Naming Conventions Note: Most characters in Please Tell Me! Galko-chan's cast are Only Known by Their Nickname, usually by tagging one of their attributes with a name suffix suitable for the person's gender.
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The Main Trio
Galko
- Voiced by: Azumi Waki
- All-Loving Hero: She is very friendly, and will immediately help people in need whether she knows them or not. She first befriended Otako when she helped her out with a period emergency...after Otako had earlier called her a "skanky bitch."
- Asleep in Class: We often see Galko like this, which initially leads many characters to assume she's "fooling around" at night. The truth is far more innocent: Galko keeps staying up late watching movies. She does try to counteract this through various methods, but the result is usually this happening anyway, or her showing up to class late.
- Berserk Button: It's very hard to legitimately anger her, which is part of why Otako found it so confusing when telling Galko that her (poorly applied) makeup looked fine and she didn't need it anyway resulted in Galko not speaking to her for an entire day. As Galko eventually explains, being a Gal is a serious thing for her, and she's had more than enough of people disparaging or dismissing it.
- Boob-Based Gag: She has very large boobs, far larger than both Ojou and Otako. Otako pokes fun at them at least once an episode.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Her busty figure is a major reason she's a Dude Magnet, and she tends to cause A-Cup Angst in other girls.
- Chaste Hero: Possibly as a Take That! to the "slutty gyaru" stereotype, Galko's never been on a date, and even gets flustered watching kissing scenes in movies.
- Cute Little Fangs: Galko has them. A skit in episode 9 discusses, In-Universe, how people outside of Japan dislike this trope; Galko hides her mouth for a while after noticing girls getting orthodontics in foreign movies. She later learns to not be ashamed of them.
- Dude Magnet: She is very popular with her classmates, for various reasons.
- Exposed to the Elements: As a Gal, she proudly wears a short skirt all year long...even in winter!
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Being the more fashionable one of the cast, has a bun on the left side of her head, while on the right she has a side ponytail with a blue scrunchy.
- The Fashionista: One of the few Gyaru Girl traits that she actually plays straight.
- Good Bad Girl: While Gals are often stereotyped as sassy, promiscuous delinquents, Galko is a perfectly pleasant young lady whose worst vice is sleeping in class.
- Gyaru Girl: Galko, of course. She wears heavy makeup, paints her nails, styles her hair, and dyes it blonde. However, she downplays and subverts the stereotype because despite her name and appearance, she has zero experience with men, and gets easily embarrassed over her physique and what she says. Plus, instead of having a small group of fellow Gyaru Girl friends, Galko hangs out with Otako and Ojou, two people who are as far from Gyaru as you can get.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Galko is taller than most of the other girls, including some of the guys as well.
- Informed Flaw: The margin descriptors consistently refer to her having a "sharp tongue." While she certainly does speak her mind, most people would consider her a sweetheart. Lampshaded by Metako when she says that if she has a sharp tongue, she hasn't seen it.
- Innocently Insensitive: Galko has trouble saying "no" to people, so during the cultural festival she spreads herself thin by making a bunch of promises to a number of people, and by trying to bite more than she can chew, she starts neglecting Otako and Ojou, with whom she promised to spend the festival with. She ends up declining to narrate the drama club's play in order to prioritize her friends, to whom she owes more loyalty than to people that who just ask her for help.
- Large-Ham Announcer: Overlapping with Lemony Narrator, Galko is a phenomenal narrator and reader, who can make reading even a textbook compelling and a joy to hear because of her hearty and expressive delivery. This is due to her mom, who used to ham it up whenever she read her stories as a child. Given the circumstance, her class would spend the whole day listening to her reading if they could. Later, during the Cultural Festival, she is invited by the drama club to narrate their plays, but eventually declines because she promised to spend her free time with Otako and Ojou.
- Loved by All: Later in the manga, it's clear that Galko is well-liked and admired at school, but she's entirely unaware of it.
- Mentor Archetype: Galko is one for Kuseta, who harbors a profound admiration for her and her advice, as he recognizes that the few times they've met have served for him to become a considerably better person.
- Momma's Boy: Gender-Inverted. Galko loves her mother dearly, and often acts spoiled around her whenever she gets the chance to have her around.
- The Movie Buff: She loves movies, both Japanese and foreign, and often stays up late watching them, resulting in a lot of classroom naps.
- Ms. Fanservice: Downplayed; despite her short skirt and voluptuous figure, Galko is actually less sexualized than a lot of gyaru characters, especially in men's manga...but that being said, she certainly has her moments. There's usually at least a couple of bikini/underwear scenes per volume, the chapter break images can get pretty cheesecakey, and both the manga and anime love to focus on her shapely thighs.
- Nice Girl: She is nearly impossible to anger, drops everything to help total strangers, and is friends with pretty much everyone she knows. The worst thing people can think to say about her personality is that she's rather nosy and overwhelming at times. There are instances where Galko gets flustered to the point of irritation, but she is an even-tempered person overall. Another prominent instance is when she cooked a meal for her parents' wedding anniversary, despite the fact that she finds cooking authentic food to be a pain.
- Not a Morning Person: One of the things that makes misled her classmates on her sex practices. One skit in an episode shows her energy gradually increases as the day goes on, and Otako directly lampshades this trope. The trope is justified by Galko's bad habit of staying up late watching movies and the like. She tries to counteract this, but tends to fail in some way or another.
- Obliviously Beautiful: She's pretty clueless as to how crazy she drives the boys.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Galko's sister is famous around their community because she's a famous gravure model, which results in her being compared to the latter. Her friendship with Otako is partly because Otako doesn't refer to her as someone's little sister.
- Poke the Poodle: Galko's all purpose way of expressing how angry she is? Clawing her hands like a kitten, and going 'graaah'. It's repeatedly lampshaded how bizarre, cute and utterly unintimidating this is.
- Really Gets Around: Subverted by Galko. It seems the entire class assumes as a Gyaru she has pretty loose morals, she actually have zero experience with men, even a nonsexual date, to the point she's actually Allergic to Love.
- Serious Business: Being a Gal, makeup is very important to her. Making light of it, even unintentionally, is one of the only ways to get her mad at you.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Because Galko is a voluptuous girl with a sense of fashion, people tend to think the worst of her. Every time she shows up late to school, everyone assumes it's because she was sleeping around, when the reason is far more mundane, such as staying up too late watching TV.
- Spell My Name With An S: Galko in the official translation, Gyaruko in the scanlation.
- Supreme Chef: Her bentos are the envy of the classroom.
- Team Mom: Galko definitely gives off shades of this, with her being prepared for just about any problem her classmates throw at her and her caring nature towards the elementary school boy. It's even implied she wants to be a mother herself when she's older!
Otako
- Voiced by: Miyu Tomita
- A-Cup Angst: Surprisingly averted; you'd think a totally flat-chested girl hanging out with the buxom Galko would have issues like this, but it doesn't seem to bother her.
- Bookworm: Otako is more of this sort of otaku. Her knowledge of risque stuff is in part due to her habit of reading lots of books. She does read a lot of manga, but the manga don't actually belong to her. She borrows them from her brother.
- Covert Pervert: She's usually the one who has the most perverted thoughts, though she'd never admit it.
- Deadpan Snarker: Really, she's the one who deserves the "sharp tongue" description.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Gradually gets more friendly and sociable as the series goes on.
- The Gadfly: She likes messing with Galko.
- Meganekko: Standard issue for a cute otaku girl.
- Nerd Glasses: Otako wears a pair of squarish red frames.
- Older Than They Look: Otako looks like an elementary schooler, if the lines spoken by some actual elementary schoolers when she's at the pool is of any indication, as in, some schoolboy trying to pick her up, asking her which elementary school does she attend.
- Otaku: It's in her nickname.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Store-bought buns. So she's surprised when Galko goes through the trouble of cooking up some homemade versions of those buns.
- Youthful Freckles: Otako has them(although they're not easy to see), indicating her being less attractive.
Ojou
- Voiced by: Minami Takahashi
Naming note: Yes, that trope.
- The Ace: Ojou is said to be at the top of the class and aces many extra-curricular activities. On the other hand, she doesn't have as much social experience.
- The Ditz: This is her officially-defined attribute, though some of it is probably due to her sheltered upbringing.
- Ditzy Genius: Ojou is labeled as a ditz, and the things Galko and Otako discuss tend to go over her head. However, she is at the top of the class and aces other extra-curricular and outside-school activities. She's even shown singing Indian songs fluently.
- Elegant Classical Musician: A skillful pianist who really dresses up for recitals.
- The Gadfly: Albeit she felt somewhat isolated when she began talking to Galko and Otako, she later reveals that she has gotten so used to them and so fond of their discussions that she contributes by throwing a wrench into it with non-sequiturs.
- Kimono Is Traditional: When the main trio goes to the mall in episode 6/Chapter 13, they were surprised to see Ojou wearing a kimono. The manga stated it's the first time she's gone out with friends, so she goes all the way into it. On the other hand, character bios indicate she follows a very traditional way of life (so traditional that, when she wears the kimono, she mentions that she's not wearing any underwear—which she doesn't mention until she's already trying on some clothes).
- Letting Her Hair Down: Inverted, she looks better with her hair up.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Her swimsuit has a slit in the middle that goes down to her navel. Downplayed with her recital outfit whose neckline just barely reaches her midsection.
- Nice Girl: Ojou is shown to be nice and naive to a fault, to the point that her spouting things That Came Out Wrong turns into a Running Gag. Her tendency to butt into conversations mid-way doesn't help.
- Ojou: In a series where everyone is Only Known by Their Nickname, she is obviously an example of this trope. Otako notes that she's the only person she knows who can eat a bowl of udon elegantly.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: If she's ever not smiling, something is very wrong.
- Perpetual Smiler: Pretty much always has the same sweet smile on her face.
- The Quiet One: She generally doesn't contribute that much to the trio's conversations, but is happy to be there anyway.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Ojou is apparently very sheltered, and thus sometimes have difficulties grasping some ideas that Galko and Otako are discussing at the moment. A prime example occurs in Episode 6/Chapter 12, when the two were talking about lingerie shopping. Ojou chimes in, talking about how the lingerie tailor comes in to measure everyone for their custom lingerie... To the point that Galko found it necessary to take Ojou to the mall to learn how commoner women get their lingerie.
- Token Rich Student: Being an Ojou, she's from a rich family despite attending a middle-class public school. Naturally, these leads to jokes about how she's Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense.
The Boy Trio
Charao
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai
Naming note: His nickname comes from "charai," referring
to a frivolous, flashy male.
- Dragged into Drag: He gets stuck dressing up as Galko in the school play, something no one is quick to forget.
- Love Epiphany: A platonic one. Charao realizes that he loves Galko platonically mainly because she's the kind of person he wants to be.
- Hidden Depths: While all the boys like Galko, he seems to be the only one who actually has feelings for her instead of just lusting after her body.
- Nobody Touches the Hair: He's very protective of his 'do.
- Old Shame: In-Universe, he treats the Ass Shove incident as this.
- Spear Counterpart: Of Galko.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He tells Galko off for neglecting her friends and making Ojou cry.
Otao
Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Naming note: His nickname comes from otaku.
- Otaku: It's in his nickname. We often see him holding anime magazines, especially on mecha.
- Shrinking Violet: A Rare Male Example.
- Spear Counterpart: Of Otako, to some extent; unlike the actively antisocial Otako, Ota-o is shy.
Supoo
Voiced by: Daisuke Ono
A stoic-looking member of the baseball team.
Naming note: His nickname comes from "sports".
- Chubby Chaser: He seems to think Nikuko is attractive, going by his Imagine Spot of the girl in a Carnivale dancing outfit.
- Coat Cape: He always wear his jacket this way.
- Terse Talker: He rarely talks without getting to the point. This comes up in the personality test chapter, which indicates that he considers the act of sex finished once he has release.
Classmates
Bomuo
- Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa
Naming Note: His nickname comes from "bomb." It's for that one time he had Messy Hair.
- Messy Hair: For only once, but enough to make his nickname.
Metako
- Voiced by: Ai Kakuma
Naming Note: Her nickname comes from the Heavy Metal genre of music.
A girl who loves heavy metal.
- Metal Head: Absolutely loves heavy metal, to the point of being an Otaku for it.
Nikuko
Voiced by: Juri Kimura
A perky, full-figured girl who's the star player of the girls futsal team.
Naming Note: Her nickname comes from "niku," or "meat."
- Acrofatic: Despite being overweight, she is well known for her fast, forceful advances in the girls' soccer team which lends her her epithet, "Sonic Meat." In fact, according to her she gained more weight after becoming an athlete.
- Art Evolution: Like many 2D Big Beautiful Woman characters, she started out as just kind of wider than the other girls, but became more visibly round and soft with time.
- Best Her to Bed Her: One of her character descriptions mentions that her preferred type of person is someone stronger than her.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Nikuko is overweight, but she's also one of the most athletic characters and she still gets plenty of attention from the boys.
- Big Eater: Especially meat, to the point that she gets banned from festival barbeque booths.
- Breakout Character: Outside the main trio and GS, she probably gets the most focus.
- But Not Too Foreign: Volume five reveals her to be half Russian.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Averted, you'd think "Sonic Meat" would be this...but she likes it!
- Fat and Proud: She has no issues with her weight at all. One story even has her wanting to gain more after being inspired by some classical artwork.
- Husky Russkie: Her mother, a former pro wrestler, is a Rare Female Example.
- Ms. Fanservice: A rare plus-sized example, and an even rarer plus-sized manga example. She even appears in a skimpy Carnival costume in volume three, which apparently went over very well with the readers since she gets a lot more fanservice scenes from then on.
- Nice Girl: She never picks fights with people who see her as a rival, such as her futsal captain.
- Shared Family Quirks: Like her mom, she's a Fat and Proud Big Beautiful Woman who is athletic.
Okako
- Voiced by: Yuuko Iida
Naming Note: Her nickname comes from "okakuto," or "occult."
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Pale, dark-haired and creeps out everyone around her.
- Engrish: There's quite a few "awkward english phrases on clothes" scenes but her "SNOWMAN PORNO" sweater takes the cake.
- Hidden Buxom: She is mentioned by Galko to also have large breasts. The reason why no one knows this before is because Okako slouches all the time, so it's hard to see.
- Huge Schoolgirl: She is possibly taller than Galko is.
- Nightmare Fetishist: She likes all things related to suspense, horror, and the occult (the last one being part of her nickname).
Yabana and Agemi
- Voiced by: Shizuka Ishigami (Agemi), Kaede Hondo (Yabana)
- The Dividual: They have no defining characteristics on their own.
- Gyaru Girl: Two more, though like Galko they're lacking the tan.
- Those Two Girls: Pretty much never seen apart.
- Valley Girl: Their speech in the English manga has, like, a touch of this.
Friends and Relatives
Galko's Sister
- Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa
Galko's college-bound sister who's working as a gravure model on the side.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Just like her sister, she has a buxom figure which is why she's a successful gravure model.
- Blatant Lies: While she was still dating Otako's brother, she told him that she was a high school student and often borrowed Galko's uniform whenever they were together.
- Character Tics: She apparently dodges questions with a non-sequitur whenever she has a crush on somebody.
- Ethical Slut: As promiscuous as she is, she won't date more than one guy at once, won't mess with men in relationships (unless his partner's cool with it) and won't tolerate her boyfriends cheating on her.
- The Faceless: Her face is not fully seen until a few volumes in.
- Fanservice Model: She works as a gravure model.
- The Gadfly: Like to deliberately get Galko embarrassed as an attempt to desensitize her from sexual topics.
- Gyaru Girl: Presumably where Galko gets it. She even models for both Gal fashion magazines and Gal-themed adult magazines.
- Ladykiller in Love: She regularly sleeps with virgins and other men, but even though she teases Otako's brother, she genuinely liked spending time with him and is heartbroken when he tells her that he doesn't want to be "just another sex partner" to her.
- Miko: She acts as a shrine maiden on the side. The one time she's seen in Miko costume... she's modeling.
- No Name Given: Pretty much the whole cast is Only Known by Their Nickname, but GS doesn't even get that. She's just Galko's Sister.
- Palette Swap: Basically a taller, bustier Galko with a tan.
- Really Gets Around: It's implied (and later confirmed in the manga) that Galko's sister is this...that is, until she meets Otako's brother.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Unlike her sister, GS is perfectly aware of how sexy she is, and loves to flaunt it.
- Shared Family Quirks: She and Galko look so much like each other. Like her mom, they're buxom women with rebellious streaks.
- Troll: She has been this to Galko on occasion, like when she was younger and told her that ear piercing is done by freezing the ear and then putting a power drill through it.
Charao's Sister
- Voiced by: Mai Nakahara
Charao's sister who works as a doujinshi artist. She is Galko's Sister's best friend and an acquaintance of the Lingerie Saleswoman.
- Sequential Artist: She's a professional doujinshi artist.
Otako's Brother
The older brother of Otako that goes to college. He's the manga otaku in the household.- A Man Is Always Eager: Defied. He actually turns down GS's offer to take his virginity on the first date, because he wants a real romance with her instead of just being one of her boytoys.
- Fetish: For Gals and possibly feet. He seems to have a thing for miko as well.
- I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Gender-flipped, he's amazed that a bombshell like GS would date a geek like him.
- No Name Given: Him and GS must be made for each other.
- Opposites Attract: You have plain, nerdy, out of the way and virgin him, compared to the conventionally attractive, assertive, and experienced Galko's Sister.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: He's got the only glasses in the book that can't be seen through, except in dramatic moments.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He and Otako aren't that far off from each other in looks. He's just taller.
- Virgin-Shaming: Like most boys his age, he hates the fact that he's a virgin and hates that other people make fun of him for it. However, he still wants to take things slow when he gets into a relationship.
Kouhai
Voiced by: Yuiko Tatsumi
A middle-schooler and Charao's eager and doting girlfriend. She's the younger sister of the Lingerie Saleslady.
- A-Cup Angst: She is a cute Meganekko who is still on the yet-to-develop bracket for her age, so she's understandably flat as a board. Since Charao tends to fantasize about Galko even when he's with her, the comparison is also made. Still, considering that the buxom lingerie sales lady is Kohai's sister, Kohai herself is possibly bound to be buxom in the future.
- Bespectacled Cutie: The cute middle-school girl with glasses. She's the closest thing to a
moe character in this series. - Cute Little Fangs: Exaggerated to the point that she kind of looks like a vampire in some panels.
- Insecure Love Interest: Kouhai finds herself at odds with Charao's fascination with Galko, and arrives to very weird conclusions about it (see Insane Troll Logic). She's right to be insecure because it's not until later that Charao realizes that his love for Galko is entirely platonic, and that the girl he truly loves is Kouhai.
- Just the Way You Are: Kouhai has a lot of doubts about her relationship with Charao, and he constantly reassures her that he likes them as they are now.
- Nice Girl: she's shown to be an earnest and dutiful girlfriend to Charao, even when he's not paying attention.
Saleslady
- Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki
The buxom lingerie saleslady who's also Kohai's older sister. She befriends Galko and Charao's older sisters when they attend a wedding together.
- D-Cup Distress: She's likely as big as Galko’s sister, if not even bigger. She and Galko bond over not being able to find bras that fit them.
- Nice Girl: Much like her little sister Kohai, she is sweet and kindly.
Nikuko's Mom
Nikuko's mom who like her daughter is fat but still athletic and is of Russian descent. She is friends with Bomuo and Kuseta's Moms. Her wrestler name was "Zhirni Zarnita" (Meat lightning)
- Acrofatic:Like her daughter, she's fat but fast. A description says this comes in handy for her daughter's sporting events, sales and "Certain nighttime activities".
- Big Beautiful Woman: Like her daughter, she may be plump but is still beautiful. She and Kuseta and Bomuo's moms go for a boudoir photo session. Her daughter even says how pretty she is. The fact she does "certain nighttime activities", likely indicates an active sex life.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: She's blonde.
- Husky Russkie: She's a strong Russian former pro wrestler and a Rare Female Example.
- Stacy's Mom: While she may be a mom, she's still attractive as indicated by her daughter and the fact of her doing a boudoir photo session with Bomuo and Kuseta's moms.
- Stout Strength: As a former pro-wrestler, she's fat but strong. One picture even shows her flexing her muscles. A caption even says her strength comes in handy as a mom during sales and certain "nighttime activities".
Elementary School
Kuseta
- Voiced by: Yukiyo Fujii
A boy who befriends Galko and looks up to her.
Naming Note: His nickname comes from his Messy Hair.
- Mama's Boy: What Tsunno makes fun-of from him when they are at the pool, as if that were something to be ashamed of. She later tells him that she regrets how she treated him back then.
- Oblivious to Love: He doesn't recognize Tsunno's advances as having affection within them until Galko points it out to him.
- Puppy Love: With Tsunno, as they become an item.
Tsunno
- Voiced by: Sayaka Senbongi
Naming Note: Her name comes from the trope of Tsundere.
- A-Cup Angst: Develops this after seeing Kuseta’s admiration of Galko, she then starts taking steps to get a head start on increasing her bust size.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can be a surprisingly nice girl, she is just overall bad at expressing her feelings.
Kibami
- Voiced by: Saori Oonishi
Tsunno's best friend, who shares classes with her and Kuseta and is a Shipper on Deck for both.
Naming Note: Her name comes from "kiba", Japanese for "fang", referring to her shark-like teeth.
Other
Abe-sensei
- Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura
- Baldness Angst: He's pretty insecure about his (only slightly) receding hairline.
- Lesser of Two Evils: Albeit he's irritated at Galko's tardiness, he's had to deal with her sister before her, which was trouble-squared.
- Stern Teacher: Ever the educator, he'll steer the conversation towards teaching if his students are involved.
Dukusen
Galko's world history teacher.Naming note: His nickname comes from "Duke."
- Cool Teacher: He has a vast amount of knowledge of even the most specific subjects, even what was used to wipe one's butt in olden times when there was no toilet paper.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first lecture we see him give is on...the history of butt-wiping. And no, he was not making up that part about the goose neck!
Captain
The captain of a different school's girls Futsal team and a self-declared sports rival of Nikuko. She is also Tsunno's older sister.
- Bratty Half-Pint: She's on the small side and tries to one-up Nikuko, who towers over her in height, weight and physical prowess.
- Bullying a Dragon: Played with. She tries to do this to Nikuko, but she's so nice that she ultimately can't.
- The Rival: To Nikuko, albeit reluctantly because the portentous girl is such a sweetheart towards her.
- Shipper on Deck: She likes to help her little sister with her pursuit of Kuseta, albeit with dubious success.
- Tsundere: Towards Nikuko, in a platonic manner.
- Unknown Rival: Nikuko has no idea that she has a rival in her.
- You Keep Telling Yourself That: She thinks that she actually has a fighting chance against Nikuko, but deep down she ends up feeling nothing but admiration towards her.
Fujimi
- Voiced by: Yui Makino
A towering fujoshi girl who sometimes encounters Galko when she's browsing stores on her own.
- Eyes Out of Sight: We never see her eyes.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Very tall, and rather insecure about it.
- Yaoi Fangirl: A big fan of Boys' Love manga. "Fujioshi" the Japanese term for the trope, is where her nickname comes from.
Fushigi
- Voiced by: Yurika Kubo
An airheaded girl who has an unlikely friendship with Fujimi and Okako, her two bandmates.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Even more scatter-brained than Ojou.
Kuroko and Shiroko
Two third-year students who are part of the drama club who scout Galko to narrate their Cultural Festival play.
- Non-Indicative Name: "Kuro" and "Shiro" mean "black" and "white," but this doesn't seem to have any significance.
