Characters / Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War Main Character Index
High School Student Council (Kaguya Shinomiya | Miyuki Shirogane)
Second-Years

DADDY DADDY DO! I want all of you!
Give me everything that you are!
^note From left to right: Kobachi Osaragi, Miko Iino, Chika Fujiwara, Kaguya Shinomiya, Miyuki Shirogane, Yu Ishigami and Ai Hayasaka. Adolphe Pescarolo is playing Pokémon GO in the background.

Characters appearing in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. Beware of spoilers.

Note: all characters are categorized according to Class at the beginning of the story.

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Shuchi'in Academy High School

• High School Student Council ^note Chika Fujiwara, Yu Ishigami, Miko Iino, Taikoku Takano
  • Kaguya Shinomiya
  • Miyuki Shirogane
• Second-Years ^note Class 2-A (Ai Hayasaka, Mirin Hinokuchi & Subaru Suruga) Class 2-B (Nagisa Kashiwagi, Tsubasa Tanuma, Maki Shijo, Go Kazamatsuri, Saburo Toyosaki) Class 2-C (Karen Kino, Erika Kose, Momo Ryuju, Hayato Hongo), Class 2-D (Shindou Watanabe)

Faculty

Adolphe Pescarolo

Adolphe Pescarolo

Voiced by: Itaru Yamamoto (Japanese), Jeremy Inman (English), Hélio Ribeiro (Brazilian Portuguese)

Debut: Chapter 14 (Manga), Episode 4 (Anime)

The current principal of Shuchi'in High School and the former principal of its sister school in France.

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• Adaptational Late Appearance: The anime cut out his first scene where he confiscated Karen's magazine, so he isn't introduced until the French party.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He wouldn't be the principal if he wasn't competent. He nonetheless plays Pokémon GO in school and the photo shoot in Chapter 100 shows his eccentric character.
• Connected All Along: Turns out that he's Gigako's grandfather.
• Dirty Old Man: His words of praise during the photo shoot in Chapter 100, where he especially showers the girls with compliments, reveal a more perverse side of his.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": While his name is shown in several places (like Shirogane's letter of recommendation), none of the characters ever refer to him as such.
• Famous-Named Foreigner: Him having the same last name as former racing driver and businessman Henri Pescarolo very likely is a case of that trope, because NOTHING matches in the real counterpart.
• Foreign Exchange Student: He attended the school as an exchange student 40 years before the events of the story.
• The Gadfly: He definitely seems to enjoy messing with people, as seen in his various interactions with the student council.
• Hypocritical Humor: He plays Pokémon GO during school hours, but scolds the Tabletop Gaming club for doing the exact same thing. Also doubles as Parental Hypocrisy, given that he's Gigako's grandfather.
• Poirot Speak: The anime has him pepper his dialogue with bits of random French.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite being rather eccentric, he's generally fair to his students and at least able to keep order when the students and their own eccentricities bring havoc. Also, he set up the entire class 3-A where Kaguya is surrounded by her close friends just so that she can have an entire class to support her when she need them the most.
• Secret-Keeper: Seeing as how the principal let Ishigami attend high school and laughed about his "reflection", it's very likely that he is aware of Ko Ogino's true character and Ishigami's intentions in middle school. Given that his granddaughter is confirmed to have been among those that Kaguya told, he probably learned it from her.
• Shared Family Quirks: Both he and his granddaughter are fans of Pokémon GO.
• Stealth Mentor: He enlists Betsy's help to test Shirogane's worthiness of his presidential position during the French Exchange, but it backfires due to Shirogane's inability to understand Betsy's insults. In Chapter 239, he explains why; to prepare Shirogane for the task of protecting Kaguya and the school when the Shinomiya and Shijo groups inevitably go to war.
• Token White: He's the only Westerner among the cast (discounting Betsy, Hayasaka, and his granddaughter).
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Thanks to being a native Frenchman who attended Japan as an exchange student before becoming principal, he speaks with an obvious French or at least non-Japanese accent even without the random bits of foreign dialogue. Despite his age, it still sounds akin to a European reading Japanese off a script without much prior experience.
• Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: The anime gave him yellow eyes to underline his role as The Gadfly.

Hikaru Oobayashi

Debut: Chapter 211

Kaguya and Shirogane's homeroom teacher in their third year.

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• Back for the Finale: He makes a brief appearace in Chapter 281, letting Shirogane (who dropped out to attend Stanford and thus is technically not allowed on the school grounds anymore) stand with the teachers during graduation so he can get a better view of Kaguya recieving her diploma.
• A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 225 is told from his perspective, with his attempts to be a responsible teacher towards Kaguya (and her completely misinterpreting it).
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He uses an e-cigarette, showing that he's somewhat gruff but also rather young.
• Help Mistaken for Attack: His first attempt to offer advice to Kaguya leads her to assume that he's attempting to either blackmail or seduce her, similiar to how Ishigami mistook her trying to help him study for torture.
• Junior Counterpart: Inverted. He's basically an older Ishigami in terms of appearance and general demeanor, something that's further reinforced by the fact that he falls for a teacher that seems to be a hybrid of Iino and Tsubame.
• Secret-Keeper: Downplayed. He's the first person outside of Kaguya and Shirogane's immediate social circle (and the Mass Media duo) to find out about their Secret Relationship, though by that point they've already started to be more open about it.

First-Years

Class 1-A

Kozue "Makki-senhai" Makihara

Kozue "Makki-senhai" Makihara

Voiced by: Marika Kouno (Japanese), Emi Lo (English)

Debut: Chapter 29 (Manga), Episode 13 (Anime)

The sadistic "Dictator for Life" of the Tabletop Games Club.

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• Adaptational Late Appearance: The anime cuts out her initial cameo from Chapter 29, so she doesn't appear until the adaptation of Chapter 57 at the beginning of season 2.
• Ambiguously Gay: She has shown no romantic interest towards anyone, though she does comment on how cute Iino is and playfully bites her ear during their attempt to test some horror sounds for their haunted house stall.
• Blessed with Suck: She has incredibly high emotional intelligence and can pick up on others' relationships unnaturally easily. This unnerved a lot of people, which led to her developing trust issues prior to joining the Tabletop Games Club.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Even with Fujiwara's backing, Iino crushed her in the presidential election following Shirogane's departure, getting a measly 8 votes compared to Iino's 561.
• The Dreaded: The Mass Media Club duo refer to the Tabletop Games Club as a "den of evil". She has a particularly bad reputation due to her sadistic personality. Which might be why she ended up doing so poorly when she tried running for student council president.
• Epic Fail: She got 8 votes out of 673 when she ran against Iino for student council president. The sadism and eccentricity probably had something to do with it.
• Gamer Chick: She's a member of the Tabletop Games Club.
• Genius Ditz: Makki-senhai may be eccentric, but she's actually one of the top 10 students of her year, with her standing even going up by one rank during the 2nd semester's final exams. She was also the only person who figure out that it was a member of the student council who took all the heart balloons without having direct insider knowledge.
• Ironic Nickname: "Senhai" was originally "senpai" but the "pa" was stolen in a punishment game. She's actually a freshman.^Explanation In hiragana, "senpai" is written as せんぱい. Removing the ° from ぱ changes the sound from "pa" to "ha".
• Karma Houdini Warranty: It takes over half a year after the fact, but karma would eventually pay Makki-senhai a visit for her BDSM torture of Iino by having the latter defeat her in the student council election by a 500+ vote margin.
• A Mother to Her Men: Parodied. During the sports festival, her club prepared randomized beverages, apparently to so amuse the competitors while hydrating them. None of them went along with the idea, though ^note except Tsubasa, so Makki drinks one herself.
  (coughing) "I am the TG Club's eternal president. I can't waste something you put this much effort into...That is all."
  • Turns out it was just miso soup. She's fine.
• Nightmare Fetishist: She has an unhealthy love for horror. Case in point: her idea for the culture festival was a school-wide battle royale deathmatch.
• Only Known By Her Nickname: She rarely goes by her real name.
• Otaku: She is a "mega otaku" according to Fujiwara.
• Sadist: She basically subjects Iino to softcore BDSM when they were recording ASMR for their class's haunted house, and was clearly loving every second of it.
• Those Two Guys: Rarely seen without Gigako.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Apparently, she used to be a lot more closed off prior to joining the Tabletop Games Club.
• Young and in Charge: She is the "Dictator for Life" of the Tabletop Games Club, despite being a first-year. She presumably won the title by beating Gigako (the club's founder) in a board game. Apparently the power went to her head, as she decided to shoot for student council president after Shirogane left for America. She failed. Spectacularly.

Class 1-B

Yu Ishigami

For more info about him, see his page.

Miko Iino

For more info about her, see her page.

Kobachi Osaragi

Kobachi Osaragi

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka (Japanese), Leah Clark (English), Vanessa Scorsoni (Brazilian Portuguese)

Debut: Chapter 65 (Manga), Episode 12 (Anime)

Miko Iino's childhood friend who serves with her on the Shuchi'in Disciplinary Committee and acted as an assistant for her presidential campaign. Prefers to watch from the sidelines.

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• Adaptational Early Appearance: She can be briefly seen during the credits sequence of the anime's first season finale, which is set 19 manga chapters before her introduction.
• Affectionate Nickname: Iino calls her "Koba-chan".
• All of the Other Reindeer: Osaragi describes herself as a pariah amongst the other girls in school in Chapter 189.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Invoked on herself. Osaragi takes the secret student council file about Ishigami and gives it to Tsubame because she supports their relationship. She tells Kaguya that, since it would have strained the relationship between Ishigami and the rest of the council if one of the council members had done it, she decided to do it herself.
  Osaragi: The perfect role for the perfect pariah, wouldn't you say?
• Batman Gambit: Played for laughs. Iino and Ishigami don't get along, so in Chapter 103 Shirogane proposes several activities that are supposed to make them become friends. As all attempts fail, Osaragi points out the Belligerent Sexual Tension between them with a "Not So Different" Remark to end this farce. The two of them quickly deny Osaragi's observation by claiming in front of Shirogane that they actually like each other, just as Osaragi expected they would behave.
• Beautiful All Along: The reader cannot see her face behind her Opaque Nerd Glasses and stereotypical geeky looks, but in-universe she is viewed as a very attractive woman both by the boys in school and her female friends. Her face is shown in full at the end of chapter 231, and she is indeed very pretty.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Her middle school life was full of people who resented her for her good looks. The few people who managed to help her through this phase were Iino, Otomo, Ishigami, and Tsubame and it's due to their kindness that she's incredibly loyal to all of them. She now supports the relationship with Ishigami and Tsubame, despite having developed feelings for him.
• Beneath Notice: Next to a loudmouth firecracker like Iino, not many people notice Osaragi, which is just the way she likes it. She knows the downside of fame all too well.
• Birds of a Feather:
  • Osaragi sees herself as a kind of pariah, which is why she can take on the role to tell Tsubame the truth about Ishigami's past without any damaging consequences. Kaguya points out that Ishigami and Osaragi are thus very similar, which Osaragi agrees with.
  • Tsubame offered Osaragi help in middle school, as both were resented by people who were jealous of their looks and achievements. Tsubame then advised Osaragi to brush off their compliments with an indifferent "thankful" reply, and told Osaragi to lean on her if she ever needed to.
  • Iino is another social pariah, as her obsession with the rules makes her fairly unpopular, which is largely why she and Osagari bonded and became friends in the first place. However, with Iino getting more popular and the two of them conflicting over Iino's crush on Ishigami, Osaragi starts to feel that they were only ever friends in name only, and without a shared social status they have nothing in common.
• Brainless Beauty: She's considered to be one of (if not the) most beautiful girls in school, yet her ranking on the end-of-semester exams is pitiful (she actually ranks below Ishigami). Given the fact that she's actually shown to be rather observant otherwise, it might be a case of her just not caring about academics, but nothing concrete is ever stated.
• Broken Bird: Chapter 192 reveals that Osaragi used to be a cheerful and outgoing person, but this all changed when the tabloids published the news that her mother cheated on her husband, making Osaragi the subject of Condescending Compassion in addition to the jealousy other girls showed her in middle school. Since then, she has become more introverted.
• Broken Pedestal: In a way, towards Iino. She silently supported Iino and Ishigami as a pair in middle school despite having feelings for the latter due to them fulfilling what her ideal romantic relationship looks like. However, when Iino doesn't take Ishigami's side when he gets ostracized, Osaragi becomes deeply disappointed in her for not repaying all of Ishigami's efforts to help her out (despite Iino not being aware of said efforts in the first place), and has grown to resent her ever since.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Osaragi never gains the courage to tell Ishigami about her feelings for him. It's confirmed in Chapter 232 that she refrained from doing so in middle school because she saw how much more compatible Ishigami and Iino are and tried to make way for them, and in high school she notices that Ishigami has fallen for Tsubame. The closest thing she gets to a confession is her admitting in Chapter 192, that she has known his true self for a long time, and wishes for his happiness.
• Childhood Friends: She's been friends with Iino ever since elementary school.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Most of her on-screen interactions with Iino have her reigning in her friend's overactive imagination. She mentions during the end of the culture festival arc that she's going to try to stop doing this as often, as she feels that it's keeping Iino from growing up.
• Condescending Compassion: A victim of it in middle school. After her mother's affair was revealed, lots of female classmates might have said they were sorry but their tones said they thought Osaragi deserved it due to their jealousy of her beauty.
• The Confidant: Acts as this to Iino, who tells her everything that's troubling her. However she avoids doing so when Iino needs advice about her conflicting feelings for Ishigami without making it obvious to her. The reason is that Osaragi has placed Ishigami's happiness over everything else, and she's not going to risk his chances of him getting together with Tsubame by helping Iino.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Chapter 192 shows the dilemma Osaragi is in. On the one hand, she would like to support her Childhood Friend Iino, but Iino has fallen for Ishigami, for whom Osaragi herself has feelings for, and he is in love with Tsubame, who has also helped Osaragi out in the past. Osaragi prioritizes Ishigami's happiness over everything, though, thinking that he has made the "right" choice in falling for Tsubame, which is why she supports his potential relationship with her.
• Courtly Love: Her admiration of Ishigami is more philosophical than physical (although there's a bit of the latter too) and she feels similarly about the girls who also helped her.
  Ishigami: The unconditional love within each person's chest...why can't people realize that's what true love is?
• Covert Pervert: When Iino complains that (she thinks) Shirogane and Ishigami use the student council to take advantage of its female members, Kobachi suggests "joining in on the fun", and describes it as "a pretty hot situation". This could be yet another piece of Foreshadowing about her unrequited feelings for Ishigami.
• The Cynic: Her thoughts on mob mentality are rather depressing, as she witnesses how Ishigami is ostracized by the female first-years. Osaragi later implies that she is also a pariah in school, as she was harassed after her mother's affair became public, on top of all the jealousy, hatred, and insincerity other female students showed her in middle school.
• A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 85 features a day in the life of her role as a member of the disciplinary committee. Chapter 192 is also told from her perspective and reveals a major part of her past. Chapter 232 has her disclose to Kaguya her perspective on Ishigami and Iino's relationship in middle school.
• Deadpan Snarker: Basically Iino's straight-man, although she has her own quirks.
• Disappeared Dad: The fanbook lists her mother as her only relative. Chapter 192 implies that her father left after news of her mother having an affair was published in a tabloid.
• Dude Magnet: Onodera reveals in Chapter 158 that Osaragi has a lot of boys fawning over her, including guys from other schools who wait at the gate just for a chance of catching a glance at her or asking her out.
• Fallen Princess: Seeing the malice of people when her family broke up almost embittered her. Except she also saw that some people were truly good.
• Foil: Chapter 192 reveals her to be one to her best friend, Iino:
  • Their issues are the result of their families: Iino's self-righteous attitude and starvation for affection is due to her parents' busy schedules, while Osaragi's status as a pariah is due to her mother's affair as well as her beauty that she inherited.
  • They are both pariahs who were especially bullied in middle school, but while Iino was able to get through with her personality mostly intact, Osaragi became heavily introverted as well as distrusting due to it.
  • Both are weak to people that are kind to them, but while Iino is weak to any compliments no matter how obviously fake they are, Osaragi is completely loyal to the few people that helped her in her darkest hour.
  • They both have a crush on Ishigami due to minor things he's done: Iino is crushing on him unknowingly due to a simple letter and flower he sent her as well as him checking up on her during the culture festival with pictures of people enjoying the bonfire she worked so hard to get approved, while Osaragi fell for him due to him protecting her from some bullies as well as his general kindness.
  • They're both similar to their crush but in different ways which changes how they interact. Iino has similar ideals of altruism and is just as stubborn but that makes them argue each time they meet because they're too similar. Osaragi is just as observant and distrusting of others which allows them to interact peacefully on the rare occasion they cross paths.
  • They have exact opposite reactions to Ishigami's crush on Tsubame. Iino gets deeply jealous over it and early on tries to get in their way compared to Osaragi's full support.
• Former Child Star: Chapter 192 shows that she was an outgoing and lively Child Popstar, but her mother's affair and not having the social skills to deal with her classmates' resentment led to a terribly depressing time in middle school.
• Given Name Reveal: Despite being introduced in and a recurring character since Chapter 65, her name wasn't revealed until Chapter 85.
• Green-Eyed Monster: In Chapter 232, she admits to Kaguya that she's always been incredibly envious of Iino for being Ishigami's Protectorate, and claims that if she were in her position she would have taken his side and believed in him when the Otomo incident happened.
• Hyper-Awareness: As she has known Iino since elementary school, she knows her friend quite well. She also pays a lot of attention to Ishigami, after he defended her in middle school. This is why she knew he was the one who sent Iino the letter and flower that showed Iino the appreciation she desperately craves.
• Hypocrite: She disapproves of Iino's attempts at trying to get closer to Ishigami early in their second year as she sees it as Iino taking advantage of Ishigami's feelings after Tsubame rejected him not too long ago. This, coming from the same girl who encouraged Ishigami to take advantage of Tsubame's weakness to pressure so Tsubame wouldn't reject his confession a few months back.
  • She's actually aware that she's one, admitting that while her resentment of Iino is due to the latter not taking Ishigami's side when the Otomo incident happened (at least initially), she didn't actually do anything to help him either, which explains that for the same reason she vetoes Iino as Ishigami's girlfriend, she forbids herself.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: She is as deeply interested in her peers' lives as your average teenage girl, but she fears the vulnerability that true friendship entails. From a distance, she can steer them in the direction she wants without risking attachment.
• Indifferent Beauty: She has a rather nonchalant attitude towards the fact that boys find her attractive, so much so that the audience doesn't learn about it until almost 100 chapters after her introduction. This kind of attitude was recommended to her by Tsubame, who faced similar problems of resentment.
• Informed Attractiveness: Used as a joke when both Iino and Onodera comment on how beautiful she is. Since her glasses are drawn opaque and cover most of her face, readers can't tell. In fact, she is known as one of Shuchi'in High's four "Impossible Girls", the most beautiful girls (excluding the student council members) that are impossible to date.
• Insecure Love Interest: Osaragi started looking at Ishigami after he defended her against bullies in middle school. She seems to hold back her feelings because she thinks Ishigami made the right choice in choosing Tsubame. Even back In middle school, Osaragi assumed Ishigami was interested in Iino after she saw him sending Iino the letter.
• Intentional Heartbreaker: One of her reasons for going out with Kazeno may have been so he wouldn't get in the way of Ishigami asking out Tsubame.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Chapter 192 reveals that, while Osaragi has feelings for Ishigami, she decided to not act on them, after seeing that Ishigami was the one who sent Iino the flower and letter that she treasures above all. When she learns that he is interested in Tsubame, she tries her best to make him happy, and supports him without his knowledge.
• Jerkass Ball: Actively attempting to get Ishigami and Tsubame together despite knowing Iino has a crush on the former is a pretty mean thing to do to her best friend. As can be seen in Chapter 190, she also refuses to talk with Iino about her clearly hurt feelings, instead openly stating that she ships Tsubame and Ishigami. And even after her ship fell through, she still refuses to support Iino's efforts to get closer to Ishigami, and badmouths her behind her back. It takes Kaguya's intervention to get her to see the error of this mindset.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While claiming in Chapter 229 that she still can't support Iino's crush on Ishigami even after her own preferred ship fell through may sound like a horrible thing to say regarding her best friend, both of the points she makes on why she can't (Ishigami would just be On the Rebound and Iino is trying to take advantage of the situation) are completely valid.
• Love Makes You Evil: Chapter 192 reveals that Osaragi has feelings for Ishigami and wants to help him gain happiness by helping him get into a relationship with Tsubame. While not certain, her sudden and short-lived fling Kazeno may have been intended to remove him as a potential romantic rival and improve Ishigami's chances with Tsubame. She also prioritizes Ishigami's happiness over her best friend Iino's, and willingly ignores Iino's desperate need to talk about her feelings, while openly telling her that she supports Ishigami's relationship with Tsubame. Kaguya is quick to call her out on this once she finds out.
• Meaningful Name: The Buddha mentioned in Osaragi's name taught that attachment (to anything, even people) causes suffering. An ethos Osaragi can surely get behind.
• Minor Flaw, Major Breakup: She broke up with Kazeno because she was grossed out by his workout regimen.
• Motherly Side Plait: Osaragi isn't actually a mother, though her use of the hairstyle does help reflect how she acts as Iino's Cloudcuckoolander's Minder.
• One Thing Led to Another: This is more or less how she started dating Kazeno, though there (probably) wasn't any sex involved.
• Only Friend: Iino didn't have anyone but Osaragi before joining the student council. In Chapter 137, Osaragi mentions that she acts a bit too overprotective towards Iino and wishes that Iino becomes more independent, so she can grow.
• Only Sane Woman: She's level-headed and perceptive, which gives her a generally accurate picture of the rest of the cast and lets her cut right through the comedic misunderstandings. When Iino came to her claiming that the student council was some kind of weird sex club, Osaragi pointed out how out-of-character that sounded and encouraged Iino to re-evaluate the situation. She's also observed what kind of person Ishigami really is (like seeing him quietly pull a mocking sign off Iino's back), and as a result doesn't believe the rumors that he's a violent stalker.
• Opaque Nerd Glasses: Her eyes have never been seen in story (though half of her right eye is visible on the cover of Volume 17). This doesn't keep her from being considered a Dude Magnet (despite a yonkoma packaged with the anime's DVDs stating it's the entire reason she wears them). A side view of her face can be seen in Chapter 192, right after she gave Ishigami a roundabout confession. Osaragi's face is clearly seen for the first time at the end of Chapter 231, after she opens up to Kaguya.
• Opposites Attract: She's a somewhat quiet girl, not the sort of person you'd expect to be dating the captain of the cheer team. Of course, it's likely that she never had any interest in him to begin with and was only dating him so he wouldn't be a threat to Ishigami asking out Tsubame. Once that goal has been achieved, she promptly dumps him.
• Prophetic Name: She's named after the Begging Bowl of the Buddha, which Ishidzukuri no Miko (Iino's namesake) was tasked with collecting. In the original story, Ishidzukuri no Miko presented Kaguya-hime with a fake bowl because he couldn't find the real one, much like how her and Iino only became friends because they couldn't get "real" ones.
• Psychological Projection: The real reason behind her Shipper on Deck support for Ishigami×Tsubame. It's confirmed in Chapter 231 that Osaragi sees Tsubame a successful version of herself — that is, someone who had the same kind of envious attention she suffered from in middle school focused on her, but was able to handle it without making it into her Cynicism Catalyst — and considered seeing Tsubame in a relationship with Ishigami to be the closest Osaragi herself was going to get to having her feelings for him fulfilled.
• Really Moves Around: While she's presumably never lived outside of the Tokyo area given that she's been attending Shuchi'in since childhood, she nods in agreement when Koromo mentions how people in the entertainment industry have to regularly move to avoid stalkers.
• Refusal of the Call: Shirogane offered her the position of General Affairs Officer after his reelection, but she turned him down, as she had no interest in being on the council. The position remains unfilled for the entire term. And when Iino is elected President in the following school year, she once again turns down the offer.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Osaragi is The Faceless, due to her glasses. As her eyes are hidden, it's difficult to see her emotions outside of the rare smiles she shows (which are often directed at Ishigami). A part of her eyes can be seen in the Volume 17 cover, though, and in Chapter 192 a clear side view of her face is shown when she tells Ishigami that she wishes for his happiness. Her face is clearly shown at the end of chapters 231 and 232, reflecting how she's finally opened up about her emotions and insecurities to Kaguya.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Osaragi took the secret student council report about Ishigami and then gave it to Tsubame, so she is fully aware of what exactly happened between Ishigami and Ogino in middle school.
  • Up until Chapter 192, she was a Secret Secret-Keeper to Ishigami. Osaragi tells him that she knew he was the one who sent Iino the encouraging letter and the flower back in middle school. It's implied that she didn't tell Iino because of her own feelings for Ishigami.
• Seen It All: She is accustomed to Iino's tendency to make mountains out of molehills.
• Shadow Archetype:
  • To Ishigami. Osaragi is a victim of mockery and an Otaku, who hides behind her appearance and shut the world out, which is why many people appear or used to appear like The Faceless to her, just like with Ishigami. Like him, she can be very observant and wants to support her loved one without their knowledge. Even their Leitmotifs are similar, and they placed similarly in the exams in Chapter 105, with Osaragi being 151st and Ishigami being 152nd. However, Ishigami moved on from his insecurities and asked his crush out, which is something Osaragi wasn't able to do. He also puts an effort in to socialize more, while Osaragi still appears to be very introverted.
  • Also to Tsubame, with both being one of the beautiful "Impossible Girls" in school, but unlike Osaragi, Tsubame is The Social Expert, who was able to withstand the jealousy of others and remained cheerful, while Osaragi became more introverted and cynical. Osaragi herself is well aware of this, and later admits to shipping Tsubame/Ishigami as a means of Psychological Projection.
  • Chapter 231 reveals her to be one to Kaguya as well, representing who she'd be if she didn't care about Fujiwara as a person, and only befriended her for the sake of having friends, or if she didn't stop seeing her as a rival for Shirogane's attention.
  • Towards the end of the story, she ends up as one to Maki; Maki was unwilling to hurt Kashiwagi's feelings just for the sake of having her boyfriend, while Osaragi bluntly and staunchly refused to let Iino get close to Ishigami, hurting their friendship.
• Shipper with an Agenda: She seems to ship Ishigami and Tsubame, going so far to give Tsubame the secret report the student council made about Ishigami and the reason for his actions in middle school. She does this, despite being aware of the Belligerent Sexual Tension between Ishigami and her best friend, Iino, and Iino's growing feelings for Ishigami. Chapter 192 shows how Tsubame helped her dealing with the envy of her classmates, and how Ishigami defended Osaragi from others talking behind her back. She thus decided that Ishigami, whom she has feelings for, made the right choice to fall for Tsubame and court her.
  Osaragi: invokedIshiTsuba is absolute! I'm on this ship and never getting off!
• Shipping Torpedo: While she does want Iino and Ishigami to get along, she's against Iino realizing that she's in love with him because she ships Ishigami with Tsubame. Chapters 231-232 also show that she doesn't want them to become a couple because she's jealous of Iino, and believes that she doesn't deserve Ishigami due to not siding with him when he was ostracized in middle school.
• Single-Target Sexuality: It's implied that the reason why she's considered to be a member of the "Impossible Girls" is because she's only romantically interested in a single person, specifically Ishigami.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Chapter 192 has her indirectly admit that she likes Ishigami because he defended her in middle school when people ridiculed her behind her back as well as his kindness to everyone, such as him helping her best friend Iino behind the scenes.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Inverted. Despite wearing Opaque Nerd Glasses and sometimes showing that she can be very observant when it comes to other people, she's actually among the bottom quarter of the freshman class in terms of grades. Then again, Hayasaka's Flash Forward has Ishigami mention that she's attending grad school, so her grades must have improved later on.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: In Chapter 192, Osaragi describes herself as a girl who couldn't handle the jealousy other girls showed her, until she got fed up with it and hung out with the boys, which only made things worse until she was isolated. Tsubame was the one who told her how to deal with this.
• Sympathy for the Hero: She is fond of people who take initiative in improving the world, but she does not see herself as one of them. You could say she's relegated herself to being a minor character in their story.
• Theme Naming: She's one of the many people named after Kaguya-hime's impossible tasks. In particular, she takes her name from Ishidzukuri no Miko (Iino's namesake)'s task item, the Begging Bowl of the Buddha (bu no miishi no hachi)^note her name means "Great Buddha" (Osaragi) "Small Bowl" (Kobachi).
• The Unfettered: She does not fear her sight, and likely even wears glasses to enhance it.
• Unfortunate Names: Her name can also be read as "Daibutsu"^note  meaning "giant buddha" but she'd very much prefer that it wasn't.
• Used to Be More Social: If one compares how she introduces herself in Chapter 85 to how she did in Chapter 192 when she was a cheery and social Child Popstar, one can easily see how the ridicule and jealousy she received in middle school took a toll on her.
• Walking Spoiler: Half of her entry is whited out due to being a vastly different character than she's initially presented to be.
• The Watcher: She doesn't actively participate in plots, but she does take notice of all the things going on with Iino, and the situation in middle school. Thankfully, this means she can see the good points of those who are shunned, like Iino and Ishigami. This also means she sees the Belligerent Sexual Tension between the two of them.
• We Used to Be Friends: Her friendship with Iino seems pretty okay at first, but ever since Osaragi's opposition to Iino getting closer to Ishigami, the two begin drifting away from each other. This goes to the extreme by chapter 231, where Osaragi reveals her disdain of Iino to Kaguya, and Iino just so happens to walk in on the conversation. Iino calls out Osaragi's own refusal to act like a friend recently, and simply states that she has more friends now. Suffice to say, their friendship has become a hollow shell of what it used to be though they're fortunately able to resolve some of their issues by the end of the arc.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: The bonus page for Chapter 158 goes so far as to claim that she is rumored to be the hottest girl in the history of Young Jump (the magazine that the series is published).
• Yaoi Fangirl: In one of the extra comics, Osaragi is seen reading a BL manga, and is quite into it.

Rei Onodera

Rei Onodera

Voiced by: Yūki Takada (Japanese), Suzie Yeung (English)

Debut: Chapter 82 (Manga), Episode 17 (Anime)

The daughter of a famous jewelry company's president. Onodera is a gossipy classmate of Ishigami's, who first really becomes acquainted with him during their time on the Cheer Team. She later befriends Iino when they work together on the Culture Festival Committee.

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• Academic Athlete: She's both a member of the school's lacrosse team and regularly scores among the top quarter of her grade in the end of semester exams.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the manga, she has light pink hair and blue eyes, while the anime made both of them yellow.
• Armor-Piercing Question: In Chapter 230 she delivers one to Ishigami that not only makes him realize that Iino matters too much to him to not take action if there's a chance she's in trouble, it leaves him to start wondering who Iino is to him.
  "Is Iino just 'someone else' to you? Are Kyoko Otomo and Miko Iino both just the same to you?"
• The Atoner: Resolves to help Ishigami and Iino realize their feelings for each other as repayment for being part of both of them ending up as pariahs through her perpetuating Malicious Slander about them. A reason why of all the shippers, she's the only one presented without ulterior motives.
• Bully Turned Buddy: Downplayed, as while she was never a bully per se, she did help to perpetuate Malicious Slander about Ishigami and Iino due to her love of gossip. She later befriends both of them when she gets to know them better and she ships them together.
• Character Development: Due to her curious nature, Onodera was a Gossipy Hen and blindly believed rumors that she picked up on, talking badly about Iino and Ishigami behind their backs. However, after getting to know them better and becoming friends, she learned that the rumors about Iino and Ishigami are nothing but Malicious Slander that she helped spread and she in turn has become more introspective and careful regarding rumors and secrets.
• Constantly Curious: She's far more stoic than most examples, though she makes a habit of learning about others' hobbies, even if it's something that she would normally never show interest in (like reading light novels). This also ties into her love of rumors, though she mentions in Chapter 172 that she's been trying to avoid spreading baseless accusations after learning how Ishigami and Iino were affected by them.
• Curtains Match the Window: In the anime, she has blonde hair and yellow eyes.
• Dub Personality Change: She's initially hostile to Ishigami in the manga and the initial airing of the anime to showcase the treatment he receives from his fellow first-years, but in the English dub she acts more surprised that he's acting so carefree despite what happened back then.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She shows up early in the anime when Fujiwara is leading the student assembly in singing the school anthem during Episode 17 (she's the one standing next to Osaragi).
• The Faceless: Her face is used as a benchmark for Ishigami's emotional state during the sports festival. Iinitally, her face is the only one visible among the cheer team as he's familiar with her as a classmate, but she becomes just as faceless as the rest of them when Otomo shows up and his depression peaks. And when he finally "opens his eyes" after the relay race, her face is the first one shown to let the reader know that things are going to be okay.
• Foil: When it comes to their friendship with Iino, she serves as one to Kobachi Osaragi:
  • Onodera is outgoing and social albeit still reserved, while Osaragi tends to be more withdrawn and distant towards most people.
  • She's among one of the popular kids in high school. Osaragi, while known as one of Shuchi'in's "Impossible Girls", was initially a pariah in her middle school days.
  • Osaragi is Iino's childhood friend and has been by her side for most of her early life, but is not supportive of her growing feelings for Ishigami, choosing instead to support a potential relationship Ishigami could have with Tsubame. As a result of that, she and Iino slowly grow distant from each other as the manga continues, and have barely hung out, at least onscreen, since Osaragi made her stance clear. Meanwhile, Onodera and Iino have only known each other for less than a year, initially had a somewhat frosty start together partly due to Onodera hearing and spreading bad rumors about her, and both come from completely different social circles, yet once they bonded and got to know each other better, Onodera becomes a faithful and supportive friend to Iino, growing closer to her as the series progresses. The big difference here that sets her apart from Osaragi is that Onodera fully supports Iino/Ishigami without any ulterior motivations whatsoever aside from wanting Iino to be happy, while Osaragi vetoes the pairing, and has other things in store for Ishigami that she thinks is best for him.
• Inconsistent Coloring: Her Early-Bird Cameo in the anime had her with pink hair like what she has in the manga, but when she's properly introduced she's suddenly become a blonde.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Onodera has bright blue eyes in the manga and her Early-Bird Cameo in the anime, and the few slights she made against Ishigami and Iino were completely accidental as opposed to deliberate on her part. In the anime, however, her eyes become yellow in her proper introduction.
• Lovable Jock: It's never brought up in the main series, but Chapter 180 of We Want to Talk About Kaguya shows her as a member of the school's lacrosse team, and she definitely grows into a much friendlier individual post-Character Development.
• Ms. Exposition: She fills this role regarding the Iino/Ishigami/Tsubame Love Triangle. Being a member of Tsubame's social circle, she's able to fill in Iino and Ishigami with information about her that they would otherwise never learn.
• Not So Stoic: In contrast to her usual demeanor, she is notably more cheerful when on the Cheer Team or the culture festival committee. Not to mention the fact that she suggested a meme as the latter's slogan.
  We got dank vibes!! ~Shuchi'in is lit af~
• Odd Friendship: While the two of them have almost nothing in common and come from completely different social circles, she and Iino grew rather close while on the Culture Festival committee together. Iino affectionately calls her "Rei-chan".
• Ojou Ringlets: Being a Shuchi'in student, it's only natural she rocks the long-haired drill style. Though as the series went on, her hair became looser and looser until the curls were all but gone.
• Perpetual Frowner: She doesn't smile much and is mostly seen wearing a neutral frown on her face.
• Refusal of the Call: Iino tries to recruit her to the student council after being elected president, but she turns down the offer due to believeing that she wouldn't be a good fit for the position.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Upon hearing Iino's Innocent Innuendo laden description of how she had spent the previous night with an older man, she comes to the conclusion that she must have gotten herself a sugar daddy. Iino was actually talking about learning how to play Apex Legends from Papa Shirogane, who has called himself "Sugar Daddy" multiple times in the past.
• Secret-Keeper: She finds out about Kaguya and Shirogane's relationship after hearing the former sleep-talking about it, later getting indirect confirmation when she goes to ask her about it. The fact that she keeps it a secret from Iino when she walks in on the conversation puts her on Kaguya's good side.
• She Knows Too Much: Non-fatal example. After revealing that she knows about Kaguya and Shirogane's Secret Relationship, Kaguya nearly assaults her with a taser to give her Laser-Guided Amnesia (only for her to prove that she can function as a Secret-Keeper while remaining completely oblivious to Kaguya's attempted attack).
• Shipper on Deck: She ships Ishigami/Iino, something that becomes especially apparent during Tsubame's Christmas party, where she gets in between Iino and a boy who tries to flirt with her and is constantly focused on Ishigami and Iino's conversations. Notably, when a shipping war broke out between those who supported Ishigami/Tsubame and Ishigami/Iino in Chapter 189, she was the only one who had no ulterior motives.
• Small Role, Big Impact: In hindsight, Onodera confronting Kaguya about her Secret Relationship with Shirogane might have significantly influenced Kaguya to reconsider her toxic thinking about subjecting potential friends to a Secret Test of Character, and how she can only truly regard Secret Keepers as friends. As Kaguya learns at the end of the class trip to Kyoto, Hayasaka has been reporting almost everything about Kaguya to her eldest brother, Oko. However, Kaguya manages to forgive Hayasaka and listen to her, and they remain Heterosexual Life-Partners.

Koromo Shiranui

Koromo Shiranui

Debut: Chapter 166 (Manga)

A popular first-year student, considered to be one of the most beautiful girls in school. She is the older sister of Frill Shiranui from Oshi no Ko.

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• Chekhov's Gunman: Her name is first listed on the end-of-semester exams in Chapter 105 right under Onodera. She is mentioned to be one of the school's four impossible girls and properly appears in Chapter 211.
• Commonality Connection: She ends up becoming friends with Ishigami after the two of them meet on a gaming Discord server.
• Family Theme Naming: She and her little sister Frill both have fashion themed names.
• First-Name Basis: She calls Ishigami "Yuu-chin" when they meet on Discord even though he only gave his last name. Ishigami is well-known, being a member of the student council, Ootomo incident, recent new rumors about it, and they are classmates, but this level of closeness is unexpected.
• Gamer Chick: Chapter 228 reveals that she's an avid online gamer. It's implied that the tired look in her eyes is due to constantly staying up late to play.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: A single panel shot of her bedroom in Chapter 228 shows that she has at least one teddy bear.
• Informed Attractiveness: She is known as one of Shuchi'in High's four "Impossible Girls", the four most beautiful and unapproachable girls in school, on par with the girls from the student council.
• In the Hood: She usually wears a hooded jacket over her school uniform, which kept her features completely hidden from the reader during her first appearance.
• Mistaken for Romance: While chatting with Ishigami at school the day after they're introduced to each other, some poor wording on her part leads all their classmates (except Osaragi) to assume that they're Friends with Benefits.
• Really Moves Around: When Iino is suspected of having a stalker, she mentions that it's a common problem for people in the entertainment industry and that her family has had to move to new apartments multiple times in the past.
• School Idol: She's considered to be "The Fairy of the First-Years" by Erika, on par with the likes of Kaguya and Tsubame. Given that Erika worships the very ground that Kaguya walks on, this is high praise indeed.
• Ship Tease: Very friendly with Ishigami when they met online. She's quickly seen as a threat by Iino, while Osaragi and Onodera see the potential for her as Ishigami's girlfriend. Likely defused when she seconds Terashima who pushes Iino to go on the offensive for Ishigami.
• Signature Headgear: She has two ribbons in her hair, even using a picture of one of them as her Discord icon.
• Theme Naming: She's one of the many people named after Kaguya-hime's impossible tasks. In particular, she takes her name from Abe no Miushi's task item, the robe of the fire rat.
• Unknown Rival: Obviously a threat as far as Iino is concerned. But it wasn't confirmed whether she sees Ishigami as boyfriend material, and it's unlikely she knows another girl is interested, and displays no hostility to Iino (quite the opposite, Koromo displayed concern when her "rival" was stalked). When she learns about Iino's crush, Koromo supports her.
• Unseen No More: She's been mentioned a few times, but at most she's only been seen from behind during an Imagine Spot in Chapter 166 wearing a sweatshirt that hides everything but her hands. This is finally subverted in Chapter 211 when she finally shows up in person. It's mentioned that she works in the entertainment industry, which would explain why she doesn't attend classes often and thus was absent until then.

Third-Years

Class 3-A

Tsubame Koyasu

Tsubame Koyasu

Voiced by: Haruka Fukuhara (Japanese), Tia Ballard (English), Mari Haruno (Brazilian Portuguese)
Played by: Haruka Fukuhara (live-action movie)

Debut: Chapter 82 (Manga), Episode 17 (Anime)

A perky upperclassman leads Ishigami's group through sports day. Caring and energetic, she captures Ishigami's heart quickly.

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• Academic Athlete: She's ranked seventh among the senior class and is a member of the school's rhythmic gymnastics club.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair is brown in the live-action movie.
• Ascended Extra: After the sports festival arc, she gets more characterization during "Kaguya Shinomiya's Impossible Tasks".
• The Bartender: Her father is a world-famous bartender, so she's presumably been taught how to prepare drinks from a young age. When she hosts a Christmas party, she spends the entire time in a waitress outfit making (non-alcoholic) beverages for everyone and even shows Ishigami how to properly use a cocktail shaker.
• Beneath the Mask: While generally a cheerful Genki Girl, there is a hint that when it comes to relationships, she hides the emotional scars her previous relationship left, which is the reason for her commitment issues.
• Betty and Veronica: She's the Veronica to Iino's Betty and Ishigami's Archie. She's a comparatively newer presence in Ishigami's life who has the looks, grades, and popularity to make her appear unattainable to someone like Ishigami, but this does not deter him from pursuing her anyway. The trope is inverted, though, if you consider their personalities, since Tsubame is the nice and friendly one, while Iino is strict and often abrasive towards Ishigami.
• Birds of a Feather: Chapter 192 reveals that Tsubame reached out to Osaragi since she saw a connection between them in middle school, as girls who are belittled and harassed by students with an Inferiority Superiority Complex. She then gave Osaragi advice on how to handle it and offered to help if Osaragi ever needed it, which Osaragi was truly thankful for.
• Cheery Pink: Her hair has a light pinkish tint. Fittingly, along with Kazeno, she's the co-leader of the Cheer Team.
• Class Princess: She's near the top of her class academically, is considered one of the school's top three beauties, and is adored by pretty much everyone. She also doesn't seem to have a single mean bone in her body, is the first person outside of the student council to befriend Ishigami, and also helped both Osaragi and Ryugu when they were in similar situations. That said, she can be somewhat indecisive, and has a string of bad relationships behind her because of her looks.
• Clear Their Name: She restores Ishigami's good name as a gift to make up for turning down his love confession by using her social influence to alter the narative of what happened during the Otomo incident to a more accurate (though still ultimately untrue) story.
• Cloudcuckoolanguage: She has a habit of peppering her language with meaningless memes and references whenever she gets really excited. Ishigami (who had only just started to brush himself up on modern slang) is left hopelessly confused when trying to understand her during the Christmas party.
• Commitment Issues: Her previous boyfriend cheated on her (and it's implied that the other girl in the equation was her best friend). Because of this, she was rather hesitant to accept Ishigami's Love Confession and ended up giving a rather lame excuse to turn him down. Chapter 160 has her admit that she was always confessed to, but never confessed to someone else. Confessions scare her, because she views them as binding contracts, and she is too indecisive to make such a decision herself.
• Cuddle Bug: She has no reservations about getting in her friends' personal space when being affectionate.
• The Ditherer: Insecure/Submissive type. One of Tsubame's issues is that she gets very nervous and stressed, and doesn't know what to do when she has to make important decisions like after Ishigami seriously confesses his feelings to her. She asks the people around her, like Kaguya or Shirogane's father (who works as a fortune-teller and online relationship adviser), for advice and is easily influenced. Unfortunately, her indecisiveness leads to questionable actions, like not willing to commit to a relationship yet offering Pity Sex to Ishigami, which he rejects as he doesn't want her "half-assed love".
• Dude Magnet: Kaguya notes that she's very popular, as demonstrated in Chapter 115 when Ishigami is competing against three other boys for her attention.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She shows up early in the anime when Fujiwara is leading the student assembly in singing the school anthem during Episode 17 (she's the only one of the third-year students whose hair isn't black).
• Establishing Character Moment: She's introduced as a member of the cheer team (demonstrating her bubbly personality), but the real moment comes when she notices Ishigami sitting by himself due to not using Line and exchanges contact info with him so he can stay involved, showing that she's someone who looks out for those that others would overlook.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Several girls are shown squeeing alongside Ishigami over her dance performance during the culture festival in the omakes, and she got a pile of chocolates that rivaled that of Shirogane on Valentine's Day.
• The Faceless: As with the rest of the cheer team, in the sports festival arc. She only gets her face properly shown after Ishigami "opens his eyes" to the world again.
• The First Cut Is the Deepest: Her previous boyfriend cheated on her and it's implied that the girl he slept with was her best friend, explaining why she was so hesitant to accept Ishigami's Love Confession (and why she thought that offering to sleep with him was a good solution).
• Genki Girl: She's constantly upbeat and loves to try new things. It comes with the territory of being a member of the cheer team.
• The Heart: As the leader of both the Cheer Team and the Culture Festival Committee, she serves to bridge the tension between most of the members and the more unliked Ishigami and Iino respectively.
• I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship: This is the reason why she's so hesitant to give Ishigami a definitive answer when he unknowingly confesses to her. She isn't really sure if she's romantically attracted to him (along with other issues like the fact that she's going to be graduating soon), but she knows that turning down such a heartfelt confession would break his heart and destroy their already existing relationship. Her attempts to ask Kaguya for advice don't really help due to a case of One Dialogue, Two Conversations.
• Important Haircut: She stopped wearing her hair ribbon and cut her hair to chin length (save for the sidelocks) after graduation. Ishigami describes it as making her look more grown up.
• Informed Attractiveness: As Tsubame's name is clearly a reference to one of Princess Kaguya's impossible tasks, she is one of the four "Impossible Girls" in school, the four most beautiful women of Shuchi'in High (excluding the student council members) that are impossible to date. She is even referred to as "the Madonna of the third years".
• Insecure Love Interest: Unlike previous confessions, she takes Ishigami's very seriously, since he earnestly has feelings for her. However, she isn't ready to commit to a serious relationship (due to how the relationship with her previous boyfriend ended), which is why she rejects his confession on Christmas Eve. She ends up hurting Ishigami because despite not reciprocating, she offers to have sex with him out of sympathy. Chapter 191 elaborates on that, where she admits that while she does love Ishigami, she cannot clearly distinguish between platonic and romantic love. Tsubame wants to act responsible, since she's the elder one in the relationship, but her friends are not helping at all, forcing her to ask a stranger (Shirogane's father) for advice.
• Like Brother and Sister: She and Kazeno are close friends, though their relationship is completely platonic.
• Long-Distance Relationship: Defied. The reason why she ultimately turns down Ishigami after the Christmas party is because she's graduating and going away to college in three months. She doesn't feel that such a relationship would work out in the long run. It's worth pointing out that she is lying about this and just using it as a cover for her Commitment Issues (since the college is less than half an hour away by train, and she already told Kaguya before that such an excuse would just sound like a roundabout way to tell him that she doesn't like him romantically).
• Love Makes You Dumb: Played with. Her grades take a massive hit at the end of senior year (dropping from 7th to 36th) with the implication being that it's from the stress of dealing with Ishigami's crush on her and the looming date of her answer to his confession.
• Maybe Ever After: Her live-action counterpart retains her role as love interest for Ishigami, and with Iino's heavy demoting is the only love interest for him in the second movie. They don't exactly get together, but ship tease is heavy and they have a Dance of Romance at the school festival.
• Ms. Exposition: She explains to Kaguya the legend and theme of the Devoted Hearts Festival and how High-School Sweethearts can be granted eternal love during the festival, like what happened with her older brother and sister-in-law.
• My God, What Have I Done?: At the end of the Christmas party, she immediately regrets offering Pity Sex after Ishigami properly confessed and asked her to date him. Disappointed and irritated, he leaves, at which point she realizes that she just seriously hurt his feelings.
• Nice Girl: She's a very kind, pleasant, and selfless girl who likes to help others, is caring and open-hearted, and accepted Ishigami easily into the team despite the rumors surrounding him, which is why he starts falling for her. She also helped both Osaragi and Momo in the past, thought the details for the latter have yet to be revealed.
• Nightmare Fetishist: She's apparently a fan of horror stuff, and gets really excited when Ishigami invites her to try out his class's haunted house at the culture festival.
• No Sparks: This is ultimately the reason why she turns down Ishigami's Love Confession. Despite how much she may like him as a friend, she just doesn't have any romantic feelings for him.
• Not So Above It All: Tsubame is normally a nice and understanding girl, but hilariously enough, just like everyone else, she tells Kazeno off for jumping over a railing while wearing a skirt - which caused him to sprain his ankle right before a relay event - by calling him a moron for it.
• Oblivious to Love: Tsubame doesn't realize that Ishigami has a serious crush on her. After he confesses to her, she doesn't know whether she likes him platonically or romantically, because she can't distinguish them. Her friends aren't any help at all, as one of them doesn't have any experience either, and the other one suggests sleeping with him, which she tries to do. Not only did it not help Tsubame find her answer, but she also ended up hurting Ishigami.
• Passionate Sports Girl: She's a member of the school's rhythmic gymnastics club.
• Promoted to Love Interest: She already was one, but she becomes Ishigami's only love interest and the more pronounced option for him in the live-action version since Iino has been Demoted to Extra. The second movie ends with him giving her the heart pendant, and he dances with her at the bonfire.
• Put on a Bus: While she does get a few mentions here and there, she's pretty much gone from the story after graduating.
• Retail Therapy: Papa Shirogane describes her as the type who goes impulse shopping while under stress and telling her fortune. This comes up at least twice, both times involving her relationship with Ishigami.
• Romantic False Lead: Played with. Tsubame eventually comes to welcome Ishigami's attempts to court her in spite of her own insecurities. This causes Iino to become jealous of them and their date is what leads her to realize her own feelings for Ishigami.
• Rose-Haired Sweetie: She has pinkish hair with matching eyes, signifying her good and cheery nature.
• School Idol: Erika refers to her as "The Swan of the Third-Years", putting her on equal standing with the likes of Kaguya (which is high praise indeed, given that it's coming from Erika).
• Shadow Archetype:
  • She serves as one to Kyoko Otomo, the girl Ishigami protected by keeping quiet about the fact that her boyfriend, Ogino, cheated on her, if the rumors about Tsubame's ex-boyfriend cheating on her are true. Tsubame was left scarred and has developed commitment issues, while Otomo has retained her happiness and smile.
  • As Chapter 192 reveals, she also serves as an inverted one to Osaragi, both being one of the beautiful "Impossible Girls" in school, but unlike Osaragi, Tsubame is The Social Expert, who was able to withstand the jealousy of others and remained cheerful, while Osaragi became more introverted and cynical.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Romantically, she's the opposite of her older brother. Both of them were confessed to with a heart during the Devoted Hearts Festival, but while he ended up Happily Married to the girl that confessed to him, she spent several months agonizing over how to avoid breaking Ishigami's heart because she didn't feel anything romantic towards him at all.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: The bonus page in Volume 21 revealed that due to Tsubame's natural beauty, she was the target of a stalker, molester, and has even entered an abusive relationship at one point where she was only in a relationship for a particular person for his social status. In fact, she's so used to boys only being interested in her for her looks that she's completely caught off guard when Ishigami rejects her offer for Pity Sex because he wanted an actual relationship.
• The Social Expert: Tsubame is chosen as both the vice-captain of the Cheer Team and the chairwoman of the Culture Festival Committee, because she is able to unite and lift the atmosphere when things get tense. She also advised Osaragi in middle school on how to deal with jealous girls who envy them for their looks and achievements, which earned her Osaragi's Undying Loyalty.
• Super Gullible: Tsubame is a bit superstitious, and often asks people for advice, generally believing everything they say. Shirogane's father gives her relationship advice during winter break, only to subvert the seriousness of his words by offering her a phony trinket that would help her, which she immediately buys, causing him to call her out on her gullibility. Its Played for Drama later on, as she heeded Atenbou's advice on having Pity Sex with Ishigami after rejecting his confession, leading to the incident that broke Iino's arm and further complicated a Love Triangle between the three. At the very end of Chapter 191, she still seeks Papa Shirogane's advice when assuming that he still worked as a fortune teller, hinting that she hadn't learned her lesson even after Maki in Chapter 162 indirectly pointed out her naivety in believing fortune tellers.
• The Tease: Tsubame teaches Ishigami how to use a cocktail shaker during the Christmas party with a Hands-On Approach that was far more intimate than necessary. She also comes to his room very lightly dressed, sits suggestively, and touches him a lot. She does this all deliberately, given the fact that she knew about his crush on her and was planning on having Pity Sex with him, to figure out how she feels about a romantic relationship with him. She stops this after he rejects her offer.
• Tender Tears: The other members of the cheer squad note that she's a crybaby, as shown by her getting emotional over Ishigami getting second place in the relay race.
• Theme Naming: She's one of the many people named after Kaguya-hime's impossible tasks. In particular, she takes her name from Isonokami no Maro (Ishigami's namesake)'s task item, the swallow's cowry (tsubame no un da koyasugai).
• Unknown Rival: Iino admit she hates Tsubame for this, even if she was always friendly. But Tsubame apparently had no idea another girl loved Ishigami.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In Chapter 120, Tsubame tells Kaguya about heart-shaped gifts during the cultural festival, which would grant the couple eternal love. She gifts Kaguya one of the heart trinkets they are selling as a service, but Kaguya loses it and it's found by Ishigami, who gives it to Iino, so she can put it in the lost & found box of the disciplinary committee. Ishigami giving Iino the trinket is part of the reason why Iino starts to view Ishigami in a different light, setting in motion the love triangle between her, Ishigami, and Tsubame.
• We Used to Be Friends: Has a massive fight with Otomo, her kouhai from middle school, when she learns what really happened between her and Ishigami. To her, the Ishigami Otomo was describing didn't sound anything like the Ishigami she got to know personally, and was greatly saddened to see him be so hated by someone he wanted to help.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: In chapter 192 when Tsubame reveals her plan to reveal at least some of the truth of Ishigami's actions to Otomo to both Kaguya and Osaragi. Kaguya is shocked but approves, saying that even she couldn't come up with and do Tsubame's plan, much to Tsubame's displeasure.

Terashima "Terako/Gigako/Megako"

Terashima "Terako/Gigako/Megako"

Voiced by: Rina Honnizumi (Japanese), Lisette Monique Diaz (English)

Debut: Chapter 29 (Manga), Episode 13 (Anime)

The oldest member of the Tabletop Games Club with constantly changing nicknames.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: She has black hair and gray eyes in the manga. The anime changed both of them to brown.
• Adaptational Late Appearance: The anime cuts out her initial cameo from Chapter 29, so she doesn't appear until the adaptation of Chapter 57 at the beginning of Season 2.
• Book Dumb: She ranks near the very bottom of the senior class on exams, and her constantly decreasing nicknames suggest that she isn't much better at games. Chapter 202 reveals that she had already failed her senior year once, and she only managed to pass the second time around because her grandfather pulled some strings.
• But Not Too Foreign: As the principal's granddaughter, she's part-French.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Is first introduced as just another member of the Tabletop Games Club Fujiwara is part of before later chapters revealed her to be the headmaster's granddaughter. She's also the one who allows Ishigami to befriend Shiranui. Later still, Fujiwara and Iino threaten to expose Seiryu's deviancy to the media during the final arc. This doesn't intimidate Seiryu, as the Shinomiya family has a tight grip on the press. But they can't silence Megako, who has a not-so-insignificant social media presence by this point.
• Connected All Along: She's the principal's granddaughter.
• Constantly Changing Name: As the series goes on, her nickname changes to smaller and smaller metric prefixes.
• The Dreaded: The Mass Media Club duo refer to the Tabletop Games Club as a "den of evil".
• For Happiness: Her personal view of games (both digital and analog) is that they're something that's supposed to bring people joy, both as individuals and as a group. It's the entire reason she founded the Tabletop Games Club.
• Gamer Chick: She's a member of the Tabletop Games Club, and becomes a professional e-sports player after graduation.
• Genius Ditz: She gets terrible grades and her board gaming skills aren't implied to be any better, yet she's pretty much unbeatable when it comes to competitive FPSs.
• Meaningful Rename: She used to be called "Terako", but she got demoted to "Gigako" after losing a game. The Volume 11 extras reveal that she was further demoted to "Megako".
• Motive Misidentification: Downplayed. She thinks that the reason why Fujiwara keeps on having the Student Council play games is because she wants everyone to have fun together. While that's certainly part of it, her habit of cheating and Sore Loser tendencies make it clear that she's more concerned with winning to feed her ego.
• Nice Girl: All signs point to her being a much more benevolent person than her clubmates. Despite being a well-known streamer and e-sports player by Chapter 228, she still makes time to play a few rounds with Ishigami simply because he's Fujiwara's friend.
• Only Known By Her Nickname: She's only referred to in-series by her ever-decreasing nicknames. It isn't until Chapter 202 that she's referred to by name (and even then, only her surname).
• Otaku: She is a "mega otaku" according to Fujiwara. If the figurines in her bedroom are any indication, she's specifically a fan of the Super Robot Genre.
• Put on a Bus: Subverted. While all of her fellow third years disappear from the narrative following graduation, she only becomes relevant to the plot after that point.
• Secret-Keeper: As one of Shuchi'in High's most influential students, she is aware of Ko Ogino's true character.
• Shared Family Quirks: Both she and her grandfather are fans of Pokémon GO.
• SI Prefix Name: Terashima is originally nicknamed "Terako", but then got demoted to "Gigako", and later "Megako".
• Still Wearing the Old Colors: Downplayed. Her Winecraft skin in Chapter 270 is wearing the Schuchi'in school uniform even though she graduated several months prior. For bonus points, the skins of the two people she was playing with (both of which are current students) are wearing regular clothing and the chapter takes place over summer vacation when no one would be wearing their uniforms anyway.
• Sweet Tooth: According to Chapter 171, she always has cookies in her bag.
• Those Two Guys: Rarely seen without Makki-senhai.

Previous Student Council President

Previous Student Council President

Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki

Debut: Chapter 121 (Manga), Episode 17 (Anime)

Shirogane's predecessor on the student council who had originally recruited him to be the General Affairs officer.

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• Commissar Cap: He wears one as part of his student council uniform, which helps to give him an air of authority.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He shows up early in the anime when Fujiwara is leading the student assembly in singing the school anthem during Episode 17 (he's the one all the way in the bottom right wearing a hat).
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Much like with his successor, he's only ever referred to by his title. Unlike with Shirogane though, his real name has yet to be revealed.
• Exotic Eye Designs: For whatever reason, his eyes are drawn without pupils.
• Nice Guy: While very little is seen about his personality, he was the first person in the school to reach out to Shirogane. He's also the one who established the practice of allowing normal students to come into the student council room to ask for help with their problems.
• No Name Given: Has yet to be given a name in official material.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only shows up in three chapters (plus an Early-Bird Cameo in the anime), yet both of the series' longest-running plotlines can be traced back to him. Shirogane never would have fallen in love with Kaguya if he hadn't reached out to him and taken him to the lake on that fateful day, and Tsubasa never would have confessed to Kashiwagi if he hadn't established the practice of allowing students to seek advice from the student council.
• Student Council President: He held the role before Shirogane.

Class 3-B

Kazeno

Kazeno

Voiced by: Taishi Murata (Japanese), Daman Mills (English)

Debut: Chapter 82 (Manga), Episode 17 (Anime)

An upperclassman and captain of the Cheer Team.

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• Chick Magnet: Quite a few girls were pretty excited to see him crossdress in the sports festival.
• Ditzy Genius: He gets very good grades (being ranked 4th among the senior class), but he was dumb enough to try and jump a railing while wearing a long skirt, hurting his leg in the process.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He shows up early in the anime when Fujiwara is leading the student assembly in singing the school anthem during Episode 17 (he's the really tall one in the fifth row).
• The Faceless: As with the rest of the cheer team, in the sports festival arc. He only gets his face properly shown after Ishigami "opens his eyes" to the world again.
• Heroic BSoD: The break-up with Osaragi depresses him greatly, though he manages to cope with it by devoting his feelings to idols.
• Keet: He's the captain of the Cheer Team, it's to be expected.
• Like Brother and Sister: Ishigami assumed that he was in a relationship with Tsubame due to them having been friends for so long, though this is shot down when it's revealed that he's actually dating Osaragi.
• Lovable Jock: It isn't known if he's on any sports teams, but he is really into working out and is an all-around Nice Guy.
• Nice Guy: Much like Tsubame, he accepts Ishigami easily despite the rumors surrounding him.
• No Full Name Given: He's only ever referred to by his first name. Even the volume extras showing the end-of-semester rankings list him as "Captain Kazeno".
• One Head Taller: His girlfriend Osaragi is a little less than a head shorter than him. Of course, she is roughly two years his junior.
• On the Rebound: He immediately jumps into an otaku "relationship" with idols after Osaragi dumps him. Seeing as Osaragi is as beautiful as these idols, and in fact was an idol in the past, it's clear he is projecting.
  Kazeno: All the love I'd meant to give her, I've been pouring into these girls instead.
• Otaku: He ends up becoming an Idol otaku to cope with his depression over Osaragi breaking up with him.
• Put on a Bus: He's last seen leaving the school after graduating and is never directly mentioned again (discouting Ishigami referring to the Cheer Team as a whole), though some dialogue does allude to him and Ishigami still hanging out from time to time.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Not usually (as far as we know), but he is the one who came up with the idea for the Cheer Team to cross-dress during the sports festival.

Unknown Class

Shizuku Asahi

Shizuku Asahi

Debut: Chapter 121 (Manga), Episode 33 (Anime)

An upperclassman and also the president of the Mass Media Club, who works as the chief editor of the school newspaper.

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• Adaptational Late Appearance: Downplayed. The anime has her introductory flashback take place right after the culture festival starts as opposed to right before it.
• Ascended Extra: She has a grand total of two proper appearances in the main series before graduating, but she is a supporting character in We Want to Talk About Kaguya due to her being in the same club as Karen and Erika.
• Beleaguered Boss: As Karen and Erika's immediate superior in the Mass Media Club, she has to frequently keep both girls focused on their job while pulling them back to reality every time they're in Kaguya fangirling mode again. Which happens nearly all the time.
• Character Witness: While talking to Tsubame in Chapter 191 about Ishigami, she mentions that both Karen and Erika trust him.
• The Confidant: Chapter 191 shows her listening to Tsubame's romantic issues. She can't really offer any kind of advice, though, since she has no experience in love. However, she was wise enough to warn against Atenbo's "when in doubt, have sex" suggestion and testifies that Karen and Erika both trust Ishigami. This doesn't help Tsubame's dilemma, and Asahi ends up telling her friend how annoying she is.
• Deadpan Snarker: Being directly in charge of two of the biggest and nuttiest Kaguya fanatics will turn you into one.
• Given Name Reveal: It took 70 chapters for her name to be revealed.
• Hidden Depths: The shots of her bedroom that we see in Chapter 200 imply that she's either really into art or paints in her free time, as she has multiple pictures in a variety of styles hanging on her wall (one minimalist and one cubist from what is visible).
• Hypocrite: She scolds Karen and Erika for their favorable bias towards Shirogane in the election when they're supposed to be impartial as journalists. This is despite the fact that Kaguya had already arranged for her to support his reelection campaign.
• I Owe You My Life: After saving her from drowning in a flashback, Kaguya mentioned to Hayasaka that owing her a favor may prove useful in the future. We Want to Talk About Kaguya implies that she cashed in that favor to insure the Mass Media Club's support in Shirogane's reelection.
• It Runs in the Family: Her father is the chief of a big newspaper company.
• Meaningful Name: Her surname 'Asahi' (朝日) refers to the real-life newspaper Asahi Shimbun, one of the five largest newspapers in Japan.
• Not So Above It All: Though she frequently chastises Karen and Erika for their borderline fanatical worship of Kaguya, she indirectly admits and considers herself "more than just a fangirl" for Kaguya, but refuses to give any more details to Karen and Erika beyond that out of combination of embarrassment and not wanting to associate herself with their loonier fangirling. In her case, it's understandable: Kaguya did save her life.
• Only Sane Woman: Compared to Karen and Erika, she's the only named member of the Mass Media Club that actually focuses on doing her job. She also blocks all of their student council-centric articles from being published, since they write about as obsessively as they talk. Then again, she also appointed them as the new leaders of the Mass Media Club when she graduated.
• Prophetic Name: Her first name translates to "droplet" and her last name means "morning sun", alluding to how her falling into a swamp marked the start of Kaguya and Shirogane's romance.
• Secret-Keeper: As one of Shuchi'in High's most influential students, she is aware of Ko Ogino's true character.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The only thing of consequence she ever does in the series before she graduates is falling into a swamp, but she has a major effect on the overall plot due to Kaguya rescuing her being the reason Shirogane fell in love in the first place.

Yume Atenbo

Yume Atenbo

Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)

Debut: Chapter 39 (Manga), Episode 8 (Anime)

The granddaughter of a high-ranking priest and president of Shuchi'in High's Occult Research Club.

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• The Blind Leading the Blind: Atenbo is the one Tsubame listens to regarding her relationship with Ishigami, which ends up with Tsubame trying to initiate Pity Sex with him. Asahi criticizes her for the ill advice she gave, despite never being able to keep a longer-lasting relationship, yet Atenbo still thinks her advice was sound.
• The Confidant: She is seen in Chapter 191, along with Asahi, listening to Tsubame's problems and advising her on how to proceed. Unfortunately, her advice doesn't help Tsubame at all.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She is first introduced in Chapter 39 as one of the club presidents who have the power to send any student and their family packing if they misbehave. However, her first real appearance is in Chapter 131, near the end of the Culture Festival arc.
• Ethical Slut: Based on the relationship advice she keeps giving to others, it's clear she is someone who thinks Sex Is Good and helps them sort their feelings out.
• Expy: Her name, occupation, and art design are clearly based on "The Witch" (Yume Furusana), a character from Akasaka's previous manga ib: Instant Bullet.
• Eyes Always Shut: Her eyes have never been seen open, which fits her laid-back and mischievous personality.
• Fortune Teller: She is seen during the last day of the culture festival, where she tells Kaguya's and Shirogane's fortunes. It's not clear if she really can see something or if she is just making good guesses.
• The Gadfly: Couples who ask her for their fortunes are getting teased so much that it borders on sexual harassment. For instance, when Kaguya and Shirogane come into her room, she assumes that they have a Secret Relationship and asks if they are using proper protection. She also frequently brings up people's libido and how they need to deal with it.
• Meaningful Name: Her given name is written in hiragana, giving a lot of ways to interpret it. "Yume" (夢) for instance can mean "dream".
• Nightmare Fetishist: She is the head of the Occult Research Club, so that was a given. Chapter 194 reveals that Kaguya received the recipe for the previous Valentine's Day Cubari Facaccimo "chocolate" from her. The shots of her bedroom that we see during Tsubame's group chat also include things like crystal balls, black drapes, and a (hopefully fake) human skull.
• Preacher's Kid: Well, grandkid (as her grandfather is a Shinto priest). She fits into the naughty catagory as she's both an Ethical Slut and known for giving advice that borders on sexual harassment (in addition to an interest in the occult).
• Secret-Keeper: As one of Shuchi'in High's most influential students, she is aware of Ko Ogino's true character.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Chapter 191 reveals that she was the one who told Tsubame to sleep with Ishigami, so she can be certain of her feelings for him. What she didn't expect was that Ishigami is an idealistic romantic who isn't just out for sex like that (and especially doesn't want to be pitied), which not only didn't help Tsubame, but made things worse between her and Ishigami, and indirectly led to Iino's arm being broken.
• Stalker without a Crush: She somehow has access to information that shouldn't be publicly available, like Shirogane's weight at birth.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She was the one who suggested that Tsubame offer Pity Sex to Ishigami during her Christmas party, and thus is indirectly responsible for Iino breaking her arm and complicating the love triangle between Ishigami, Iino, and Tsubame.
• You Need to Get Laid: Her relationship "advice" to others boils down to "have sex". It backfires horribly when she suggested the same to Tsubame to help her figure out her feelings for Ishigami. Ishigami isn't interested in sex without love, and Tsubame is too indecisive, so rejecting his confession yet still offering Pity Sex ended up hurting both Tsubame and Ishigami.

Shuchi'in Academy Middle School

Student Council

Kei Shirogane

Kei Shirogane

Voiced by: Sayumi Suzushiro (Japanese), Heather Walker (English), Nathalia Guillen (Brazilian Portuguese)
Played by: Amu Fukao (live-action movie)

Debut: Chapter 28 (Manga), Episode 6 (Anime)

Miyuki's younger sister. Treasurer of the Shuchi'in Academy Middle School Student Council.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: The live-action movie gave her black hair.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the gender-bent AU chapters of the Official Doujin, she's notably much closer and less rebellious to Miyuki, who's her older sister there, even referring to her as "Nee-san".
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Kei is generally nice and polite, but is fairly rude towards her brother in comparison. Later revealed to be part of her rebel phase, since she feels like she's treated like a child whenever Miyuki interacts with her. This can also be seen in the way she calls her brother. She refers to Miyuki simply as "Onii", without -san, -chan, or any other suffix, showing that she acknowledges him as her brother but doesn't show him any additional respect beyond that.
• Big Brother Attraction: Defied. She deliberately avoids actions that would make her look like a brocon, and tends to complain at length about him given half a chance. This actually backfires in Moeha's case, as there's a noticeable undertone of pride in Kei's complaints that led her best friend to develop a Love Before First Sight on Miyuki.
• Big Brother Worship: Double Subverted. Kei greatly admires her older brother, but she deliberately hides it due to a combination of being in her rebel phase and not wanting people to think she has a brother complex. Even then, her pride for him still pours through in a Tsundere manner, enough so that Moeha falls in love with him based solely on her stories.
  • Kei greatly admires Kaguya even though they aren't blood-related, seeing her as a big sister figure. Kaguya's later interactions with her prove that this feeling is clearly mutual.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Downplayed but present in her interactions with her father and older brother. Interestingly, her teenage "rebellious phase" is more prevalent with the latter, probably because her brother persists in acting somewhat like a parental figure to her despite the verbal abuse he gets for it, unlike their father who seems to have given up completely.
• Brutal Honesty: Which is why her brother's unwillingness to just say outright what he feels annoys her.
• Calling the Old Man Out: In Chapter 272, she calls her mother out after the latter claims that Miyuki's grades improving justifies her decision to abandon the family and take Kei with her.
  Kei: Mom... we don't need to be geniuses. What we really needed in our lives were neither good grades nor a perfect future. All we really wanted was a normal, loving mother.
• Character Tics: She pretends to be stretching whenever she's secretly listening in on whatever her brother is doing.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Miyuki mentions her in the first chapter and she gets a few other acknowledgments early on, but she doesn't actually make a proper appearance until Chapter 39.
• Deadpan Snarker: When she's not outright insulting and arguing with her family, she comments on everything with a snide remark.
  Kei: (after Miyuki was gifted with his father's moon watch) Wow, it smells like old man in here.
• Don't Split Us Up: Her mother initially took custody of her when she abandoned their father due to her being more successful in her studies than her brother. However, she soon chose to go back to her father and brother, and doesn't seem to have a high opinion of the woman in the present.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: In-universe. She's very popular among the fans of her father's YouTube streams and it always sees a spike in donations when she's on-screen.
• Even the Girls Want Her: It's mentioned that she is popular even among girls.
• Everyone Has Standards: The fact that she loves her brother does not mean that she has the patience for most of the stuff he does. However, whenever he is not near, she won't hesitate in talking about him with nothing but praises (just expressed in a Tsundere manner).
• Favors for the Sexy: Kei finds herself on the receiving end of this after her father becomes a successful YouTuber, with people throwing down 10000 yen in the super-chat every time she walks across the screen during one of his live streams.
• First-Name Basis: Insists on Kaguya calling her by her first name, which is something Kaguya usually never does, not even with Hayasaka.
• Gender-Blender Name: Just like her older brother.
• Good with Numbers: Implied, given that she is the treasurer for the middle school student council and in charge of her family's finances.
• Hairstyle Inertia: Flashbacks show her having the exact same hairstyle as a child, just shorter and with a hairband instead of a ribbon.
• Hereditary Hairstyle: The ribbon she wears is the only thing that separates her hairstyle from her mother's.
• Hot-Blooded: She is markedly snappy when it comes to her brother, venting her teenage angst upon him in her mother's absence.
• Interclass Friendship: With Moeha, and through her with Fujiwara. Later with Kaguya.
• Irony: Her constant complaining about her brother made her best friend develop a crush on him before even meeting him in person. Specifically, the underlying tone of pride in her complaints gave Moeha an extremely positive image of him, an image that was (accidentally) reinforced when she actually met him in Chapter 126.
• It Runs in the Family: She has the same piercing glare as her brother and is just as good at hiding her shyness. The narrative also lampshades that her nervousness around Kaguya is a result of siblings having similar tastes. Chapter 52 reveals that she's just as thrifty as him, just as kind, and enjoys coffee.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Fashionable: Non-romantic example. In Chapter 119, Kei goes out of her way to make sure Miyuki doesn't embarrass her at her school festival, either by standing out in his high school uniform or by looking like a middle schooler with his terrible fashion sense. Seeing how her classmates are smitten and impressed by Miyuki when he shows up, she can't help but smile blissfully.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While she is saying it because she doesn't want her image of Kaguya being "deflowered" by Shirogane, Kei has a good point in that their rooms are close to each other and she could hear anything if they do something due to the thin walls.
• Jerkass to One: She's a lot harsher towards her brother (and to a lesser extent, her father) than everyone else. This is mostly a result of her venting all her frustrations towards her absent mother on them.
• Locked Out of the Loop: While she knows that her brother has a crush on a girl, she has no idea that the girl in question is Kaguya (instead, she thinks that it's either Fujiwara or Hayasaka). She doesn't find out until Chapter 170, when she hears the two of them flirting over the phone for almost 5 1/2 hours. Additionally, she had no idea that the pair already had Their First Time when she starts preventing the two from acting like a couple.
• Missing Mom: Her mother ran off about seven years before the story began.
• Moment Killer: Despite actually wanting them to eventually get married, Kei hates the idea of her brother defiling Kaguya (unaware that the two have already had sex) and does everything she can to keep them separated when Kaguya comes to visit in Chapter 236.
• Mundane Luxury: When her father announces that they're going to be moving into a new apartment, the thing she gets most excited about is that she'll get to have her own room rather than have to share one with her brother.
• Nice Girl: Despite her rebellious streak towards her brother (she's an adolescent after all), she's just like him; a very nice and kind-hearted person, and very selfless. It's later revealed that she was angry at him for giving her birthday money despite a "no presents" agreement they made due to their impoverished living situation.
• Not Blood Siblings: While she averts this in the series proper (being Miyuki's biological sibling who has zero romantic or sexual feelings for him), the "Miyuki and His Girls" bonus chapter has her playing this role completely straight.
• Not So Stoic: While she's normally very cool-headed and collected, like her older brother, she's also occasionally shown to be Not So Above It All on the inside, also like her older brother. The most notable example is probably when Miyuki walked out wearing his Impossibly Tacky Clothes and she melted down ranting about them.
• Odd Friendship: She's somehow best friends with Moeha, of all people. How something like that came about is never really explained.
• One Degree of Separation: She is in the same year as and friends with Fujiwara's younger sister Moeha. She sleeps over frequently at the Fujiwara household, and as a result, is also close friends with Fujiwara herself.
• Perpetual Poverty: Due to her father being deep in debt, Kei constantly struggles with money and thinks in newspaper deliveries she has to do when she wants to buy something. This isn't likely to change in the near future, since her father cannot keep a job for long and both she and her brother are still in school. And while her father seems to have a promising future as a YouTube celebrity, if he really has built up a debt of over 500 million yen, he won't be able to pay off everything for a long time.
• Practically Different Generations: While the two of them are just shy of being 3 years apart in canon (her birthday's in August and his is in September), the Kindergarten AU chapters of the Official Doujin ages her down to around 4 while Miyuki is an adult.
• The Quiet One: Her focus chapter states that she doesn't speak a lot.
• The Runaway: Subverted. She ran away from her mother to be with her father and brother, partially out of guilt for abandoning them, and partially because she didn't feel comfortable sharing a home with her mother's boyfriend.
• School Idol: Just like her brother, Kei is admired by both the boys and girls in her school for her cute looks, her grades, and her innocent and just personality.
• Secret-Keeper: She finds out about her brother and Kaguya dating after overhearing them having a 5 1/2 hour phone call and then not long afterwards begins pumping him for all the juicy details.
• Sell-Out: Chapter 191 shows that she is seriously contemplating to sell herself out on the internet, seeing as her father gets 10,000 yen donations whenever she is passing by while he streams, with her admitting that she has done it on purpose several times already.
• Shipper with an Agenda: While pairing her brother with Kaguya does seem genuine on her part, she also sees this as an opportunity to get closer to Kaguya as a sister-in-law. Humorously, while she wants them to be a couple, she doesn't want them actually acting like one because she hates the idea of her brother defiling someone she admires (ironically she remains unaware that they already had Their First Time). As such, she does everything she can to get between them when Kaguya comes to visit.
• Siblings Wanted: Kaguya is jealous of Fujiwara's friendship with Kei, not knowing that she herself has the potential to be Kei's family, which is considerably more poignant than anything Fujiwara has with Kei, and even more, that Kei longs to be Kaguya's family too. She is in sore need of a stable female influence in her life, which her female friends in the Fujiwara family don't actually fulfill; cue Kaguya, a person she admires and wants in her life. The main reason she wants Kaguya to marry her brother is so they could be a family.
• Sibling Triangle: Subverted, because Kei isn't actually romantically interested in Kaguya, unlike her brother. However, both vie for Kaguya's affection and smugly tell the other sibling how close they are to Kaguya. Miyuki shocks Kei though, when she learns in Chapter 170 that the two have become a couple, and it is immediately clear afterwards that she wants to learn all the details.
• So Proud of You: Beneath all her bitching and moaning regarding her brother lies a girl that has nothing but pride and love for him.
• Strong Family Resemblance: She looks like a female version of her brother, right down to the eyes. The resemblance is strong enough that Kaguya instinctively shows attraction to her despite her otherwise Single-Target Sexuality. Kei also has inherited her mother's looks, looking like a younger version of her.
  • The gender-bent AU of the Official Doujin gives Kei a slightly different facial design where she looks like a younger version of Miyuki, who was born as a girl there.
• Token Mini-Moe: She's a middle schooler and extremely adorable. Even Kaguya instinctively calls her cute as soon as she meets her, though given how she is, it also could be her similarities to her brother in appearances that prompted the reaction.
• Too Much Alike: Kei, like her brother, is a prideful tsundere who Cannot Spit It Out. Thus she can't stand him always telling her what to do but she can't bring up the nerve to speak to him normally thus leading to their current frosty relationship.
• Tsundere: She's a (platonic) Harsh tsundere for her own brother. His nagging, pseudo-parental attitude gets on her nerves and she lashes out, to the point where the two of them haven't had a normal conversation in years. Despite that, she does care about Miyuki (and is shown to be very proud of him), but carefully measures her interactions with him so it doesn't look like she has a brother complex.
• Unwanted Assistance: Her attempt to cover for Miyuki when Kaguya comes over to visit ends up making things look even worse than they would have originally, thanks to her tossing bags of trash and an erotic magazine into his study room. To make things worse, when Kaguya spots the magazine, a pair of Kei's panties are sitting right on top of it. Needless to say, this absolutely mortifies her.
• Vicious Cycle: The narration outright describes her relationship with Miyuki as one of these. His overprotective attitude makes her feel like he still sees her as a child, which leads to her acting mean and distant to him, which only makes him nag her more.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Kaguya comments on the fact that she has the same eyes as her older brother upon meeting her for the first time, and nearly squees in excitement when she realizes the resemblance.

Moeha Fujiwara

Moeha Fujiwara

Voiced by: Ari Ozawa (Japanese), Kara Edwards (English), Nica Nogueira (Brazilian Portuguese)

Debut: Chapter 39 (Manga), Episode 8 (Anime)

Fujiwara's younger sister and the vice-president of the Shuchi'in Academy Middle School Student Council. She is close friends with Kei, who as a result frequently sleeps over at the Fujiwara household.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Like her older sisters, her hair was changed from silver to pink in the anime.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Just like her sisters, she has a well-endowed figure for her age, which Kaguya bitterly notes by sending a Death Glare towards them.
• Commonality Connection: For all of Kaguya's comments about being unable to deal with her, they do have one major thing in common: their taste in men. They end up having a bonding experience over this commonality.
• Cute and Psycho: Her introductory chapter has her talking about wanting to torture Kei and eat Kaguya, all with a smile on her face. Later on, even the narrator will remark that she's a bit of a psychopath.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Her sister Chika is extremely disapproving of her crush on Shirogane.
• Foil: For Kaguya. Both of them are vice-presidents of their respective student councils, the youngest members of their families, and have a crush on Shirogane, but their personalities are complete opposites; Kaguya is scary on the outside and sweet on the inside, while Moeha is sweet on the outside and scary on the inside.
• Girlish Pigtails: As befitting her Cute and Psycho personality, she wears her hair in two tails.
• Hopeless Suitor: She doesn't really have any chance of getting together with Shirogane, given that he is solely focused on Kaguya by the time her crush is revealed. She's still pining over him by the time of Kei's epilogue chapter, even though he and Kaguya have been openly dating for months at that point.
• Interclass Friendship: She's best friends with Kei, whose family is working class.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Downplayed as she isn't being a jerk about it, but when Chika brings up several of Shirogane's bad qualities but quickly adds that he fixes them, Moeha doesn't see the issue. According to Moeha, what Chika is saying sounds like Shirogane is the type of guy who wants and can improve himself rather than being a lazy broken mess.
• Love Before First Sight: She fell in love with Shirogane based solely on Kei bragging/complaining about him.
• Odd Friendship: By all appearances, she doesn't seem like the type of person that Kei would hang out with, yet they're somehow best friends.
• Precocious Crush: She's three years younger than her crush Shirogane. Kaguya even brushes her off as a threat for this very reason... at least until they end up bonding over it.

Third-Years

Hifumi Abe

Hifumi Abe

Debut: Chapter 211 (Manga)

A member of the Abe family and Gomanosuke's owner.

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• Feet-First Introduction: The first time we see him is of his shoes, with his cat being the one in focus.
• Prophetic Name: He's named after Kaguya-hime's final suitor, which marks him as both the most obvious pick to fill in the vacant seat in the student council and having some sort of relationship with his Impossible Girl counterpart Shiranui. Except not really. Outside of his Feet-First Introduction, he's only mentioned in a single line of dialogue as Gomanosuke's owner and then disappears from the story altogether.
• Red Herring: His name makes him seem like he'll be important due to him being named after Kaguya-hime's final suitor, but he never joins the student council and isn't shown to have any sort of relationship with his Impossible Girl counterpart Shiranui.
• Walking Spoiler: It's kind of hard to say anything about him outside of his first appearance without spoiling the fact that that's his only appearance.

Mitama Tono

Mitama Tono

Debut: Chapter 278

A flirtatious girl who was recruited to serve as the 69th student council secretary.

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• Boxed Crook: Downplayed as no laws have been broken, but the school VIPs decided that the best way to keep Tono from causing chaos in the school was for her to join the student council where Iino could keep an eye on her.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Ishigami admits that she's the only one of the new council members that can actually do her job in spite of her eccentricities.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: She's the anti-Fujiwara. Both are troublemakers, but have an opposite love life (Fujiwara remains single for the entire story while Tono literally defines her worth by how many boys she can seduce). Ironically, Ishigami (whose rivalry with Fujiwara spanned the entire series) considers Tono the only reliable member of the new council.
• Last Episode, New Character: Her only appearance in the manga proper is during Iino and Ishigami's epilogue chapter.
• Really Gets Around: Ishigami's inner thoughts don't mince words about her being a loose woman.

Kogane Kanegae

Kogane Kanegae

Debut: Chapter 278

A popular TikTok influencer who serves as the auditor on the 69th student council.

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• Book Dumb: He barely passed his senior year of middle school.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: He's basically Kaguya's opposite in every way save for both coming from zaibatsu families. While she was the top of her class yet Hopeless with Tech, he's tech-savvy yet Book Dumb. His parents are also implied to be a lot less controlling than Gan'an was, given that there's no indication of them having any problem with him being genderqueer.
• Last Episode, New Character: He's only introduced in Iino and Ishigami's epilogue chapter.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A rich, genderqueer, (possibly) crossdressing gamer and TikTok Influencer. Ishigami even lampshades how over-the-top his list of qualities is.
• The One Guy: He's part of the Tabletop Gaming Club, which had only ever had female members prior to him joining.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Maybe. He identifies as male but wears Shuchi'in's female uniform. It isn't made clear if he's forced to wear it due to being assigned female at birth or if he just prefers it over the male one.

Former Students

Kyoko Otomo

Kyoko Otomo

Voiced by: Reina Ueda (Japanese), Brittany Lauda (English), Patt Souza (Brazilian Portuguese)

Debut: Chapter 55 (Manga) Episode 22 (Anime)

The girl that ruined Ishigami's reputation in middle school.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: The anime adds an extra line to her rant against Ishigami where she yells at him for having the audacity to be enjoying himself at the sports festival, feeling he has no right to be happy after what she thinks he did. Oddly enough, in the second season's extra comic strips, they also reveal that Otomo is intentionally trying to make herself still hate him, but she can't completely do it since it's been so long and he looks good in drag.
• Adaptational Late Appearance: The anime cut out her cameo during Kaguya and Ishigami's first study session, so she isn't seen until Osaragi's Day in the Limelight when she gives an abridged version of Ishigami's backstory to the audience.
• Book Dumb: Turns out the reason she's not in Shuchi'in Academy High School is that she flunked the entrance exam.
• The Bus Came Back: She disappears from the plot after the events of the sports festival due to no longer attending the school, only to pop back up 100 chapters later during the "End of Secrets" arc.
• The Dreaded: To Ishigami. As soon as she shows up at his first sports festival, his mood deflates and becomes filled with fear.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She makes a couple of appearances in flashbacks before her proper physical appearance in the sports festival arc.
• Given Name Reveal: Finally gets her name in Chapter 88.
• Good All Along: More of a revelation to the audience. All of her flashback scenes made it look like she randomly accused and led the pack on Ishigami for something he didn't do. In reality, she was defending her boyfriend from being punched, who she didn't know was a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
• Hidden Depths: One of the extra 4komas released with the second season's blu rays reveal that she actually attempted to forgive Ishigami for the incident in middle school as she didn't really want to keep staying mad at him forever, but hilariously enough, her petty jealousy at seeing him having fun with Tsubame made her forget about that.
• Innocently Insensitive: Upon reuniting with Ishigami, she wastes no time throwing insult after insult at him over what happened to them in middle school. She is completely unaware of all the circumstances, which Ishigami prefers.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Intentionally so. She's kept ignorant of her boyfriend's true colors even after she leaves school, for the sake of her happiness. The main point of Ishigami's martyrdom, and why he rescued her from her boyfriend at the cost of his own reputation, was so that she left the ordeal completely unharmed.
• Missed Him by That Much: She was just inches away from being retaliated against by Kaguya, who is dissuaded from doing so by Hayasaka because that would be a disservice to Ishigami's efforts to make Otomo happy. Instead, Kaguya reveals that while she'd keep her hands off Otomo, she had enacted retribution on Otomo's boyfriend for what he did the minute she learned the truth.
• Nice Girl: She's actually a rather sweet person and went out of her way to be friendly with Ishigami. The only problem is that she trusted her former boyfriend more than him when she really shouldn't have. Not helping this is that Ishigami would prefer her hating him to her being hurt by the knowledge her boyfriend was cheating on her.
• The Not-Love Interest: Ishigami explicitly points out that he was not in love with her, though others like Osaragi don't seem to agree, especially since he fell in love with Tsubame, who is similar to Otomo in several ways.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. Chapter 198 shows another Kyoko on the first-year class rankings.
• Shadow Archetype: Inverted with Tsubame. Tsubame is what Otomo could have become if Ishigami hadn't stayed silent and she learned that her boyfriend cheated on her. Tsubame has Commitment Issues, while Otomo was left clueless and, outside of her breaking up with Ogino, has left Shuchi'in with only happy memories.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Becomes this following the incident with Ogino. After Ogino falsely framed Ishigami as the stalker while making himself look like the good guy, she constantly antagonizes Ishigami, even refusing to let go of the past and continues belittling him in the present. Even after Tsubame tries to explain the incident to her, she poured her drink on her after a dispute regarding the past before leaving, showing that she is very stubborn and unwilling to listen to other people.
• We Used to Be Friends: It's revealed long after her appearance that she and Tsubame are old friends from middle school. Not so much anymore when Tsubame learns the truth behind the incident between her and Ishigami and comes to his defense, prompting a huge fight between them.
• With Friends Like These...: When Ishigami calls her an idiot, her friends comment it was very harsh from him, even if it's true. Yes, in front of her.

Ko Ogino

Ko Ogino

Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese), Matt Shipman (English)
Played by: Fumiya Takahashi (live-action movie)

Debut: Chapter 85 (Manga) Episode 22 (Anime)

A former student of Shuchi'in Academy Middle School and Otomo's ex-boyfriend.

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• Adaptational Villainy: He's already a villain in the manga, but the live-action version get paid to allow boys to rape Otomo in her sleep. And it didn't stop after Ishigami's intervention.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He presents himself as a kindhearted and upstanding student when in reality there is nothing good about him.
• Bowdlerise: His cruder remarks about Otomo, which reveal just how disgusting and despicable he really is, when Ishigami confronts him from chapter 88's original release are muted out via Ishigami's monologues covering up his original dialogue in both the tankobon release of Chapter 88 and the anime (which adapts the tankobon's version of the chapter).
• Bright Is Not Good: He wears a white-colored Gakuran and has a friendly air presented to everyone, but is definitely not a good guy in the slightest.
• Bus Crash: Downplayed. Kaguya tells Hayasaka that she ratted Ogino out to Shuchi'in's club presidents, fully aware that they would not approve and send him away. He was Put on a Bus, and while he's not dead, he's never going to come back.
• The Casanova: What he truly is deep down, as the only thing he cares about girls is to satisfy his own carnal desires.
• Exact Words: What allows Ishigami to tell that Ogino's cheating on Otomo, besides the shifting of his eyes and tone of voice. When Ishigami asked if the girl on his phone is his girlfriend, Ogino replied that it is, but technically, Ishigami didn't specifically ask if it was Otomo, and thus Ogino unintentionally shot himself in the foot.
• Eyes Never Lie: When he tells Ishigami, who was accidentally eavesdropping, that it was his "girlfriend" on the phone, Ogino's eyes shifted to the opposite side. Which only helps confirm to Ishigami that he's lying.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: He has the appearance of a bishonen, but is a rather sexually depraved individual deep down.
• Hate Sink: He was cheating on Otomo, and tried to buy Ishigami's silence when he found out (by offering to let him sleep with her). Then he pulled a Wounded Gazelle Gambit, making it look like Ishigami was a Stalker with a Crush, and threatened to hurt Otomo (it's implied that he would have released revenge porn) if he revealed the truth. Those who know the truth about him rightfully find him despicable, and Kaguya and Shuchi'in's most influential students made sure that Ogino will never come back to Shuchi'in or Otomo again.
• Hidden Eyes: Curiously, his eyes are omitted completely in both the anime and the tankobon release of Chapter 88 of the manga. In the original release of the chapter, his eyes were fully drawn and detailed like mostly everyone else.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Chapter 89 made it seem like Ogino was able to get away with turning Ishigami into a pariah until Chapter 90 revealed that Kaguya told the truth of the situation to the Shuchi'in VIPs that forced Ogino to transfer.
• Lack of Empathy: Deep down, Ogino makes it clear to Ishigami that he doesn't care about Otomo's wellbeing and feelings in the slightest, with the only good thing about her being sexual relief. Unsurprisingly and later tragically, Ishigami gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
• Manipulative Bastard: After his attempts to buy Ishigami's silence caused the latter to attack him, he used his popularity and skill as a member of the drama club to frame Ishigami as a Stalker with a Crush.
• Psychotic Smirk: He gives a very scary one when he warns Ishigami of what he'll do to Otomo if the former were to reveal his Casanova nature.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Sure, he may have got off scot-free for his crimes and pushed all the blame onto Ishigami at first, but he'll spend the rest of his life being paranoid of Ishigami deciding to spill the beans or come back looking for revenge. And the fact that he's barred from attending Shuchi'in Academy any longer means that his life is pretty much derailed by his standards.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: He has black hair and a pale complexion, but is a very popular and well-liked student. It goes into Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette territory when his true colors are revealed.
• Really Gets Around: Besides Otomo and the unnamed girl on his phone, it's implied that Ogino has really been busy.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only shows up in 3 chapters (and all those appearances are in flashbacks), but he's single-handedly responsible for turning Ishigami into the person he was at the beginning of the manga.
• Stepford Smiler: His kind smile is nothing more but a mask to hide how depraved he is.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He was one of the most popular students in middle school, meaning that with his word against Ishigami's, and his acting skills, it was obvious whose side most students and teachers would pick. This quickly gets revoked by the school's most influential students and club leaders, who alongside council vice-president Kaguya evict and ban him from Shuchi'in's premises, destroying his reputation.

Other Characters

Family Members

Shirogane Family

Note: In this section, Shirogane will be referred to by his given name Miyuki due to his shared family name.

Papa Shirogane

Papa Shirogane

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Tyson Rinehart (English), Adriano Paixão (Brazilian Portuguese)
Played by: Masahiro Takashima (live-action movie)

Debut: Chapter 19 (Manga), Episode 4 (Anime)

^{Click here to see him younger}

The father of Miyuki and Kei. He is currently unemployed.

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• Actually, I Am Him: He initially hides his identity when he first meets Kaguya, only dropping the charade after she admits that she'd like the chance to meet Shirogane's parents and give them her thanks for raising him. He also fully admits that he only did it to mess with her.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: He has black hair in the live-action movie.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parent: He is a hilariously awkward man, and it quickly becomes apparent that he loves to deliberately embarrass his son. His first appearance has him yell to his son (loud enough that even Miyuki's sister could hear) that a girl is on the phone for him. He also loves to call himself Miyuki's Sugar Daddy. Kei's reactions show that she is just as humiliated by him as her brother.
• Aroused by Their Voice: When he becomes a YouTube streamer, multiple people in the chat are seen commenting on how awesome his voice is. Given who voices him in the anime, it's hardly a surprise.
• Benevolent Boss: One of the things that ultimately caused him to lose his company was he refused to follow his wife's advice to fire a large chunk of his employees.
• Billionaire Wristband: He owns an Omega Speedmaster Professional (also known as the Moonwatch due to the model being used by the Apollo astronauts). It's the only valuable possession he still owns after losing his former wealth. He gifts it to Miyuki in the lead-up to the culture festival, saying that it should be worn by someone "reaching for the moon" as a way of telling him to pursue Kaguya.
• …But He Sounds Handsome: When he's trolling Kaguya into revealing her feelings for his son, he comments "his parents must have good genes" when she mentions his piercing glare.
• The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: He is easily the best person in the entire story when it comes to giving relationship advice, yet he's been estranged from his wife for over half a decade.
• Cold Reading: Played for Laughs. Tsubame is convinced that he is a genuine psychic when he's able to deduce that she's the kind of person who engages in Retail Therapy, having apparently forgotten that she came into his Fortune Teller booth with a pile of shopping bags which are currently sitting in clear view right next to her.
• The Comically Serious: Everything that comes out of his mouth is said with his same dead-serious face. His idea of small talk is asking Kaguya how far she has gotten with his son and offers to pretend to be her father-in-law at a parent-teacher conference without any hesitation.
• Contrived Coincidence: Several chapters before he's introduced, Kaguya imagines him exactly how he actually looks like. As she doesn't recognize him when she actually meets him, it's implied that she indeed did not know him, in spite of the crazy amount of tabs she keeps on Miyuki.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: When it comes to his children, he is really bad at giving relationship advice, but when he suggests that Kaguya (Ice) is in a bad mood because she is on her period, the volume extras reveal that this really is one of the reasons why Kaguya (Ice) may appear.
• Face of a Thug: To an even more extreme than his own son, not helped by the manga and anime artists drawing his face with harsh shadows all the time, nor by his voice actor being famous for voicing villains. That being said, he's harmless and merely enjoys annoying his son while supporting him.
• Foot-Dragging Divorcee: He has no intention to divorce his wife, who left him seven years ago.
• Fortune Teller: The New Game arc reveals that he sometimes works as a fortune teller in a shopping center, and he ends up giving some fairly good advice to Tsubame while on the job.
• The Gadfly: The first time he meets Kaguya, he tricks her into revealing her feelings for Miyuki without revealing that he is Miyuki's father. After she finds out, he openly admits that he did it just to mess with her (although he did have an ulterior motive).
• Good Parents: Zigzagged. He's no longer the breadwinner of the family (until he becomes a YouTuber) and hardly ever tries to deal with Kei's rebellious phase, but he is still being supportive of his son in his own way. His flashback in Chapter 91 sums it up with his words of advice to young Miyuki. Considering the kind of person Miyuki is, he took his father's advice to heart.
  Papa Shirogane: Miyuki, I'm a good-for-nothing. I can't pretend to have all the answers and tell you what to do, but there's one promise I want you to make. If your closest friends, or the woman you love, is in trouble, be a man. Do whatever it takes to protect them. Grow up to be the kind of person who will overcome any obstacle to help those he cares about. That's all I ask of you.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: He busted his butt through college, managing to become a CEO and marry the most popular girl on campus, only for his company to go bankrupt, his wife to walk away from him soon afterward, and become basically unhirable in his major forever.
• Hidden Depths: With him being a jobless father, who his children never take seriously, it's all the more surprising that he still has quite a few useful talents. Chapter 191 shows that he's a good artist, experienced at video editing, and skilled at marketing to the point he was able to gain 50K subscribers on YouTube in a month.
  • Papa Shirogane knows how to fly and operate a helicopter without an issue. Comes in handy taking Shirogane and Kaguya away from the Shinomiya family's guards.
• Hollywood Mid-Life Crisis: At times he goes Totally Radical and wears Age-Inappropriate Dress, causing great embarrassment to his son and daughter.
• Honest Advisor: While his fortune-telling is a bit of a scam, he is actually quite honest and serious when Tsubame asks for advice. Chapter 191 reveals that he decided to use his life experience to advise people on the internet.
• Hopeless Suitor: Averted with Shirogane's mother in the past, but played straight in the current time as chapter 272 shows that she has no intention of ever reconciling with him.
• Inadvertent Entrance Cue: Most of his interactions with Kaguya start off this way.
  Kaguya: At least there won't be any more weird middle-aged men showing up today.
• It's All My Fault: He admits to having been the inspiration for Miyuki's "motivational" posters, having used a similar method to win his wife back in the university. He was genuinely horrified with just how many of the posters Miyuki put around his study room and regretted not providing good moral support to his son.
• I Was Quite the Looker: One small flashback with him giving some good advice to a younger Miyuki showed he was quite dashing, looking like a taller version of his son; either the years caught up to him or losing his job and his wife running away took its toll on the man, maybe a combination of the two.
• Jack of All Trades: He has a surprisingly long list of previous jobs of all calibers, and is frequently shown performing mundane part-time jobs from time to time. In spite of not being particularly noteworthy comparatively given his highly educated background, he eventually finds success as a YouTuber, as he is very charismatic and has enough job and life-related stories to fill an encyclopedia.
• Love Martyr: Despite his wife leaving him seven years ago, he refuses to divorce her because he still loves her. He knew she greatly valued social status when he tried, and succeeded, in courting her when they were in college, thus doing everything he could to secure them a nice upper class life, knowing full well things would, and did, go sour when he lost his business.
• Mistaken for Pedophile: Downplayed twice:
  • During the sports festival, his son catches him taking photos of Fujiwara, unaware that her father had asked him to do so while he was grabbing his camrea.
  • In Chapter 230, Onodera and Ishigami both mistake him for taking part in Compensation Dating with Iino when he was actually helping her buy parts for her computer.
• Nice Guy: Despite appearances and his knack for being The Gadfly, Papa Shirogane can be surprisingly helpful to his family and other people when the situation calls for it. Best shown when he's being supportive of his son's Relationship Upgrade with Kaguya or using said talent to become a YouTuber by giving advice. Apparently, it becomes clear that this trait runs in the Shirogane family (minus the mother for obvious reasons).
• Not a Date: In Chapter 231, he accompanies Iino to buy gaming peripherals after school, which causes Onodera and Ishigami to suspect that she's going out with him.
• Not What It Looks Like: During the soran dance during Sports Day, Papa Shirogane taking Fujiwara's pictures initially seemed like a Dirty Old Man to Miyuki until the misunderstanding was cleared with Fujiwara's father actually asking him to photograph his daughter while he filmed her class's performance. Of course, not that Papa Shirogane ever tries to explain it to his son.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He may present himself as a spacey, clueless man, but all it takes is a quick conversation to reveal that he's actually incredibly sharp and observant.
• Open-Minded Parent: When he learns that Kaguya might be spending the night with Shirogane, alone, with Kei not being there, Papa Shirogane remains at a streamer party and leaves them be together, saying that Shirogane is lucky to have a "cool dad" like him.
• Parental Substitute:
  • For a chapter. Alongside Hayasaka's mom, he stands in for Kaguya's parents during her parent-teacher conference.
  • He has also given life advice to Tsubame in his fortune teller part-time job.
  • His actually good life advice is one of the reasons his streaming channel is so popular.
  • Ends up becoming one to Iino after teaching her how to play video games. She even calls him Papa-san.
  • While Kaguya actually does have a biological father, she by far prefers spending time with Papa Shirogane, as he is just as much as a Nice Guy his children are despite his eccentricities.
• Perpetual Poverty: He lives in a small apartment and sleeps in the living room, while his two children share a room. To alleviate the fact that he can't keep a job for long, his children work part-time jobs, use coupons wherever they can, and are very reserved when it comes to presents. After being tricked and losing his company by the Shinomiya group, he was left with a debt of over 500 million yen, not including interest. Even with a monthly income of over 1 million yen thanks to his YouTube activity, this isn't nearly enough to pay off his debt. By Chapter 197 however, his channel is paying so well that he's willing to spend 200,000 yen a month on rent for a new apartment.
• Pushover Parents: A relationship chart of the Shirogane family in Volume 9 states he's afraid of Kei since she entered her rebellious phase and seems incapable of disciplining her, leaving the burden to his son.
• Riches to Rags: He used to be the CEO and at least partial owner of a company, but it was stolen from him by the Shinomiya family and he was left with a(n either figurative or literal) 500 million yen of debt. He hasn't held down a permanent job for a long time by the time the series starts.
• Sad Clown: Despite his tendency to crack up jokes and present himself as a jovial man to his children, deep down, he is a broken middle-aged man who's troubled by his wife leaving the family and the failure to provide moral support to his son. Kaguya sympathizes with him in Chapter 208.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: It's eventually revealed that Papa Shirogane would've been able to salvage his company had he taken his wife's advice to fire some of the workers. But he refuses based on personal principles.
• Secret-Keeper: He was the third person after Karen and Hayasaka to find out about his son and Kaguya's Secret Relationship, having run into them during their first date.
• Secret Test of Character: He tested Kaguya's feelings for his Miyuki by pretending to be a random middle-aged man when they first met and trolling her into admitting what she likes about him. Given that his own wife abandoned him when his company was stolen (by Kaguya's family, no less) he had a very good reason for wanting to make sure she didn't have any sinister intentions for his son.
• Shipper on Deck: He outright tells Kaguya that he's fine with her and Miyuki getting married while they're still in high school. After both he and Kei overheard Miyuki's 5 1/2 hour phone call with Kaguya, the father-daughter pair were willing to stay up all night just to listen to the two lovebirds' conversation. While Kaguya finds his support embarrassing, she's actually quite grateful for it considering that her family financially screwed over his own.
• Smarter Than You Look: While his appearance and lack of a job could fool one into thinking he's an idiot, it's important to remember that his kids' smarts had to come from somewhere.
  • He deduces that Kaguya has a crush on Miyuki and tricks her into admitting it within five minutes of meeting her.
  • A later chapter reveals that he's a nationally certified career consultant.
  • Chapter 191 reveals that he pulled a door-in-the-face technique on his children to make them accept his idea of a new job. He initially worked out a solid plan to become a Virtual YouTuber. After his children voiced their opposition, he then suggested becoming a real streamer instead. When they gave their approval, he invested his free time into his YouTube channel, using his life experience in marketing and editing to create content on his channel with steadily rising subscriber numbers. The money he makes, thanks to monetizing his channel and streaming frequently, is well over 1 million yen in less than a month, shocking both of his children.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He looks like an older version of his son. The resemblance becomes even more noticeable in Chapter 91, which has a flashback to before he had wrinkles.
• Throw the Dog a Bone:
  • After so many years of living in poverty due to losing his business, Papa Shirogane finally catches a break as a YouTube star and can make enough money to move into a better apartment.
  • By the final chapter, Papa Shirogane is last seen wearing fancy clothes and driving a sport car, hinting that he finally regained his fortune and paid off his debts.
• Unnamed Parent: Despite being the most prominent parent in the story, his name has never been mentioned.
• Unreliable Expositor: Most of what he says about Shirogane's mother are proven inaccurate by the time she makes her official on-panel appearance in chapter 272. Mainly because of things he either doesn't agree with, to spare his son's feelings, self-loathing, or a combination of all three.
• Virtual YouTuber: Subverted. He wanted to become one, but his children were against it. Instead, he decided to stream and create content on his YouTube channel as a real person. Though Miyuki suspects that he only suggested the celebrity idea so his kids would agree to the streaming.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: While he can be wise and reliable when he wants to be, Papa Shirogane has noticeable quirks such as being a picky eater, being incapable of holding a job, and frequently embarrassing his son with his awkwardness. Kei also suffers the same as her brother to a similar extent, but given her current behavior she has a larger tolerance for his antics (though she does have her limits).

Shirogane's Mother (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Shirogane's Mother

Debut: Chapter 83 (Manga)^note her first non-flashback appearance is Chapter 272, Episode 22 (Anime)

^{Click here to see her in the present time}

The estranged matriarch of the Shirogane family. She left about seven years before the story began and now resides in Shanghai.

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• Abusive Parent: Kei describes her as an individual with a very transactional personality who is willing to leave behind everything and everyone if they don't adhere to what she perceives as right. This makes her a very successful individual and a terrible parent, which Kei was more than willing to call her out on.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In retrospect, her role in the Gender Bender A.U. ^note Despite also being The Ghost, it's possible that her male Alternate Self's relationship with his family is on better terms before he either died or divorced "Mama Shirogane" if going by their current situation. of the Official Doujin can be as this compared to the main series.
• Behind Every Great Man: Chapter 272 reveals that she's the one who really helped Papa Shirogane's company thrive through her "sound advice". It's also revealed that she would've helped him succeed in surviving the Shinomiya Zaibatsu's attempts to shut the company down if it weren't for his Honor Before Reason.
• Brutal Honesty: Kei states that she's always right, while everything else be damned. This came at the expense of her relationships and her family.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Overlapping with Selective Obliviousness:
  • She doesn't seem to fully grasp (or even have the intention to grasp) that her abandonment emotionally scarred her family. Kei determines that she doesn't understand that she did wrong them, so she refuses to live with her and even touch on the topic until Kei herself is an adult that can speak one to one with her.
  • She argues that she works for her family's happiness, yet is completely unconcerned about the sadness she dispensed on them. As stated in the Golden Mean Fallacy entry, she thinks she removed herself from the equation even though she's the main factor.
• Education Mama: She always wanted smart children and always pushed them to excel. Part of the reason why her son is so obsessed with maintaining his role as the number one student is that he secretly hopes she'll come back for him.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Downplayed. She's colder than outright malicious, but both of her children do love her and want to have a healthy relationship with her.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Played with. She made her husband thrive when he heeded her advice, but when push came to shove, he stopped listening to her because, while her advice was sound, it was cold and lacked empathy. Hence, when it all fell down for him, she left him. And this is not even mentioning the children...
• Foil:
  • As a straight-up Education Mama who values her family on talents and successes alone, she is the opposite to Kaguya's deceased mother, Nayotake, who was otherwise a doting parent to her daughter. Hell, Miyuki's mother could easily fit in the Shinomiya family in terms of mannerisms.
  • To her husband. She's emotionally disconnected, cold, compartmentalizing, and dispassionate, while he's hilariously corny, sentimental, has a surprisingly good emotional gauge, and is quite caring to boot.
• Frozen Face: Whenever her face is shown, it's always a blank expression, which reflects her pragmatic and calculating personality.
• Gold Digger: Subverted. She's built up as one given how she abandoned her husband when his company went under, but when she finally appears in the present day it becomes clear that she isn't so much greedy as she is coldly pragmatic.
• Golden Mean Fallacy: She thinks of herself as an arbiter of logic in the dynamics of her family, all while entirely ignoring the emotional baggage she produced. She offers to let Kei live with her, changing nothing from her own behavior while making the assumption that, first, Kei is now more mature to take her demands than before, and second, that Kei's dad is merely providing her with financial support. Not once does she consider that the grass is greener on the other side and that her family struggled together to make it work despite her absence.
• Hate Sink: She abandoned her husband and son when they failed to live up to her high standards and was demanding enough towards Kei that she chose to run away from her back to her father. Even though she's been out of their lives for seven years now, a lot of Miyuki's present issues can be traced back to her, making it clear that the audience is supposed to hold her in contempt for her perfectionist attitude. When she finally appears in person, she turns out to hold almost no value over the feelings of others, not even her own children, and shows no remorse for how badly her abandonment affected Miyuki, believing that it should be viewed as a good thing since it pushed him to improve his academic performaance. Kei is appropriately disgusted by her mother's complete lack of respect for her own children's feelings, and doesn't hesitate to chew her out for it.
• Innocently Insensitive: She's completely oblivious to the idea that she hurt, and is actively hurting, her family. While she wonders whether she's doing something wrong, it may never dawn on her the whole scope of her deeds.
• Insufferable Genius: Kei notes that she's never known her mother to ever be wrong on a factual level, and her husband's business grew on the back of her sound business advice. However, she only thinks in terms of what is most efficient in life, without any emotional context, creating an enormous wedge between her and the rest of her family, eventually leading to Kei deciding to leave her just to get away from her.
• Irony: While she admonishes Kei for not recognizing the brand of "motherly love" she imparted, Miyuki has been more of a mother to Kei than she ever was.
• It's All About Me: Her lifestyle and her relationships operate in the function of her satisfaction. Due to this, Kei and Miyuki grew up thinking that unconditional love didn't exist, as their own mom's love was quantifiable and conditional to their academic success.
• Lack of Empathy: This is easily her biggest flaw. She isn't actively malicious and does genuinely love her children, but she never takes other people's feelings into account with her actions.
• Like Parent, Unlike Child: Neither of her children inherited her Lack of Empathy tendencies, but a great part of who they are as people is due to her neglect. She still casts a huge shadow in her family's life, so much so that it's readily apparent that there's a hole in their lives that she left empty.
• Misery Builds Character: Which Kei unapologetically calls her out on.
  • She doesn't care that her abandonment caused Miyuki to develop a complex about pleasing others, since it turned him into a model student, and that's all that matters in the end, right?
  • She's a firm believer of success = happiness, hence she's unable to grasp that her children's dad is providing them the familial love that she lacks, and fails to grasp that they may be unhappy with her.
• Moving the Goalposts: A champion of the practice.
  • She conditioned her love for her children based on their academic success, hence, when she left, Miyuki ended up overcompensating academically in an effort to bring her back. What makes it even worse is that she knows that this is the case, she's proud of it, and doesn't even consider approaching Miyuki for the validation he seeks from her.
  • Overlapping with Backhanded Apology. She deems that Kei left her after she provided an environment too stressful for a teen like her, but places the fault in Kei's then lack of maturity, rather than on her own methods, and then implying that she's changing nothing about said methods if Kei comes back, as Kei can handle those now. Kei immediately nopes upon hearing that noise.
• Never My Fault:
  • She belittles the suffering she inflicted on the family she abandoned by arguing that it made Miyuki thrive, as if that were a silver lining, failing to understand that he thrived despite her absence.
  • She blames Kei's lack of maturity for not being able to handle her methods when they first lived alone together, and her new offer of cohabitation comes with the same conditions, only that Kei is now Older and Wiser according to her. Seeing that she's not willing to change anything significant about her behavior, Kei rejects her offer.
• Not So Stoic: Ever single time her face is shown, it's with the same unblinking stare that is devoid of any emotion or empathy, but her sob story on Instagram after Kei calls her out for her abusive behavior makes it clear that she isn't as cold as she appears.
• Obliviously Evil: She's blind to just how abusive of a parent she has been to her children because she can only perceive what they have physically accomplished. None of her decisions ever take into account the emotional toll.
• Older Than They Look: When she finally makes her first and final physical appearance in chapter 272, she still looks quite youthful despite being around Papa Shirogane's age, but with slight perioral wrinkles.
• Parental Favoritism: Miyuki thinks that the reason she just took Kei with her when she left is that the latter was a better student. In reality, she just thought that each kid would be happier with the same gendered parent.
• Parental Neglect: Overlapping with Parental Abandonment. All of her family is in need of her presence, but this is precisely the one thing she's not willing to give, since it's just not rewarding for her. Adding insult to injury, she's under the impression that her absence is a plus. Kei immediately calls her out on this.
• Parent with New Paramour: We never actually see him, but it's mentioned in the final volume that her live-in boyfriend was one of the reasons why Kei ultimately moved back in with her father and Miyuki. He wasn't a bad person, but Kei just didn't feel comfortable living in the same home as a man who was (as far as she was concerned) a complete stranger. Rather shockingly, she's actually willing to admit that she was at fault for Kei leaving (if only in that regard), and when asking for Kei to move back in with her says that she wouldn't seek out another partner until Kei had grown up and moved out.
• Perpetual Frowner: She's never once seen smiling.
• Shadow Archetype: She is what Kaguya would have been if she actually did prescribe to the Shinomiya family's beliefs; successful, but ultimately cold and unfeeling.
• Skewed Priorities: The "self-reflection" she uses to justify her behavior completely absolves her from guilt in her mind. As such, she tells Kei that she provided an environment that was stressful to the girl (which made Kei return to her father), with no indication of changing things about herself for Kei to live with her. Kei immediately shuts her down.
• Small Role, Big Impact: She only shows up in a few flashbacks and a single physical appearance in the final volume, but the shadow she casts over her family has massive repercussions over the course of the series.
• The One That Got Away: Her husband still loves her very much, but it's made markedly clear that she has no intention of ever returning to him.
• The Spock: Played with. When she finally shows up in the present day, she's shown to be a cold realist who puts practicality over emotions to the point that she thinks that the emotional scarring her son suffered from her abandonment was a good thing because it ultimately pushed him to be successful, never realizing that the real main factor behind his success ended up being Kaguya. Her inability to realize such an obvious flaw in her reasoning is what prevents her from fully qualifying for this trope.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Flashbacks make it clear that she's where Kei gets most of her looks from.
• Walking Spoiler: Her true nature and motives for abandoning the family are shrouded in mystery for most of the manga.
• Unnamed Parent: Much like her estranged husband, we're never told what her name is.

Shinomiya Family

In General

• Badass Creed: The family has an especially ruthless motto that defines most of their relationships.
  "If you are a Shinomiya, do not rely on anyone. Instead, use them. Do not receive anything. Instead, take. Do not love anyone. There is no instead."
• Big Bad: The Shinomiya family's expectations are the main obstacle to Kaguya's relationship with Shirogane. After they get together, the Love is War aspect of the plot shifts towards whether their romance can withstand the oppressive rules and members of her clan.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: When it comes to a family that sets the standard for ruthless behavior, inhumane business practices, and a Succession Crisis are just a few of their internal problems. Kaguya is well aware of the danger, seeking Hayasaka's assistance in obtaining blackmail of her brothers just in case.
• Childish Older Sibling: Kaguya's growth as a person throughout the series is brought into focus when her older brothers are introduced. She is the only one of Gan'an's children who even comes close to being well-adjusted, with the other three being less and less mature the further up you go. Unyo is cold-blooded yet capable of self-reflection, Seiryu is a spineless idiot, and Oko is little more than a grown-up Spoiled Brat masquerading as a Manipulative Bastard.
• Feuding Families: The Shijo family split off from the Shinomiyas due to the main family's unethical business practices. The Shijos moved their business overseas to forestall conflict with their parent clan, yet seize an opportunity to bring the Shinomiyas down for good once Gan'an is on his deathbed.
• Fiction 500: The Shinomiya zaibatsu is worth over one trillion US dollars, and basically controls all of Japan.
• Jerkass: The Shinomiya creed boils down to a recipe on how best to raise an absolute jerk: use other people, take whatever they have that you want, and never fall into the trap of love.
• Love Is a Weakness: As the family creed states, Shinomiyas are expected to take advantage of others to get what they want, and must not love anyone.
• The Power of Hate: The Shinomiya family uses violence to educate their children and associates, training them not to rely on others (instead, using other people as disposable tools) or show emotions. The Shijo family accordingly uses their long-standing hatred of their parent clan as motivation to succeed.
• Predatory Business: As revealed in Chapter 209, the Shinomiya group cheated Papa Shirogane of his company, leaving him with a large amount of debt. The Shijo group was also none the different by slipping into the ranks of Shinomiya and secretly buying people and companies to slowly cripple the larger group from within.
• Succession Crisis: Volume 19 reveals that Kaguya's older brothers are fighting over their father's inheritance. Oko's position as the heir is tentatively secure due to being the oldest son, not that it stops Unyo from abducting Hayasaka to make her spill his older brother's secrets. Kaguya is eventually dragged into the crisis as well, once Gan'an makes it clear that whoever secures his will can take it all.
• Underestimating Badassery: Despite the fact that he spent close to two years matching wits with their little sister (who, if we're being entirely honest, is the smartest of the four by a wide margin) on a daily basis, all three of the brothers vastly underestimate just how clever Shirogane can be and the lengths he would go to get Kaguya back. All three of them end up getting outsmarted by him in turn, with Unyo getting it worst of all because he had already seen him outwit the other two and never realizes that he's been turned into an Unwitting Pawn.

Gan'an Shinomiya

Gan'an Shinomiya

Voiced by: Eizou Tsuda

Debut: Chapter 44 (Manga), Episode 11 (Anime)

The patriarch of the Shinomiya family, head of the mighty Shinomiya zaibatsu, and Kaguya's distant father.

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• Absurdly Elderly Father: While he was presumably at a reasonably young age whe his sons were born, Kaguya wasn't conceived until he was already somewhere in the 60 to 70 range.
• Abusive Parents: Violence is for him a legitimate way to educate his children and their associates, though Kaguya is so used to this, that she is fine with it and seems to employ similar (if less extreme) methods to educate Ishigami. However, this violence was indirect through servants... if only because he was too neglectful to interact much with Kaguya himself.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: The way others speak of him often makes him sound more like a mob boss than a CEO, which doesn't exactly hint at him having ethical business practices. If Oko is to be believed, some of his business "practices" include tax evasion, extortion, and outright assassination.
• Create Your Own Villain: The greatest threat to his family business turns out to be his eldest son, Oko, due to the latter's obliviously regressive views and values making him unable to inspire the genuine loyalty needed to keep the business running and his entitlement meaning he'll react poorly to being passed over as the successor. Gan'an only really has himself to blame for how he turned out.
• Didn't See That Coming: For all his experiences, He did NOT see Shirogane asking him to sign a marriage registration form as a witness at all.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Even though Kaguya had a terrible relationship with her father, she still feels a certain degree of sorrow over his death.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all of the guy's many faults, it's clear that he deeply loved Nayotake.
• Everyone Has Standards: Very ironic for someone who was the ultimate cause of all the problems in this series. However, there are some examples to point out:
  • Played for Laughs, but considering the Corrupt Corporate Executive trope above, he finds signing a marriage registration form brought his daughter's ex terrifying, and said ex's plan to surprise her with said form signed by him when they get back together even worse.
  • Played seriously when he chooses not to entrust the future of the Shinomiya companies to Oko. Gan'an is well aware that his eldest son would never live up to the standard he set.
  • Despite his lecherous actions that resulted in the birth of Kaguya Shinomiya, he still took responsibility for such actions, something which his second son, Seiryu, had failed to inherit from him.
• Exact Words: He told Shirogane (and Oko, who he knew planted a bug in his hospital room) that he hid his will in his room. He never said the room in his estate.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: After hearing from Dr Tanuma about his backstory and how much the loss of Nayotake affected him, Shirogane is quick to respond that none of that even begins to excuse him neglecting Kaguya her entire life.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Oko's incredibly backwards and traditionalist beliefs that form the backbone of his abuse towards Kaguya are implied to have been harshly drilled into him by Gan'an, specifically regarding to relationships as he forced Oko to break up with his high school sweetheart.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: He's been one of the most powerful men in the world for decades, but by the start of the final arc his entire business empire is being bought out from underneath him by the Shijo family while he lays on his deathbead.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. In spite of his abuse and neglect towards Kaguya, he was revealed to care for her in his own way. Despite this, Shirogane calls him out for treating his daughter so coldly for most of her life.
• Killed Off for Real: He succumbs to his illness offscreen soon after Shirogane departs for America.
• Killed Offscreen: He passes away shortly after the start of summer vacation in Kaguya's senior year. Kaguya (and the reader) are not present when it happens and are only informed after the fact by a family servant.
• Loophole Abuse: Having been diagnosed with dementia, he doubts any amendments he could make to his will would hold up in court, especially when his sons are so hungry for power. He does, however, note to Shirogane that if his will were to disappear, then his assets would be divided evenly and Oko's power would be reduced. He says this after giving Shirogane the code to the safe in his room.
• Love-Obstructing Parents: It's brought multiple times by Kaguya (and at least once by Hayasaka) that he would never let her date someone from as low a status as Shiroagne, with him being built up as the ultimate Big Bad that they'll have to overcome if they want a Happily Ever After. This proves to be a Red Herring as Gan'an doesn't make so much as a token attempt to interfere with their relationship at any point in the series, and even admits to Shirogane that he always intended to let her live her adult life as she wished.
• Parental Neglect: Basically treats Kaguya like she doesn't exist and leaves her parenting to his servants, save for rare instances when he briefly acknowledges her before leaving. This is because he isn't sure that she is really his daughter (and the fact that she's the spitting image of her mother doesn't help either), but was willing to leave her an inheritance of a small subsidiary like fashion or media.
• Parents as People: His mistreatment of Kaguya is the source of many of her issues, and a good portion of the drama in the series, especially the Fireworks arc. It's revealed that the reason he's been neglectful of Kaguya is because he isn't sure if she's actually his child or not, since her mother was a prostitute. Regardless, he was planning on leaving a company for her alone to inherit, since he wants to think of her as his daughter either way.
• Really Gets Around: While we aren't given an indication of his sex life as a whole, he's fathered children with at least three women.
• Red Herring: He's built up as being a major threat to Kaguya and Shirogane's potential relationship. By the time he's properly introduced, he's already on his death bed with only a few weeks to live and in no position to be a threat to anyone.
• Scatterbrained Senior: During the final arc, he's suffering from dementia due to a stroke. While he has periods of lucidity, it still means that Shirogane's plan A to get Kaguya out of her Arranged Marriage fails because no further alterations to his will would hold up in court.
• Secret Test of Character: He hides his will in the secret cabin he has on the mountain; Either Oko, who has no idea where it is, searches the entire mountain top-to-bottom to find it and thus proves himself worthy of inheriting his corporate empire, or Shirogane finds it, proving himself worthy for Kaguya in his own eyes, or Kaguya, who does know where it is, defies Oko and takes the will for herself, with the latter two finding it forcing the even split of his assets that Gan'an originally had in mind. Either way, Gan'an gets what he wants.
• Self-Made Man: If Unyo is to be believed, it was Gan'an who propelled the Shinomiya family into the vast fortune they have today, which makes his sympathy towards Shirogane understandable since he wasn't born into wealth either.
• Shadow Archetype: If Unyo's word of Gan'an being a Self-Made Man is true, then he would serve as a dark reflection for Shirogane if he successfully continues to cling to his "strong persona" in order to be successful.
• Unmourned Death: Played With after he passes away towards the end of the series and Kaguya finds herself Unable to Cry over his death. While she wasn't outwardly affected, she was truly sad emotionally when she lamented never having the chance to take his photo.
• Unseen No More: Gan'an is mentioned by name as early as Chapter 1, and is seen from the back or alluded to multiple times throughout the series. However, we never actually see his face until Chapter 241 when Unyo and Shirogane visit him in the hospital.
• Xanatos Gambit: He had his secretary hide his will in his secret cabin on the mountain, which Kaguya knows the location of but Oko does not. Either Shirogane or Kaguya find it first and Gan'an's assets are split evenly as he originally planned, or Oko finds it and his determination to claim the inheritance proves him worthy of becoming the new patriarch.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Chapter 242 shows him hospitalized from a stroke, with it being mentioned that he only has a few weeks left at most. He eventually passes away offscreen at the end of Chapter 268, right at the start of Kaguya's summer vacation.

Nayotake

Nayotake

Debut: Chapter 79 (Manga), Episode 20 (Anime)

Kaguya's late mother who died when she was a child.

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• Deceased Parents Are the Best: She's the only member of Kaguya's immediate family who is depicted in a positive manner.
• The Faceless: She's only ever been shown from behind in flashbacks, though it would be fair to assume that she looks like her daughter. A photo in Chapter 253 confirms that the two were almost identical in appearance.
• Given Name Reveal: Chapter 242 reveals that her family name is "Shimizu".
• High-Class Call Girl: Unyo mentions how she worked as a prostitute in Gion's red-light district prior to her death, and Dr Tanuma later specifies that she charged over a million yen for a single night of service.
• The Lost Lenore: It's outright stated by Dr Tanuma that her death pretty much broke Gan'an, which probably contributed to him being distant with Kaguya. Kaguya herself also greatly misses her much more than Gan'an
• Meaningful Name: Her name translates to "Supple Bamboo", meaning that her daughter was metaphorically born from bamboo like her literary counterpart.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. A character with her surname shows up in the first-year class ranking in Chapter 198, though there's no indication that they're related given that Kaguya never makes any mention of a maternal cousin attending Shuchi'in.
• Only One Name: She probably didn't share the Shinomiya surname given the fact that her daughter is stated to be an illegitimate child. Chapter 242 has Unyo reveal what her full name is: it's Nayotake Shimizu.
• Posthumous Character: A flashback to the sixth anniversary of her death shows Kaguya presumably in elementary school, indicating that she's been dead for a long time. It's later established that she died only 29 days after Kaguya was born.
• The Quiet One: According to Unyo, she mostly kept to herself and was a quiet woman in general.
• Strong Family Resemblance: While her face has never been seen, she's implied to look very similar to Kaguya. This is eventually confirmed in Chapter 253 via a photo of her with Gan'an.
• Theme Naming: When combining her name with her daughter, it gives the full title of the main character from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Nayotake no Kaguya-hime.

Unyo Shinomiya

Unyo Shinomiya

Debut: Chapter 162 (Manga)

The third son of the Shinomiya family and Kaguya's third elder brother.

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• Affably Evil: Despite his initial conflict with Shirogane, he's not above treating him to some fast-food when they meet again.
• Arc Villain: He's the primary antagonist of the class trip arc, as he tries to drive a wedge between Kaguya and Hayasaka.
• At Least I Admit It: Unlike the Faux Affably Evil Oko, he's at least aware that he is an asshole.
• Bait the Dog: He offers to take the burden of Shirogane's debt to Seiryu, claiming that it's both an investment and an early wedding gift (Shirogane has made clear his intent to one day marry Kaguya). As he walks away, his inner thoughts reveal that he did this purely for his own benefit. Either Shirogane makes it big as a businessman and gets a 10% cut of his profits, or Shirogane fails and he has leverage over Kaguya's future husband. Of course, what he fails to realize is that this is what Shirogane both expected and wanted him to do all along.
• Big Brother Mentor: Being the sibling closest in age to Kaguya who is in a similar position to him, Unyo was the one who taught Kaguya the way of the Shinomiya. However, he still acts like an Aloof Big Brother towards her, and he only mentored her because he thought he could make use of her eventually. Sadly this made him the closest thing to a father to Kaguya, since he did essentially raise her.
• Big Good: The Student Council's grand plan to take Kaguya back is to turn him into this. Shirogane and Fujiwara believe that since he's the one possible heir of the Shinomiya family to genuinely love Kaguya as family, he'd call off the Arranged Marriage if Gan'an made him the heir.
• Black Eyes of Evil: His eyes appear to be completely black with no visible sclera.
• Brutal Honesty: Despite his manipulative nature, he is very HONEST to a default, something that even his more corrupt brothers and his father lacked.
• Didn't See That Coming: His plan to get Hayasaka into his services was dependent on Kaguya giving her to him, which she would likely do after learning that Hayasaka has betrayed Kaguya from the beginning. What he didn't see coming was how much Kaguya loves Hayasaka and the fact that Kaguya has become a Defrosting Ice Queen, unlike him.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He's introduced in Chapter 162 during Kaguya's birthday and appears in 168 during Maki's flashback of her first meeting with Kaguya, but only gets named in Chapter 181.
• Enemy Mine: Despite not forgiving him for his prior actions, Hayasaka is willing to work for him as Shirogane's bodyguard if it means keeping Kaguya out of her brothers' grasp.
• Even Evil Has Standards: What he hates most is treachery. In his eyes, both the Hayasaka and Shijo family are traitors, which is why he resents them.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He reveals Hayasaka's status as The Mole to Kaguya, believing that the betrayal would turn her cold. He's shocked and confused when Kaguya actually decides to forgive Hayasaka.
• Exotic Eye Designs: His pupils take up almost the entire eye, giving the impression that they're a solid black void.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He's an unrepentant Jerkass, and he smokes cigarettes.
• Heel–Face Return: Was first introduced as the Arc Villain of the Class Trip arc, but comes back as an ally in the final arc to protect Kaguya and Shirogane from his even more corrupt brothers.
• Heel Realization: He acknowledges to himself that he's a "piece of shit" and doesn't seem particularly happy with how he turned out. He also seems to display some resentment towards Kaguya for turning out a better person despite growing up in a similar environment.
• Hidden Depths: It's shown that Unyo's basic drive is for Kaguya to be safe from their siblings' filthy hands. However, he's caught unaware of the fact that Kaguya turned out not to be a piece of shit like himself and their older brothers.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Or Copper, as it is very deeply buried, but in a Tsundereish manner he tells Shirogane everything important, and even assigns Hayasaka to him as a bodyguard so he can't be a point of weakness for Kaguya, since he is likely to be kidnapped by Oko.
• Hope Crusher: Break Them by Talking seems to be one of his favorite ways to get what he wants, as can be seen when he tries this against Hayasaka and Kaguya to push them over the Despair Event Horizon. Fortunately, this fails to break Kaguya, and she is quick to help Hayasaka make a full recovery.
• Hypocrite: He tells Oko and Kaguya that as siblings, they should resolve the inheritance issue without violence. When they do reach a peaceful agreement with Kaguya willing to give all the inheritance to Oko in exchange for freedom from the Shinomiyas, Unyo orders all his goons to take Gan'an's will from Kaguya by force because he gains nothing. Kaguya calls him out on this as she starts running.
• Ice King: Unyo is a cold and arrogant man, who belittles and mocks those he deems beneath him.
• I Gave My Word: If there is one thing that Kaguya respects about him, it's that he always keeps his promises. According to the Volume 19 omake, Kaguya's own principle to keep her promises is a form of pride for her elder brother.
• Informed Flaw: The bonus page of Chapter 209 had a family chart reveal that his defining trait is that he's a liar, though this doesn't really match up with what's shown in the series given how seriously he takes his promises.
• Jerkass: His first appearance has him ignore Kaguya greeting him. His second appearance shows him antagonizing Maki's father and calling the Shijo family a bunch of rats.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • He turns on the student council during the final arc once Kaguya agrees to let Oko claim the inheritance under her own terms, but given that said terms leave him with nothing, his anger over this deal is pretty understandable.
  • He is also completely correct that Oko is an Inadequate Inheritor and will bring their family to ruin, as the man is incapable of swaying people to his side through means other than blatant threats, which only creates more enemies.
  • Although he was using Hayasaka's betray of Kaguya as an excuse to destroy their bond, he wasn't wrong when he noted how Hayasaka was spying on Kaguya and reporting each and every behavior of her to Oko. Despite this, he failed to understand how Hayasaka was an unwitting pawn threatened by his eldest half-brother into doing his dirty work for him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite using Kaguya for manipulative gains, he has a soft spot for her buried deeply under all that ice.
• Karma Houdini: He doesn't suffer any punishment for attempting to kidnap Hayasaka, save for a single punch to the face from Kaguya.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: His entire plan to get Hayasaka on his side (by force or otherwise) hinged on Kaguya turning on her once her betrayal was revealed. Once it becomes clear that Kaguya is going to forgive her, he gives up without a fight.
• Lack of Empathy: He couldn't care less about what his actions may do to the people he manipulates. During the class trip in Kyoto, he sends out his men to capture Hayasaka after learning that she intends to quit her job as Kaguya's personal servant. Since he can't just take her and would need Kaguya's permission, his plan involves breaking Kaguya and Hayasaka by revealing the truth about Hayasaka's role as The Mole of his elder brother, Oko.
• A Lady on Each Arm: Seen entertaining a pair of ladies during a flashback.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: According to Kaguya, he doesn't seem to have dirtied his hands as much as other Shinomiya members. While she doesn't think he's actually a good person, compared to his elder brothers he's not that bad, since he's self-aware enough to know he's an asshole, while Oko and their father believe themselves to be in the right. That he raises her probably had something to do with it.
• Manipulative Bastard: As Gan'an's third son from his second wife, Unyo is not in a very powerful position, but he makes up for it with threats and blackmail to get what he wants.
• Promotion to Parent: While most of the work was done by maids and tutors, Unyo is the one who was primarily responsible for raising Kaguya instead of their father since her status as the Daughter of a Whore meant that no one else in the family knew how to deal with her. He was chosen instead of Oko or Seiryu because he was also an outsider as the child of Gan'an's second wife.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In Chapter 258, he calls out Oko on how his Control Freak approach to leadership makes him unfit to lead the family.
  Huh? I've never been on your side to begin with, bro. Look, I'm fine with you wanting to carry on the family legacy, but even I can't accept you as the head of our family. After all, the entirety of the Shinomiya family was built atop our old man's charisma, and that's something you've never had. You don't have what it takes. It's about time you face the facts. The former days of the Shinomiya family are over.
• Shadow Archetype: Unyo is the result of someone who embraces the Shinomiyas' upbringing to trust no one but themselves. If Kaguya hadn't defrosted due to the influence of Hayasaka, Shirogane, and the rest of her friends, she probably would have turned out like Unyo, a bitter and lonely man. In addition, like Kaguya, he is also a son from a different mother than Gan'an's first wife.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Unyo is the reason Kaguya was able to remain mostly far and away from the unscrupulous dealings of her family, as he provided her with the scant freedom she had. Of course, this was not an egalitarian effort, as he sought to make Kaguya his to manipulate, but he never quite realized that said freedom made Kaguya break out of her shell and thrive beyond the malice of their family.
• The Social Expert: Kaguya's expertise in diplomacy is something she learned from him.
• Theme Naming: The kanji for Unyo contains "hawk", indicating a bird theme for the Shinomiyas as Gan'an's name contains "grey geese".
• Villains Out Shopping: He takes Shirogane out for some McDonald's stand-in in chapter 241 before they go to visit Gan'an in the hospital. Both of them comment on the bizarreness of the situation.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Hayasaka's mother Nao (who used to be his valet) but their relationship broke down due to his eldest brother.
• Wild Card: In the grand scheme of the Shinomiya family's conflicts, Unyo can be counted on to act for his personal benefit first and foremost. The first arc in which he appears has him as the antagonist to his younger sister; one arc later, he's on her side against his other brothers.

Oko Shinomiya (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Oko Shinomiya

Debut: Chapter 184 (Manga)

The first son of the Shinomiya family and Kaguya's eldest brother.

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• Bald of Evil: He has a completely shaved head and had his little sister monitored every day since she was seven.
• Big Bad: Is the true main antagonist of the series, having been monitoring Kaguya ever since she gained Hayasaka as her valet in a long-term plan to gain control over her for his own political gains. He begins making moves on this after Gan'an is confined to his deathbed, with Kashiwagi suggesting that he's trying to marry her off to someone more wealthy and powerful than Shirogane. In addition, he is the one who was responsible for crushing Shirogane Pharmaceuticals, not his father.
• The Chain of Harm: All the abuse he forces Kaguya through is implied to be how the Shinomiya patriarch treated him, including forcing him to break up with his high school sweetheart, which he forces Kaguya to do with Shirogane through Seiryu. It's possible that his father's abuse has also warped him into believing that he's legitimately looking out for his little sister's interests by doing so, which is why he so readily continues the cycle of abuse.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Papa Shirogane gave him some lip one time, so he drove him into financial ruin, waiting until he had a family so it would hit harder.
• Fatal Flaw: His lack of charisma. Oko talks a big game, but while Gan'an was able to inspire loyalty among his servants, Oko tries to use his name to force obedience instead. Which is why Unyo is so certain the Shinomiya family would spiral downwards if Oko became the patriarch.
• Faux Affably Evil: Everything that comes out of his mouth sounds like he is just worried about his little sister and very accommodating, but it's very obviously misogynistic and condescending in nature. Either that or he is so stuck in his beliefs that he actually thinks he is being nice to Kaguya and cannot understand that Kaguya wants Hayasaka to stay away from the Shinomiyas and not return to her side as her valet.
• Freudian Excuse: It's suggested that being forced to break up with his high-school sweetheart is why he's so laser-focused on the Shinomiya family business.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Oko is little more than a grown-up Spoiled Brat who is prone to yelling and ranting the second things don't go his way.
• Hate Sink: Oko is the human embodiment of the Shinomiya creed, and is thus a deplorable excuse for a human being. He may have been a victim of his father's harsh rules once upon a time, but he embraces the power he has inherited and wields it to the detriment of those he considers inferior. On top of his misogynistic and traditionalist mindset, Oko firmly believes he has the right to control his little sister's life as he sees fit by justifying it as "for her own good". Oko's petty attitude and lack of charisma alienate his father and his brother Unyo, who rightfully believe that the Shinomiya family is guaranteed to collapse if Oko were left in charge. In a series where characters grow past their flaws and try to become better people for the sake of those they love and who love them in return, Oko's stagnant attitude makes him the perfect villain.
• Horrible Judge of Character: You'd think that someone from a family as paranoid as the Shinomiyas would know better than to trust the heir of their hated enemies the Shijos, but Mikado manages to make him think he's on his side as part of his plan to protect Kaguya.
• Inadequate Inheritor: He's the next in line to inherit the family business, but he's nothing more than a brat who has nothing in the way of leadership skills and a set of regressive values completely incompatible with modern times. Practically everyone in his family, including his own father, ends up sabotaging his claim to the business because of this.
• Jerkass: The least pleasant Shinomiya, despised by his other family members for good reason. On top of his outdated beliefs, Oko has none of his father's charisma and just throws the weight of his family name around to get his way.
• Laser-Guided Karma: He not only lost his father's will, ruining any chance of him becoming head of the company, but he has to split the assets between his siblings, including Kaguya, who he was ready to marry off.
• Love-Obstructing Parents: Downplayed. He fully intended to force Kaguya into an Arranged Marriage once she comes of age, but tells her that she's free to date whoever she wants in the meantime. And rather surprisingly for a Straw Misogynist, he doesn't care if she remains chaste or not during that time.
• Manchild: His behavior would be far more acceptable if he was a teenager or younger instead of a full-grown adult.
• Manipulative Bastard: Not much is known about him, but all Shinomiya members are brought up to be manipulative, and Kaguya considers Unyo to be better than her other two elder brothers. Unyo's relationship with Nao Hayasaka broke down because of Oko. That said, he's nowhere near as smart as he'd like to think seeing as he was tricked by a bed-ridden old man suffering from dementia.
• The Patriarch: Oko is a man with old values stuck in a modern world. He is an imperious man who wants to dictate Kaguya's entire life, while claiming that it's for her own good.
• Pet the Dog: Even though he was planning to marry her off from the get-go when Kaguya gets together with Shirogane, he looks the other way for a time since he sees nothing wrong with letting her have fun with her school life until her familial obligations rear their head. Given that he himself was forced to break up with his own high-school sweetheart, he understands what Kaguya is going through all too well.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: His claims that marriage is a woman's greatest happiness and that Kaguya wouldn't be able to get married if she was better educated than her potential husband are meant to establish him as a Straw Misogynist, but he is technically correct as far as Kaguya and Shirogane are concerned. Kaguya's ultimate goal is to marry Shirogane and be a part of his family due to the Shinomiyas having basically starved her of affection her entire life, and part of the reason why Shirogane pushes himself to the point of exhaustion in studying is that he wants to prove that he can stand as Kaguya's equal.
• Sinister Surveillance:
  • He's had Hayasaka report Kaguya's every move to him ever since the day the two were assigned to each other.
  • He planted a bug in Gan'an's hospital room so he could eavesdrop on his negotiation with Shirogane, which tips him off to the fact that Gan'an hid his will and Shirogane and his friends are now searching for it. Fortunately, Gan'an knew this and instructed his secretary to hide it in his secret mountain cabin, rather than his bedroom as Oko previously thought.
• Spoiled Brat: It's obvious that as the heir to the Shinomiya clan, Oko isn't used to being told "no." Gan'an is well aware of how entitled his eldest son is and hid his will so he'd have to work for his inheritance. When Oko realizes this, he freaks out.
• Straw Misogynist: As Kaguya describes him, he's stuck in his belief that the world is ruled by men and women are tools for him to use. He expects Kaguya to be an obedient Shrinking Violet, and the only thing she is good for is to secure an alliance via marriage. If she overshadows potential marriage partners because she has a better education, she wouldn't be able to get married, and marriage is in his opinion a woman's greatest happiness. Therefore, he indirectly orders her to not apply for Stanford. However, he doesn't expect her to remain chaste and doesn't mind if she wants to fool around a bit so it's downplayed in that one area. This turns out to be because he had a high school sweetheart he was forced to break up with, so he did actually sympathize with Kaguya in that regard. However, when he makes his case to Gan'an about why he should inherit the majority of the family's assets, he makes points about how Seiryu isn't business savvy and Unyo is untrustworthy, but for Kaguya, he just says she's a woman.
• Unwitting Pawn: As a testament to just how self-aggrandizing he really is, he winds up getting completely played by Mikado, who is the Butt-Monkey to everyone else, into betrothing Kaguya to him.
• Walking Spoiler: By virtue of being the actual Big Bad of the manga, rather than Gan'an as initially believed.

Seiryu Shinomiya

Seiryu Shinomiya

Debut: Chapter 249 (Manga)

The second son of the Shinomiya family and Kaguya's second eldest brother.

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• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Thinks he can solve any problems that come his way by just throwing money at them, and that the only reason Fujiwara would be trying to help Kaguya is so that the latter would owe her a favor later on.
• Extreme Doormat: Unyo describes him as basically being Oko's lapdog and a family tree in Volume 21 labels him as "cowardly". Shirogane was even able to get him to pay 1 billion yen out of his own pocket despite having nothing to negotiate with.
• Faux Affably Evil: While he acts courteous to Shirogane (feeling that it's only fair to talk to him in person after he and Kaguya are forced to break up), this drops the second Shirogane starts talking back to him.
• Hated by All: Pretty much everybody considers him to be a waste of space who squanders the family fortune on prostitutes.
• Laser-Guided Karma: While the Student Councils agrees to not release their blackmail on him, Seiryu has to live with the fact and fear that they might do it one day and that a bunch of high schoolers bested him. Shirogane states that because of the will being destroyed Seiryu might have to find a job one day.
• Really Gets Around: He regularly frequents the red light district, and has apparently fathered countless illegitimate children.
• Shadow Archetype: To his own father. Gan'an too sired an illegitimate child with one of his mistresses and, despite not actually being sure Kaguya was actually his daughter, still took responsibility for his lecherous antics. Seiryu, meanwhile, is a serial offender who has numerous illegitimate children he's abandoned, showcasing exactly why he was passed up for the control share on the inheritance.
• Slimeball: If Oko represents the entitlement of the wealthy, and Unyo their apathy, then Seiryu represents their vanity. On top of being a misogynist who thinks women exist to serve men, he's forced many of his flings to indulge him in his disturbing fetishes and abandoned any children that were produced by his playboy antics. And when he's finally forced to face the consequences of his actions, he tries to bribe Iino into keeping quiet.
• Spoiled Brat: He's even more spoiled than Oko, barely taking a role in the family business at all in favor of horsing around in the red-light district every night.
• Straw Misogynist: Much like his older brother, Seiryu is someone whose views on women are still trapped in the 20th century. Fujiwara cites this as the reason why the only women he can get are Gold Diggers.
• Sudden Name Change: He's first referred to as "Kousei" in Chapter 242, only for it to change to "Seiryu" in 248 (with the latter being used when he's properly introduced).
• Upper-Class Twit: He doesn't get with the times and his go-to solution to dealing with problems is to always fling his family's money at it.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: His usual go-to solution for any problem that would arise from his constant flinging is to bribe them. This ends up backfiring with the main heroes.

Kaguya's Sister-in-law

The wife of one of Kaguya's brothers.

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• Ambiguous Situation: It's never actually specified which brother she's married to or if she's the mother of the nephew mentioned back in Chapter 14. Though her husband is most likely Unyo, given that he's Kaguya's Parental Substitute that's been around her the most out of all of her brothers.
• The Ghost: Kaguya mentions her several times, though we never get the slightest hint of what she looks like.
• White Sheep: She's the only living member of the family that Kaguya has anything resembling a positive view of, and is the only one who wished her a happy birthday in Chapter 162. It makes sense given that she married into the family rather than being born into it.

Mikado Shijo

Mikado Shijo

Debut: Chapter 142 (Manga), The First Kiss Never Ends (Anime)

Maki's twin brother who doesn't attend Shuchi'in.

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• The Ace: Smarter than all of the main cast, an expert soccer player to the point where he led his school to inter-high championships, and rich on top of all of that. Despite seeing very little of his actual life beyond Maki, Mikado is the whole package.
• Adaptational Late Appearance: Chapter 4 (where his name is first shown ranked above Shirogane on the mock exams) wasn't adapted, so there isn't a single hint of his existence until the movie. For that matter, the movie also skips his cameo when Maki is used for demonstrating the concept of personas, pushing back his first appearance to the two of them arriving in India over Christmas break.
• Always Someone Better: He's the only one in all of Japan to have scored higher than Shirogane on the national mock exams. While Shirogane took first place on later exams, he's never managed to beat Mikado's original score.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: His various comments towards Maki piss her off in a way that only a younger brother can, and she often retaliates by kicking him in the back.
• Arranged Marriage: Oko betroths Kaguya to him to bring an end to the civil war between the two families. He's willing to go through with it if Shirogane isn't able to free Kaguya from the Shinomiyas before then. Luckily, Shirogane and friends manage to put an end to it.
• Big Brother Instinct: Technically he's the younger twin, but he travels to India with Maki to look after her, even if there are a million other things he'd rather be doing over winter break.
• Big Little Brother: He's slightly taller than Maki. Justified, since they're twins at an age where boys are normally taller than girls.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a phenomenal sports player, but Mikado reveals that ever since that year he placed first in the mock exam he's been steadily sliding down the mock exam rankings. While the boy is smart, he explains that he only did so well because he had a reason to go all out, and he'd rather not do that all the time.
• Broken Ace: Due to his reputation as both The Ace and an heir to a major conglomerate, Mikado finds himself having a hard time fitting in once he transfers to Shuchi'in. His classmates find him completely unapproachable despite his best efforts.
• Butt-Monkey: Maki bullies him. That alone makes him qualify, regardless of how the rest of the world treats him.
• Chekhov's Gunman: He's first mentioned way back in Chapter 4 as the only person to beat Shirogane on the last mock exams, but he wouldn't have a proper introduction until Chapter 161.
• Cute Little Fangs: He is briefly shown with a small fang in his introductory chapter, though this is more to show a resemblance to his sister than as any real expression of cuteness.
• Deadpan Snarker: He finds his sister's moodiness ridiculous and doesn't hesitate to tell her that.
  Mikado: Well? Have you attained spiritual enlightenment yet?
  Maki: I feel a little bit enlightened.
  Mikado: How so?
  Maki: I have been enlightened that excessive love can destroy you.
  Mikado: You couldn't figure that out without going to India!?
• Early-Bird Cameo: His first onscreen appearance is part of a montage where Maki is used to demonstrate how people have different personas for different situations, with her kicking him in the back and complaining that he reeks of sweat from playing soccer. The movie skips over this, instead having a brief shot of him and Maki arriving in India.
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Boy Fucker" Mikado. It's meant to be a case of Names to Run Away from Really Fast, due to how Mikado's complete dominance in soccer inspired fear in his opponents. Mikado is naturally mortified to have a nickname so obscene.
• Foil: Mikado is everything Shirogane is not: rich, the smartest boy in the country, and unconcerned about his public image. The reality of Mikado is that he's like any other kid, but his work ethic (which is to go all out when necessary but not all the time) heavily contrasts Shirogane's "must be perfect no matter what" initial hangups. There is also the fact that Shirogane desires to graduate at the top of a prestigious university while Mikado is content with attending a normal school and his parents reach a compromise with him in order to get him to transfer out. And on a more humorous note, they have opposite tastes when it comes to women's breasts.
• Forgotten First Meeting: He'd met Kaguya once when they were little at a Shinomiya/Shijo gathering, but Kaguya doesn't remember him at all.
• Good All Along: After Shirogane built up Mikado as being his arch nemesis in his own head, when the reader is finally introduced to him...he's basically a shy dork. But then the story starts to throw hints that he might actually be a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, while he does have an unrequited crush on Kaguya, more than anything else he wants her to be happy.
• Heir Club for Men: Maki is the older twin, but Mikado is first in line to inherit the Shijo family business. It is also a Deconstruction, since he was pressured by the fact that a Shijo faction is trying to use him to further their goals, resulting in the transfer to Shuchi'in.
• Hopeless Suitor: He's been in love with Kaguya since their childhood, but not only does she not return his affections, Shirogane had already won her heart long before Mikado even became a factor in the manga's story.
• Horrible Judge of Character: After being transferred to Shuchi'in, he tries to get along with the Class 3-A students. He rejected the idea of conversing with Kashiwagi as he finds her scary despite her being childhood friends with his sister and opted for Kaguya as the two met each other during an unnamed banquet. To his shock, Kaguya chews him out for calling her princess and tries to remind him of their positions (probably from the Feuding Families between the Shinomiyas and Shijos).
• I Just Want to Be Normal: He decides to go to a completely normal school instead of a rich kids' academy like Shuchi'in, simply because he wanted to play ball with his friends.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: While he does like Kaguya, he's aware that she and Shirogane are completely in love and doesn't interject. That is until the war between the Shinomiyas and the Shijos breaks out, and Mikado manipulates Oko into betrothing her to him as a last resort to protect her from him. Even then, he'll break it off and let her go her own way if Shirogane finds an out before the date comes. He makes good on his word when Shirogane succeeds.
• Likes Older Women: Implied. He's accused of prefering more mature women when he says that he likes breasts that sag just a little (although he vehemently denies it). Chapter 256 puts this into question however, as it's revealed that he's in love with Kaguya, who is his age and has a modest chest.
• New Transfer Student: In Chapter 211, he joins Kaguya and Shirogane's class at Shuchi'in in the third year.
• Nice Guy: Polite and modest, if a bit socially awkward. Shirogane manages to let go of his grudge against him within minutes of actually meeting the guy.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • His sister pegs him as being cut from the same cloth as Shirogane in terms of personality, right down to them having the exact same pose when nervous. Even Mikado's academic achievements mirror Shirogane's, with Shirogane pushing himself in order to impress Kaguya and Mikado doing the same to win his parent's approval to play soccer; it's no surprise, then, that they hit it off so well when they finally meet. Kaguya, however, is far more skeptical, believing that Mikado and Shirogane "aren't alike at all." When one considers their differing backgrounds, motivations, work ethics, and future goals, she may have a point.
  • In Chapter 216, Maki stated that Mikado is currently being exploited by a faction of the Shijo family in light of their war against the Shinomiya (hence his timely transfer to Shuchi'in), which parallels Oko's grip on Kaguya's freedom.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: As Maki lampshaded, he may be looked like someone who has little care for his family business, but Mikado is fully aware that his transfer to Shuchi'in is because of the escalating war between the Shinomiya and Shijo groups. Furthermore, he's sharp enough at politics to find a workaround if he really wanted to, so he's clearly got some sort of ulterior motive in going along with the transfer, and even Maki doesn't know what that might be.
• One Degree of Separation: He's both Kaguya's distant relative and Shirogane's greatest academic rival. Shirogane seems to be aware of the connection, but sees no reason to talk about it.
• Red Baron: Around soccer players from other schools, Mikado has earned the fearsome appellation of... "Boy Fucker Mikado", given for crushing the dreams of aspiring soccer players when they have the misfortune of playing against him. He absolutely hates it.
• Related in the Adaptation: Being the counterpart of the emperor, he was Kaguya's love interest in the original story. Here, he's her cousin (albeit a very distant one to the point that they're barely related).
• The Reveal: He's the one Kaguya is betrothed to in the final arc.
• Romantic Runner-Up: His entire point is to be a counterexample to the Emperor in the original Bamboo Cutter mythos, and another side of the unrequited love coin that his sister Maki exhibits. He has a clear crush on Kaguya that's been harbored ever since they were children, and when push comes to shove he will make use of his connections to try and secure Kaguya a place away from her toxic family, making him the ideal love interest. However, the story repeatedly condemns the "ideal", and while his heart is in the right place, he completely lost to Shirogane because the latter was there for Kaguya far more than Mikado ever was where it counted.
• Secret-Keeper: Downplayed. He finds out about Shirogane having a girlfriend in Chapter 215, though it isn't until Chapter 225 that he's specifically shown to know that it's Kaguya (by which point the two of them had already decided to go public with their relationship).
• Strong Family Resemblance: He looks near identical to his father.
• Theme Naming: His name translates to "emperor", referring to Kaguya-hime's primary love interest in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Also falls into Theme Twin Naming, since Maki's name contains the character for "Princess".
• Token Rich Student: Despite being the heir of the Shijo Corporation and having a sister who goes to Shuchi'in, Mikado attends an ordinary public school. That said, he does start transfer to Shuchi'in at the start of senior year.
• Unexpected Virgin: Like Shirogane, Mikado has no experience with women until Shiorogane and Kaguya have Their First Time in Chapter 220, leaving him alone among his male friends.
• Unknown Rival: Shirogane considers him to be his greatest academic rival, yet he remains completely oblivious to this, though it ultimately gets averted when the two finally meet. Mikado is not only extremely polite, but he finds Shirogane to be the more impressive of the two since Shirogane was able to score first in national mock exams multiple times in a row, compared to him only breaking a record once.

Tanuma Family

Shozo Tanuma

Shozo Tanuma

Voiced by: Junpei Morita (Japanese), Anthony Bowling (English), Ricardo Juarez (Brazilian Portuguese)
Played by: Jiro Sato (live-action movie)

Debut: Chapter 79 (Manga), Episode 20 (Anime)

One of the ten greatest doctors in the world. He is the physician for the Shinomiya family and the grandfather of Tsubasa Tanuma (Kashiwagi's Boyfriend).

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• The Casanova: He claims to have spent his teenage years sowing his wild oats, though this ended up backfiring when he found himself a father at the age of 17. Apparently, he's still pretty active, though he doesn't specify if it's with multiple women these days.
• The Comically Serious: When he tells Kaguya that she's suffering from love sickness as a diagnosis for her condition, he doesn't so much as crack a smile.
• Composite Character: In the live-action movie, he's also the narrator.
• Connected All Along: Chapter 147 reveals that he's Tsubasa's paternal grandfather.
• Generation Xerox: Both he and his son are doctors who had a child at 17. Considering the fact that Tsubasa is his grandson, they end up going three for three on both accounts.
• Power of the God Hand: He's referred to as the God Hand due to his skill with performing bypass surgery on children.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's one of the greatest surgeons in the world and rubs shoulders with high-level dignitaries, but when he learns that Kaguya has fallen ill he cancels a party with the governor in order to immediately examine her.
• Shipper on Deck: He tells Kaguya that she should ask Shirogane out during his first appearance.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: As befitting a well-respected surgeon.
• Teen Pregnancy: His son was born when he was 17 (exactly how old the mother was is not stated, though an anime original scene suggests that she was around the same age).

Fujiwara Family

Daichi Fujiwara

Daichi Fujiwara

Voiced by: Hirohiko Kakegawa (Japanese), Aaron Roberts (English)
Debut: Chapter 22 (Manga), Episode 22 (Anime)

The father of Chika, Moeha, and Toyomi. Daichi is a famous Politician.

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• Education Papa: He's very strict when it comes to Chika's grades, with her mentioning that he threatened to withhold her allowance if she did poorly during the end-of-semester exams.
• Good Parents: While overprotective, Chika does look up to him, and Daichi loves his daughters dearly. He was even making the time to come and see her during the Sports Festival.
• Not So Above It All: In a volume bonus extra, Daichi, alongside his wife, is shown playing Among Us with his daughters, the Tabletop Gaming Club, and Kei during game time.
• Odd Friendship: For whatever reason, Daichi knows Shirogane's father well enough to trust him to take photos of his daughter, Chika, while a tad busy.
• Parental Obliviousness: He's completely obvious to how his own overprotective tendencies had played a part in his eldest daughter's loose and rebellious behavior. This leads to him being more strict with Chika and Moeha so as to not make the same mistake.
• Where Did We Go Wrong?: Daichi wonders how he manages to get a very loose and rebellious daughter like Toyomi.

Maho Fujiwara

Maho Fujiwara

Debut: Chapter 87 (Manga), The First Kiss Never Ends (Anime)^note Home release only

The mother of Chika, Moeha, and Toyomi. Maho is a famous Diplomat.

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• Adaptational Curves: Downplayed. In the manga, she was "flat as a board" in the chest department to contrast with her more buxom daughters. In the movie, she's given a slightly more noticeable bust line.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Averted. Unlike her daughters, she's as flat as a board, which leads Kaguya to theorize that that "big-chested gene" came from Daichi's side of the family.
• The Ghost: Due to the anime skipping over her only onscreen appearance during the sports festival, she's limited to a single half-second cameo during the opening for the movie's home release and several references made by her daughter.
• Lady in a Power Suit: Her only onscreen appearance shows her wearing a suit jacket, as befitting a respected diplomat.
• Like Mother, Unlike Daughter: Even though she looks like them, Maho is relativity sane and stoic compare to her hyper (and at times psycho) daughters.
• Not So Above It All: During Kei's sleepover, Maho and her husband are shown playing Among Us with Kei, the Tabletop Gaming Club, and their daughters.
• Only Sane Man: By comparison, it's a wonder where her daughters get their bizarre personalities from.
• Strong Family Resemblance: It's clear where her daughters get their looks from, besides Kaguya's "big-chested gene" theory.

Toyomi Fujiwara

Toyomi Fujiwara

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu (Japanese), Natalie Van Sistine (English)
Debut: Chapter 39 (Manga), Episode 11 (Anime)

Chika and Moeha's eldest sister, whose currently attending university.

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• Buxom Beauty Standard: Like her sisters, she has a well-endowed figure that triggers Kaguya's A-Cup Angst and makes her suspect the Fujiwaras have a "big-chested gene" somewhere in their family tree.
• Cool Big Sis: It says a lot that Toyomi was willing to ditch her university class of the day to support Chika during the Sports Festival.
• Cute and Psycho: While more mature and relaxed compared to her younger sisters, Toyomi, like Moeha, is a psychopath who has the habit of making disturbing comments.
• Disappointing Older Sibling: Subverted. Daichi sees her as this for Chika and Moeha due to her loose and rebellious behavior, but she's a Cool Big Sis for them.
• First Love: Downplayed. According to supplemental material, Shirogane had feelings for her when she acted as his tutor, but it wasn't even serious enough to count as a Precocious Crush.
• It Runs in the Family: Played for Laughs, but the booklet revealed that Toyomi had trained Shirogane like her sister, Chika, did in the present, teaching him how to study properly back when she was a middle schooler.
• Mellow Fellow: Compared to her sisters, Toyomi is a pretty relaxed girl...minus having dark and psychotic thoughts like her sister Moeha.
• One Degree of Separation: It's revealed post series that she's Shirogane's former tutor when he was in elementary school, giving him a connection to the Fujiwara family long before he even attened Shuchi'in.
• Really Gets Around: Based on her claims, Toyomi has been pretty busy during her college years.
• Small Role, Big Impact: She barely shows up in-series, but as Shirogane's former tutor she is partially responsible for his insane study habits that both led to him getting into Shuchi'in in the first place and getting Kaguya to pay attention to him back during her Ice Queen days.

Hayasaka Family

Nao Hayasaka

Nao Hayasaka

Voiced by: Toa Yukinari (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English)

Debut: Chapter 111 (Manga), Episode 30 (Anime)

The mother of Ai and a loyal servant/employee of the Shinomiya family.

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• Action Mom: She's the one who taught her daughter all of her Ninja Maid skills. She's even shown casually taking down another Shinomiya employee with ease in Chapter 255.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: A-1 Pictures released promotional artwork at the end of season two of her having lunch with her daughter during the sports festival. While she was mentioned during the sports festival in the manga (Ai is talking to her on the phone and upset over her having to cancel coming), she doesn't actually show up in person until Chapter 111 when the second years are having parent-teacher conferences.
• But Not Too Foreign: One of Hayasaka's grandparents was Irish, and it's implied to have been one of her parents rather than her husband's given that she has blonde hair while his hair is black.
• Foil: To her daughter. Much like her daughter with Kaguya, it's implied that she used to have a friendly relationship with, and spied on Unyo Shinomiya at the behest of Oko, though unlike Kaguya towards Ai, Unyo never forgave Nao.
• The Gadfly: Like mother, like daughter.
• Generation Xerox: She previously served as Unyo's valet when she was younger much like the relationship her daughter has with Kaguya, and that she also spied on him at the behest of Oko.
• Hired Help as Family: She appears to be something of a surrogate mother figure for Kaguya, given that her biological mother Nayotake died when she was very young.
• It Amused Me: She has Shirogane's father sit in on Kaguya's parent-teacher conference for this very reason.
• Parents as People: While she does love her daughter, her job makes it difficult to constantly be there for her.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She's implied to be one of the reasons why Unyo turned out to be such a piece of shit, as the revelation of her spying on him left him a markedly distrustful and callous man.
• We Used to Be Friends: She used to be Unyo's valet and the two of them were very close (much like her daughter and Kaguya are currently). He never forgave her after finding out that she was spying on him.

Masato Hayasaka

Masato Hayasaka

Debut: Chapter 255 (Manga)

Ai's father and Gan'an's secretary.

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• Generation Xerox: Like his wife and daughter, he also has a professional relationship serving under Gan'an Shinomiya.
• Hired Help as Family: While the two of them never directly interact onscreen, he's specifically mentioned to be Kaguya's godfather in Ai's character profile.
• Loophole Abuse: Refuses Oko's order to tell him where the secret cabin is on the grounds that the Hayasaka Family is only loyal to Gan'an Shinomiya, thus he doesn't have to listen to him.

Others

Betsy Beltoise

Betsy Beltoise

Voiced by: Sally Amaki (Japanese), Morgan Garrett (English)

Debut: Chapter 20 (Manga), Episode 4 (Anime)

The student council vice-president of the French Shuchi'in Academy. She boasts a very sharp tongue and wit, which she puts to use as an acclaimed debater in France, winning two consecutive victories in the French Debate Meet.

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• Break Them by Talking: Her specialty. Betsy uses quick thinking and logic to coerce her victims into digging their own graves. Attempting to do this to Shirogane ends up backfiring on her in two respects: Shirogane doesn't understand French, and Kaguya sees fit to retaliate by giving Betsy a taste of her own poison.
• The Bus Came Back: She makes her second appearance in the series 219 chapters later. Justified by the fact that she's a French student who only came to Japan for the annual party and her experience with Kaguya traumatized her into avoiding any semblance of contact with the Shinomiya family.
• Disease Bleach: In the anime, her hair takes on a tinge of gray from being on the receiving end of Kaguya's verbal assault.
• The Dreaded: Is known as "Betsy the Wound-Licking Dagger." It is said that she will one day kill a man with her tongue.
• Eloquent in My Native Tongue: She learned enough Japanese to hold a conversation between her first and second appearances, though her sentences are very stilted. On the other hand, she's a skilled debater in her native French.
• Femme Fatale: Definitely appears like one. Points for actually being French as well.
• No-Sell: Her verbal assault upon Shirogane completely fails due to his inability to actually speak or understand French.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Arguably so, since her verbal assault upon Shirogane was ordered directly by the Japanese Shuchi'in Academy principal, as a Secret Test of Character for him.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her eyes are blood-red, as befitting her ability to break people with her words alone.
• Student Council President: She's been elected to the position by the time of her second appearance.

The Four Ramen Emperors of Tokyo

Voiced by: Haruo Sato (San of Shibuya), Takahiro Yamaguchi (Young San of Shibuya), Takeshi Maruyama (J Suzuki of Koenji) (Japanese), David Wald (San of Shibuya), Ben Phillips (J Suzuki of Koenji) (English)

Debut: Chapter 43 (Manga), Episode 11 (Anime)

A set of ramen connoisseurs, known for being the best ramen eaters in the entire metropolitan area. They go by their titles: San of Shibuya, J Suzuki of Koenji, the Immortal of Sugamo, and the Glutton Girl of Jinbocho.

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• Ambiguously Related: The Immortal of Sugamo's last name is Tanuma, implying a relationship to Tsubasa.
• Big Eater: The Glutton Girl of Jinbocho's ramen eating style. Apparently she was once known as the "Ramen Vacuum-Cleaner". This brought her at odds with San of Shibuya, whose style consist more of refined preparations and eating.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": When not working as a taxi driver, J Suzuki of Koenji wears a bandana with the letter J on it.
• Elite Four: Played for Laughs, as they are the four greatest ramen eaters in the city.
• Hero of Another Story: Their exploits are completely detached from Kaguya and Shirogane's Battle of Wits, and their paths only rarely cross with the rest of the cast.
• Minor Flaw, Major Breakup: As a testament to how seriously they all take ramen, San of Shibuya used to date the Glutton Girl of Jinbocho but broke up with her (despite admitting that he still loved her) because she ate ramen a different way.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: While all four of them have names, they are normally only referred to by their titles.
• Recurring Extra: J Suzuki of Koenji occasionally shows in the story in his day job as a taxi driver.
• Serious Business: Ramen, obviously.
• The Smurfette Principle: The Glutton Girl of Jinbocho is the only girl in the group.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Ramen, obviously, for all four of them.
• Unaffected by Spice: Subverted for The Immortal of Sugamo - he believes himself to be this because of all the ultra spicy food he'd eaten when he was younger, but he soon discovers that modern Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce is 60 times spicier than any "ultra spicy" food he'd ever eaten.

Gomanosuke

Gomanosuke

Debut: Chapter 211 (Manga)

A black cat belonging to the Abe family who is frequently found wandering around the school grounds.

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• Caligula's Horse: Iino appoints him to be her General Affairs Officer when she's elected since she's having trouble finding qualified people to fill the positions. Given that Shirogane went his entire second term without having the position filled and Iino's council is also noted to be far more efficient, it probably isn't that big of an issue.
• Jerkass to One: For some reason, he doesn't like Shirogane. We're never told why, but it's probably just because he finds Shirogane's glare intimidating.
• Named After Someone Famous: Kaguya initially gives him the name Edward of Woodstock before learning that he already had an owner.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Outside of the one-shot characters that Maki meets on her trip to India, he's the only one who is drawn in a semi-photorealistic manner.^note Presumably it's because they're all based on real people (or in Gomanosuke's case, Aka's pet cat Sesame).
• Team Pet: He effectively becomes something of a mascot for the student council in the latter half of Shirogane's second term.

The Narrator

Voiced by: Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English), Renato Rosenberg (Brazilian Portuguese)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 1 (Anime)

The narrator of the series, providing commentary and context to Shirogane's and Kaguya's Battle of Wits.

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• Catchphrase: "Uso de aru" ("That was a lie") whenever he starts to explain how a character is being dishonest regarding exams.
• Dub Personality Change: The narrator is much more of a Lemony Narrator in the English dub of the anime, prone to both being far more personally invested in the character drama (for example, audibly crying when the student council shares their photos with Kaguya after her phone breaks) and making far more humorous asides.
• Interactive Narrator: Played for Laughs when he is chewed out by Kaguya for trying to psychoanalyze her.
• Large-Ham Announcer: He introduces the contestants in the student council's arm wrestling match as though it were professional wrestling.
• Lemony Narrator: He's prone to breaking his role as a straight-laced if dramatic observer from time to time. Just take a look at Chapter 17, where he screams "Marriage!" to symbolize how good cat ears look on Kaguya and Shirogane.
• Mundane Made Awesome: A huge part of the narrator's function in the series serves this end. His dramatic narration treats moments like two teenagers trying to trick each other into revealing their cell phone numbers like something from Death Note.
• Narrator: Well, yeah.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the English dub of the Anime, the few times the narrator isn't a Large Ham Lemony Narrator is usually a sign that something significant is going to happen in one of the main characters' story arcs, most notably when Kaguya and Shirogane meet up in the clock tower at the end of the Cultural Festival arc.
• Opening Narration: Gives one in the first two episodes of the anime and Chapters 1 and 11 of the manga, where he provides the viewpoint that animates Kaguya and Shirogane's stubbornness: love is war, and the one who confesses first loses!

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Let my heart be consumed and set ablaze!
Burning in flames of our love!