A list of characters in Hatsukoi Zombie. It's a work in progress.
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Main Characters
Tarou Kurume
Tarou Kurume
The Protagonist of the story. After a head injury he winds up being able to see first love zombies.
- All Just a Dream: In chapter 20, after being hit by a football, Tarou wakes up holding hands with Eve, who has suddenly materialized, and immediately goes for a kiss with her. Then he really wakes up, and the "girl" he's about to kiss is a quite few decades older.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He has some skills due to being diversely educated in his childhood, but he prefers to not use a lot of energy due to it.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: He definitely prefers big boobs, if Eve is anything to go by. Exploited by Ibusuki and Ebino in the final arc, as they have the latter get a revealing bikini to appeal to his tastes and make him fall for her.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: It's also genetic as he mentions that he and his family have an extremely low tolerance. He's also gotten drunk from the smell.
- Cannot Spit It Out: He has a gut feeling that Ibusuki is a girl after a certain point, but he's afraid that if he pursues that route and gets it resolved, Eve will disappear. So in order to prevent that, he keeps a lid on it.
- Education Mama: Has one in his childhood, forcing him to learn everything to the point that he developed a Lazy Bum stance in the beginning of the story.
- Funny Afro: His hair is occasionally grabbed and deformed (or used as a flowerbed) by irritated people.
- Generation Xerox: It turns out that his grandfather can see first love zombies too, and had a similar situation to Tarou with his zombie Kyouko.
- He Cleans Up Nicely: Tarou does his part in getting the female vote by dressing up and getting shoes to give him more height. He does look better, but the trope is subverted; he's still rather plain compared to Ibusuki and the handsome ladykiller Koigaura, which serves to make them stand out in comparison.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Evidently, the men of the the Kurume family share pattern baldness. It first shows up as a simple large forehead, but eventually they lose more and more of their hair until it's reduced to the sides. Tarou's father and paternal grandfather have this problem, which worries Tarou immensely.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tarou is quite cynical, calculating and egocentric, but he occasionally shows signs of caring more than he lets on for the loves of people around him.
- Master of None: As is common in his family, he attended multiple classes in all kinds of subjects and is good at almost everything. However, since he is so lazy and his mother made him do too many different things, he never specialized himself in anything.
- The Matchmaker: Tarou ends up having to play this role due to his ability, much to his own dismay.
- Mistaken for Gay: Thinking that he will make Eve disappear, Tarou hurriedly goes to confess his love to Ibusuki. Of course, since he isn't really in love, it doesn't work... but now the whole school thinks he likes guys. After a while, he gets tired of trying to refute the rumors and decides to just go with it instead.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: His sister correctly surmised that Tarou's FLZ is based off of Ibusuki, that it began to manifest when he first fell in love with her as a child, and that he cares for it. What Tarou's sister didn't realize was that Eve grew unlike most FLZs, and isn't physically a child anymore—meaning the image she has in her head revolves around Tarou doting on and being enthralled by a seven year old tulpa.
- Oblivious to Love: It took him an awful long time to realize that Ebino likes him. To be fair, it took Ebino a long time as well to realize her feelings for Tarou and there are moments when he feels very attracted to her, which causes Eve to doze off or even fall asleep. He also doesn't realize that Ririsu still likes him, though this again is not exactly his fault, as she pretends to be a boy and is thus not interested. However, he has suspected (or at least wished) for a while that his first love is a girl.
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: It's notable that he still is attracted to Ririto, even if he is left to believe that his first love was a man. He still would rather it's actually a girl, and Eve is a constant reminder of this, as she hits all of his preferences.
Ririsu/Ririto Ibusuki
Ririsu/Ririto Ibusuki
Tarou's first love from kindergarten, who left Japan ten years ago. She disguises herself as a man. Soon after Tarou can see the First Love Zombies, she transfers to Tarou's school and class as "Ririto" Ibusuki. Like Tarou, she can see Zombies and has done so for the last ten years.
- Aborted Declaration of Love: It looks like Ibusuki prepared to tell Tarou about her actually being a girl and confess her love to him, but she stops herself with the former, and she intentionally drowns out her voice with the sound of festival drums so Tarou won't hear for the latter situation.
- A-Cup Angst: While it helps passes her into being a boy, she is hyper sensitive about her chest size.
- Berserk Button: Just mention the word "breasts" (like in "chicken breasts") in her hearing range can drive her nuts.
- Bifauxnen: She dresses as a boy, though she doesn't intend to do so forever.
- Blessed with Suck: How she saw her abilities to see FLZs, at least at first. You would think that being able to see that people are crushing on you is a pretty cool power, but it only made her scared (especially when she woke up and saw those flying girls), more self-conscious about herself and a bit sad that the one she knows is based off of her (Eve) has very little resemblance to her at all.
- Dude Magnet: In the past, she already attracted every boy around her. Since she can't ignore their attraction to her, she started to crossdress, which had the unfortunate side effect that she now looked like a beautiful bishounen, attracting the girls around her. And some men are still attracted to her, even though they don't know she is a girl.
- Tarou is still very much attracted to Ririsu, despite being led to believe that his first love was a guy. His first confession in high school was fake, but the whole school now thinks he is into men, especially because earlier he never showed interest in any woman. Subverted, as Tarou actually wishes "Ririto" is a woman, like his "ideal" woman and First Love Zombie, Eve.
- Haran Koigaura, The Casanova of the school, is instantly attracted to Ririto, not noticing that Ririto is supposed to be a guy. At the end of the student council president election, he falls for Ririto and desperately wants to deny that he could be into (very cute) men.
- Even the Girls Want Her: In her masculine disguise, every girl in her school has fallen in love with her, and quite a few outside of it find her handsome as well. Of all these girls, Kohaku stands out for still crushing on her despite knowing she's a girl.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Over the course of the story, the reader learns that Ririsu is extremely annoyed by the Zombies (which kind of forced her to crossdress) and would love nothing more than stop seeing them. However, when she and Tarou learn that his great-grandfather can see Zombies as well and apparently knows how to stop seeing them, she is hesitant to learn how, as then she wouldn't have a good reason to stick with Tarou anymore.
- Lust Object:
- To numerous boys when she left Japan and started seeing First Love Zombies. She crossdresses to prevent this.
- Also to Misao, much to "Ririto's" displeasure.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She can't stand the idea of having to look at First Love Zombies anymore and wants to be less of a burden on Tarou, so her ultimate goal is to get cured of her affliction and then exit his life forever so he can have closure. In the last arc, she also adds getting him together with Ebino to this plan.
- The Matchmaker: As reluctant as Tarou when she becomes this. Also tried to push Tarou and Ebino together to put Eve to sleep.
- New Transfer Student: Ibusuki starts the manga as a second year transfer, but eventually leaves come the end of that year. She transfers into another school under her real name and gender in the epilogue.
- Recursive Cross Dressing: She almost winds up be redressed as a girl in various situations.
- Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: "Ririsu" sound phonetically similar to how "Lilith" is pronounced in Japanese. Lilith, in the Old Testament, was Adam's first wife before he had Eve, fitting for a person who became Tarou's First Love.
- School Idol: "Ririto" is the male equivalent in school.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: After Ririsu gained the ability to see First Love Zombies, she realized that she could see a boy's crush and many crushed on her since from an early age on she was very cute. However, Zombies are modeled after the thoughts of their hosts and she doesn't like boys having perverted thoughts about her, which is why she began to dress as a boy and become "Ririto" instead. This again caused the girls to crush on Ririto, which incurred clingy girls and the jealousy of the boys. No matter how Ririsu dresses, she'll turn heads left and right.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Ririto "Eve" Ibusuki is a guy, but his mother made him wear girl's clothes when he was a child. Tarou isn't too pleased about the reveal. Or at least that's what Tarou is told. It turns out Ibusuki is a girl, but pretends to be a guy to prevent other guys from crushing on her and seeing First Love Zombies of herself. So she's a girl crossdressing as a guy who pretends he used to crossdress as a girl.
- Tsundere: Very much. Tarou is her first love and before she and him were separated, she wished to kiss him and even told his elder sister, Kazuki, that she would like to marry Tarou and become Kazuki's sister one day. She is very angry about the fact that he can't remember what happened ten years ago (especially the part where she asked him to kiss her and he headbutted her instead), but she is nonetheless happy when she sees Tarou's First Love Zombie, Eve, who is modeled after Ririsu, and unlike other Zombies, isn't dormant but sparkles, and she can't help but blush when Tarou calls her beautiful. Except when she sees Eve's cleavage. Because she lacks that. And if anyone, especially Tarou, ever accidentally brings up that Ririto must be a guy, since he doesn't have noticeable breasts, she will react very violently. She also is half-embarrassed/angry and happy when Eve changes her clothes based on what Tarou is thinking about, especially when it's based on what Ririsu was wearing.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Subverted, as she still is sweet inside, just with a few things that tick her off. Back when she was five years-old, "Eve" was a sweet kid, who fell in love with Tarou. She slowly started to resent him, though, when she accidentally caused a divorce between her parents after she told her father about his First Love Zombie, and her father proceeded to leave Ririsu and her mother to pursue his first love. She also had no interest in seeing the boys who are crushing on (and lusting after) her, going for extreme measures like pretending to be a man to avoid this.
- What Does She See in Him?: After Mei and Kazuki learn that Ririsu is aware of First Love Zombies and that Tarou loves Eve, they begin to wonder why she still likes him.
Eve
Eve
Tarou's First Love Zombie based on Ririsu. She was created when ten years ago Ririsu and Tarou confessed to each other and attempted to kiss. However, confused about suddenly seeing two Eves, Tarou accidentally headbutts the real Eve, which gives her the ability to see First Love Zombies and makes Tarou unable to see them. Only after he gets hit by a baseball does he start to see the Zombies again, and with them his First Love Zombie.- Adam and/or Eve: Like the biblical Eve, our Eve originated from her loved one and soulmate (Adam's rib vs. Tarou's feelings for his first love).
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: She can actually take the appearance of any kind of girl, but only sticks with the ones she thinks Tarou will like.
- Assist Character: Due to developing a consciousness of her own & being able to interact with Tarou, Tarou is able to use her to interact with the other "first love zombies".
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Justified, as she notes that Tarou never put real thought into her naked body, so she lacks nipples and genitals for the time being.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Has a sizeble bust, thanks to Tarou's own preferences. Ririsu is also shown to be envious of her because of it.
- Deep Sleep: As a First Love Zombie, she gets put to sleep or a coma whenever a first love begins to be realized or when Tarou has doubts about his first love.
- Enemy Within: The original version of her, kept way in the back of Eve's subconscious until the final arc, is filled with resentment towards Ibusuki for leaving and expresses her selfish desires more openly, while our Eve is a people pleaser and, while wanting to be with Tarou, wants what Tarou needs for him to be happy.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: When a guy's first love begins to be realized, their First Love Zombie glitters and intensifies. This usually means, in Eve's case, that she'll glow when Tarou has feelings for Ibusuki.
- The Fashionista: Having more agency over herself than other First Love Zombies, Eve can change herself as she wishes, which often includes changing her outfits. She copies any outfit she sees and can change into it instantly, resulting in a very diverse style.
- Magical Girlfriend: Though not quite getting towards "girlfriend" yet, Eve serves this purpose for Tarou, especially given that he can see her and they interact almost daily.
- Never My Fault: When Tarou figures out that Eve, Ibusuki, and Ebino were all collaborating to make Tarou fall in love with the latter and put Eve to rest, Eve (in Heartbreak mode) absolves herself of any personal involvement with the plans and puts the blame on Ibusuki for lying to both her and Ebino.
- Punny Name: Her Romanized name, Ibu, is taken from Ibusuki's childhood nickname.
- Sleep-Mode Size: Her true form is based off of child Ririsu, and she occasionally returns to that form if something major happens in the late series.
- The Reveal: Eve, apparently, was always a Heartbreak Zombie, turned from Ririsu's initial moving away (which means he interpreted her leaving him as rejecting his feelings outright). In order to be closer to Tarou, Eve developed a more palatable form and built off from there. She's also the reason why Ibusuki can even see Zombies.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Eve is a sweet, joyful and slightly ditzy girl, representing Tarou's ideal. But unlike most other first love zombies, she has developed a consciousness of her own.
Mei Ebino
Mei Ebino
Tarou's childhood friend from elementary school. She also is responsible for the volleyball team.- The Ace: Captain of the volleyball team, and proficient in both sports, academics, and in domestics as well.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows
- Cool Big Sis: In addition to school work, she also looks after her numerous younger siblings, and tends to them with an almost motherly proficiency.
- Green-Eyed Epiphany: A large part of why she realizes her love for Tarou is the fact that she got jealous of Ririto, who she learned was Tarou's first love.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: In Chapter 80, her parents ask her if either Tarou or Ibusuki is dating her. She has to repeatedly insist that she's not, but her family thinks it's going to happen one way or another anyway.
- It's All My Fault: After she learns that the baseball she hit Tarou accidentally with caused him to see First Love Zombies (again), she blames herself for Tarou falling in love with what she assumes is just a delusion. Ririsu eventually clears up any misunderstandings and explains everything.
- Love Epiphany: After the school play, Ebino finally admits to herself that she's fallen in love with Tarou.
- Lust Object: Almost half the male population in school has Ebino as their basis for their First Love Zombies, and all of them vary in how skimpy or fanservice-y they can get.
- School Idol: She's one being a Statuesque Stunner Academic Athlete with a very generous bosom.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Being the sporty character, she always has her hair tied back like this.
Others
Wakasanomiya High School
Mimata Noa
A Gyaru from the same class and she likes Mikanojou.- Chubby Chaser: She has a thing for chubby boys and turns out to be attracted to Miyakanojou Shizuka, a fat otaku who also fell for her but is in denial. They manage to hook up with Tarou's help. She is infuriated when he slims down.
- Genki Girl: She always full of energy.
Yaysujiro Ryuu
One of Tarou's closest friends.- Childhood Friends: He grew up with Tarou and Ebino.
Shubuai Misawo
A second year student who dubs herself the First lady killer and is obsessed with Ririto.
- Cute But Psycho: She is obsessed with crushing the love of people.
- Karma Houdini: Despite her attacking Ririto, she doesn't get punished.
Haran Koigaura
A playboy who's called in to be Mosawo's running opponent in the Election arc. He ends up taking a real shine to Ibusuki.
- Armored Closet Gay: He really doesn't want to admit to himself that his first love may be a man, which is represented by FLZ sparkles floating up and being forced back down whenever he pulls himself together.
- Demoted to Comic Relief: Is introduced as Ibusuki's running opponent, with his story mostly based around him reluctantly falling for her despite not knowing about her male disguise. After the arc is over, however, he rarely makes any appearances, and when he does, it's usually just to act as a walking Armored Closet Gay joke.
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: Falls in love with Ibusuki during the election arc.
The Kurume Family
Kazuki Kurume
Tarou's little brother.- Precocious Crush: Has one on Mei. He confesses to her during Tarou's Christmas party and birthday, but when he's rejected he continues to hold out for her.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He looks just like a younger Tarou, but shorter and without the scar.
Tarou's Grandfather
- Shadow Archetype: He is largely a version of Tarou that decided to choose his "Eve" instead of his "Ibusuki" or anyone else. He had no real intentions of looking for his first love, coming to realize that he loved Kyoko instead. Even if he got married and had a kid, he didn't love the woman romantically and kept all his love for Kyouko, who in confessing to her made her virtually the same kind of anomaly as Eve.
Kyouko
The First Love Zombie of Tarou's grandfather.- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Her more attractive physical traits emphasize her long black hair.
Kuzuko Kurume
Tarou's elder sister.Tarou's Father
- In Love with Love: Unlike Tarou and his grandfather, Tarou's father never gained the ability to see First Love Zombies. However he was fascinated with the concept to the point where his own FLZ (which he's unaware of) is an amalgamation of every single FLZ in existence.
Suzuko Kurume
- Ojou
- Shipper on Deck: She is a huge supporter of Tarou/Ririto.
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: She does have a crush on "Ririto".
- Yaoi Fangirl
Tarou's mother
The Ebino Family
