Miki Koishikawa
Miki Koishikawa (小石川 光希 Koishikawa Miki) is a lively high school student, who is on the Toryo High School tennis team. She is cheerful, friendly, supportive, outspoken, tomboyish and good-hearted. On the other hand, she can also be insecure, whiny, clingy, and very emotionally dependent on others. She had a part-time job working in an ice cream parlor, called Bobson's. Later, she works in a small decoration shop.
When she was in junior high, she confessed her love to a male friend of hers named Ginta, but it was a disaster and Miki ended up heartbroken. Eventually she got over it and became friends with him again.
While Miki was in high school, her parents went on a trip to Hawaii and decided to swap spouses with another couple. The other couple had a son the same age as Miki, and they all moved into a large house to live together. That boy was Yuu Matsuura, and Miki started to fall in love with him as they came to know each other better. However, Miki was very uncertain of herself and became jealous because Yuu was always surrounded by other girls, several of them being very beautiful while Miki believes herself to be only average-looking.
Yuu Matsuura
Yuu Matsuura (松浦 遊 Matsuura Yū) is the male protagonist of the series. Miki gives him the "Marmalade Boy" moniker as she thinks that he is like marmalade - pretty looking, and sweet only on the surface, yet bitter. Compared to Miki, Yuu's character is almost a complete opposite to hers, as he tends to be more detached, less emotional, and less open about his feelings. He admits to admiring Miki's ability to show her emotions clearly, and it being one of the reasons he fell in love with her. It is shown that Yuu is smart and naturally athletic, being able to excel in almost every sport although he did not join any clubs in order to focus on his studies. Yuu's dream is to become an architectand in the anime he leaves to attend St. Andrews high school near New York City to study it there. Yuu teases Miki a lot, but this is his way of showing affection for her. His first kiss with Miki is a complete surprise for her because she had only met him a few days prior at an introductory dinner attended by both their families. The Marmalade Boy Movie, which is a prequel to the TV series and set a few days before this dinner, reveals that Yuu fell in love with Miki before they actually met. It shows that he saw Miki when she was out and followed her, witnessing her interactions with the Gastman Team, all without her knowledge.
One of Yuu's biggest goals, in addition of being an architect, is to uncover his paternity. A series of unfortunate events leads him to believe that Youji is not his biological father. Nobody knows of his quest at first, especially Miki, as he researches various individuals who may or may not have fathered him, acculumating with him believing that Jin is his father, and Miki to be his half-sister.
Meiko Akizuki
Meiko Akizuki (秋月 茗子 Akizuki Meiko) is Miki's best female friend. Meiko is the only child of wealthy parents and is very mature and beautiful. However, her family life is troubled because her parents are unfaithful to each other and constantly argue. She falls in love with Shinichi Namura after realizing that he has the maturity that she craves, but their relationship as teacher/student proves to be a huge hindrance.
Ginta Suou
Ginta Suou (須王 銀太 Suō Ginta) is Miki's best male friend and a member of the Toryo tennis team. Miki has had a crush on him since junior high and confessed her feelings to Ginta in a note. However, the note was found by Ginta's classmates, and Ginta downplayed it, without knowing at the time that she was watching, although he felt the same way about Miki.
Although he did find out that Miki had witnessed his denial of any interest in her, he was unable to tell her how he really felt until high school. The romantic tension between them comes to a head with Yuu's appearance, which makes them realize that they still have feelings for each other. He decides to go along with Yuu's ex-girlfriend Arimi's proposal that they pose as a couple in order to drive a wedge between Miki and Yuu. In the process however, he starts to develop genuine feelings for Arimi, which she later reciprocates.
Arimi Suzuki
Arimi Suzuki (鈴木 亜梨実 Suzuki Arimi) is a former classmate of Yuu's at his previous high school. She convinces Yuu to be her "boyfriend" for three months, during which they act as a couple on a trial basis. Arimi attempts to make Yuu to fall in love with her during this time, but fails. At the end of the three months, he still thought of her as a friend.
Miki's indecisiveness about Ginta and Yuu frustrates her, as she does not think that Yuu deserves someone who cannot commit to one person. Arimi teams up with Ginta in an attempt to drive Yuu and Miki apart from each other. However, she eventually realizes that Yuu's behavior around Miki indicates that he does like her, so she stops her pursuit of him. Some time later, she develops feelings for Ginta and they become a couple.
Shin'ichi Namura
Shin'ichi Namura (名村 慎一 Namura Shin'ichi), affectionately known as "Na-chan" by his students, is a former Toryo student who returned to his alma mater as tennis coach and English teacher. He develops feelings for the student Meiko Akizuki, which are reciprocated. However, because she is a student they must keep their relationship secret. The relationship is eventually discovered, embroiling Namura in a big scandal.
Finding his position at Toryo untenable and fearing he'll be a hindrance for Meiko, he resigns and returns to his hometown of Hiroshima in order to study real estate and take over the family business. Namura tries to push Meiko away from him no matter how much he loves her, thinking that he cannot allow her future to be tainted. Ultimately, Meiko proves him wrong, and they reach an agreement: as soon as Meiko graduates and turns 17 (the age at which she can marry Namura without her parents' approval), she will come with him to Hiroshima not only marry him, but also to study literature and become a writer. At the end of the series, the agreement is filled and they marry.
Satoshi Miwa
Satoshi Miwa (三輪 悟史 Miwa Satoshi) is the student body president and a third year student. Many girls are interested in him, but he is only interested in Meiko, and tries to get her to like him in place of Namura. However, his crude sense of humor does not impress Meiko, who thinks he is an irresponsible playboy. They go out for a time, but Meiko is unable to overcome her feelings for Namura. Satoshi tries several times to make her forget Namura, but eventually he sees that he has no chance to win her over and stops his romantic pursuit of Meiko, staying friends with her instead.
Satoshi is the first person to notice Yuu's interest in architecture. His initially unusual behavior towards Yuu arouses Yuu and Miki's suspicions that he is gay and has a crush on him, which he uses to his advantage. Satoshi and Yuu eventually come to an understanding however, and Satoshi helps Yuu uncover the truth of who his biological father may be, as he suspects that his father Yoshimitsu is a potential candidate. Although it is later revealed that Yoshimitsu is not Yuu's true father, Satoshi and Yuu stay best friends after this.
Jin Koishikawa
Miki's father and an accountant who works at a bank. He married Miki's mother Rumi after breaking up with his old girlfriend Chiyako and helping Rumi over her own break up with her boyfriend Youji. They moved to England and had Miki there, then returned to Japan. Later, he and Rumi reencounter Chiyako and Youji, reach an agreement, and swap spouses.
Rumi Matsuura
Miki's mother, infamous for her bad cooking. She is cheerful and sweet, and like her ex-husband, a little child-like as well. She works at a cosmetics company. She was married to her old friend Jin Koishikawa, later divorced him on good terms, and married Youji Matsuura, her old flame.
Youji Matsuura
Yuu's father, who works at a trading company. He is mature and quick-witted, like his ex-wife and now best friend Chiyako. He is also good at math, yet horrible at video games. Initially marrying Chiyato after she was dumped by Jin to help support her baby, they remained together after her miscarriage and had Yuu. After divorcing Chiyako, he married Rumi.
Chiyako Koishikawa
Yuu's mother, who is a very good cook. She works as an executive in an alcoholic beverage company. She also gets along well with Miki, yet tries to not be pushy on her, which Miki appreciates a lot. She was close to her former boss, Yoshimitsu Miwa, but was perceived to be having an affair with him and her relationship with Jin was ruined. She was pregnant by Jin, but he dumped her before she could tell him and the strain of the situation proved to be too much and she suffered a miscarriage. This led Yuu to think that Youji is not his true father.
Kei Tsuchiya
Kei Tsuchiya (土屋 蛍 Tsuchiya Kei) is Miki's coworker at Bobson's ice cream parlor who is a talented but troubled pianist. He also falls in love with Miki, and tries to use Miki's lost medallion to cause Yuu to think Miki doesn't want him anymore. This fails however, as Yuu sees through his lies and, though he fights with Miki, they make up. Miki yells at Kei for his immaturity, and forgives him. After some convincing by Miki to regain his confidence in music, Kei quits his job at Bobson's ice cream parlor and says goodbye to Miki, promising to return soon. He is later seen in the regular company of Suzu who started following him after seeing him play the piano.
In the anime, a much more mature Kei reappears later, offering Miki his sincere and unconditional support after Yuu goes to study abroad. He says he does not need to have Miki forgetting Yuu completely, since he's happy to help her through her ordeal. Miki appreciates his company and even dates him briefly, but he cannot compete with Yuu.
Suzu Sakuma
Suzu Sakuma (佐久間 すず Sakuma Suzu) is Satoshi's younger cousin who is a well-known teen model who loves beautiful things. After seeing Yuu's picture, she fell in love with his looks and requested that he be included in a cosmetics commercial that she was shooting. Afterwards, she asked Satoshi to arrange for Yuu to become her math tutor. Feeling that Miki is too plain for Yuu, then believing that Miki is cheating with Kei and that Meiko loves Yuu, Suzu tries to break up Yuu and Miki's relationship. When her efforts cause Miki and Yuu to fight, she feels bad and apologizes. She later meets and begins following Kei, after seeing him play the piano. In the anime adaptation, Suzu is shown to be in love with Yuu herself, rather than wanting to have him date Miki.
Rokutandou Tsutomu- is a unwanted suitor of Arimi, even though it is quite obvious that she detests him. Though he tries to act tough, he's really a big wuss. Ginta is is his cousin and rival. His brash challenges against Ginta and Yuu result in him losing face, as well as his hair
Yayoi Takase- is a very sweet girl that Tsutomu prays for on New Year's. He prays for a girl 100 times prettier than Arimi and shortly runs into Yayoi. He takes one look at her and calms down from the fit he was having. She is lost and looking for her friends. He offers to help her. In no time, her friends find her and she leaves. He forgets to get her name, school or address. He is heartbroken. He sees Yayoi on valentine's day, where she is jilted by a potential love interest. Tsutomu accidentally overhears this and comforts Yayoi. They then begin to date.
Ryouko Momoi- is a teacher at the high school who has been in love with Namura-sensei since their school days. However, she never expressed her feelings and continues to regret it.
Kijima Takuji-The bohemian owner of the Junk Jungle clothing emporium and Yuu's boss. In highschool he dated Ryouko but broke up with her when he realized that she really liked Namura. He is the one who tells the idealistic would-be lovers the legend of the medallion. Basically, one puts into it a picture of the object of their desire, and they are destined to be together forever
Anju Kitahara- Still longing for Yuu, Anju has known him since they were just 12 years old. Sickly, due to a life-endangering disease, she hadn't seen Yuu for several years until a chance meeting him at the train station. Despite her feelings for him, she does not want to interfere with his current relationship.
Michael Grant- is an American who becomes a transfer student to Toryo High School. He learned how to speak fluent Japanese by watching ninja and samurai movies as he grew up. At first, he is a joy to watch. He is fascinated with anything Japanese and he loves the rotating sushi bar. When he first arrives in Japan, he is greeted in a very warm way by Miki who thinks that it is Yuu at the door (Michael is blonde with blue eyes, after all). Michael's father and Youji are business associates so Youji invites Michael to stay with them and go to school in Japan
Jinny Golding- is a girl at Yuu's school in America. It appears that she falls almost instantly in love with him as soon as she sees him. Michael's brother, Brian is in love with Jinny and is jealous of Yuu at once. Jinny has told him time and time again that she doesn't want to date him and that she barely considers him to be a friend. Jinny's best friend and roommate, Doris is there for Jinny throughout the series. She is like the big sister trying to keep the little sister out of trouble. Doris means stability to Jinny. Jinny is strikingly beautiful and is a challenge to evryone, but her confidence is way to strong so she thinks she can get anything she wants.
Brian Grant- is Michael's older brother. He lives in New York at the school that Yuu goes to. Brian has a quick temper especially where Jinny is concerned. He is in love with her but she keeps pushing him away which really makes him angry. Brian sees Jinny kiss Yuu and immediately thinks that Yuu is her new boyfriend. Then Brian realizes that Yuu is going to remain faithful to Miki, his soft side emerges. He gets along with Yuu and they become pretty good friends. Brian continues to go after Jinny until his eyes are opened to a young lady that he falls in love with.
Bill Matheson- is Yuu's roommate in New York. When they first meet, Jinny hints that Bill likes guys, not girls. This make Yuu uncomfortable but he seems to genuinely like Bill so he doesn't let that come between them. Bill is very quiet and sensitive and him and Yuu become really good friends. Bill is there for Yuu when he goes through problems with Miki and is even upset that Yuu doesn't confide in him more. Bill actually has a secret love for Jinny and only let her think that he was gay so that he could be close to her.
Doris O'Connor- is Jinny's roommate. The two are very good friends. Doris is a lot more down to earth than the flighty Jinny. She is very intelligent and practical. She is not portrayed as beautiful like Jinny. She is a confidant to all the kids in New York and she even convinces Yuu to return to Japan for the summer break. Yuu in turn advises her not to give up on the one she loves.
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