Tamako Arai

Tamako is imaginative, excitable and extremely defensive about her interests. She wants to become a professional manga artist and works on her own manuscripts, but she is uncomfortable with the stereotypes she associates with dedicated manga fandom. She consequently tries to maintain an image of herself as a serious "literary girl."

Her attempts to deny her attraction to boys' love material are a recurring source of comedy. Innocent interactions between men can trigger elaborate interpretations in her imagination, followed by emphatic attempts to convince herself that she is not a fujoshi. This tendency becomes particularly noticeable around Handa and other young men.

Despite these eccentricities, Tamako is serious about creating manga. She understands the frustration of making art for an audience and can relate to Handa's struggles in a way that differs from the younger children, even though their disciplines and levels of professional experience are very different.

Tamako draws manga and actively works toward becoming a mangaka. Her creative efforts include producing her own manuscripts, giving her practical experience with drawing, storytelling and the frustration involved in turning an idea into finished work.

Her interest in manga is extensive enough that she understands genre conventions and publishing aspirations, although her embarrassment about certain tastes often interferes with her willingness to discuss them openly.

Tamako's artistic ambitions give her common ground with Handa. She is not a professional on his level, but both understand the obsessive concentration, self-criticism and desire for recognition that can accompany creative work.

Tamako is one of the older children who had turned Handa's vacant island house into their base before he arrived. Along with Miwa and Naru, she continues visiting after he moves in, ensuring that his workspace remains tied to village life rather than becoming a private retreat.

Her ambition to draw manga gives the story another perspective on creative work. Handa is already a professional struggling to find an individual voice, whereas Tamako is still trying to develop her abilities and imagine a future in which she can make a living from her own art.

Her concealed fandom also produces misunderstandings around Handa's interactions with other men. These episodes distinguish her from Miwa's more straightforward teasing and Naru's childlike curiosity, giving Tamako her own particular way of interpreting the increasingly crowded world around Sensei.

Miwa Yamamura is Tamako's best friend. They attend school together, spend much of their free time as a pair and previously shared access to the vacant house that later becomes Handa's home.

Sei Handa interests Tamako partly because he is another person committed to an artistic profession. She respects his dedication to calligraphy, even while her imagination sometimes transforms his ordinary interactions into scenarios inspired by the manga she reads.

Naru Kotoishi is a younger member of Tamako and Miwa's social circle. Tamako joins the group activities surrounding Naru and Handa despite being old enough to recognize more clearly how intrusive their constant visits can be.

Akihiko Arai is Tamako's younger brother. Their sibling relationship forms part of her family life within the village and occasionally intersects with the larger group surrounding Handa.