This page lists the characters of Yuri Kuma Arashi and the tropes associated with them. Be warned; there are unmarked spoilers ahead.
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Main characters
Kureha Tsubaki
- Voiced by: Nozomi Yamane (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English)
A second year student at Arashigaoka Academy. She has a strong hatred of bears, which only grows stronger when the bears appear to eat her girlfriend Sumika.
- All the Other Reindeer:
- Students from the academy ostracized Kureha for being different, and advise people not to be friends with her. Ginko's flashback in episode 11 reveals that Kureha has been a victim of this since her childhood. And as it turns out, Yurika had been pulling strings for years to get Kureha to be isolated so that she can eventually eat her.
- She also has shades of this in the manga where all of the other students don't seem to acknowledge her existence. Subverted in that it's due to the wall she put up herself, and she's surprised at how normally everyone treats her once she decides to open up more.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: She becomes a bear at the end of the series, and her wish is granted by Lady Kumaria herself.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Possibly. In the end, it's said that no one knows what happened to Kureha and Ginko, but they are somewhere, together.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: In the manga, her skills for reading body language and facial expressions are so good that they border on mind reading. She is often able to tell what Ginko is thinking about and answers her questions before Ginko herself asks them. She was also able to tell that the math teacher was planning a pop quiz for the following day and even figured out what questions would be in it!
- Bad Liar: Her attempts to keep Lulu and Ginko alive by denying her friendship with them in the final two episodes are called out as such.
- The Big Damn Kiss: The "promised kiss" between her and Ginko is central to the story. She finally kisses Ginko in the finale.
- Catchphrase: "I'll never forgive bears. I'll ruin bears!"
- Character Development: Goes from a hardened sniper who wanted to kill her mother's murderer to a kind girl who helps to break the Cycle of Revenge.
- Conveniently an Orphan
- Declaration of Protection: She swore to protect Sumika and blames herself for her death.
- Determinator: No matter how badly the world tries to hammer her down, Kureha absolutely refuses to give up on love. Eventually, this is what causes her to essentially will Lady Kumaria back into existence.
- Disappeared Dad
- In the anime, there's absolutely no mention made of her father or other parent. One is left to assume that Reia may have gotten a donor instead.
- In the manga, Kureha's father is mentioned to be abroad.
- Flower Motifs: Camellia flowers, making her stand out from every other character.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: She forgot about Ginko because she traded her memories to make Ginko a human girl.
- Letting Her Hair Down: In the manga, at Ginko's suggestion.
- Meaningful Name
- "Kureha" is spelt with the kanji for "red wing/feather", as explicitly stated in the anime. This refers to how Kureha is visible — she sticks out from the rest of the herd.
- Her family name "Tsubaki" is the Japanese name of the camellia flower. Images of camellias can be seen all over her house and her belongings. Camellias can mean love, longing, grace and elegance, and femininity.
- Minor Living Alone: An high-school student living by herself, and later with Ginko and Lulu, without any legal adult around.
- Non-Uniform Uniform: Her uniform is just different enough from the other girls, notably her dark stockings and longer skirt. This highlights how she's different from everyone else at school to the point of being ostracized, but unlike Ginko and Lulu (who wear Custom Uniforms) she hasn't accepted this about herself.
- Pals with Jesus: Possibly, given that Sumika may be Lady Kumaria/a part of Lady Kumaria.
- Parental Abandonment: Her mother Reia is dead and there is no word on her father.
- The Power of Love: It summons Lady Kumaria to grant her wish, and turn her into a bear.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Her uniform is far more modest than the others' due to her stockings.
- Second Year Protagonist: The main character, and in her second year at Arashigaoka. The fact that she's a second year means the students have had enough time to build up cliques and exclude her using an elaborate voting process.
- Shoo the Dog: She tells Lulu she isn't her friend and will kill her next time they meet, to protect her. Ginko tries the same on her, but she sees right through it.
- Showgirl Skirt: In her humanoid bear form, she has a flowing white skirt.
- Small Girl, Big Gun: Keeps a rifle in her locker and practices in a shooting gallery under her house. She kills her first bear in episode 3.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She looks exactly like her mother. This is half of what causes Yurika to lose herself to her long-awaited desire to eat Kureha, and also the reason that she mistook Kureha for Reia on her death throes.
- Sympathy for the Devil: She shows sympathy for Yurika, even giving her a "burial" of sorts, despite all the horrible things the latter is directly and indirectly responsible for happening to Kureha.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Before her mother was killed she was a good-hearted kid that willingly traded her memories so Ginko could be human.
- Wife Husbandry: Yurika refers to her as her "bride", and has been awaiting the day when she can eat her.
Ginko Yurishiro
- Voiced by: Miho Arakawa (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
A bear who takes human form to infiltrates the human world. She transfers to Arashigaoka Academy, where she sets her sights on Kureha.
- Accomplice by Inaction: She saw Sumika getting eaten, and knew it was going to happen and who was going to do it before the fact, yet did nothing to stop it. Though she failed to act because of her jealousy towards Sumika, the guilt still eats away at her.
- All the Other Reindeer: She was excluded during her earlier years by other bears due to being a Doorstep Baby, then later during the conflicts between humans and bears after she was too injured to keep fighting.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Possibly. The narration suggests she's somewhere with Kureha, and happy.
- Attempted Rape: Her sexual assault of Kureha in episode 2 may have become rape if it'd been allowed to escalate.
- Become a Real Boy: She made a pact with the Court of Severance that in exchange for administering Laser-Guided Amnesia on Kureha, she would be given the chance to reunite with her later, and if she managed to prove their love with a promise kiss, she would become a true human in order to be able to be with Kureha—except that they didn't tell her that Kureha was the one who willingly gave up her memories in exchange for giving Ginko the chance to become human.
- The Big Damn Kiss: The promise kiss she's been seeking from Kureha. They finally kiss in the finale.
- Boyish Short Hair: In fitting with her tomboyish nature.
- Contrived Coincidence: Somehow managed to survive getting shot in the chest and off the rooftop of a very tall building with absolutely no consequences whatsoever, despite Mitsuko somehow dying from getting her arm grazed by a bullet and falling off the same building. At least Konomi had the excuse of getting shot in the head.
- Custom Uniform: Her uniform is pink and white, as opposed to the blue and white worn by everyone else. She also wears high-heeled boots instead of the school's standard loafers.
- Determinator: Much like Kureha, Ginko refuses to give up on her quest to become a true human girl and her love, no matter what she has to face or how long she has to wait.
- Doorstep Baby: She was found on the doorstep of a church on a snowy day as a cub.
- Girl of My Dreams: In the manga, she starts appearing in Kureha's dreams after her transfer to Arashigaoka Academy.
- Green-Eyed Monster: What caused her to become Mitsuko's Accomplice by Inaction in Sumika's murder.
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: In the manga. When Ginko was a child, she stole Reia's rifle and went outside during a winter night to find Kureha, who was lost. Reia approached them, Ginko mistook her for a bear from a distance, and shot her to her presumed death.
- Little Bit Beastly: In her "humanoid" bear form, she has ears and a tail as well as bear paw gloves and boots.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Briefly, during episode 11, where she is overcome by her desire to eat Kureha. The results are terrifying.
- Meaningful Name
- The "Yuri" in her last name indicates that she's a bear in disguise.
- She was named "Ginko" due to it snowing on the day she was found at the church as a baby — "gin" being written with the kanji for "silver", the colour of the snow (it is described as a "silvery" blizzard).
- She is nicknamed "the Lone Wolfsbane" in the bear world. This symbolizes how she's abandoned and unwanted by others, but also how she drives others away from her, as the wolfsbane is a toxic plant.
- Ms. Imagination: She tends to have daydream surprises about Kureha reciprocating her feelings.
- Oblivious to Love: While she's definitely into Kureha, she doesn't seem to notice or reciprocate Lulu's affection. It turns out she's well aware of Lulu's feelings, as well as the reason that Lulu's helping her, but has been resolved for far too long to see her own love through to the end to reciprocate, and so ignores them.
- Parental Abandonment
- In the anime, she was abandoned on the doorstep of a bear church during a blizzard, and does not appear to have any adoptive parents.
- In the manga, however, she has a mother who lives over in a foreign country due to her illness. No mention is made of another parent.
- Pretty Freeloaders: She and Lulu move into Kureha's house in episode 6.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Pink variation. Becomes a much more serious and literal example when acting under the influence of the basest and most selfish manifestation of her feelings for Kureha; eating her so "they'll always be one"; which manifest as an apparition of Mitsuko.
- Shoo the Dog: She denies caring about Kureha, in a desperate attempt to save her. It fails big time.
- Tragic Keepsake: A star pendant she has with her for most of the series, though its importance isn't made apparent until later. It belonged to Kureha's mother, who gave it away to Ginko willingly, calling it a "love charm".
- Verbal Tic: Often tacks "growl" onto the end of her sentences.
Lulu Yurigasaki
- Voiced by: Yoshiko Ikuta (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English)
A bear who infiltrated the human world by following her crush, Ginko.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 4 tells her backstory and how she met Ginko.
- Aloof Big Sister: She had a younger brother whom she despised for taking attention away from her and spurned his attempts to win her love. But when he died, she realizes too late that she loved him after all.
- Animal Motifs: Besides being a bear, her Whole Episode Flashback has a bee constantly circling her. In the finale, the bee circles around Milne as well, finally accepting her brother's love.
- The Big Damn Kiss: She gave up the chance for this, in order to become human. In the finale, when she's reunited with her brother in the afterlife, he finally kisses her cheek and points out he realized he could have kissed her all along.
- Catchphrase: "Lulu's so clever!"
- Custom Uniform: Like Ginko, she wears a very different uniform from everyone else; hers is green and white, unlike the standard blue and white uniform. She also wears a bow instead of a necktie, as well as knee-high boots like Ginko.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: She dies in Ginko's arms, after saving her.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Has them for a brief while when she hung out with Milne.
- Fallen Princess: Once the princess of a bear kingdom, she abandoned it all to follow Ginko.
- Girlish Pigtails: Indicating her romantic and playful nature.
- Girl of My Dreams: In the manga, she starts appearing in Kureha's dreams after her transfer to Arashigaoka Academy.
- Go Out with a Smile: She dies cheerfully in Ginko's arms, smiling and calling herself clever for salvaging the end of Reia's ripped up picture book.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She clearly loves Ginko and tries to help her in her efforts to get close to Kureha. She briefly contradicts her own efforts, by her own admission, when she reveals Ginko's crime to Kureha, but regrets it and supports their love to the end.
- Little Bit Beastly: In her "humanoid" bear form, she has ears and a tail as well as bear paw gloves and boots.
- Meaningful Name: The "Yuri" in her last name indicates that she's a bear in disguise.
- Out of Focus: Suffers this somewhat later on in the anime despite being one of the main characters.
- Pretty Freeloaders: She and Ginko move into Kureha's house in episode 6.
- Redhead In Green: She's the only girl to wear a green uniform.
- Romantic Wingwoman: Despite her love for Ginko, Lulu attempts help Ginko in her romantic endeavors towards Kureha.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Ginko's companion, and a former princess.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Doesn't die in the manga.
- Taking the Bullet: She ends up taking one for Ginko, resulting in her death.
- Together in Death: A family version. It's implied she's reunited with Milne, her younger brother.
- Third-Person Person: To demonstrate her childish nature.
- The Unfavorite: After her brother was born, she instantly went from the kingdom's crown princess to just his big sister. After Milne dies she gets lavished over again, but it just rung hollow for her now.
- Verbal Tic: Tacks "growl" onto the end of her sentences, as well as various other onomatopoeic sounds.
Secondary characters
School
Sumika Izumino
- Voiced by: Yui Ogura (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (under Elaine Wagner) (English)
Kureha's classmate and girlfriend. She suddenly disappears one day and is later apparently eaten by bears.
- Bespectacled Cutie: She stands out from the other characters with her cute glasses, and she's a sweet, caring person whom Kureha is very attached to.
- God in Human Form: Turns out she's actually Lady Kumaria. Maybe. It's unclear if its really her or Lady Kumaria appearing as her.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Sumika, as Kumaria, is the one who grants the yuri approval for Kureha to turn into a bear and be with Ginko.
- Little Miss Almighty: Maybe. Lady Kumaria takes on her guise, but it's unclear if Sumika was a goddess to begin with.
- The Lost Lenore: For Kureha; Sumika's death early on in the anime drives much of Kureha's angst and hatred of bears.
- Meaningful Name: "Sumika" is written with the kanji for "pure" and "flower".
- Non-Uniform Uniform: She wears a bow instead of a necktie; like Kureha, her uniform being slightly different from everyone else's highlights how she's different from everyone else at school, but still keeps her relationship with Kureha a secret.
- Only Friend: She was this to Kureha as well as her girlfriend.
- Senseless Sacrifice: She did her best to ensure Kureha would not be alone if she disappeared but she chose the biggest Bitch in Sheep's Clothing in the school for the job—which, while it does point Kureha in the right direction (towards Ginko) in the end, it still caused Kureha to have to suffer one hell of a birthday party.
- Take Me Instead: She voted to not exclude Kureha, and thus was excluded herself.
Mitsuko Yurizono
- Voiced by: Aoi Yūki (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English)
The class representative of Kureha's class, she's a caring leader and appears to be one of the few people who has no issues with Kureha and Sumika's relationship.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Her kind demeanor masks a ruthless true nature.
- Class Rep: Her initial role is being the class president of Kureha's class.
- Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Sexually assaults an unconscious Kureha in episode 2, though she stops herself before getting very far.
- Honey Trap: She uses seduction as part of her manipulation, as seen with Konomi, Eriko, and Ginko. Emphasizing it even further is how her given name contains the kanji for "honey".
- Kill the God: Since Sumika turned out to be part of Lady Kumaria, that makes Mitsuko killing her this.
- Manipulative Bitch: She manipulated Kureha, Sumika, Konomi, Eriko, and, in a way, Ginko. She's directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of several characters.
- Meaningful Name
- The "Yuri" in her last name indicates that she's a bear in disguise.
- Her first name contains the kanji for "honey". Although Mitsuko isn't directly associated with honey in the show (aside from a shot in the OP), it could refer to how she wears a facade of a kind, sweet person and definitely refers to her using seduction to manipulate others. Notably, honey is a food that's often associated with bears.
- Necro Non Sequitur: Her death is incredibly contrived, especially compared to the other incidents. Somehow, Mitsuko died as a result of Kureha's bullet grazing her arm, ripping through her armband, and knocking her off the rooftop of the academy building, even though Ginko got shot in the chest, fell off the building, and outright survived with no consequences whatsoever — at least Konomi had the excuse of being shot in the head.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: She comes back as a personification of desire; specifically, Ginko's desire to eat Kureha.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her red eyes hint that she's more dangerous than she first appears to be.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Doesn't die in the manga.
- Verbal Tic: As a bear, she often says "grawr", which highlights her more vicious nature compared to other bears.
- Yandere: She believes that love is most strongly expressed by literally becoming one with your beau — by eating them. And since ones who refuse to back down from their love and become invisible among the masses are so rare, she falls hard for, and is extremely invested in eating, Kureha.
Konomi Yurikawa
- Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (Japanese), Anastasia Muñoz (under Staci Moon) (English)
A girl from Kureha's class who seems to have feelings for Mitsuko.
- Back from the Dead: Got turned into a cyborg by the students to power up an Anti-Bear Beam.
- Catchphrase: "Nasty!", in bear form only.
- Flanderization: She suffers this after being revived as a cyborg bear: all she ever says is her catchphrase, and shows no traces of (what little is seen of) her former personality.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She wants Mitsuko all for herself.
- Killed Off for Real: Shot in the face by her beloved Mitsuko.
- Maybe Ever After: With Uchiko.
- Meaningful Name
- The "Yuri" in her last name indicates that she's a bear in disguise.
- "Konomi" can mean "nut", "fruit", or "berry". Fitting, since Konomi looks a bit like a squirrel, and that she has a hair decoration of leaves and a berry.
- Rank Up: Was left in charge of the Invisible Storm ceremony once Katyusha disappeared.
- Second Love: Gets another chance at love at the very end of the show with Uchiko.
- Skintone Sclerae: An unusual trait, compared to the other characters.
- Youthful Freckles: Hinting at her immature nature.
- We Can Rebuild Him: Made into a cyborg to power the Anti-Bear Beam.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Gets killed off in the very episode she is introduced in. Even when she comes back later, very little is explored about her.
Katyusha Akae
- Voiced by: Miku Itō (Japanese), Mariela Ortiz (English)
One of Kureha's classmates, who is seen putting down bear warning signs. She's a member of the Invisible Storm, like everyone else at school.
- Meaningful Name: Katyusha is literally named after the item that defines her character.
- "Katyusha" means "headband" (specifically an Alice band).
- Her last name contains the kanji for "red", referring to the colour of her headband.
- Rank Up: Was previously in charge of the Invisible Storm.
- Signature Headgear: Her distinct red headband.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Practically nothing is explained or expanded on about her, despite being named and given a distinguishing trait and some focus, before she's unceremoniously eaten off-screen, and even her time of death isn't explicitly seen or mentioned, unlike other victims.
Eriko Oniyama
- Voiced by: Mariya Ise (Japanese), Felecia Angelle (English)
Another one of Kureha's classmates. She's a member of the Invisible Storm.
- Asshole Victim/Laser-Guided Karma: Gets eaten by bears soon after officiating an Invisible Storm ceremony to exclude Kureha from the rest of the students.
- Demoted to Extra: Gets only a cameo and a few lines in the manga compared to her just-slightly more significant role in the anime.
- Rank Up: Was left in charge of the Invisible Storm ceremony once Konomi died.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Doesn't die in the manga.
- Unwitting Pawn: Mitsuko's, who basically seduced her into following her suggestions.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: She only gets a few scenes before she's eaten by bears.
Kaoru Harishima
- Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (Japanese), Jad Saxton (English)
A girl from Kureha's class who used to reject her like the rest, but suddenly offers Kureha her friendship one day.
- Asshole Victim: She really got what was coming to her.
- Bait the Dog: The audience is led to believe she is the first girl to honestly apologize to Kureha for ostracizing her and try to make amends, but that's all destroyed when we see her in the Invisible Storm ceremony with the rest of the students shortly afterwards.
- Batman Gambit: She knew Ginko and Lulu were bears, and pretended to be just another innocent girl to try and lure them into a trap.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She pretends to be friendly towards Kureha and apologizes for treating her badly — but it's all part of a set-up by the Invisible Storm. It's later revealed that she also did something similar to Sumika.
- Crocodile Tears: She cries when she pretends to feel bad about all the things the students from the Academy have done to Kureha.
- Demoted to Extra: Gets a mere cameo in the manga compared to her much more significant role in the anime.
- Gayngst: Possibly, as her desire to become an important person is probably tied to her fear of being excluded for being lesbian.
- Hot for Teacher: Engaged in sexual activities with Yurika, and loved her for "finding [Kaoru] among the crowd". It's not known how long this has been going on for.
- Hypocrite: Engages in sex with another woman despite being an active part of the Invisible Storm. Becomes even more so when it's revealed that Kaoru loved her romantically as well.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Her main motivation is to become an important person who won't be excluded.
- Manipulative Bitch: She tricked Sumika into writing a break-up letter to Kureha, falsely promising to Sumika that she would take care of Kureha. She herself was following the will of an even bigger Manipulative Bitch: Yurika.
- Meaningful Name: Kaoru can be read as "sweet-smelling", which could reference her putting up a nice and cooperative facade to deceive others.
- Non-Uniform Uniform: The most prominent example of this in the anime; she doesn't wear a vest, has her collar popped, and wears garters to hold up her socks. It's implied that her illicit relationship with Yurika, a teacher is what allows her to get away with wearing her uniform so casually.
- Rank Up: Was left in charge of the Invisible Storm ceremony once Eriko disappeared.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Doesn't die in the manga.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Physically resembles Yurika's adoptive father quite a lot, which might be an explanation for why Yurika found her. It's worth noting that Yurika ends up eating Kaoru, just like what she did to her father.
- Teacher's Pet: Her more casual attire compared to the other students and illict relationship with Yurika suggests she is this.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Less so compared to her fallen comrades, but still a victim of this. She gets eaten by Yurika mere seconds after revealing her true feelings, with no exploration given to them.
Choko Oki
- Voiced by: Rie Murakawa (Japanese), Leah Clark (English)
A girl who takes up the leadership of the Invisible Storm in the second half of the anime. She is almost entirely focused on exterminating bears from Arashigaoka Academy.
- Adapted Out: Doesn't appear in the manga at all.
- Big Damn Heroes: She and the Invisible Storm save Kureha from being eaten by Yurika.
- Ironic Name: Her name contains the kanji for "butterfly", which can be seen as this, because butterflies can symbolize change and yet Choko remains pretty much the same homophobic jerkass throughout the series, without any hint that a Heel–Face Turn could happen in the future.
- Choko leading the Invisible Storm does show a severe shift in how the Invisible Storm operates. The Invisible Storm goes from passively excluding girls to be given up to the bears to actively hunting bears. Instead of "Let's Search Evil" the Storm Ceremony is now about "Let's Search Bear".
- Jerkass: Stands out quite considerably compared to many other characters, mainly due to her very strong and prominent homophobia.
- Meaningful Name
- Her first name contains the kanji for "butterfly"; Choko wears a butterfly decoration in her hair.
- Ironically, butterflies can symbolize change, whereas Choko is firm in her beliefs and refuses to change.
- The Invisible Storm changes dramatically under her leadership. No longer are they run by the interests of bears looking for victims (Mitsuko and Yuriika), the Invisible Storm now actively hunts all bears.
- "Chou" is also the word she uses to emphasize her phrases.
- "Oki" is spelt with the kanji for big tree — Choko is very rooted in her beliefs.
- Her first name contains the kanji for "butterfly"; Choko wears a butterfly decoration in her hair.
- Rank Up: She becomes the new head of the Invisible Storm.
- Spell My Name With An S: Choko vs. Chouko and Oki vs. Ohki vs. Ooki. Funimation translates her first name as Chouko, yet translates her last name as Oki, despite them both being long vowel names and otherwise consistently translating the other long vowels with the extra character left in.
- Valley Girl
- Uses "way" to emphasize many of her phrases in the Funimation sub, suggesting this.
- Her speech is like, totally rendered this way in the English dub, using all the usual, like Verbal Tics: like, way, totally, even when it way wouldn't make much sense. She even has the accent to boot.
Uchiko Ai
- Voiced by: Aina Yasukuni (Japanese), Brina Palencia (English)
A member of the Invisible Storm and the girl who's in charge of the beam cannon used to exterminate bears.
- Adaptation Distillation: Doesn't appear in the manga at all.
- Heel–Face Turn: Ends up quitting the Storm after Choko lies about killing Kureha and Ginko.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Her name can be seen listed close to the top of the Invisible Storm's exclusion list, which foreshadows her quitting in the finale.
- Maybe Ever After: With Konomi.
- Meaningful Name
- Uchiko contains the kanji for "attack" or "shoot", referring to her position as the manager of the beam cannon.
- Her last name is one of the most common readings for the kanji "love".
- Her last name is made up of the kanji for "consequently" and "come after", which refer to her quitting the Invisible Storm and thus becoming the next person to defy it.
- Her name in full appears to be a play on the term uchiai, meaning a gunfight.
- Spell My Name With An S: Fumination translates Uchiko as Uko.
Yuriika Hakonaka
- Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese), Colleen Clinkenbeard (English)
A teacher from Arashigaoka Academy, she was a close friend of Kureha's mom. In the manga, she is Ginko's paternal aunt.
- Alien Geometry: Her office has an engraving with an Escher-like pattern that combines both her animal motif and her flower motif: a pattern that starts as a set of birds that transform into lilies as it goes downward.
- Animal Motifs: Often associated with birds.
- Attempted Rape: Her eating Kureha is framed as this.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She acts helpful and supportive towards Kureha but she is actually very jealous of her for "stealing" Reia's love. She also uses students to enforce staying in their "boxes".
- Clingy Jealous Girl: A deadly version. Kills Reia for believing she threw away her love for her.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: She dies in Kureha's arms, mistaking her for her mother.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: She doesn't take a really active role in the plot until later on, so at first she only appeared to be a Reasonable Authority Figure.
- Doorstep Baby: As a cub she was found on the steps of the school by the headmaster.
- Ephebophile: Has sex with Kaoru and her wish to eat Kureha is framed as sexual desire.
- Expy: Practically a copy-paste of Penguindrum's Yuri Tokikago.
- Freudian Excuse: The man who found her raised her believing that only "pure" things were precious and that they should be "boxed" in to prevent them from being unsullied. It led her to killing him when he left to seek something even "purer" than her. Reia brought her out of it for a time, until she had Kureha. Then things just went to hell.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Towards Kureha, for Reia. She blamed Kureha for stealing Reia's love away from her. Since eating Reia failed to bring her fulfillment, she sought to eat Kureha in order to attain the fulfillment of Reia's love that she poured into caring for Kureha.
- Happily Adopted: At first. Then her adoptive father abandons her to pursue something "even purer" than Yurika, which leads to Yurika killing him and to the start of all of her problems regarding relationships with others.
- Hidden Depths: Yurika is talented at origami, shown when she makes an origami lily with a photo of her and Reia, as she recounts to herself (and lets the audience know) what happened in the night Reia died.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: After her only caring guardian walked out of her life, she felt unwanted until she met Reia.
- If I Can't Have You…: Then I'll Eat You, and Your Daughter Too, Once She Grows Up.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: She seemed willing, if extremely pained, to allow Reia to pour all her love into Kureha, while she was unable to be with Reia the way she truly wished — but after seeing Reia give the star pendant Yuriika gave her to Ginko, and mistakenly assuming that Reia threw away her love, she snapped.
- Love Makes You Crazy: She ate Reia out of possessiveness, jealousy, misplaced anger and heartbreak. Kureha being the focus and recipients of Reia's love since her birth, combined with her Strong Family Resemblance to Reia, also drove Yurika half-mad with lust when she attempted to eat her.
- The Man Behind the Man: She was the one pulling Kaoru's strings.
- Manipulative Bitch: She's essentially been manipulating Kureha and nearly everyone in some way related to her, all in order to set the stage for Kureha's isolation so that she can eat her and finally, as she believes, be fulfilled with Reia's love.
- Meaningful Name
- The "Yuri" in her first name indicates that she's a bear in disguise, though indirectly in this case, as it is spelt in katakana rather than the usual "lily" kanji.
- Her having the "yuri" in her first name rather than her last name, like the others, might reference how she gives up on love — in Japan, the family name has much more significance than the given name does, and all those with the "yuri" in their last names do not give up on love (or can be assumed to not do), unlike Yurika.
- Her first name can be read as "Eureka", which means "I have it/I found it". "I found you" is a phrase particularly important to her character development.
- Her last name contains the Japanese word for "box". "Hakonaka" could be read as "inside box", referring to her habit of boxing things up (and being a box herself).
- "Yurika", using a short vowel "i", can mean "lily flower" or just plain "lily".
- The "Yuri" in her first name indicates that she's a bear in disguise, though indirectly in this case, as it is spelt in katakana rather than the usual "lily" kanji.
- Only Sane Man: In the manga, she serves as Ginko's mom's caretaker and gets annoyed at the wacky things she says, and is the most responsible adult in general, keeping an eye on Ginko.
- Parental Substitute
- In the anime, she appears to be this for Kureha, albeit a rather distant one.
- In the manga, Yurika is Ginko's paternal aunt and appears to take care of her in place of her overseas mother.
- Raised by Humans: A bear raised by a human man.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Doesn't die in the manga.
- Spell My Name With An S: Yuriika vs. Yurika, another victim of the long vowel situation. Funimation translates it as Yuriika. "Yuriika", in katakana, can also be read as "Eureka".
- Treacherous Advisor: She's been Kureha's go-to person to talk about her problems, before and after Sumika, and it turns out she's also the cause of most of them.
- Verbal Tic: "Purrowr" when in her bear form.
- Walking Spoiler: She's a lot more important to the series than she seems to be at first.
- Wife Husbandry: After eating Reia, she watched over Kureha while pulling nearly everyone's strings in order to make her into the bride that Reia could not be for her—and eat her.
- Yandere: To Reia and most likely her adoptive father since she killed both of them to "box them up and keep them forever". Due to believing that she'll only feel fulfilled by eating Kureha, the daughter to whom Reia gave all her love, and the former's very Strong Family Resemblance to the latter, she develops into one for Kureha too.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulled this on Kaoru.
Families
Reia Tsubaki
- Voiced by: Aya Endo (Japanese), Cynthia Cranz (English)
Kureha's mom. She died before the beginning of the series, something Kureha hasn't quite yet moved on from yet. She used to be a teacher at Arashigaoka Academy.
- Friend to All Living Things: Reia was kind to bears even when it was considered terrible to do so.
- Meaningful Name
- Her first name contains the kanji for "love".
- "Tsubaki" is the Japanese name of the camellia — see Kureha's entry above for the meanings.
- Missing Mom: She died before the beginning of the series. That said, she's very important to the events surrounding Kureha, Ginko, and Yurika, so she still appears several times later on in the story in Flashbacks.
- Never Found the Body: In the manga, her body disappeared after she was shot by Ginko during her childhood. Fittingly, in the last chapter, it's revealed she's alive.
- Nice Girl: Far too kind for her own good. It ended up getting her into a huge misunderstanding with Yurika, with her getting killed and eaten when all was said and done.
- Posthumous Character
- Despite starting the story dead, she turns out to be a very influential character in the story, and some of her story is told in the flashbacks.
- Is also dead in the manga, right down to being eaten. The only differences so far are who ate her and why.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Kureha looks a lot like her.
Milne
- Voiced by: Yui Ogura (Japanese), Lara Woodhull (English)
Lulu's younger brother, who loved her dearly despite her clear dislike of him. He died some time before the story begins.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: To Lulu, even though he never meant to be annoying her.
- Back from the Dead: In the final chapter of rhe manga, its revealed that Milne never died and was taken away by his grandparents for unknown reasons. The last panel shows him being reunited wifh Lulu when they spot each other.
- Beary Friendly: Not an ounce of malice in his heart, which sticks out among almost every other named bear in the series.
- Big Sister Worship: He loved his older sister Lulu very much and did everything he could to gain her approval.
- The Cat Came Back: No matter how many times Lulu tried to get rid of him, he'd always come back. Until the one day he didn't.
- Cheerful Child: Very cheerful. Not even Lulu's repeated attempts to get rid of him could get him down.
- Improbable Infant Survival: Played with; he survives Lulu's many attempts to kill him, but what ultimately killed him was being stung by bees. In the manga, he gets hit by a truck. Played straight in the manga when its revealed that he never died and was simply taken away to live with his grandparents.
- Meaningful Name: He's named after the creator of Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne.
- Posthumous Character: Died before the events of the story.
- Spell My Name With An S: Funimation's sub initially translated Milne's name as "Mirun" (which is the romaji spelling of his name) in episode 4, before changing it to "Milne" in episode 12. The uncut version rerecords the episode 4 lines that mention his name.
Ginko's mother / Kale Yurishiro
A manga-exclusive character. Ginko's mother lives in a foreign country due to her illness.
- The Faceless: Before she's properly introduced, she's shown as this, with only the sides of her face or portions of her face being shown at a time.
- If I Can't Have You…: She killed Reia because she couldn't bear to see her with someone else (pun not intended). Subverted; while she tried to strangle her, she didn't go through with it.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: When her hair's short, she looks like a handsome young man. Both Yuriika and Lulu were startled during their first meetings with her.
- Little Bit Beastly: Shown with the usual bear ears and paws when conversing on the phone with Ginko.
- No Name Given: Her name isn't given at first; she's only referred to as "Ginko's mother", or "Mama" by Ginko.
- Parental Neglect: Is very distant from her daughter, right down to not even remembering her age.
- Yandere: She holds similar views to Mitsuko regarding love and eating, supposedly ate Reia out of her love for her, and encourages Ginko to do the same to Kureha.
Yurika's adoptive father
The former school headmaster that found Yurika when she was abandoned as a baby.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Has a very feminine appearance, not helped by the fact the he wears high heels.
- Identical Stranger: He bears some resemblance to Kaoru, which may explain why Yurika "found her in the crowd".
- Meaningful Name: His given name is never stated, but if we assume he shares his last name with his adoptive daughter, "Hakonaka" could be read as "inside box", referring to his obsession with boxes and with boxing things he considers pure. "Hakonaka" also contains the Japanese word for "box".
- Parental Abandonment: He ends up abandoning Yurika to pursue something "even purer" than her, which leads to Yurika eating him.
- Posthumous Character: Has been dead for decades before the events of the story.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's only on screen for a few minutes, but what he does during that time explains why Yurika turned out the way she did. More specifically, his obsession with pureness and his abandonment of Yurika ended up leading her to believe that whatever and whoever she doesn't put in a box will end up leaving her eventually.
Others
Lady Kumaria
- Voiced by: Yui Ogura (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (under Elaine Wagner) (English)
A god of both the human and bear world. She was scattered over the world when the meteor exploded.
- Adaptation Distillation: Doesn't appear in the manga at all.
- Little Bit Beastly: She has bear ears and a tail, but doesn't have the same paw "gloves" and "boots" as other bears.
- God in Human Form: Maybe. At least part of her was Sumika.
- Have You Seen My God?: The other characters are unsure where she is. Most seem to believe that she is dead. She briefly returns in the ending to grant Kureha's wish to become a bear.
- Spell My Name With An S: Funimation's sub initially translated Kumaria's name as "Kumalia" before changing it to "Kumaria" later in the show's broadcast (and fixed the earlier lines before the DVD release).
The Life Judgement Guys
A trio of bears with human form who reside in the Court of Severance. They hold yuri trials to either approve or deny the yuri of the defendants, though they are never seen denying yuri during the show.
Tropes applying to all three
- Catchphrase: All three have some kind of catchphrase (that also doubles as their Verbal Tic), which ironically contradicts their set "lifestyle".
- Life Sexy: "That is sexy." ("That is the sexy way" in the Funimation sub) and "Shabadadoo." The latter is not exactly a very sexy thing to say.
- Life Cool: "[I'm] so cool." (Often refers to himself, but sometimes uses it when referring to other people/things) and to a lesser extent, "[they are] guilty!" Calling yourself cool is generally not regarded as a cool thing to do.
- Life Beauty: "Sparkle!" Which is often accompanied by a less-than-beautiful face or expression.
- Didn't See That Coming: When Yuriika declares that she'll give up on love, they're stunned.
- Freudian Trio: Sexy is the ego, Beauty is the id, and Cool is the superego.
- God in Human Form: They are revealed in episode 12 to be fragments of Lady Kumaria.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: In their bear forms. Life Cool doesn't think it fits his image though.
Life Sexy
- Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English)
The president judge of the group. He rules whether the yuri of the defendants is approved or denied.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He seems to be the most eccentric of the three, but he takes his duty seriously, and his judgments are handed down not simply by method of following a law, but on what the ruling relates to on the matter of the unyielding pursuit of true love.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As the judge in Severance Court, he asks for confirmation on each character's decision before announcing the verdict.
- Verbal Tic: His "shabadadoo", with him even making a "shabadadoofied" version of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor
. - Yuri Fan: He shamelessly spies on two girls having sex in the school's infirmary, but is notably prevented from seeing them finish when the time on his binoculars run out. He promptly asks for another coin.
Life Cool
- Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese), Christopher Bevins (English)
The prosecutor of the group, Life Cool is in charge of arguing against the approval of the bears' yuri.
- Butt-Monkey: He typically gets shafted by Life Sexy whenever Life Beauty objects to his prosecutions. He has also never won a yuri trial during the anime.
Life Beauty
- Voiced by: Kazutomi Yamamoto (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English)
The defendant of the group, he justifies what the bears do in whatever way he can in order to get their yuri approved.
- Verbal Tic: "Sparkle~"
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: His defense arguments basically boil down to "OBJECTION! They're bears, so of course they have to eat humans.
Your argument is invalid."
