The perfect boy with a not-so-perfect background. Sensitive, caring, smart....a perfect boyfriend. As the significant half of Yukino Miyazawa, Arima is the top student, the apple in the teachers' eyes, the nicest person in the whole school, etct. Although having a little defect in his past, Arima is, like Yukino, perfect (perfect at all times - at home and at school). Yet sometimes, the perfect Arima gets jealous when other guys approach her (like the time when Tonami talked to Yukino in the school hallway, Act ?). Arima hides his dark past from the public- the past in which he still had a nightmare about from time to time. He was adopted- being take care of- by his uncle and his wife. Due to some reason (I forgot ^^;;), little Souhijiro lost his parents and therefore his uncle became his parents instead. Arima's original father was a disgrace to the family, so even though Arima excels in every way, his relatives still treat him with a bad attitude.

It was the relationship between him and Yukino that opens him up, and allow him to be a happier spirit. From Yukino, he smiles more, and learned to have more affection toward the others (not like he doesn't have any affection before, but he just became more "human" after he developed his relationship with Yukino). Yukino, to him, is his soulmate.

Other's point of view: To the boys (Tonami, Asaba), Arima just treat Kazuma much nicer (^^;;). Arima and Kazuma were like old acquaintances the first time they met each other...so Tonami and Asaba were JEALOUS! ^_^ As for the girls, including Yukino, well...Arima is just, basically, perfect....

Note: Although Yukino loves him very much, in Act 47, she had actually felt fear when she saw him... ! It was like this: Yukino had fallen ill and so Arima took care of her in a hotel room. He was furious because Yukino didn't tell them about her not feeling well, and he was worried sick about her health. Then Yukino woke up and literally felt *fear* when she saw his face. She asked him "is there someone else in the room?" (from my memory this is what she says) and he replied "No." It was then Yukino felt the edge of the dark side of Arima....

I still can't figure out the under-cover meaning in this scene..I guess the author might be implying a foreshadowing in their relationship....aiya....

A member of the kendo club (Arima is in it too), Asaba is the quick-witted, popular, handsome guy. He might fit the image of "playboy" in this story, but actually he is just fond of every single female and adore the opposite sex...not exactly the playful type. Same as Sakura, he has a soft spot for pretty girls... and he said his dream was to create a "sheep paradise" (aka Asaba-land). His dream was to be surrounded by flocks of girls (thus the naming of "sheep paradise"...flocks of sheep, ne? ^^ ;;). It is sort of like a naive wish.....definitely not some R-rated stuff! Knowing Arima and him will make a great team (Arima is the dream guy of practically every single girl in the whole school), he tried to separate Yukino away from Arima. But later Asaba quit trying to accomplish this dream due to the fact that Arima and Yukino are just inseparable... and he became the couple's first real friend.

Asaba is a very considerate, caring person despite his "weird" acts and an absurd sense of fashion...^_^;; Yukino's dad, Hiroyuki, just can't stand Asaba because he thought Asaba has evil "intention" toward his daughters...and he just blows up everytime he saw Kano and Hanano (yukino's little sisters) hanging around him! It is really funny the way Yukino's dad is against Asaba!

Other's point of view: Aya and Yukino were the ones that think Asaba and Sakura are amazingly alike. They actually thought of pairing those two up! As for Kano and Tsukino, they find him very attractive. Hiroyuko just can't stand Asaba's playful nature. Arima is his best friend, and Kazuma and Tonami are the ones he hang out with. The girls called him Asapin....how kawaii~

Note: Some people dislike Asaba at the beginning because he was going to separate Yukino and Arima, and he behaved like a playboy sometimes. But as the story goes, you will find Asaba very cute, funny, and probably the "purest" guy in karekano (Arima has a dark past; Tonami was planning on taking revenge at Sakura; Kazuma, well, is the rock guy.....no offence to rock lovers...actually i am one too...)

Back in elementary, Tonami is a fat, chubby, rich, spoiled kid whom no one likes. He is constantly the victum of bullying since he cannot defend himself. As the strongest person in the school, Sakura is asked by the teacher to protect Tonami. Yet she treated him like a slave: she made him carry her books, ate his lunch, rides his bike etc.... she was more like his tormenter than protector. Later he changed to another school, and he vowed to seek revenge on Sakura. He managed to transform into a lean, athletic, handsome AND smart guy (he is one of the top 5 students in the whole school.) This is, what he thinks, the ideal guy for Sakura (and we all know, he is trying to capture her heart, then dumps her - to let her share the pain he had once faced).

But when he transferred to the school where Sakura goes now (and along with everyone else), he resume friendship with Arima, whom was nice to him during elementary. But his friendship with Yukino attracts Arima's jealousy....Anyways. Some time after spending more time with Sakura, Tonami finds himself very confused - he still wants to revenge her, but he finds Sakura much different than she was back in elementary....No matter how hard Tonami tried to hurt her by insulting her, being her biggest rival in sports, etc, Sakura doesn't seem to be affected....

Other's point of view: Arima definitely have a distaste toward him when he saw Yukino and Tonami getting awfully close (in friendship). Afraid that he will steal Yukino's heart, Arima was treating the poor guy badly (giving him cold looks in hallway, ignoring him all the time, etc). But no matter how cold Arima treated him, Tonami has absolutely no clue and have a tendancy of blushing when Arima is around.... to him, Arima is a perfect idol....??

Note: As old acquaintances of Tonami, Aya and Rika doubted his motives when he transferred to their school. They knew of Tonami's story with Sakura, and actually warned her about him....but never did she noticed that this new, popular guy is that chubby, fat kid back in elementary....

Later, in the end of the anime series, Tonami kisses Sakura, but not understanding his motives at the same time. Sakura then confessed her fondness for him, and.....Tonami realizes that he does like her, and all these years of preparation to revenge her is just trying to win her attention and her heart....

The *younger* brother of Tsubasa. His mother marries Tsubasa's dad, Shibahime. He is the lead singer of the popular rock group, YinYang. His relationship with Tsubasa far exceeds the usual bond between step-siplings. At the beginning, when Shibahime and Tsubasa first met Kazuma, they were amazed, and somewhat bothered by his punk looks (dyed hair, earings, extremely not-a-good-boy clothings...). And Tsubasa ripped the restaurant (where they arranged the meeting) apart, when Kazuma thought that she was his soon-to-be cute elementary sister! Kazuma is actually her *younger* brother, and boy, was Tsubasa scary! In the anime, this scene was depicted with Tsubasa turning into an eva (from the series Evangelion?) monster. Heh heh.

Other's point of view:

To the karekano gang, Kazuma not only is a good musician, but also a good friend, though probably not so to the boys. Asaba and Tonami were *flarin'* with jealousy when Arima met Kazuma, and immediately developed a heavy bond with each other. To Tsubaki, Rika and Aya, Kazuma is the one who brings out the "humanity", calmness and even a bit of maturity in Tsubasa. She always cling around her "little bro", but Kazuma doesn't seem to mind..(he says to Shibahime, "I like cats" ^^;;). But, as Kazuma and his band Yin-Yang grows more famous, Tsubasa feels a certain amount of insecurity as Kazuma started to "drift" away from her. The sentimental arc between Kazuma and Tsubasa is yet to come, since Tsuda-sensei is presently working at this relationship...I guess we have to wait for the new issues of LaLa to find out more...