| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | !Kindergarten Noir |
| 4 | [[folder:General]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fnvuimdwybqbzs3.jpg]] |
| 7 | [[caption-width-right:1000:This is the world's safest kindergarten.]] |
| 8 | * BoxedCrook: Most of Kindergarten Noir's staff is made up of various criminals that are roped into the service in return for lighter sentences. None of them are particularly complaining and genuinely enjoy taking care of the kids, even if they're counting their days until freedom. |
| 9 | * BulletproofVest: The teachers of Kindergarten Noir all wear bulletproof aprons. This allows Doug to survive a shot to the chest, although he has a hard time breathing due to the injury. |
| 10 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Most of the staff of Kindergarten Noir is very quirky, ranging from Rita's desperation for a boyfriend to Luke's obsession with {{Shojo}} romance. All of them are also extremely competent at protecting the children. |
| 11 | * DarkAndTroubledPast: The teachers that have had focus are shown to be haunted by or tired of their criminal pasts, and see Kindergarten Noir as their [[MyGreatestSecondChance best opportunity]] to start over and contribute to society. |
| 12 | * FriendToAllChildren: The teachers of Noir are all former crooks, but they are genuinely protective of the kids beyond the basic threat of death if they failed in their duties. |
| 13 | * LoveDodecahedron: There's some workplace romance going on between the Dandelion and Chrysantemus staff, though most of it is going through the motions of WillTheyOrWontThey shenanigans. |
| 14 | * OutOfFocus: Violet Class. Compared to Dandelion and Chrysantemus, barely anything is known about them, including what Mack even looks like. |
| 15 | [[/folder]] |
| 16 | |
| 17 | !! Dandelion Class |
| 18 | [[folder:Rita]] |
| 19 | !! Rita / The Witch / Convict 999 |
| 20 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jp_volume_1.png]] |
| 21 | A legendary assassin known as "Witch". She took the deal of working off her sentence in the Kindergarten, and is eager to find herself a handsome boyfriend, but her standards are perhaps too high. |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | * AchillesHeel: Played for laughs. For as much of a beast as Rita is in combat, she can't swim for the life of her and will helplessly flounder around the moment she steps in water. |
| 24 | * TheAloner: Due to her [[ForcedintoEvil upbringing]], Rita never had any friends throughout her childhood. Although her gushing over hot guys is very much played for comedy, it's indicated to be a result of her [[IJustWantToBeLoved desire for companionship]]. As time goes on though, Rita does gradually begin to form genuine bonds with her fellow teachers at the Kindergarten. |
| 25 | * BrokenAce: Played for laughs. Rita is a legendary assassin with near-superhuman athletic and sharpshooting skills that allows her to put down almost any killer-for-hire that tries to attack Kindergarten Noir. Unfortunately for her, this results in a MurderIsTheBestSolution mindset that causes her to kill any potential boyfriends due to not meeting her ridiculously high standards for a romantic partner. Despite all these potential boyfriends being ruthless assassins that WouldHurtAChild, this habit causes Rita no shortage of grief throughout the series and she acts as though all these kills were dates she horribly botched. |
| 26 | * CainAndAbel: The Abel to Leo's Cain. |
| 27 | * CharacterTics: She reacts to surprises by comedically crying with her mouth in a triangle-shaped smile. |
| 28 | * ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Played with. Ever since childhood, Rita has been forced into a life of killing and will shoot down most of the Kindergarten's enemies without batting an eye. However, when [[spoiler:Luke dies protecting the other teachers from Aoba, Rita sheds tears for him. Although she had lost plenty of coworkers before, this was the first time she had lost a friend.]] |
| 29 | * EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: She's initially colored with red hair, but later colored images consistently show her with brown hair. |
| 30 | * EnemyCompassion: As someone who was forced into a life as an assassin at a young age, Rita's able to empathize with assassins who were forced into a life of killing from an early age. |
| 31 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Despite her literal life-or-death expectations concerning movie watching etiquette, it's shown that Rita finds film snobbery to be annoying and kills an assassin who expresses a dislike for eating popcorn and bringing kids in the theater. |
| 32 | * {{Foil}}: To her twin brother Leo. Rita, despite her past, has genuinely resolved to do everything she can to one day live a normal life and find happiness. Leo, on the other hand, seems to be entirely resigned to his life as a killer, repeatedly expressing his belief that assassins like them cannot ever leave killing behind them. |
| 33 | * HiddenDepths: It's implied she is a movie buff considering how many of her questions to possible boyfriends revolve around movies, like whether they watch the credits and how she considers watching a movie at 2x speed a deal breaker. That being said, chapter 45 sees she kill another assassin when he turns out to be too snobbish of a movie fan who doesn't want to hear people eating popcorn and dislikes people bringing their kids to the theater. |
| 34 | * HitmanWithAHeart: Though, it's implied it's only when she grew sick of killing that she developed her heart of gold. |
| 35 | * IJustWantToBeNormal: It's shown that Rita had eventually grown tired of being an assassin, and switched gears to simply wanting a hot boyfriend. Unfortunately, her unpleasable standards for what she considers the perfect boyfriend leads to her falling back into old habits. |
| 36 | * LoopholeAbuse: Rita sympathizes with other assassins who were forced into a life of killing from a young age, especially since she herself was in the same situation. However, as her job is to protect the children, she ultimately needs to kill any assassins who threaten them. Because Natsuki and Haruo never actually try to ''hurt'' Lyla, Rita is able to let them go, prompting them to turn over a new leaf. |
| 37 | * MinorFlawMajorBreakup: Played for laughs. She kills all the assassins that she comes across but has a crush on by finding very minor flaws that she can't stand. Examples of it include: |
| 38 | ** Someone's favorite movie being a live-action adaptation of something. |
| 39 | ** Not staying to watch the credits of a movie. |
| 40 | ** Watching a movie in 2x speed. |
| 41 | ** Not eating ramen. |
| 42 | ** Eating the meat of the ramen first instead of the soup. |
| 43 | * MurderIsTheBestSolution: Rita might just want a hot boyfriend nowadays, but she's still trained to be a deadly assassin and resorts to just shooting a guy in the head to solve her problems. Thankfully, those she kills are all assassins after innocent children. Also thankfully, earlier on she ''really'' wanted to kill Doug for messing with her but she's not allowed to kill fellow teachers. |
| 44 | * RedBaron: Rita is known as the "Witch" in the assassin's world. |
| 45 | * SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: PlayedForLaughs. Along with someone with good looks, Rita wishes for a boyfriend with a solid personality and tastes... unfortunately (or fortunately) many of the assassins she falls in love with all have habits and standards that annoy her so much that she kills them on the spot when they admit to them. Amusingly enough, Rita being forbidden from killing Doug for similar transgressions means she is forced to endure his flaws long enough to see his good qualities. |
| 46 | * SkewedPriorities: It should be noted how Rita is generally more upset about a latest prospective boyfriend turning out to be less than adequate for what she considers a perfect partner rather than how a deadly assassin had come close to hurting a toddler in her care. |
| 47 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: Seems to be ramen, considering how many of her questions to potential boyfriends are about how they eat it. |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Doug]] |
| 51 | !! Doug |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jp_volume_2.png]] |
| 54 | A conman who accepted the job of working in the kindergarten a while before Rita. Although he enjoys teasing Rita, he ends up falling for her after being rescued. |
| 55 | ---- |
| 56 | * TheAloner: Doug spent his childhood alone on the streets, and as such was never able to really rely on anyone throughout most of his life. It's for this reason that he ends up falling for Rita when she saves his life. |
| 57 | * CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: In earlier chapters, Doug amused himself by regularly flustering Rita, knowing full well about her desperation for a boyfriend. However, after Chapter 4, Doug has all but given up this hobby once he develops genuine feelings for her and now can barely make prolonged physical contact without blushing hard. |
| 58 | * ChickMagnet: Back when he was a criminal, Doug's swindling included seducing wealthy women, and the loot he is shown pulling shows how successful he was. While at Kindergarten Noir, Rita often begrudgingly admits to finding him attractive, Hana has feelings for him, and it's implied that Lyla has a PrecociousCrush on him. The Silver Family Sisters also go nuts over his looks along with Luke. |
| 59 | * ConMan: What Doug was before Kindergarten Noir, which comes in handy as his best asset is his pickpocket skills. |
| 60 | * CrazyJealousGuy: Doug often gets jealous when Rita expresses interest in other guys. The most frequent target of his jealousy is Luke, whom Doug sees as a rival (Though in reality Luke is simply trying to stall Rita and Doug growing closer for the sake of watching romcom shenanigans). |
| 61 | * DistressedDude: Had to be saved by Rita on occasion, which is actually how he ends up falling for her. |
| 62 | * FreudianExcuse: Doug became a swindler in order to survive as a homeless orphan on the streets. |
| 63 | * IntelligibleUnintelligible: Out of the three teachers at Dandelion Class, Doug seems to be the best at handling the kids. When one of the children spouts unintelligible gibberish, neither Rita nor Hana are able to make heads or tails of it, but Doug understands it just fine. |
| 64 | * LadykillerInLove: Chapter 26 reveals that as a swindler, he's seduced multitudes of rich women to snatch their jewelry before. After getting rescued by Rita, he's since fallen in love with her. |
| 65 | * MustHaveNicotine: Doug smokes a lot, something everybody points out to be terrible for him. He is quite proud of having managed to hold his habits down to only twice a day, even though The Principal says this is still too much. Not to mention, he works with children, so he really has to wean off the habit for it. |
| 66 | * TheTease: Used to make fun of Rita's desperation for a boyfriend by teasingly flirting with her. He doesn't do this anymore upon developing actual feelings for her. |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Hana Bradley]] |
| 70 | !! Hana Bradley |
| 71 | |
| 72 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jp_volume_3.png]] |
| 73 | An assassin with a strange habit of using bombs and a baseball bat. She joins the Dandelion class with the goal of, once freed, reuniting with her brother. |
| 74 | ---- |
| 75 | * BadassAdorable: Hana is a very cute young woman, as well as a very capable assassin who fights by batting grenades at opponents. |
| 76 | * BatterUp: In top of using her bat to send her grenades flying, she also uses it in close-combat by hitting her opponents with it. |
| 77 | * BigBrotherWorship: She adores her older brother, who was the only member of their family to have ever shown her kindness. |
| 78 | * CharacterTic: Hana often just raises her arms straight up like a red panda whenever she's startled. |
| 79 | * IKnowMaddenKombat: Her fighting style is basically baseball, but instead of hitting a ball with the bat, she uses grenades. |
| 80 | * GenkiGirl: She surprisingly becomes this upon realizing that she's Natsuki's senpai. |
| 81 | * HoldingTheFloor: When her [[AbusiveParents father]] has her and Doug at gunpoint, Hana distracts him by pretending to tell him her last words, before yelling that she hates him, giving Rita time to attach grenades onto his helicopter and for Doug to blow him up. |
| 82 | * TheStoic: Hana typically speaks in a very monotone manner and rarely changes expressions. |
| 83 | * ThrowDownTheBomblet: She fights by using grenades and sending them towards her opponents with her baseball bat. She can take down an helicopter using them. |
| 84 | * WhatIsThisFeeling: She clearly has no idea what romantic attraction is, asking Gordon for advice when she starts falling for Doug. Luke butts in to tell her it's a cold so he can prolong what he accurately predicts as a fun WillTheyOrWontThey situation. |
| 85 | * WhenSheSmiles: Natsuki is extremely smitten when Hana happily smiles at being referred to with honorifics. |
| 86 | [[/folder]] |
| 87 | |
| 88 | !! Chrysantemus Class |
| 89 | [[folder:Luke Smith]] |
| 90 | !! Luke Smith |
| 91 | |
| 92 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jp_volume_4.png]] |
| 93 | A former [=UK=] cop with a big love for Shoujo manga. After he was arrested for killing his boss, he took the Kindergarten job. |
| 94 | ---- |
| 95 | * AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:His hand gets cut off in the fight against Aoba.]] |
| 96 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: His stone-faced love for {{Shojo}} manga and tropes aside, Luke is shown to be ''very'' vicious when he wants to be, violently cutting the throats of intruders just to show Dandelion the kind of fortitude one needs to protect the Kindergarten. The Principal even observes that despite the lack of criminality in his backstory, Luke might be the most unhinged teacher out of the staff. |
| 97 | * CatharticCrying: A flashback shows that a kindergartener hugging him out of unconditional love made him burst into tears, having long thought himself as a heinous monster after the crimes he committed. |
| 98 | * ChickMagnet: Noted to be a stud, with both Sylvia and Rita wanting a piece of him. The Silver Family Sisters all also displayed attraction towards him. |
| 99 | * DarkAndTroubledPast: He's a former cop who lost his girlfriend and took his revenge out on his former boss. The murder weighed on him heavily afterwards and it took joining Kindergarten Noir to give him a sense of purpose and belonging again. |
| 100 | * DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler:In his eyes at least. When Luke dies, he's initially under the assumption that a murderer like him will go to Hell without ever meeting Tina in Heaven. Much to his shock, he's instead led to an AfterlifeAntechamber where he's reunited with Tina]]. |
| 101 | * DeathSeeker: After the death of his girlfriend Tina and killing his former friend Oliver, Luke was consumed by grief, survivor's guilt, and self-loathing, coming to believe that he's an [[IAmAMonster irredeemable murderer]]. However, in working for the Kindergarten Luke was able to rediscover happiness and find a meaning for his life in protecting the children. [[spoiler:In a ''very'' tragic twist of irony, the moment Luke realizes that he genuinely wants to continue living, he loses his life protecting the other teachers from Aoba.]] |
| 102 | * IChooseToStay: Out of the other teachers, Luke is the only one who wishes to remain at Kindergarten Noir even after his sentence is done, as he feels it's the only place where he's accepted despite his past. |
| 103 | * {{Irony}}: He's the only teacher so far to be a former cop, and yet is the most violent and possibly unhinged out of the staff. |
| 104 | * ItAmusedMe: Recognizing {{Shojo}} tropes in Rita, Doug, and Hana's relationship, Luke goes out of his way to prevent Gordon from outright telling Hana that she's in love with Doug so RomanticComedy shenanigans can happen for his amusement. |
| 105 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Luke tragically dies protecting the kindergarten in chapter 69, reuniting with Tina in the afterlife.]] |
| 106 | * TheLostLenore: He ''had'' a girlfriend. She was apparently killed by his former boss and it is implied that it's the reason he killed him. When asked if he has a girlfriend by Rita (who is unaware of his past), he answers yes without hesitating, implying he isn't over her. |
| 107 | * MartialPacifist: Back in his days as a cop, Luke was terrified at the prospect of taking a human life and always tried to resolve conflicts peacefully. [[spoiler:It's not until Tina is taken hostage by Oliver that he gains the resolve to take a life.]] |
| 108 | * ObliviousToLove: If he's privy to Sylvia or Rita's attraction to him, he doesn't show it beyond a single HeldGaze between him and the latter. The fact that it's implied he's very much not over his dead girlfriend yet might also have something to do with it. |
| 109 | * PapaWolf: Luke's protectiveness over the children can get rather gruesome, as he's considered to possibly be the most violent out of the teachers. In fact, Luke is perfectly willing to stay in Kindergarten Noir permanently even after serving his sentence both because of his personal acknowledgement of his crimes and also because protecting the children gives him a purpose. |
| 110 | * RealMenWearPink: Luke is a former cop, TheStoic, has a massive GlasgowSmile-like scar on his cheek... and is a big fan of {{Shojo}} manga. In fact, he becomes excited when he realizes that Rita, Doug, and Hana are in a LoveTriangle. |
| 111 | * SameCharacterButDifferent: [[spoiler:In Luke's flashback, it's shown that he was shockingly... normal for most of his life. It's quite the far cry from the guy he is today.]] |
| 112 | * TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:With Tina. In what is implied to be an AfterlifeAntechamber, Luke enters Tina's flower shop in his DyingDream and reunites with her, mirroring their first meeting.]] |
| 113 | * TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler:His love for shoujo manga is revealed in his flashback to have been an interest he picked up from his [[TheLostLenore deceased girlfriend]].]] |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Sylvia Scott]] |
| 117 | !! Sylvia Scott |
| 118 | |
| 119 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jp_volume_5.png]] |
| 120 | A smuggler, and now a member of the Chrysantemus class. |
| 121 | ---- |
| 122 | * BadassDriver: She is very skilled at driving the school bus to escape assassins, even managing to drift with it. Rita, Doug and Hana don't really enjoy the ride though. |
| 123 | * ConditionedToAcceptHorror: [[spoiler:Despite her massive crush on Luke, Sylvia seemingly acts unaffected by his death, admitting that she's used to losing those she cares about. One does get the impression that she's forcing it.]] |
| 124 | * EatingTheEyeCandy: A good chunk of her inner thoughts during her introduction is admiring the crap out of Luke. |
| 125 | * MsFanservice: It isn't particularly noticeable at first, but Sylvia is visibly the curviest out of all the women at the Kindergarten. PlayedForLaughs when she puts on a fancy Chinese dress but, to her annoyance, it [[IgnoreTheFanservice doesn't impress]] Doug and Natsuki.[[note]]A more conservatively dressed Rita and Hana in a panda costume are able to get their hearts racing though.[[/note]] |
| 126 | * OutOfFocus: Out of all the teachers in Dandelion and Chrysantemus class, Sylvia gets the least amount of focus. And when she does get focus, it's typically about how sexy she finds Luke. [[spoiler:After Luke's death, however, Sylvia shows a far more melancholic side, professing that she's [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror desensitized to losing those she cares about]].]] |
| 127 | [[/folder]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | [[folder:Yoshiteru Ikeda]] |
| 130 | !! Yoshiteru Ikeda |
| 131 | [[quoteright:542:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2024_05_09_141920.png]] |
| 132 | |
| 133 | A Yokohama-raised recruit. He was in re-education training up until recently. |
| 134 | ---- |
| 135 | * ContrastingReplacementCharacter: [[spoiler:He joins the gang after Luke tragically dies, and he's pretty much the cop's polar opposite. While Luke was a ShipperOnDeck, but ''specifically'' in regard to stretching romances out for as long as possible, Yoshiteru just wants them to get to the point already. Luke was very much TheComicallySerious, particularly in regard to his [[RealMenWearPink interests]]. Yoshiteru, on the other hand, is almost always unserious, even when in situations that really call for it. Additionally, while Sylvia was pining for Luke [[ObliviousToLove without the cop seeming to notice]], Yoshiteru is head over heels for her, but she openly isn't interested]]. |
| 136 | * HomemadeFlamethrower: His EstablishingCharacterMoment has him burning a mafioso to death with Dragon Breath shotgun shells. |
| 137 | * MustHaveCaffeine: He suffers from narcolepsy, and so must take an energy drink every hour to keep himself awake. |
| 138 | * PrettyBoy: Rita certainly finds him very attractive. Ironically the woman he's actually pining for, Sylvia, is more annoyed than anything else by his advances. |
| 139 | * ShipperOnDeck: On the opposite end of the spectrum from Luke. Rather than wanting to draw things out, Yoshiteru wants to speedrun development with the workplace romances by egging them on. |
| 140 | [[/folder]] |
| 141 | |
| 142 | !! Violet Class |
| 143 | [[folder:Una Mauri]] |
| 144 | !! Una Mauri |
| 145 | |
| 146 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jp_volume_7.png]] |
| 147 | A rather eccentric member of Violet Class. Said to be Kindergarten's strongest recruit. |
| 148 | ---- |
| 149 | * SmallGirlBigGun: She uses a rocket launcher. |
| 150 | * TheUnintelligible: She speaks exclusively in bizarre short phrases. Her fellow teacher Mack's phone is capable of translating her, revealing that she actually has quite the foul mouth. |
| 151 | [[/folder]] |
| 152 | |
| 153 | [[folder:Mack Freeman]] |
| 154 | !! Mack Freeman |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/708a8214_07bd_49fa_96c0_e65e3e18c79f.jpg]] |
| 157 | A teacher of Violet Class. Dressed like a bear for some reason. |
| 158 | ---- |
| 159 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: Despite constantly wearing a bear suit, he seems to be one of the few people who knows the truth about Lyla. |
| 160 | * GoofySuit: He is always dressed in a bear. It is not known what he looks like underneath that. Lampshaded in an extra chapter where Dandelion class tries to unzip his suit, only for Mack to threaten to kill them. |
| 161 | * UnusuallyUninterestingSight: He's always dressed like a bear. No one ever seems to find this weird. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | !! Leadership |
| 165 | [[folder:The Principal]] |
| 166 | !!Erina |
| 167 | |
| 168 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kndwrs_principal.png]] |
| 169 | The school principal who always dresses as a maid. A former military woman, she seems to have made her life's mission to protect Lyla. |
| 170 | ---- |
| 171 | * BadBoss: Typically played for laughs. She keeps all of the teachers on a very short leash and will often hang them upside down as a punishment. |
| 172 | * DissonantSerenity: Always keeps up a pleasant smile as much as she can to give off the appearance of a kindly old motherly lady. Even when she's punishing the teachers. She's rather justified considering she's in charge of the safety and happiness of kindergarteners. |
| 173 | * MamaBear: Her mission is to protect the children under her care, and anybody who threatens their safety, be it assassins directly after their lives or careless teachers leaving them open to harm, will incur her wrath. She's especially protective over Lyla, who she implies is the true reason for Kindergarten Noir's existence. |
| 174 | * {{Meido}}: Dresses like a maid to go along her being the caretaker of Kindergarten Noir, though she seems to be older than usual for this trope. |
| 175 | * PetTheDog: While she's generally a BadBoss, she does throw the teachers a party and buys some food for them before Parents' Day. |
| 176 | [[/folder]] |
| 177 | |
| 178 | [[folder:Gordon]] |
| 179 | !!Gordon Z. Sky |
| 180 | |
| 181 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gordon_9.png]] |
| 182 | The vice-principal and the school doctor. A former soldier who hates fighting. |
| 183 | ---- |
| 184 | * BoxedCrook: Subverted. He looks terrifying and Rita asks him if he was a serial killer. However, unlike the teachers, he isn’t a former criminal, but a former soldier. |
| 185 | * FaceOfAThug: He looks terrifying, enough to make Rita, Doug and Hana run away from him when they first meet him. Despite this, he is the school doctor and doesn’t like fighting. |
| 186 | --> '''Rita, Doug and Hana''': He looks scary but he seems like he is actually a nice guy. |
| 187 | * SchoolNurse: He is the school doctor. Unlike most examples, he isn’t an attractive woman nor a pretty boy (like Rita hoped), but huge middle aged man. |
| 188 | * ShipperOnDeck: He inconspicuously shoves Rita into Doug and Hana into Natsuki during the post-Parents Day dinner party, knowing full well that the two pairs have something going on and wanting to encourage mingling among the staff. |
| 189 | [[/folder]] |
| 190 | |
| 191 | !!Others |
| 192 | [[folder:Natsuki Inomoto]] |
| 193 | !! Natsuki Inomoto |
| 194 | |
| 195 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jp_volume_6.png]] |
| 196 | The owner of a goldfish shop in Asakusa who moonlight as an assassin along with his brother Haruo. He later joins Kindergarten Noir as the janitor. |
| 197 | ---- |
| 198 | * AlmightyJanitor: Quite literally. When he returns in chapter 52, it turns out that he has been introduced to Kindergarten Noir as the janitor who also doubles for combat support. Just like the other members of the group, he is an incredibly powerful assassin. |
| 199 | * AscendedExtra: Natsuki is first introduced as a sympathetic ArcVillain in the same vein as Natasha, with his and Haruo's story seeming to conclude with their [[HeelFaceDoorSlam tragic deaths]] at the hands of Leo... except that [[NotQuiteDead both of them end up surviving]]. Haruo falls into a coma and is taken hostage by the principal, forcing Natsuki to become the Kindergarten's janitor, thus becoming a part of the main cast. |
| 200 | * HeelFaceDoorSlam: Just as he and Haruo decide to turn their lives around and leave the assassin lifestyle behind them, they're killed by Leo and Ashley... [[NotQuiteDead or at least it seemed that way]]. |
| 201 | * {{Hunk}}: He is fairly muscular and Rita comments on his handsome looks in spite of his scars. |
| 202 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: He fight using ordinary paper scopes, either stopping bullets with them or by throwing them with enough force to kill people. Doug and Rita assume that they are made of special materials, but no, he just that skilled with them. |
| 203 | * NotQuiteDead: He's seemingly killed by Leo and Ashley when he and Haruo try to leave the assassin lifestyle behind for good, but it turns out Erina saved him and made him the school janitor to serve as extra support. |
| 204 | * NoSocialSkills: It's shown that Haruo had coddled him so much that Natsuki seems to be at a loss about etiquette when having a dinner party with the kindergarten staff. The guy doesn't know how to properly eat a pizza or open a can of soda without its foam spilling out. |
| 205 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney: The only reason he works as an assassin is to get enough for money to pay for rent. |
| 206 | * SuperStrength: He has enough strength to destroy entire buildings with a single punch. |
| 207 | * RuggedScar: He got two scars on his face during his career as an assassin: one near his left eye and one that reaches the right corner of his mouth. |
| 208 | * WhatIsThisFeeling: Much like the girl he's crushing on, Natsuki isn't aware of the fact that he's head-over-heels for Hana. He still believes what Haruo told him about him just having a cold that happens to flare up around Hana. [[spoiler:Hilariously, Yoshiteru eventually tells Natsuki point-blank that he's in love with Hana. Natsuki considers what he's saying for a second, but then weighs his brother's words over the words of a stranger, and decides that it must just be a cold after all]]. |
| 209 | * WouldntHurtAChild: Unlike most of the assassins, he refuses to kill children. He is hired to kill the teachers and, when he sees that [[spoiler: they have Lyla with them]], he asks them to put her down first. This ends up saving his and his brother's lives, since the teachers of Kindergarten Noir only need to kill those who threaten the children. While this results in him and his brother getting attacked and left for dead by Leo and Ashley, this refusal to harm Lyla at all is implied to be why Erina chooses to even save them both at all and make them serve as the school janitors. |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Haruo Inomoto]] |
| 213 | !! Haruo Inomoto |
| 214 | |
| 215 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2023_09_20_184837.png]] |
| 216 | The little brother of Natsuki. He helps him to run both the goldfish shop and his side business as an assassin. |
| 217 | ---- |
| 218 | * BigBrotherWorship: He holds Natsuki in ''extremely'' high regard. When it seemed that Doug and Hana were bad-mouthing him, Haruo ended up going on a gushing rant that not only went on for multiple pages, but its last stretch had to be fit into a two page spread, of which it completely covered its top half. |
| 219 | * ConvenientComa: He's severely injured by the New World Order, but is given medical care by Kindergarten Noir. His condition is used to convince Natsuki to join the kindergarten. |
| 220 | * DudeLooksLikeALady: Doug mistake him for a girl and it's only when another assassin refers to him as the "younger brother" that he realizes his mistake. |
| 221 | * HeelFaceDoorSlam: Just as he and Natsuki decide to turn their lives around and leave the assassin lifestyle behind them, they're killed by Leo and Ashley... [[NotQuiteDead or at least it seemed that way]]. |
| 222 | * IHaveYourWife: After he's almost killed by Leo and Ashley, he's hospitalized but alive, and is used as what Natsuki describes as a hostage by Erina to convince him to join Kindergarten Noir as a janitor. |
| 223 | * LogicalWeakness: He fights using fireworks. [[spoiler: Unlike Hana's grenades, they don't work if they are wet, so Doug blows up a fire hydrant to wet them.]] |
| 224 | * [[MySisterIsOffLimits My Brother is Off-Limits]]: Harou visibly doesn't take it too well once he realizes that Natusuki develops a crush on Hana, telling him that he's [[WhatIsThisFeeling just experiencing a cold]]. |
| 225 | * NotQuiteDead: He was seemingly fatally injured by Leo and Ashley with his older brother, but he turns out to have actually barely survived long enough for Erina to pick both of them up. |
| 226 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney: Like his brother, he works as an assassin only for money. |
| 227 | * StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Haruo convinces Natsuki that his newfound crush on Hana is actually a cold, which is the same lie Luke separately told Hana when she was also grappling with romantic feelings. |
| 228 | * ThrowDownTheBomblet: He fights by using fireworks that pack enough power to destroy a building. |
| 229 | * WouldntHurtAChild: Like his brother, he doesn't kill children. He puts [[spoiler: Lyla]] on a pole, high enough to not be in danger during the fight. This ends up saving his and his brother's lives, since the teachers of Kindergarten Noir only need to kill those who threaten the children. |
| 230 | [[/folder]] |
| 231 | |
| 232 | !! Students |
| 233 | [[folder:Lyla]] |
| 234 | !!Lyla |
| 235 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kndwrs_lyla.png]] |
| 236 | |
| 237 | A mysterious child who walks around with a cap and a whistle. For some reason, the New World Order is after her. |
| 238 | ---- |
| 239 | * ChildrenAreInnocent: The Principal reiterates a previously made promise to Lyla that she would grow up with a normal, comfortable happy childhood free from worry. |
| 240 | * ClingyChild: Lyla looks constantly eager to hold onto Doug. It causes her to tag along with Dandelion and stow away on Sylvia's van just to be with him during the Parents' Day arc. |
| 241 | * IJustWantToBeNormal: When she sees her classmates leave the kindergarten with their parents, Lyla pleads with Doug to take her outside, but the Principal forbids her. |
| 242 | * LivingMacGuffin: It's heavily implied that Kindergarten Noir was created to protect Lyla specifically, and various assassins, especially the New World Order, are after her for some currently unknown reason. |
| 243 | * MysteriousWaif: Lyla is a small and mysterious little girl, hinted to be a key part of the the manga's overarching plot and being kept away from something or someone. |
| 244 | * PrecociousCrush: She seems really attached to Doug. |
| 245 | * TheQuietOne: She mostly communicates through blowing her whistle, and it's not known if she can even talk. |
| 246 | [[/folder]] |
| 247 | |
| 248 | !New World Order |
| 249 | [[folder:Leo]] |
| 250 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2023_09_20_174621.png]] |
| 251 | Rita's twin brother. A skilled assassin working for New World Order. |
| 252 | ---- |
| 253 | * AffablyEvil: Leo straddles the line between this and FauxAffablyEvil. On one hand, much of his personable demeanor is tinged with open contempt and bloodlust for those at the Kindgarten. However, none of it seems to be an act; [[StrawNihilist he genuinely believes that assassins cannot live normal lives]], so why bother trying to be anything other than a killer? |
| 254 | * CainAndAbel: The Cain to Rita's Abel. |
| 255 | * {{Foil}}: To his twin sister Rita. Rita, despite her past, has genuinely resolved to do everything she can to one day live a normal life and find happiness. Leo, on the other hand, seems to be entirely resigned to his life as a killer, repeatedly expressing his belief that assassins like them cannot ever leave killing behind them. |
| 256 | * HalfIdenticalTwins: He and Rita look like the exact same person, to the point that Hana mistakes them for each other even when Leo is wearing a completely different outfit. He's able to convincingly disguise himself as Rita at one point but is quickly caught by Doug. |
| 257 | * TheHeavy: He actually answers to someone even above him on the New World Order totem pole, but, for the plot, he acts as the central antagonist. |
| 258 | * ImpostorForgotOneDetail: He's able to flawlessly masquerade as his twin sister at Kindergarten Noir, but is quickly found out by Doug when he refers to him as "Doug-senpai", which is not something Rita does. |
| 259 | * PsychologicalProjection: When Leo sees [[spoiler:Rita cry over Luke's death]], he gets pissed over Rita "pretending" to be normal. It's all but stated to be projection on his part, with him deliberately ignoring the truth that assassins like him and Rita ''can'' change and leave killing behind them. |
| 260 | * StrawNihilist: In sharp contrast to his twin sister Rita, Leo staunchly believes that assassins cannot change nor can ever leave killing behind them, and as such has completely resigned himself to continue killing as he always had. |
| 261 | -->''"It's always only Hell that awaits us killers. Wherever we go, we'll always be murderers. No matter the reasons we had, '''happiness will never come for us. Never.'''"'' |
| 262 | [[/folder]] |
| 263 | |
| 264 | [[folder:Ashley]] |
| 265 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2023_09_20_175027.png]] |
| 266 | A shy assassin of monstruous skill that works as Leo's bodyguard. |
| 267 | ---- |
| 268 | * BadassAdorable: Ashley is very cute, being a shy bespectacled young woman who is head-over-heels for Leo. She's also an extremly competent bodyguard with superhuman levels of strength. |
| 269 | * EpicFlail: Her weapon is a flail that she can swing with such power it can break though concrete with ease. Unfortunately for her, it means that she can't help Leo when his opponents are close to him. |
| 270 | * SmittenTeenageGirl: Her entire behavior around Leo, becoming happy and giggly whenever he gives her attention or praise. |
| 271 | * SuperStrength: She has enough strength a large area of a street with just one swing of her flail. |
| 272 | [[/folder]] |
| 273 | |
| 274 | !! Hired Assassins |
| 275 | [[folder:Natasha]] |
| 276 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kndwrs_natasha.png]] |
| 277 | ->''You see, I've always wished for a toy... a toy that won't break no matter what.'' |
| 278 | An assassin of similar monstruous skill as Rita, but wielding a katana. She has long wanted a direct confront with "The Witch", seeing her as her only possible equal. |
| 279 | ---- |
| 280 | * AlasPoorVillain: Natasha, unlike most of the other assassins, gets a sympathetic death, where she realizes that [[IJustWantToBeLoved she just wanted to be loved]] and that she could have been friends with the caretakers of Kindergarten Noir if they hadn't met as enemies. |
| 281 | * BeingEvilSucks: What her "boredom" ultimately ended up being. She initially thought she was no longer finding joy in killing due to having no equal, but in reality she had gotten sick of killing and just wanted friends. |
| 282 | * DyingDream: [[spoiler:Natasha dies imagining herself as a teacher at Kindergarten Noir, surrounded by people she can call her friends.]] |
| 283 | * KnightOfCerebus: Natasha is both much more dangerous as an enemy to her and much more well developed as a character than anything prior. Her death is both one of the biggest tearjerkers at the beginning of the series and also precedes the introduction of Lyla and the MythArc of the series. While the series by no means loses the comedic tone from early on, Natasha's story is what clues the reader into the fact that the manga isn't going to shy away from punching them in the gut. |
| 284 | * ShadowArchetype: She is a quite dark version of Rita. They're the same as far as their history, personality, and even skills go; Natasha being the first one to match Rita in skill. That being said, Rita realized pretty early that killing had left her with an unhappy life and wanted out so she could find people she could love and befriend, where as Natasha only has the realization that she hated killing and desperately wanted a friend only right before she died. |
| 285 | [[/folder]] |
| 286 | |
| 287 | [[folder:Silver Family Sisters]] |
| 288 | |
| 289 | [[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2023_10_01_081533.png]] |
| 290 | [[caption-width-right:500:From left to right: Stacy, Nancy, Gracy, Tracy, and Cathy]] |
| 291 | |
| 292 | A team of maid assassins who infiltrate the kindergarten on Parents' Day. |
| 293 | ---- |
| 294 | * AlasPoorVillain: The sympathetic death of four of the maids since they never wanted to be assassins to begin with when reading about their backstory. |
| 295 | * ForcedIntoEvil: The five of them were coerced into a life of killing as children by their parents' killers under the threat of destroying their childhood home. |
| 296 | * {{Meido}}: They're a team of maid assassins, down to using explosive roombas in combat. |
| 297 | * {{Netorare}}: Cathy, one of the sisters, enjoys reading Shoujo manga stories about infidelity. You can imagine how well that goes with [[SeriousBusiness Luke]]. |
| 298 | * RhymeThemeNaming: Their individual names are Stacy, Nancy, Gracy, Tracy, and Cathy. |
| 299 | * SiblingTeam: As the name would suggest, they're all sisters. |
| 300 | * SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Just like Rita, all of them are looking to find a hot boyfriend. |
| 301 | * SoleSurvivor: Of the sisters, Gracy is the only one to survive their fight with the teachers, as unlike the others she had no real combat skills and didn't pose a threat to the children. |
| 302 | [[/folder]] |
| 303 | |
| 304 | [[folder:Aoba]] |
| 305 | !! Aoba Niwa |
| 306 | [[quoteright:630:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/glyfkwnbuaaqc1c.jpg]] |
| 307 | |
| 308 | A gambling addict assassin that lives as a vagrant in between jobs due to burning through all his money. |
| 309 | ---- |
| 310 | * AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Luke defeats him by chopping off both of his feet with a sword swing.]] |
| 311 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: An overall friendly and joyful guy with a gambling addiction, but also a deadly assassin, who can not only keep up with the Kindergarten Teachers, but [[spoiler:outright kill them.]] |
| 312 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: His battle style involves carrying a basket full of swords on his back and drawing more of them instead of using only one as he keeps discarding weapons. This makes him get progressively faster as he has to carry less and less weight to move, however, this also leaves the battle field littered with readily available weapons he discarded often for no reason. [[spoiler:Luke uses one of his discarded swords to chop off his legs.]] |
| 313 | * ShadowArchetype: An even darker one to Natasha, who is already one to Rita. They all share the incredible talent for killing and even share a scene that shows multiple of their victims heads in the manga panels, but unlike the other two, he never got bored of it, and never really felt any issue with it because he feels that everybody else is just so much weaker than him. Compare this with Rita, who does want to leave that life behind, and Natasha, who just couldn't realize she didn't like killing either. |
| 314 | [[/folder]] |
| 315 | ! Other |
| 316 | |
| 317 | [[folder:Shaw Bradley]] |
| 318 | !! Shaw Bradley |
| 319 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shaw.png]] |
| 320 | Hana's beloved older brother. He's kidnapped by his and Hana's father and turns himself in once he's set free. |
| 321 | ---- |
| 322 | * TheAtoner: He feels deeply guilty for his life as an assassin and decides to turn himself in upon being rescued. |
| 323 | * BigBrotherInstinct: He was the only person who really showed Hana kindness growing up. |
| 324 | * DistressedDude: He's kidnapped by his father, Harry Bradley. Rita tries to start a RescueRomance with him, but it doesn't quite pan out. |
| 325 | * PrettyBoy: Rita seems to consider him attractive, which is why she tries (and fails) to start a relationship with him. |
| 326 | [[/folder]] |
| 327 | |
| 328 | [[folder:Harry Bradley]] |
| 329 | !! Harry Bradley |
| 330 | |
| 331 | Hana's and Shaw's father. |
| 332 | ---- |
| 333 | * AbusiveParents: As if him trying to kill both of his kids wasn't enough, he's shown beating Hana with a baseball bat in a flashback. |
| 334 | * AssholeVictim: He's blown sky-high by Rita and Doug, and he definitely had it coming. Even his own daughter tells him off right before he dies. |
| 335 | * DirtyCoward: He refused to ever go to Japan due to being so scared of confronting Rita, and later on when Rita has him at her mercy, he begs her to let him go. |
| 336 | * HateSink : He lacks any sympathetic or comedic traits compared to other assassins. A flashback shows him beating a very young Hana with a stick for failing training. In the present, despite promising to spare Hana and her brother if she kills Rita, only for him to attempt to kill both anyway. |
| 337 | * ILied: He made a deal with Hana: kill Rita and he will forgive her and her brother for failing a mission. After Hana seemingly kills Rita, he to tries to kill both of them anyway. |
| 338 | --> Did you really believe that deal? Foolish girl. |
| 339 | * JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: While he was clearly an asshole from the get-go, he at least came off as a ConsummateProfessional who keeps his word on matters of business. Turns out [[ILied he's not even that]]. |
| 340 | [[/folder]] |
| 341 | |
| 342 | [[folder:Oliver Austin]] |
| 343 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0061_005.png]] |
| 344 | |
| 345 | Luke's former boss and partner. |
| 346 | ---- |
| 347 | * ConnectedAllAlong: [[spoiler:It's revealed that Oliver became Luke's enemy when he joined the New World Order that's been plaguing Kindergarten Noir throughout the series]]. |
| 348 | * DeathByOriginStory: It's a ForegoneConclusion that Luke ends up killing him. Tragically, it's shown that the two of them [[WeUsedToBeFriends were genuinely close]] during their time as police officers. |
| 349 | * EccentricMentor: He's quite an oddball, and he was Luke's mentor during his rookie years. |
| 350 | * FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:He becomes a terrorist working for the New World Order, and takes it upon himself to lead the assassination attempt on Luke]]. |
| 351 | * HiddenDepths: Despite his typically goofy behavior, Oliver has a surprisingly bleak outlook on humanity. When Luke introduces him to Tina and walks a drunk Oliver home, he goes on a tangent about the Mouse Utopia Experiment, expressing his belief that society is inevitably going to fall apart. [[spoiler:This ends up being his motivation to join the New World Order]]. |
| 352 | * RomanticWingman: When Luke falls head over heels for Tina after meeting her, Oliver is the one who gives him the push to pursue a relationship with her. |
| 353 | [[/folder]] |
| 354 | |
| 355 | [[folder:Tina Roberts]] |
| 356 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0060_003.png]] |
| 357 | |
| 358 | Luke's deceased girlfriend. |
| 359 | ---- |
| 360 | * DamselInDistress: [[spoiler:She's taken hostage by Oliver and the New World Order when they're staging their assassination attempt on Luke. Although she tells Luke to run, she ends up giving him the motivation to take a life to save her.]] |
| 361 | * DeathByOriginStory: It's a ForegoneConclusion that Tina ends up getting killed by Oliver, though exactly how and why it came to that is the main focus of Luke's backstory. |
| 362 | * TheLostLenore: Even after she's passed away, Luke still holds her in his heart. |
| 363 | * NiceGirl: Luke's backstory shows that she was a kindhearted young woman who was always there to give Luke a shoulder to lean on. |
| 364 | * {{Otaku}}: She's shown to be a massive fangirl of Shoujo manga, with her seemingly having been the one who got Luke into the genre. |
| 365 | * SweetTooth: It's shown that Luke got his... interesting tastes in sweets directly from her with her serving up a cherry-topped ice cream, peanut btter, chocolate chip, caramel sauce, condensed milk, honey, and whipped cream cookie sandwich (with marshmallows) to Oliver when he visits them. |
| 366 | [[/folder]] |
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