The character page of Tanaka-kun is Always Listless.
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Main Characters
Tanaka
Voiced by: Kensho Ono (Japanese), Blake Shepard (English)
A boy who falls asleep easily and could probably try a little harder, but he's so well-known for his laziness he even has admirers for it.
- Beautiful Dreamer: One of the reasons his classmates don't interrupt or even get angry about his narcoleptic bouts is because he looks so damn serene that it would be a waste of the image altogether. The guy's just in his element when he's asleep and it's his true calling in life, as if he was meant to do no more in this world.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Despite his looks, he goes out of his way to study and gets good grades (it helps that movement is unnecessary), but thinks getting all 100's would make him stand out too much, and apparently actively tries not to.
- Celibate Hero: As Tanaka puts it best, he has an interest in erotic things like normal boys but is far too lazy to go for it.
- Chick Magnet: Rino's teammates all point out how attractive he is when he comes to watch one of the volleyball games Rino manages. In fact, given his beautiful looks, he'd probably be pretty popular at his own school if not for his personality...
- Chronic Self-Deprecation: Tanaka understands his laziness can be aggravating to others and as such sees himself as trash. As it's shown, he's actually barely a nuisance.
- Cloudcuckoolander:
- Though not as bad as Miyano, he's the type to Break the Fourth Wall while voicing how he'd want to be a background character if he were a character, demonstrating the preferability of their faces not even being drawn in a lot of the time.
- He goes to the temple to threaten God to say bad things about him in a Shinto temple and leaves a bribe of ¥1000 so that he can get a completely uneventful day... cue Miyano wanting to be his apprentice in listlessness. Though he makes it through the day, he tells Ohta that he has every intention to exact retribution from God for making his day eventful in spite of his efforts.
- He argues that he doesn't like Winter because the shorter days make him feel like he is even lazier than he actually is due to the fact that the daylight is gone before he wakes up, even though he is fully aware that he hasn't slept as much as it would appear. Ohta tells him that instead of complaining about the weather and the daylight, which are outside his control, he should change his habits so that the Winter days don't seem so short to him.
- Covert Pervert:
- His delivery makes it a little ambiguous, but if nothing else, the way he used to identify Shiraishi regardless of her appearance does tell us that Tanaka WAS looking at her chest.
- In chapter 38, when Shiraishi unbuttoned the top button to get his attention, he immediately turns around to ogle at her.
- Deadpan Snarker: While it can be difficult to tell if he's actually joking sometimes, he has this going for him as the stoic protagonist of a lightly comedic Slice of Life.
- Everyone Has Standards: The fact that he's lazy doesn't mean that he's not kind, or won't go out of his way and extend his hand in help of others. He is also not shy in showing that kindness or offering words of consolation, this being the very reason his friends like him so much.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Ohta...most likely?
- Hidden Depths: Tanaka cares for and appreciates his friends waaay more than what he shows, and he is known among them as both a sincere and kind individual who happens to be a sleepyhead. Due to his Chronic Self-Deprecation, he also thinks that he is not worthy of their friendship.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager:
- An Informed Attribute. He says he has the same urges and desires as any teen. He doesn't like it, because he feels that a girlfriend would be too much effort.
- One of the few favorable points he has for the Winter season is that he'd otherwise be devoid of looking at cute girls in Winter garb... that is, after spending a whole five pages complaining about the weather and the shortening of available daylight.
- Innocently Insensitive: Ohta speculates that if Tanaka gets a desk at the front of the classroom at the reshuffling of desks, his tendency to doze off is going to get on the bad side of teachers (even to the lengths of making some of the most sensitive among them quit out of dejection); when Tanaka does get a desk at the front and is despairing face down on his desk (immediately after getting it, by the way), the teacher even tells him that if he doesn't wake up, he's going to cry in front of the whole classroom.
- Lazy Bum: He's worse than a sloth most days, as imagining him doing something as strenuous as clinging to a tree is almost impossible. His close friend Ohta seems the main reason he seems to live a manageable every day life—it's to the point Ohta will sling him over his shoulder to make him go to the dentist when he needs to.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He rarely bothers to grant favours for others, but when he does, it often backfires.
- In chapter 4, he agrees to run an errand for his sister, but doesn't remember what he's supposed to buy, safe for the fact that it starts with "P". He buys as many stuffs he can think off (mostly food), but in the end, none of them matches what his sister actually wanted (pipe cleaner), and Rino punishes him by making him eat all the unnecessary stuffs he's bought for all his troubles.
- When Ohta unconsciously spends too much money in sweets, he's left with the choice of either buying a limited-time-only ice cream cone or buying dinner for himself and Saya. Tanaka then buys himself the cone, gives it one lick, and gives the rest to Ohta, who tearfully thanks him for the gesture. It's so poignant that Shiraishi, who is present, ends up liking Tanaka even more as a result... But the next day, Ohta is out sick from having eaten too many sweets, leaving a dejected Tanaka thinking that all he did was push Ohta off the edge with his gesture.
- Non-Uniform Uniform: A minor example, but he never bothers to wear the school tie.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Tanaka tends to go on logic tangents that make sense given the context, but happen to be either counterproductive or altogether non-beneficial to his friends and himself; for instance, his solution to Miyano's problem regarding obtaining a yukata to wear for the summer festival consists of her not going to the festival altogether.
- Not So Stoic: During the athletics day, he gets to race with Shiraishi in a three-legged race. Though he remains deadpan throughout, after the race, he admits that his heart skipped several beats while being in such close contact with her, visibly blushing. Dude's not made of stone!
- Oblivious to Love: Doesn't pick up on the obvious hints to Shiraishi's crush on him or his younger sister's somewhat unhealthy affection for him. This could be simply due to Tanaka's inherent disinterest to paying attention to any of these cues, since lazing around is just about all he ever thinks about.
- One-Steve Limit: Subverted. He is a Tanaka out of like ten Tanakas at school. It's a pretty common family name in Japan, though.
- Oxymoronic Being: Tanaka has put considerable time and effort into doing as little as possible. Even his attending class and dutifully doing his homework come into the equation to make things as easy for himself as he can possibly muster. One of the things that Ohta finds out about Tanaka is that his attention to detail towards this goal is surprisingly manicured, and he strikes a very delicate balance in order to laze out inconsequentially and without drawing too much attention to what he's doing. The guy excels at being a Lazy Bum.
- Pretty Boy: He is delicately good-looking. Lampshaded by Saya in ch.22, who comments that he looks like a prince.
- Protagonist Title: Despite his misgivings regarding taking the protagonist's spot, he is indeed the main character as the series' title states.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Shares this trait with his little sister, and they are the only named characters that look like this.
- Shrinking Violet: A variation in that he's not meek around friends and individuals, but definitely shies away from crowds and becoming a central figure of attention...which may be ironic, considering how Ohta and he have to be a well-known quirky duo at this point. (And in the meta sense pointed out in Cloudcuckoolander.)
- The Slacker: It's very important to Tanaka that everything he gets done takes the minimum effort possible, to the point he gets heated after realizing he accidentally studied extra material that wasn't even on the exam.
- Sleepyhead: To an ambiguously narcoleptic extreme.
- The Stoic: Twitching a facial muscle may be too much for him, though in the rare instance he does...
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: While not necessarily tall (Ohta is at least a head taller), he has dark hair, dark eyes, and is quite handsome, with Saya calling him a prince.
- That Came Out Wrong: Due to his laziness, he has a tendency of explaining his friendship to Ohta as something else, to Ohta's discomfort.
- Wise Beyond His Years: Overlapping with Silver Tongue, Tanaka is curiously adept at giving sage advice, and due to his economy of words, he is very succinct and tends to not beat around the bush. In numerous occasions, he is found to be a source of calm for his peers because... well, he's always calm. This is considered one of his greatest assets, whether he realizes it or not, and it's one the main reasons his friends are fond of him and why Shiraishi likes him so much. When there's a word of comfort needed, there is no one better than him.
- When He Smiles: At the end of his Sick Episode, and it's adorable.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Everyone that knows him in depth comes to realize that he is a much, much better person than he thinks he is. His sister Rino is especially annoyed at how he considers himself scum, so she takes special care to show him how much he's worth to her.
Ohta
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (Japanese), Andrew Love (English)
A close friend of Tanaka's. In stark contrast to him, he's a physically active and responsible guy. Although he's quite tall and might look scary, he has a habit of looking out for people, maybe too much where Tanaka's concerned.
- Berserk Button: Letting sweets go bad is the only thing that seems to annoy him.
- Bridal Carry: Picks up Echizen this way
◊ after she falls down a flight of stairs in Episode 6, much to her annoyance and embarrassment. - The Champion: Ohta fits this to a T for Tanaka, possibly too much so. It's to the point
Tanaka teases that he will marry him when they grow older so that Tanaka can continue to live the ideal life they have together. - Chick Magnet: His domestic skills and knowledge make him very attractive to the women at the supermarket.
- Childhood Friends: With Echizen, whom he knows since kindergarten.
- Face of a Thug: Added to being a Perpetual Frowner, Ohta's big frame and somewhat morose behavior makes him a very intimidating guy to look at. He's an angel, though.
- Gentle Giant: Giant enough to carry Tanaka over his shoulder and does it regularly enough that no one in class even bats an eye when the anime opens. Gentle enough that when the manga opens with him moving Tanaka off his desk away to clean the area, flowers surround him after he places Tanaka back in his seat, lampshaded the panel afterwards by their friend Kano.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Ohta has blond hair, and is a Nice Guy Gentle Giant.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Tanaka are inseparable buddies, and Tanaka is barely able to function without him.
- Identical Stranger: Kohinata, who is Saya's rival school's volley ball club captain, looks exactly like him. This gets played for laughs when Saya goes on a date with Hina, she keeps on calling the latter "Onii-chan". And when she finally manages to call Hina's name properly, she gets home and calls Ohta Hina instead.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: Despite his sister seeing him as gorilla-like, he loves sweets and is really well organized and good at cleaning.
- Like an Old Married Couple: His dynamic with Tanaka is like a married couple, as Ohta frequently takes care of Tanaka's needs, not unlike a dedicated housewife. When Saionji meets them at the beach with Katou and Shimura, she notes how they are like a family, with Ohta and Tanaka as the parents, and the other two as their kid.
- Nice Guy: Don't let that sharp gaze fool you. Dude's probably the nicest, most dependable buddy a lazy-ass bum could ever ask for.
- Not So Above It All: Ohta barely bothers to berate Tanaka because he's more curious and awed than annoyed at how much lazier Tanaka can get.
- Oblivious to Love: He just doesn't get Echizen's obvious crush on him, which isn't helped at all by his equally careless way with words. For example, in Episode 10, he casually compliments her yukata by saying she's "really cute" (greatly flushing her as a result) and he cannot even read the awkward atmosphere he just made.
- Over-the-Shoulder Carry: Carries Tanaka like this every day.
- Sweet Tooth: He'll use any excuse for the taste of sweets, even the affection someone apparently poured into someone else's Valentines chocolates.
- Weight Woe: For such a physically fit guy, he sometimes worries that eating too much sweets might end up bloating him to a sumo wrestler's level.
Miyano
Voiced by: Natsumi Takamori (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
An upbeat girl of short stature, Miyano asks to be Tanaka's disciple in listlessness. Too bad she's so hard-working...
- A-Cup Angst: She gets annoyed at Shiraishi's large bust.
- Berserk Button: One that she shares with Ohta: do not waste homemade sweets!
- Cloudcuckoolander: Feared some sort of child labor/remote-controlled/android kigurumi takeover for a day, and is the inventor of MachoChoco for her best friend Echizen's sake. And those are just the tip of the iceberg!
- The Cutie: She's about the cutest little thing in Tanaka's school. She's like a humanized Labrador puppy.
- Ditzy Genius: In spite of being an oddball who wants to be tutored in the ways of listlessness, her tendency to work hard for the sake of learning turns out to be her ultimate failure as Tanaka's apprentice.
- She's also the only one that figures out that Shiraishi has a crush on Tanaka and manages to covertly get the pair to exchange numbers without making things awkward for either party. Shiraishi is touched.
- Genki Girl: Tanaka just calls her a human bullet in Episode 7.
- Height Angst: She isn't too happy about her short size, which is why she greatly idolizes Echizen for being the "mature woman" she wishes herself to be.
- Hidden Depths: She is more romantically savvy than she appears, and she's quick to pick on related cues.
- Insistent Terminology: She always refers to Tanaka with an enthusiastic "Shissho!" (master), even when Tanaka insists that he doesn't want to be called that and he doesn't want her to consider herself as his "student".
- Little Big Sister: Is much shorter than her younger brother.
- Nice Girl: You'd be pressed to find a nicer girl, though she's pretty much tied with Shiraishi in that respect.
- Odd Friendship: She and Tanaka are surprisingly fond of each other, especially considering the sheer contrast in their personalities.
- Older Than They Look: Miyano is incredibly short for her age, to the point where it's very easy to mistake her for a middle schooler (if not younger). Her odd behavior certainly doesn't help...
- Shared Family Quirks: Even though she and her brother has seemingly opposite temperaments, they both possess weird thought processes and end up growing attached to Tanaka. Both siblings even address him as "Master". Tanaka also notes that the both of them are very optimistic.
- Shipper on Deck: For Shiraishi/Tanaka.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: She's short and hyper while Sora is tall and possesses a calmer disposition.
Echizen
Voiced by: Ayaka Suwa (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)
A quick-tempered young woman who looks like a delinquent, she's introduced trying to pick a fight with Tanaka, and he has no idea why that is. She turns out to be Ohta's childhood friend, and may be a little different from first impressions.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Ohta, though the "belligerent" part is one-sided on her end. She often finds herself fantasizing about having a romantic moment with him, only to embarrassingly deny it by assaulting him in some way. In chapter 39, for example, she wonders if maybe he's about to ask her to be his girlfriend, only for him to request that he be allowed to carry her under his arm like he always does Tanaka. She pokes his eyes in response. For his part, well, it's Ohta...
- Bridal Carry: After she falls down the stairs, Ohta helps her up by sweeping her off her feet◊ like a Prince Charming would, sending her into tsundere panic mode.
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: She challenges Tanaka to a fight and comes dressed in the manner of a classic female delinquent, and is thereafter immediately exposed by Ohta as loving pastries like him yet unable to eat cutely-shaped ones due to fawning over them. Their fight winds up a game of Go, too, though mostly because Tanaka says he's already lost in a physical one without even fighting.
- Character Development: After 70 chapters, she finally sucks up her 80s delinquent aesthetic enough to get a cell phone and master it.
- Childhood Friends: With Ohta. And despite her constant self-denials, it's heavily implied that she wants to upgrade things between them into Childhood Friend Romance.
- Cuteness Proximity: What Echizen suffers from, and the primary reason why she fawns over Miyano. It gets so bad that she actually treats anything that looks cute, be it small objects or even food, as Serious Business.
- Face of a Thug: Which doesn't help quell her reputation as a delinquent...
- Girl Next Door: Interspersed with Like Brother and Sister. She's basically Ohta's family outside his family. They're so close that sometimes Ohta has messages for her from her family.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: She acts like a delinquent, but the facade is so thin that she ends up coming across as a nice person, anyway.
- Hopeless with Tech: Being the self-proclaimed delinquent that she is, she doesn't use modern tech such as cellphones; an entire chapter is spent teaching Echizen how to use one.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Her being nearer to Ohta's height is lampshaded when a policeman mistakes their surrounding Tanaka on a walk home together as some form of extortion.
- In-Series Nickname: Miyano calls her "Ecchan", and later Tanaka and Ohta begin calling her that too (though Tanaka prefers it because it's easier to write it rather than Echizen).
- Japanese Delinquents: Despite Echizen insisting that she and Ohta were once part of a gang together, as Tanaka notes, she's harmless and seems to simply wear a very long skirt to emulate a punk aesthetic... which she keeps stepping on. That said, she does have something of a bullying side, which mainly manifests around poor Tanaka.
- This is actually an Invoked Trope. She tries really hard to keep up the image of a strong, "mature female" figure to the detriment of even the most basic modern human needs, such as owning a cellphone (she's never heard of a delinquent girl owning one), and also leads to her great discomfort in acknowledging her own "feminine feelings", like dreaming of romance.
- Kimono Fanservice: When the boys learn Echizen will be wearing a yukata to the spring festival, Ohta's imagine spot of what she would look like involves a risque off-the-shoulder style kimono, done-up hair, and makeup. Tanaka averts this in his Imagine Spot, which involves a plainer, almost boyish kimono.
- Like Brother and Sister: She is very close to Ohta, being next-door neighbors and childhood friends who grew up together, though she tries to play this off as if it were not a big deal. However, it's shown that this is more in line to what Ohta thinks of their relationship, as from Echizen's side, it's hinted that she'd like something more from him.
- Non-Uniform Uniform: Wears a longer skirt and doesn't bother to wear a ribbon or sweater.
- Odd Friendship: It's remarked by a number of characters that she and Tanaka get along surprisingly well.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: As a self-proclaimed delinquent, she does nothing even remotely deliquent-like. Tanaka questions why she is one.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Echizen is the result of a really kind and girly girl trying to behave like a delinquent and on the way making the worst assumptions as to what being a "delinquent" entails. In reality, though she does come off as rude and standoffish, she doesn't do anything that is even remotely delinquent, and it's shown that it's as far as she'll go with this endeavor.
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: And how. See Belligerent Sexual Tension and Bridal Carry above for details.
- Tsundere: She's not good friends with Tanaka, dammit. And she's definitively NOT thinking romantic thoughts about Ohta. NO, REALLY!
Shiraishi
Voiced by: Kotori Koiwai (Japanese), Stephanie Wittels (English)
Popular with the student body, Shiraishi comes off as a kind, sweet-natured young woman who even has her own defense squad. Turns out there might be a little more behind that face.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: A minor example, but she falls for Tanaka because he's the only one that recognizes her "real" appearance.
- Blind Without 'Em: Shiraishi's eyesight is very bad, and when she forgot to wear her glasses/contacts to school, she could't see her desk, mistook a gluestick for an eraser, sat on the wrong seat, etc.
- Broken Ace: She seems perfect on the surface, but most of it is an act to rectify her Friendless Background. The real Shiraishi prefers wearing glasses, putting her hair up in an unflattering style, and not wearing makeup.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Her large chest is met with envy from Miyano.
- Chronic Self-Deprecation: While she's very competent and popular now, her Friendless Background still affects her thought process, and as such she has a tendency to beat herself up over any mistakes.
- Clark Kenting: Apprently just changing her hair style to pigtails is enough for people to not recognize her.
- Class Rep: She is the class representative of Tanaka, Ohta and Miyano's class.
- Determinator: When she has a goal, she'll do anything to succeed.
- Dude Magnet: She's very popular with the male population with a very enthusiastic fanclub.
- Early-Bird Cameo: In the anime, Shiraishi appears much earlier compared to her appearance in the manga, though she gets little exposition in the first place.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: She's an excellent cook and a master baker, which earns her Ohta's friendship and respect.
- Friendless Background: Prior to making her high school debut she had no friends.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: Invoked example; she needs glasses but switched to contacts when she entered high school. But she switched back to glasses when Tanaka said having a flaw makes her more approachable and her contacts hurt anyway.
- Hidden Depths: Ohta, carrying Tanaka, slams the door in shock discovering hers.
- I Will Wait for You: She comes to realize that trying to rush to pursue Tanaka is counterproductive, as it's freakin' Tanaka, a guy that rushes to no extent. Nice and slow is the way to go, so Tanaka would fall for her the more patient she is with him.
- Irony: She's the most coveted item in school, yet she's attracted to Tanaka, a guy that pays little to no attention to anyone. She pines for him, and even more ironically, it's later revealed that Tanaka is more fond of her than she realizes.
- Jack of All Trades: In order to excel socially in high school, she studied everything she could put her hands on, including sewing yukatas.
- Nice Girl: Tied with Miyano in the series. She's very well adjusted and kind for someone who has so little experience in friendship; realistically, she could be somewhat more selfish.
- No Social Skills: Due to her Friendless Background. It's not too bad as most examples, as she appears consistently with her own set of friends every now and again, but it's caused her some trouble when dealing with new social interactions.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: She has cherry blossom pink hair, and is a popular and dependable Nice Girl who tries her hardest to be friends with everyone.
- School Idol: She's pretty much the most coveted girl in school and has a rabid fanbase from even her sempais.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Obviously this trope makes her successful makeover possible.
- Stepford Smiler: Despite keeping up appearances, she can't stand to do so, and prefers a way more relaxed, technically slovenly, look.
- Supreme Chef: Able to cook well, especially sweets like macaron (thus earning the nickname "Macaron-san" from Ohta).
- The Tell: The way Tanaka was able to notice Shiraishi in her geeky getup was her large bust.Tanaka: A girl can change her appearance, but she can't change the size of her chest.
Supporting Characters
Rino
Voiced by: Aoi Yūki (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)
Tanaka's little sister. Described as alike to him, though maybe not when it counts.
- Arch-Enemy: Played for laughs. She's the only character in the series that behaves antagonistically towards a second character (Ohta), though her efforts are harmless and petty.
- Big Brother Attraction: Has a crush on her brother Tanaka. However, he is too dense/lazy to know it.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Rino considers Ohta to be her rival for her brother's affections and tends to release a nigh murderous aura whenever he's within proximity.
- Cute Sports Club Manager: Of Saya's volleyball team.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Grows to not hate Ohta quite so much after he walks through the heat to bring new batteries for the air conditioner remote in Tanaka's room, saving his life.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Invoked. Rino doesn't seem to realize that her brother doesn't love her any less just because Ohta is present. Ohta himself spares no praises for Rino and how good a little sister she is for Tanaka. These praises eventually start getting to her, though.
- Emotionless Girl: While both Tanaka siblings have a similar temperament, Rino picks up for her brother's slack when it comes to responsibilities.
- Friendly Enemy: She'd like Ohta if he weren't getting in the way of her affections towards her brother. Even when she's referring to him spitefully, she has nothing but praises for him, which in turn makes her even more annoyed at Ohta.
- Love Interest: Sora has a pretty deep crush on her, and his efforts to approach her serve to show that Rino is not made out of stone.
- The Stoic: Like her brother, rarely ever emotes... unless Ohta is involved.
- Tranquil Fury. Rino is the very definition, often engaging in Passive-Aggressive Kombat to try to get her points across, mostly against Ohta (unsuccessfully) and Tanaka himself. In spite of her serene demeanor, there are things that do irritate Rino, like the mention of Ohta, and more importantly, she really doesn't like how her brother easily engages in self-deprecation and his penchant of beating himself for not being a brother worthy of her. If anything, Rino loves him just the way he is and she doesn't appreciate that someone she loves thinks so little of his own worth.
- Unknown Rival: Ohta is completely unaware that Rino sees him the way she does.
- Worthy Opponent: One of the things that she finds most irritating and taxing regarding her opposition to Ohta is that he's an all-around great guy. His praises for her only serve to make her think that she's stupid for attempting to antagonize him.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Played with. Albeit she initially receives the praises that Ohta dispenses to her with disdain, she starts mellowing out to him once she begins realizing that he's not pushing her away from her brother or trying to usurp any relationship they have.
Saya
Voiced by: Nao Tōyama (Japanese), Allison Sumrall (English)
Ohta's younger sister. They're not entirely similar, aside from height.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She has a rather short fuse whenever she is stressed out. She lashes out at her brother for taking her favorite scrunchy because she didn't remember that she lent it to Rino due to her being worried about school. This leaves Ohta tearfully questioning himself about whether he's a good brother, and it's so bad that even Tanaka has to console him.
- Big Brother Worship: Rino and Tanaka's relationship makes her realize how much she loves and appreciates her own big brother.
- Huge Schoolgirl: She is similar in height to Ohta.
- Lovable Jock: She's a shy and kind girl that happens to be in the girls' volleyball team.
- Nervous Wreck: She's taken aback by how beautiful and delicate Tanaka appears when she first meets him. Though she's shy to begin with, she can barely string two words together in front of Tanaka, and Rino has to say her words out loud for her.
- Shipper on Deck: She is one for Rino and Sora.
- Shrinking Violet: She speaks so softly that Rino has to act as her translator.
Kato
Voiced by: Yūichi Iguchi (Japanese), Scott Gibbs (English)
One of Tanaka and Ohta's guy friends. A member of the soccer club who, while not the brightest light bulb around, is surprisingly gifted in many other skills.
- Book Dumb: His friends consider him an idiot, and not without reason.
- As great as he is in soccer, he isn't smart enough to remember which goal to score.
- In a commercial attached to one of the shorts, Shimura asks what CM means. Any Japanese would know it means "Commercial Message", or Advertising, but Kato responds that it stands for "centimeters".
- Chick Magnet: Discussed. Tanaka mentions that Katou's incredible skills in sports & singing would give him a lot of popularity potential, but we never see him actually being fawned by girls.
- Hidden Depths: His friends are surprised to find out that he's actually really good at singing, even if he only knows Anime theme songs. Even the listless Tanaka is impressed by his Beautiful Singing Voice and requests for an encore.
- Keet: He's always excitable and joyful, though not to Miyano's levels.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: He mentions having two sisters and a lot of brothers. He almost never gets to eat pizza because all his siblings would fight over the pieces, and he'd be left with nothing.
- Nice Guy: When Ohta gets his ankle sprained, the rest of the class ponders on who will take care of Tanaka in his stead. Kato's the only one who actually considers taking Ohta's place.
Shimura
Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese), Bryson Baugus (English)
One of Tanaka and Ohta's guy friends. A member of the soccer club who is obsessed with trying to get popular with girls.
- Casanova Wannabe: The only reason why he joined the soccer club was to try to get popular with girls, and a lot of his lines are about him desperate to be popular and failing at it.
- The Gadfly: Relentlessly teases Tanaka about having a girlfriend after seeing him walking with an "unknown" girl (actually Shiraishi).
- Irony: He'd be an awful lot more popular, and even be more adept at sports, if he didn't try so hard to draw girls' attention.
- Fiery Redhead: He has reddish-brown hair, and is the most aggressively loud in their group.
- Ridiculously Average Guy: The reason why he never takes off his glasses is because he's afraid that no one will recognize him anymore. Naturally, when he actually does this, no one does.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Invoked. He wears his glasses to enhance his appearance, and often puts up a sophisticated airs to make himself more popular.
Sora Miyano
Miyano's younger brother. A volleyball regular despite being a first year in middle school.
- Big Little Brother: Since his older sister is such a midget, Sora is a lot taller than her. His aloof disposition also makes him appear more mature than Miyano's childlike hyperactiveness.
- The Comically Serious: His expression almost never changes, even when he says or does something incredibly ridiculous.
- Love at First Sight: Confesses his love to Rino immediately after meeting her. She immediately turns him down.
- Pretty Boy: Has a pretty face and despite his tall height, maintains a slender physique.
- Shared Family Quirks: Even though he and his sister has seemingly opposite temperaments, they both possess weird thought processes and end up growing attached to Tanaka. Both siblings even address him as "Master". Tanaka also notes that the both of them are very optimistic.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: His older sister is short and hyper while Sora is tall and possesses a calmer disposition.
- Unknown Rival: Mutually with Tanaka. Sora is not aware that he has to compete with Tanaka for Rino, and Tanaka is not aware about Rino's view of him in the first place.
Saionji
Voiced by: Rie Murakawa (Japanese), Emily Neves (English)
Saionji is a recurring character that works part-time at various posts. Mainly an employee of WcDonald's, Saionji is also shown working as a lifeguard at the public pool during summers, collecting charity money during the winter holidays, and even as an attendant at a Karaoke bar. Tanaka and Ohta are frequent customers to her job places and she's shown to be somewhat afraid of them. She is 20 years old.
- Bland-Name Product: She works at WcDonald's, an equivalent of the restaurant with the big "M" at the door.
- Comical Overreacting: Her feelings of betrayal after finding out that Ohta and Tanaka got coffee at Sdarbucks instead of WcDonald's.
- Comically Missing the Point: She's awful at reading Tanaka and Ohta, thinking that they are more aggressive and thuggish than they are.
- Chronic Self-Deprecation: She beats herself at not being able to satisfy Tanaka and Ohta, and she is under the impression that they think that she's awful. On the contrary, both boys admire her hard work and earnest disposition.
- It's Personal: She is dismayed at seeing Ohta carrying a Sdarbucks cup into WcDonald's, deeming him a "traitor".
- New Job as the Plot Demands: She always finds herself working at various places that Tanaka and Ohta frequent, as she works various part-time jobs to pay for her education. Hers is a special case, as she's not the main character in the story, but she's more important to the plot and has more characterization than a Recurring Extra character.
- Nice Girl: She's an earnest worker and tries to satisfy her customers' needs as best as she can.
- Recurring Character: She mainly serves as the recipient of Tanaka's antics in a retail environment.
- Triple Shifter: She's mostly known for being the WcDonald's girl, but she's worked as a lifeguard, a holiday donation collector, and as a waitress at a karaoke place. She never gets recognized by Ohta or Tanaka, however.
Satou
Satou is a young teacher at Tanaka's school and, unwittingly, Echizen's model as a delinquent.
- Anti-Role Model: Zigzagged. She is the one who inspired Echizen to become a delinquent when she saved the latter from some bullies as a child. However, despite trying to invoke a delinquent persona, Echizen is not really a delinquent. Also, it's never explicitly stated that Satou was a delinquent when she meets Echizen.
- Berserk Button: She dislikes bullying and to be the subject of pranks.
- Former Teen Rebel: She used to have the demeanor of a stereotypical delinquent, but she's now a teacher.
- Japanese Delinquents: She used to be one, or at the least, she appeared to be one.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She saved Echizen from some kids that were bullying her for wanting to be a princess. Her demeanor and fearlessness inspired Echizen to become someone like her.
