| Akira Takano | |
 Akira Takano | |
| Birthday | January 29th (Aquarius) |
| Class | 2-C |
| Height | 160 cm |
| Blood Type | AB |
| Hair | Dark Red |
| Eyes | Dark Purple |
| First Appearance (Anime) |
Episode 1 |
| Seiyuu | Kaori Shimizu |
| English | Trina Nishimura |
Akira Takano (高野 晶, Takano Akira) is the smartest of the main female characters in School Rumble where she is the brains and strategist of the group. Always keeping a low profile, her quiet nature keeps her from drawing attention to herself, which Akira uses to her advantage to gather information on her classmates and seems to know every detail of their personal lives. Curious by nature, Akira analyzes everything she sees in a very meticulous way and always seems to be one step ahead of everybody.
It was also shown that Akira acted as a sort of protector and agent during her holidays for a young boy who was being targeted by a violent group of mobsters. However, when asked what she did during her holidays, Akira merely replied 'Nothing much'.
Appearance[]
Akira's anime design
Akira has short dark red hair and dark purple eyes. She is usually seen with an enigmatic expression.
Personality[]
Akira, Back inside, Satoshi starts a conversation with Sōma, telling him he is going somewhere the next day as he started a small business. Satoshi invites Sōma and Megumi to come along, telling them he could use an extra pair of hands. Yūki then enters the room, dragging Shun along with her and telling him the second round is about to begin. Sōma wants to make a dish to liven up things at the party, although Yūki and Ryōko ask him to sit down as they think he is going to make one of his weird dishes again. and collected as usual.
As serious and cold-blooded as she appears to be, Akira is a very kind person and cares for her friends, but her pride and sarcasm often make her appear cold and merciless to others. However, her friends know better than that, and they care and respect her, often relying on her to help them with schoolwork.
Akira presents an emotionless facade to the world in order to drive others away. She seeks to avoid contact with others out of fear that she is inadequate. Even though she is obviously quite skilled in certain areas, she does not want to display those skills in front of others for two reasons. First, people might recognize her failings and point them out. Second, people might praise her, but knowing that she has not met her own impossible standards such praise only makes her feel worse. Thus by adopting an air of mystery she builds a barrier between herself and others and conceals the true extent of her abilities.
Relationships[]
Love Interests[]
Of the four female leads, Akira's romantic relationships are by far the most elusive. When Sarah Adiemus asks Akira about times when she confessed romantic feelings to a guy, she says that she'd rather not discuss it.
There are no confirmed reports of Akira being romantically interested in anybody, but it is speculated that she might have a crush on Haruki Hanai, as he is the guy she gives the most attention to, even if not in a very good way. Although nothing was explicitly shown, in chapter 61, Akira and Hanai were arranged in such a position as to be highly suggestive of a kiss. At first, Akira disliked Hanai stating that he was "not right". Later, Akira then gains romantic feelings for Hanai, but she never confesses them to him.
After 2-C's class play, Akira asks Yakumo Tsukamoto if she would like to return the kiss that she gave Harima. This may lead to the suspicion that she is curious.
Family[]
Akira's Mother[]
Little is known about Akira's mother. However, it is known that she divorced Akira's father and remarried a man presumably named Hiiragi. Together, they have at least one child, Motoko Hiiragi.
Akira's Father[]
Likewise, there is a scarcity of facts concerning Akira's father. Aside from his separation from Akira's mother, it is known that he works as a newspaper reporter, and according to Akira, she inherited his strong constitution.
Motoko Hiiragi[]
As the younger half-sister of Akira, it seems that she and Motoko were close in the past. Motoko was often hospitalized where she was entertained by stories written and told by Akira.
Best Friends[]
Eri Sawachika[]
Being beautiful and half-Japanese made Eri always stand out in school, drawing attention from the guys and jealousy from the other girls. Akira was the first person to ever talk to Eri in school, since then, they've been inseparable friends and often enjoy gossiping and criticizing other people, as they both have similar wits and sense of superiority.
Both Eri and Akira present a facade to the outside world. Even though they have different reasons for doing so, this puts them in a unique position to understand one another. A prime example of this occurs during episode four of season two when Akira and Eri discuss the possibility of Akira writing the script for the class play. Eri's comments to Akira indicate that she understands Akira's outward demeanor is not a true representation of Akira's internal disposition. This is further corroborated by the script Eri writes to encourage her friend, affirming that doing something to help out others will make Akira happy.
On the other hand, Akira tends to tease and use sarcasm in order to point out the contradictions inherent in Eri's own facade and, in particular, her unwillingness to admit feelings for Harima. Akira is one of the few people able to ruffle Eri's feathers enough to let her true personality show through.
Tenma Tsukamoto[]
One of her three best friends, Tenma seems to amuse Akira with her antics, so she's always paying attention to her and her love life. As hard as she might be with her criticism sometimes, Akira seems very lenient towards Tenma, which is a sure indication of how much she cares for her feelings, but being as lovable as Tenma is, who wouldn't? It could be said that Tenma is the antithesis of Akira, so it's interesting to see their interactions, as they lead you to wonder how they became friends in the first place. It is perhaps this contrast that draws them together, as they both posses the exact qualities that the other one lacks.
Mikoto Suo[]
Mikoto's straight forward and open-hearted nature makes for another nice contrast with Akira's character. If we were to compare their characters using analogies, we could say that Mikoto could be a samurai, whereas Akira would be a ninja, as their outward personalities are well-reflected in these stereotypes.
Tea Club Companions[]
Yakumo Tsukamoto[]
Perhaps sensing that Hanai's feelings for Yakumo are not reciprocated, Akira protects Yakumo from his advances by first preventing him from joining and then outright banning him from the Tea Club.
Sarah Adiemus[]
When Sarah confesses to Akira that she feels unqualified to help people who come to her church seeking relationship advice, Akira consoles her. Akira is surprisingly open with Sarah, admitting that she may have confessed romantic feelings to someone in the past, but refusing to elaborate.
Itoko Osakabe[]
As the sponsor of the Tea Club, Osakabe-sensei is the faculty moderator and liaison of the club. She and Akira get along well and like Akira she possesses certain skills one would not expect to find in a high school physics teacher. This has led many to suspect that the Tea Club may in fact be a cover for a more covert operation of some sort.
Minor Friendships[]
Kenji Harima[]
Akira's interactions with Harima are very minor in the series, although they do exist. She appears to be the only one in the class to have his phone number, when Eri remarks that he probably doesn't even have a phone.When Yakumo has to kiss Harima in the school play, after he falls asleep on the bed prop, Akira takes Yakumo's place at the last moment and kisses him, though only on the nose, while being suspended from the ceiling by a harness.In the second season, along with Mikoto, she encourages Eri to admit her feelings for Harima, although whether or not she does this to help Harima get into a relationship or if it's just to mess with Eri isn't made clear. She also appears to be one of only a few people who knows that Harima has feelings for Tenma and uses it this info to goad him into voting when their class is discussing the upcoming school festival.
Rivals[]
Haruki Hanai[]
He is Akira's only real rival, but strangely enough Hanai is also believed to be her only love interest. (It can be noted that during the Valentine's Day arc of the Manga, she tosses a chocolate in his window, which lands in his mouth...)
The relationship between the two started off on an ugly row from the moment they met. In their first encounter at the Tea Club, Hanai quickly became a sensationally irritating thug in the toe for Akira. To return the favor, she ensured that his attempts to join the club were as miserable as it could get. In this way, their relationship can be described as hate at first sight. Subsequently, their relationship has become one of the most enjoyable, funny, and complementary in the series. On many occasions, Hanai's loud and outrageous personality is answered perfectly by Akira's mischievous and merciless attitude.
It must be noted, however, that Hanai does not seem to hold a grudge against Akira despite the contrary being true; he always treats her with the same respect and level of politeness that he does with everyone else. He even prepared a lunchbox for Akira along with everybody else (except Harima) during the trip to the beach.
Takeichi Fuyuki[]
According to Fuyuki's trading card his weak point is Akira, his rival. However, to date there has been no substantial indication in the story that Fuyuki and Akira are rivals. In fact, in the rare instances where the characters interact at all, they seem to get along fine. As Akira is skilled with a camera herself - she produces a video of 2-C's gun battle - it's possible that Fuyuki considers Akira his rival in that regard.
Ooji Karasuma[]
Not major, but always have problems with costumes. Always get into fights when they see each other in costumes. Mostly Akira Takano.
Giorno[]
A boy Akira saved in Volume Four, Giorno could be counted as a minor friendship. However, Giorno seems to have a crush on Akira. (Ie begging her to stay,blushing when riding with her in the motor bike scene in "the lady in white".) Their friendship is to the point where Akira let Giorno hide under her dress. The only obstacle is that Giorno is twelve.
Job[]
Akira is seen to work in a second hand bookshop, She enjoys it because there are hardly any customers and she can read in her spare time.
Akira is also seen to have a second job though the nature is mostly unknown. It seems to involve spy-like work. In the opening sequence of the first semester (anime) she is seen firing a gun. There is also a CGI segment at the start of a season 1 episode showing her helping a small boy out of a tight situation involving being out of Japan and speculatively somewhere in the Mediterranean. The boy is momentarily seen again in second semester with Akira during a gun chase, Eri looks out her window and sees them at first she thinks she sees Akira but almost immediately dismisses the thought.
In the parallel world story, School Rumble Z, she has taken the profession of an international agent. She is hired by Eri to help Mikoto and Hanai with their current problem. Akira targeted Ganji Nishimoto who was the source of Hanai's problems. Using a high-tech camera she secretly takes pictures of Nishimoto trying to bribe others into voting for him. The pictures are then leaked to the public, causing Nishimoto to resign from his campaign to become mayor.
Etymology[]
- The name Akira means "clear, crystal" (晶).
- Akira's surname Takano means "tall, high" (高) (taka) and "field, wilderness" (野) (no).
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