After running away from home to his abusive father at the start of the game, Ren and his sister Mihato move into the Kuonji mansion as servants. There are three Kuonji sisters, two of whom have a devoted attendant apart from the two general servants while the third hires Mihato.
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Uesugi Ren
Uesugi Ren
- Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki
Ren is the protagonist of the story and not really used to being a butler. He can get quite hot tempered and argumentative while further lacking some of the critical abilities needed for his position. That said, he works hard, is very devoted and learns the work quickly, so after a trial period he is hired officially by the three sisters. Deciding that they could use another attendant, the three sisters each offer him the chance to work directly for them, a choice which locks you onto the story route.
- Above the Influence: When Shinra gets drunk and starts stripping in front of Ren, he tries to make an excuse to leave. She orders him to stay.
- Accidental Pervert
- Ren manages to walk in on Beni in the bathroom several times, though the after the first time it’s almost always her own fault. Once due to inviting the person in without thinking that it might not be Natose, once because she was in there at a really bizarre hour and once because she wasn’t paying attention and didn’t respond to the knocks.
- Natose manages to do exactly the same thing at the start of her route by assuming the person knocking was Beni and inviting Ren in without thinking. Fortunately, Natose is a lot nicer than Beni and realizes it was kind of her own fault. Second time is mostly his fault, but again, Natose is a lot nicer than Beni and simply apologizes for him having to come get her for being late.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Ren’s father comes around, Ren begs him to go back home and stop harassing them. Beni is too proud on his behalf, though, and steps in to force the issue.
- Battle Butler
- Bodyguard Crush: Thanks to Shinra's flirty, teasing attitude he ends up crushing on her. With Yume, she asks him out instead.
- Chick Magnet: Ren, but only for Cool Big Sis types. Given that this includes Mihato, Natose, Shinra and perhaps Miyu, things work out well for him.
- Combat Pragmatist: Unable to match up to Natose or even slow her down, Ren pulls the ultimate win card: Calling her onee-chan and making puppy dog eyes. Though even he notices that Natose’s reaction is a little more extreme than he was expecting.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His frequent abuse from his father left him no other choice but to run away from home with his sister.
- Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Miyu makes Ren and Mihato sleep in the same bed as her at one point. Given that she likes going around topless, it gives him an extremely uncomfortable desire to touch her.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: When he goes up against a boxer, Ren does poorly at first until he brings out his street fighting skills.
- Gratuitous English: Apparently cowed by Shinra’s intelligence, Ren tries to cheer himself up by calling Beni ‘Red Girl’ and explaining that it’s the English translation of her name. She’s not impressed.
- Hot-Blooded: YES!
- Idiot Ball: Ren goes from basically model employee to complete idiot when he starts trying to catch the ferret Yume has been looking for and carelessly smashes valuable items around the house. Afterward, he acknowledges his sheer stupidity and is nearly in tears about it because he thinks it makes him like his ass of a father.
- I Kiss Your Foot: Given her domineering nature, Shinra immediately requests a kiss of loyalty from Ren. The best answer is to kiss her foot. Miyu during a similar scene is pleased with the same result, but since she’s just mimicking Shinra she doesn’t care as much.
- Innocently Insensitive
- At one point Ren manages to distract Natose by acting like her little brother, giving puppy dog eyes and asking why she’s hurting him. Her reaction is much greater than he expected and he gets uncomfortable without knowing what the problem here is. Notably, he doesn’t try it again.
- When Ren gets fired, after he leaves the room the other servants agree that while what he said to Shinra was probably true, he was too blunt and straightforward about something that’s a sore spot for her.
- Large Ham: Well, in the scene with his confrontation with another ham.
- Likes Older Women: In regards to his attraction to Shinra, who's at least in her early adulthood.
- Living Emotional Crutch: In Natose’s route, Ren becomes her lover and her surrogate little brother, causing her to get too wrapped up in him. She gets so wrapped up that she's warned she'll be fired if she doesn't do her job properly, causing her to freak out and kidnap Ren and Yume. Ren is injured and Yume nearly falls to her death before Natose realizes how crazy she's acting, causing her to leave the mansion until she grows up.
- Love Martyr: Ren for the majority of Shinra’s route, which comes to a head when he tries to help her with her problems regarding everyone’s expectations of her and she utterly snaps. Chiharu, Mihato, Miyu and even Yume all have to talk to her individually for her to realize a couple basic facts that halfway mend the problem.
- First, Ren is actually a good guy and all the servants want him to stay.
- Second, if Ren gets fired, Mihato is leaving with him, which deprives Miyu of one of the friends and servants she actually has.
- Third, given that Shinra was doing everything short of outright sex with Ren it’s pretty natural for someone as young as he is to have some sort of assumptions about the nature of their relationship.
- Fourth, if she’s dissatisfied with Ren’s personal service and over familiarity, she can just cut his pay and dismiss him as her personal servant instead of firing him outright.
- Finally, after all that she decides to give him another chance as her servant but is still pretty cold until she meets his father and she and Beni help him put his past behind him.
- Misery Builds Character: Right when it’s becoming obvious to the reader (but not Ren yet) that Yume is fundamentally weak thanks to being spoiled, the colonel drags him aside and explains that he and Yume are probably going to have a fundamental disconnect. Ren’s hard life has made him tough and Yume’s easy life has made her soft and weak willed.
- Missing Mom: Ren and Mihato's mother died when Ren was born.
- Mistaken for Gay: Through the use of extreme powers of seeing what they want to see, Yume and Beni decide that Ren must be gay in Beni’s route and then tell everyone else. At least Natose actually bothers to go and confirm it for herself.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Because he won’t fight back Ren’s father just repeatedly kicks him in the face while hurling abuse at him. When Ren finally fights back, he returns the favor. Beni helps! Awww, bonding.
- Not So Weak: Ren’s father has had him completely cowed for years, but after he smacks Beni for standing up for him and starts to attack Shinra, he gets up and coldly informs his father that this has finally made him realized he is much better than his father. He finally hits back when his father hits him.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Wanting to conceal his true identity, Ren pulls off the masterful costume of...wrapping his coat around his face and talking exactly like he always does while giving himself a silly title. Well, maybe his disguise got bonus points for having a baseball cap and sunglasses. Somehow, Yume is not fooled, though her friends might have fallen for it.
- Playing Possum: After being beaten by Natose in seconds, Ren injures his foot when landing. Or at least, that’s what he tells Natose. He’s actually fine.
- Replacement Goldfish: Natose quickly gets attached to Ren because he looks and acts rather like her own little brother did. When they get closer in her route, she asks if it’ll be a bother to him if she treats him a bit like a second chance to protect the family she lost.
- Servile Snarker: Ren's internal monologue can be rather sarcastic at times and sometimes his mouth slips and he actually says what he's thinking.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: No matter how angry Ren gets, he won’t hit women. Watching his father do it casually finally convinces him that he’s different from his father and gives him the strength to oppose him.
The Kuonji Sisters
Kuonji Shinra
- Voiced by: Shizuka Itō
Shinra is the eldest Kuonji sibling and the only one with a career. While very found of teasing people, she has a lot of emotional walls and has serious issues with empathy. She works as a conductor and gives very popular performances, though the cool, emotionless image she gives off when working clashes badly with her actual personality.
- Adopt the Dog: During one of the routes, we see the time Shinra hired Natose. She’s uncharacteristically friendly and supportive and offers her a job before even really know what kind of work Natose could even handle. Good to see that she really does care about Natose after the joke she made at Natose’s expense not long before.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's a dark-haired beauty with an aloof, cold and imposing personality.
- Aggressive Submissive: Subverted with Shinra. She realizes she’s falling into this and decides to forcibly take back the lead.
- Berserk Button: Stepping out of the social boundaries Shinra sets absolutely infuriates her.
- Black Comedy Rape: Shinra occasionally drags Miyu away, an experience that leaves her younger sister twitching and unresponsive.
- Character Development: After a long, long journey, Shinra finally begins to actually listen to people.
- Cool Big Sis: Shinra looks like a Cool Big Sis at first glance, but most of the time she enjoys embarrassing or harassing her sisters.
- Cruel to Be Kind: When Yume is fighting with Kei about how Yume’s captaincy is going, she tries to ask Ren and Natose to help her out. Shinra interrupts and tells her that the captaincy is her own problem and something she agreed to do. She outright forbids Natose from going to see Natose in her room, knowing that she’ll just coddle Yume more.
- Cuteness Proximity: Shinra loves pandas and turns into a gooey mess over them when she thinks she’s alone.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Shinra’s cold, arrogant and mocking attitude persists for about 95% of her route almost completely untouched, but in the end she does end up mellowing out when she gains a little perspective and relaxes a little.
- Depraved Bisexual: In her spare time, if she's not teasing Ren, then she's teasing her maid Benisu, or molesting her younger sister, Miyu.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Without Miyu there to arbitrate between Shinra and Yume about how distantly Shinra treats Yume, Shinra realizes that Yume doesn’t even remember why Shinra puts space between them and gets so angry that she refuses to talk to anyone about it and starts completely ignoring her altogether. Despite the cause of the rift being something Yume said when she was upset about the death of her parents when she was extremely young.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: When Shinra’s teacher tells her that her performance was technically flawless but still less than he expected of her, she’s completely confused. Ren gives a helpful hint by noting that she started conducting orchestras out of sheer enjoyment but now views it as something to be struggled through, but she simply gets angry. She then continues trying for even greater technical perfection before she eventually gets the point.
- Giver of Lame Names: To Ren’s surprise, Shinra’s naming sense is about as bad as Yume’s.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: If Shinra beats Miyu in a game, Miyu has to strip. If Shinra loses (and she does) then she decides she has to strip in front of Miyu, who really doesn’t want to see. And since she’s already in her underwear, why not have some fun?
- Hime Cut: The hairstyle befitting of an Ojou.
- Indirect Kiss: Shinra offers Ren a canned beverage she'd been drinking, and tells him he can finish it. When he does, she forces him to admit that he enjoyed it because it was an Indirect Kiss.
- Informed Ability: Shinra is supposedly a great conductor, but she is usually just shown waving her baton arrhythmically, though this may be due to the the animators not knowing what music was going to be played at the time of animation.
- Innocently Insensitive: When Shinra is a jerk, she’s usually doing it on purpose. However, she eventually makes Yume cry by always ignoring her. She wasn’t trying to be malicious, she simply didn’t notice her behavior was upsetting and in fact thought she was doing what her sister wanted based on an argument they had that only Shinra even remembers.
- In Vino Veritas: When Ren refers to himself as just being Shinra’s butler, she gets uncomfortable and makes a pass at him. She still can’t bring herself to be truly honest, however.
- It Amused Me: When Ren asks her if they should make their relationship known to everyone, Shinra declines. Why? Because it’ll be hilarious watching everyone slowly figure it out.
- Jerkass Realization: As the least empathic and most arrogant of the sisters, Shinra seems prone to these.
- When fighting with Yume, Shinra holds a grudge over Yume not even remembering the cause of the fight. Miyu has to practically beat the source of the anger out of Shinra after Yume gets so upset she flat out runs away from home. When she hears the story, Miyu has to painstakingly explain to Shinra that she’s holding a grudge over something a little kid told her when she was upset and that Yume not remembering is perfectly natural since most people, Shinra included, don’t remember every trivial little thing that happened when they were little. Shinra’s response amounts to “So what you’re saying is that I’m the one in the wrong here? Well, shit.”
- Managed without admitting error. After a fight with Ren about how doesn’t understand the expectations she lives under, Shinra fires him. Eventually, they make up partially, but Ren is all depressed by his own issues. When she finally figures them out, the real makeup between them boils down to Shinra going “Wow, I guess poor people have problems too, so I guess I won’t hold a grudge about you trying to help me with mine.”
- Lack of Empathy: Shinra has real trouble figuring out how other people feel or seeing things from another person’s point of view. After making it 98% of the way through the story she finally gets enough understanding to think to herself “Waaaait, maybe Ren having a miserable expression, barely talking to anyone and constantly making mistakes in his work means something is wrong with him. Could it be that yelling at him won’t solve the problem? Could it be that I actually care?”
- Lethal Chef: Shinra can’t cook. Her attempt was unidentifiable and nearly poisoned Miyu. To her credit, she didn’t even try giving it to the intended target before having help cooking something properly. The next attempt went a little better, at least.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: She seems to like molesting people, especially Miyu but also Beni and Ren to some extent. Beni loves it while Ren feels conflicted. She gets called out on acting like this towards him and then getting insulted when he assumes this means their relationship isn't just master and servant.
- Master of the Mixed Message: She tends to be fairly molest-y when interacting with people, but also hates it when servants don't know their place. Building on the first thing is that she develops some sort of feelings for Ren, so she wants to have her cake and eat it too by being able to use him like a toy while also keeping him out of her affairs, which she gets called out on.
- Meaningful Name: Shinra’s name carries the character for forest and she spends all her money buying nature preserves.
- Mood-Swinger: Shinra can quickly go from amused and intimate to aggressive and hostile quite quickly. Ren has trouble coping with it.
- Nerves of Steel: No matter how anxious or upset she feels, Shinra is able to easily put all that aside when she has a conductor’s baton.
- Never Gets Drunk: At the beginning of Beni’s route, she and Ren get into a drinking contest of sorts. One flash forward later and both have passed out while Shinra looks at them pityingly, still completely sober. In her own route, she drinks some very potent sake for hours and manages to get all the way to… mildly tipsy. Or possibly pretending to be slightly inebriated so that she can tease Ren.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: When Yume was little, Shinra’s forced composure after the death of their parents scared her. In response, Shinra started distancing herself from Yume not realizing that Yume didn’t really mean it and just wanted to be close to her sister. Shinra’s actions just took that tiny gulf between them and widened the gap for years.
- Ojou: The Kuonji sisters are three rich, sheltered girls. Shinra tries to live up to everyone’s expectations, leaving her emotionally bottled and highly unempathic.
- Purple Is the New Black: Or rather, green is. Shinra’s hair is repeatedly called black, but it’s nothing of the sort.
- Selective Obliviousness: When Yume asks her sisters about relationships, Miyu simply states that she has no experience and isn't the best person to ask. Shinra loudly starts talking about the food instead, prompting Miyu to sneer at her for not being able to get a boyfriend or even admit it.
- Sleeps with Everyone but You: PG13 version: Shinra will grope or tease everyone in the house except Yume and the two guys she seems to view as scenery. Even Natose will do when there’s nobody else. Yume is upset because her sister is always fairly distant with her. Shinra assumes that Yume remembers they had a quarrel after their parents died, but while Shinra was probably about twelve or so, Yume was maybe five and doesn’t remember a thing. Shinra thinks she’s doing what Yume wants and is pissed when she realizes Yume doesn’t even remember the fight to begin with.
- Spit Take: When Yume decides to introduce her new boyfriend, Shinra spits out all her tea. Right onto Miyu, who is convinced she did it on purpose. And she kinda did.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's very cool and fond of teasing, but for the few people she cares about she's extremely affectionate.
- The Tease: Shinra teasing or flirting with someone is basically the only way she’ll express affection. She gets angry the first time Ren walks in when she’s changing, but when she comes to like him more she just asks if he likes the view.
- Tough Leader Façade: She bottles up most of her emotions due to the weight of expectations pressing her down. She actually likes cute stuff like pandas and finds her job stressful, but usually doesn't let any of it show.
- Troll: Shinra finds it hilarious to make people suffer, like looking really angry after Ren breaks a vase that is actually mostly worthless because she just wants to see him depressed.
- Tsundere: As Shinra becomes more attracted to Ren, she continues to treat him like a toy, indicating all sorts of internal conflicts. In the end, she turns out to have far more difficulty bringing out her dere side than Beni.
- Tsurime Eyes: Her sharp eyes reflect her aloofness and emotional detachment.
- You Will Be Spared
- While playing a shooter game with Shinra, they manage to gather a number of captives, including the enemy general. She decides that the general is accepting responsibility for his failure and executes him, but spares his soldiers as a gesture of respect.
- When Ren’s character dies on the next level, she mercilessly kills one attacker while the other begs for his life. She takes vengeance for her fallen comrade instead.
Kuonji Miyu
- Voiced by: Yūko Gotō
Miyu is the second of the Kuonji sisters, despite her young appearance. Though she looks all of about twelve, she's actually a college graduate and a few years older than the high school student Yume, though she does not have a job. She hates being treated like a child, though since she frequently acts like one her mission is probably doomed. Appearance aside, she's a genius and has invented a true AI, though her goals only tangentially involve inventing.
- A-Cup Angst: Miyu does not appreciate being told that it’s physiologically impossible for her to hold someone to her chest the same way Mihato can. She even attempts to whip him for it as she had warned previously, though given how tiny she is it really doesn’t hurt much. When Hato nuzzles her to her chest, she enjoys it well enough until she realizes she’s being treated like a kid. After, she asks how she grew such a large chest and the answers are... less than helpful.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Miyu in appearance, considering she looks about twelve and insists on doing everything herself because she’s a self-sufficient adult. However, she really is an adult.
- Berserk Button: Miyu hates being treated like a child, though if you do it right she’ll certainly respond like one.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Miyu gets increasingly jealous throughout her route before beginning to date Ren, though she actually does make an exception for Mihato since she's her best friend. Just so long as everyone is clear on the relationship hierarchy having Mihato lower than her.
- Girlish Pigtails: Beni at one point imagines her singing death metal about her twintails. You can also choose to swear loyalty to her by kissing the twintails.
- Grammar Correction Gag: When Yume tells Miyu and Shinra she has a boyfriend, Miyu corrects her on her English pronunciation. Twice.
- Harmful to Minors: Miyu’s parents died in front of her. The other sisters were elsewhere at the time.
- I Am Not Pretty: Miyu seems puzzled and slightly surprised by the idea that Mihato thinks she’s cute, though given that she’s highly prone to flattery she eats up that sort of comment anyway. Then again, given her vanity it could just be that she thinks she’s much too mature to be cute instead of beautiful.
- Insane Troll Logic: Horses were popular in England! Surely if Miyu commands the horse to slow down in English it will comply.
- I Resemble That Remark!: Ren shoos Miyu from the kitchen by saying it’s a place for adults to work, much to her irritation. He then distracts her successfully with a piece of candy. Actually, Miyu is easily distracted by candy or pats to the head.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Miyu likes acting distant, arrogant and dignified, but she’s actually very supportive and the one to cheer up Ren after he thinks he failed to pass the preliminary period.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Far more subtle than Shinra, but she's apparently a huge shotacon; ironically she doesn't enjoy Shinra's advances on her.
- Magnetic Girlfriend: The moment Miyu gains some real interest in Ren, Shinra begins teasing him more while Natose and Beni are suddenly significantly more affectionate as well. Well, the latter is mostly teasing, but even that is a step up.
- NEET: Though only Shinra seems interested in prodding her about it, Miyu has done next to nothing after graduating college. When she's done enough research to make opening a restaurant practical, suddenly she switches to a new project involving robotics because she's afraid of death and things coming to an end. That would be fine in its own way, but even robots don't live forever. Averted in the anime, where it's said she earns a living as an inventor.
- Ojou: The Kuonji sisters are three rich, sheltered girls. The Kuonji wealth allows Miyu to sit around instead of actually working towards anything.
- Older Than She Looks: Shinra calls Miyu a 'loli' since she is so short and looks much younger than she is. She's at least older than Yume and a college graduate, but since she's also a graduate she probably skipped some grades.
- Only Sane Woman: Shows this often in the anime, where she knows her stuff especially when Shinra is acting quite unreasonable.
- Porn Stash: When using Miyu’s computer, Ren pointedly avoids thinking about a few suspiciously named folders.
- Please, I Will Do Anything!: Undresses in front of her sister, begging her to not sack Ren.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Miyu is not bothered when seen naked in front of servants. In fact, she asks Ren to wash her back. Naturally, when she begins thinking of him as something more than a servant, her previous attitude starts fading, much to her confusion.
- Teen Genius: Her age is unclear, but it's right on the border of adulthood. She must have been one in the past, though, consider she's a college graduate.
- Token Mini-Moe: Thanks to Miyu’s appearance, Ren thinks she’s a little girl at first when she’s actually at least his own age as well as a college graduate. And probably the most mature of the sisters.
- Tsurime Eyes: Her eyes are noticeably sharp, which denotes her self-confidence and pride.
- Vanity Is Feminine: Miyu is convinced that she's an elegant, mature beauty and just eats up flattery. When told that she's cute she seems to feel it doesn't fit her image but, again, she's quite vain and loves the praise anyway.
- What Is This Feeling?: Miyu is rather confused mid route as to why she’s getting jealous over Ren or shy around him. All the other servants and both her sisters are talking about it while even Ren knows it’s a point of gossip, but she’s completely in the dark.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Miyu finally learns why Shinra is acting so hostile towards Yume, her facial expression says everything that needs to be said. Including a “…Seriously? You’re that petty?” face. Not that she leaves it at that, but she probably could have if Shinra had actually thought about the situation at all from the other perspective.
- Whip of Dominance: Annoying Miyu results in a whipping. However, she’s both pretty weak and the whip is designed not to really hurt, so the physical pain is pretty minor... unless the more enthusiastic Shinra uses it, at which point it really hurts and then starts to turn into BDSM play, much to Beni’s annoyance.
Kuonji Yume
- Voiced by: Shizuka Minomori
Yume is the youngest of the Kuonji siblings and has a noted lack of talent or drive. Though the nicest of the siblings, she's immature and easily depressed. The one thing she is constantly praised for is being cute, which doesn't make her happy as it has nothing to do with her actual abilities. She's a fairly ordinary high school student and has no boyfriend or anything like a part time job, leaving her to fill her time with things like manga.
- Attention Whore: Yume is always struggling for attention and loves being in the limelight. Part of the reason she seems to decide to date Ren is to rub it in her sister’s faces that she has more relationship experience than they do.
- Buttmonkey: Yume is always, always the butt of jokes for being much less interesting or talented than everyone around her.
- Comically Missing the Point: Pulled by Yume on herself. She says she’s going to make Beni admit defeat with her game play skills, but after she wins and Beni doesn’t care she simply orders her to say “I admit defeat.”
- Covert Pervert: Yume wants to advance her relationship with Ren almost immediately. Further, she ropes Natose into it despite her protests.
- The Cutie: Yume is the most popular of the sisters because she's cute and social, but that just makes her unhappy because the implication is that no one takes her seriously.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Yume thinks she doesn't have any special abilities so she's trying to find something she can do well. Unfortunately, she tends to halfass things because her real problem is that she's weak willed.
- Do Not Call Me Sir: Yume is very uncomfortable with a boy her own age calling her ‘ojou-sama.’ Or anyone, really, considering that Natose calls her by her by her first name while Yume does use an honorific on her.
- Dude Magnet: Yume gets a lot of confessions and love letters. She appreciates the sentiment, but wishes people would look at her for more than just being cute.
- The Generic Girl: She is a completely ordinary student, which actually causes her quite a bit of angst as she develops an inferiority complex when she compares herself to her two older sisters, so of course, she's Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life and usually declares I Just Want to Be Special.
- Giver of Lame Names: When Ren reads through her bad self-insert fanfiction, every character has a terrible name.
- Heavy Sleeper: Yume sleeps heavily enough that Ren can pick her up, set her down on her feet, help her get dressed and splash water on her face without her realizing it’s him.
- Her Codename Was Mary Sue: In the Yume Note is a story about her and her sidekick, Shinra, who dotes on Yume endlessly but has to be corrected by the clever Yume. She’s the most popular girl in town, Shinra envies her celebrity status and Beni wishes she could be like Yume instead of such a minor character. I guess now we know why she didn’t want anyone to read it.
- Hime Cut: She has this hairstyle to show she's an Ojou.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Yume feels depressed at how much smarter and more accomplished her sisters seem to be and wants to find similar talents for herself. That said, it’s implied that she does have her own talents but simply doesn’t work hard enough.
- Idiot Hair
- Indirect Kiss: Yume shares her icecream with Ren and then gets embarrassed afterward.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: When Ren walks in on Natose and Yume investigating a porn magazine, he simply waits and watches them for a few minutes until they finally notice him. Yume tries to cover it up by telling him it’s Mii’s book, but his response amounts to “Yeah, but you’re the one that has it now.”
- In Love with Love: Yume asks to go out with Ren mostly because she doesn’t have a boyfriend and the idea interests her slightly. Plus, she wants people to stop bugging her to get one. She has no idea what’s going on when she actually does feel a little jealous that Ren has a good opinion of Ageha.
- I Resemble That Remark!: Right after trying to establish her competence, Yume starts to leave and reveals that she forgot to put on underwear.
- Joshikousei
- Meaningful Name: Yume (Dream) has no dreams or aspirations.
- Middle Child Syndrome: Played with. Yume seems to be the most "neglected" out of everyone else; it's sometimes played for laughs in that it's not because she doesn't have enough to her character, it's just that everyone is too crazy and lively compared to her.
- Misery Builds Character: Right when it’s becoming obvious to the reader (but not Ren yet) that Yume is fundamentally weak thanks to being spoiled, the colonel drags him aside and explains that he and Yume are probably going to have a fundamental disconnect. Ren’s hard life has made him tough and Yume’s easy life has made her soft and weak willed.
- Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls: Inside the Yume Note is terrible magical girl fanfiction.
- Ms. Imagination
- Nice Girl: Natose and Yume, contrasting the other sisters and servants, are very friendly and outgoing, though Natose is also a little awkward. Yume doesn’t even like the idea of Ren being treated as a servant and being formal with her.
- Ojou: The Kuonji sisters are three rich, sheltered girls. Yume has been sheltered and kept from adversity, leaving her rather weak willed and easily disheartened.
- Only Sane Woman: She’s certainly more well grounded than her sisters, but she also manages to be much more normal than the servants as well. Of course, everyone else happens to also be far more talented or hardworking than she is, leaving her to feel overshadowed and neglected as a result.
- Also played for laughs sometimes especially in the anime, where Ren points out how "over-the-top" everyone else is compared to Yume.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Shinra is a brilliant conductor and Miyu has already graduated college with plans to open a restaurant chain, but Yume is just an ordinary high school girl. It's implied she does have her own talents, but she's weak willed and doesn't pursue them.
- Rescue Romance: After Ren saves Yume from potential date rapists, she asks him out. Not exactly the reaction he was expecting, but he goes along with it and ends up getting an instant promotion to boyfriend.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie
- Selective Obliviousness: Whenever Yume hears something she doesn’t like or something that she’ll have to work hard at, she tends to sink into denial.
- Tareme Eyes: Unlike her sisters, Yume's eyes are big and round. She's also the most sweet and friendly of the sisters.
- Third-Person Person: She always uses the third person. It's both cutesy and kind of telling about her character: She's very immature.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: When Yume gets into a fight with Kei, she tries to get Natose and Ren to help her out, but Shinra steps in and forbids Natose from assisting. She doesn’t do the same for Ren, but he realizes (with a little help from Ageha) that she’s right and he should make Yume do it herself without being ordered.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Natose's Tomboy.
- Trying Not to Cry: After finally blowing up at Shinra, Yume tries to retract her statement by saying it was an April Fool’s joke, but nobody buys it since she’s crying and doesn’t realize it.
Personal Attendants
Benisu/Beniko
- Voiced by: Hyo-sei
Benisu or Beniko if you don't want to actually say "Penisu" is Shinra's servant. She's fiery and has something of a mean streak, possibly something she picked up from her idol Shinra. She's a huge baseball fan and is quite a bit smarter than she looks: She speaks three languages and spends much of her free time studying. She and Ren argue constantly, though sometimes it looks like they're actually flirting.
- Adopt the Dog: While she usually ignores or mocks Chiharu, when some kids hit him with a ball and start picking on him Beniko steps in and scares them off.
- Aggressive Submissive: She turns out to be quite shy in bed. In terms of the relationship itself, though, she makes it clear to everyone pretty much instantly that they’re going out and immediately moves into his room.
- Animals Hate Her: Beni, apparently. Though it could just be dogs. Still, the Maltese in question liked Ren and Natose just fine.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: After awhile, Ren’s fights with Beni become their own way of flirting. At least, they are if you ask Shinra. The rest of the household asks them to cut it out at the start of her route, believing them to be genuinely fighting.
- Berserk Button: Benisu is only one diacritical mark different from ‘penisu,’ so you can guess what jokes might be made about her name. However, upon discovering this Ren actually goes out of his way to jump on this particular berserk button when she starts annoying him.
- Be Yourself: Knowing that Beni is likely to ignore him and will certainly get quite angry with him for it, Ren nevertheless tells her that she’s never going to be Shinra and that she shouldn’t try. She does get angry, but she cools down quickly.
- The Bully: Beni really loves to pick on the gentler members of the cast like Chiharu or Yume. Chiharu seems to be into that sort of thing, though, and has a crush on her.
- Buttmonkey: Beni herself is kept from getting too insufferable by Mihato constantly gunning for her.
- Catchphrase: Beni's elegance has no equal.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Beni makes aggressive faces and cat hisses behind Shinra’s back to discourage Ren from working for her. Only Beni is allowed to be in the official ‘Please molest me’ position, apparently.
- Fiery Redhead: She's the most emotional member of the cast as well as being really fond of arguing with people.
- Friendship Moment: When Ren is humiliated and beaten down during the climax of Shinra’s route, it isn’t his sister, his love interest or a sudden spark of determination that come to his defense. It’s Beni, the girl he always fights with and the servant least capable of defending herself.
- Game of Nerds: Not that she's a nerd, but she's an avid baseball fan.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: She's rather easy to irritate, so she and Ren spend most of their time somewhere between flirting and trying to kill each other.
- Hero-Worshipper: Beni idolizes Shinra and wants to be an elegant woman just like her. However, she doesn't really understand who Shinra is and just tries copying her surface mannerisms; In truth, Shinra spends a lot of money on conservation efforts rather than being the rich celebrity Beni took her for.
- Hey, You!: As far as Beni is concerned, Ren has no name. He’s either You, Manservant or if he’s unlucky, just Idiot. When she stops, she pretends to herself it’s just to manipulate him.
- Indirect Kiss: Beni accidentally uses Ren’s toothbrush early in the morning. When he walks in, he grabs hers by mistake.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Despite her harsh attitude and arrogance, Beni’s self esteem is not nearly as high as she would like people to think.
- In-Series Nickname: Ren and Mihato occasionally call Beni Ponytail for obvious reasons. Or Penisu if they want to make her mad.
- Lap Pillow: Provided by Beni when she offers to clean Ren’s ears.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Beni is apparently completely unable to talk about Ren poorly in public. Any attempts will be met with karma in the form of Mihato.
- Money Fetish: Thanks to growing up in poverty, Beni obsesses over money money money and wants to be just like Shinra. But Shinra doesn’t hoard money, she spends it on nature preservation, which makes Beni question what she’s been doing just as much as when Ren told her she’ll never be Shinra.
- Selective Obliviousness: Beni knows that she’s never going to be Shinra. She simply avoids admitting it to herself until Ren confronts her about it.
- Self-Made Man: Beni’s goal is to be one day as rich and fabulous as Shinra. She started an orphan, was sold to a restaurant and studied endlessly by herself. She worked hard without cease in isolation. She did nearly turn to petty theft before meeting the colonel, who was impressed with her abilities and determination and hired her as the Kuonji family chef.
- Smarter Than You Look: Beni is trilingual despite having almost nothing in the way of education before entering Japan. She also studies constantly in her free time.
- Tsundere: Beni and Ren argue constantly, but if he says anything genuinely nice to her she tends to get flustered easily. Of course, that rarely happens. At the end of Shinra’s route she steps in without hesitation to defend him from his dangerous father and gets hit for her trouble. Once she goes dere, she also pretty much stays dere. Also, despite picking on Natose more than anyone else (Meaning, at all) she gets jealous when other people feed her.
Uesugi Mihato
- Voiced by: Minami Hokuto
Mihato is Ren's older sister, who is soft and gentle looking. She is not, however, either of these traits: She's a bit of a yandere and has an obvious obsession with her brother. She gets hired as Miyu's servant due to the pair getting along quite well and has a tendency to act as incarnated karma whenever Benisu starts getting too obnoxious.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mihato is endlessly supportive of Ren and outwardly friendly and polite, so he seems to have mostly failed to notice her violence, harsh tongue and obsessive behavior. Only Beni seems to notice.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Mihato is a bit more than sisterly interested in her brother, unsurprisingly they can "step further" in the original Visual Novel.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She has a sizable chest which is a source of admiration from guys and envy from girls.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Though she may make an exception for characters like Miyu, Mihato is generally scary if anyone tries getting close to Ren.
- Dreadful Musician: Mihato’s singing is completely terrible. Not necessarily because the tone is bad, but because it causes some kind of bizarre echoing effect. Also, bad lyrics.
- Graceful Loser: Mihato quietly claims that if Ren is happy, she’ll step aside for Shinra. Then she mutters under her breath that if she gets half a chance she’s going to take him back. Such grace.
- Hair Intakes: The two "cat ears" that are part of her hairdo.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Protective of her little brother Ren to frightening levels.
- Meaningful Name: Mihato likes to claim that since the word pigeon is in her name, she’s the very essence of peacefulness that the dove represents. Riiiiight.
- Missing Mom: Ren and Mihato's mother died when Ren was born.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Mihato likes Miyu, so she can accept her relationship with Ren. She can recognize Shinra’s good side, so she’ll step aside there too. She’ll at least step back a little when it comes to Yume even if she doesn’t accept it. Beni? Beni gets attacked in the kitchen with a knife until Ren drags her aside and makes her accept it. Maybe it’s no wonder that despite his apparent charm Ren has never even kissed a girl.
- The Nose Knows: Mihato can also discern some rather uncomfortable things about what Ren was doing the night before with a single sniff. With much greater detail than you might expect.
- Pass the Popcorn: When Shinra begins flirting with/molesting Beni in the kitchen, Mihato makes some popcorn to share with Ren.
- Romantic Runner-Up: Mihato has only one ending plus a bit of shared time in Miyu’s route, but is the only one consistently after him. She reacts to her loss with obvious depression.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: Mihato carries 49 secret tools around her body, several appear from Hammerspace in her clevage.
- Yandere: She's nice enough... so long as you're Ren. And you don't show interest in other girls. Otherwise, she's terrifying.
Natose
- Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa
Natose is the last of the personal attendants and probably the oldest. Like Beni, she is not from Japan, but unlike Beni she isn't a genius. As a result, her Japanese is slightly flawed and she can't read the language well. She tends to get treated like a dog at times due to her normal attitude. She is probably the kindest person in the household and dearly wishes to play the big sister figure, which results in lots of coddling for Yume. She lost her eye, her family and her village in a typhoon.
- Animal Motifs: Natose is frequently compared to a dog. And also undergoes training like one.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Natose is probably the kindest person in the house, but she’s also the strongest barring the colonel. In her route, she goes bonkers out of a twisted desire to protect Yume and Ren, which causes a nasty incident.
- Bifauxnen: With her figure nobody is going to mistake Natose for a guy, but her short hair and butler uniform rather support the impression.
- Big Eater: There are three separate rules barring Natose from entering the kitchen to feed herself, the last one bluntly saying the equivalent of “You know what? Just… stay out Natose.” She even gets a frequently used sprite of eating a piece of beef jerky.
- Big Sister Instinct: Sees Ren and Yume as younger siblings. This may be due to the fact that her actual siblings died in a tsunami.
- Cool Big Sis: Natose reminds Ren a little of Mihato, though the latter is more of the pampering type.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Natose is very physically fit, but also kind of careless and clumsy sometimes. She breaks stuff or gets up late or forgets what she’s supposed to be. It works in Ren’s favor a little at the end of the common route because she made an even worse mistake than he did in her trial period and did her best to cheer him up afterward. In fact, that mistake led to them making sure not to put out valuable jars like that in the first place when a lot of people travel through.
- Cuteness Proximity: Natose gets a similar reaction to Shinra and pandas when she gets treated like a big sister.
- Devoted to You: For Natose, Ren meets the condition of all sorts of emotional baggage in that she loves him, she’s his superior and he’s just like her younger brother. Unfortunately, her devotion borders on the obsessional in her desire to protect him, which starts getting her in trouble almost immediately.
- Eyepatch of Power: Natose, who really is immensely powerful to an absurd degree.
- Eye Scream: Natose wears an eyepatch because she lost her eye to a piece of driftwood in the storm that destroyed her village.
- Face of a Thug: Natose is very kind and even quite pretty, but Ren guesses that the eyepatch deters suitors.
- Failure Knight: For her family and presently for Yume at times.
- Friend to All Living Things: Natose is loved by animals to the extent that random birds will fly down and land on her.
- Genius Ditz: Though otherwise fairly ignorant, Natose knows a lot about gardening.
- Heavy Sleeper: Natose frequently wakes up late for the role call.
- Heel Realization: When Natose kidnaps Ren and Yume she ignores everything they say at first due to her obsession with keeping them safe, so when they have the chance they run away. While chasing after them, she realizes that all she’s done is put them in even more danger when before they were perfectly safe.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Natose considers herself unintelligent, unattractive and untalented at everything that isn’t fighting or gardening.
- Hidden Depths: Natose is a very skilled gardener, though she doesn’t know offhand where the plants originate. She’s also pretty talented at mimicry.
- I Am Not Pretty: When Ren asks Natose out she’s absolutely astonished. Why is he asking her out instead of someone cute like Yume, elegant like Shinra, clever like Miyu, strong willed as Beni or at least his sister?
- Instant Runes: Natose has them along with her Battle Aura while guarding the house at night, just to show how awesome she is.
- Is It Something You Eat?: When Natose tries cheering up Yume once again, Shinra asks her if she actually has any idea what she just said. Is it Chinese cuisine of some sort? Is Kumamoto some dish involving bears?
- My Greatest Second Chance: After noting once again how much Ren is like her little brother, she swears that she will protect him. She’ll protect her little brother this time for sure.
- Nice Girl: Natose and Yume, contrasting the other sisters and servants, are very friendly and outgoing, though Natose is also a little awkward.
- The Nose Knows: When Yume runs away Natose tracks her by scent.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: After Beni helps make Natose a doghouse as a joke of questionable taste, Natose thanks her for it since she doesn’t receive many gifts. Beni looks rather uncomfortable.
- Obsessed with Food: Natose is easily bribed with any kind of food.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Natose, of course, will pull these off when begging for more food.
- Sanity Slippage: In Natose’s route, she grows increasingly obsessed with her desire to protect Ren and begins neglecting everything else to the point where she gets threatened with dismissal if she doesn’t turn her behavior around. Rather than begin working properly again, she decides she’ll have to knock Ren and Yume out and kidnap them so she won’t have to leave them.
- Shipper on Deck: Natose rather likes the idea of Ren and Yume together.
- Tears of Blood: When Natose remembers what happened to her village, she not only begins to cry, but blood seeps out from beneath her eyepatch.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Yume's Girly Girl.
Other Residents
Colonel/Yasushi Tajiri
- Voiced by: Yosuke Akimoto
The colonel is a former mercenary hired by the Kuonji family to be their chief butler. He is extremely strong and very competent, but also quite eccentric and an obvious narcissist. At times, he functions as a surrogate father figure for Yume.
- Black Comedy Rape: In Episode 11, the Colonel does... "something" to a pretty boy thief. We're not sure what the Colonel did but all we hear is "grunting" from both of them.
- Catchphrase: Willing to allow you to hear his special advice.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: As her surrogate father of sorts, the colonel tells Ren that if he makes Beni cry or doesn’t value her enough he’s going to pay for it.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The colonel’s actual name, Yasushi, is mentioned about twice in the entire story.
- Parental Substitute: He's a father figure to both Yume and Beni.
Chiharu "Haru" Kiyohara
- Voiced by: Yuu Amamiya
Chiharu is the last of the servants and is an extremely girly looking boy. He receives no dignity and the only ones to both consistently notice his existence and treat him well are Yume and Natose. He has declared war on dirt and takes his battles very seriously.
- Buttmonkey: Chiharu is constantly forgotten, overlooked or outright harassed, especially by Beni.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Nobody outright mistakes Chiharu for a girl, but since he looks and acts like one they treat him that way. Even the similarly neglected Yume doesn’t seem to think of him as a boy.
- Hopeless Suitor: Chiharu manages to make his interest in Beni known to anyone exactly zero times before she and Ren start dating. The reader gets one or two tiny hints, but that’s it. Natose’s route expands on this a little, which you think would give Haru more hope… but she still turns him down.
- Love Confession: Confesses to Beni in Natose's route but gets turned down. It encourages Ren to try with Natose, though.
- Mistaken for Gay: When Beni and Ren kiss in front of Haru, he runs away crying that his first love ended already. Both Ren and Beni assume they’re talking about Ren.
- Neat Freak: Seeks to create a 'Clean World.'
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: “Don’t mind. I’m used to being forgotten.”
- Something We Forgot: When Yume runs away from home, Ren and Natose eventually talk her through it and prepare her for a reconciliation with Shinra. In the meantime, he calls everyone else to let them know they can go home… except Haru, who is left wandering around town until nightfall. He actually does feel really badly when he remembers, though.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Chiharu has a crush on Beni, but whenever it seems like he might be getting a chance she tends to brush past or mock him without even realizing.
De Niro
- Voiced by: Kazuya Takekabe
De Niro is a rude, crass robot shaped like an egg that was constructed by Miyu. He has numerous odd abilities and is Miyu's sole friend at the start of the story.
- Dreadful Musician: His sound system is actually meant for offensive combat.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Deniro blows himself up because Miyu is running away from her fears and dreams in pursuit of empty desires for avoiding death or loss. Not even robots are invincible. Of course, the point was just to make a big impact on her, so he first made a copy of his memory so he wouldn’t really have to die.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Fittingly for an invention of Miyu's, Deniro is harsh and arrogant, but after Ren gets on his good side he’s very supportive. He also loves Miyu dearly and values her future more than his own life. Though he did make a backup of his memory, despite it undermining the point he was making.
- Non-Human Sidekick
- Ridiculously Human Robot: Deniro doesn’t look human, of course, but he acts human enough to want to “make a woman” out of various appliances. Wait, is that normal for humans?
- Robot Buddy
Students
Ageha Kuki
- Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (visual novel), Rie Tanaka (anime)
Ageha is one of Yume's friends at school and a Large Ham who trains in martial arts. She has superhuman strength, an arrogant attitude and a lot of aggression. She's actually pretty nice, however, if your name isn't Kojuuro. She's fairly likely to develop a crush on Ren throughout the story should she meet him.
- Action Girl
- Ascended Extra: Ageha does not really appear outside of the Yume related routes and in the Yume route she’s just someone Ren talks to a few times that is crushing on him a little. In Natose’s route she kisses Ren forcibly once and then decides to go into training after being ambushed and knocked out by Mihato. She doesn’t even have a route. However, in the anime she gets two full episodes out of a mere thirteen and shows up in the ending as if she were actually one of the heroines.
- Breakout Character: Apart from a few cameos, Ageha is the only character to bridge the continuity to Majikoi, where her competence, wealth and good natured arrogance are even greater.
- Character Exaggeration: In the original Visual Novel, Ageha’s interest in Ren doesn’t develop beyond minor attraction most of the time. She does kiss him in one route, but then never really shows up again after that.
- Large Ham
- Ojou
- The Thing That Would Not Leave
- Tsundere: Toward Ren and a lesser degree, Kojuuro in the Anime. She's initially haughty and bossy to Ren, but as she sees his hardworking nature, she becomes smitten with him.
Mistina and Kei
- Voiced by: Mahiro Chiaki
Misty and Kei are the other two friends of Yume seen throughout the story. The form looks and sounds like an elegant, quiet girl but is actually a huge masochist. The latter is an aggressive tomboy that is irritated that Yume is not taking care of her responsibilities properly.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: When Mistina tells some obvious lies to get Ren to punish her, he punishes her by not punishing her. Take that, masochist.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Mistina, one of Yume's classmates and part of her Those Two Girls, is such a masochist that anything even slightly resembling aggression turns her on, including the "harsh sunlight" on her skin — at which point she will melt onto the floor, clutching herself and squealing for more.
- Too Kinky to Torture: To the point where even the glare of the sun turns her on.
Kojuuro Takeda
- Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama
Kojuuro is Ageha's much abused butler who worships the ground she walks on. He's roughly equal to Ren in physical ability and the two strike up a friendship based on both being servants and being a similar age. He does not tolerate slights to his mistress, even if they are expressed solely out of concern for him.
- Battle Butler
- Butt-Monkey
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He is NOT happy when he sees Ren and Ageha kissing.
- Hopeless Suitor: For Ageha. He calls it loyalty.
- Hot-Blooded: HO BOY!
- Large Ham: Went to a Ham-to-Ham Combat with Ren Uesugi
- Tears of Blood: Played for comedy. During De Niro's attempt at singing during the cherry blossom viewing, Kojuuro is seen bleeding from the eyes and ears. And it doesn't appear to bother him in the slightest!
- Undying Loyalty: Koujuurou is endlessly devoted to Ageha, partially due to saving him with a transfusion when he was injured. When Ren assumes he finds Ageha a pain in the ass he gets punched quite hard for his attempt to stick up for Kojuuro.
Other
Ren's father
Ren's father is an abusive, lazy drunk that Ren claims he always fought with. He and Mihato ran away from him at the start of the story.
- Heel–Face Turn: After Ren finally stands up to his father, he stops running away and blaming his son. He quits drinking, starts working regularly and attempts to form a proper relationship with his children.
- Kick Them While They're Down: After Ren returns his father’s beatings he promises to do the same for Beni, who interrupts to say she can do it herself. She apparently punches the bruised and battered man quite hard.
- Would Hit a Girl: Much to Ren's disgust, he punches Beni when she tries to stand up for him. This finally inspires him to declare he and his father are different and fight back.
