List of Ashita No Nadja Characters - Dandelion Troupe

Dandelion Troupe

Nadja Applefield (ナージャ・アップルフィールド, Naaja Appurufiirudo?)

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu

Nadja Applefield is a Franco-Austrian sunny, charming girl, with a talent for dancing and making friends wherever she goes. Even though she is very young, she shoulders responsibility quite well, often taking care of the children younger than her at the orphanage. On the other hand she is impulsive to the point of foolhardiness and extremely trusting, which leads others to take easy advantage of her and even abuse her thoroughly, if the right buttons are pressed. Her biggest dream is to someday be reunited with her mother.

Halfway through the series she departs for England leaving Dandelion Troupe to look for witnesses, after finding out that the imposter was Rosemary. Early in the series, she meets the Harcourt twins, Francis and Keith. She initially feels attached to Francis and once mistook Keith as Francis. Halfway through the series, she seems to be falling in love with Keith, as Francis tells him, even though she doesn't confess or seems aware of her true feelings. She is ultimately forced to choose between them romantically and in the end chooses Francis over Keith.

Nadja was given to Miss Applefield to raise when she was a baby, her only possession at the time being an elaborated heart-shaped brooch. Nadja grew up at the orphanage believing her parents were dead; in the days before her 13th birthday, Nadja received a surprising gift in the mail: a trunk containing a party dress and a diary, both keepsakes belonging to Nadja's true mother. The gown was worn by Nadja's mother at her first ball, and the diary was her mother's colorful description of all the people she met and danced with at that ball. Nadja is amazed by this gift, and stunned to discover that her mother might actually be alive out there somewhere. When bad men arrive to steal the brooch away from Nadja, she leaves the Applefield orphanage and begins a career as a dancer with the travelling Dandelion Troupe. Her true date of birth is unknown, even by Nadja herself, but she claims it to be on March 25.

George Haskill (ゲオルグ・ハスキル, Georugu Hasukiru?)

Voiced by: Kazuya Ichijo

George is vigorous and trusting; his co-workers often call him 'Dancho' ("master") due to his leadership skills. He is the unofficial head of the Dandelion Troupe and a good friend to Raphael, the free-spirited troubador. George is the "gentle strongman" and leader of the Dandelion Troupe; the car they all travel in appears to belong to him, and he is the one who decides where they will travel to next.

George is gruff and macho, but he has his weaknesses as well. He is extremely superstitious and addicted to treasure hunting, and cannot turn down maps offered to him. His treasure hunting passion has dragged the Troupe off course in their travels several times. It is unclear if his treasure hunting exploits have actually yielded treasure, but George is always keen on going after the next treasure on the horizon.

Anna Petrova (アンナ・ペトロワ, Anna Betorowa?) / Granny (おばば, Obaba?)

Voiced by: Hisako Kyouda

A mysterious, kindly Russian old lady who makes extravagant hats or hair ornaments for dukes and nobles. She knitted a dress for Nadja as soon as she tried to join the troupe (as well as other dancing outfits for her and Kennosuke), and it is likely that she is the primary source of income for the Dandelion Troupe, along with donations.

Anna is a very mysterious character: she is sort of a grandmotherly figure for everyone in the Troupe, yet none of them are really sure just how old she is. Anna sews all the costumes for the Troupe (though it seems that Nadja and Kennosuke are the only ones who occasionally change costume) and she operates the phonograph mounted on the top of the car. She's also very good at handling money, always getting discounts and lower prices.

Anna has a side business of making fashionable hats for noblewomen, and occasionally the Dandelion car must detour so Anna can deliver a hat to a buyer. In fact, Nadja and Francis are able to really meet each other thanks to Anna delivering a hat for Francis' aunt, Emma. Anna is a fortune teller; she know right away after she first sees Nadja that fate has adventures in store for her, and throughout the series she always seems to know when important things will happen to Nadja. She is an unexpectedly good fighter, due to her small size and skill with her deadly iron pan. Although celebrated in one of the episodes, Anna's birthday is never mentioned, but it's supposedly at the same day as Nadja's unknown yet true birthday, as her mother celebrates it at that same day.

Sylvie Arte (シルヴィー・アルテ, Shiruvii Arute?)

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa

The French singer for the Dandelion Troupe. Somewhat of a skeptical and exigent lady when it comes to performing abilities, she takes kindly to Nadja when she proves her worth as a performer, and takes her under her wing openly in France. Sylvie is the "songbird" of the Dandelion Troupe; her beautiful voice and sexy looks captivate her audience wherever she goes. Sylvie is sort of an older sister figure for Nadja while they are on the road, good at giving Nadja advice, and is someone Nadja can turn to with her emotional problems.

Sylvie can be frivolous at times; she's vain about her looks, likes going shopping, like other girls her age, and at one point she is seen dating Antonio Fabiani, a very shady character. But she also has romantic problems of her own; she suffers an unrequited love for Raphael, a traveling musician and friend of the Dandelion Troupe, who currently cannot correspond her feelings due to his past. Sylvie is also a good fighter, thanks to her ability to use her umbrella as a weapon.

Abel Geiger (アーベル・ガイガー, Aaberu Gaigaa?)

Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki

Abel is German and works as the Pierrot of the Troupe, in charge of comedy and laughter. He wears clown make-up while on stage, and performs all kinds of amusing antics such as juggling, acrobatics and standing on a large ball. Even though he is the Pierrot, Abel can be very serious and wise at times. He is a very well educated man, somewhat of a scholar and mentor figure; he helps Nadja to look for books in libraries and reads her mother's diary, which is written in German, a language Nadja does not know since she has been raised in England.

Behind Abel's Pierrot make-up lies a sad past and a family he had to leave behind; he was the doctor of an impoverished village, but spent a time in jail after stealing medicine from an hospital to save his patients from an epidemy and had to abandon his family after his release, since his son Stefan had the illness and was left in a wheelchair.

Thomas O'Brien (トーマス・オブライアン, Toomasu Oburaian?)

Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio

A gentle Irish musician, Thomas plays the violin for the Dandelion Troupe. He is a very quiet sort of guy, and very talented and dedicated to his music; one of the times Thomas really gets angry is when someone insults his music and his playing, like genius pianist John Whittard does. Thomas gives Nadja her first dancing prop: a baton of sorts that has a matching castagnet that attaches to one end, and a belled piece that attaches to the other end.

Another thing about Thomas is his practicality; he is gentle and quiet, but he is very down to earth when it comes to day-to-day life, becoming concerned about how the Troupe earns money and the success of their performances. He is rather cowardly when faced with violence and physical danger, and at those times Abel and Sylvie give him alcohol to make him overcome his fear.

Kennosuke Tsurugi (ケンノスケ・ツルギ?)

Voiced by: Reiko Kiuchi

Descendant of samurais, Kennosuke set off to Europe from Japan after being orphaned, determined to get money for himself and his sister Hanako. His dream is to become either a good samurai or an aviator, since one of his first bosses in Japan was a dreamy inventor who wanted to fly. In England, he sneaks into the Dandelion Troupe's car and accidentally sets a whole disaster, but is forgiven and joins the company.

On stage, he usually performs dance and/or fighting sequences with his bokken (wooden sword), and occasionally joins Nadja in her own dance acts. He has a crush on Nadja, usually portrayed as a running gag more than a serious issue; whatever the source of those feelings is, he always acts as her best friend. He is a very skilled mechanic who maintains the Dandelion Troupe's car.

Rita Rossi (リタ・ロッシ, Rita Rosshi?)

Voiced by: Ikue Ohtani

A very young Italian girl, who is a mute (the term was not considered offensive in the time period; it is much more likely she would be referred to as a girl with a speech disorder today). She communicates with Nadja and Kennosuke quite easily, regardless.

Rita is an orphan like Nadja, since her parents (lion tamers, who raised her in the circus life) died in a fire that consumed their circus two years before Nadja's arrival; that tragic incident robbed her of the ability to speak for years and left her with an absolute fear of fire. After the death of her parents, Rita was adopted by the Dandelion Troupe (who witnessed the whole tragedy), and performs on stage with the twin lions Creme (the white-coloured one) and Chocolat (the black-coloured one; he is white like his sibling, but George uses painting on him to make him look black), both of which seem that they never age into adult lions. With Nadja's help, Rita gets over her trauma and starts talking again.