Miyuki (manga) - Characters

Characters

Masato Wakamatsu (若松 真人, Wakamatsu Masato?)

Voiced by: Katsumi Toriumi (Anime TV series), Masatoshi Nagase (Anime TV film)

An average high school student (later a rōnin for a year, then a college student). His mother died when he was young, and his step-mother also died when he was young, and he still misses both of them. Masato really likes the Miyuki Kashima, the most popular girl in class, but keeps messing up whenever he tries to talk to her or ask her out on a date. Just before high school begins, his younger sister (also named "Miyuki") returns from living overseas with their father (Miyuki's step-father) for six years, and they now live alone in the same house. This Miyuki is the daughter of his step-mother, and there is no blood relation between them.

This causes some problems as Masato is torn between his growing feelings for his step-sister (who doesn't seem to know they aren't related by blood, and insists on having a normal brother-sister relationship while constantly speculating on "if we got married...") and his very obvious feelings for his classmate Miyuki. As a result of living with his sister, he is constantly seeing women's underwear and finding them in his pants pockets, leading to embarrassing situations with his classmate Miyuki.

Partway through the series, Masato is the second of two people to come down with the mysterious "Miyuki Illness" (みゆき病, Miyuki-byō?), caused by going an extended period without seeing his sister Miyuki.

Miyuki Wakamatsu (若松 みゆき, Wakamatsu Miyuki?)

Voiced by: Yōko Oginome (Anime TV series), Yukari Usami (Anime TV film)

Masato's younger step-sister, unrelated by blood. Her birthday is 9 February 1966. She has short wavy hair, though it becomes a little longer as the series progresses (a little past shoulder length at the end of the series). Despite being younger, she gets much better grades than Masato, and she excels in athletic events. She is extremely popular among the boys at school. She has a very bright and cheerful personality. Even though Miyuki tries to brush off those actively courting her, they end up causing more headaches for Masato than Miyuki does. As her brother, Masato tries to protect Miyuki from these encroaching "wild beasts", though this protectiveness slowly becomes indistinguishable from jealousy. Miyuki also begins seeing her brother's girlfriend, Miyuki Kashima, as a rival.

Miyuki Kashima (鹿島 みゆき, Kashima Miyuki?)

Voiced by: Hiromi Tsuru (Anime TV series), Hiroko Mita (Anime TV film)

In the same class and homeroom as Masato all during high school, this Miyuki is Masato's girlfriend for most of the series. She has long hair and is extremely popular among the boys in the school. She has the same birthday as Miyuki Wakamatsu, though she is one year older. She has had a crush on Masato since junior high school. She is extremely proactive in their relationship, regularly asking him to come to parties and over to her house even before they started regularly dating. Miyuki is a very kind and humble person. However, she can be forceful as well, and the beginning of her relationship with Masato is punctuated by her frequently slapping him due to one misunderstanding or another due to her becoming angry. She always apologizes to Masato afterward, however, asking him to forgive her for getting angry so easily.

She is an excellent student, cook, and seamstress. In order to go to the same university as Masato (and be in the same year), she purposely missed the application deadline despite having passed the entrance exam without any trouble. She subsequently attended the same cram school just to be with him. After overhearing the Wakamatsu sibling's secret (that they aren't related by blood) at the pre-wedding dinner reception for Yūichi Sawada and Miyuki Wakamatsu, she runs away and goes on a trip to Hokkaidō in order to sort out her feelings. While there, she runs into Yūichi, who is traveling there after breaking up with the other Miyuki.

Ryūichi Masaki (間崎 竜一, Masaki Ryūichi?)

Voiced by: Ryūsuke Ōbayashi (Anime TV series), Daisuke Shima (Anime TV film)

Ryūichi was in same year as Masato, but he purposely failed his high school entrance exams in order to be in the same year as Masato's sister Miyuki. He is actually a year older than Masato, but it is not explained why he was held back the first time. After graduating from high school, he was able to pass his college entrance exams the first time. He fell in love with Miyuki Wakamatsu at first sight, and is constantly telling her how they will be able to go on school trips together, graduate together, go to class reunions together, and get married together. He is very proactive in his pursuit of Miyuki, which tends to annoy Masato.

Because he's something of a delinquent, he frequently does poorly on tests, which causes a lack of sympathy from his friends and acquaintances. He also frequently tricks his friends into working part time jobs during the summer. He is very strong, which helps him to win the frequent fights he has. He rarely wears a helmet while riding his motorcycle (even when giving rides to Miyuki Wakamatsu), though he does have a helmet. His family owns the "Kissaten Dragon", a coffee shop, where he frequently works part time. Ryūichi is the first to come down with the mysterious "Miyuki Illness".

Torao Nakata (中田 虎夫, Nakata Torao?)

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda

The bachelor P.E. teacher at Miyuki Wakamatsu's junior high school. He transfers to Miyuki's high school as the P.E. teacher when she graduates junior high in order to near her. He considers Ryūichi to be his rival for the affections of Miyuki Wakamatsu, and a stylized Chinese dragon (representing Ryūichi) and tiger (representing Torao) fighting is frequently employed when the two meet. He is about 20 years older than Miyuki. His mother is constantly trying to set up omiai, or marriage meetings, with potential brides, but Torao doesn't want to be with anyone other than Miyuki Wakamatsu. He was briefly engaged to another woman named Miyuki, but the marriage was called off after Torao got drunk and was mouthing off in a bar while sitting next to that Miyuki's father. At the end of the series, he finally consents to go along with his mother's omiai planning.

Yasujirō Kashima (鹿島 安次郎, Kashima Yasujirō?)

Voiced by: Kei Tomiyama

Miyuki Kashima's father. He is a detective with the local police department. He has a predilection for pretty young girls. After meeting Miyuki Wakamatsu during the New Year visit to the local shrine, he begins pursuing her and frequently invites her out for coffee. He frequently abuses his authority as a police detective in order to get closes to Miyuki. In return, Miyuki frequently abuses his kindness in order to get free rides to the grocery store and other locations to which she needs to go. This really annoys Masato, who is always calling him a "dirty old man" for chasing after his sister.

Kenji Kōsaka (香坂 健二, Kōsaka Kenji?)

Voiced by: Katsuji Mori

Kenji is in the same year as Masato who is good at sports and does well academically, a teacher's dream student. He is good looking and has a large fan base among the girls in the school, though he spends his time pursuing the affections of Miyuki Kashima. He had the starring role in a school play opposite Miyuki Kashima, but was injured in an accident and couldn't play the part. His understudy, Masato, was then put into the role, which included a kissing scene with Miyuki. When he found out that Miyuki had deliberately missed the filing deadline for applications to the university, Kenji also "forgot" to file his paperwork so he could attend the same cram school. He's one of three pursuing the affections of Miyuki Kashima.

Yūichi Sawada (沢田 優一, Sawada Yūichi?)

An old friend of the Wakamatsu family, Yūichi used to play with Masato all the time when they were younger. He was Masato's next-door neighbor until his high school years, at which point his parents moved to West Germany. He's a university student, and an excellent soccer player. In the second half of the series, he suddenly returned to Japan in order to play on the national team during the Olympics. After returning, he stays at the Wakamatsu home for a short time while looking for his own apartment. After he moves out, he begins pursuing Miyuki Wakamatsu, and even asks Masato if it's okay for him to do so. This causes Masato to really consider what his true feelings are for his step-sister. At the end of the series, Yūichi runs into Miyuki Kashima as she's travelling in Hokkaidō and trying to sort her own feelings.

Yoshio Muraki (村木 好夫, Muraki Yoshio?)

Voiced by: Kaneto Shiozawa

Yoshio is in the same year as Masato, has similar grades and similar perverted tastes, and can be found almost anywhere Masato goes. He almost always appears when Masato and Miyuki Kashima are having or planning an important moment together, and he tries to include himself in their plans. He is constantly asking Masato how someone like Miyuki could possibly fall in love with someone like him. Yoshio has a younger sister, though he rarely talks about her and doesn't think much of her (at least not that he'll admit to). He did not attend Yūichi Sawada's and Miyuki Wakamatsu's pre-wedding banquet reception.