This is a list of characters from the anime and manga series Sket Dance by Kenta Shinohara.
Main characters
The Sket-dan /
The team leader, an expert marksman and artist whose usually erratic personality is replaced with a brilliant deductive mindset by ceremonially donning goggles in a process called 'Concentrate'—this allows him to make eerily accurate inferences by concentrating entirely on absolutely all the available evidence, to the extent of accurately recalling background noise. He enjoys the sense of adventure he receives from helping others for its own sake, but can become very emotionally involved with more serious cases to the extent of verbally abusing those he sees to be betraying their friends. Despite Bossun's deceptively sharp acumen, he is notably socially awkward around attractive women. He frequently breaks the Fourth Wall; he also vocally guards his position as the protagonist of the series when sidelined. However, when he won the Character Popularity contest (which had a whole chapter based around it), he was extremely humble about it.
On his fifteenth birthday, he discovered that he was not related to his mother, Akane, and his sister, Rumi. His actual parents were Akane's best friends, Ryousuke and Haru. When Bossun was about to be born, his parents died in two separate accidents. His father died while saving a child, and his mother died from giving birth. He ran away from home and wandered around aimlessly. After meeting Taisuke Mishima, the child who his father had saved, Bossun received the present that Ryousuke had meant to give to Haru after the birth. Bossun read the letters, saying about how he should help other people. However, in anger, he flung down the letters and claimed that he would only live for himself. After watching a student his age be bullied (it was actually Tsubaki, but he had longer hair and glasses then, so they didn't recognize each other after they met again), he discovered that he had truly inherited his parents' blood because he couldn't resist helping other people. He, later on, returned to Akane and Rumi, and continued to live with them. Bossun continued to believe that he was alone in the world, before the doctor who had helped deliver him came to him on his 17th birthday and told him that he had a younger twin brother. As a result, he realized that his brother was actually Tsubaki Sasuke from the Student Council. Bossun felt deep down that he had already known because everybody kept saying that they were similar. Despite knowing that they were brothers, both Tsubaki and Bossun continue to have an awkward rivalry with each other, often breaking into fights, but slowly getting closer, as brothers should. He also has inherited some behavior from Akane having shown that whenever she yells at Bossun at some point she would end up saying "dummy" repeatedly. He has shown a great assortment of talents, such as being able to draw as well as a manga artist, able to make origami be extremely lifelike, and being excellent at riddles, the second-best in the school. He is the older twin of Tsubaki, he is slightly lazier and childish than him, but he can be mature when in a serious case, also he is more creative than Tsubaki. In the last chapter of the manga, he graduated from Kaimei High School and Himeko revealed her true feelings for him. He is last seen living in the United States helping two children crying near a road.
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The "Amazon"- a dangerous close-range fighter who serves as the Sket Dan's muscle using her hockey stick. Already a formidable fighter without it, with this weapon she is capable of defeating multiple opponents instantaneously. In the past, Himeko, was just a tomboy from Osaka. When her family moved to Tokyo, she found it hard to find friends, even on the Hockey team. This changed when Arisa Kanou (referred to as Aa-chan), a member of the team started befriending her. One day, Himeko saw her friend Aa-chan threatened by the school's delinquents, the rest of her friends told her to ignore it, but Himeko refused and went to protect her. The delinquents got into a fight, in which Himeko was losing but did not give in stating she would protect her friend. But the delinquent simply mocked her, stating Aa-chan was not threatened at all and that in fact, she was the leader of the gang. This shocking fact along with Aa-chan cursing at her, made Himeko go wild and she grabbed a hockey stick and beat everyone. Aa-chan spread rumors that she was an ogress, and Himeko was slowly isolated from the school, while other delinquents came to fight her, all of whom she defeated. She gained the nickname "Legendary Yankee Onihime", which quickly became a symbol of "power and fear". Eventually tired of this life she transferred to another school at a distance from her house which was the one Bossun attended. She spent her days isolated, due to her experiences with Aa-chan, deciding to never have friends. But Bossun, and the class representative, Takahashi Chiaki attempted to correct this behavior by attempting to be her friend. When Chiaki gets into trouble, with some delinquents, she is reluctant to help Chiaki, due to her past experiences. Bossun scolds her at this, that despite her experiences she should not be so unwilling to trust people and that he would never betray a friend. Hearing this she quickly went to beat up the delinquents threatening Chiaki, but not before being saved by Bossun. She then, reveals her nickname, but to her surprise neither Bossun nor Chiaki are frightened. She states that she has hurt too many people, but Bossun states her strength is not something to be ashamed, but proud of, and asks her to be part of Sket-dan. Recently, memories of an unknown boy in a school uniform have prevented her from fully enacting these violent impulses Himeko feels that she is saved from Bossun and becomes loyal to him despite their constant bickering. Obsessed with bizarre flavors of lollipop such as 'Mackerel-Miso' which can almost kill anyone without a powerful "fighting spirit" who tries eating them, she almost constantly has one sticking out of her mouth, which is frequently mistaken for a habit of smoking from a distance. Despite her weird sense of taste, she is also very good at cooking. She holds great faith in Bossun, as she, like Switch is willing to do anything Bossun says, and has shown feelings for Bossun, as shown by her jealousy when he went on a group date and being embarrassed, when on a fake date with him, In 'Himekoi' chapter it is fully seen that she does have a crush on Bossun and nearly confessing it but fail (just like in the last chapter of 'Trouble travel'). She has a great love for cute things, as seen when she acted motherly for Bossun when he was a child due to Mr. Chūma's youth potion, even fainting from how cute Bossun was. She has shown great interest to have Bossun and Tsubaki improve their brotherly relationship, which she shares with Switch, and the Student Council, with the exception of Tsubaki. In the last chapter, she graduated and finally made her true feelings to Bossun known, but without receiving any clear reciprocation from him on her confession. She is last seen as an adult with slightly longer hair.
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The 'brains' of the team (in contrast to Bossun's intuition and Himeko's brawn) in charge of intelligence-gathering and, in contrast to the more excitable other Sket Dan members, largely concerned with "honest, data-substantiated fact". He originally was very different from his current self, his huge change is due to the death of his little brother, which he blames himself for. Originally, he was far more normal, but had an inferiority complex about his little brother Switch, who had talents that far surpassed his, despite being very proud of him. This complex was further emphasized when their childhood friend Sawa acted like she was more interested in his little brother, when in reality they had mutual feelings. When Sawa was being stalked, he originally was going to protect her, but felt useless in front of his younger brother and let him take his place. He went for a walk and met a friend of Sawa and told her Sawa was going out with Switch. Then he spotted the stalker, but found out that he was only an admirer. Kazuyoshi realized that Sawa's friend was the true culprit who planned to hurt Sawa. By the time he arrived, his little brother had been murdered after protecting Sawa. After his brother's death, he takes on his appearance and name because he feels responsible for his death, and stops speaking shortly after until Bossun comes to his aid. Kazuyoshi never speaks aloud (his trauma causing a severe form of selective mutism) and instead uses his laptop to communicate using the "Speech Synthesis Software" his brother developed to communicate in between constant bouts of forum trolling and dating-simulation play throughs. Switch is the proprietor of a vast school-wide intelligence network consisting largely of perverts and outcasts, and thus in possession of almost unlimited information on everyone in the vicinity of the school; the ensuing potential for blackmail makes him a bad person to cross. Surprisingly popular with the ladies, he expresses interest in very little outside of his Sket Dan duties - except, curiously, for frequent 'Science vs. the Supernatural' debates with occult fanatic Yuuki Reiko which seem to be sparked by mutual attraction. Beyond computer skills, Switch has shown frequent and unexplained access to high-tech gear such as computerized training equipment and minute homing devices. He hates Otaku, despite being one. He is completely loyal to Bossun: as he states, they feel indebted to Bossun for his guidance, and wants to be useful to him. In the last chapter, he delivers the graduation speech on behalf of his graduating class – coming to terms with his past by finally letting go off his laptop and speaking in public with his actual voice again. He is last seen as an adult, highly implied to be dating Momoka.
Recurring characters
Student Council members The Kaimei High School Student Council, occasional rivals and later allies of the Sket-dan, uphold school rules and handle administrative duties, like the creation and funding of clubs. Within the Sket Dance world, there is a manga series about them, running in Shōnen Jump, and a tie-in game on Vivage City, a cellular phone game company.
President of the Student Council and a third-year student. He later steps down from president when he graduated and passes the torch to Tsubaki (as of chapter 147-148). A very cool, charismatic, laid-back individual, who seemingly does nothing as President. He entrusts most responsibilities to the Vice President, Sasuke Tsubaki. He is well-known for his intelligence. His IQ is around 160. Due to his high IQ, he is the best at riddles in school. His ability to read and understand people is used to manipulate them to do what he wants, such as motivating Bossun into competing with him seriously. This same ability is why he has the complete loyalty of Student Council members, Sasuke and Daisy. His performance in the Gachinko Vivage Battle's "Pixie Garden" match with Bossun shows that he is a good strategist, who learns quickly, and is adept at lying, being regarded as the antagonist comic of the manga / series Sket Dance. Despite his ruthlessness, and professions that he is very cunning, he's against cheating to win. He has a tendency to forget things he's said, such as the bet he pretended to make with Bossun to get him fired up. He is very lazy, known to sleep in the counsel's classroom. He is very protective of his sister and will become enraged if any guy gets close to her, which is shown in his misunderstanding of her relationship with Tsubaki. He has a unique laughter "kakaka".
(drama CD), Hiro Shimono (anime)