Creative Work attributes
The story takes place in the countryside small town village of Asahigaoka, a place lacking many of the conveniences that people from the city are accustomed to. The nearest stores are a few miles away and one of the local schools consists of only five students, each of whom is in a different grade of elementary or middle school. Hotaru Ichijo, a fifth grader from Tokyo, transfers into Asahigaoka Branch School and adjusts to countryside life with her new friends.
Main characters
Hotaru Ichijo (一条 蛍, Ichijō Hotaru)
Voiced by: Rie Murakawa
Hotaru is a fifth grade student who transfers into Asahigaoka Branch School from Tokyo due to her father's work transfer. She is quite tall for her age and has a crush on Komari to the point of frequently sewing various plush dolls of Komari to decorate her room with. She had come to Asahigaoka several times previously when she was younger because her relatives live nearby.
Renge Miyauchi (宮内 れんげ, Miyauchi Renge)
Voiced by: Kotori Koiwai
Renge is a first grade student. She likes to greet her friends by saying "Nyanpasū" (Meow-ning), a nonsensical phrase, and she plays the recorder. While she generally acts her age, she is often quite perceptive and eccentric. She adds a superfluous "n" at the end of sentences as a verbal tic. She is Hikage and Kazuho's younger sister.
Natsumi Koshigaya (越谷 夏海, Koshigaya Natsumi)
Voiced by: Ayane Sakura
Natsumi is a first-year middle school student. She is taller than Komari, her older sister. Rebellious and carefree, she often talks back to her mother, plays pranks on her older sister, and does poorly in school.
Komari Koshigaya (越谷 小鞠, Koshigaya Komari)
Voiced by: Kana Asumi
Komari is a second-year middle school student and Natsumi's older sister. She is quite short, a fact which she constantly bemoans as Natsumi often teases her for it. She has an innocent and easily scared personality, which Natsumi often takes advantage of.
Supporting characters
Suguru Koshigaya (越谷 卓, Koshigaya Suguru)
Suguru is a third-year middle school student and Natsumi and Komari's older brother. He doesn't speak and has very little presence besides occasional static visual comedy.
Kazuho Miyauchi (宮内 一穂, Miyauchi Kazuho)
Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka
Kazuho is Renge's older sister and the only teacher in the local school. She is also a 24-year-old graduate of Asahigaoka Branch School. She is fond of sleeping. Since all the students essentially study on their own in the classroom due to their different grades, she often spends class time napping.
Kaede Kagayama (加賀山 楓, Kagayama Kaede)
Voiced by: Rina Satō
Kaede is a 20-year-old graduate of Asahigaoka Branch School who runs the local candy store. As a result the other characters, and Renge in particular, call her "Dagashi-ya" (駄菓子屋, lit. "Candy Store"). Her store also runs a ski rental business and mail order service.
Hikage Miyauchi (宮内 ひかげ, Miyauchi Hikage)
Voiced by: Misato Fukuen
Hikage is Renge's older sister who is a first-year high school student studying in Tokyo. She is also a graduate of Asahigaoka Branch School. She also appears in the author's other work Koakuma Meringue (こあくまメレンゲ, lit. "Little Devil's Meringue"). When she returns to the village she tries to impress her siblings and friends with her trendy and "city-girl" ways only to be upstaged by Hotaru's genuine modern knowledge.
Yukiko Koshigaya (越谷 雪子, Koshigaya Yukiko)
Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu
Yukiko is Natsumi, Komari, and Suguru's mother. She is often strict, particularly towards Natsumi, who slacks off a lot. She is also a graduate of Asahigaoka Branch School. When she was a student, she took care of Kazuho as Kaede did with Renge when she was younger (according to the author in the afterword).
Konomi Fujimiya (富士宮 このみ, Fujimiya Konomi)
Voiced by: Ryōko Shintani
Konomi is a graduate of Asahigaoka Branch School who lives next door to the Koshigayas. She is a third-year student at a nearby high school.
Honoka Ishikawa (石川 ほのか, Ishikawa Honoka)
Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki
Honoka is a first grade student who comes to visit her grandmother during summer vacation and becomes friends with Renge. She also appears in the author's other work Toko-toko (とことこ).
Aoi Nizato (新里 あおい, Niizato Aoi)
Voiced by: Shino Shimoji
Aoi is a first-year middle schooler who lives in Okinawa and works at her family's inn. A member of her school's badminton club, she quickly befriends Natsumi over their shared age and interest in the sport.
Shiori (しおり, Shiori)
Voiced by: Misaki Kuno[
Shiori is the daughter of a police box officer, one year younger than Renge.
Akane Shinoda (篠田 あかね, Shinoda Akane)
Voiced by: Aimi Tanaka
Akane is a first-year high school student, a junior of Konomi, and in charge of flute in the brass band club.