Mariko Kumakura

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. S...