The Characters

Hanazakari no Kimitachi E boasts some of the most amusing characters in shoujo manga today. From the quiet, brooding Sano, to the wild and crazy Nakatsu, there is quite a range of character types represented here. Yes, there are enough characters for everyone to find a favorite! If the names of the characters sound somewhat familiar to you, it may be because almost all of them are named after train stations in Osaka! Hisaya Nakajo is from Osaka, so it makes sense that she would use a naming scheme familiar to her. :)

Mizuki

Ashiya Mizuki

Mizuki is the heroine of the story. Before the story began, she lived in America, and looked pretty much like your average girl- cute, dressed like a girl, and had long hair. Then one day she saw a video of a high-jumping competition and she saw her first glimpse of Izumi Sano. She was so impressed by him that she was willing to have her long hair cut off and to travel to Japan to meet him. Mizuki is still cute with short hair, and is cheerful, and somewhat naive. While Sano begins to have feelings for her right away, it takes much longer for Mizuki to start having feelings for Sano, and even when she does, she is slow to figure out what those feelings mean. Sano is not the first guy she has liked though. In America she had a crush on another boy back when she was only 13. His name was Gilbert.

Sano

Sano Izumi

Sano is the reason behind Mizuki's return to Japan. He becomes her roommate in the boys dorm and he quickly begins to develop feelings for her, even though everyone believes she is a guy. As for what Sano believes? Well, that would be spoiling things! Sano is very strong and athletic and is easily the best high jumper at the school. Outside of class he is somewhat quiet, and can be seen brooding a lot. However he cares for Mizuki very much and always tries to protect his roommate from harm when he can. Sano has a younger brother with whom he does not get along very well.

Nakatsu

Nakatsu Shuichi

I love Nakatsu, he is so much fun! He seems to be the main comic-relief of the series, and has become one of my all-time favorite baka-boys. He is loud and impulsive, and can seem like a bit of an idiot, but he means well. Nakatsu is in the same class as Mizuki and Sano, and he lives in the same dorm.Things for poor Nakatsu start to get really confusing when he finds himself totally had over heels infatuated with Mizuki. Even though he thinks she is a guy, Nakatsu can't help how he feels. Often during the series we will get glimpses of 'Nakatsu-vision,' seeing Mizuki the way Nakatsu does- very soft and beautiful. Nakatsu has a bit of an identity crisis when he falls for Mizuki. When faced with an actual GIRL who likes him, he can't decide if he should continue pining for Mizuki, or date the 'real' girl!

Nanba Minami

Nanba Minami

One of my favorite characters! (then again, I like just about everyone :) Nanba-senpai is an upperclassman at Ohsaka Academy, and is one of the dorm/class leaders. He is very handsome, and knows it. He is very flirtatious, and likes to hit on any girls he sees. I like how he tried to win over Mizuki's friend Julia. Ahh such a Playboy! Nanba-senpai likes to tease people, but he is very nice to Mizuki. Despite his outgoing, flirtations attitude, he can be serious at times, and can actually get melancholy when thinking about a past relationship that meant a lot to him. He has occasionally leaned on Mizuki for comfort. Family-wise, Nanba is the nephew of the school doctor, Umeda-sensei, and Umeda's sister Rio is his aunt.

Umeda-sensei

Umeda Hokuto

The school doctor, Umeda-sensei, is another fantastic character. He finds out right away about Mizuki's secret, and soon becomes the one she runs to when she is in trouble and needs help. He gives Mizuki advice and generally hangs around being very cool. He has a younger sister named Rio who is a student at the neighboring girl's school, and an older sister named Io who he is somewhat afraid of :) (She is very... domineering :). He is also the uncle of Nanba-senpai. Umeda-sensei is quite the playboy. He works at an all-boys school, and it certainly looks like he takes advantage of that fact. Every time Mizuki enters his office, she finds him in some really suggestive 'yaoi'-type position with one of the cute male student. It's so funny to see what he will be up to next!

Akiha Hara

Hara Akiha

Yay! Another really great character! Akiha is a year younger than Umeda-sensei, and was one grade lower than Umeda back in school, and thus calls Umeda 'senpai'. Akiha is one of the few characters that can make Umeda-sensei freak out. Why? well because Akiha makes it very clear that he LIKES Umeda-sensei a LOT! Very flamboyant, he happily hugs and gets his hands all over Umeda whenever he can! (Much to Umeda's dismay!) His personality is very hyper, happy, and fun! Akiha is a famous photographer who is interested in getting Mizuki to model for him. He ends up getting all the HanaKimi school guys to model for him, making for some GREAT looking photos :) Akiha seems to be a fan of Disney, because he likes the movie 101 Dalmations, and he drives an old Volkswagon Beetle that he calls his 'Love Bug' ^_^

Oscar

Oscar M. Himejima

Oscar M. Himejima (real name: Masao Himejima)is such a hilarious character. He is the leader of the Third Dormitory. He is very flamboyant and fancy and is a total narcicist. He loves himself! This character sparkles so much, he is blinding. He likes to speak random German phrases, and he calls himself 'Oscar' instead of his real name, 'Masao'. His hair is long and dyed, and he wears colored contacts. He loves beautiful things, and is very melodramatic about expressing his feelings. On the drama CDs, his character is voiced by Koyasu Takehito (how fitting!) and his background music is a harpsichord. He is that kind of guy!