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Rinmeikan Girls School

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rmk_2.png
A school introduced in -Re LIVE- that instills its students with the ideals of a "Yamato Nadeshiko". With activities such as tea ceremony, flower arrangement, calligraphy, and Japanese dance classes, the school places emphasis on its focus on traditional Japanese arts and culture. Divided into the Performance Department and the General Education course, the school is currently undergoing a reorganization of courses due to the declining number of students, especially for its Performance Department, putting it in danger of being dissolved as a result.

Participating in the Auditions are the four, eventually, five, students it houses who are well-known for their traditional style performances.


Performance Department Students

    In General 

  • Animal Motifs: They're thematically linked to butterflies, which are not only symbols of beauty and grace, but of change and rebirth. This motif comes into play in Downfall, where the girls need to cast away their old, weak selves and be "reborn" in order to perform the "Rinmeiki" to perfection as both a last ditch effort to save their Performance Department, and to preserve its memory to their school. Interestingly, their performance of "Rinmeiki" within the stage of -Re LIVE- had all of them dying one by one to the last girl. This also applies to how, in spite of Rinmeikan's Performance Department being closed down in the end despite everyone's efforts, it gets to be "reborn" and transformed into the Rinmeikan Performance Association instead.
  • Beyond the Impossible: A Re LIVE normally only occurs when a play is in danger of being erased by the Korosu according to the design of Elle's stories. "Rinmeiki" however had already been forgotten, without the apparent interference of the Korosu. Somehow they manage to initiate a Re LIVE on their own, and though they are defeated by the Korosu, they manage to revive "Rinmeiki" regardless. This is so unprecedented that the normally knowledgeable Elle and Andrew are flabbergasted, and can only speculate on the nature of these events because the danger to the other plays actually came from the real Elle and her Elle Note. In this case, they had nothing to do with what happened to "Rinmeiki", and yet it was revived anyway.
  • Flower Motifs: As a whole, they're primarily associated with the paulownia, or empress flowers, which have significant meaning in Japanese tradition and the cycle of life, a fitting motif for a once prestigious and culturally traditional school whose Performance Department is nearing the end of its days.
  • Kimono Is Traditional: Their Revue outfits are styled in traditional Japanese fashion unlike all of the other schools' Western-style outfits, reflecting their school's focus on instilling Yamato Nadeshiko values and teaching traditional Japanese arts.
  • Sailor Fuku: They have black sailor fuku as uniforms. They're the only school in the franchise so far to use sailor fuku, which represents their more traditional Japanese values.
  • Saving the Orphanage: They participate in the Revue Auditions in the hopes of winning it to save their school's Performance Department from being dissolved. They don't quite succeed in saving the department, reforming it as the Rinmeikan Performance Association instead.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: As a school that leans more on the traditional Japanese arts, this is the standard ideal Rinmeikan's academe instills in its students. However, Tamao is the only one of the five main Rinmeikan girls who fits this trope and actively strives to do so.

    Tamao Tomoe 

Tamao Tomoe

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tamao_tomoe_revue_outfit_2.png
Portrayed by: Tomori Kusunoki
"Eternal life is but a dream—
A never-ending play is but an illusion.
Destiny fickly burns, edging itself on stage.
Rinmeikan Performance Association— Tamao Tomoe!
I will blossom until there's no life in me!"


A good-natured and friendly Yamato Nadeshiko stage girl. She is proud of her school's precepts, "Strongly, Gracefully, and Beautifully", and keeps those words strong to her heart as she strives to fulfill them each day. Her grandmother and mother were also graduates of Rinmeikan. She is an old acquaintance of Kaoruko.


  • The Ace: Played With. She's this among the Rinmeikan Performance Department students when it comes to Japanese theater arts, and they definitely see her as this among them especially in Rui's eyes. However, when compared to the likes of the other top students from the other schools like Maya, Akira, Shizuha, and even Koharu from the 2nd stage play who are all seen as talented geniuses known even outside their respective schools, Tamao is considered average in talent outside her specialized field and isn't as well known as they are. And even then, Kaoruko is said to be more naturally talented than Tamao is when it comes to Japanese traditional arts, especially in dancing.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
    • She begs Kaoruko to drop out of the Auditions during their first meeting together in the game's first chapter due to Tamao's desperation in wanting to save Rinmeikan's Performance Department and fear of facing Kaoruko in the Revues, thinking that by facing her, someone she personally knows is extraordinarily talented, she and her friends' chances of winning against Seisho would end up slim. Kaoruko was ''not'' the least bit pleased to hear any of this from Tamao.
    • She later prostrates herself in front of Ichie to ask for her help in performing the "Rinmeiki" with her during Downfall.
  • Alliterative Name: Tamao Tomoe.
  • Always Second Best: Tamao is secretly frustrated that she always places second to Kaoruko in a nationwide dance competition they'd always participate in every year, with the latter always taking first place all the time.
  • Always Someone Better: To Tamao's complete surprise, she's this to Kaoruko. Kaoruko resents her for always being the object of her own grandmother's praise despite Kaoruko being more talented than she was yet was never once complimented for her talents by her. To Kaoruko, witnessing her notoriously strict grandmother praise a nobody like Tamao was a huge blow to her pride, causing her to feel inadequate in her family's eyes.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Played for Laughs in Shoujo Conte All Starlight. Don't call her unreliable, or she'll start pulling out that scary oni mask and chase you around with it! Then played more seriously in Arcana Arcadia, where she declares war on the other schools and acts so intensely as Death that it shocks everyone, even the people who previously looked down on her like Kaoruko and Akira.
  • Caring Gardener: She's shown taking care of her own personal garden in one of the game's Memoirs.
  • Childhood Friends: She's heavily implied to be this with Kaoruko as their grandmothers were acquaintances with each other and they were both directly taught by Kaoruko's grandmother in Japanese traditional dance in the past, though their relationship has currently soured out in the present. Being the nice girl that she is however, Tamao holds no grudges towards her and does try to reconcile with Kaoruko with varying degrees of success. Whether or not she was also Futaba's due to their common relationship with Kaoruko is unknown, though they're at least familiar with each other.
  • Consummate Liar: When necessary, she can be effectively good at lying, as seen during Downfall when she successfully convinces Ukaji-sensei, or at least, unbeknownst to any of them, her Korosu copy, that they weren't planning on performing the "Rinmeiki" after Ukaji-sensei spotted the new script Yuyuko wrote just recently.
  • Determinator: Though she acts defeatist in the earlier chapters of the game, she's actually very steadfast in her determination in trying to save her school's Performance Department. Best showcased in Main Story 9: Downfall.
  • Endearingly Dorky: Despite her usual demure personality, she's rather adorably awkward whenever she's trying too hard to act cool in front of others.
  • Extreme Doormat: Her extreme selflessness is both her biggest strength and her greatest weakness as a stage girl. She constantly helps her friends improve themselves at the cost of her own growth, something Kaoruko, and later, Fumi, call her out on.
    Kaoruko: You really are too much of a softie, huh? Worrying so much about others that you can't focus on what you're doing yourself. How about you actually make an effort and put everything on the line for a change?
  • Foil: She's Kaoruko's. They both have the vibe of a Yamato Nadeshiko, but while Kaoruko doesn't have the personality to match her appearance or background, Tamao actively strives to be one in personality as well as looks. They're also both following in their grandmothers' footsteps, as they are also practitioners of Japanese traditional dance, but while Kaoruko was arrogant and has high confidence over her talents and herself, Tamao is humbler but self-deprecating in turn. Also, while Tamao is a hard worker in her craft unlike how Kaoruko started out as, she also feels that she lacks the natural talent Kaoruko possesses and feels inferior to her as a result. Her worst and least favorite subject, English, is even one of Kaoruko's best subjects in school.
  • Generation Xerox: Her mother and grandmother were also students at Rinmeikan and she chose that school specifically to follow in their footsteps.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Admits that she always both admires AND strongly envies Kaoruko for having talent, being born to a successful family of talented dancers, yet still having the greed to strive to go higher than where she already was.
  • Grew a Spine: Her character arc and development has her becoming more assertive as a Stage Girl and as the leader of the Rinmeikan Performance Department group. Her growing confidence fully blossoms in Downfall when she fully takes on the reins of being the de facto leader of the Rinmeikan Stage Girls, resolving herself to preserve the memory of the Performance Department through the "Rinmeiki" no matter what it takes.
  • Hidden Depths: If Shoujo Conte All Starlight is anything, she apparently practices and is a big fan of Japanese rap, though this is something she's not all too happy to reveal to anyone.
  • Humble Hero: She's mentioned to be the best student Rinmeikan's Performance Department ever produced before Fumi arrived but while happy about others praising her, Tamao never revels in the attention given to her and remains humble throughout.
  • Irony: For someone who's supposed to uphold the ideal image of a Yamato Nadeshiko, Tamao both dislikes and is terrible at Japanese calligraphy, something Kaoruko makes fun of her for in Shoujo Conte All Starlight.
  • It's All My Fault: Every time she and her friends encounter failure, she's quick to blame herself for it, believing that she didn't do enough to prevent said failure from happening in the first place.
  • Japanese Politeness: Downplayed; her speech patterns and mannerisms are generally very polite, which is fitting for someone who tries to uphold the image of a Yamato Nadeshiko. However, while still polite in some way, her speech patterns become a lot more casual and significantly less overtly formal when she's around her close friends in Rinmeikan, even forgoing the need to add any kind of honorific when addressing Ichie and Fumi.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: She wields a tachi in the Auditions.
  • The Leader: For the Rinmeikan Performance Department group.
  • Loved by All: She's well-loved by her peers in Rinmeikan for her kindness and selflessness. Even the initially grouchy Fumi can't bring herself to be harsh towards her. Whenever Kaoruko would antagonize Tamao every time they encountered each other in -Re LIVE's- Main Story, the Rinmeikan girls would always unhesitatingly rush to Tamao's defense.
  • Nice Girl: One of the nicest in the series. She's always polite and unfailingly kind to everyone she meets.
  • Oblivious to Love: She manages to out-dense Karen by virtue of somehow always failing to notice the very obvious and not-so-subtle signs that Rui has a big crush on her, despite everyone else knowing about it.
  • Oh, Crap!: She's apparently had a taste of Aruru's baked goods before, and from that experience now has a similar knee-jerk reaction as Misora to the news of Aruru giving her and Karen a sample of the new bread she made for them. Luckily for both of them, she and Karen got one of the 1 in 10 treats Aruru made that somehow turned out great.
  • Proper Tights with a Skirt: She wears black tights with her uniform, fitting with the polite and ladylike image she strives to uphold.
  • The Rival: She's Kaoruko's direct foil and counterpart in Rinmeikan, even having directly studied under the same traditional dance instructor, Kaoruko's grandmother. However, Tamao is afraid of facing Kaoruko in the Auditions since Kaoruko's talent far surpasses her own and that she risks losing her school's chances of saving their theater department if she ever dueled her.
  • Supreme Chef: She cooks up amazing meals for her friends. Her family being owners of a famous Japanese restaurant might have something to do with it.
  • Team Mom: Her kind and caring personality gives her a natural inclination to be very doting towards others like a mother would, especially towards her underclassmen. Both Hikari and later Suzu lampshade this on two separate occasions by telling her that she's just like a mom when they see this firsthand, much to Tamao's own embarrassment.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Over the course of the game's story, Tamao goes from a meek, somewhat submissive stage girl who is introduced to Seisho outright begging Kaoruko to drop out of the Auditions out of fear of facing her and losing to her (which does happen), to a more confident and assertive leader, who, together with Rui, manages to drive both Kaoruko and Futaba to a corner in the Sirius of the Canis Major revue before the latter duo turned the tables on them at the last minute. In the Arcana Arcadia Main Story arc, she even boldly declares war against the other three schools despite the odds stacked against them, showing how much the girl who initially cowered against her greatest rival in the beginning had grown since then.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: She has the looks, grace, and demeanour of one, and unlike Kaoruko, this extends to her personality as well; polite, demure and humble but eventually learns to be more assertive in her own way.

    Ichie Otonashi 

Ichie Otonashi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ichie_otonashi_revue_outfit.png
Portrayed by: Azumi Waki
"The fantastic stage I sought so hard is in danger!!
Now's the time for a comeback! It's now or never!
To a beautiful stage!
Rinmeikan Girls School Performance Department— Ichie Otonashi!
Listen to the sound of my soul!"


Tamao's best friend who is also in her second year in Rinmeikan like her. Energetic and cheerful, Ichie brightens up the mood with her positive and sunny disposition. She's always dreamt of becoming an idol singer since her junior high days and is confident with her singing and dancing as a result.


  • Book Dumb: She always begs both Tamao and Fumi to help her in both her homework and exams. A Theater Story also reveals that she legitimately thought that soy milk is just regular cow's milk with soy beans added in them (thanks to her mom) before Tamao corrects her.
  • Break Them by Talking: In Main Story 15, Ichie calls Fumi out for still holding onto her feelings of failure regarding Siegfeld and pushing Tamao to become the Unknown Lead for this reason, which leaves Fumi shaken even after she's won their revue.
  • Butt-Monkey: She's usually made fun of by her friends except for Tamao. Even her underclassmen can't help but tease her every now and then (unintentionally in Rui's case).
  • Cheery Pink: Her Revue outfit is adorned in full pink and she's definitely a cheery person.
  • Combat Hand Fan: She wields a fan in stage combat.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: As she tells Tamao and Fumi in Downfall, her previous experiences under her old idol agency were not something she fondly looks back on. Despite her sour memories of her brief tenure as an idol, Ichie continues to dream of being one regardless.
  • Genki Girl: A trait that Tamao admires in her. Her lively cheerfulness helps brighten up the mood around her friends.
  • Idiot Hair: Has a big cowlick on her hair and she's certainly not one of the brightest bulbs out there either. That saying, she's more emotionally adept than most people would credit her for.
  • Idol Singer: What she's always dreamed of being when she was younger. She even debuted as an idol in the past for a little while before entering Rinmeikan in high school. She later forms an idol group of sorts with Michiru and Lalafin under the name "Mirai Resume" during the "New Year's Omikuji" event story.
  • Ironic Name: Her surname, Otonashi, literally means "soundless/without sound". Ichie is the most talkative and energetic of her friends and is far from being quiet.
  • The Prankster: She's the most mischievous Rinmeikan girl and her friends have become wary over her tendency to pull off pranks.
  • Really Moves Around: Before she settled at Rinmeikan, she and her parents used to move around a lot. It led to a rather lonely childhood.
  • Self-Deprecation: She had trouble getting into her role as Hitsuki, the self-doubting younger priestess of Seisho's Takamagahara play, partly because Ichie couldn't fully understand her as a character, and mostly because Ichie kept belittling and downplaying her own acting skills with the excuse that she's "just" a guest performer for Seisho. A stern lecture from Claudine helps fix that however.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: She gets into friendly fights with Fumi due to a clash of personalities between them.

    Fumi Yumeoji 

Fumi Yumeoji

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fumi_yumeoji_revue_outfit_5.png
Portrayed by: Reo Kurachi
"I fled the stage, my heart filled with envy.
I stand today on a stage in disarray.
I look back at my old days, and use that strength
To create a new stage that will last forever.
Rinmeikan Girls School Performance Department— Fumi Yumeoji!
To a new life, to a new stage!"


Shiori's older sister who had recently transferred from the prestigious Siegfeld Institute to Rinmeikan for unknown reasons despite her excellent results there. Though she's quick to deny it, she has a habit of looking out for other people despite how she usually is.


  • Aloof Big Sister: She moves out of Siegfeld for unknown reasons without telling her younger sister why and actively avoids her, even quickly changing the subject whenever Shiori is brought up during conversations. However, there's plenty of hints throughout event and card stories that show how much Fumi still cares and even longs for her younger sister, in spite of deliberately distancing herself from her.
  • The Atoner: She left Siegfeld, nearly quit the stage, and cut off communication with her younger sister out of guilt for harboring envy and resentment towards her after learning Shiori was actually the more talented one between them. It's also implied that she feels guilty towards the rest of the Edels for both failing their high expectations as Frau Jade and for leaving them without telling them anything. Her atonement is deconstructed in that it gets in the way of her being happy in the present.
  • Blade Enthusiast: Wields a swordbreaker dagger in the Auditions.
  • Break the Haughty: She experienced this in the past during her stint as the former Frau Jade when she realized that Shiori was much more talented than she is as a stage girl, followed by her continuous repeated failures that were especially unbecoming of an Edel from Siegfeld.
  • Broken Ace: Her personal issues, bad experiences, and fall from grace as the previous Frau Jade are the primary reasons she was initially so reluctant to help out and join Tamao at the start of Rinmeikan's School Story despite her talents and vast experience on the stage.
  • Broken Bird: She's first introduced in Rinmeikan's School Story as a bitter, moody, and jaded girl who wants nothing to do with the stage even though she originally came from Siegfeld, a prestigious performing arts school. Given her background as implicitly detailed in Downfall, it's not hard to see why she ended up being this way in the first place. Just like Hikari, she eventually recovers, though as the Gemini Revue in the Starry Diamond Auditions and Main Story 15 show, the scars remained.
  • Broken Pedestal: One of the reasons she left Siegfeld without telling Shiori anything is because she fears that she became this trope for her back when her failures as Frau Jade coupled with her jealousy of her younger sister continued to add up.
  • Color Motif: Like Mahiru and her sister Shiori, she's associated with the color green. Her revue outfit is green, she was the former Frau Jade, a position that's named after the jade which is a shade of green, before she left Siegfeld for Rinmeikan, started out as jaded and disillusioned with the stage at the start of Rinmeikan's school story due to her prior experiences, and similarly to Mahiru, she was once filled with feelings of hateful jealousy against her more talented younger sister in the past, though thankfully, she's gotten over the worst of it in the present and has come to clearly regret it by the time Tamao befriends her.
  • Cool Big Sis: For Rui, and to a certain extent, the rest of her friends in Rinmeikan. She was originally this to Shiori, but she became a deconstruction when the pedestal Shiori built for her got so high that when Fumi failed to live up to Shiori's image of her, she fell hard.
    Fumi (Zeus's Decision): I didn't want to betray your ideals and show such a weak side of me. I wanted to be a cool older sister for you.
  • Cruel to Be Kind: She angrily threatens Tamao during rehearsals in the "Sweet Days of Ryugu-jo" event that if Tamao doesn't get her act together for her role as Otohime in the "Urashima Taro" play they were performing, then she'll take the role from her instead. Tamao later acknowledges that Fumi was being harsh to her not out of malice on her end but because she sincerely believes that Tamao can perform better than that and that she needed that push from her to get her out of her funk.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: The game makes it clear that something happened to her during her tenure as Frau Jade in Siegfeld that almost made her give up on performing entirely despite her love for the stage prior, all while she continues to keep her distance from her beloved younger sister without any explanation whatsoever. She finally tells Tamao her past in Downfall, albeit in the form of an allegorical story as a form of trust between them.
  • Defector from Decadence: She was originally one of Siegfeld's elite Edels as Frau Jade, but for unknown reasons, left both the position and the school to study at Rinmeikan's General Education course. While she has yet to open up about what happened to make her leave Siegfeld back then, it was apparently bad enough it left her embittered about everything related to the theatre arts until Tamao and friends successfully convince her to return to the stage once again.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: Since she originally hailed from the very draconian and cutthroat Siegfeld, she winds up being this to the decidedly less intense and inexperienced Rinmeikan girls when they asked for her help in overseeing their daily practice. For the entire duration of their rehearsal time, Fumi had nothing but sharp criticism and harsh rebukes for the performing arts students except for Tamao. It hilariously comes back with a vengeance during the White Day event in -Re LIVE- when she has to teach Ichie how to cook on her own for a surprise they plan on giving Tamao.
  • Foil: Parallels are drawn between her and Seisho's Hikari and Mahiru:
    • To Hikari: Both are talented transfer students who previously came from elite schools and whose presence essentially kickstart the plots their respective new schools are involved in (Hikari in both the anime and the first stage play, Fumi in Rinmeikan's School Story). They're both initially aloof and standoffish, but eventually warmed up to their new friends over time. They both lost their Brilliance for the stage during their respective backstories, but get them back with newfound resolve due to the involvement of their dearest friend (Karen for Hikari and Tamao for Fumi). They even have similar weapons for the Revues note . But despite their similarities, they also share a lot of significant differences as well. First off, their schools of choice. Fumi originally chose to be in Rinmeikan, a school that lost its prestige long ago, to study in its General Education course after losing her love for the stage before Tamao came to her. Hikari on the other hand still ended up transferring to another prestigious performing arts school (Seisho) to continue pursuing her dreams. While Fumi needed to have Tamao encourage her to stand onstage once again, all it took for Hikari to be motivated was the Giraffe mentioning that Karen might also participate in the Auditions and mostly came back by herself for her friend's sake. Fumi is constantly shown to be tight on her savings and tries not to rely on her parents much. Hikari meanwhile is heavily implied to be pretty well-off note  and is sometimes dependent on either Mahiru or Karen to do simple tasks. Their reasons for losing their Brilliance are also pretty different: for Hikari, it was because she lost the Auditions and had her shine taken away as a consequence, while for Fumi, it was because she resented Shiori, which later became the cause of her multiple failures as the original Frau Jade, and the reason for her leaving Siegfeld.
    • To Mahiru: Both are older sisters who are looked up to by their younger siblings, share the same green color motif, become attached to and admire a certain person who reached out to them in their time of need (Karen and Tamao for Mahiru and Fumi respectively) and are caring towards their peers, but while Mahiru is somewhat shy and low on self-confidence, at least in the beginning, Fumi was formerly smug and arrogant during her days as Frau Jade in Siegfeld. Mahiru eventually grows to become more self-confident in herself during her Revue against Karen in the anime while Fumi, in the past, experienced a series of several Break the Haughty moments due to her resentment of Shiori that led to her leaving Siegfeld. While they're both caring, Mahiru is openly so but Fumi chooses to hide it out of embarrassment. Their current relationships with Shiori also parallel each other: during the "Detective Karen's Case Files" event, Mahiru was nothing but warm and openly supportive of Shiori for the entire duration of their schools' exchange program and as a result, Shiori finds herself quickly attached to Mahiru and remains close to her. Meanwhile, Fumi is being deliberately distant with Shiori out of guilt, and the sisters haven't spoken to each other in a while. Fumi's cold treatment of her sister as well as her active avoidance of her have caused Shiori a lot of grief and pain during her absence. So it comes as no surprise that despite still clearly loving her, Shiori ends up understandably harboring budding feelings of angry frustration and resentment towards her older sister Fumi as revealed in -Re LIVE- The Dying King and the Four Knights and the song "The Arbitration of Zeus" from the "La Revue Éternelle" album.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: In her backstory, Shiori's talents began to overshadow her so much that rumors began spreading that her younger sister could easily surpass her one day despite Fumi being one of Siegfeld's elites as Frau Jade. She slowly built up plenty of resentment towards her younger sister over this which began to affect her performances onstage very badly. Her envy eventually reached boiling point when, in a moment of deep frustration, she wished that misfortune would befall Shiori, a thought that still horrifies her to this day and what really caused her decision to leave Siegfeld forever.
  • Hated by All: According to her, her arrogance had led other Siegfeld students to openly despise her during her tenure as an Edel. When her screw ups became more frequent as a result of her envy of Shiori, those same students refused to comfort her, saying instead that Fumi fully deserved her fall from grace. How much of this is true is up for debate, as the Edels themselves are more ambivalent over how they feel over Fumi: Akira hates her for different, albeit related reasons, while the rest seem to be glad that she's back on the stage, with Shiori being the only one who openly worries for her. When she drops by Siegfeld during the "Future Pro Wrestling 2999" event to pick Shiori up, some nearby Siegfeld students still acknowledge and respect her as the previous Frau Jade, without a hint of malice whatsoever despite their surprise at her arriving at their school.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being grumpy and aloof, she actually loves taking care of others to the point of excess though she fervently denies this often.
  • Minor Living Alone: Unlike the rest of the girls in the cast who reside in their respective schools' dormitories, Fumi lives alone in an apartment she rented near Rinmeikan. She doesn't need to, having come from a well-to-do family, but didn't want to cause any more trouble for her parents after leaving Siegfeld.
  • Mirror Character: Stranded Stage Girls draws comparison between her and Kaoruko for being unable to handle the pressure of others' expectations and running away as a result.
    Kaoruko: Hmm, so that's what happened. You would run away too.
    Fumi: Too?
    Kaoruko: That sense of duty to continue to be your best self... To chase something, for those who support you...
    Kaoruko: —You remind me of someone.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Her envy of Shiori once reached its peak, when, in a fit of frustration, she internally cursed her younger sister and wished that something bad would happen to her. While the exact wording Fumi used is intentionally vague, whatever she thought of against Shiori back then horrified her, and this prompted her to leave both her position as Frau Jade in Siegfeld and the stage almost entirely before meeting Tamao.
  • My Greatest Failure: Her time as Frau Jade back when she was still a student in Siegfeld is this for her. Though as Downfall implicitly reveals, her resentment towards Shiori in the past is what she considers her true greatest failure as it was from this that her long string of failures as an Edel began.
  • New Transfer Student: Transfers from the prestigious Siegfeld Music Institute to the declining Rinmeikan Girls' Academy for unknown reasons. Like Hikari, her arrival helped set in motion the events that would lead the Rinmeikan students to participate in the mysterious new Auditions.
  • The Resenter: She secretly resented Shiori's prodigious talents back when she was still an Edel, culminating in her metaphorically wishing harm on her younger sister as a result. She regrets this out of shame however and is the very reason she maintains her distance towards her younger sister as a result.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: She's what Shiori would look like if she were older albeit without Fumi's slanted Tsurime Eyes.
  • Team Dad: For Rinmeikan, she's the strict, disciplinarian mentor to Tamao's gentle, nurturing personality.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: She loves ponzu sauce. A LOT. To the point that Tamao seriously thought that without it, Fumi would actually die.
  • Tsundere: She may be a grumpy hothead at times, but she'll always be more than happy to be a big help for others, though she'll be really quick to slip back to her tsun facade and deny it immediately out of embarrassment.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ichie, due to a clash of personalities. It's all in good fun though.
  • We Used to Be Friends: With the Edels from Siegfeld after she left them to go to Rinmeikan.

    Rui Akikaze 

Rui Akikaze

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rui_akikaze_revue_outfit.png
Portrayed by: Risa Tsumugi
"Drawn by a distant pearl, I rested my blade.
Distance awakens me. I draw my blade and run to you.
Rinmeikan Performance Department— Rui Akikaze!
My life is on this stage!"


A first year in Rinmeikan. She deeply admired Tamao when she witnessed her acting skills firsthand during her middle school days and strives to follow her by taking up the challenge of being a stage girl as a result. She has extreme stage fright, but under Tamao's tutelage, she gradually improves to overcome it.


  • BFS: Wields an odachi in the Auditions.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: She tries, but the poor girl just can't bring herself to tell Tamao about her feelings for her.
  • Covert Pervert: Her diary entries, the 4komas, and her dreams involving Tamao all but state that her feelings for her aren't exactly as pure as anyone thinks.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Main Story 9, Downfall, reveals that she's popular with a lot of girls in Rinmeikan.
  • Everyone Can See It: Her crush on Tamao is as clear as day to all her friends...except Tamao herself of course.
  • Foil: Rui and Kaoruko pay a lot of attention to Tamao as a Stage Girl, but while Rui is more openly admiring and wants to support Tamao, Kaoruko hides that she cares for Tamao behind insults and works to maintain superiority over Tamao.
  • Generation Xerox: Like Tamao, her grandmother had also once been a student in Rinmeikan in her younger days. Rui even wanted to play the lead role of Onikage during the "Tales of Onikurenai" event mostly because her grandmother had once played as Onikage herself and did the role brilliantly.
  • Has a Type: Yuyuko claims Rui has a weakness for "kind girls with long black hair" which obviously perfectly fits Tamao's description... except that Mahiru also falls under the same profile, which gets brought up in Mahiru's Hifumi card's Bond Story, where Rui is gushing over Mahiru herself after watching Seisho's Takamagahara play featuring Mahiru and Ichie as the leads.
  • Hero Worship: Towards Tamao, having admired her since she was in middle school and serving as Rui's inspiration to become a Stage Girl in spite of her stage fright and personal insecurities.
  • Mirror Character: Rui and Futaba are both their schools' stage combat experts and got into theater to chase after Tamao and Kaoruko respectively.
  • Performance Anxiety: Is said to suffer from it but Tamao helps her overcome it slowly over time.
  • Shrinking Violet: By her own admission, she doesn't do well with strangers and has a hard time striking up conversations as a result.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Loves donuts.
  • Undying Loyalty: She's fiercely devoted to Tamao.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Yuyuko. Despite their bickering, they care a lot about each other and Rui feels at ease whenever she's around her.

    Yuyuko Tanaka 

Yuyuko Tanaka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yuyuko_tanaka_revue_outfit.png
Portrayed by: Iori Saeki
"One—Feelings hidden within ourselves.
Two— The stage brought them together.
Three — For our future.
Four— I will show you the strength of traditional theater!
Rinmeikan Performance Department— Yuyuko Tanaka!
I will put my life on the line!"


A sleepy stage girl who is currently in her first year in Rinmeikan. She's a night owl who prefers not being seen when she's working hard so she practices by herself most of the time. Her favourite Japanese performance art is Rakugo.


  • Affectionate Nickname: Rui calls her "Yukko". Meanwhile, Mahiru gives her a different, but likewise equally affectionate nickname: "Yuyu-chan".
  • All the Other Reindeer: In a stark contrast to Rui in Downfall, Yuyuko is revealed to be alienated from her classmates outside her circle of friends in the Performance Department group. Not at all surprising when you take her lonely background into account.
  • Born in the Wrong Century: Her favorite pastime is listening to Rakugo performances, which high schoolers her age don't really do nowadays, and it's also been mentioned that Yuyuko gets along really well with grandmothers and elders because she can relate to them really well.
  • Break Her Heart to Save Her: In Main Story 13, Combined with a Breaking Speech, Yuyuko delivers a verbal beatdown to Rui for being not serious about the Performance Festival as Rui is still acting half-hearted towards the Performance Festival by telling her all of their seniors will leave her behind, especially Tamao.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: Subverted. Her sleepiness during the day makes her seem lazy, but that's only because she's more active at night. The reason she's always sleepy in the mornings? It's exhaustion from practicing and training herself to the bone every single night.
  • Cruel to Be Kind: In the Revue of Creation and Sacrifice, she gives a a Breaking Speech to Rui, who's still hasn't fully dedicated herself to the Performance Festival during their Revue, as she felt that Rui's growth as a stage girl is stifled if Tamao is not there for her.
  • Determined Defeatist: Honestly believes that their department closing down is inevitable and that there was nothing they could do to stop it because a lot of the factors that led to it being in danger of dissolving in the first place were simply out of their control. Regardless of her thoughts however, Yuyuko continues to follow her friends in competing in the Auditions in the hope of saving their department no matter what it takes.
  • Friendless Background: Because her hobbies are very niche, Yuyuko had an extremely difficult time making friends with people her age in the past before entering high school since very few, if any, could relate to her love of Rakugo well. She admits to Nana that she's happy and grateful to her friends at Rinmeikan since not only were they the first close friends she's ever made, they also wholeheartedly accept her and her old-fashioned hobbies without question.
  • Graceful Loser: She accepts her defeat at Rui's hand gracefully in the Revue of Creation and Sacrifice, even giving her a blessing to ward of the God of Death, Tamao's Arcana card.
  • Little Miss Snarker: Can't help but spew out sarcasm whenever her friends are making her exert more effort than usual in the morning. She's a bigger one around Rui especially whenever Tamao comes into the topic.
  • Mirror Character: To Nana. Both downplay their skills in front of others, were lonely before finding friends in high school, are both actors and scriptwriters, and can be incredibly badass when need be. The second part is what tugs on Nana's heartstrings and gives her the final push to help Yuyuko out in "SHIBAHAMA ~Two Girls' Xmas Rakugo~." Also to Junna, both being bookish and unconventional stage girls.
  • The Night Owl: She's much more active at night than she is during daytime.
  • Non-Uniform Uniform: She wears a red hoodie over her school uniform.
  • Not a Morning Person: As a result of being a night owl, she's usually more than groggy during the day.
  • Shrinking Violet: Though not to Rui's extent, Yuyuko can be somewhat shy and awkward around people that she's not too familiar with.
  • Sleepyhead: She's usually seen being drowsy and unmotivated during the daytime.
  • Stock Ninja Weaponry: Uses kunai as her weapons for the Auditions.
  • Tears of Joy: Sheds these near the end of the "Shibahama - Two Girls' Xmas Rakugo -" event after her special Christmas Rakugo performance with Nana as she was able to successfully convey her feelings to her friends at Rinmeikan through it.
    • She also shed these tears after the Revue of Creation and Sacrifice, after being defeated by Rui.
  • Undying Loyalty: To her friends in Rinmeikan, particularly Tamao, for giving her a place she could truly belong to.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Rui. Yuyuko teases her a lot to show her she cares.


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