Character

Mariko "Mari" Kumakura

熊倉 真理子

Initially just a reserved girl, Mari comes into her own when she suddenly is swept up into a whirlwind friendship with a popular classmate, Akko. Despite being dowdy, Mari comes to enjoy things like shopping for cute clothes and dressing up, though mostly this is because of Akko's encouragement. Mari has a good family life in contrast to Akko, having both her parents there for her (probably more than she'd like) and a younger brother who she gets along with most of the time. She gets her hair cut off, and from that moment, it seems Mari begins to shed her closed up and shy personality. She also becomes good friends with Sugi and Tamamin, though she is surprised to learn that girls would be so open as to casually kiss each other without having any emotion behind it. She is a bit flustered around them and their energy, but she considers the two to be her very good friends.