Oblivious to Love: She completely misreads Kei's intentions, leading a jealous Yuu to fight with her. Not to mention how she fails to even register Michael's Stalker with a Crush feelings towards her. Also, despite being in love with him, she was even oblivious to Yuu's feelings towards her until he spelled it out for her.
Official Couple: Eventually with Yuu after the first third of the series, and it's so officially that it's given away in both of the anime's opening sequences.
One-Note Cook: Although Yuu says her cooking skills are lame, she was able to bake a pretty good cake for his birthday that everyone appreciated.
Passionate Sports Girl: To a small degree. She's very athletic and a member of the school's tennis team, not to mention she's a rather decent player in her own.
Plucky Girl: Ditzy as she is, she can also be pretty stubborn, e.g. in the anime she's the one who convinces Meiko to go to Hiroshima and confront Namura.
Prone to Tears: She's extremely insecure and cries in at least every two to three episodes. Having her parents go though a divorce and instantly remarry, she cries. Being too confused about who she's in love with and having to choose between at least two of them, she cries. Having two other guys fight over her, she cries. Misinterpreting her best friend's words into thinking that she never wanted to be her friend at all, she cries. Realizing that she hardly knows anything about Yuu despite living with him. You know what happens.. In short, she's actually pretty fragile and will cry when under enough pressure.
Redheads Are Ravishing: Though how red her hair is can be debated upon, her hair is still a reddish shade, and she's had at least three guys (four in the anime) fall for her for it.
Rough Overalls: A notable early outfit of Miki Koishikawa is a pair of blue overalls with a heart on the bib over a pink shirt. This goes with her cheerful and cute personality, namely her Tomboy with a Girly Streak personality. This was lampshaded in an early episode when she felt compared against a Girly Girl, calling herself looking like a 'Big Clunky Kid' in her overalls.
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Energetic Girl to Yuu's Savvy Guy.
She Cleans Up Nicely:
- Although initially regarded as plain and not beautiful enough, true to shoujo manga tropes, Miki is still evidently very pretty, judging by her popularity that was enough to make Ginta afraid of telling other guys that he liked her, not to mention that the mangaka Yoshizumi Wataru based her looks off a magazine it girl.
- Noted here and there in the manga, like when Yuu says she looks cute in the dress she buys from his workplace. Is noted by Arimi as well when she sees Miki with her hair down for once, and definitely by Kei (and Michael, in the anime) who fall head over heels for her at first sight.
- Two decades later, Miki is drawn as pretty and cute even into her thirties, inside of the 2013 sequel series, Marmalade Boy Little.
- Also, despite how simply Miki dresses in the manga, the mangaka frequently draws her looking cute in pretty clothes◊, and with a pretty face◊.
Shipper on Deck: She's becomes a big fan for Meiko/Namura and Arimi/Ginta.
Shorttank: While she has a prominent feminine side, she's a bit of a tomboy, a Genki Girl, and quite athletic.
Single-Target Sexuality: Subverted at first, as before Miki and Yuu get together, her feelings for Ginta began to resurface before ultimately choosing Yuu. Afterwards, the series constantly proves that no matter cute Miki thinks some of the other guys are and how hard anyone tries to push them apart, Yuu and Miki are unable to look at anyone but each other.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Yuu and Miki started like that.
Stock Shoujo Heroine: She meets all the requirements except that she's not that book dumb (at least compared to Suzu and Ginny) and is surprisingly athletic.
Suddenly Shouting!: Has a penchant to do this when startled.
Sunny Sunflower Disposition:
- And◊ how◊.
- In the scene near the end where Yuu yells at her asking her not to love him anymore, she changes the subject and goes off happily to look at a garden of sunflowers by someone's house. Yuu quickly sees that she was trying not to let him see she was about to cry.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: She could be seen as the tomboy to Meiko, Arimi and Anju's girly girls, although she does not feel one way or another about the subject.
Tomboyish Ponytail: She has it in her high school days.
Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She may be a Short Tank with Tomboyish Ponytail, but still a huge girly girl at heart.
Tsundere: Type B. She really loves Yu and is very kind to him, but she doesn't like his teasing and gets angry about it a lot, especially in the beginning.

Yuu Matsuura

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yuu_0.jpg

The Enigmatic Stepbrother

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese), Michael Lindsay (English), Jorge Araneda (Spanish), Iván Jara (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Ryo Yoshizawa (2018 Movie)

The series' namesake "Marmalade Boy"; sweet, nice, charming, and playful on the outside, bitter, tart, and depressed on the inside. He's been in love with Miki since the first time he met her, but his feelings are hidden under his cool, carefree, and sarcastic persona. His love isn't the only thing he's hiding, as he has a lot of secrets that he keeps to himself.

Academic Athlete: Yuu is smart and naturally athletic, being able to excel in almost every sport. Although he did not join any clubs in order to focus on his studies and the search for his real father.
Anger Born of Worry: He reprimands Miki for going into the horse stable by herself while trying to get Meiko's hat back at the end of episode 18.
Anguished Declaration of Love: The third time he confesses to Miki, unable to take his act of pushing her away anymore because he was under the impression that they shared a biological father.
Attractive Bent-Gender: Ginta quickly became enamoured with the fairytale princess, from the advert Yuu played, much to his dismay.
Big Brother Instinct: Although he doesn't love Anju, he cares for her very much, since they grew up together and because of her fragile health, he caring her like his little sister (and the fact that William asked his permission to hanging out with her also indicates this). He cares for her so much that he is willing to cancel a date with Miki when she gets hard sick.
Big Brother Mentor: For Rikka and Saku in the sequel. Especially for Saku who wants to become an architect like him.
Boy Next Door: Literally, and of the stepbrother variant, To Miki.
Break His Heart to Save Him: Break Her Heart to Save Her, in his case.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Yuu is mostly a cool and collected guy, but sometimes he's prone to quite the bouts of depression. When this happens, Miki attempts to comfort and understand his reasons so she can help him out. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't.
Brother–Sister Incest: He abruptly dumps Miki once he fell under the false impression that they were siblings related by blood. After she visits him in New York again, gets lost and nearly attacked, He realized that he loves Miki so much that he eventually became willing to commit this by the end.
Celibate Hero: Before meeting Miki, he refused to date any girl who ever confessed to him. Arimi was the exception as she convinced him to give her a chance, but it was only a trial run and he dumped her after a few months containing unbelievably chaste dates.
Chick Magnet: The anime exaggerates this in the most annoying ways possible. In the manga, he certainly is one, but more tastefully so.
Covert Pervert: With Miki, he has rare moments where he loses control of his libido, to say nothing of the kiss in the infirmary.
- Why does he go off to see Miki during the first tennis match he's able to watch? Because he wanted to see her in her tennis skirt. While he claims to be joking in the anime, the prequel movie shows that this is how he first discovered and fell in love with Miki in the first place.
- Upon finding Miki in the infirmary bed a second time, he proceeded to literally climb over her on the bed and tried to kiss her, all while the poor girl is hiding her mouth under the covers.
- He asks her to sit between his legs on his bed, after she shows off her new work uniform with a very short skirt. Do the math..
- How eager he is for their trip together. Sure, he appears to be mildly looking forward to it, but for Chaste Hero Yuu who mostly hides his true feelings, that sort of behavior holds much more meaning than it normally would. Miki herself isn't entirely innocent though, as she believed and seemed a bit excited about going past kissing during the trip.
Dark and Troubled Past: A past that came about due to him jumping to conclusions about his biological father. As a result of the misunderstanding and Youji and Chiyako not being upfront about their past, he started to distance himself from them and the rest of the world, even refusing to leave his room for a while. It got to a point where anything unusual that his parents did was just ignored or accepted without question, simply due to the fact that he stopped caring.
Deadpan Snarker: Especially in the beginning, where he teases Miki and Ginta a lot.
Everyone Loves Blondes: With his blonde hair and charming personality, it's no wonder why he has so many girls chasing after him.
First Kiss: The kiss he gives Miki in the infirmary bed turned out to be his first kiss too, something he proudly admits to Miki later on.
Flirty Stepsiblings: With Miki.
Food as Characterization: After handing her a jar of marmalade, Miki points out that Yuu is similar to the marmalade, because of how bitter the two are on the inside, which is concealed by a superficial sweetness, effectively creating the term, "Marmalade Boy".
The Gadfly: He's prone to teasing Miki on a regular basis, sometimes even unintentionally. Episode 11 also shows that Ginta has also become a target of his.
Good Is Not Soft: Although overly indulgent with Jinny's clingy behavior towards him, possibly due to his own confidence in his Single-Target Sexuality towards Miki, as well as the Anime's struggles with proper characterization (As Yuu is an entirely different character in the manga) he firmly tells her to back off or else when she insults Miki.
Yuu: Miki's not like that. And if you keep on insulting Miki like that, I'll just start hating you Jinny, and neither one of us wants that to happen.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Although this cute blond has some personality flaws, his heart is in the right place and he atleast tries to be friendly and get along with everyone.
Heroic BSoD: Actually cries a couple of times in the series, most notably when he comes under the belief that Miki is his biological sister.
Hikikomori: Yuu was this close to crossing the Despair Event Horizon in the 6th grade, and he almost became this at age 12, after he finds a letter insinuating that he's an illegitimate child who doesn't know who is real father is.
Hollywood Genetics: In the anime, he's blond and his parents are brown-haired.
Ignored Confession: His initial confession to Miki at the amusement park. She didn't believe it was true because he's always teasing and frustrating her.
Inconsistent Spelling: While "Yuu" has commonly been accepted as the romanization of his name in the west, most romanizations in Japanese promotional material have and continue to spell his name as "You", like the second-person pronoun in English, which is actually similar to his father's name, Youji.
It's Not You, It's Me: When he breaks up with Miki, despite still loving her and wanting her badly, because he (mistakenly) thought he found out that they were siblings.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A unique kind. Yuu is generally polite and sweet, despite enjoying making fun of Miki by bumping into her and tripping her up. This was all before the second time he admitted he loved her and later knew that he couldn't very well treat his girlfriend like that anymore, though he still had his moments. Like Miki said though, he actually has some quite bitter points, being very mysterious and secretive about his endeavors and showing slight hostility towards Miki whenever she demands to know them or becomes too stubborn about keeping things subtle. Underneath it all however, he is a good boy who has almost an unhealthy martyr complex.
Loving Bully: At the beginning of the story he enjoys mocking Miki, playfully slapping her on the back of the head and pulling pranks on her, but even then he was already in love with her.
Luke, You Are My Father: Yuu has repeatedly done this, believing that Youji Matsuura isn't his real father. He really ought to know better by the third time...
My Girl Is Not a Slut: In defense of Miki when Jinny badmouths her in order to get Yuu to cheat on Miki with her.
New Transfer Student:
- He was previously a student from a high school in Yokohama (Aoba High School, according to the live-action movie) but because it was too far of a commute, Rumi suggested that he should instead transfer to Toryo High School, Miki's school.
- In the anime he leaves to attend St. Andrews High School near New York City to study abroad there.
Not Blood Siblings: Finally confirmed to his immense relief, although by the end he had been willing to be with and marry Miki even while believing she was his half sibling.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Yuu is pretty much a chill guy: during most of the series, the only emotions he displays are contempt, happiness, snark, and, sometimes, moderate anger. Because of this, during the penultimate episode of the anime when he's broken up with Miki and she, very calmly and with a very, very sad voice, tells him her love for him will never die, he explodes, yelling at her while crying. It's a very powerful moment, but of course, he does this because he thinks he's found out he and Miki are half-siblings.
Poor Communication Kills: His Fatal Flaw. He also falls in the trap many, MANY times, especially later in the series.
Pretty Boy: There's a reason why so many girls like him, he's very pretty-looking.
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Savvy Guy to Miki's Energetic Girl.
Secret-Keeper: For Meiko and Namura, after he caught them kissing in the library.
Secondary Character Title: He's the titular Marmalade Boy (being like marmalade, sweet on the surface yet bitter), but Miki is the main character.
Single-Target Sexuality: While he's not one to push away any girl who likes him, he's exclusively attracted to Miki. In the anime, he may have had feelings for Anju at one point, but because they haven't seen each other since middle school, he was forced to moved on, and eventually met Miki years later.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Yuu and Miki started like that.
Stalker with a Crush: To Miki, shown in the movie. He comes across her playing tennis and immediately falls in love with her. Once he sees her again with Meiko, he decides to follow her around for most of the day. It all gives us a perfect explanation as to why Yuu kissed Miki in the school's infirmary.
Stepford Smiler: He's a pretty chill, apparently carefree guy, but deep down he's got issues. Picture a slightly older Akito Hayama that has a bit more emotion to him and has been brought up by a loving, if odd family (and given the magazine both characters were created for, Akito's personality and similar appearance to Yuu possibly isn't a coincidence). Just watch the movie, and compare Yuu's treatment of Miki throughout the first third of the series with the fact that, before he ever met her, he spent an entire day following her around town without her knowledge.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Yuu starts as this, hiding his feelings for Miki and his thoughts on the parental deal under his Deadpan Snarker facade. He acknowledges it as well when he confesses this to Miki, openly saying he liked how open she was about her disapproval while he just couldn't spit it out.
Tranquil Fury: Doesn't get angry often, but when he does, it's usually this.
- Miki is visibly scared of him when he corners her in the aftermath of her avoiding him, Yuu being visibly upset and then unsettled at her changing her sweet and lovable attitude in his presence.
- To Jinny, when she implies that he should break up with Miki and choose her.
- On a more humorous note, his reaction to Ginta in awe about the princess that he reluctantly portrayed in Suzu's commercial.
What the Hell, Hero?:
- Meiko invokes this towards him when he misses too many calls from Miki, and hears that he also supposedly slept with Jinny. She tries this again after Yuu abruptly breaks up with Miki, only to be told by Satoshi how much Yuu is also suffering from the situation as well and recommends her to give him some space.
- He later invokes this to his and Miki's parents, under the belief that they hid the fact that Yuu and Miki were biological siblings, leaving the step siblings to fall in love too deeply to separate anymore.

The Koishikawa/Matsuura household

General

Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: The parents regularly embarrass Miki and Yuu at least by the fact that they have exchanged spouses and are living together. That's why she didn't want everyone at school to know about it.
Beauty Equals Goodness: They appear to be the same age as Meiko's parents, but much better looking than them. The same goes for their personalities.
Cloudcuckoolander: They're so carefree and immature that it's sometimes difficult to understand their logic.
Coupled Couples: They all live with each other, hang out with each other, and are just inseparable from each other. Their children's secret relationship, which they eventually catch onto, adds the total to six couples.
Double In-Law Marriage: As if the two pair of ex-spouses swapping partners wasn't enough, both pairs of stepsons and stepdaughters start dating, with the older couple eventually getting married.
Good Parents: No matter how quirky they are, no matter how manipulative or secretive they can be, and no matter how much Miki bad-mouths them, even she can't deny the fact that they are great parents who support and defend their children in everything they do.
Good Stepmother: Jin and Rumi treat their stepson Yuu as if they were their own son, and Youji and Chiyako for their stepdaughter, Miki. The same applies to their two youngest children born into the new marriages.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Jin and Youji are seen with each other just as often as they're around their wives, and the same can be said about Rumi and Chiyako.
High-School Sweethearts: As it turned out later, they were all friends as far back as college and they were each in a relationship with the person that they would eventually start their second marriage with.
Look-Alike Lovers: An examples of former lovers. Jin and Rumi, as well as Yohji and Chiyako, have fairly similar appearances, including hair and eye colors.
Nice Guy: All four are pretty friendly, as long as you can get past their weirdness.
Papa Wolf and Mama Bear: When some rather questionable guys started hitting on Miki during a family vacation, all four of them chased them away with verbal warnings and a baleful stare.
Shipper on Deck: Not only do they eventually not mind Yuu and Miki's love, but they indirectly encourage it by purposely traveling to different places to leave them alone with each other at home.
Sickeningly Sweethearts: They are never shy about talking about how happy they are with their spouses. This confuses Miki a lot, especially at the very beginning.
Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Miki and Yuu's parents are completely happy-go-lucky and usually act more like older siblings rather than actual parents. Not that Miki and Yuu aren't slightly immature themselves at times, but both sets of parents often tease or embarrass their kids, go out without letting the kids know ahead of time, and support some of the abnormalities that occur in the series without batting an eye (such as Meiko and Namura's relationship, Suzu kissing Yuu, or even their own children's relationship). Of course, their decision to remarry and move into a large house together is the main reason, directly or otherwise, why a lot of the events in the series happened.

Jin Koishikawa

Voiced by: Hideyuki Tanaka (Japanese), Andrew Philpot ^note (English), Alejandro Trejo (Spanish), Pedro Tena (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Michitaka Tsutsui (2018 Movie)

Miki's father. Chiyako's husband and ex-husband to Rumi.

Amicable Exes: With Rumi, after their divorces and remarriages.
Happily Married: With Chiyako. Even before they swapped partners, the couples seemed to be fairly happy.
Supreme Chef: Unlike his wife, he's an excellent cook.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Quite an attractive man with blue-black hair.

Rumi Koishikawa/Matsuura

Voiced by: Yoko Kawanami (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English), Carol Knuckey (Spanish), Pilar Dominguez (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Rei Dan (2018 Movie)

Miki's mother. Wife to Youji and ex-wife to Jin.

Amicable Exes: With Jin, after their divorces and remarriages.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Had pretty long hair when Miki was a little girl.
Happily Married: With Youji. Even before they swapped partners, the couples seemed to be fairly happy.
Lethal Chef: She is infamous for her bad cooking.
Office Lady: She works at a cosmetics company.

Youji Matsuura

Voiced by: Bin Shimada (Japanese), John DeMita ^note (English)

Portrayed by: Shosuke Tanihara (2018 Movie)

Yuu's father. Husband to Rumi and ex-husband to Chiyako.

Amicable Exes: With Chiyako, after their divorces and remarriages.
Happily Married: With Rumi. Even before they swapped partners, the couples seemed to be fairly happy.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's very handsome. We can see where Yuu got it from.
What the Hell, Hero?: Though played for laughs, he was very upset that Yuu thought he wasn't his father.

Chiyako Matsuura/Koishikawa

Voiced by: Hiroko Emori (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English), Isabel Quinteros (Spanish), Isabel Gaudí (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Miho Nakayama (2018 Movie)

Yuu's mother. Wife to Jin and ex-wife to Youji.

Amicable Exes: With Youji, after their divorces and remarriages.
Convenient Miscarriage: Was pregnant with Jin's baby before marrying Youji, but it was a stillborn. Her mother wrote a rather confusing letter about it to her... Yuu found it and mistakenly thought it referred to him.
Cool Big Sis: To Miki, since she doesn't want to be pushy to her.
Happily Married: With Jin. Even before they swapped partners, the couples seemed to be fairly happy.
Office Lady: She's actually a high-ranked executive in a make-up enterprise.

The Akizuki household

Meiko Akizuki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meiko_7.jpg

The Beautiful Novelist

Voiced by: Wakana Yamazaki (Japanese), Kate Higgins (English), Keyros Guillén (Spanish), Julia Martínez (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Mio Yuki (2018 Movie)

Miki's best friend since the earliest days of middle school. Mature, sophisticated, and elegant, Miki generally looks up to her like a older sister figure in spite of being roughly the same age. Despite Miki telling her everything that goes on in her life, she usually just voices her opinion while trying to keep to herself. One day, she became closer to one of her school's younger teachers, Shinichi Namura, mistaking him for a fellow student. They eventually start a bond resulting in a romantic relationship that not even Miki knew about. Meiko eventually becomes one of his students in high school, which along with her cruel, quarrelling and neglectful parents, puts unwanted strain on the relationship.

Adaptational Jerkass: While not a bad person in any way, Meiko is much pushier and snarkier (sometimes being pretty mean) in the anime.
Badass Adorable: In a (generally) non-violent fashion. Best exemplified when she tells Ginta to back off when it looks like Miki is developing a crush on Yuu, telling him it's his fault she hasn't let herself fall in love since she wrote him a love letter and he loudly denied any feelings he had for her in front of everyone. Even towards Yuu himself, when she becomes extremely livid after he abruptly breaks up with Miki, Her gaze of steel even made him quail.
Brainy Brunette: Extremely Book Smart, member of the literature club and the student council.
Broken Ace: She’s smart, she’s pretty, and she’s rich. She also has a broken family life and turns to Namura for this reason.
Broken Bird: Her family life is troubled because her parents are unfaithful to each other and constantly argue.
Dude Magnet: Miki mentions about how many guys have confessed their love to her. But she refused everyone because she loves Namura.
Earn Your Happy Ending: In the end, she managed to reunite with Namura and marry him, and give birth to a son by him in the sequel.
Head-Turning Beauty: Implied by Satoshi, as he points out that there's not one boy, aside from Yuu and Ginta, who hasn't tried to find out everything about her.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Miki, as far back as middle school.
Honest Advisor: To Miki. She's very level-headed, and outright laughs at her when Miki asks her about her supposed date with Yuu. Meiko is usually the one pointing out that Miki's soap opera problems aren't as bad as they could be. She's the voice of reason whenever Miki gets a little caught up in her own drama.
May–December Romance: Lampshaded when she and Namura got together.
Namura: "And I'm 8 years older than you.... oh boy."
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Meiko telling off Ginta about his jealousy over Miki and Yuu's growing bond unintentionally helped set the stage for his Forceful Kiss on Miki, which did nothing but create more drama.
Ojou: She fits the Proper Lady type, though not the full stereotype: she has lighter hair and isn't a member of the Student Council (one of her love interests is the council president, though).
Ojou Ringlets: She's a girl from a noble family with permed hair.
Shipper on Deck: She supports Miki's feelings for Yuu and so, in an unusually harsh manner for her, demands that Gintа not interfere in their relationship.
Spoiled Sweet: She is from a rich, almost aristocratic family, but despite this she is a very cordial girl and a good friend of Miki, who is from a lower class.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Her and Namura. Until almost the end.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's sugar to Miki and Namura and her friends, but around Satoshi, she can flip the ice switch pretty quickly. Even with Miki, she's very reserved and prefers to focus on Miki's issues rather than her own.
Teacher/Student Romance: Meiko and Namura are among the very rare cases where this situation is portrayed sympathetically.
Token Wholesome: In contrast to Miki, who wears youthful, tomboyish clothes that often exposes her legs, and Arimi, whose clothes are trendy and stylish, Meiko dresses more modestly, wearing clothes that a reserved adult woman would wear.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Downplayed greatly, Meiko is more womanly and mature, while Miki's tomboy with a huge girly streak.
Tsundere: For Satoshi, in the anime. For instance, he drives her to near insanity after their "double date" with Miki and Yuu, but reluctantly shows a small hint of attraction towards him when he kisses her for the first time.
The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: She is one of the looker girls in her school, which is not to say anything about her parents who look terribly dry and worn out. However, we don't know what they used to look like.
Yaoi Fangirl: A covert variant, she seems pretty invested at the idea of Yuu and Satoshi being a couple, and the manga suggests that she's a sucker for this type of drama.

Meiko's Parents

Meiko's Mother Voiced by: Michiko Abe (Japanese), Alex Lowell (English)

Meiko's Father Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada (Japanese), Richard Epcar (English)

Meiko's father and mother. They have not loved each other for a long time, but because of their status they cannot divorce. And they don't seem to care much about their daughter.

Awful Wedded Life: Their relationship is incredibly cruel and toxic, and the fact that they can't break up their hateful marriage doesn't help the cause. They may have never wanted to get married, but their families forced them into a marriage of convenience.
Domestic Abuse: It's implied that the father treats the mother this way at their worst, though thankfully off-screen and Meiko is never them victim.
Foil: They are pretty much the opposite of Jin, Rumi, Youji, and Chiyako: in an unbreakable conservative marriage, but also being terrible parents, terrible people, and furthermore despising each other and openly cheating.
Goblin Face: At the peak of a hostile argument with her husband, Meiko's mother makes a very non pretty expression on her face.
Hereditary Hairstyle: Mrs. Akizuki has exactly the same hair as her daughter, only duller.
Hate Sink: In their screen time, they fight and scandalise and make their daughter unhappy. So they clearly weren't made for love.
Jerkass: They are both very rude and mean.
Lady Drunk: Meiko's mother is seen once drowning her sorrows while verbally fighting with her much-hated husband.
Never My Fault: They are absolutely furious at the realization that their daughter is having an affair with her teacher, ignoring the fact that they contributed to it by depriving her of attention and spending all of their home time squabbling with each other .
Parental Marriage Veto: In the anime, when Meiko and Namura get together again, they refuse to let them meet up.
Parental Neglect: They don't physically harm Meiko, but are almost criminally neglectful of her. If not for their maid, Meiko would be all alone at home. When they find out about her affair with Namura, they start to target her for a while, psychologically abusing and condemning her while also keeping her under house arrest.
Pet the Dog: It's implied that they softened over the passage of time. They appear to love their grandson Aoi wholeheartedly and surrounded him with all the love and care, that Meiko never received.
Rich Bitch: Pretty well-to-do people and usually with a bad temper.
Satellite Family Member: They are Meiko's parents, rich and hate each other. That's all that is known about them.
Unnamed Parent: Unlike Yuu and Miki's parents, their names are never spoken by anyone and aren't found in any supplementary material.

The Akizuki Maid

Voiced by: Yuka Ohno (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English)

A woman who works at Akizuki's house. She helps her young mistress and supports her as if she were her own daughter.

Big Beautiful Woman: She's a some chubby woman, but the shoujo design makes her look beauty and adorable.
Maid and Maiden: With Meiko's parents too wrapped up in their own problems, the maid is the only one in the house that Meiko can actually rely on.
Meido: Although she is older than most other examples. But she is still cute.
No Name Given: Her first and last name remain unknown.
Parental Substitute: Treats Meiko with all the love and care her parents don't give her.
Playing Cyrano: Helps Meiko bypass her parents's Parental Marriage Veto
Satellite Character: Meiko is the only one she interacts with on screen.

Toryo High School (students and teachers)

Ginta Suoh

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

The Loyal Friend

Voiced by: Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Japanese), Yuri Lowenthal (English), Carlos Carvajal (Spanish), Jaime Roca (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Taiki Sato (2018 Movie)

Miki's middle school crush and fellow tennis club member who held an equally requited crush on her. Ginta made the unfortunate mistake of lying to his much more confident classmates who were just as interested in her and claiming that he only saw her as a friend, right as she was entering their classroom, which devastated Miki and destroyed any chance the two had as a couple. A few years later, the two return to being best friends, but things become more complicated when Yuu enters the picture and forces Ginta's feelings and anxiety to sharply resurface. Meanwhile, Ginta unwillingly collaborates with Yuu's ex-girlfriend Arimi in an attempt to make Miki jealous, but it slowly leads to a deeper connection between him and Arimi.

Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: In the anime, he gets into a fierce fight with Rokutanda, after which they suddenly embrace and laughingly reconcile, showing that despite their long-standing rivalry, they are dear to each other. And then time Rokutanda officially renounces his obsession with Arimi, allowing them to be together.
Beta Couple: He and Arimi form this, with both their former love interests being the series' Official Couple.
Cannot Talk to Women: Towards girls he likes, particularly Arimi, he becomes an absolute patsy, nervously blushing and is often left stammering his words. Miki and Arimi aside, having to be an in-store salesperson for a competition with Yuu and Tsutomu in episode 9 shows that he gets flustered and blushes around girls in general compared to the series' other guys.
Chick Magnet: Though he's normally overshadowed by Yuu and Satoshi, even he's revealed to have a few admirers outside of Miki and Arimi. Notably, He proudly brags about how many chocolates he got from youth girls on Valentine's Day.
Childhood Friend Romance: He has been in love with Miki since junior high, but she was apparently too popular with other guys at the time that he was too afraid to admit that he liked her. He lied to them and said that he only saw her as "one of the guys".
Circle of Shame: Tsutomu uses childish badmouthing tactics on Ginta at Kijima's Shop. Almost everyone in the store laughs at him once its revealed that Ginta was a frequent bed-wetter, even wetting Tsutomu's bed, called dogs bow-wows (calling cats wan-wans, a baby word for dogs, in the Japanese release) and had to be rescued with a net while trying to catch a crawfish. He's exposed as basically being a wimp as a little kid and it royally pisses him off.
Cool Teacher: Is a teacher at Toryo Junior High in the sequel, largely serving the narrative role that Namura filled early in the series, except without the student romance. His students even call him "Gin-chan"!
Crazy Jealous Guy: When Yuu enters Miki's life, it doesn't take long for Ginta to grow resentful towards him and becomes genuinely scared, literally panicking that he'll steal Miki away from him.
Endearingly Dorky: As Miki points out in the anime's second episode, under the superficial confidence and violently impulsive temper lies a boy who's just as sensitive as he is shy, loyal and goofy. Meiko claims most of these are all shortcomings, but it didn't stop Miki from liking everything about him. Arimi herself claims that he doesn't have a backbone, but eventually sees this trait in a more positive light later on.
Extreme Doormat: Yet another quirk that Miki liked about Ginta, but it's not shown to the fullest until he becomes associated with Arimi. Even before they started dating, he reluctantly goes along with Arimi's Operation: Jealousy mission after she persistantly pressures him to. When they do start dating, his drive to keep Arimi happy allows her to easily take advantage of him whenever she feels jealous or frustrated.
Family Versus Career: In the sequel, Ginta's desire for a family apparently clashed with Arimi's driven career path, nearly leading to divorce; it naturally turned out to all be a case of Poor Communication Kills, albeit one that lasted three years.
First Love: Though the two never dated, Ginta and Miki are each other's first loves, falling for each other back in middle school.
Forceful Kiss: Impulsively on Miki one day after school when they were both cleaning aides, resulting in her slapping him away.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Ginta is unquestionably a nice guy, if very impulsive, but he's quick to anger and becomes hostile when he gets teased, provoked, attacked, or if he's under the impression that his friends are put in harm's way.
Hot-Blooded: The Slice of Life shojo version of this. While he means well, he can be extremely impulsive, especially towards a girl he likes. He actually punches out Murai, a member of Arimi's fan club, when he believes that he's cheating on her and does the same to a random guy he thinks is harassing her when he was only asking for directions.
Innocent Blue Eyes: His blue eyes represent his loyalty and youthfulness compared to the other boys, as he's not flirty like Satoshi, nor is he mysterious or as playful as Yuu.
Lovable Jock: Though he's the best tennis player at his school, he's the most loyal and probably the most approachable person in Miki's friend group.
Love Letter Lunacy: Part of the Back Story: Miki wrote Ginta a love letter, and stuck it in a magazine in his bag. This magazine was actually borrowed from another boy, so the owner took it out and read the letter out loud, humiliating Ginta, who vehemently denies any feelings for Miki, claiming she's one of the guys. Miki and Meiko, of course, came back to get something and heard every word...
Luminescent Blush: His reaction to Arimi's answer for her Christmas gift, a kiss.
Nice Guy: He is generally a very goody considerate and sensitive young man. And even his hot temper stems from his concern for his friends.
Noble Male, Roguish Male: Cousins example: he is a noble compare to the roguish Rokutanda.
No Indoor Voice: More than once, Yuu tells him to quiet down as the whole neighborhood can hear him, no thanks to his short-temper. And then we meet Tsutomu...
Operation: Jealousy: He reluctantly goes along with Arimi's plan to pretend to date her and make Miki jealous, just so she could have Yuu to herself. It goes south when Ginta decides to tell Miki the truth, but it ultimately destroyed any remaining chance that Ginta had with Miki. On the bright side..
Pair the Spares: The time he and Arimi spent together showed that even Ginta found Arimi slightly attractive, and once Miki and Yuu become dead-set on each other's feelings, it leaves the unlucky duo to sympathize with one another. Despite still being painfully shy and awkward around Arimi, he eventually hooks up with her and marries her in the sequel.
Pretty Boy: Not to the same extent as Yuu, but he's pretty cute by the standards of the series, especially compared to his cousin.
Rage Breaking Point: Even after all of the competitive challenges and arguing he's had with Tsutomu, he still manages to be the level-headed cousin. But when Ginta finally starts dating Arimi, all it takes is for Tsutomu to insult Arimi for Ginta to completely lose it on him and angrily takes him on in a one on one fight.
Say My Name: Heartbroken, voice breaking, and on the verge of tears, he shouts Miki's name after ultimately being turned down by her.
Shipper on Deck: He's somehow disturbed when Miki starts dating Kei, and not only asks Miki to reconsider the relationship and get back with Yuu, but also has to convince Yuu to not give her up so easily.
- Also, as the cousins and their girlfriends walk together, he also watches Rokutanda and Yayoi coo with a smile, showing that he is genuinely happy for them.
Undying Loyalty: To Miki (though only as a friend at this point) and eventually Arimi. One of Ginta's key traits is that if he really cares for someone, he will help and support them through thick and thin.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With his cousin, after his atone.

Shinichi Namura

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

The Conflicted Teacher

Voiced by: Tōru Furuya (Japanese), Skip Stellrecht ^note (English), Pablo Ausensi (Spanish)

Portrayed by: Terunosuke Takezai (2018 Movie)

Favorite teacher in the Miki's class. Miki soon discovers that she and Meiko are in love, which shocks her, but she decides to support their love. However, the two of them have to go through a lot of struggles to be with each other.

Adaptational Jerkass: A more subtle example. In the anime, he tried to break up with Meiko for good and start a fake relationship with Ryoko, thus hurting both girls. However, he was trying to do this to save Meiko from losing her reputation. And when Satoshi calls him out for it, he agrees that he was wrong.
Big Brother Mentor: This is how he is towards his students.
But Now I Must Go: After everyone at school became aware of his and Meiko's relationship, he had to fired there and go to Hiroshima.
Childhood Friends: In the anime, he had attended Toryo High with Ryoko and Takumi during their teenage years.
Cool Teacher: Affectionately known as "Na-chan" by his students.
Dating What Daddy Hates: Meiko's parents don't like him because he's older than their daughter.
The Ghost: He is an important character to Meiko's storyline, but is rarely involved in the story and is usually only indirectly mentioned.
In-Series Nickname: "Na-chan".
The Jailbait Wait: He married Meiko after she graduated from high school. And he never had sex with her before that..
May–December Romance: Lampshaded when he and Meiko got together.
Namura: "And I'm 8 years older than you.... oh boy."
Older Than They Look: Meiko thought he was a student at first.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Him and Meiko. Until almost the end. And they're living apart in the sequel.
Stoic Spectacles: Is the adult version of this archetype.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's good-looking and much taller than Meiko.
Teacher/Student Romance: Meiko and Namura are among the very rare cases where this situation is portrayed sympathetically.

Ryōko Momoi

Voiced by: Megumi Urawa (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English)

The second teacher in Miki's high school, who is appeared in the this story. Polite and calm young lady who have crush on her colleague. Unfortunately for her, he clearly prefers younger girls.

Canon Foreigner: Specially written for the anime.
Childhood Friend Romance: The unlucky version with Namura.
Cool Big Sis: She tries to be attentive and inspiring to her students. This pays off as she manages to find a common language with most of them. She also takes special care of Meiko, at Namura's request.
Hartman Hips: Has contentedly prominent hips, which emphasizes her role as a mature and beautiful teacher.
Hopeless Suitor: Even if she can date Namura, she'll never get his heart.
Identical Stranger: If you look at her closely you can see that she looks a lot like Meiko, except older and with shorter hair, although they are not related. Apparently Namura noticed the resemblance too, which may have been a factor in his decision to make her Meiko's legal replacement.
Mistaken for Romance: When their students see them with Namura they think they are a couple. This partially comes true, when he decides to break up with Meiko and pretend to be her boyfriend, using her as a cover.
Nice Girl: Although she is an unwitting accomplice to Namura's lies, she is otherwise a kind and warm-hearted teacher who wishes no harm to anyone. She is also not hostile to Meiko despite being a rival for Namura and is very caring and attentive to her. She also feels bad when she sees Meiko crying after Shinichi's failed scheme.
Old Maid: She is almost thirty years old, single, and very worried about it. Luckily she ends up paired with Akira and it's hinted that they will get married in the distant finale.
Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: She's the second girl Namura had a relationship with when he decided to distance himself from Meiko, and while that Ojou, Ryoko is an ordinary woman from middle class.
Sensei-chan: Though she is less comical and more dramatic than most examples.
The Stoic: Most of the time she is resilient and keeps calm. Even she has her limits, though.
Two Guys and a Girl: In her childhood and teenage years, she was a trio with Namura and Kijima, and she was in love in Shinichi, while the Takumi was in love with her.

Satoshi Miwa

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

The School Socialite

Voiced by: Shinichiro Ohta (Japanese), Skip Stellrecht ^note (English), José Alberto Sánchez (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Kisetsu Fujiwara (2018 Movie)

A 3rd-year student, the student body president of Toryo's graduating class and a former Basketball club member. He's considered the most popular guy in the school as a result of his social status and being a total Chick Magnet. He only has his eyes set on Meiko, who's initially turned off by his playboy personality and contradicting sense of humor. He eventually meets Yuu, and despite both Yuu and Miki mistaking him to be gay for a while, he eventually becomes Yuu's best friend and an older brother figure to him, slightly mirroring Miki and Meiko's friendship.

The Ace: He's perfect at just about everything.
Alone Among the Couples:
- The only character who ends the series alone (although, to be honest, it's hard to imagine him having trouble attracting interest).
- Averted by the sequel, as he's now Happily Married and dotes on his daughter.
Ascended Extra: Got far more screen time in the anime, to the point where he's featured with Meiko in the series' first opening.
Beware the Nice Ones: While he's almost always nice, if not a bit a jokester, the only person he's shown to be outright hostile towards is unsurprisingly Namura. On top of clearly being jealous, he believed that breaking up with Meiko and quitting his teaching job were cowardly acts that he made to escape the situation. 31 episodes later, once he learns that he's not only selfishly trying to push Meiko away, but also drags Ryōko into this mess, Satoshi shouts at him that he "deserves to go the hell", gives him a "Reason You Suck" Speech and proceeds to repeatedly punch him out of anger, leaving his face with multiple bruises.
Big Brother Mentor: For both Yuu, doubling as his best friend, and Miki. Justified in Yuu's case as both began to believe that Yuu was his younger brother, only for the end of the story arc to reveal Yuu's father to not be Satoshi's dad. he lampshades this by quipping "It would have been interesting to have you for a little brother," to which Yuu jokingly replies, "But I wouldn't have wanted you for a big brother."
- In Miki's case, he especially shows this when she's angry at Yuu and becomes depressed after Yuu announces he's going to study abroad in America. Satoshi takes her as his date for his graduation prom, lets her confide her woes on him, and then gently tells her that she's not the only one in pain. Miki begins to understand Yuu's side of the story, and then Satoshi reveals that he snuck Yuu and makes them dance outside.
- By the time of the sequel manga, Satoshi and Yuu are business partners in an architectural firm, and he still serves in this capacity for the couple, finally pestering them to get married, 13 years later.
Brilliant, but Lazy: Shades of this the sequel, where he shoves paperwork onto Yuu in order to spend more time with his daughter; considering they're business partners in a successful architectural firm, it's probably just him being The Prankster as always.
The Casanova: At any rate, he plans to meet a many girls after he enters the University. Maybe that's where he'll meet his future wife.
Chick Magnet: Alongside Yuu, he's the school top heartthrob, and even Miki admits that he's cute. The downside is that he only has eyes for Meiko, the school's prettiest girl who has little interest in him.
Did Not Get the Girl: Even though Meiko eventually grew more fond of him and started to like being with him, she still ended up marrying Namura, but that doesn't mean he ended up alone.
Dogged Nice Guy: Poor Satoshi. He's the most popular guy in the high school and he has to fall in love with the one girl that's not interested in him. He tries - persistently - to become the Replacement Goldfish for Meiko and, in fact, almost does, with Meiko even kissing him as thanks for helping her with her novel. However, when it's clear Meiko is very much in love with Namura, he more or less gives up quietly.
Everyone Has Standards: As much of a ladies man he can, he cannot tolerate cheating and is openly disgusted with how his own father has treated his wife, by openly admitting to once attempting to have an affair with Chiyako.
The Gadfly: An even bigger one than Yuu is. He enjoys making fun of Miki, Yuu, and Meiko every once in a while.
Gentleman Snarker: Knows how to be courteous to people, but can being also be sly and witty around those same people.
Handsome Lech : His charms have no effect on Meiko at all.
Hopeless Suitor: To Meiko. Come on, Miwa. Why are you after one of the few girls who doesn't like you that way?
Imaginary Love Triangle: Miki was seriously jealous of Yuu for him. Even eyecatch reflects this by depicting them as a love triangle, with Miwa looking incredibly effeminate.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Ultimately the reason why he finally forces himself to move on from Meiko. He indeed cares for her, but the fact that he can't really do anything to help her frustrates him, especially after finding out that she and Namura are getting married.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Loves pranking and snarking at people, but is a loyal friend when his "victims" need it.
Mistaken for Gay: He was initially believed to be gay by Yuu after Satoshi takes an "interest" in him only because Satoshi believes that Yuu is his younger brother. After the two start to become closer, rumors begin to spread about both him and Yuu being gay, frustrating a jealous Miki. He uses Miki's fear to tease her and fuel her jealousy flames, but it backfires on him when even Meiko starts to believe he's gay.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Being the upperclassman of the group, he's usually the more mature guy of the cast, and when's he's not the Plucky Comic Relief, he's being the Voice of Reason. But when Namura continues to complicate things for Meiko, further distances himself from her, and gets Ryōko tied up into the drama, he snaps, goes all the way to Hiroshima and gives him the beating of his life. Too bad that Meiko accidentally got caught in the crossfire, much to his horror.
The Prankster: He likes pranking people.
Pretty Boy: He's somehow both this and arguably the manliest of the Toryo High School students. His long mullet is easily his most notable feature.
"Ray of Hope" Ending: Even though he didn't stay with Meiko, he's still joy to made her happy. After graduation, he found a new love, whom he married and had a daughter with her..
Shipper on Deck: Yuu and Miki may find Satoshi's pranks and teasing annoying, but when it comes to their relationship, they may never find a better wingman, especially in the anime.
Student Council President: He is the student body president and a third-year student. Later on, he even reads the parting message for his class during the graduation ceremony.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: While his skin color's not dark, pretty pale in fact, he has the hair color, height, and the snarky personality.
Tsurime Eyes: Unlike the other characters, his eyes are drawn with an upwards slant, easily highlighting his confident and whimsical personality.
What the Hell, Hero?:
- On Namura, about hiding his Hidden Heart of Gold. Namura takes it without retaliation...
- He also scolds Yuu for breaking up with Miki without giving her or even knowing the full details about their parent's relationship and proceeds to criticize their parents for lying to both of their children about first meeting each other during the Hawaii trip.

Chigusa

The Curious Classmate

Voiced by: Yuko Nagashima (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English), Giannina Talloni (Spanish), Isabel Gaudí (Castilian)

Miki's classmate who sometimes hangs out with her and Meiko. She's one of the few people at school who didn't condemn Namura and Meiko for their affair, or the Koishikawa and Matsuura families for their cohabitation. She even actively defended them from the dirty gossip and reprimands.

Girlish Pigtails: She has them on the sides of her head.
Recurring Extra: She mostly appears as a classmate of Miki's, and despite being friends, she rarely hang out with Miki or the other characters outside school.

Furutachi

The Eccentric Journalist

Voiced by: Kazunari Tanaka (Japanese), Skip Stellrecht ^note (English)

Leader of the broadcasting club.

Nice Guy: Though very eccentric, especially when not in "journalist" mode.
Opaque Nerd Glasses: He wears huge, round, and shiny spectacles that completely cover his eyes.
Put on a Bus: He's in Satoshi's graduating class, so he contributes to the farewell speech at the graduation party for his class and doesn't return to the story afterwards.
Recurring Extra: Furutachi is among the numerous students in the series, let alone Toryo High, who only occasionally pops up and isn't a major character in the story.
School Newspaper News Hound: Which brings Miki and Yuu a lot of trouble when he takes pics of Miki and Yuu's recently re-married parents, revealing them as swingers. To his credit, Furutachi immediately regrets the mess he inadvertently caused and alerts the parents when Miki and Yuu were harassed by the vice principal. His future is to major in journalism and his dream career is to become an acclaimed news anchor. Though the others think he'd be better in a sitcom or a kid's show.

Mrs. Kyoto

Vice-principal of the school. A very prudish woman who everyone in the school is afraid of and thinks she's wicked.

Moral Guardians: Threw quite a fit when she found out about the Matsuuras and the Koishikawas being swingers.
No Name Given: "Kyoto-sensei" is her title and position in the school itself. (She is the vice-principal.)
Stern Teacher: Or more specifically, stern vice-principal. She's quick to oppose the "scandal" between Namura and Meiko's romance and is equally enraged by The Koishikawas and the Matsuuras living together.

The Principal

Voiced by: Shinji Nakae (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

Wise and learned man in charge of Miki's school. Every day he has to deal with all the craziness going on inside this school.

Reasonable Authority Figure: Compared to the vice principal, he's a lot more laid-back and actually tries to convince Namura to remain at the school.

Other students

Arimi Suzuki

Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Carrie Savage (English), Rosario Zamora (Spanish), Pilar Domínguez (Castilian)

Portrayed by: Nina Endo (2018 Movie)

Yuu's ex-girlfriend, and a popular student and track runner at Sasaki High School. Arimi dated Yuu for three months during their last year of junior high school, but only because of how persistent she was in going out with him when he really wasn't interested. While they did "everything" a young couple would do, Yuu broke up with her after the three months because he couldn't see anything outside of a close friendship. That didn't stop her from continuing to like him, which she makes it clear when the two reunite at the Wonder Dog amusement park. Determined to have Yuu for herself, she uses Ginta as a means to attempt to make Miki jealous, thinking she'll flock back to Ginta and leave Yuu for the taking, but it turns out that she and Ginta may have some chemistry of their own.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Brown hair in the manga, green hair in the anime.
Amicable Exes: Arimi and Yuu walk a really thin line here — while Yuu didn't keep in touch with Arimi after he switched to Miki's school, he's pretty chill about seeing her again and doesn't really argue about maybe hanging out again. However, Arimi wants to get back together with him, which causes some strain.
Beta Couple: She and Ginta form this, with both their former love interests being the series' Official Couple.
Childhood Friend Romance: The unlucky version with Yuu.
Clingy Jealous Girl: When it comes to the boys that she likes, she can be rather hostile when someone else is in the picture as shown with Miki falling for Yuu and Ginta focusing more on comforting a distressed Miki after she dumps Yuu.
Dude Magnet: She has many admirers at her school and even her own fan club.
Family Versus Career: In the sequel, Ginta's desire for a family clashes with Arimi's driven career path, nearly leading to divorce; it naturally turns out to all be a case of Poor Communication Kills, albeit one that lasts three years.
Friendly Enemy: Despite being Miki's love rival, the two girls actually get along quite well.
Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She's a fashionable, graceful, and popular Dude Magnet, but has short hair and is the star of her school's track team.
Lovable Alpha Bitch: Arimi's a popular girl at her school and isn't exactly the nicest person out there, but she's far from downright evil. Despite intimidating Miki, attempting to make her jealous and even yelling at her when she can't choose between Yuu or Ginta, she still tries to act civilized and friendly towards her. When she starts dating Ginta, she gets offended or jealous easily, sometimes just to set Ginta under control for his own sake. She can also be openly cruel to Tsutomu, just because of how much of a stupid Hot-Blooded Stalker with a Crush he is, but the second that he and Ginta start brawling with each other, she's not taking either of their sides and is driven to tears at the thought of them violently fighting each other over her.
Operation: Jealousy: With Ginta. And then, they fall for real.
Pair the Spares: Eventually hooks up with Ginta, and marries him in the sequel.
Passionate Sports Girl: Member of her school's track team.
Tsundere: Mostly deredere towards Ginta, but tends to get annoyed and jealous from time to time.

Tsutomu Rokutanda

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

The Competitive Cousin

Voiced by: Kazunari Tanaka (Japanese), Tom Gibis (English), Pablo Ausensi (Spanish), Alfredo Martínez (Castilian)

Ginta's obnoxious cousin, and a student and tennis club member of Sakaki High School. He's been having petty squabbles with Ginta since they were small children, which comes to a head when Ginta and Arimi become closer. Since grade school, Tsutomu and Arimi have had a "Screech and Lisa" kind of relationship, where he actively and persistently pursues and, in a humorous manner, stalks her, and she retaliates by berating him and in the worst instances, attacking him. Because Yuu dated Arimi in middle school, not even he's safe from his wrath and will often challenge both Yuu and Ginta to ridiculous challenges, resulting in buzz cuts.

Abhorrent Admirer: He starts out this way towards Arimi. While he's average-looking at best compared to the other guys, his persistence, unrestrained temper, and loud dramatic voice are a complete turn-off for Arimi.
Butt-Monkey: Ties with Miki on the amount of slapstick he pours into the series. Not to mention his presence is usually met with the annoyance of his cousin and their friends, and the poor guy never had a chance with Arimi, often getting bullied by her and her fan club. Things eventually get better for him later in the anime.
Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Although he usually acts incredibly cocky and shameless in front of most of the girls, as well as imposing himself on Arimi for a long time to the point of harrassment, all his confidence and attempts to be macho disappear when he is with Yayoi. He also turns into a blushing, stuttering wreck when the subject of their budding relationship comes up, which Ginta (who himself is no stranger to this) enjoys teasing him about.
Clashing Cousins: His usual relationship with Ginta, but every now and then they remind us that they are indeed family and will go to great lengths to support each other.
Competition Freak: Any opportunity he gets, he will challenge Ginta and Yuu to any sort of competition he can think of at the moment.
Dogged Nice Guy: To Arimi ever since the two were in elementary school. Not matter how persistent he is, no matter how nice he treats her, and no matter how much he asks why not, Arimi makes it clear that she doesn't like the guy.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Much to everyone's dismay, he's usually around because he's Ginta's cousin and, for a while, frequently stalked Arimi. Greatly emphasized when he meets a majority of the main cast at the town's New Year's festival, only for all of them to sigh and moan once he shows up. Twice. By the time he ends up with Yayoi, this is toned down.
Hair-Trigger Temper: He somehow has an even hotter temper than his cousin, Ginta, often going berserk at the site of any other guy near Arimi.
Hopeless Suitor: Again, he has always been this to Arimi, as far back as elementary school.
Hot-Blooded: Like his cousin (and perhaps even more so), he's the Slice of Life shojo version of this.
Humiliating Wager: Ginta makes a deal with him (against Yuu's will) that whoever loses the double tennis match would be forced to shave their head. Tsutomu and his teammate lose the tennis match, and is the one to shave his head as punishment. In the anime, he attempts to repeat the wager between Ginta and Yuu in a three-way retail competition at Kijima's shop as revenge, and you can only guess how that turns out. In a subversion, he eventually feels like he looks better with the new haircut.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even if his large, insufferable ego and temper completely turn everyone off, he's not a complete asshole and has some of his cousin's endearing qualities. For one, even though he sees Yuu as a rival, he's nice enough to come to his house to celebrate and wish him a happy birthday, even though the only reason he was there was because Arimi and Ginta showed up. He later goes as far as to give up his feelings for Arimi just so his cousin could be happy. Heck, part of the reason why he and Yayoi became a couple was because of how he comforted her when she got rejected by another guy on Valentine's Day.
Large Ham: Loud, Hot-Blooded, and has No Indoor Voice.
Last-Name Basis: Outside of his cousin, everyone, particularly Miki and Yuu, refers to him by his last name, Rokutanda.
Noble Male, Roguish Male: Roguish to the noble Ginta, whose more unstable and flanderized version he is.
Plucky Comic Relief: Almost any time you see this guy, you know that something ridiculous or funny is going to happen, which can be a welcomed tension breaker during very dramatic moments.
Reformed, but Rejected: Initially none of the main cast accepted him or wanted to hanging with him, even when he became friendlier and allowed Ginta to be with Arimi.
Rejection Affection: Repeatedly getting rejected, dismissed, and outright bullied by Arimi doesn't stop him from wanting to pursue her.
Shipper on Deck: Once he stops being Arimi's Dogged Nice Guy, openly supports her and Ginta. In the anime, he goes as far as giving a What the Hell, Hero? speech to Miki when Ginta and Arimi have a fall-out due to Ginta neglecting his girlfriend to support the very distraught Miki (to be fair, Miki does have pretty good reasons to be depressed, though Tsutomu doesn't know), so it's up to them and Yayoi to fix it.
Small Name, Big Ego: He has a habit of making challenges to Ginta or Yuu or both of them together, forcing them to get buzz cuts if they lose. He's always the one to lose and the one who has to shave his head.
Sore Loser: He always reacts to his defeats with tantrums and crying, whether it's with sports, competitions, or in a love triangle.
Stalker with a Crush: Towards Arimi, who initially rubs off the idea of him spying on her day and night. It doesn't take long for her and Ginta to swiftly realize that he probably would.
Third Wheel: For Ginta and Arimi. At least until Yayoi shows up...
Throw the Dog a Bone: In the anime, he not only is more sympathetic and eventually comes to support Ginta and Arimi, but he gets a girlfriend of his own too. Lampshaded by the author in the last volume omake: when talking about her characters, she said that she felt sad some of them weren't able to achieve happiness and she accompanied this with a drawing of Satoshi looking dejected and Rokutanda saying "At least I've got a girlfriend in the anime".
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: downplayed example. He's not the handsomest guy, but he's not ugly either. And his girlfriend Yayoi, though, is very truly gorgeous.
Unknown Rival: To Yuu, who's had a better win streak in tennis and also dated Arimi in middle school. Unlike Ginta, who's instantly riled up at the sight of his cousin, Yuu just sees him as an irritating pest who he doesn't really take seriously.

Kei Tsuchiya

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Ogie Banks ^note (English)

An introverted and insecure boy who worked at the ice cream parlor that Miki had just started working at. He's a talented musician who excels at playing the piano, but he's under a lot of pressure from his parents, which leaves him in a constant state of despondency. Miki becomes a ray of light in his dark life and he is not going to let her go.

Belligerent Sexual Tension: Has a little with Suzu, in the anime.
Crazy Jealous Guy: The absolute worst among Miki's suitors in regards to this.
Elegant Classical Musician: Plays the piano beautifully.
Just a Kid: He begins to see himself as this in comparison to Miki, of all people. He's very unhappy about that.
Kick the Dog: Hiding Miki's medallion (or bracelet, in the manga), then giving it to Yuu and saying that she threw it away because she doesn't like him anymore. Yuu isn't fooled, but it still brings a huge rift between them.
Pair the Spares: Subvert, while in both the original manga and anime, he and Suzu never actually get together, but by the time of the sequel, he's been dating her for quite some time
Peerless Love Interest: Sees Miki as this.
The Rival: To Michael, over who will end up with Miki.
Stage Mom: Both of his parents were this. He ran away from home because of their pressure on him. They get better.
Stalker with a Crush: Rather possessive of Miki, as she's one of his very few friends, and he does some serious work towards isolating her from Yuu.
Took a Level in Kindness: In the anime, when he re-appears long after his arc is over, he's much more mature and kinder.

Suzu Sakuma

Voiced by: Sakura Tange (Japanese; debut role), Karen Strassman (English), Giannina Talloni (Spanish), Elena Ruiz (Castilian)

Satoshi's little cousin, who has managed to become a local celebrity starring in commercials and fashion magazines thanks to her adore looks and her daddy's connections. Yuu becomes her English tutor, and she immediately begins to sympathize with him. However, when she finds out that he is dating someone like Miki, she doesn't like it at all and decides that he deserves better and interferes in their relationship.

Alliterative Name: Suzu Sakuma.
Book Dumb: Horrible in math. Her cousin Satoshi gets Yuu to tutor her.
Clingy Jealous Girl: In the anime.
Forceful Kiss: On Yuu, in the anime.
Idol Singer: Sorta, she's a very famous child actress and model. Is still quite famous in the sequel.
Mistaken for Cheating: She sees Kei hugging Miki and believes she's cheating on Yuu with him.
Pair the Spares: Has been dating Kei by the time of the sequel.
Shipper on Deck: For Meiko and Yuu in the manga, mistakenly believing the first is in Unrequited Love with the latter.
Third-Person Person: Usually refers to herself in the third person in the manga and the original anime. Aside from one instance, the dub removes this.

Anju Kitahara

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English), Viviana Navarro (Spanish), Milagros Fernández (Castilian)

Yuu's childhood friend, who was in love with him during their middle schoo years. She is very polite and gentle to everyone, also a very softy and innoncent, a contrast to her more tomboyish personality during her childhood. Back then, she was a cheerful and energetic child who encouraged and ultimately saved Yuu during the days of his hopeless depression. By chance, they meet each other again years later. She knows about Yuu's and Miki's love, and just accepted it calmly, though it's probably the least of her worries, as she has a terrible sickness affecting her heart.

Ascended Extra: Was merely mentioned in the manga once, then got a mini-arc in the anime.
Elegant Classical Musician: Excellent violinist.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Used to have Girlish Pigtails, now has very short hair.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Twice.
Just Friends: With Bill.
Meaningful Name: Yuu calls her An-chan, in an allusion to Anne of Green Gables.
Nice Girl: So very mutch. She is also Miki's only rival who has never been hostile to her in any way, and has accepted the fact that Yuu chose her.
Plucky Girl
Unrequited Tragic Maiden: Averted, mostly. She knows she has almost zero chance, and never really expects Yuu to fall in love with her.
Yamato Nadeshiko: With the voice to prove it.

Yayoi Takase

Voiced by: Miki Inoue (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English)

An anxious girl who attended the town's New Year festival, who became separated from her group. During that time, she bumped into Tsutomu in the most romantic way, when he pining about his loneliness and his newfound, supposedly destined "bad luck" of the new year. Like a white knight, he openly volunteered to help find her friends, and before she left, she thanked him and said that she thinks he's a wonderful man and doesn't care what other people think. While the idiot failed to get Yayoi's phone number, fate brought them together again on Valentine's Day after she got turned down by another guy.

Canon Foreigner: Created only for the anime.
The Cutie: She's shy, polite, pretty, and tends to say awkwardly sweet things.
Coordinated Clothes: She and Tsutomu wore sweaters with the first letters of each other's names for the hike.
Crash-Into Hello: How she and Tsutomu meet in the New Year's Day episode.
Early-Bird Cameo: Appears in a scene while Ginta and Arimi are walking together, she is then properly introduced a few scenes later.
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Inverted, Yayoi is much more down to earth in contrast to Tsutomu's loud and pompous behavior. Having appeared in Tsutomu’s life, she made him slightly kinder, happier, and helped him finally let go of his unrequited feelings for Arimi. In a way, He also helped her deal with the rejection of her previous love interest, which somehow puts him in this trope too.
Mellow Fellow: In general always maintains a mild calmness and reacts to tense situations with only a slight sweatdrop.
Moe Couplet: Tsutomu makes her smile, she keeps him grounded.
Nice Girl: She's a real sweetheart, friendly and never gets jealous or angry. Then again, anyone who could love Tsutomu and accept him for who he clearly has a heart of gold.
Opposites Attract: Possibly, the most notable example of the series.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She have is long black hair (most darkhaired girl in series) and very pale skin, and Rokutanda considers her a thousand times more beautiful than Arimi.
Rememberthe New Guy?: Sort of. Eventually she started showing up as part of the main cast and everyone started treating her like they'd known her for a long time. The most egregious example is when, during a trip to the forest, you can see her hanging out in the background with Suzu as if they were close friends.
Satellite Love Interest: She's introduced very late into the series and her only characterization is being a friendly girl who loves Tsutomu. Pretty much all of her appearances focus on her relationship with him.
Shipper on Deck: Like her boyfriend, she supports Ginta and Arimi and helps the two reconcile after they having their falling out..
Shrinking Violet: Quite a shy and timid girl.
Second Love: to Rokutanda, this obviously. And he for her too.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She falls in love with Tsutomu after he helpes her search her group when she finds lost out and single on the unknown street.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: An example of an unmarried couple. Tsutomu is average-looking at best compared to the other guys, but that doesn't stop him from dating Yayoi, who's arguably the prettiest girl of the main cast.
Women Are Wiser: Though honestly, any girl paired with Rokutanda would be like that.

Kijima's Shop

Takumi Kijima

Voiced by: Ken Yamaguchi (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English)

The owner of the store where Yuu was part-time jobing. He's a confident and charismatic dude who has also known Namura and Ryoko for a long time, as well as being in a love triangle with them. But he's long since given up his unrequited feelings and moved on with his life, and now he's advising Ryoko to do the same.

Childhood Friend Romance: With Rei Mizutani.
Ascended Extra: The biggest case in the series, as he started out as a one-panel character stuck in there just to let Miki know that Yuu quit his job so she wouldn't be home alone during their parents' honeymoons. In the anime, he became a recurring all-wise mentor to Yuu and the others who's had a longtime friendship with Ryōko and Namura.
Benevolent Boss and Big Brother Mentor: For Yuu.
Happily Married: To Rei.

Rei Kijima (née Mizutani)

Voiced by: Sanae Takagi (Japanese), Karen Strassman (English)

Takumi's wife, whom he met while studying at the University. Kind-hearted and sultry gal who always helps her husband, but is also sarcastic and fun-loving.

Canon Foreigner: Unlike her hubby, she was expressly created for the series.
Childhood Friend Romance: With Takumi.
Cool Big Sis
Happily Married: To Takumi.

Akira Mizutani

Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (Japanese), Liam O'Brien (English)

Rei's brother and Takumi's brother-in-law , who has his own antique store. He gets along well with Miki and Meiko and seems to have a special feeling for Ryoko.

Big Brother Mentor: For Meiko.
Canon Foreigner: Like his older sister Rei.
Nice Guy
Second Love: For Ryōko
Tall, Dark, and Handsome

Americans

Michael Grant

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mike01.png

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese), Sam Riegel (English)

An American high school student who came to Japan as an exchange student and settled at Miki's house. He is very cheer, kiddie and perky and he is also fascinated by how much he and Miki have in common, from their personalities to their names, so he begins to fall in love with her.

Chick Magnet: Played for Laughs. The girls in his class swoon and chase after him. Unlike some of the other characters, he’s not too excited about that.
Crazy Jealous Guy: When it comes to Miki.
Forceful Kiss: On Miki, when by Brian called him about Jinny's attraction to Yuu.
Foreign Exchange Student: Hosted at Miki and Yuu's house.
Funny Foreigner: Downplayed, as he's introduced this way upon arriving to Japan, where most of his knowledge of the country comes from watching karate and feudal-era samurai movies.
Keet: He's cheerful, easily excitable and energetic, to the point where he's often compared to a little kid excited for Christmas.
New Transfer Student: An exchange student from New York.
The Rival: To Kei, over who will end up with Miki.

Brian Grant

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brian01.png

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Tony Schnur ^note (English)

Michael's big brother, who has a long-standing claim on Jinny, and therefore immediately dislikes Yuu, accusing him of stealing her from him. He is the best basketball player in his school, but also too absent-minded and passionate.

Kendo Team Captain: Of the Basketball Team.
Boisterous Bruiser
Butt-Monkey: Slightly, as he comes off as more oblivious and childish than his other friends.
Chick Magnet: Like his little brother, Michael, he's got all the attention of every girl that knows him except for Jinny.
Crazy Jealous Guy: Though not as bad as his Michael, and he gets over it quickly.
Drama Queen: A male example.
The Driver: Is pretty good behind a car's steering wheel, and he would be the default person to drive everyone around.
Drunk on Milk: Tends to do it all the time, even Bill lampshades this.
Bill (to Brian, whose getting all dramatic while eating lunch): "Dude, this was soda right? You sure you didn't bought beer by mistake?"
Dumb Jock: When it comes to love and social relations, he really . lacks . tact. Brian doesn't get Jinny's clear and constant signal of "NO! I don't want to be your girl!" to him and keeps on harassing her, straight-on bullies Yuu just because Jinny wanted to date Yuu instead of understanding Yuu's side of the story, being oblivious to Doris' attraction towards himself, and not knowing that he's the Unwitting Pawn of Bill.
Fiery Redhead
Fun T-Shirt: A hoodie with "FORCE," a jacket with "Star," and a tee with "CON."
Hot-Blooded
Jerk Jock: He's the resident bully to whoever gets in his way of getting the girl he wants, unless it's proven that the guy deserves his respect. Good thing he's not on a Shock Jock level.
Lovable Jock: Once you gain his respect and join his inner circle of friends, you'll see his air-headed silly side more often than not.
Oblivious to Love: Poor Doris...
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: On the appearance, he's the manly man to Bill's sensitive man. But don't let that fool you, they are inverts. ^note
Unwitting Pawn: Of Bill. Bill knows that befriending Brian is the easiest and fastest path to befriend Jinny, who is Bill's love target. Top with Brian's air-headedness and hostility towards Jinny, Bill leaves Jinny a way better impression than Brian. Had Bill be more aggressive, Brian can easily be psychologically crushed by him.

William "Bill" Matheson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/will01.png

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese), Tony Oliver (English)

A kind and affectionate lavender-haired astronomer with whom Yuu is placed in the dormitory. They say he's gay, but is he really?

Badass Driver: More pro than Brian, and he would gladly level up to Drives Like Crazy when needed.
Big Brother Mentor: To Yuu, Jinny, and most likely the childish Grant Brothers.
Curtains Match the Window: And in Lavender!
Camp Straight: Most people in his school believes he's gay. Among his circle of friends, only Yuu, Anju, and Doris ^note knows about his true sexual orientation. As for Brian, he wasn't shown to be uncomfortable around Bill, but he's more of a straight-on air-head than to be a person who knows what's going on.
Dandere: He has a quiet, observant, and effeminate persona but with a very masculine, and Hot-Blooded inner core.
Death Glare: Gave Jinny a loooong one to take warning, and yet she's stupid enough to despise it.
Doing Research: Whenever he's free for the night, he would usually stay in his dorm attic to study the stars using his telescope.
Gay Guy Seeks Popular Jock: What people around him rumored his relationship with Brian was. But this was only the tip of the iceberg of him being actually a Guile Hero. See trope below.
Good Is Not Soft: Never ever take somebody else's feelings for granted in front of him. Did you hear it, Jinny?
Guile Hero: His core motive of befriending Brian was to get close and befriend Jinny.
Just Friends: With Anju.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: With his long hair, matching eyes, and one ear pierced with an earring, he's so pretty that he just might even surpass Yuu and Satoshi as the most handsome male character in the series.
Love Martyr: To Jinny
Mistaken for Gay: But being the Guile Hero that he is, he just went with the flow and semi-acted the part. Until Jinny suspected him dating Anju.
Mr. Fanservice: Constant eye winks that flashes Bishie Sparkle? Check. A smooth-talker? Double check. A scene of him showing his chest and buttoning up his shirt? Triple . Check!
Nice Guy: But that doesn't mean he would allow you to take advantage of him nor allow you to bully his friends however you want.
No Social Skills: As to what he thinks of himself to be. But the only thing that was actually blocking him was his lack of confidence.
Only Sane Man
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The savvy guy to Jinny's energetic girl, and it's shown that he's much more in control of Jinny than what people around him expected.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: On the appearance, he's the sensitive man to Brian's manly man. But as you get to know them further, you'll realize it's the total opposite.
The Smart Guy: It was implied that Jinny would constantly ask him for school notes, and he already has been prepping himself to major in astronomy for college.
Spell My Name With An S: Although the English dub version went with "Bill" ^note for William's short name, his official preference in the original Japanese version is actually "Will" ^noteWi-ru, which is completely legit in western culture.
What the Hell, Hero?: On Jinny, when he learns about her terrible prank on Miki. He's so pissed off that not only he calls her an horrible person, but he slaps her.

Jinny Golding

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jinny_c1.png

Voiced by: Yuka Koyama (Japanese), Tara Platt (English)

A sexy chick who immediately became obsessed with Yuu after barely meeting him. Thene her passion causes her, him and Miki a lot of problems.

Be a Whore to Get Your Man: Attempted with Yuu and failed. Also used this reasoning to blame Miki for it when she lied about Yuu sleeping with her.
Book Dumb: Which is why she always goes to Bill for homework aid. It's not that she doesn't want to do well in school, she just prefers to play more than to sit down and do her homework.
Clingy Jealous Girl: When it comes to Yuu.
Dumb Blonde: More like "selfish and childish blonde" than truly dumb.
The Fashionista: According to Yoshizumi, Jinny was designed to be a very fashion-forward girl. But the animation staff chickened out of animating the hairstyles and clothing styles Yoshizumi designed for her and just stuck with Jinny's "default look." Which was a shame.
Green-Eyed Epiphany: Towards Bill. Upon noticing him not being gay and enjoying his alone time with Anju, she started to panic over her attraction to Bill, and took the step forward in confronting him, which eventually led to Bill becoming her boyfriend.
Informed Attractiveness: She compares both Miki and Anju to kids due to their appearances compared to hers, but this being an anime, she objectively looks no prettier than Miki◊ ^note, and while she clearly isn't drawn with the same care as Meiko or Arimi are drawn with, the viewer is left to believe the narration's insistence that she is Hotter and Sexier than other girls. This could be mostly blamed on the anime's inconsistent character design.
Kick the Dog: Telling Miki that she was Yuu's "other woman", out of jealousy. This makes the already distressed Miki break up with Yuu in the airport, as she's too emotionally exhausted to handle a Long-Distance Relationship.
Light Feminine and Dark Feminine. Dark to Doris' Light.
Lovable Alpha Bitch: Jinny's not an all-around bad girl to people, just a mischievous pampered girl who crossed the moral line once. Doris and Bill are certainly the two unsung heroes who can truly ground her.
Love at First Sight: Towards Yuu, she probably had a thing for nerdy East Asians.
My God, What Have I Done?: After Bill and Doris express their anger at her for her treatment of Miki.

Doris O'Connor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doris_c1_4.png

Voiced by: Shiho Niiyama (Japanese), Julie Ann Taylor (English)

Jinny's roommate and her best friend. He tries to be the voice of reason for her and the boys. She is also one of the few people willing to put up with Brian's temper. I wonder why?

Brainy Brunette: Has light brown hair and is very perceptive and smart.
Closet Geek: She may look like a sophisticated lady, but she's a big fangirl of sci-fi movies, and pays a lot of attention to spectacular Special Effects, which is one of the biggest reasons why she feels close to Brian in terms of hobbies.
Cool Big Sis: Specially to Jinny, whom she treats like a little sister. She's not really happy about it, since it works against her in the romance field: men, and specially her crush, only see her as a friend and not as a prospective girlfriend. She has to pretty much spell her interest to Brian after Jinny and Bill get hitched.
Light Feminine and Dark Feminine. Light to Jinny's Dark.
Only Sane Woman: Unlike Jinny, she is more down-to-earth and practical.
Silk Hiding Steel: An American and modern version of the Yamato Nadeshiko archetype.
Youthful Freckles

Eddie and Chris

The two black children who rescued Miki during her escape from a gang of thugs. They are the only people close to each other and so they want to live their whole lives together and even get married in the future.

Big Brother Attraction: Chris to Eddie, in a child-like way.
Brother–Sister Incest: They love each other so much that they are willing to marry each other when they grow up.
The Cutie: Both of them are adorable!
Street Urchin: It's hinted that the two don't have parents, and are orphans that live alone in the run down city in New York where thugs and criminals lurk. As such, the two vow to protect, support, and eventually marry each other, something that Miki feels mirrors her relationship with Yuu.

Marmalade Boy Little

Rikka Matsuura

Yuu's and Miki's little half-sister. Stepsibling to Saku.

Almost Kiss: Near the end of her Christmas date with Aoi he leans in to kiss her... only to be stopped by Rikka subconsciously stopping him by putting her hands on his lips. Both of them are very surprised by her actions.
Big Brother Attraction: While talking to Mikki about Saku and his apparent feelings for her, Rikka, she states that when she was very little that first love/crush was Yuu and was sad when she found out Mikki and Yuu were together.
Book Dumb: And how! She's at the bottom of her class in middle school, and generally a bit slow on the uptake (as evidenced by her honest belief through elementary school that she had four parents).
Rikka: The ranks for finals will be posted too and I'm sure you'll be number one again!
Sakku: Who knows... what rank were you first term?
Rikka:......
Clingy Jealous Girl: As she starts to notice Saku as a boy and sees that all the girls are attractted to him, she exhibits slight frustration and sadness, even when he was with his twin cousins.
Rikka: [looking at Saku with his twin cousins] They adore him... why is Saku always popular with cute girls...
Flirty Stepsiblings: It wouldn't be Marmalade Boy if they weren't. Complicated by them actually being raised as siblings from birth, even though they are Not Blood Siblings.
Generation Xerox: Basically, Miki all over again, right down to the habit of Suddenly Shouting! when startled; keeps her hair a bit longer, though.
Headbutt of Love: With Saku
I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: Happened more than once towards Saku. The last time it happened Rikka is very close to his face and he steps back trying to remember the promise he made to his parents about his and Rikka's relationship staying pure until collage. He isn't happy about it....
Like Brother and Sister: Averted. As Saku hits his growth spurt, Rikka really begins to notice how good-looking he is.
Oblivious to Love: Saku isn't exactly quiet about how he feels about Rikka, but it takes her through junior high school to finally notice.
Shipper on Deck: For Emiri and Koudai
When She Smiles: Saku confesses that he loves Rikka's smile very much and wishes she would always smile like that.

Saku Koishikawa

Yuu's and Miki's little half-brother. Stepsibling to Rikka.

Anger Born of Worry: He yells at Rikka when she is almost lured in by a pedophile without fighting back much. Needless to say, she was very much surprised as it's the first time he has scolded or yelled at her ever in her life.
Chick Magnet: Duh.
Childhood Friend Romance: Multiply this by lifelong stepsibling. Eep.
Crazy Jealous Guy: Downplayed and Discussed. Saku is pretty chill while Rikka and Aoi are dating. However, after Aoi and Rikka break up, Saku admits that although he thought he was going to okay with it, he still felt a little bothered by it.
Aoi: Actually I am curious, were you really okay with it when I was dating Rikka?
Saku: I'm okay with it...or so I thought...but to be honest, I wasn't really ok. I didn't like it.
Aoi: [Cheerfully]Oh really? That's what I thought! Sucks for you!
Flirty Stepsiblings: Effectively Single-Target Sexuality: he is and has always been in love with Rikka, especially since he's well aware they are Not Blood Siblings.
Generation Xerox: As brooding as Yuu, and just as fixated on his stepsister (Rikka in this case).
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He turns down Rena's confession and says that although Rikka and Aoi are dating he just likes her and can't go out with Rena while his feelings are so strong. He even reassurances Rikka that he is okay with Rikka and Aoi's relationship after Rikka says she wants him to be happy.
Headbutt of Love: Initiates this with Rikka
Like Brother and Sister: Averted.
Spell My Name With An S: Early fansubs translated his first name as Hajime, due to the ambiguous nature of kanji readings.

Aoi Namura

Handsome transfer student from Hiroshima.

Chick Magnet: Given who his parents are, would you expect any less?
Late-Arrival Spoiler: His very existence spoils that Meiko and Namura-sensei end up married.

Characters / Marmalade Boy

The Main Couple

The Koishikawa/Matsuura household

The Akizuki household

Toryo High School (students and teachers)

Other students

Kijima's Shop

Americans

Marmalade Boy Little

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Characters / Marmalade Boy

Edit Locked

The Main Couple

The Koishikawa/Matsuura household

The Akizuki household

Toryo High School (students and teachers)

Other students

Kijima's Shop

Americans

Marmalade Boy Little

Previous

Index

Next