School Rumble/Characters

Class 2-C

Tenma Tsukamoto

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (JP) and Luci Christian (EN)

The main female character, a ditzy airhead with a crush on Karasuma.

• Alliterative Name
• Annoying Older Sibling: As a kid, though her intentions were always pure.
• The Archer: Went on bow-and-arrow spree once to deliver love letters to Karasuma, with scarily good aim, only beatable by Karasuma's dexterity.
  • Miko: And she dressed like this for the occasion.
• Balloon Belly
• Book Dumb
• Cloudcuckoolander
• Cute Clumsy Girl
• Determinator: Whenever Karasuma is involved. She even decides to become a doctor to help him after he loses his memories.
• The Ditz
• Dogged Nice Girl
• Erotic Eating: To Harima, Tenma looks sexy while eating Pocky (well, Picky). To Eri, she looks like a squirrel.
• Expressive Hair
• Genki Girl
• Girlish Pigtails: Sort of.
• Hidden Depths: She surprises everyone with her mad skiing skills.
• The Matchmaker: Lampshaded in the manga, saying she is only good at matchmaking.
• Joshikousei
• Lethal Chef: She cannot even get onigiri right.
• Oblivious to Love: Tenma has no idea about Harima's feelings until San Gakki.
• Older Than They Look: She is often mistaken to be younger than her sister.
• Pettanko
• Psychic Powers: Is telekinetic and can speak to ghosts (played for laughs).
• Put on a Bus: She leaves the country to go after Karasuma.
• Shipper on Deck: Tenma actively supports whoever Harima is trying to pursue... except she didn't know it was her.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Tenma dreamed she was one.
• The Unfavorite: Majority of the boys at school don't find her attractive

Kenji Harima

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (JP) and Brandon Potter (EN)

The main male character, an aspiring mangaka who's head over heels for Tenma. Has a younger brother named Shuuji.

• Accidental Pervert: With Eri only.
  • This also happened during Harima and Tenma's first meeting.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Mistakenly, to Eri. It still made her heart skip a beat though.
• Animal Talk
• Anti-Magic: He is at times immune to Yakumo's mind reading.
• Author Avatar: Of his own manga.
• Badass Beard / Badass Mustache: Eri even calls him "hige" (beard in Japanese) and "whiskers" in the English translation.
• Badass Biker
• Book Dumb: Subverted -- he only pretends to be one so he can be in remedial classes with Tenma.
• Butt Monkey
• Chaste Hero: Hes turned down Anegasaki's advances.
• Color Failure: Harima goes pale after a rush to complete one of his manga, in a Shout-Out to a certain boxing manga. Also occurred earlier in the first season when in despair after coming across Tenma happily eating together with Karasuma.
• Cool Loser: He's good-looking, strong, athletic and something of a chick magnet in school, but this falls apart because of his antisocial nature and numerous misunderstandings.
• Cool Shades
• Determinator: He jumped out of a plane in the manga when he thought Tenma was in trouble. And this is one of the more controlled things he's done.
• Dogged Nice Guy
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: He could be easily mistaken for Mikoto when viewed from behind and especially without his hair-band.
• Dumb Muscle: Harima may not be able to read your name very well, but he can definitely bring a beat-down upon you.
• Estrogen Brigade Bait
• Expository Hairstyle Change
• Face of a Thug
• Friend to All Living Things: Had an entire zoo living in his apartment.
• Forgotten Childhood Friend: Shown in Z that he had met the Tsukamotos when they were kids and he may have been the reason Yakumo is the soft-spoken girl she is today.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar on his back which he got from saving Tenma from a hoodlum.
• Guns Akimbo: When fighting Hanai in the final battle of the Battle Royale-style mock war.
• He Cleans Up Nicely
• Hidden Depths: Badass delinquent who is a talented artist, and a lovesick idiot.
• Hot-Blooded
• Hurricane Kick: Averted, and instead played for Punny Name. When saving Tenma from a thug, Harima yells out this trope, but he doesn't spin around (just performing Dynamic Entry). Instead, this is used to take note on 'What if we shorten Harima Kenji', which becomes 'HariKen', which is how the the English word "Hurricane" is pronounced/spelled in Japanese
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
• Laughing Mad: When Tenma thought Harima and Eri were a couple.
• Love Makes You Dumb
• Manly Tears
• Mistaken for Gay: A Running Gag with him and Tani-sensei.
• My Name Is Not Durwood: The guy at the manga office constantly calls Harima "Tasawa". Harima calls Karasuma "Torimaru" and Yoshidayama "Yoshida".
• Paper-Thin Disguise: He dressed up as a fortune teller and neither Mikoto nor Eri were fooled.
  • Almost no one can recognize Harima without his sunglasses.
• Retired Badass: His love for Tenma has caused him to abandon his delinquent ways.
• Selective Obliviousness
• Shallow Love Interest: Deconstructed -- he starts to forget why he likes Tenma in the first place, and also starts to believe his attraction to her is almost compulsive.
• Shirtless Scene
• Slow Motion Fall: Everytime Tenma mistakes him having a relationship with someone else.
• Spanner in the Works: Harima's love for Tenma causes him to sabotage his plans to get together with her.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: What attracts Yakumo to him in the first place.
• Sunglasses at Night: He even wears them in the hospital...
• Stalker with a Crush
• Starving Artist: It got to the point in Z where Eri agreed to finance Harima if he married her.
• Walking the Earth: He disappeared during the Time Skip, earning a living as a traveling musician.

Oji Karasuma

Voiced by: Hiroki Konishi (JP) and Eric Vale (EN)

The school's weird, quiet guy who loves curry and is the subject of Tenma's affections.

• Cosplay Otaku Dude: Akira's rival in this hobby.
• Creepy Monotone
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He easily dodges Harima's punch in front of the curry restaurant. Also when he fights Harima pretty much to a standstill in the later chapters of the manga.
  • Not to mention that he singlehandedly racks up quite a few kills in the Battle Royale parody.
• Finger-Suck Healing: Karasuma does this for Tenma.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Who knew America could be so softspoken?
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Karasuma abruptly loses his memories, forcing Tenma to leave to the United States to look after him. However, it's heavily implied at reunion that some of his memories are starting to return.
• Limited Wardrobe
• My Name Is Not Durwood: Though it doesn't seem to bother him, Harima calls him Torimaru, an Alternate Character Reading of his name. The dub has Harima calling him "Kama Sutra" once or twice, but mostly giving him a Hey, You.
• Obfuscating Stupidity
• Oblivious to Love: Karasuma doesn't even seem aware of Tenma's affections... or does he?
• School Uniforms Are the New Black
• The Stoic
  • Not So Stoic: To the point where he's barely recognizable.
• The Quiet One

Eri Sawachika

Voiced by: Yui Horie (JP) and Leah Clark (EN)

The wealthy, half-British member of Tenma's clique, who finds herself falling for Harima after he mistakenly proposes to her.

• Arranged Marriage: She was supposed to marry Shawn but she convinced Harima to propose to her.
• Big Fancy House: Eri points out to Harima (manga only), that it's her father's house and not hers.
• But Not Too Foreign: Half-Japanese, half-English. Her mixed heritage makes her attractive to the Japanese and an object of derision to Europeans.
• Celebrity Paradox: The video for the opening song appears in an early episode meaning Yui Horie exists in the SukuRan universe.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Deconstructed.
• Cry Cute
• Cute Little Fangs
• Death Glare: Holy hell.
  • Or this, which makes Harima obey her immediately.
• Expy of Asuka with blonde hair.
• Girlish Pigtails
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: when she invited Harima to her house.
• Eyes of Gold / Hair of Gold
• Lethal Chef: Only surpassed by Tenma.
• Lonely Rich Kid
• Ms. Fanservice: The author loves to show Eri looking good in uniform, casual wear, bikini, evening gown, and of course, naked.
• So Beautiful It's a Curse
• The Ojou: Harima even calls her one.
• Tsundere: Switching moods almost ruins her friendships. She gets attracted to Harima because she doesn't have to act nice towards him.
• Tsurime Eyes

Mikoto Suou

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (JP) and Brina Palencia (EN)

A member of Tenma's clique and Hanai's long-time friend.

• Action Girl
• Boobs of Steel
• Buxom Is Better: And frequently remarked upon.
• The Ladette
• Office Lady: Her perceived future career.
• One of the Boys
• Victorious Childhood Friend

Akira Takano

Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (JP) and Trina Nishimura (EN)

Last member of Tenma's clique and the quiet one of the group, whose half-sister Motoko is in the hospital.

• Action Girl: She may or may not be a spy.
• Bifauxnen: Pulls off wearing boyish attire (even tuxedos) quite well.
• Cosplay Otaku Girl: Her one really odd quirk.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Emotionless Girl: Lampshaded. On her birthday, Tenma asks her to show her smile.
• Genre Savvy: And strangely so. She is quick to deduce things, even those that would become misunderstandings (naked-Harima-and-Eri episode, anyone?)
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Akira's voice sounds almost identical to that of Signum from the Nanoha series. This troper can close his eyes and burst out laughing while hearing the Blazing General acting as a stoic troll.
• Knife Nut: Manga only. She has a knife for everything. She even keeps a spare one.
• Kuudere: Type 2
• "Mission Impossible" Cable Drop: During the school play.
• School Swimsuit: When she and her friends met Nara and his friends.
• Trickster Archetype

Haruki Hanai

Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (JP) and Chris Cason (EN)

Class Representative of 2-C and childhood friend of Mikoto. He treats everything he does seriously and has a major crush on Yakumo.

• Accidental Pervert/Covert Pervert
• Alliterative Name
• Butt Monkey: Is usually on the receiving end of Akira's pranks.
• Chick Magnet: Heavily implied to be one, with Tsumugi being confirmed as to liking him and Akira being heavily implied by the end.
• Class Representative
• Dreadful Musician
• Hot-Blooded
• Large Ham
• Megane
• Oh God, Did She Just Hear That?: Averted. He simply doesn't care if he accidentally speaks his mind out.
• Floated Away On A Kite: When the anime Overtook the Manga. He made some appearances but stopped being an important character. Lampshaded in the manga when he apparently has no idea how he came back.
• Rousing Speech: Lampshaded after the survival games arc. Some of the students have no idea what he's talking about yet they feel excited somehow.
• Sunglasses at Night: During the Wargames arc.
• Victorious Childhood Friend
• Weddings in Japan: Mikoto & Yakumo both participate in Western-style weddings, both with Hanai as the groom strangely enough.

Kyousuke Imadori

Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio (JP) and David Trosko (EN)

The class's second-ranking pervert.

• Bishonen: Subverted. He only looks like one when he gets serious. Otherwise, he usually looks like an idiot.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Towards Karen, more so once he discovers that she's actually bustier than her uniform shows. He also tends to gravitate towards Mikoto, if only because of her bust.
• Flanderisation: He went from girl magnet to Adult Child.
• Handsome Lech
• Taking the Bullet: During the Sports Festival arc, he took a kick to the face for Mikoto.

Karen Ichijou

Voiced by: Yuka Nanri (JP, season 1), MAKO (JP, season 2 and OVA) and Carrie Savage (EN)

A cute girl with scary strength. Has a younger brother named Kousuke.

• Badass Adorable
• Cute Bruiser: Not that she's the only fighting girl in the series, but she pretty much defines the trope in this series.
• Does Not Know Her Own Strength
• Hidden Buxom
• The Other Darrin: Voiced by Yuka Nanri for season 1, replaced by MAKO for succeeding appearances.
• Shrinking Violet

Kentarou Nara

Voiced by: Yuki Tai (JP) and Todd Haberkorn (EN)

An ordinary boy who has a crush on Tenma but is too gutless to ever confess. Hangs around with Nishimoto & Yoshidayama.

• Attractive Bent Gender: He had to cross-dress as punishment during a game, and everyone else comments that it's scarily attractive.
• Demoted to Extra: Word of God says he was supposed to be the main character.
• The Generic Guy
• Mistaken for Gay: With Imadori (manga only)
• Ordinary High School Student
• Those Three Guys: With Nishimoto and Yoshidayama.
• Unlucky Everydude

Ganji Nishimoto

Voiced by: Shun Takagi (JP) and Jaime Rivera (EN)

Class 2-C's number-one pervert.

• Eyes Always Shut
• Gentle Giant
• Lovable Sex Maniac
• Porn Stash: It also helps that his family runs a video rental store.
• Those Three Guys: With Nara and Yoshidayama.
• Verbal Tic: Ends his sentences with "-dasu".

Jirou Yoshidayama

Voiced by: Hirotaka Nagase (JP, season 1), Makoto Tomita (JP, season 2 and OVA) and Mike McFarland (EN)

A delinquent who moved to Yagami in hopes of becoming its number-one thug, only to run into the more fearsome Harima.

• Anime Hair: May be subverted. He seems to just use a lot of hair gel since it's normal after he takes a bath.
• Butt Monkey
• Delinquent: And aspires to be the number-one in the school.
• Dropped a Bridget On Him: He looks like a girl when his hair is down (at least from behind).
• The Other Darrin: Voiced by Hirotaka Nagase for the first season, replaced by Makoto Tomita for succeeding appearances.
• The Starscream: He's always plotting to overthrow Harima as the school delinquent, unaware that the latter's (unrequited) crush on Tenma has since made him relinquish his ways.
• Those Three Guys: With Nara and Nishimoto.

Takeichi Fuyuki

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (JP) and Orion Pitts (EN)

Class 2-C's number-three pervert.

• Camera Fiend: Claims to take shots of girls for the yearbook, only to sell them to schoolmates just as perverted as him.
• Megane
• Precocious Crush: To fellow Astronomy Club member Tsumugi, whom she rejected in favor of Hanai.

Hiroyoshi Asou

Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Ichiki (JP) and J Michael Tatum (EN)

Star player of Yagami High's men's basketball team, who dated Mikoto for a short time.

• Bishonen
• The Comically Serious
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Suga's red.
• The Stoic
• Those Two Guys: With fellow basketball player Suga.
• Mauve Shirt

Ryuuhei Suga

Voiced by: Makoto Yasumura (JP) and Robert McCollum (EN)

Asou's best friend and member of the men's basketball team.

• Bromantic Foil
• Butt Monkey
• Captain Ersatz: He looks a lot like Slam Dunk's Hanamichi Sakuragi.
• Flanderization: Suga's loserliness was increasingly emphasized in the manga to the point where he started hanging out more with Nishimoto rather than Asou.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Asou's blue.
• Those Two Guys: With fellow basketball player Asou.

Mai Otsuka

Voiced by: Michi Yamazaki (JP) and Kate Oxley (EN)

Acting substitute Class Representative of Class 2-C in the event Hanai can't perform his duties, in spite of her friend Tsumugi supposedly filling that role.

• Class Representative: She is one for nine years straight until Hanai came in. Still that doesn't stop her from exercising some authority in class whenever Hanai isn't around.
• Genki Girl
• Hidden Buxom
• Otaku: Frequently imagines herself as a Magical Girl. One episode is even dedicated to her in such a form.
• Neat Freak

Tsumugi Yuki

Voiced by: Chisa Tadokoro (JP) and Laura Bailey (EN)

Mai's best friend and the actual substitute Class Representative in the event Hanai, whom she has a crush on, is unavailable.

• Beware the Nice Ones
• Meganekko
• Ship Tease: With Fuyuki.

Megumi Sagano

Voiced by: Ai Horanai (JP) and Caitlin Glass (EN)

A fellow member of the nascent women's basketball team.

• Action Girl: A basketball player during her junior high days, but has since become the men's basketball team's manager for lack of a female counterpart.
• Cute Sports Club Manager

Class 1-D

Yakumo Tsukamoto

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (JP) and Caitlin Glass (EN)

Tenma's younger, far more responsible sister. A sweet, kind and soft-spoken girl who also works part-time at a Cosplay Cafe. She develops feelings for Harima when she starts helping him with his manga.

• Beautiful Dreamer: How Hanai and Sarah first saw Yakumo.
• Berserk Button: Never insult Tenma in her presence.
• Beware the Nice Ones
• Big Little Sister
• Blessed with Suck: She can read the mind of anyone who likes her, except Harima.
  • Somewhat subverted when she first meets Harima: she is able to read his mind somehow (because back then, his only true interest was Tenma), but all she sees is an ellipsis.
• Daddy's Girl: One of the reasons she's attracted to Harima is that he looks like the Tsukamotos' father from behind.
• The Empath
• Even the Girls Want Her: Thanks to Sarah and Akira.
• Heavy Sleeper: She does the housework, goes to school and has a job so it's no wonder she gets sleepy. Its also a Deconstructed Trope, since it interfere with her daily chores.
• The Ingenue: Her telepathy makes her painfully aware of impure thoughts towards her but she is still unaware of how to get into a relationship.
• Not So Stoic: She finally breaks down crying near the end the end of the manga, admitting she wanted to connect with more people and become less of a burden to her sister. In contrast, the ghost (her subconscious), bursts out laughing.
• Playboy Bunny: Subverted -- Hanai imagined she's about to wear one; turns out she's wearing an oversized rabbit costume.
• The Quiet One
• So Beautiful It's a Curse
• Tsurime Eyes: A subversion.
  • Fridge Brilliance: Or is it? Considering her childhood personality.
• Yamato Nadeshiko (It doesn't always work for her)

Sarah Adiemus

Voiced by: Yukari Fukui (JP) and Gwendolyn Lau (EN)

Yakumo's best friend, a British exchange student and part-time nun.

• Big Damn Heroes: She saved Yakumo from a dog, forging their friendship.
• Friendship Moment: Saving Yakumo from a dog.
• Nuns Are Mikos: Averted. When we said "nun" in her description, we meant it in the Christian/Catholic sense.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Nia: now as a nun.

Satsuki Tawaraya

Voiced by: Mariya Ise (JP) and Cherami Leigh (EN)

A member of the nascent women's basketball team.

• Big Eater
• Captain Ersatz: Of Bleach's Tatsuki Arisawa.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With Asou (who once coached the nascent team until Anegasaki-sensei came in).
• Precocious Crush: To Asou, which once made her unable to play for a short while until he rejects her.

Class 2-D

Harry Mackenzie

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (JP) and Jason Liebrecht (EN)

American exchange student. His name sounds like Harima's when pronounced in Japanese. Actually has quite a bit in common with Harima besides that, too. Popular with the ladies.

• Badass Biker
• Bishonen
• Char Clone
• Cool Shades
• Early-Bird Cameo: His name is first heard in episode 1 leading Harima to think that he passed.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Take Harry mix in some feline and shark genes and some Hot Blood and you have Viral.

Lara Gonzalez

Voiced by: Yuu Kobayashi (JP) and Monica Rial (EN)

Mexican exchange student and Karen's wrestling rival.

• Big Eater
• Boobs of Steel
• But Not Too Foreign: It's implied she's half-Japanese, explaining why her father is so enamored with Japan.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She is first seen wrestling a masked Tenma, who volunteered to become Karen's substitute so she can go on her date with Imadori.
  • Even earlier, she is shown in the ending credit sequence.
• Expository Hairstyle Change
• Friendly Enemy: Her antagonism toward Karen softened during the show's run.
• Hidden Depths: Harry once caught her doing cheerleading routines hidden from everyone's view. When she was doing it in the open earlier, everyone thought she was doing it against her will given her lack of expression.
• Hot-Blooded: Rare female example. She shouts nearly everything she says.
• Mommy Issues: She hated Karen because that is also the name of Lala's Missing Mom.
• No Indoor Voice
• Perpetual Frowner: So much so that Imadori risked getting his ass beat just so he can make her smile.
• Rousing Speech: She convinced her team to play against the Outlaw basketball team.

"Why have we been practicing? For honor? For glory? No, for victory!"

• Spicy Latina
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: But she does try to be more girly from time to time.

Masakazu Tougo

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (JP) and Travis Willingham (EN)

Class Representative of 2-D. He tends to burst into long inspirational speeches. His father is a diplomat, so he brags he's been to the United States. His younger sister Haruna is a friend of Yakumo. Possesses great charisma and can talk people to doing his bidding quite easily.

• Captain Ersatz: Like Harry, he is a Shout-Out to another Gundam villain.
  • He looks a bit like Shutaro Mendou, too.
• Class Representative
• Hot-Blooded
• Large Ham: With extra ham on the side. Its impossible to find a single line he speaks where he isn't hamming it up (which is annoying to Harima, since that often cuts in on his hamboning time)
• Leitmotif: Oh say can't you see, by the dawn's early light...
• Rousing Speech: He's really good at this but sometimes goes overboard.
• Shirtless Scene: He loves his physique.
• Sitcom Arch Nemesis: To Hanai.
• Testosterone Poisoning: His courage to take on things head on is almost suicidal.

Noboru Tennouji

Voiced by: Tomoyuki Shimura (JP) and Sonny Strait (EN)

Delinquent extraordinaire and Harima's nemesis.

• Bald of Evil
• The Brute
• Gonk
• Team Rocket Wins: beats Harima once when the latter was in despair after finding out Tenma liked Karasuma.
  • Victory Is Boring: However, because Harima was so out of it, he was unable to enjoy it
• Ugly Guy's Adorable Sister: His little sister Mio, who, ironically, has a crush on Harima's younger brother Shuuji.

Yagami High Faculty

Itoko Osakabe

Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (JP) and Stephanie Young (EN)

Harima's cousin and Physics teacher. Considered the hottest chick in school.

• Beauty Mark
• Cool Older Cousin
• Hot Teacher
• They Call Me Mr. Tibbs: Constantly reminds her cousin to call her Itoko-sensei at school.

Youko Sasakura

Voiced by: Akiko Kurumado (JP, season 1), Aya Hirano (JP, season 2 and OVA) and Lydia Mackay (EN)

Art teacher and childhood friend of Itoko.

• Hot Teacher

Tae Anegasaki

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (JP) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (EN)

The school nurse and the closest the school had for a women's basketball coach.

• Hello, Nurse!
• Hospital Hottie
• Hot for Student: Has a crush on Harima... Maybe
• Third Option Love Interest: Eri & Yakumo, eat your hearts out.

Hayato Tani

Voiced by: Makoto Yasumura (JP) and Kent Williams (EN)

2-C's Homeroom teacher with a major crush on Anegasaki-sensei.

• Beware the Nice Ones
• Butt Monkey
• Mistaken for Gay: A running gag with Harima.

Koorimaru

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (JP) and Jim Fonda (EN)

The school's PE teacher.

• Animal Motifs: The gorilla.
• The Big Guy
• Drill Sergeant Nasty