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Main Characters
The main characters in the series.
Yumi Nagumo
A cheerful 18 year-old girl from Nippon who dreams to become the President of Amerigo! Just graduated from high school, she decides to go on a graduation trip to Amerigo. During her trip, she gets some advice from war veterans on achieving her dream: Join the Marine Corps. Her journey from that point is written into this series. Following graduation she gets assigned to CBRN Defense, and becomes an interpreter as well.
- Ambiguously Gay: It's not really clear why she has some trance fixation with Linda's breast size.
- Asian Speekee Engrish: In the English translation, she's depicted speaking with odd syntax to reflect her initial unfamiliarity with the language, though no one has any trouble understanding her, and her English gets much better over time.
- Child of Two Worlds: Considering Yumi's goal of becoming President of Amerigo, it ought to be a nonstarter because she's Japanese from Japan, but itT turns out Yumi is a dual citizen for being born in Hawaii. She had to give up her Japanese citizenship to join the Marines, though and afterwards throughout the series it's clear that her friends and other Marines are treating her as a fellow American rather than a Japanese.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Thinks the Marine Corps play with dolphins!
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite her ditziness, Yumi's high school buddies admitted that she has always achieved her goals. And just the fact that she's able to going through The Spartan Way that is the US Marine Corps boot camp with minimal trouble on her parts already qualifies her as such. Her DIs and some fellow recruits, including Rita, even thought she would be the first to wash out of boot camp, but they were proven wrong all the way.
- Cunning Linguist: Thanks to her heritage, she becomes a Japanese translator and interpreter for a Marine General while stationed in Okinawa.
- Determinator: She will never give up to achieve her dreams.
- The Ditz: Our first scene with her is her saying she goes to school solely for the uniforms.
- Dumb Muscle: Not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but has enough physical and mental fortitude to pass on the US Marine Corps Recruit Training with relatively little problems.
- Genki Girl: Yumi never lets anyone get her down, and never fails to shock her friends, fellow recruits, and drill instructors with her boundless energy.
- Hereditary Hairstyle: Got her "Antenna" hair from her father and the hair color from her mother.
- The Idealist: She wishes to be the President of Amerigo, and joined the Marines because she was told it was her best bet for doing so, even shedding her Nipponese citizenship to do so.
- Idiot Hair: Earns Yumi her training nickname, "Antenna Midget", for being short and having an ahoge, and she's a pretty odd person.
- Meaningful Name: Her name is unusually written with the character 弓 ("bow"), which might have something to do with her determination.
- Rank Up: Manages to get promoted to Corporal first out of her group due to her translation duties, to Rita's minor jealousy. It also causes some slight tension with her friends in general prior to their own promotions due to the Marine Corps rules on fraternization between NCOs and junior enlisted.
- School Uniforms are the New Black: Wears her school uniform while touring across America.
- Secret Legacy: Her great-grandmother was a naginata master, and Yumi wins a pugil stick match by channeling her spirit.
Linda Crawford
An Amerigon 18 year-old girl, she works at a diner where she meets Yumi. Overhearing some veteran patrons convincing Yumi to join the Marine Corps, she butts in to make sure Yumi understands what she is doing, and then later tags along with her into the Marine Corps! She remains as one of Yumi's closest friends in the series. Following graduation she gets assigned to motor transport.
- Big Brother Worship: Admires her older brother greatly.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: To Yumi. In fact part of the reason she joined in was to make sure she didn't get in over her head.
- Godiva Hair: After getting so drunk while on leave in Okinawa that the others find her riding a mechanical bull in a bar while topless, after getting her away her hair serves to cover her nipples.
- Happily Married: Eventually leaves the Marines to get married.
- Rank Up: Is the last of the group to get a promotion, and it's to Lance Corporal, the highest junior enlisted rank in the Marine Corps, but still below her Corporal peers.
- Wrench Wench: Linda's assignment is in Motor Transport, and her reaction says it all.
- Wrong Side of the Tracks: She comes from a poor family in the poor part of her hometown.
Rita Fernandez
An Amerigon girl, she joins the Marine Corps to continue her family lineage of Marine Corps service (which is up to fourth-generation now). Her father is a Sergeant Major and she strives to make him proud. Following graduation she gets assigned to intelligence.
- The Ace: Is considered the best recruit in her platoon.
- But Not Too Foreign: Lived in Okinawa as a child.
- Military Brat: Rita's father is a Sergeant Major in the Corps, and can't wait to serve alongside his daughter.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's Yumi's height, which is pretty short, but she's the strongest out of all four of them.
- Rank Up: Gets promoted to Corporal after going through the promotion exam.
- Sore Loser: Gets visibly frustrated that the clumsy Yumi is made Corporal ahead of her. After she herself receives a promotion, she's slightly upset when Donna reveals that she has also recently become a Corporal due to her administrative skills.
- Tomboy: Does better than males in PT tests.
- Verbal Tic: She tends to end her speech with "okay?"
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Daughter in her case, and downplayed since her father clearly loves her, but her main motivation is to make him proud through service in the Marine Corps and reach the same Sergeant Major rank as him.
Donna King
An Amerigon girl, despite her elite family status and education, she enlists into the Marine Corps to pave her own future. Following graduation she gets assigned to administration.
- Badass Bureaucrat: Earns a promotion after she overhauls her unit's administrative system, which reportedly reduces costs by millions of dollars, and is the highest educated out of the main four with an MBA.
- The Beautiful Elite: Until the Marine Corps breaks her down that is.
- Black and Nerdy: As mentioned, she's black and a huge nerd.
- The Cynic: Often points out the pessimistic side of Marine Corps ideals, such as the fact despite the Marine Corps emphasis on loyalty it was a Marine veteran, Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated JFK.
- Non-Idle Rich: Came from a very privileged family, but chooses to live her own way. Her Doting Parents and Rita even comment that she could've joined the Marines as an officer instead of enlisting from the bottom rank, but Donna finds making it from the bottom more exciting.
- Occidental Otaku: First thing she does out of boot camp is go to the San Diego Comic Con.
- Rank Up: Gets promoted to Corporal via overhauling her unit's administrative system.
- The Smart Girl: Is among the smartest of the main four, and is also the only one with an MBA, which leads into her going into administration after boot camp.
- Shipper on Deck: Literally.
- Yaoi Fangirl: Comes to bootcamp with a slash doujinshi. Continues to have ideas during boot camp and into combat training.
Marine Corps
Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Regina Derringer
Senior Drill Instructor for Yumi's recruit platoon.
- Curtains Match the Window: While everyone else has realistic hair colors, SSgt. Derringer has light blue hair to match her blue eyes.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Her job description is to be a harsh and demanding drill instructor, but it's just when she's on the job, she's pretty nice otherwise.
- Supreme Chef: Is apparently a really good cook.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Once her role as a drill instructor is over, she becomes really friendly with the (now) Marines.
Drill Instructor Sergeant Myers
One of the four drill instructors of Yumi's recruit platoon.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Her job description is to be a harsh and demanding drill instructor.
Drill Instructor Sergeant Garza
One of the four drill instructors of Yumi's recruit platoon.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Her job description is to be a harsh and demanding drill instructor.
Drill Instructor Sergeant Joyner
One of the four drill instructors of Yumi's recruit platoon.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Her job description is to be a harsh and demanding drill instructor.
Others
SSG Takemi Sawa
A staff sergeant liaison officer from the JGSDF assigned to Yumi as a mentor for formal Japanese language.
- Formal Characters Use Keigo: She's implied to come from a rich family, speaks in a formal manner, and is Yumi's tutor in formal Japanese language.
- Hime Cut: Her forehead hair and sidebangs are cut in a Japanese noblewoman's style, albeit due to military regulations her hair is far shorter than most examples.
- Not So Above It All: After first being introduced as a more serious foil to Yumi, she's revealed to be a military uniform otaku who joined the JSDF mainly because she thought the uniforms were cool, giving her an odd commonality with Yumi who went to school because she thought the uniforms were cool.
- Ojou: Implied by the JSDF officer who mentions that she graduated from an elite high school, as well as her proficiency in formal Japanese.
- Otaku: Of all kinds of military uniforms. So very much that the reason she joins the JSDF in the first place was just because of their uniforms. She even ropes Yumi into posing for her in her USMC Blue Dress uniforms (that she receives after her promotion to Corporal).
- Slasher Smile: Gives a scary smile upon seeing Yumi regarding her "mentoring".
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Nightingale
- Shout-Out: To Florence Nightingale, of course.
- Mad Doctor: How Yumi regards her after her speech about the "silver bullet."
