Shadow Star/Characters

A reference sheet for notable characters in the manga/anime series Naru Taru. Expect SPOILERS for the whole thing. Also be warned that this sheet is written with the assumption that readers have at least a small amount of familiarity with the series, meaning that some early and/or minor spoilers may be unmarked.

Shiina Tamai

 * Abusive Parents: Her mother treats her very coldly, tending to chastise her for her poor grades. Yeah, Shiina has mommy issues.
 * Action Girl
 * Asami Sanada: Her seiyuu in the anime. Hello, Sawa-chan!
 * Book Dumb: She's way more interested in sports and cooking than studying, and it shows. Subverted, though, when she manages to get a scholarship for the incredibly exclusive Banda Academy.
 * Break the Cutie: Goes through this throughout the whole series, culminating in her.
 * Celibate Heroine: Despite her young age, she's already adamant that she'll never get married or have kids.
 * Embarrassing First Name: She makes a point of writing her first name in katakana because she hates the kanji character used for it, which means "empty husk" or "seed that shall never sprout". (It was given to her by her mother, which doesn't exactly help with her mommy issues.) It becomes a critical plot point near the end of the manga,
 * Genki Girl: To begin with, at least. Then shit starts hitting the fan, and her genki ways start to steadily break down...
 * Heroic BSOD: Given the nature of the series, she gets a few of these...
 * I Just Want to Be Special: Even though she's unable to "link" with Hoshimaru, she desperately wants to be able to control him in the same way as the other bearers.
 * Idiot Hair: Gains one of these after her Important Haircut - ironically, after she's stopped being Book Dumb!
 * Important Haircut: After wearing her hair in distinctive Girlish Pigtails for half the manga (most of the anime), she gets it cut to bob length when she enters middle school.
 * Kid Heroine
 * Naive Everygirl: She starts as one of these. Needless to say, she doesn't stay that way...
 * No Periods, Period: Averted, she gets her first period
 * Scars Are Forever: After getting stabbed through her left hand during the whole mess with Oni, she has a fairly conspicuous little scar there for the rest of the manga.
 * Scholarship Student: In the second half of the manga. Other characters comment that she's the first girl in over fourteen years to get a scholarship into Banda.
 * This Is Something I've Got To Do Myself
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Akira and Hiroko's girly-girls.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair
 * This Is Something I've Got To Do Myself
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Akira and Hiroko's girly-girls.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Akira Sakura

 * Abusive Parents: Her father, who is implied to have molested her in the past. Dialogue from the first volume also suggests he may have physically abused her as well.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: While she's usually characterised as hating the idea of hurting others, her manner of Calling the Old Man Out makes her qualify. Also, early on, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it implication that she might have tried to kill Ain-Soph before; note how she already knows that Shiina won't be able to do much of anything to Push Dagger.
 * Break the Cutie: She was broken before we even meet her in-series, and she breaks further as the story progresses.
 * Calling the Old Man Out:
 * Cute and Psycho, to a certain extent.
 * Dojikko: Akira is shown to be on the clumsy side when she's helping out at her parents' restaurant. It isn't played for laughs.
 * Driven to Suicide: She makes at least two attempts on her own life in the series, but either can't bring herself to go through with it or is stopped by other characters.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Lt. Watanabe, a minor character and soldier of the Japanese Special Defence Force, pulls this on her when she grabs his gun and tries to kill herself with it.
 * Hates Being Touched: By her father, specifically. When he puts a hand on her shoulder after the East Fuji incident, she shrieks and swats it away. Who can blame her?
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: In direct contrast with Shiina. Akira hates her connection with Ain-Soph because it's given her recurring nightmares in which she's falling - plus when she first "linked" with it, the feeling of flying made her sick.
 * Important Haircut: Akira chops off her own hair soon after Komori tells her it's beautiful (while creeping her out in general), which makes this case almost border on Traumatic Haircut.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Her hair slowly grows back out in later manga volumes.
 * Mamiko Noto: Her seiyuu. Hey there, Komo and Nodoka!
 * Parental Incest: Strongly implied to have been a victim of this. And her dad wonders why she isn't the cheerful girl she used to be as a child...
 * Scars Are Forever: Akira has scars on her left wrist from past suicide attempts, which are seen several times in the manga. In the anime, the scars are never shown on-screen, but they're implied to be there.
 * Shrinking Violet / Shy Blue-Haired Girl: One of the most tragic and socially crippled examples of these tropes. Stuttering when she speaks is the least of it.
 * Thousand Origami Cranes: She shuts herself in her room to make these following the East Fuji incident, where she witnessed the deaths of hundreds of soldiers.
 * Thousand Origami Cranes: She shuts herself in her room to make these following the East Fuji incident, where she witnessed the deaths of hundreds of soldiers.

Tomonori Komori

 * Akira Ishida: His seiyuu. 'Sup, Koyemshi.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Apparently, he was known to his neighbourhood and school as a friendly and polite (albeit sickly) boy who was popular with girls and wanted to become a doctor. None of them knew of his true intentions, of course.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Subverted. Not too long after his death, it's revealed that he had an invalid mother he was taking care of; however, the reader already knows by then that the weak and sickly were among the sorts of people he wanted to kill off.
 * : In the manga. It ain't pretty.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard: In the anime, as a result of a few things being switched around. Rather than being run through with a broken plane strut, Hoshimaru replicates Komori's own Push Dagger and spears him with it.
 * Intelligence Equals Isolation
 * Knife Nut: As well as his Mon being shaped like a knife, he's always carrying a dagger with him.
 * Sacrificial Lamb: Didn't last long, did he?
 * Social Darwinist: Not content with wanting to kill off five billion people, the next part of his plan for the world involves testing what's left of the human population for "physical endurance".
 * Utopia Justifies the Means: It says a lot that his idea of "utopia" involves turning society back to the Stone Age...
 * We Can Rule Together: Komori tries this on Akira, saying that he'll be the king and she'll be the queen of his ideal world; it doesn't actually work, but it does leave a very strong impression on her that influences some of her later actions.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy

Hiroko Kaizuka (a.k.a. "Hiro-chan")

 * Abusive Parents: Her father berates her for getting anything less than 100% on tests and disapproves of her friendship with Shiina, saying that the other girl is a "bad influence" on her. While her mother isn't shown abusing her in the same way, she doesn't seem to be very supportive of her either.
 * All of the Other Reindeer: She's relentlessly bullied solely because of her grades and being a model student in general.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Probably the best example in the series.
 * Break the Cutie: And how.
 * Despair Event Horizon:
 * Dull Eyes of Unhappiness:
 * Girlish Pigtails: Her braids are a trademake.
 * Intelligence Equals Isolation: She flat-out admits that Shiina is her only real friend...
 * Lonely Rich Kid: And her parents don't even want her being friends with Shiina.
 * The Ojou: A young, light-haired example, complete with Big Fancy House.
 * Sakura Nogawa: Her seiyuu. You may know her as Shiho or Kaorin.
 * Sakura Nogawa: Her seiyuu. You may know her as Shiho or Kaorin.
 * Sakura Nogawa: Her seiyuu. You may know her as Shiho or Kaorin.
 * Sakura Nogawa: Her seiyuu. You may know her as Shiho or Kaorin.

Satomi Ozawa

 * Affably Evil
 * Adaptation Dye Job: She's got green hair in the anime, as opposed to the black hair she has in the manga.
 * Armor-Piercing Slap: Delivers one of these to Shiina as soon as they meet. She also does this to Bungo at least once.
 * Berserk Button: She won't stand to have her pride bruised. Dare to insinuate that she's weak, and she will try to prove otherwise; sadly for her, she won't necessarily succeed...
 * Break the Haughty: Eventually, in the manga, after one too many failures.
 * Bring My Brown Pants: Wets herself when Amaborea is cut by a Helicopter Blender.
 * Can't Catch Up: This is basically the core of her issues.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: The murderous grudge she gets against Shiina started just because the kid made fun of the name of her school.
 * He Is Not My Boyfriend: She often denies that she has any feelings for Bungo anymore. Even thirteen-year-olds aren't convinced by that.
 * Purple Eyes: In the anime. On the manga covers she appears on, they're closer to grey.
 * Rich Bitch: She certainly has the attitude of one of these.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
 * Tsundere: A rather dark take on Type A.
 * Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Tends to sum up her relationship with Bungo for most of the series...

Bungo Takano

 * Affably Evil


 * Beware the Nice Ones: One moment, he's goodnaturedly offering Shiina a tissue for her bloody nose and apologising for Satomi's behaviour; next, his Mon is blowing up planes like it's a game.
 * Berserk Button: Do not hurt Satomi when he's around, or he will kick you in the ribs.
 * Dub Name Change: The Dark Horse release of the manga calls him Kazuyuki, for some reason.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: He bleaches his hair fairly early on, and starts slicking it back after the manga's halfway point.
 * Gatling Good: He likes to have Hainuwele equip high-power vulcans, perfect for shooting down fighter jets and attack choppers.
 * Macross Missile Massacre: His second favorite attack is to use rocket nests.
 * Otaku: He's a military nut, and fairly knowledgable about different kinds of guns.

Naozumi Sudo

 * A God Am I
 * Asexuality: He flat-out states that human sexuality is of no concern to him.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: He might seem pleasant enough to people meeting him for the first time, and he's known to his school as a particularly bright student, but aside from that, he's creepy.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: Well, blondish, at least. Definitely evil, though.
 * Creepy Monotone: In the anime.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: In the manga, he shoots two delinquents to death just for throwing a bag of trash into a river.
 * Intelligence Equals Isolation
 * Manipulative Bastard, especially towards poor Akira.
 * Parental Abandonment: His parents and older brother are "missing", though it's never really explained what happened to them.
 * Self-Made Orphan: That said, it's suggested at one point that Sudo himself may have been responsible for his family's "disappearance"...
 * The Stoic
 * Ubermensch
 * Utopia Justifies the Means
 * We Can Rule Together: Rather fond of siccing this on Akira.

Takeo Tsurumaru

 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Very popular with the ladies, despite his attitude.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: Norio's secretly in love with him, too.
 * Anti-Hero: He's basically on Shiina's side, but his jerkishness (and the series' Black and Gray Morality) makes it difficult to really class him as a hero...
 * Badass Normal: Even without a shadow dragon, he's not afraid of heading onto the field in dangerous situations.
 * Casanova: A somewhat twisted case in that to him, it's all about reproduction; as a result of that, he's gotten more than a few girls pregnant and already has about five kids. It takes a loooong time for him to learn that there's a difference between love and procreation...
 * Jerkass: He can be quite a douchebag, especially towards his "girlfriends" and one girl (Kaori) he rescues as part of a job. He eventually gets better in the manga, though only after.
 * Made of Iron: In the manga, he can apparently.
 * Manipulative Bastard: He has a tendency to withhold important information from Shiina, which usually forces her to find it out the hard way.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Norio.
 * Manipulative Bastard: He has a tendency to withhold important information from Shiina, which usually forces her to find it out the hard way.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Norio.

Norio Koga

 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Determinator: He'll go to any length to protect Takeo, no matter what the cost...
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: Nearly every character who interacts with him in the manga mistakes him for a girl at first.
 * In-Series Nickname: He's called "Nori-rin" by one of Takeo's ex-girlfriends. (Fun fact: One of Kitoh's latest manga, currently running in Kodansha's Evening magazine, is called Noririn. It's a cycling manga, so the name is probably a coincidence.)
 * Incompatible Orientation: It sure sucks to be in love with a straight guy who isn't interested in anything he can't make babies with.
 * Long-Haired Pretty Boy
 * Mister Seahorse: No, no, he doesn't actually get pregnant! It's just that his deepest, most secret wish is to bear Takeo's child.
 * The Runaway: It's hinted that he had issues with his family that led to him running away from home, but nothing is explained in detail.
 * Tsundere: A male example of Type A, with heavy emphasis on "tsun".
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Takeo, as already mentioned.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: His taste in clothes tends to be rather feminine. Funnily enough, when he has to actually disguise himself as a girl for a mission, he complains like hell.
 * The Runaway: It's hinted that he had issues with his family that led to him running away from home, but nothing is explained in detail.
 * Tsundere: A male example of Type A, with heavy emphasis on "tsun".
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Takeo, as already mentioned.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: His taste in clothes tends to be rather feminine. Funnily enough, when he has to actually disguise himself as a girl for a mission, he complains like hell.
 * Tsundere: A male example of Type A, with heavy emphasis on "tsun".
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Takeo, as already mentioned.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: His taste in clothes tends to be rather feminine. Funnily enough, when he has to actually disguise himself as a girl for a mission, he complains like hell.

Mamiko Kuri

 * Creepy Child: In a series full of kooky kids, her otherworldly stoicism stands out. She's also weirdly knowledgable about other people, which creeps Bungo out.
 * Demoted to Extra: Barely appears in the anime and doesn't even get to be in the ED animation, despite being critically important in the manga.
 * Emotionless Girl: Apathy and cynicism are about the extent of her emotional range.
 * Foot Focus: Footwear seems to be her second least favourite type in clothing aside from panties, given that she only wears shoes in all of two appearances. Many of her scenes include close-ups of her bare feet.
 * Full-Frontal Assault:
 * Going Commando: Mamiko never wears panties, and has no qualms about proving this fact to Bungo when he first sees her wearing clothes at all.
 * Innocent Fanservice Girl, though "innocent" and "fanservice" aren't really the right words to use for her. In any case, she prefers to go around naked if she can, and even when she does wear clothing, it's usually just a flimsy dress.
 * Little Miss Badass: It's best to not mess with her, otherwise she will take care of you calmly and efficiently - and turn you into a gory mess while she's at it.
 * Naked On Arrival: Much to the shock of Bungo and Satomi (to say nothing of unsuspecting readers).
 * Please Put Some Clothes On: How people tend to react to her.
 * Satsuki Yukino (uh, hi, Kaname and Kagome...?)
 * Playing Against Type (and holy shit, HOW.)
 * Shadow Archetype:

Aki Honda

 * Alpha Bitch: Just about the cruellest and most monstrous Alpha Bitch ever written.
 * Break the Haughty: At the hands of the very cutie she broke, at that.
 * Brother-Sister Incest: Has this sort of relationship with her older brother Yasuhito.
 * For the Evulz: Why does she treat Hiroko so horribly? Because she can, pretty much.
 * Driven By Envy: The other reason? She's envious of Hiroko's brilliant grades.
 * Girl Posse: Consisting of Mihaya Ozaki, Hiroka Takamura, and Miyoko Shitou. Out of all of them, Miyoko is the only one who ever shows reluctance and remorse for their actions against Hiroko.
 * Her final fate in the manga. The page showing this, which includes some downright disturbing Fan Disservice, was completely cut out of Dark Horse's release of the English translation.

Aki's posse (Mihaya Ohzaki, Hiroka Takamura, Miyoko Shitou)

 * Anti-Villain (Miyoko is the only of these girls who shows something similar to human decency)
 * Big No:
 * Fat Bastard (Hiroka was noticeably chubbier than the other girls)
 * Girl Posse (only comparable to Otome's "friends" from School Days. See Aki's secion.
 * Jerkass (Mihaya and Hiroka, who simply can't rival Aki's over-the-top cruelty)
 * Peer Pressure Makes You Evil (Miyoko. She's not a super bad person, but bullies Hiroko because she's shit scared of the other girls. Heck, they beat her up when she's late for )
 * Satellite Characters (their motivations are all centered on Aki's actions)
 * Shrinking Violet (Miyoko)
 * Tears of Fear (Miyoko, when )
 * Tears of Fear (Miyoko, when )
 * Tears of Fear (Miyoko, when )

Mishou Tamai

 * Big Sister Instinct:
 * Genki Girl: At first. By the time Shiina is born, however, she's fallen into depression
 * Emotionless Girl: Later,
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl
 * Genki Girl: At first. By the time Shiina is born, however, she's fallen into depression
 * Emotionless Girl: Later,
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl

Shiina's parents (Shunji and Misono Tamai)

 * Abusive Parents: Shunji is an okay guy, but Misono is very cold and strict to Shiina.
 * Despair Event Horizon:
 * Kick the Dog:
 * Parents As People: Shunji is a good guy, but he can barely stay by Shiina when she needs it. He still tries to do what he can for her.
 * Parents As People: Shunji is a good guy, but he can barely stay by Shiina when she needs it. He still tries to do what he can for her.