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A character sheet for Kaori, Aoi, and the other inhabitants of the Sakuraba house in Ai Yori Aoshi. (Characters listed are sorted roughly in order of appearance)
Kaoru Hanabishi[]
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Voiced by: Soichiro Hoshi (Japanese) and Dave Wittenberg (English) |
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Kaoru is a college student and exile from the Hanabishi house. Having endured years of physical and emotional abuse from his grandfather, he made the choice to break free and move out on his own.
- Abusive Parents: Kaoru has the shinai (bamboo stick useed to practice kendo) scars to show it.
- Accidental Pervert: Subverted; while Kaoru often finds himself in these kinds of situations, the girls always give him time to explain and realize it wasn't his fault, at times even realizing as such without an explanation. It's played straight only once at the beginning of the series; when Miyabi finds Aoi in Kaoru's house with a naked Kaoru on top of her (Kaoru was trying to stop Aoi from coming into the bathroom while he was bathing), she beats the crap out of him before Aoi calms her down.
- Bedmate Reveal: Number one recipient of this trope.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The sweet Aoi helps to heal his emotional scars from the physical and emotional abuse he suffered from his grandfather.
- Dark and Troubled Past: After his father Yuuji's death, the Hanabishi family forced Kaoru's mother Kumi to give Kaoru up to them for the sole purpose of raising him to be their next heir. Kaoru suffered years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his paternal grandfather, Genichirou, which culminated in the old man burning all of Kumi's possessions and photos; when Kaoru tried to stop him, Genichirou beat him with a wooden cane, leaving his back Covered with Scars. Sometime after this incident, Kaoru ran away from the Hanabishis and severed all ties with them for good.
- Devoted to You: Aoi has been devotedly in love with him since they were children. Even after he left Hanabishis and their engagement was broken, she never stopped loving him and kept working hard to become the perfect wife for him. She ran away from home on her own to go and find him and since he wouldn't go back to the Hanabishi household, she decided she would leave the Sakuraba household to marry him.
- Dogged Nice Guy
- Heroic Bastard: Yuji and Kumi never married.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: It's hinted several times that he's attracted to Aoi because of how similar she is to his mother.
- Missing Mom: Kumi
- Nice Guy: His dominant trait, though Aoi still gives him a run for his money.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Kaoru and Aoi love each other deeply in addition to being arranged to marry. Unfortunately, the arrangement was broken when Kaoru left the Hanabishi family, which is the primary cause for the drama in the story.
- Scars Are Forever
Aoi Sakuraba[]
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Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese) and Michelle Ruff (English) |
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Aoi is one of the living heirs to the Sakuraba dry goods[1] fortune. She had kept a Childhood Marriage Promise to Kaoru, even though her own parents were against the idea after he ran away from the Hanabishis. A chance encounter on a train has reunited them, and she has vowed to uphold her promise to stay with Kaoru for the rest of her life.
- All-Loving Heroine: Aoi loves everyone, and everyone loves Aoi. Pretty much every female member of the cast aspires to be like Aoi. Ironically, however, Aoi seems a bit oblivious to the depths of the devotion of her own mentor, Miyabi.
- Apologizes a Lot: And we mean a lot!
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Has some of this dynamic with Kaoru. Kaoru isn't exactly brooding, but he has serious emotional traumas from the abuse he suffered from his grandfather and the death of his mother. Aoi's kind and loving personality helps heal Kaoru's mental and emotional damage.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Kaoru
- Curtains Match the Window: She has blue hair and blue eyes.
- Irony: Aoi will often apologize for things that aren't her fault or aren't worth apologizing for. and yet whenever Kaoru apologizes to her, she takes it very poorly, though she justifies this by saying she understands him better than anyone, so there's no need for him to ever be sorry.
- Kimono Is Traditional: She hardly ever wears anything but a kimono, which contributes to her traditional Yamato Nadeshiko image.
- Nice Girl: Easily the nicest character in the entire series. Even the resident Alpha Bitch Mayu likes her.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: With Kaoru. See his entry.
- Plucky Girl: Absolutly nothing will stop her from marrying Kaoru.
- Shrinking Violet: Very shy at first, though she gets bolder as time goes on.
- Shy Blue-Haired Girl
- Silk Hiding Steel: Nice people are not weak. It takes the strength of character not just to be this faithful, loving and kind, but to help Kaoru heal from his mental and emotional damage.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Says frequently that she loves Kaoru because he's such a Nice Guy.
- Sleep Cute
- Supreme Chef: Kaoru says that everything she cooks is tremendous.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to everyone else's Tomboy.
- Victorious Childhood Friend
- Yamato Nadeshiko: And a perfect one at that. If the kimono doesn't give it away her gentle-yet-assertive demeanor definitely will.
Miyabi Kagurazaki[]
Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (JP), Lia Sargent (EN)
Miyabi is Aoi's guardian. She is very strict about upholding the Sakuraba house's honor, and makes it a point to tell Kaoru and Aoi to hide their relationship from the public.
- The Caretaker
- Cross-Popping Veins
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her parents died when she was young, which led to her being taken in by the Sakurabas.
- Defrosting Ice Queen
- Happily Adopted: By the Sakurabas. Officially, in the ending of the manga.
- Harem Nanny
- Legacy of Service: Her late parents, as said above, were retainers/workers to the super rich Sakurabas.
- Parental Substitute: Has one in Aoi's mother.
- Stern Teacher: Sometimes was one to Aoi when training her.
- Sugar and Ice Personality: Initially only affectionate toward Aoi, but as Kaoru earns her respect, she warms up to him.
- Team Mom
Tina Foster[]
Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (JP), Wendee Lee (EN)
Tina is an American-born college student who has lived in the Kyushu region for most of her life (so much so, that she's almost completely forgotten how to speak English).
- All of the Other Reindeer: She was born in America and culturally Japanese, and as such, cannot easily fit into either country.
- But Not Too Foreign: One of the most sympathetic examples.
- Cat Smile
- Cute Little Fangs: She shows one sometimes when she smiles.
- Funny Foreigner
- Hidden Depths: Despite coming off as an idiot rather frequently, she's actually more perceptive than the other girls. When Kaoru and Aoi announce their relationship, Tina admits that she knew the whole time, but couldn't begin to guess why they were hiding it.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
- Kansai Regional Accent
- Stepford Smiler: Not quite as happy as she outwardly seems.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: On the one hand she likes groping girls and playing video games and drinking too much. On the other hand, she adores animals and has long, flowing hair and wears sexy (if casual) clothes.
Taeko Minazuki[]
Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (JP), Philece Sampler (EN)
Taeko is a close friend of Tina and belongs to the same photography club where Tina and Kaoru are members. She seems to have a very unlucky streak (mostly involving tripping over things), and has been unable to hold down any kind of permanent job because of this, until pleas from Aoi and friends convince Miyabi to allow her to work as a maid.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Taeko is capable of producing decent meals, but she has a tendency to mix her normal meals with chocolate.
- Cute Clumsy Girl
- Gag Boobs
- Meganekko
- Meido
Mayu Miyuki[]
Voiced by: Sayaka Narita (JP), Karen Strassman (EN)
Mayu, like Aoi, is the daughter of a prestigious businessman. And also like Aoi, she has been in love with Kaoru ever since she was little. She spends a lot of time bickering with Tina.
Chika Minazuki[]
Voiced by: Haruko Momoi (JP), Kari Wahlgren (EN)
Taeko's cousin, who lives by the beach. First appears in volume 7 (anime episode 16).
- Bedmate Reveal: Tends to inflict this on Kaoru.
- Genki Girl
- Tan Lines: Due to coming from the beach.
- ↑ now a department store