Chart
Rose families
Chinensis family
; : :Played by: Honoka Miki :She is the main character of the series. In the beginning of the series, Yumi is bashful beyond words, very timid and unsure of herself. She first met Sachiko, the star of Lillian School and had her tie fixed by Sachiko, which mortified Yumi. Yumi's friend, Tsutako Takeshima, took a cute picture of this and wanted to display it in the school festival. Tsutako got Yumi to ask permission from Sachiko. Other characters often comment on how her emotions 'show on her face'. :After Yumi first meets Sachiko, Sachiko is arguing with the Roses in the Rose Mansion. The Roses say that Sachiko cannot object to their plan, as she did not have a petite sœur. Sachiko runs out of the meeting and knocks Yumi over. She asks if Yumi has a grande sœur, and promptly offered Yumi her rosary. Sachiko thought that if she had a petite sœur, the Yamayurikai could not force her to play Cinderella alongside a male. Yumi refused Sachiko's rosary, as she would be accepting it for the wrong reasons. Sei Satō offers a bet to Sachiko—if she could convince Yumi to be her petite sœur, the role of Cinderella will go to Yumi. If she could not, she must play Cinderella. Sachiko tells Yumi that she, Sachiko, will definitely become Yumi's sœur. But deep inside Yumi, she feels terribly hurt by how nonchalantly Sachiko chose her randomly as her petite sœur; but despite this, in a monologue (page 129 of the first novel), feels that precisely because she still likes Sachiko very much, she has "summoned the last vestiges of her pride to refuse Sachiko's rosary, and wishes Sachiko to at least understand how hurt she feels to be 'just a random pick'". :At a dress rehearsal for the play, it is revealed that the male who plays the prince, Suguru, is Sachiko's cousin and fiancé. Sachiko accuses him of going too far and runs away; Yumi follows her to the greenhouse. Yumi at first thinks that she cannot do anything for Sachiko, but Sachiko cries on her shoulder. Yumi offers to take the rosary, but Sachiko refuses. Sachiko tells Yumi about the arranged marriage, and that Suguru does not love her, but she loves him. After the play, there is a bonfire. Yumi thinks sadly that she would not have an excuse to have anything more to do with Sachiko, but suddenly Sachiko appears and offers Yumi her rosary; this time, Yumi accepts. :When the third years are about to graduate, Yumi asks Sei if she had anything to ask her, like taking care of the stray cat Goronta, or looking after Shimako. Sei says Yumi is the type of girl who will help even if not asked, so she is not worried about Shimako. Sei instead asked for a kiss on the mouth as a parting gift; Yumi tried to run away, but Sei hugged her. Sei thanked Yumi for helping her pass her examinations, since Yumi gave Sei a reason to live again. She also said that Yumi tried to run away so that it would not be Sei who was leaving her, but the other way around. Yumi realized that this is true. Yumi often gets hugged by Sei throughout the series, who thinks her to be very cute, which sometimes makes Sachiko angry due to jealousy. Yumi finds out from Shimako, however, that Sei would actually be going to the Lillian's Girls' University, which is in the same area as Yumi's school. She gets angry at Sei for not telling her, but is happy because Sei will not be leaving her after all. :After the third years graduate, spring comes, along with the arrival of Tōko, Sachiko's cousin. Yumi feels jealous of Tōko's closeness with Sachiko, but does not say anything about it. Yumi later finds out the truth about Sachiko's grandmother dying. At the day of the funeral, Sachiko apologizes and Yumi says that she loved her ''onee-sama'' very much. :At the beginning of the OVAs, Sachiko invited Yumi to her summer home for a vacation. Sachiko's acquaintances make trouble for them, especially Yumi. They later invite Yumi and Sachiko to a party which turns out to be the eighty-eighth birthday party of one of the acquaintances' great grandmother. The acquaintances ask Yumi to play a musical instrument. Yumi says that she is no good at playing anything, but sings the song "Maria-sama no Kokoro," with Sachiko accompanying her on the piano mid-song. The great grandmother applauds and congratulates Yumi for her song, because it brings back memories. She calls Yumi a cute angel, and asks her to visit next year. That ultimately foiled the acquaintances' plans to embarrass her. :In the second OVA, Yumi sets up a casual meeting with the Yamayuri Council and the Hanadera Council to discuss the upcoming festivities for both schools. Yumi did not inform Sachiko of the meeting, because of her hatred for men, and planned to trick her into attending. However, Yumi felt she was betraying Sachiko and confessed her intentions. Yumi felt that Sachiko should attend on her own free will, because she will find herself in similar situations in the future. Sachiko noted that Yumi has learned to handle her well and that she happily complies with her wishes. We also learn about Yumi's "type" through a conversation with her brother. She describes ones who are pretty, smart, who at first seem like they have warped personalities but on the inside are warm-hearted. Yūki remarks that she's describing Sachiko, much to her surprise. :Yumi is tasked by Sachiko in the fourth season to look for a ''petite sœur''. By then, she has already an increasing involvement in the Yamayuri Council. Also, a slow but steady change can be seen in her (especially after Tōko comes into her life) - Yumi begins to try to mature out of her own shell and to become more independent, calm and collected. ; : :Played by: Haru :When Yumi first runs into her in the student council room, Sachiko is portrayed as someone who is a far cry from the perfect lady that Yumi pictures her to be (this might not be apparent in the anime and manga, as the novel has a more detailed account of the incident). In the novel, Sachiko somewhat knew Yumi is her fan and was overconfident that Yumi would never refuse her. :Though prim, elegant, and somewhat aloof, Sachiko has both a rough (the novel and manga affectionately terms this as her "hysterical side") and a very sweet side. She is also afraid of heights and dislikes men, to the point where she will do anything she can to avoid interacting or being near one. She is very protective of Yumi and cares deeply about her. This is proven during Hanadera's school festival. After agonizing over Yumi's disappearance during an event, when Yumi appeared in a panda costume, Sachiko climbed down a tall ladder and ran through the crowd of men to reach her. This also proved a statement that Sachiko had made earlier; that even if Yumi and a thousand other people were wrapped up like mummies she could still find Yumi on her first try. However, Sachiko often has the same problem that Yumi does—she does not share most of her problems with her sœur, causing many misunderstandings. Sachiko is slated to marry her cousin and fiancé Suguru after she graduates. This has caused her some distress since, because although she initially cared deeply for him, he did not reciprocate. They now have a complicated relationship. :Sachiko also cares a lot for her peer, Rei, especially with regards to the latter's conflicts with Yoshino - she once went all the way to beg with Rosa Chinensis and Gigantea (even going into her hysterical mode) to help out; she gives Rei a hug when the latter is unsure of how she could balance between her "own future and own life" and "life with/without Yoshino" during the latter parts of the series. :Sometimes, Yumi must teach Sachiko how to live informally, for example, helping her select her first pair of jeans and eating in a fastfood restaurant. Despite her sometimes stern appearance, Sachiko has her own share of insecurities regarding her relationship with Yumi, not to mention emotional insecurities rising from her home life; both her father and grandfather openly have mistresses, unabashedly dividing their time between home and the mistresses, which apparently led to her general disdain for men, as illustrated in the OVA series during a meeting with the student council members of Hanadera, an all-boys' high school. :After Sachiko enters her third year, she is now the new Rosa Chinensis. After the arrival of Tōko, Sachiko spends more time with her than with Yumi, which makes Yumi jealous. Sachiko goes absent from school which makes Yumi worried. Later, Yōko is sent to "bring" Yumi to Sachiko's grandmother house. Yumi finds out that Sachiko's grandmother recently died, which causes Sachiko to go into depression. Sachiko says that she apologizes for the past few weeks, and asks for Yumi's forgiveness; Yumi says that she loves her very much. :At the beginning of the summer holidays, Sachiko takes Yumi to her summer home. Whilst there, Sachiko's acquaintances make trouble for them due to their jealousy regarding the closeness of Sachiko and Yumi's relationship. Sachiko wants to leave to protect Yumi, but Yumi refuses. The acquaintances have a party, and invite them but make plans to embarrass Yumi instead. At the party, they ask Yumi to play a musical instrument for one of the acquaintances great grandmother. Yumi says that she cannot play anything and prefers to sing the song "Maria-sama no Kokoro", and Sachiko accompanies her with a piano performance. The great grandmother is happy because the song brings back fond memories, and she asks Yumi to visit next year, foiling the acquaintances' plans for her humiliation in the process. :In the fourth season, Sachiko is already asking Yumi to look for a ''petite sœur,'' although she is still deeply concerned about Yumi, especially when one potential candidate for the future Rosa Chinensis en bouton rejected Yumi, at first. Later on, she makes plans to attend a nearby college after graduation so she can be near Yumi. ; : :A distant relative and fan of Sachiko. She arrives at Lillian during Yumi's second year. Tōko is a member of the Drama club, and nicknamed ''Mechanical Drill'' by Sei Satō for her corkscrew pigtails. In the beginning of her first year, Tōko causes some strain in the relationship between Yumi and Sachiko. However, later on in the year that she becomes Yumi's ''petite sœur''. :Tōko is also an accomplished actress. She was able to use this talent during several occasions (when the Yamayuri Council decides to expose Shimako's family background) and when Tōko becomes one of the cast in the Yamayuri Council stage play. In the eighteenth novel, the narration also remarks how Tōko was able to bring her natural acting skills to bear when she tries to hide her complicated relationships with her seniors in the drama club - she does this so well that even Sachiko did not notice anything wrong. :Though Tōko might seem to always act rude towards Yumi (she often scolds Yumi for being air-headed, for being too lenient and soft towards Kanako, for being too naive) but upon the nineteenth novel, a short excerpt of her thoughts during her fallout with her drama club members show that she has also felt touched by Yumi's caring personality (though she does not show it on her face). :By the fourth season, Tōko's personality starts to unravel--she may be proud and headstrong, but she is still a fickle, fragile girl with a mysterious secret. This leads to events in volume twenty-one of the novels, and in the fourth season of the anime, where Tōko initially rejects Yumi's rosary when the latter requests Tōko to become her ''petite sœur''. The thirteenth and final episode of the fourth season reveals Tōko's secret, as she told Yumi on their date. As an infant, Tōko was orphaned when she and her parents were involved in a vehicular accident, and she was the only survivor. No one in her family could feasibly take her in, so she was sent to an orphanage, and was eventually adopted by the Matsudairas. She found out the truth later after listening in to some of her relatives' conversations, and confirming it in a registry. The picture Tōko showed to Yumi showed Tōko's natural mother and foster mother, who, by coincidence, were classmates in Lilian High School (and it was Tōko's foster mother who, as seen in the picture, happened to bear the corkscrew pigtails Tōko herself sports). By yet another coincidence, Tōko's natural mother was a member of the school's drama club, which led to Tōko's own problems with her membership in the drama club. Tōko is very grateful towards her foster parents, but cannot break out of the lingering guilt that there is nothing that she can do to repay all the kindness that she feels she doesn't deserve (she once mentions to her father that a life should be one of "give and take"). On top of that, she was very mistaken that Yumi offered her rosario out of sympathy (and Tōko hated pity for herself out of everything else), so Tōko cannot help but distance herself from everything and everyone that will give her happiness (from her favorite drama club to her beloved Yumi-sama). But after a series of events leading to a date with Yumi and revealing all this to her, Tōko is eventually at peace with herself, and receives Yumi's rosary and becomes the future ''Rosa Chinensis en bouton,'' in front of the incumbent but soon to step down Rosa Chinensis, Sachiko. ; : :Played by: Kaoru Hirata : Calm and reserved, but usually with a smirk on her face, Yōko is Sachiko's ''grande sœur.'' As the nearly indisputable leader of the Yamayurikai during her time as Rosa Chinensis, she played a major role in maintaining stability in its sometimes unstable environment. Though usually cool and refined, she was also known to have a fun side. Additionally, it has been implied that she has an unrequited love for Sei Satō. She made Sachiko her ''petite sœur'' in a situation happened like Sachiko did to Yumi. In Sachiko's second year, Yōko argues with Sachiko about the Cinderella play since she does not want to play with a male. Yumi suddenly comes in, and Yōko and the other two Roses offer them a bet. This eventually leads Yumi to become Sachiko's ''petite sœur''. She does not appear much in the first season because of her exams. Before Valentine's Day, Minako Tsukiyama comes and asks the Yamayurikai if they can host the Card Hunting Game. Yōko says she wants the Roses Mansion to be one of the hunting locations so she can see the Roses Mansion filled with ordinary students before her graduation. :At the beginning of the second season, Yōko comes to Sachiko's house on New Year's Day with the other Yamayurikai members, to join in a party there. Two days before her graduation ceremony, she comes up to Yumi from behind, giving her a surprise hug. Yumi asks if she is trying to make fun of her, but Yōko says that she wanted to hug her once before she leaves. She takes Yumi for a drink, telling the younger girl to take care of Sachiko. :After the third year Roses graduate, only Sei ends up going to Lilian university; this makes Sachiko cry when she was chosen to give her ''onee-sama'' a goodbye speech at the ceremony. Yōko, at first, does not want to help her because that would imply that Sachiko is weak if she keeps relying on her ''onee-sama''. When she cannot take anymore, she tries to help her, but Rei goes to help Sachiko to say farewell to the third years. Seeing that her sœur has changed, Yōko is happy, saying that she can leave Lilian without any worries now. A few months later, when Sachiko's grandmother dies, Yōko is requested by her mother to meet Yumi. On their way to Sachiko's great grandmother's house, she explains everything to Yumi.Gigantea family
; : :Played by:Foetida family
; : :Played by: Hitomi Miyake :In the beginning of the series, Yoshino is a girl who is very ill and cared for constantly by her ''grande sœur,'' Rei. In the second novel, when Yumi was watching Yoshino, Yoshino is described as a girl who is "on the skinny side, but not emaciated—simply that she has a small frame"; her eyelashes are described to be "thick than long"; and that she has an aura (maybe because she is sickly at first) that makes one want to protect her and make her a petite sœur. Yoshino is voted as the best ''petite sœur'' near the beginning of the series, as everyone considered her to be soft and sweet; this is only her reputation however. Yoshino is very independent and in some ways tomboyish, despite her sickly status and feminine appearance. After her heart surgery, she becomes more energetic throughout the series, and Yumi begins to see more of her fits of temper (usually directed towards Rei). While Yoshino maintains her "sweet and gentle" image in public, she has apparently grown close and comfortable enough to show her temperamental side to Yumi as well (during their trip to Italy, Yoshino reveals that Yumi is the only one she can comfortably show her weakness to). Yumi also learns that Yoshino is very quick-witted and sharp—Yoshino is able to understand concepts and read between the lines of things so well that Yumi sometimes coins her as a psychic. In addition to being Rei's ''petite sœur'', Yoshino is also her cousin and next-door neighbor. Yoshino admires and very attached to Rei (and has a knack for throwing tantrums at Rei when she gets jealous or over small issues), however she becomes upset with Rei every time she acts overprotective and fragile. ; : :Played by: Rikako Sakata :Rei, Yoshino's ''grande sœur,'' appears very tomboyish and ' bishōnen' on the outside, but is in fact quite gentle despite her appearances. In the second novel, she admits that without Yoshino, her real self is just a weak, timid and lonely crybaby. She enjoys reading shōjo novels, her favorite word is 'sincerity', and her hobby is sightseeing. She is involved inSchoolmates
In Sachiko's year
; : :She is both Editor-in-Chief and president for the ''Lillian Kawaraban'', the school's newspaper. She is hyperactive, dedicated to her duty as president, always thinking of new ways to get the newest scoop, and can at times give Yumi an uneasy feeling. ; : :Sei Satō's ex-lover and best friend who was Sachiko Ogasawara's classmate. Her parents died when she was young. She left Lillian in her first year to pursue her dream of becoming a nun, which broke Sei's heart (who even became angry that she chose God and Maria-sama over her). ; : :Also known as '' Rosa Canina'', she is the star singer of the school choir. She admired Sei, but later on it is shown that she has also found an interest in Sei's ''petite sœur'', Shimako. She left Lillian at the end of her second year to pursue a singing career in Italy, and keeps in touch with Shimako as a penfriend. :In the side story of the nineteenth novel, Shizuka's past is probed - she had a rather gray and lackluster mentality during her first and earlier parts of her second year. As a popular first-year, she received ''sœur'' requests from many upperclassmen, but rejected them all (including her choir club president), because she knows she will leave Lillian for Italy soon, and that her heart only longs for Sei. She likened herself as The Little Match Girl, albeit being unable to quench her desire and longing for Sei. The short story revolved around her coming to terms with herself and her resolve in overcoming her inability to approach Sei face-to-face (and thus building up the explanation for her somewhat bold move in taking part in the Yamayuri Council Elections, just to be able to stand in front of and be acknowledged by Sei). ; : :Sachiko's classmate. She is shown as having a stalker-like attraction to Sachiko. The reason for this was because when they were in Lilian Nursery school, Mifuyu fell off the swing and sustained a large gash on her knee. While her friends ran off to get the teacher, Sachiko was the only one who helped her by giving her a handkerchief to stem the bleeding. Since then, Mifuyu has been obsessed with Sachiko. However, upon realizing that Yumi has something that she does not (the thing which attracted Sachiko to Yumi), Mifuyu takes her pigtails off, symbolizing that she finally let her obsession with her go. The author Konno reveals that she made up Mifuyu's name by reconstructing Yumi's name (without the letter "K" in Fukuzawa).In Yumi's year
; : :Another staff member of the newspaper team, and Minako's sometimes irreverent ''petite sœur''. However, like Minako, Mami herself is also always looking for the latest scoop. Mami also sometimes finds herself being the one to rein in Minako's hyperactive tendencies to run amok. But on the other hand, Minako often wishes that Mami wouldn't be so serious all the time, resulting in a rather unorthodox mix of ''sœurs''. ; : :Played by:One year below Yumi
; : :A tall girl with a quiet (bordering on unapproachable - in the 14th novel, Noriko has described her as a "lone wolf") personality, and on top of that, a big fan of Yumi Fukuzawa, Kanako is introduced in the fourteenth novel, ''Suzukaze Satsusatsu'' (A Breath of Fresh Air). During the third season Kanako is actually more like a stalker than a fan and is treated as such when called the "Evil Spirit" who is following Yumi and the male acquaintances she makes from Hanadera. At first, Yumi was not aware of Kanako's lack of acquaintances and social life, as Kanako actively interacts with her (Yumi has also admittedly felt pressure not to stumble and make mistakes in front of an under-classmen who admires her). She revealed a similar, or even stronger hatred towards men to that of Sachiko, apparently stemming from problems she has with her father (she calls men "the lowest possible form of life"). Her father had an affair and a baby with Kanako's former senpai, Yūko. Initially, she imagines Yumi as the living entity of a "perfect and pure" girl (i.e. one who would not involve herself with men), and Yumi admits to Rei that she feels a lot of pressure having to stay on her toes. When that fabricated image was shattered later on (Kanako claims that Yumi's pure self was overtaken by another personality and is no longer her object of admiration, but someone she "couldn't care less about"), Yumi quickly acts to repair their strained relationship, and finds out that in the end, Kanako still greatly likes her (Kanako had always, and still wants to take a photo alone with Yumi). Kanako later regains her own emotional balance upon her reconciliation with Yūko. She is referred to by ''Marimite'' fans as ''Denpa''. She is presented as one of the girls who may become Yumi's ''petite sœur''. She appears briefly in the second season, despite the events of her novel debut not occurring until the third episode of the third season. As of the fourth anime season, she is already close to the Yamayurikai, and, at 179 cm tall, has plans to join the Lillian Academy basketball team. ; :Another staff member of the newspaper team, and Mami's ''petite sœur''. ; : :She is part of the Photography Club. She loves photography, and wanted to be part of the Yamayurikai because of the photos she saw of them. She becomes an admirer of Tsutako. She has an older sister, Katsumi Naitō, who is voiced by Kaori Nazuka.Two years below Yumi
; : :A girl in her third year at Lillian Junior High School, and very likely to become Yoshino's ''petite sœur''. Eriko mistook her for Yoshino's ''petite sœur'' at a kendo tournament. She is introduced in ''Soeur Audition''.Others
; : : Sei Satō's friend and course-mate at Lillian University. She is first seen as the girl who rescued Yumi from the rain along with Sei. Sei mentions that she stood up during the welcoming ceremony when Kei was called because she thought she had heard her own name. ; : :She is the landlady in the lodging house where Kei Katō stays. She is a graduate of Lillian. ; : :Sachiko's grandmother and a graduate of Lillian. She died at the end of the second season but not before reconciling with her old friend, Yumiko Ikegami. ; : :A graduate of Lillian, she wrote the novel ''The Forest of Thorns'' under the pen name "Sei Suga". She was confused with Sei Satō by most of the students of Lillian, which caused an uproar. ; : :Played by:References
{{Maria-sama ga Miteru Maria-sama ga Miteru Characters