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Class 2-C

    Tenma Tsukamoto 

Tenma Tsukamoto

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (JP) and Luci Christian (EN)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SR_Tenma_910.jpg

The main female character, a ditzy airhead with a crush on Karasuma.


  • Alliterative Name: Tenma Tsukamoto. Only in English. In Japanese, the first two characters don't match.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: Majority of the boys at school don't find her attractive, mainly because of her apparent childishness.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Inverted since she's the older sister, but she was this to Yakumo as a kid, though her intentions were always pure.
  • Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: She has the attention span of a schizophrenic goldfish.
  • Balloon Belly: When she eats too much.
  • Big Sister Instinct: Though she is the less mature of the two, she is nevertheless protective of Yakumo and fumes at the thought of anyone hurting her. She is also more than willing to give her relationship advice, though ill-informed.
  • Book Dumb: She has some pretty bad grades.
  • Cloud Cuckoolander: Tenma...does not think like normal people. Needs to send her crush a love letter? Bow and arrow! Need to get out of the bathroom without being seen? Use plungers to suction cup down the wall!
  • Conveniently Seated: Tenma sits in the back seat next to the window, with Karasuma right behind her and Harima to her right.
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: She's generally known as the class klutz, though only a couple people find it cute.
  • Determinator: Whenever Karasuma is involved. She even decides to become a doctor to help him after he loses his memories.
  • The Ditz: Tenma doesn't do well with anything that requires too much thinking.
  • Dogged Nice Girl: She just wants to spend time with Karasuma. That's all.
  • Dumb Is Good: She is rather stupid, but is also friendly, willing to listen to people and help them if she sees they're down in any way, and is generally very sweet.
  • Erotic Eating: To Harima, Tenma looks sexy while eating Pocky (well, Picky). To Eri, she looks like a squirrel.
  • Expressive Hair: Her two small pigtails tend to move around according to her mood.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish to Yakumo's responsible.
  • Genki Girl: An incredibly energetic and cheerful girl, especially when she's a Shipper on Deck. Its also to cover up that she's a Stepford Smiler.
  • Girlish Pigtails: She has two very small ones, fitting with her girly and optimistic nature. Which she forgets to hide when she disguises herself.
  • Hidden Depths: She surprises everyone with her mad skiing skills. She's also surprisingly talented at art (like, ironically, both of her potential love interests) and not too bad at Japanese history (probably because of her fondness for "Three to Get Killed").
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Went on bow-and-arrow spree once to deliver love letters to Karasuma, with scarily good aim, only beatable by Karasuma's dexterity.
  • Informed Attractiveness: In-Universe, Harima insists she's the most beautiful girl in the world, but the way he sees her is different from the way any other character sees her (aka plain). Harima's cousin, Itoko, also thinks that Tenma is actually quite attractive by Japanese standards.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Tenma sometimes slips into this line of logic. The most blatant example is coming to the conclusion that she has to play the part of the princess in "Sleeping Beauty" after Karasuma gave her a turtle.note 
  • The Matchmaker: Lampshaded in the manga, saying she is only good at matchmaking. Of course, she's actually really bad at it due to her stupidity causing her to misunderstand everything she sees (most notably trying to pair Harima with several different girls without a clue as to why such a thing is futile).
  • Joshikousei: In her school uniform, obviously.
  • Lethal Chef: She cannot even get onigirinote  right.
  • Miko: She dressed like this to deliver love letters to Karasuma.
  • Nice Girl: She’s kind to just about everyone she meets and will get along with them in not too long. This is actually the ONE thing she has in common with Yakumo.
  • Oblivious to Love: Tenma has no idea about Harima's feelings until San Gakki.
  • Older Than She Looks: She is often mistaken to be younger than her sister.
  • Psychic Powers: Is telekinetic and can speak to ghosts (played for laughs).
  • Put on a Bus: Following handfuls of chapters cycling between focusing on Harima's relationships with Eri and Yakumo, she finally gets her share of the focus again in the final two chapters of the manga and then leaves the country to go after Karasuma.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Take a look at most of the tropes under her name, then compare them to Yakumo's. The Tsukamoto sisters are like night and day
  • Shipper on Deck: Tenma actively supports whoever Harima is trying to pursue... except she didn't know it was her. She also, and perhaps most strongly, ships Harima with Yakumo, although she's against it at first.
  • Tareme Eyes: They show her cheerful and ditzy personality.

    Kenji Harima 

Kenji Harima

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/School-Rumble_125826harima_5407.jpg
He's not as scary as he looks.

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (JP) and Brandon Potter (EN)

The main male character, an aspiring mangaka who's head over heels for Tenma. Has a younger brother named Shuuji.


  • Accidental Misnaming: The guy at the manga office constantly calls Harima "Tasawa". Harima calls Karasuma "Torimaru" and Yoshidayama "Yoshida".
  • Accidental Pervert: Mostly with Eri, and once during with Tenma during their first meeting.
  • Anguished Declaration of Love: Mistakenly, to Eri. It still made her heart skip a beat though.
  • Animal Talk: After he ditches school in shame early on, he collects an entire zoo's worth of animals and learns to communicate with them.
  • Anti-Magic: He is at times immune to Yakumo's mind reading.
  • Author Avatar: In-Universe, of his own manga. He seems to actually believe it's not as obvious as it is.
  • Badass Biker: He has a very nice bike, though he doesn't express most of the associated tropes.
  • Book Dumb: Not very bright, getting graded very poorly in everything except art and sports class. Slightly subverted when he actually pretends to be even dumber than he is just so he can be in remedial classes with Tenma.
  • Butt-Monkey: If something bad can happen, it will, and to him.
  • Chaste Hero: He's turned down Anegasaki's advances.
  • Color Failure: Harima goes pale after a rush to complete one of his manga, in a Shout-Out to a certain boxing manga. Also occurred earlier in the first season when in despair after coming across Tenma happily eating together with Karasuma.
  • Cool Shades: Such an iconic part of his character that no one recognizes him without them. He met Tenma when he wasn't wearing them, and due to a misunderstanding, she thought he was trying to take advantage while she was unconscious, so he wears them so she won't connect the two.
  • Clueless Chick-Magnet: Got the two most popular girls pining for his affection, but is absolutely clueless about it. Justified as he only cares about winning Tenma's heart.
  • Determinator: He jumped out of a plane in the manga when he thought Tenma was in trouble. And this is one of the more controlled things he's done.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: His only desires in life are to publish his manga and settle down with Tenma.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: Was once mistaken for Mikoto when viewed from behind without his hair-band on, although he was sitting in a steam-clouded bath that covered him from the neck down.
  • Dumb Muscle: Harima may not be able to read your name very well, but he can definitely bring a beatdown upon you.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: He grows a beard so that Tenma won't recognize him, which Eri accidentally cuts off.
  • Face of a Thug: And how!
  • Forgotten First Meeting: Shown in Z that he had met the Tsukamotos when they were kids and he may have been the reason Yakumo is the soft-spoken girl she is today.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Had an entire zoo living in his apartment.
  • Guns Akimbo: When fighting Hanai in the final battle of the Battle Royale-style mock war.
  • He Cleans Up Nicely: The Face of a Thug goes away (mostly) once he shaves and removes the glasses.
  • Hidden Depths: Badass delinquent who is a talented artist, and a lovesick idiot.
  • Hot-Blooded: He has a tendency to make loud declarations while something explodes in the background. He would not be at all out of place in a shonen fighter manga.
  • Hurricane Kick: Not really. Instead, played for Punny Name. When saving Tenma from a thug, Harima yells out this trope, but he doesn't spin around (just performing Dynamic Entry). Instead, this is used to take note on 'What if we shorten Harima Kenji', which becomes 'HariKen', which is how the the English word "Hurricane" is pronounced/spelled in Japanese.
  • I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: When Eri asked him about his preferences in womennote , he said he finds girls who can't swim cute, and is a sucker for girls with pigtails. Given that his answer about the pigtails was intended to impress the pigtail-wearing Tenmanote , he failed to realize that Eri also hits both criteria of his preferences: namely not being able to swim and wears her hair in pigtails.
  • In-Series Nickname: Eri calls him "Hige" or "Beardy" in the manga and the Japanese sub, "Whiskers" in the English dub.
  • I Shall Taunt You: Invoked for drama and comedy during the survival games mini-arc, when he corners Mikoto and holds her at gunpoint. just long enough for Hanai to try to save her. Just as he gets within a few feet of them, Harima pulls the trigger and "kills" her, then smugly tells him he was too late, before fleeing the scene.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Early on, he resolves to give up on Tenma when she seems happy with Karasuma.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a bit of a prick and he'll fight anyone who pisses him off, but for the most part he's an extremely good person who would do anything for his friends.
  • Laughing Mad: When Tenma thought Harima and Eri were a couple.
  • Love Makes You Dumb: He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed to begin with, but in anything regarding Tenma, he drops about fifty IQ points.
  • Made of Iron: As Itoko points out, being hit by a truck going 40mph and getting out of the hospital in only ten days is fairly impressive.
  • Manly Facial Hair: Eri even calls him "hige" (beard in Japanese) and "whiskers" in the English translation. And for the badass part he's probably the toughest student in the series (with the possible exception of Karen Ichijou), since he can toss around every punk in town with ease.
  • Manly Tears: A few times, such as when he thinks his manga has failed.
  • Mirror Character: Although he and Hanai consider each other rivals due to the fact that he is a delinquent and Hanai is a class representative, they've got more in common than they'd like to admit — they're both obsessed with a particular girl (both of whom happen to be sisters), Hot-Blooded and prone to misunderstandings, and have been known to come up with near-identical plans independently.
  • Mistaken for Gay: A Running Gag with him and Tani-sensei.
  • Mr. Fanservice: He gets lots of shirtless scenes to show off his ripped body. During the Beach Episode, Eri accidentally walked in on him naked, and for the next few days can't stop thinking of... that.
  • Oblivious to Love: See Clueless Chick-Magnet. He can be excused for not realising he'd managed to attract Yakumo's affections as she is aware of his feelings for her sister Tenma and keeps them to herself as a result. On the other hand, it's really rather clueless of him to not pick up on Eri's feelings, as she doesn't conceal them nearly as well. He at least has the excuse that she's so Tsundere that it's hard for him to even imagine that the beautiful rich girl would fall for a rowdy delinquent like him.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: He dressed up as a fortune teller and neither Mikoto nor Eri were fooled. On the other hand, almost nobody can recognize him without his glasses.
  • Retired Badass: His love for Tenma has caused him to abandon his delinquent ways.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: He correctly deduced that Yakumo can read minds, coming to this conclusion by noting that her guesses about the nature of his manga are too spot on, despite his best efforts of hiding it. He's right about the reading minds thing, but is completely wrong about how Yakumo figured out his crush on Tenma.note 
  • Satellite Love Interest: Deconstructed. He starts to forget why he likes Tenma in the first place, and also starts to believe his attraction to her is almost compulsive.
  • Scars are Forever: He has a scar on his back which he got from saving Tenma from a hoodlum.
  • Selective Obliviousness: On so many things. He fails to notice Eri or Yakumo's feelings for him, just for starters.
  • Ship Tease: Gets a lot with Eri and Yakumo, and a tiny bit with Tenma and Mikoto.
  • Shirtless Scene: Boatloads of them.
  • Slow-Motion Fall: Every time Tenma mistakes him having a relationship with someone else.
  • Spanner in the Works: Harima's love for Tenma causes him to sabotage his plans to get together with her.
  • Speaks Fluent Animal: What attracts Yakumo to him in the first place.
  • Stalker with a Crush: He's a rare sympathetic example for a male character, as he's the male lead, and not a bad guy at all, just a lovably bumbling fool for love. This is also downplayed that he doesn't always follow Tenma around.
  • Starving Artist: It got to the point in Z where he and Eri played a high-stakes game of shogi for either the forgiving of the large debt he owed her, or marrying into her family. She got disqualified though so nothing happened.
  • Sunglasses at Night: He even wears them in the hospital.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Hanai. They argue and fight over everything, and Harima often messes around with Hanai for no real reason, but underneath that there's a rock-hard friendship and genuine trust.
  • Walking the Earth: He disappeared during the Time Skip, earning a living as a traveling musician.
  • Will They or Won't They?: Gets this alternatively with Eri and Yakumo. "Z" leans toward Eri but it was confusing on whether or not anything even happened.
  • Younger Than They Look: Downplayed. When he's first introduced, he looks more like he belongs in college than a first year high school student, namely due to the facial hair, slicked back hair, and Cool Shades making him look older. Once he loses the facial hair, he looks slightly younger, albeit now looking like a high school senior rather than a freshman. Without the glasses though and when his hair is left more unkempt, he looks his actual age and closer to the age of his peers, to the point no one can actually recognize him. Eri and Tenma in particular had no idea it was him when meeting him sans glasses and hair band, and Tenma only realized it once he slicked his hair back.

    Oji Karasuma 

Oji Karasuma

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oji_322.jpg
Voiced by: Hiroki Konishi (JP) and Eric Vale (EN)

The school's weird, quiet guy who loves curry and is the subject of Tenma's affections.


    Eri Sawachika 

Eri Sawachika

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/180px-80403_2216.jpg
Voiced by: Yui Horie (JP) and Leah Clark (EN)

The wealthy, half-British member of Tenma's clique, who finds herself falling for Harima after he mistakenly proposes to her.


  • Action Girl: Although normally she doesn't like physical activity, she's considered to be one of the more athletic girls in her class. Apparently, she's also the fastest runner in her grade.
  • Arranged Marriage: Averted twice thanks to Harima. On the second occasion, she was supposed to marry Shawn but she convinced Harima to "become her fiancee, but not for real". Whatever that entails.
  • Author Avatar: Rumor is she is based on the author's wife.
  • Big Fancy House: Eri points out to Harima (manga only), that it's her father's house and not hers.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Half-Japanese, half-English. Her mixed heritage makes her attractive to the Japanese and an object of derision to Europeans.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Deconstructed. Any time it looks like one of her friends in interested in Harima, she turns stone cold and nearly ruins her friendship.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Gold eyes and blonde hair.
  • Cute Little Fangs: Sometimes, when she's being passive-aggressive.
  • Death Glare: This, which makes Harima obey her immediately.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Towards Harima. Slowly. Very slowly.
  • Dude Magnet: Possibly the biggest in the series. She is considered the most popular girl in school among the guys. It's to the point she regularly turns Guys down, though her official count at least early on is actually lower than Yakumo's.
  • Girlish Pigtails: To emphasize that she's not quite as mature as she likes to pretend.
  • Good Angel, Bad Angel: When she invited Harima to her house.
  • Lethal Chef: Only surpassed by Tenma.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Until Mikoto forcibly dragged her out of her shell.
  • Maybe Ever After: The final chapter of Z shows a scene of Harima and Eri bringing a child to visit the Tsukamotos and Oji in the hospital, but it is presented in such a way that it is most likely just a certain character (Max, Eri's old friend from Britain) imagining it.
  • Mixed Ancestry is Attractive: She is half-Japanese, half-English, with blonde hair and light brown eyes. She is one of the school's two Dude Magnets, along with the more classically beautiful Yakumo, and frequently has to turn guys down. Eri's mixed heritage makes her attractive to her Japanese peers and an object of derision to Europeans, which gives her a complex about her looks.
  • Ms. Fanservice: The author loves to show Eri looking good in uniform, casual wear, bikini, evening gown, and of course, naked.
  • Sleep Cute: When she and Harima are stuck at a shrine overnight, she falls asleep on him. Harima even notes that, for a moment, he can forget that she's a rich, selfish, egotistical, stuck-up, arrogant brat.
    Eri: [sleep talking] Mikoto, what are you talking about? Whiskers totally fails at life.
    Harima: Okay, moment over, back to being mortal enemies.
  • So Beautiful, It's a Curse: All anybody sees of her are her stunning looks, and only her close circle of friends see her for who she is. Everyone else sees her as just a beautiful face, and she has quite the complex about this.
  • The Ojou: Harima even calls her one.
  • Tsundere: Switching moods almost ruins her friendships. She gets attracted to Harima because she doesn't have to act nice towards him.
  • Tsurime Eyes: The first hint to her personality.
  • Will They or Won't They?: Quite a bit with Harima. In the manga, it seems likely that they do in the future of "Z". Eight years later in the main time-line, however, they have not.

    Mikoto Suou 

Mikoto Suou

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mikoto_3080.jpg
Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (JP) and Brina Palencia (EN)

A member of Tenma's clique and Hanai's long-time friend.


  • Action Girl: One of the top martial artists in her family's dojo. Also, seen during the war games mini-arc, where it was known that she and Hanai would be the two to watch out for.
  • Adaptational Dye-Job: Her hair is black in the manga, but blue in the anime. It’s possible it was done not to confuse the reader with Yakumo.
  • Batman Gambit: In one episode, Mikoto comes across Harima, down on his luck right before Christmas, and invites him back to her family's dojo to have a place to stay. He initially refuses. Later, the two bump into each other again. Mikoto has bought a large amount of food, and asks Harima if he'll help her take it all home. Once there, she tells him he's free to stay, to which he agrees.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Mikoto can be pretty rowdy at times, to the point of getting carried away. But it mainly shows in her athleticism.
  • Buxom Beauty Standard: She has a sizable bust, which gets her the attention of Imadori who often lusts after her figure, much to her irritation.
  • Childhood Friends: She and Hanai know each other from way back and even grew up together as sparring partners at her family's dojo. Which is why she's one of the few people who can kick his butt.
  • The Defroster: A flashback reveals that she overheard some girls badmouthing Eri behind her back, and so she dragged her to a Suou Family party and acted like they were already best friends, causing Eri to open up to her.
  • Face Death with Dignity: She was one of the last to "die" during the survival games, due to being out of ammo just as she ran into Harima. Though she tried to save herself by making a grab for Akemi's gun, Harima kicks it out of reach. At which point, she resigned herself to her fate and told him to finish it.
  • Friendly Rivalry: As noted in the preceding entry, she and Hanai have been sparring partners since childhood. Which turns competitive on occasion.
  • Girl Next Door: In terms of looks and her personality. She's basically the most down-to-earth member of the cast.
  • He Is Not My Boyfriend: Invoked whenever anyone mistakes her and Hanai for being an item, or in case anyone asks.
  • Huge Schoolgirl: She's the tallest girl in her class and one of the tallest at the school, which is part of the reason most guys are intimidated by her.
  • The Lad-ette: She's essentially 'the guy' among her group of friends, being that she's the most athletic girl at their school, one of the few people capable of beating Hanai, good at sports (and arcade games), and she likes knockin' back brewskies every now and then.
  • No Guy Wants an Amazon: Despite her looks and her figure, most guys are put-off by her height and athleticism. Asou was one of the few exceptions and briefly dated her, though it's implied he broke up with her because she kept beating him at video gamesnote .
  • Office Lady: Her perceived future career.
  • One of the Boys: Though the boys stopped treating her as one of them as her chest grew out, she kept the personality.
  • Shipper on Deck: Ships Harima and Eri. Most obvious when Harima is staying at her house for Christmas.
  • Ship Tease: Alternatively with Hanai and Asou.
  • Super Drowning Skills: In the anime version, she and her friends don't know how to swim. Which is why they lost hilariously after accepting a challenge to a swimming contest and sank like stones.
  • Tomboyish Ponytail: She fashions her hair in a ponytail wherever she's sparring with Hanai.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: By the time of "School Rumble Z" she and Hanai are married.

    Akira Takano 

Akira Takano

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/akira05_363.jpg
Don't expect her to smile.
Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (JP) and Trina Nishimura (EN)

Last member of Tenma's clique and the quiet one of the group, whose half-sister Motoko is in the hospital.


  • Action Girl: She may or may not be a spy.
  • Bifauxnen: Pulls off wearing boyish attire (even tuxedos) quite well.
  • Boyish Short Hair: Short hair for a Bifauxnen.
  • Broken Ace: The only thing she can't do is swim.
  • Camera Fiend: An aspect of her Gadfly personality.
  • The Chessmaster: She can make people do whatever she wants using a word or information that they want. The best example is her setting up the survival game using just a few choice words on Harima and Hanai.
  • The Comically Serious: Always cracks a joke or dresses up in different outfits, and she still keeps that poker face on.
  • Cosplay Otaku Girl: Her one really odd quirk.
  • Deadpan Snarker: While wearing a straight face too.
    Akira: Why do you fail at life?
  • Emotionless Girl: Lampshaded. On her birthday, Tenma asks her to show her smile.
  • Forgiving the Accidental Pervert: After correctly guessing what happened between the naked Harima and a nearly naked Eri, she reassures the former that she doesn't think he's a pervert, but she does tell him that he's a screw up.
  • The Gadfly: She really enjoys messing with everyone, and the victim of most of her antics is Hanai. She expertly sets up the Culture Festival War, which she secretly tapes and edits into a film as her Culture Festival project.
  • Genre Savvy: Finds a naked Harima restraining a nearly naked Eri, and rather than take everything as it looks, immediately figures out that it's because Eri stumbled into the room while Harima was looking for his clothes and he grabbed her in a panic before she could scream.
  • "Mission: Impossible" Cable Drop: During the school play to steal Harima's kiss.
  • Sacred First Kiss: Steals Harima's, then offers to give it back to Yakumo.
  • School Swimsuit: When she and her friends met Nara and his friends.
  • The Stoic: She usually keeps a straight fave and rarely smiles (and one of them was offscreen).
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She seems emotionless, but deep down she's pretty nice and helpful when it counts.
  • Tsurime Eyes: They fit her stoic nature.
  • When She Smiles: On Tenma's birthday, Tenma demands to see her smile. No one else sees it, but Tenma is certainly impressed.

    Haruki Hanai 

Haruki Hanai

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hanais_5205.jpeg
Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (JP) and Chris Cason (EN)

Class Representative of 2-C and childhood friend of Mikoto. He treats everything he does seriously and has a major crush on Yakumo.


  • Accidental Pervert: Not as bad as most of his classmates, but a little bit here and there.
  • Alliterative Name: Haruki Hanai.
  • Brutal Honesty: He doesn't lie, hide his feelings, or gloss over the truth. He's in love with Yakumo, he's doing everything he can to be with her, and he does not care who knows it.
  • Butt-Monkey: Is usually on the receiving end of Akira's pranks.
  • Chick Magnet: Heavily implied to be one, with Tsumugi being confirmed as to liking him and Akira being heavily implied by the end.
  • Childhood Friends: With Mikoto.
  • Class Representative: He takes his duties seriously, but can get distracted by Yakumo or his rivalry with Harima.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite his comic role, as a practitioner of Kenpo since childhood, Hanai is one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the series and is matched only by the likes of Harima, Mikoto, and Harry McKenzie.
  • Covert Pervert: He tries his best to be a very moral and strict character, but he is human with his own perverted moments and thoughts.
  • Dreadful Musician: Due to not having practiced since he was a kid.
  • Establishing Character Moment: In the episode where we find out about Yakumo's mind-reading ability, every boy is thinking about how beautiful and perfect she is while keeping a straight face. Then Hanai shows up, thinking the same thing — the difference is he actually says it. From the moment we meet him, we know he is honest to a fault.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: With Harima sometimes.
  • Gun Fu: The survival games mini-arc culminates in a scene straight out of Equilibrium, where he and Harima displayed their skills in the use of Gun Katta.
  • Hot-Blooded: Just like Harima. Though his backgrounds tend to be crashing waves rather than explosions.
  • Incoming Ham: Tends to enter scenes with "I, Haruki Hanai, ___!"
  • Large Ham: Makes loud and impressive declarations regularly.
  • Mirror Character: Although he and Harima consider each other rivals due to the fact that he is a class representative and Harima is a delinquent, they've got more in common than they'd like to admit. They're both obsessed with a particular girl, Hot-Blooded and prone to misunderstandings, and have been known to come up with near-identical plans independently.
  • Nerds Are Naïve: The studious Hanai is a Badass Bookworm, able to go toe to toe with Dumb Muscle Harima in a fight. However, when it comes to interacting with women, he can be utterly naive and clueless. For example, when offering to give a girl who broke her glasses a ride home on his bike, he doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with asking her how much she weighs.
  • Nerd Glasses: Subverted in that he isn't actually a nerd, just an extremely intelligent badass.
  • Nice Guy: Despite his Hot-Blooded nature, Hanai is always quick to lend a hand when someone needs help, even offering to help Nishimoto with his spring cleaning (until he found out what Nishimoto was clearing out.), gave Yuuki a ride home on his bike when she broke her glasses, expecting nothing in return, and will, from time to time, even show concern for how Harima is doing.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Hanai usually comes off as a Hot-Blooded Large Ham. There are, however, a handful of moments when he speaks in calm, subdued tones. Usually, and perhaps unsurprisingly, these tend to be towards Mikoto.
  • Put on a Bus: When the anime Overtook the Manga. He made some appearances but stopped being an important character. Lampshaded in the manga when he apparently has no idea how he came back.
  • Rousing Speech: Lampshaded during the class meeting following the survival games arc. Some of the students had no idea what he was talking about, yet said they felt motivated somehow.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses: At times.
  • Shipper on Deck: Gives Mikoto a chance to dance with Asou after she misses the school play.
  • Sunglasses at Night: During the Wargames arc.
  • Training from Hell: He gets this from an old man he doesn't even know.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: In School Rumble Z, he's married to his childhood friend Mikoto.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Harima. They argue and fight over everything, and Harima often messes around with Hanai for no real reason, but underneath that there's a rock-hard friendship and genuine trust.
  • Weddings in Japan: Mikoto and Yakumo both participate in Western-style weddings, both with Hanai as the groom.
  • Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: When he finds out that Tsukamato (Tenma, but he thinks it's Yakumo) is going to an engagement meeting, he rushes off after them on his bicycle.
    Nakamura: Please, they're hundreds of kilometers away. He'd have to be a lunatic—
    Mikoto: Trust me, you have no idea.

    Kyousuke Imadori 

Kyousuke Imadori

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imadori_5713.jpg
Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio (JP) and David Trosko (EN)

The class's second-ranking pervert.


  • Abhorrent Admirer: To Mikoto, who finds his fixation with her breasts to be irritating.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Instantly bonds with Karen's younger brother over a children's show.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: One of the fastest runners in his class. Moreover, he's an excellent swimmer: his endurance and ability is such that he can keep up with Mikoto in a two-mile swim back to mainland. He can also grapple Hanai into a stalemate. The only thing holding him back is his lack of seriousness.
  • Chick Magnet: In his earliest apparitions at least. This characteristic its later dropped.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Towards Karen, more so once he discovers that she's actually bustier than her uniform shows. He also tends to gravitate towards Mikoto and Lala, if only because of their bustiness. But however perverted he may be, there are lows that he will never stoop to: upon hearing that Karen's date was bringing her to a shady night club, he immediately went to put a stop to it.
  • Flanderization: He went from girl magnet to Manchild, although he still retains elements of the former.
  • Handsome Lech: He's good-looking, but his lecherous attitude turns him into an Abhorrent Admirer to women.
  • Has a Type: He's a firm believer in the Buxom Beauty Standard, and gravitates towards busty girls.
  • Taking the Bullet: During the Sports Festival arc, he took a kick to the face for Mikoto.
  • Will They or Won't They?: With Karen. They do.

    Karen Ichijou 

Karen Ichijou

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karen-44cde1556d_2255.jpg
Voiced by: Yuka Nanri (JP, season 1), MAKO (JP, season 2 and OVA) and Carrie Savage (EN)

A cute girl with scary strength. Has a younger brother named Kousuke.


    Kentarou Nara 

Kentarou Nara

Voiced by: Yuuki Tai (JP) and Todd Haberkorn (EN)

An ordinary boy who has a crush on Tenma but is too gutless to ever confess. Hangs around with Nishimoto & Yoshidayama.


    Ganji Nishimoto 

Ganji Nishimoto

Voiced by: Shun Takagi (JP) and Jaime Rivera (EN)

Class 2-C's number-one pervert.


  • Eyes Always Shut: Makes him look like Buddha.
  • Gentle Giant: Large and fat, but wouldn't hurt a fly.
  • Lovable Sex Maniac: He eventually ends up giving away his collection to his male classmates.
  • Porn Stash: It also helps that his family runs a video rental store.
  • Red Baron: He is known as 2-C's "Ero-sommelier"
  • Those Two Guys: With Nara and Yoshidayama.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: By School Rumble Z, he's become a corrupt businessman who ran against Hanai for the position of mayor and turned everyone against Hanai, including all of his friends, through the use of bribery because he simply could not match Hanai's honesty and promises of reform any other way.
  • Verbal Tic: Ends his sentences with "-dasu".

    Jirou Yoshidayama 

Jirou Yoshidayama

Voiced by: Hirotaka Nagase (JP, season 1), Makoto Tomita (JP, season 2 and OVA) and Mike McFarland (EN)

A delinquent who moved to Yagami in hopes of becoming its number-one thug, only to run into the more fearsome Harima.


  • Anime Hair: May be subverted. He seems to just use a lot of hair gel since it's normal after he takes a bath.
  • Boisterous Weakling: Awfully shrimpy for someone who desires to be a thug.
  • Butt-Monkey: He tends to get casually beaten up by Harima.
  • Delinquent: And aspires to be the number-one in the school.
  • The Starscream: He's always plotting to overthrow Harima as the school delinquent, unaware that the latter's (unrequited) crush on Tenma has since made him relinquish his ways.
  • Those Two Guys: With Nara and Nishimoto.

    Takeichi Fuyuki 

Takeichi Fuyuki

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (JP) and Orion Pitts (EN)

Class 2-C's number-three pervert.


  • Camera Fiend: Claims to take shots of girls for the yearbook, only to sell them to schoolmates just as perverted as him.
  • Precocious Crush: To fellow Astronomy Club member Tsumugi, who rejected him in favor of Hanai.

    Hiroyoshi Asou 

Hiroyoshi Asou

Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Ichiki (JP) and J. Michael Tatum (EN)

Star player of Yagami High's men's basketball team, who dated Mikoto for a short time.


  • The Ace: Athletic, good-looking, intelligent, and a great chef to boot. Marred only by the fact that he doesn't come anywhere close to being a major character.
  • The Comically Serious: Even amid the rest of his class's antics, he remains stoic, often to comedic effect.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse: In-universe, he's referred to as a "dark horse". He's not as prominent as the other male characters in the series, although he is among the most athletic students in his class. He's also popular among the girls.
  • Mauve Shirt: In the survival game. We'd just gotten to know him a little bit, but he wasn't even close to a main character by the time he "died".
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Suga's red.
  • Sore Loser: When Eri asks Mikoto why Asou broke up with her, she said all she knew was he stopped talking to her after she beat him at a couple of arcade games.

    Ryuuhei Suga 

Ryuuhei Suga

Voiced by: Makoto Yasumura (JP) and Robert McCollum (EN)

Asou's best friend and member of the men's basketball team.


  • Author Avatar: Well, not in the sense that he's the author's mouthpiece, but Word of God has stated that he is most like Suga.
  • Bromantic Foil: To Asou.
  • Butt-Monkey: His life sucks almost as much as Nara's does, although this is often his fault because he keeps acting like an idiot and a loser.
  • Captain Ersatz: He looks a lot like Slam Dunk's Hanamichi Sakuragi.
  • Flanderization: Suga's loserliness was increasingly emphasized in the manga to the point where he started hanging out more with Nishimoto rather than Asou.
  • Hypocrite: He's completely shocked when he finds out that Midori is dating with another man behind Shigeo's back. She insulted her calling her a black ship, and he's ready to calling him by the phone informing him about the situation. But he doesn't stop Madoka when she kissed him as a reward of keeping the secret.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Asou's blue.
  • Those Two Guys: With fellow basketball player Asou.

    Mai Otsuka 

Mai Otsuka

Voiced by: Michi Yamazaki (JP) and Kate Oxley (EN)

Acting substitute Class Representative of Class 2-C in the event Hanai can't perform his duties, in spite of her friend Tsumugi supposedly filling that role.


  • Buxom Beauty Standard: Imadori is pretty happy to learn she has a Hidden Buxom figure.
  • Class Representative: She is one for nine years straight until Hanai came in. Still that doesn't stop her from exercising some authority in class whenever Hanai isn't around.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: Gives off a bit of this vibe when yelling at everyone.
  • Genki Girl: She's quite passionate with her (self-appointed) duty.
  • Hidden Buxom: According to the 2-C female information segment on season 2 episode 1, her rack is pretty impressive under their school uniform. Even Imadori is shocked upon learning this.
  • Otaku: Frequently imagines herself as a Magical Girl. One episode is even dedicated to her in such a form.
  • Neat Freak: Oh yes. She’s very aggressive towards people and will tell them to make things straight.

    Tsumugi Yuki 

Tsumugi Yuki

Voiced by: Chisa Tadokoro (JP) and Laura Bailey (EN)

Mai's best friend and the actual substitute Class Representative in the event Hanai, whom she has a crush on, is unavailable.


    Megumi Sagano 

Megumi Sagano

Voiced by: Ai Horanai (JP) and Caitlin Glass (EN)

A fellow member of the nascent women's basketball team.


  • Cute Sports Club Manager: Before the women's basketball team was formed, she was this to the men's team.
  • Passionate Sports Girl: Used to be one during her junior high school days, and reinstates this position with the creation of the women's basketball team.

Class 1-D

    Yakumo Tsukamoto 

Yakumo Tsukamoto

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yakumo_2843.jpg
Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (JP) and Caitlin Glass (EN)

Tenma's younger, far more responsible sister. A sweet, kind and soft-spoken girl who also works part-time at a Cosplay Café. She develops feelings for Harima when she starts helping him with his manga.


  • The Ace: She's intelligent, athletic, and an excellent cook.
  • Beautiful Dreamer: How Hanai and Sarah first saw Yakumo.
  • Berserk Button: Never insult Tenma in her presence.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Despite her Shrinking Violet tendencies, she is actually quite brave in a stand-off, facing down a group of armed animal catchers as well as the monstrous Editor-in-Chief (who had Harima petrified) with little visible fear. And nobody insults her friends, classmates, let alone her sister, and still not sense her seething with anger.
  • Big Little Brother: Not only taller than her big sister Tenma, but also orders of magnitude more mature.
  • Blessed with Suck: She can read the mind of anyone who likes her, except Harima (all she sees is an ellipsis in the manga).
  • Daddy's Girl: One of the reasons she's attracted to Harima is that he looks like the Tsukamotos' father from behind.
  • Does Not Like Men: Subverted. When a "ghost" that is later revealed to simply be a manifestation of her own subconscious asks her in a threatening manner if she hates men, Yakumo claims she doesn't; she just has yet to really make a breakthrough with them.
  • Dude Magnet: To the point of being the school Idol, as tons of guys throw themselves at her. An early chapter reveals that by she had as many suitors as Eri and Mikoto combined.
  • The Empath: She can read minds (literally, she sees thoughts as words floating in the air) of people who like her. Only Harima is immune to her mind reading ability.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Thanks to Sarah and Akira.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to Tenma's foolish.
  • Heavy Sleeper: She does the housework, goes to school and has a job so it's no wonder she gets sleepy. It's also a Deconstructed Trope, since it interfere with her daily chores.
  • Her Own Worst Enemy: In her final meeting with the ghost that represents her subconscious, the ghost tells her as much; that she is the one most directly responsible for her loneliness. Romantically speaking, Yakumo has little difficulty informing Harima that her greatest rival for his affection (sans Tenma) has feelings for him but is, herself, all but completely paralyzed at the pursuit of advancing her own relationship with him. She tells the ghost that she wants to change and to begin letting others in but at least in "Z", this commitment does not appear to have taken hold.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Sarah.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Yakumo's thoughts in Chapter 9 of Z indicate that she is doubtful she has the power to break down the walls around Harima's heart and seems more accepting than she once was (particularly near the end of volume 17) of the possibility that she very well may end up having to forfeit him to Eri in the end.
  • The Ingenue: Her telepathy makes her painfully aware of impure thoughts towards her but she is still unaware of how to get into a relationship.
  • Insecure Love Interest: After slapping Eri in "defense" of Tenma late in volume 17, Yakumo later breaks down in Sarah's arms and admits that she, herself, believes there may have been an element of lashing out in pain over Eri's rivalry with her for Harima. She further confides that she feels the weight of everything she has buried in her heart is turning her into, in her own words, "a terrible person" and she clearly hates it. There are a couple occasions thereafter where Yakumo indicates fear that as she is, she may be too shut-down to get through to him.
  • In-Series Nickname: Harima calls her "imouto-san" as a way of distinguishing her from Tenma. This actually borders on Affectionate Nickname because Harima almost never uses polite speech (unless forced to), and only does so when he talks to Yakumo.
  • Meido: When she works she wears this outfit. It gives her a cute appeal.
  • Mysterious Past: As a child, Yakumo was shown to be highly outspoken and combative, especially with her sister; A massive contrast to the gentle and timid Yakumo in the main time-frame of the series. Little to no explanation is given for her massive change, however. All that is really known comes from "Z", in which Yakumo cites "deep wounds since long ago" inside her and that the Tsukamoto sisters once actually spent a fairly emotional Christmas night with Harima as kids that they all forgot about.
  • Nice Girl: All she wants is her sister to be happy, even if that means letting her have the only boy she's interested in.
  • Playboy Bunny: Subverted — Hanai imagined she's about to wear one; turns out she's wearing an oversized rabbit costume.
  • The Quiet One: She never raises her voice.
  • School Idol: She is ranked as the most popular freshman in their school and one of the most popular girls overall. Many people think she's just not aware of how popular she is due to her quiet demeanor.
  • Shrinking Violet: Very timid and shy, and starts almost all her sentences with "Um". How bad is it? Every single one of her central friend group is shown to have become her friend that year. She is one of the most highly praised students in school by faculty and students alike, yet a late special centered on her shows that despite everyone wanting to be friends with her she can't even bring herself to initiate conversation with a group of cheerful classmates talking about doing karaoke to a song she knows and loves. Luckily, they bring it up to her.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Yakumo is everything Tenma wishes she wasnote , and also everything Tenma isn'tnote . Perhaps the only traits both sisters share are that both of them are nice people and both have problems expressing their feelings to the people they love.
  • So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Every male she meets (except Harima) is instantly infatuated with her, and due to her mind reading, she is embarrassingly aware of this.
  • Supreme Chef: Her cooking is remarked as being very delicious.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Retroactive example — she used to be quite the Annoying Younger Sibling to Tenma, until her encounter with Harima changed her life.
  • Tsurime Eyes: A subversion or a double? Considering her childhood personality, it makes sense.
  • When She Smiles: She's beautiful enough even while maintaining a calm expression under most circumstances. In the few moments when she actually smiles, she looks like a goddess.
  • Will They or Won't They?: With Harima. In the time-line of "Z", she seems to believe they will not and vague evidence appears to agree with her.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: A quiet and polite Japanese schoolgirl that you should still beware of.

    Sarah Adiemus 

Sarah Adiemus

Voiced by: Yukari Fukui (JP) and Gwendolyn Lau (EN)

Yakumo's best friend, a British exchange student and part-time nun.


    Satsuki Tawaraya 

Satsuki Tawaraya

Voiced by: Mariya Ise (JP) and Cherami Leigh (EN)

A member of the nascent women's basketball team.


  • Precocious Crush: To Asou, which once made her unable to play for a short while until he turns her down.

Class 2-D

    Harry Mackenzie 

Harry Mackenzie

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (JP) and Jason Liebrecht (EN)

American exchange student. His name sounds like Harima's when pronounced in Japanese. Actually has quite a bit in common with Harima besides that, too. Popular with the ladies.


    Lala Gonzalez 

Lala Gonzalez

Voiced by: Yuu Kobayashi (JP) and Monica Rial (EN)

Mexican exchange student and Karen's wrestling rival.


  • Buxom Beauty Standard: Her well-endowed figure is what causes Imadori to be attracted to her.
  • But Not Too Foreign: She's an exchange student from Mexico, but it's implied she's half-Japanese.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Prior to her official debut, she is first shown in the ending credit sequence. Within the series itself, she is first seen wrestling a masked Tenma, who volunteered to become Karen's substitute so she can go on her date with Imadori.
  • Expy: Like much of her class, an Expy for a Gundam character. In this case, Lalah Sune.
  • Friendly Enemy: Her antagonism toward Karen softened during the show's run.
  • Hidden Depths: Harry once caught her doing cheerleading routines hidden from everyone's view. When she was doing it in the open earlier, everyone thought she was doing it against her will given her lack of expression.
  • Hot-Blooded: Rare female example. She shouts nearly everything she says.
  • Huge Schoolgirl: Exceptionally tall.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tends to be incredibly abusive and callous in response to the slightest provocation, but shows a soft side every now and then, especially towards Karen, her self-proclaimed rival. And to be fair, some of her victims did deserve a beating.
  • Mommy Issues: She initially hated Karen with a passion because the latter shared the same name as her mother, who abandoned her at an early age.
  • No Indoor Voice: Yells most of her lines.
  • No Social Skills: Her aggressive attitude tends to scare others away. It doesn't help that she is tall and very intimidating, in addition to being visibly foreign and unfamiliar with Japanese customs. On the flipside of things, she does tone this down during her date with Imadori.
  • Perpetual Frowner: So much so that Imadori risked getting his ass beat just so he can make her smile.
  • Rousing Speech: She convinced her team to play against the Outlaw basketball team.
    Lala: Why have we been practicing? For honor? For glory? No, for victory!
  • Spicy Latina: Hot-Blooded, No Indoor Voice, and quick to fight.
  • When She Smiles: She can be very charming when she does smile.

    Masakazu Tougo 

Masakazu Tougo

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (JP) and Travis Willingham (EN)

Class Representative of 2-D. He tends to burst into long inspirational speeches. His father is a diplomat, so he brags he's been to the United States. His younger sister Haruna is a friend of Yakumo. Possesses great charisma and can talk people to doing his bidding quite easily.


    Noboru Tennouji 

Noboru Tennouji

Voiced by: Tomoyuki Shimura (JP) and Sonny Strait (EN)

Delinquent extraordinaire and Harima's nemesis.


  • Bald of Evil: "Evil" might be a bit strong for a mere high school thug (and he's shown to have a rather well-hidden sensitive side) but in most of his appearances he's a nasty, violent bully without a stitch of hair on his head.
  • Gonk: Especially compared to handsome Harry, masculine Tougou, and sexy Lala.
  • Team Rocket Wins: He beats Harima once, when the latter is in despair after finding out Tenma liked Karasuma. However, because Harima isn't himself, he's unable to enjoy it
  • The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: A gonk guy with an adorable little sister Mio, who, ironically, has a crush on Harima's younger cousin Shuuji.
  • Your Size May Vary: Done intentionally, but when he shows up during the kibasen at the sports festival, he's the size of a titan and sweeps away entire rows of opponents with one casual swing of his giant arm. Obviously exaggerated for dramatic purposes.

Yagami High Faculty

    Itoko Osakabe 

Itoko Osakabe

Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (JP) and Stephanie Young (EN)

Harima's cousin and Physics teacher. Considered the hottest chick in school.


    Youko Sasakura 

Youko Sasakura

Voiced by: Akiko Kurumado (JP, season 1), Aya Hirano (JP, season 2 and OVA) and Lydia Mackay (EN)

Art teacher and childhood friend of Itoko.


  • Hot Teacher: Has a fanclub almost as large as Itoko.
  • Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: With Itoko. It starts with her painting Itoko in the nude, but apparently they also go on long drives and take vacations together.

    Tae Anegasaki 

Tae Anegasaki

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (JP) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (EN)

The school nurse and the closest the school had for a women's basketball coach.


    Hayato Tani 

Hayato Tani

Voiced by: Makoto Yasumura (JP) and Kent Williams (EN)

2-C's Homeroom teacher with a major crush on Anegasaki-sensei.


  • Beware the Nice Ones: When he gets pissed, he's terrifying.
  • Butt-Monkey: The universe is extremely unkind to him
  • Mistaken for Gay: A running gag with Harima.
  • Tormented Teacher: Tani tries to be a Nice Guy, and he's actually one of the few at the school who is impressed with Harima's improvement. But he is also a Butt-Monkey who has a class of extreme personalities, has had a couple of moments with Harima where the two were Mistaken for Gay (Harima's withdrawal letter ended up in the envelope he gave Tenma, meaning Tani got the love letter intended for Tenma, and on another occasion Harima wanted to invite Tenma to the movies, but she'd moved off, so he'd accidentally asked Tani). Then, when the attractive new School Nurse, Tae Anagasaki gives him some homemade cookies as a way of introducing herself, they're eaten by Tani's rival, Kato, homeroom teacher of Class 2-D.

    Koorimaru 

Koorimaru

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (JP) and Jim Foronda (EN)

The school's PE teacher.



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