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Studio Daikokuten
Yonagi Kei
A 16-year-old high school girl who found herself alone to raise her two younger siblings after their mother's death. She's scarily talented at acting, but her peculiar way of acting hinders her chances of becoming a professional actress.
- Action Girl: She's good at running & swimming, and once delivered a flying kick as an extra.
- Actor/Role Confusion: A problem for Kei that prevented her from being an actor in the first place. With Sumiji's training and cemented by realizing how much of a problem she would bring at the Death Island audition, she gradually breaks free from it.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Kei fits this to a tee, with her long black hair and distant demeanor. She is a nice girl deep down, though.
- Berserk Button: Not a lot of things can make Kei angry outside of the set, but Sumiji calling her an amateur and telling her she can't act is a sure-fire way to rile her up.
- Her father is also one. She consciously refuses to take his checks* , and whenever she can refuses to even think of him. Hanako exploits this just before Rasetsunyo's opening night by revealing she had an affair with him, and the results are not pretty.
- Big Eater: During the Death Island arc she salivates on seeing a buffet of food and ate accordingly to her likes, although after her puking on set she tries stops this tendency.
- Character Development: After meeting with Sumiji and connecting with other people, she started to break free from using movie and acting to escape from reality and started to warm up to people and reality itself.
- Crosscast Role: Her performance as Campanella in the "Galactic Railroad" arc has her perform as a boy. She's taken aback before Nanao tells her that it isn't particularly uncommon in stage plays.
- Empathic Environment: At the start her ability is strong enough to generate this to everybody, as during the Stars Recruitment Contest her acting is able to get people to envision there is a big hungry dog attacking them in the forest. After the end of the Galactic Railroad arc, her improvement in her expression enables her, in a example, to have everybody around her running from an unspecified threat.
- Escapism: Kei admits that due to her mother's death leaving her and her siblings, she uses movies as a way to cope with the stressful situation and might have thought about wanting to leave it all behind to be in a world where everybody seems happy.
- Fun T-Shirt: Kei sports several of those, one depicting a sort of frog that deploys its tongue… which could be mistaken for it puking. Funnily enough, said t-shirt appears after an incident where Kei vomits on set. Another one is a plain white t-shirt with the word "bland" printed on it − so the other actors on the team decide to sign it against her protests to celebrate the end of shooting.
- Hand Puppet: What Kei uses to perform a puppet show before children and master the four basic facial expressions (joy, anger, pathos and humor), which she was struggling with. Even after that, she need time to perform these expressions without the puppets though.
- Heroic BSoD: A minor one regarding being the only person who's told from Iwao himself that he's dying of cancer. Get worse as her mother also died of illness without any warning.
- Honorary True Companion: To every other studio due to being the only talent in Studio Daikokuten, especially Stars as she has been tangibly involved with a staff from Stars in almost every major arc she's in, including Arisa herself being her manager for TV Commercial work.
- Improv: Kei is prone to going off-script. It causes conflict with many of her co-stars and directors.
- Idiot Hair: Kei's long, askew strand of hair emphasizes her quirky and slightly naive character, while creating a contrast with her "cool beauty" appearance. It's a family trait too, as both her late mother and her siblings sport a similar one.
- Irony: Kei is often compared to Hoshi Arisa, despite having no known past connections to her and her father's collection doesn't seem to have movies Arisa's starred in, hence Kei's neutral reaction towards her.
- It's All My Fault: When Kei auditions for Death Island along with Akane, Takemitsu and Misaki, they're told to improvise a situation where they start to all kill each other within five minutes. While the other three do their best to follow the setup, Kei completely loses track of it and "succeeds" almost by accident. Akane blames her a great deal for almost throwing all of their efforts out the window… and so does Kei, who realizes that her unpredictable acting causes problems for the other actors.
- Junior Counterpart: Her portrayal of Campanella reminds a stage critic of Hoshi Arisa despite seeing her act for the first time. When Iwao compares Kei to her when she was young, Arisa respods that Kei is way more troublesome than she was.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Despite being one of the lead actress for the "Double Cast" arc, she utterly has no idea of the behind-the-scenes sheningans before they're exposed to her.
- Not a day after the filming of the Princess Iron Fan is over, she finds herself working under Arisa in TV and commercial work, which is understandbly surprising for her.
- Lost in Character: While Kei's method acting allows her to create hyper-realistic performances (almost disturbingly so for those watching), this also often leads her to forgetting her surroundings and acting as if what's in the script were actually happening before her eyes. If the script tells her to passively watch her child being killed, she'll jump in front of the "killer" to prevent it. She even says that if Akane hadn't stopped her during the Death Island audition, she might have actually tried to kill someone for real.
- Method Acting: In-Universe − Kei is utterly unable to act a scene unless she can vividly feel the same emotions as her character, so either she recalls those emotions from her past experiences, or she finds a way to recreate them indirectly.
- Mood-Swinger: Her mood changes as fast as her thoughts. Like her happily playing with fireworks in one scene and then depressed talking about how short the life of a firework is in the next.
- My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: In chapter 69, Kei climbs a mountain to get into her "Princess Iron Fan" character and is accidentally pushed over the edge at the top. She then starts to see her family and all the people she encountered and interacted with since the start of the series, which gives her the determination to stretch out her hand to be saved at the last second.
- One Head Taller: In the high school arc, she makes a friend named Yoshioka, who's exactly one head shorter. This highlights their dynamic, as Kei has the role of the more experienced girl this time around and the shots often show how she towers over Yoshioka.
- Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: Her
Method Acting experience enables her to sweat on demand by visualizing that she has been running for an hour. - Parental Abandonment: Her mother died of illness and her father walked out of their family. Kei couldn't forgive him and even not touching the money he send to them despite their situation.
- Rags to Riches: More a side effect than a goal per se, but the substantial revenue that comes with her acting jobs isn't unwelcome to Kei.
- Secret-Keeper: Kei becomes this, much to her dismay, when Iwao reveals to her that he's going to die soon, because the character she has to play (Campanella in Night on the Galactic Railroad) is a young boy who is dead and aware of it. Iwao then proceeds to tell her about his own experience to help her grasp the character.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: While Kei's classmates describe her as "emotionless" at school, and it takes a lot to faze her, she's actually pretty easy to talk to and can sometimes get excited like a child in front of something new.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Despite being in poverty, she grows up to be attractive to onlookers, making up for her total lack of sex appeal, which Araya pointed out to be a problem for her in the future. She's also taller than every other female character (save for Wakatsuki in the Death Island arc) at 168cm according to the official site, which makes her stand out all the more.
- The Unsmile: Played for Laughs in the first chapter, when Rei asks her big sister to smile for a change. When the result is something rather creepy, Kei says that she's not used to using these muscles.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: In-Universe, Kei takes advantage of this. When she has to act in a particularly violent scene, the shock makes her vomit for real, which isn't in the script… so she deliberately ducks to vomit offscreen and gets back up again to finish the scene as if nothing had happened.
Kuroyama Sumiji
A 35 year old filmmaker and director of Studio Daikokuten, whose only affiliated actor ends up being Kei.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Sumiji might be a hot-blooded and idealistic guy whose recruiting methods can involve kidnapping a girl on her way to school, but he sure knows how to make Kei aware of her flaws and potential.
- Doing It for the Art: In-Universe − before meeting Kei to develop her into making his masterpiece, he had never actively sought fame in Japan and his works are not profitable. However, he still realistic enough to show Yonagi's the uncool side of the entertainment industry (starring in commercials & being an extra) in order to make a living as an actor and would rather work within the rules Arisa set in the industry.
- Face–Heel Turn: Downplayed. He's put in charge of directing team B (Araya and Chiyoko) for the "Double Act arc because of Arisa. In chapter 69, he tells Yonagi point-blank that he's dedicated to making sure his team succeeds, not hers, and in chapter 76 he flat-out admits to himself via internal monologue that he wants to help Chiyoko succeed against Yonagi.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: In-Universe, it's noted in the pilot and the real-fake Daikokuten website
that he's much more popular overseas than in Japan. - Heroic Comedic Sociopath: In the one-shot "Asagaya Geijutsu Koukou Eizou-ka e Youkoso", he's treated as an inspiring figure to Yuki (sort of) but will also routinely send insults and death threats at his students, and even tries to strangle Yuki after she pissed him off. It's all Played for Laughs but would probably get him fired very quickly in real life.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: He's good at fashion coordination when he dresses up Yonagi.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Due to Sumiji's fascination with Kei and his rather questionable methods for approaching her at first, Kei and her siblings casually come to the conclusion that this might be his motivation. It's all Played for Laughs, but she does give him a good punch when he casually abducts her in his van.
- Signature Style: Specialized in documentary work.
Hiiragi Yuki
Sumiji's diminutive assistant, apprentice filmmaker and only other employee before Kei joins them. She's 20 years old, but met with Sumiji back when she was 15.
- Beleaguered Assistant: She does respect Sumiji as a director but clearly needs a break when it comes to his way of managing things.
- Dark and Troubled Past : Downplayed; her mother frequently brought men home and would ask her to stay holed up in her room watching movies to avoid scaring those men off, making her develop a pretty sheltered personality.
- Hero of Another Story: She is the protagonist of the one-shot "Asagaya Geijutsu Koukou Eizou-ka e Youkoso", which tells of her meeting with Sumiji in film school.
- Fangirl: For Araya.
- Team Mom: For Kei and her siblings; she's actually more of a sisterly figure to Kei, but she frequently takes care of the kids in her absence.
Stars Agency
Hoshi Arisa
Director of the Stars agency, who used to be an acting prodigy before quitting for unknown reasons. Unlike Sumiji, she doesn't think that Kei should become an actress.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: It may be too late to repair the damage she's done to her relationship with Akira, but deep down she does care for him. During the Commercial arc, she cites her main reason to help Yonagi as "so no one's cheeks will have to hurt from fake smiling again", referring to a far off memory when a child Akira complained about doing his phoney smiling all the time for the press.
- Boring, but Practical: Her motto for Stars is focusing on producing orthodox and on trend entertainment while cultivating actors with a priority of maintaining their mental state. Likely why she doesn't think Kei would be a good fit for her agency.
- The Cavalry: In "Double Cast" arc, with a day left Sumiji asked her to help Chiyoko develop a state where her emotions are bared on the moment.
- Constructive Criticism: When reviewing Chiyoko's work in Death Island, she states Chiyoko's performance is perfect except for her breaking her mask in the climax. However, she reasoned the success of the movie comes to Chiyoko's transformation, but notes it's a novelty that will grow old.
- Cruel to Be Kind: In the past, when Akira obtained fame as a child actor at age 10, she shows him articles noting that some of his fame are related to her in order to make him quit acting quickly while at least retaining bittersweet memories before it is too late. This however backfired as Akira instead choose to keep acting.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Iwao comments that 20 years ago Arisa was almost identical to Kei in some way and he was partially involved in something that caused Arisa to have a pragmatic personality in the present.
- Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight: Her experiences in the industry ended up making her jaded towards it, but since she's been in the industry for so long she changed to working behind the scenes instead, attaining similar success in the field as well.
- Ice Queen: Played with, she does not look friendly at first glance and she wields enough power as the director of an entertainment agency to ruin Ogami's career because he didn't want to play by her rules. However, she's open enough to work with the director who ruined her career as an actress and willing to let a director open a separate agency just to develop an aspiring, but dangerous actress that will not fit well with her agency and repeat the same mistake as Ogami.
- I Gave My Word: To pay a debt towards Sumiji for saving both Ogami's & Chiyoko's future, she willing to become Yonagi's manager and support her decisions for a while.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: After a business consultation with Iwao in the past, she passed by Araya and instantly tells him not to become an actor. Unbeknownst to her, before that Araya has no intentions of becoming an actor in the first place and the story between her & Iwao fascinates him to become one.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Despite the overwhelming praise for Kei during her participation of the Stars recruitment contest, Arisa overruled everyone by choosing Sen as the winner because she feel Kei's acting is too dangerous and the entertainment industry (specifically, the directors) would destroy her.
- Stage Mom: Hoshi Akira works under her. However, while Arisa has plans on how Akira would develop as an actor note , she admitted she doesn't have any expectations of him being spectacular. Not only that, chapter 42 reveals that she initially didn't want Akira to be an actor, because she doesn't think he can find happiness in that job. He's the one who wanted to make a name for himself, not as "Hoshi Arisa's son".
- Villain Respect: Downplayed, Arisa is more pragmatic than villainous towards to Sumiji & Kei, as she's content with Kei's development from Sumiji's training and doesn't use her powers to stop their progress at the start, even letting Kei join in the Death Island production. After the end of the Galactic Railroad Arc, she admits she can't stop Kei from being an actress, warning her to be aware of the dark side of showbiz and asks Sumiji to take care of her well-being. That said she will always prioritize her agency first, with nominating Sumiji as Team B's director in order to protect & develop Chiyoko for the Ratsesunyo arc.
- White-Dwarf Starlet: Averted, while she was famous and skilled enough to be considered a Living Legend in the past, when she quit acting she switched to management in the entertainment industry.
- Worthy Opponent: Towards Sumiji after he decides to manage Kei in a separate agency, knowing his final project might topple her ideology towards acting & and the industry itself. Sometimes they discuss about Kei's progress at her office and having him (over her agency's team) to direct Chiyoko's team during the Ratsesuyno's arc because she feels he's the most stable director to keep Chiyoko safe. She is also willing to help Sumiji to improve's Chiyoko's performance in the Ratsesunyo arc.
Momoshiro Chiyoko
The most famous actress of the Stars agency, nicknamed "the angel" and cast for the lead role in the movie Death Island. She's rather impenetrable but quickly takes a liking to Kei.
- Angel Unaware: In-Universe, she portrays herself as this and it is even her nickname. In the movie's announcement for Death Island, she jumps around a movie audience room like clouds without letting the photographers capture her face.
- Big Damn Heroes: During the filming of Death Island a typhoon is threatening the production, mainly the climax starring Yonagi & her. When the production crew tried to convince Tezuka & Yonagi to scrap the scene, she's the one to convince the crew to push through in order to quickly finish the shoot.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Definitely seems this way in the first few chapters she appears in. In fact, when Yonagi finally meets her for the first time, Chiyoko is busy smiling while also hiding an angry side when talking to Yonagi.
- Character Development: After the "Double Cast" Arc, Chiyoko realizes that she can develop beyond her idol role and willing to act even when being old.
- Childhood Friends: With Akira, as fellow child actors.
- The Comically Serious: She can make jokes, but due to her seriousness (like telling Yonagi to protect her face while any other part is fair game or charging Yonagi to sign her shirt) Yonagi often interprets it as real until Chiyoko says she's joking.
- Consummate Professional: She is very strict in maintaining the professionalism of the crew and is willing to see the production to be done without any delays, which is why Kei doesn't think they could get along initially. During the Death Island arc, when the titular film's final scene is being filmed in the climax, her reaction when being swept away by the flood is apologizing towards Tezuka & Kei for delaying their filming schedule due to how her injuries will affect the shoot, over being injured herself.
- Despair Event Horizon: After Team A first performance, while knowing her team has won she feels depressed because she can't beat Yonagi in her emotions and authenticity.
- Don't Look At Me: In her past, once she developed self-conscious, she starts to wonder how other people see her, making her scared of the outside world until Arisa scouted her.
- Driven by Envy: Discussed by herself when she watch Kei's performance in the Galactic Railroad, pondering at she missed the chance to join Iwao's performance at least once.
- And later, brought to the forefront during the "Double Cast arc. The arc kicks off because she strikes a deal with Amachi to perform in a double-cast play where she and Yonagi play the same role in direct competition with each other. In chapter 76, she gets a monologue to Kuroyama about her jealousy of Yonagi's natural talent when compared to her carefully cultivated virtual personality.
- Foil: Chiyoko acts as one to Kei. The latter's problem is that she blurs the line between fiction and reality and is genuine in all circumstances, while the former never immerses herself in fiction and constantly plays the role of the "perfect angel" for the audience, to the point it's hard to know when her smile is sincere or not.
- Former Child Star: An issue that comes at the forefront in the Rasetsunyo arc − she has carefully cultivated the image of an "angel" ever since her childhood, but is aware that people will soon grow tired of it and her fame will start to fade. She hopes to outperform Kei in the dual casting and change her image to defy that fate.
- Friend to Bugs: Unbeknownst to her fans she likes bugs, though she has her favorites.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: She lampshades this regarding Kei, as it took her 10 years in order to become who she is now, while the other prodigies (especially Kei and Ogami) have the "X factor" that allows them to catch up in a way shorter period.
- Hidden Depths: She is aware that a made-up personality like her has a limited lifespan, so to develop further against the natural Yonagi she works with Amachi despite his reputation and the risk of being the representative of Stars competing against the actress whom Stars rejected and the actor who rejected Stars.
- Mood-Swinger: Her tactic when playing as Princess Iron Fan, where she changes from Angel (where her beauty is shown at the forefront) to Demon (who shows her devilish side) according to the script.
- One-Take Wonder: She's Famed In-Universe for being a recurrent example of these. Her first line after being introduced is about never having been asked to do a retake.
- Stepford Smiler: Chiyoko always wears what she calls her "mask" to give off the image that her nickname (the Angel) suggests, as if she were constantly acting out a role even off-set.
- Sweet Tooth: Downplayed; while her favorite foods are listed as whipped cream, biscuits and marshmallows in her profile, she also likes sea cucumber and seaweed.
Hoshi Akira
An actor from Stars and son of its stern director Hoshi Arisa. He's known for his role in the tokusatsu show Ultra Kamen.
- Alone in a Crowd: While he and Kei integrated well into Tenkyuu despite being newcomers for Iwao's last stage play, he felt left behind as he couldn't act as well as them (especially since his participation is caused by an accident). His past as an aspiring actor shows him feeling lonely in the entertainment industry due to lack of remarkable results, consciously shutting himself up when he's not improving himself.
- Break the Cutie: At age 10 he realized his fame comes from his relation to Arisa over his skills, causing him to stay at his room for 3 days just to figure out how to improve his acting.
- The Bus Came Back: Returns after his absence from the "Double Cast" arc, accompanying Kei in her participation on the Motoi Pharmecuticals commercial.
- Character Development: During the titular play of the "Galactic Road" arc, when Akira encounters stage fright and decides to play it safe until he can master his role later, Kei as Campenella unconsciously ad-libs and asks him whether everybody will forgive him for sacrificing himself (as he plays a bit character who convinces himself that God has a plan in store for them after they die). This makes Akira realize that in the world of acting, there's no perfect response, prompting him to answer "Campanella" with his real feelings. It ended up making him more expressive than usual despite him turning his back to the audience.
- Childhood Friends: With Chiyoko, as fellow child actors.
- Determinator: His biggest gripe in his career in the acting world is that despite the reality showing him that he won't make it as an exemplary actor, he is too obsessed with acting and not willing to quit.
- Deuteragonist : For the "Galactic Road" arc. While the story still resolves around Kei, the arc also fleshes out his character, backstory, motivations and his growth as an actor.
- Foil: For the "Galactic Road" arc, Akira serves as this to Kei when they both joined Iwao's production, starting off as the weakest links in the group. Kei lacks the emotional range and technical training Akira has, but is able to immerse herself in roles with infectious realness; meanwhile Akira is a well-trained child actor that Kei uses as a way to understand how to emote, but even he's not good at delving deeply in his emotions,causing a lack of pizzazz in his performance.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: Played with. While he worked hard enough to be nationally known, his acting skills are not as aspired to. In his chapter, he admits that despite him vowing to make a name for himself, he sometimes wanted to escape and may rely more on his connections. This complex has gotten worse after he met Kei.
- I Am Not Spock: In-Universe, Akira gets pretty annoyed when people (including Kei) call him "Ultra Kamen", a character he plays in a TV show.
- Nepotism: Subverted when he joined Iwao's production, which is because of a potential scandal with Kei caused by Araya, so his mother & manager Arisa needs an excuse to reduce the potential damage. Fortunately for her Iwao agrees to do it as a way to atone for contributing to her career ending, contrasting with her lack of faith towards Akira.
- Also defied when it's revealed that Arisa was initially less than enthused at her son becoming an actor, and that Akira wants to make a name for himself to prove to people he's not just the son of Arisa.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: A trait that he has gripes with. At the start of the series, he's famous and likable enough to be well-known around Japan, but he doesn't have the acting ability to be aspired to.
- The Perfectionist: His internal monologue in chapter 43 is about his perfectionist tendencies and how they get in the way of his acting, due to his Strictly Formula upbringing.
- Put on a Bus: For the "Double Cast" arc he decided to travel overseas for an unknown project and inform Momoshiro he will come back when the play starts.
- Pretty Boy: He is a well-known handsome actor, and has a more delicate and cute appearance compared to other actors like Araya or Riku.
- Ship Tease : In-Universe with Kei, when she's seen clinging to him with several journalists present, which triggers rumors of a relationship between them. Later he develops a fascination for her as an actress, but it's unknown yet if he holds romantic feelings. He even shows some annoyance when Araya starts acting close to her.
- The Unfavorite: Compared to Chiyoko, for Arisa's attention. This is despite the fact that he is Arisa's only known child.
- Wingding Eyes: He's usually drawn with star shaped pupils or highlights, a trait he shares with his mother.
Wakatsuki Sen
An actress for Stars who won the latest Stars recruitment contest, due to Arisa personally chosen her over Kei despite everybody in the room openly praising Kei's skills at the last contest.
- Action Girl: Her preferred movies are all about girls kicking butt, she also have some physical hobbies such as kickboxing and sword fighting (the latter which she applies during the Death Island arc)
- The Bus Came Back: Joined Team B Momoshiro & Araya in the "Double Cast" arc.
- Friendly Rival: She meets Takemitsu at a subway station in chapter 80. Despite the two being on opposite teams, they are very cordial with each other, likely due to them both working "Death Island" earlier.
- Hard Work Fallacy: Grapples with this. She wants to succeed on her own merits and with her own talent. However, she wins a Stars audition because Arisa refuses to even consider Yonagi despite most of the crew (including Wakatsuki herself) thinking her to be the best actress at the audition, which she views as a Pyrrhic Victory. She later gets a part in Rasetsunyo Team B, only to find out that her connection to Death Island is being used to sell tickets to the play, which she isn't thrilled about.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Having a complex of winning over Kei, during the Death Island arc when Kei jumps from a cliff despite the scene should be made as a composite scene, she's willing to follow suit just to not lose against her.
- Pyrrhic Victory: How she sees her victory over Kei at the contest, feeling undeserved to be recruited by Stars. Though for Arisa who is already determined not to choose Kei, compared to the other 2 when Kei starts her first reaction to Sumiji's elaboration of a feral dog she's the only other person to show a visible physical reaction (protecting an actress with her hands from the dog) before Kei completely takes over the scene. Additionally, her self imposed determination and professionalism as an actor makes her a good fit for Arisa's agency.
- Self-Deprecation: Sumiji points out this as her flaw, as she wants to be acknowledged as an actress, but also knew she lack the ability to even lament at her situation.
- Skewed Priorities: When Araya admits he didn't know who Ichiko and Shiraishi is because he doesn't have a TV, she chastises him for not having one, ignoring the person (Chiyoko) who told him.
- Those Two Guys: She becomes close with fellow Stars actor Donoue Ryuugo before the Death Island arc, though there's no Ship Tease between them for now. Also subverted, as her bus comes back for the Ratsesunyo arc but his doesn't.
Donoue Ryuugo
An actor with Stars and one of the cast members for Death Island, Ryuugo is a Strictly Formula actor. Kei, as established earlier, is not. This causes some tension between the two on set.
- Jerkass: Towards Yonagi. He's the one who christens her "puke-girl" after she pukes on-set, and outright says he utterly refuses to recognize her as an actress at the end of chapter 14. He's also that douche with a guitar at the wrap-up party.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He does, however, point out that Kei losing herself in the role and jumping off a waterfall (forcing Akane & Wakatsuki to do so as well just to keep up with her), she could have injured herself (and, for that matter, caused Akane & Wakatsuki to injure themselves in turn) and she did cause a 3 hour delay from the production's schedule.
- Put on a Bus: Implied; as of current edits, he hasn't appeared since watching the Galactic Railroad as an audience, presumably due to him working on other roles.
- Running Gag: He finishes shooting in Chapter 13, but sticks around until the end of the arc. This gets commented on numerous times, usually in the form of "You finished shooting, why are you still here?" and variants thereof.
- Those Two Guys: With Wakatsuki for the Death Island arc.
Tezuka Yukiji
A film director working under Stars, who Yonagi joins his film production Death Island.
- The Casanova: He likes beautiful women who are emotionally mature and of age, but is bad with them.
- The Cavalry: In the "Double Cast" arc, with a day left Sumiji asked him to help Chiyoko develop a state where her emotions are bared on the moment.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Downplayed as he's stilled a competent director, but the reason why Arisa hired him is because of his ability to enhance Chiyoko's unnatural beauty.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He's once blacklisted from the industry for making a lead actress cry for rejecting one too many takes before being recruited by Stars.
- Fan Boy: Some of the manga's flavor text reveals that he's one for Francis Ford Coppola's body of work
- Green Thumb: Likes raising houseplants as a hobby
- Yes-Man: He became this after being recruited by Stars, for the reason mentioned in Dark and Troubled Past.
Amachi Shin'ichi
A producer working under Stars, who develops a fascination with Yonagi after Iwao's funeral.
- Manipulative Bastard: While everybody knows his shady behavior, after Yonagi's School Life Arc he manages to convince Arata (to improve his name recognition) and Chiyoko (to develop a new her) to star in his next play in order to rope in Yonagi. He also roped in Riku by stating that Sumiji will also be directing the play.
- Token Evil Teammate: He knows that his methods can be seen as shady by the industry, including his boss Arisa.
- Villainous Rescue: Team B has won by default after Team A first performance ended with the cast deviating from the script to save Yonagi, but Amachi decides to stream their second performance instead as he needs to take care of their PR and profits.
Death Island Co-Stars
Yushima Akane
An actress (18) of the Kano Office that Kei met during the Death Island's auditions.
- Beware of the Nice Ones: Her strongest asset in acting is her intensity, contrasting her usually nice persona.
- Pursue the Dream Job: She quits high school in order to pursue acting, which is why she's furious at Kei during the auditions as she feels like Kei is fooling around.
- Took a Level in Kindness: At the auditions she gets angry at Kei for ruining her group's play due to Kei taking over the set, but later warmed up to the at the filming when she seems Kei is actually improving on the teamwork aspect of filming
Minamoto Masaki
An actor (17) affiliated with Kano Office, same as Akane Yushima.
- Deadpan Snarker: Much of his lines are sarcastic quips at the going-ons around him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Akane even puts him as such. He is introduced to the readers as someone who is condescending and cold to the newbie Yonagi, but is also willing to help her out despite his irritation.
- The Smart Guy: During Yonagi's take over on the Death Island Auditions, he plays the rational character in the group, citing the knowledge of their environment and calming Akane during the scene.
Karasuyama Takemitsu
An outgoing actor (18) affiliated with Gekiza Theatrical Company.
- The Bus Came Back: Joins Team A (Ougami & Kei) in the "Double Cast" Arc.
- The Idealist: Downplayed, while he knows that he & Wakatsuki are casted in order to promote the Death Island play, he ok with it since luck is also a factor for their careers.
- Large Ham: Very loud in person and aspires to be a Broadway actor in the future.
- Made of Iron: During a break after his first potrayal of Piggy, he bleeds his head by smacking to a wall in order to clarify his determination as an actor and later got stabbed by Princess Iron Fan (Yonagi) during the forgiveness scene with Tripitaka, after the play he's no worse for the wear.
- Nice Guy: Definitely seems like a friendly guy and even tries to cheer up Yonagi after their audition for the Death Island project supposedly goes south.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: He is initially reluctant to join The Rasetsunyo's production, but one of his dreams was to join one of Iwao's productions, and the latter's death made him realize that life has a time limit and want to push through his reluctance.
Kinashi Kanna
An amateur actress (15) and member of Bunka High School's Drama Club.
- Fangirl : to Kei, After seeing her acting when they acted together.
Tenkyu Theatrical Company
Iwao Yuujirou
A stage director at the twilight of his career, who wants to go out with a bang with his adaptation of Night on the Galactic Railroad.
- The Atoner: The reason for him establishing Tenkyuu, providing actors not seen as marketable or talented a chance to act, is because he ended Arisa's career.
- Cool Old Guy: Mostly. He's perceptive and understanding when you get to know him, although he also has some Grumpy Old Man traits.
- Determinator: Despite being in pain of pancreatic cancer, he held on until the first day of the stage play to train the actors.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: He will whip the actors in shape by any means necessary and someone training under him would be granted a faster rate of improvement than by normal means.
- Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Hoshi Arisa is willing to be in speaking terms with him years after he ended her career as an actress. But she has not forgotten the effects of the experiences that has done to her and utterly criticizes him for hiding his illness in order to improve his play, resulting in missing his final stage play.
- Info Dump: When it comes to history, he would explain in really long details.
- Your Days Are Numbered: As it turns out, he only has a few months left to live, hence why he told everyone that he would "retire" after Night on the Galactic Railroad. No one knows the truth except for Kei and Sumiji until the first day of the play starts.
Myoujin Araya
A famous stage actor known both for his incredibly vivid performances and his rather… out there personality off stage. He's part of the Tenkyuu troupe, helmed the legendary Iwao Yuujirou.
- Attention Whore: Partly why he becomes an actor in the first place is because he's wants to be the number one in Iwao's eyes after he heard about Arisa.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: A glass of alcohol is enough to make him collapse.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Araya is a talented actor for sure, but outside of that he is rather… odd. He will routinely tell people that they "smell", seems rather unaware of basic human politeness, and generally acts rather emotionless.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Before he was scouted by Iwao and became an actor, he lost his parents and went through a period as a wanderer.
- Even the Guys Want Him: In the flashback chapter, he mentions both men and women are attracted to him for some reason.
- Exhausted Eyebags: Araya constantly sports these, which somewhat emphasizes his impenetrable and "not quite all there" vibe.
- Hearing Voices: During his rehearsal with Chiyoko in the Ratsesunyo arc, he hear voices from his teams in the Tenkyu Thearatical company in order to not get swallowed up by his emotions.
- Malicious Misnaming: Downplayed, but he misname Akira Hoshi surname as Hori. This become a small Call-Back in the School Arc where Arata calls him Hori to avoid exposure.
- Method Acting:
- In-Universe − Araya outright experiences the living conditions of his characters. That can include holing up in the mountains for a month and hunting bears. And he does kill one.
- He behaves like a monkey when potraying Monkey King, which Yonagi discuss he might have learned it from a real monkey.
- The Tease: In Yonagi's POV when she met Araya in person, his comments about her being as smelly as raw bear meat and his close proximity note caused her to see it as harassment and made her cling to Akira, causing Akira to join Iwao's production by accident.
Sanzaka Nanao
23 year old stage actress, also a member of Tenkyuu, who was picked up by Iwao at a young age. She has a rather blunt character.
- Five Stages of Grief: After learning that Iwao is dying, she goes through denial, depression and acceptance within just a couple of hours. The depression phase strikes her so soon before her stage entrance that Kame considers replacing her if she doesn't get back on her feet. In the end, the acceptance comes when Kei talks to her, showing an almost surreal composure.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: When Nanao removes her glasses and unties her hair, she turns out to be quite the beauty. Kame suspects that she deliberately tries to pass as homely, though she objects to that.
- Throw It In!: In-Universe. Before her scene in Galactic Railroad, she pours water on herself to hide her tears and uses the wetness to mention she has drowned before arriving on the galactic train (her character died on the Titanic).
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Constantly bickering and snarking back-and-forth with Kametarou.
- Youthful Freckles: Supposedly they're here gives her a "homely" vibe (especially when we see her as a child).
Aota Kametarou
22-year-old stage actor and member of Tenkyuu.
- Butt-Monkey: When a bad thing happens in Tenkyuu, like Iwao getting mad, he will be the one on the receiving end. This benefits him when playing as Zanelli, as a lame character who feels no shame and doesn't care about his reputation.
- In Series Nick Name: His shortened named, Kame.
- The Tease: He likes to tease Akira about his relationship with Kei.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Nanao.
Princess Iron Fan Co-Stars
Ougami Riku
An actor who was affiliated with Stars Agency but then left it when he was 16 years old and went overseas for his acting career.
- Big Ego, Hidden Depths: He's introduced as a rather boisterous and egotistical celebrity (likely from his Hollywood fame). As the arc goes on, he does show himself to be a good team player and a creative actor.
- Bridal Carry: What he does to Kei after they exchanged lines in the airport and he feels like he found his match. Amusingly, instead of being outraged she just politely asks him to put her down with a neutral expression.
- Dark and Troubled Past: During the time as an actor from Stars, he got sick from Stars' manipulation and decides he wants out, this caused his to be blacklisted from the entertainment industry. Rather than going back to Stars again, he decides to move to Hollywood.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: As everyone points out, his screen presence is so overwhelming that he doesn't even need to try when he acts, which in turn means that even experienced actors can be very easily dwarfed in scenes with him. The reason he came back to Japan on Amachi's invitation is that he felt Kei had the potential to play opposite him without being swallowed up and Sumiji for being able to enchance the entire experience.
- Hidden Depths: Another reason he came back to Japan is that being Asian, he wants to find additional work aside from what Hollywood can offer him.
- Fall Guy: In the climax, he (with his co-workers' approval) hits off Yonagi's fan in order to save Yonagi's performace and took the heat from the news.
- Insufferable Genius: He's not a bad guy at heart, simply desperate to find an actor he can actually bounce off. But when he doesn't, expect him to act as he pleases and cancel his contracts, no matter how many people he puts in trouble in the process.
- Large and in Charge: By far the tallest character in the series, which emphasizes his sheer charisma.
- Locked Out of the Loop: He joins the Rasetsunyo's arc in the first place because he feels that Kei is able to enhance his already strong charisma and having Sumiji to direct them. When he found out that Sumiji is not the director, he threatens to storm out until Kei convinces him otherwise.
- Magnetic Hero: His specialty, being able to have everyone be attracted to him just with his aura alone. Hanako uses this trait to balance Kei's anger when the play started in order to calm the audience.
Asano Ichiko
20-year-old actress of the Office Berry Agency. She's a friend of Yuki from the film section of Asagaya Arts School, where they were taught by Sumiji.
- Berserk Button: Exploiting a person's trauma is hers. Hanako pushes it with her "Mistress" reveal, and much of chapter 83 is her going "what the hell, Hanako?!"
- Flash In The Pan Fad: Her experiences as a child actor thinks acting as this, since actors come & go and viewers will look for new faces, so her current mindset is to go with the flow and avoid thinking about it.
- Former Child Star: Downplayed. She started acting before she was 10 and starred in a TV drama back in her teenage years (which made her want to also make films), but unlike most examples she seems to be doing fine.
So Shiraishi
38-year-old actor of the Mifune club.
- The Atoner: For Ogami after he couldn't make him stay acting in Japan when Ogami's blacklisted by Arisa.
- Typecasting: He initially plays bevelonent roles due to having a calming aura, but after Ogami's departure he transitions with struggle, to become a go to guy for Yakuza films.
Yamanoue Hanako
30-year-old novelist who is directing her first stage play with "Princess Iron Fan".
- Meaningful Name: Lampshaded by Kei herself − they first meet at the top of a mountain, and "yama no ue" means exactly that.
- The Mistress: Minutes before the start of play's premiere, she reveals that she used to have an affair with Kei's father and that she was with him on the day of his wife's funeral. Just to make Kei that much angrier before she got on stage.
- Ms. Imagination: Invoked. Back in her childhood she had an Imaginary Friend called Fukiko the Koropokkuru, but as growing up made her more grounded and cynical, she stopped seeing her. Her goal as an artist is to get back that childish innocence and imagination that would allow her to see Fukiko again. Unfortunately, none of her paintings match her memory of said Koropokkuru, so she always burns them after completing them.
- Muse Abuse: She's been on both ends of the trope, both currently spoilers.
- She exploits her knowledge about Kei's family in order to heighten her emotions just before Princess Iron Fan starts.
- Her affair with Kei's father ended abruptly, and later on down the line, she found out he had used her as the basis for one of his novel characters.
- Renaissance Man: Regarding creative fields at least. She's already a talented novelist, painter and sculptor, and now she's trying her hand at playwriting.
Other
Yonagi Rei and Rui
Left: Rei, Right: Rui
Kei's younger twin sister and brother, whom she raises alone. They often call her out and can be surprisingly sharp for their age.
- Morality Chain: When discussing about Kei's siblings, she admitted that while she's not happy being in a situation of raising her siblings alone, they are the reason why Kei is able to retain part of her sanity from being too immersed in a world of movies until her meeting with Sumiji.
- Tempting Fate: In chapter 69, Rei notices that Kei has trouble with her new role and warns her that she'd better not "try to climb a volcano to get into character or something." Cue a sudden gleam in her sister's eye. Kei proceeds to climb the nearest mountain the next day.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Downplayed. They do behave like kids, but also have plenty of witty comments and snarky remarks to offer. They also have to be a little more mature than average kids, considering their family's situation.
- Women Are Wiser: Again, it's rather downplayed, but Rei does seem to be the more observant and down-to-earth of the two, with Rui being more emotional and enthusiastic overall. It's notably shown in a Christmas omake, where Kei wants to disguise herself as Santa to surprise the kids − Rei busts her immediately and tells her she doesn't need to do that, while Rui asks for an Ultra Kamen goodie.
Yoshioka Arata
Kei's classmate and member of cinema club.
Asahi Hina
Ghost member in the cinema club (she only uses the club room as a lounge), and quite hostile to Kei, whom she sees as a spoiled and haughty celebrity.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Gives one to Yonagi when Yonagi and Arata are trying to recruit her in helping them. About knowing the names of her & Arata despite being classmates for a while.
- Exhausted Eyebags: She has unusually pronounced eyelids under her eyes, but it's aparently natural. It gives her a slightly apathetic air.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While her is definitely hostile towards Kei due to not really knowing her, she does has a point that Kei has some ulterior motives in joining their cinema club (mainly using them as a way in order to get back to pro acting).
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: After a discussion with Kei on how to potray anger, she concludes that sadness and anger are almost the same, giving Kei an epiphany.
- Took a Level in Kindness: She's less harsh to (mainly) Yonagi & Arata after their movie convinces her their sincerity and becoming friends with them.
Hanai Ryouma
Ghost member in the cinema club like Hina, he only uses the club room as a lounge.
- The Ace : He was this to baseball club before his Game-Breaking Injury.
- Face of a Thug: People are quite scared him before he starts talking and turns out to be a reasonably nice, if a bit rough, guy.
- Game-Breaking Injury: His shoulder is the reason that make him quit baseball.
Arishima Ayumi
A student who attended Princess Iron Fan Stage Play as a spectator.
- Fangirl: to both Princess Iron Fans.
