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In elementary school, Ritsu often picked on Mio due to Mio being very shy, left-handed and having silky black hair, among other things. Their first 'serious' interaction came when Mio won a prefectural award for an essay she wrote and she had to read it aloud in front of the school. Mio was depressed because of her shyness, so Ritsu encouraged Mio to imagine the audience as pineapples, which allowed Mio to get over her stage fright. Since then, the two have been best friends despite their very different personalities. Ritsu has loved to tease and scare Mio since they were kids, especially with horror stories and gross things like barnacles.
Ritsu and Mio understand each other so well that they can easily imitate each other, a skill they both made use of to effectively portray their leading roles of Romeo and Juliet in their class play. Ritsu is even able to recognize Mio by the sound of her footsteps alone. Perhaps because of this closeness, Ritsu has a habit of getting jealous when Mio spends too much time hanging out with other people and blowing Ritsu off, such as Nodoka Manabe. There were times when Ritsu got jealous when Mio was spending more time hanging out with others than with her, resulting in a brief conflict between them. However, such tension between the two does not last long. During Mio's Fan Club Tea Party presentation, their other band members questioned if the slide show was really about Mio, since most of the pictures were dominated by Ritsu. Ritsu said that the photos were from her collection, which she had with Mio since they were little, therefore Mio appeared in every single photo. The fact that there were so many photos of them them together showed how they grew up together as best friends. |
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Ritsu's first impression of Yui was that she was a clumsy, childish, and useless girl. But when Yui joined the Light Music Club, Ritsu stated that she misjudged her. Yui and Ritsu have a lot in common, such as their lazy and laid-back attitudes, reluctance towards learning (or school in general) and their need for fun. They also both have a sweet tooth for Tsumugi's treats and are usually the band members who propose a break first. Yui sometimes gets disappointed when she finds out that Ritsu has also a reliable side, like when she does well on her exams or takes good care of her drums. Despite acting immature herself most of the time, Ritsu sometimes criticizes Yui's odd behavior or thoughts. |
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Ritsu first met Tsumugi when Tsumugi originally intended to join the choir club. Tsumugi later joined Light Music Club only after witnessing the "fun and painful interaction" between the Ritsu and Mio. Ritsu has usually been polite to Tsumugi. The only exception was when Tsumugi suggested that if Ritsu was male, she would be really popular among girls. It was the one and only time Ritsu hit Tsumugi on the head and shouted at her.
Although the two do not have the closest relationship among the members of the Light Music Club, Tsumugi has always enjoyed Ritsu's company. When the two ran into each other one day and decided to go out together , Ritsu brought Tsumugi to commoners' places like tuck shops and the arcade, as she knew that Tsumugi was a rich girl and rarely got to visit those places. Ritsu had once said that even without Mio, she still has Tsumugi to tutor her in her studies, meaning she sees Tsumugi as a very reliable person (unlike herself). Ritsu was shocked and speechless when she first found out in a phone conversation with Azusa that Tsumugi's house had a housekeeper. She is often amazed by Tsumugi's life standard which differs so much from her own. |
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After Yui, Ritsu is can be considered Azusa's next closest senpai (probably because of Ritsu's friendly nature as well). Whenever Azusa laughs about Ritsu or nags her about the Light Music Club, Ritsu pulls her into a choke-hold as punishment (which happened more often in the manga than in the anime).
Even though Azusa has badmouthed her senpai directly, calling Ritsu a "lazy and irresponsible leader", the drummer does not truly seem to mind such comments. Azusa has praised Ritsu's cooking, yet, in the same episode, Azusa was the one who pointed out Ritsu's father's underwear in the living room. Despite being often disappointed by the club president's irresponsibility, Azusa still holds some level of respect and admiration for Ritsu and the band's coherent performances. When Azusa first mentioned that she was joining the Light Music Club, Ritsu had practically pounced on her, ecstatic that they managed to 'capture' a new member. Ritsu and Yui have been scolded by Azusa numerous times when they were lazing around and procrastinating during their training sessions and camps. At the end of the series, Ritsu could be seen worried over Azusa being the only remaining member of the Light music club (although that would make her the club's president). Ritsu would act responsibly as the leader whenever the club needs to do something for their junior. The most memorable scenes were when Ritsu went all out trying to recruit freshmen for Azusa and when she initiated a performance with the other band members when Azusa was considering quitting the Light Music Club. |
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Ritsu and Satoshi are close siblings living together. Ritsu, as the older one, often plans activities with her little brother like going to the cinema. Satoshi is often troubled by Ritsu's forgetful nature and has to help her out in such situations. Despite lamenting over it, he is still willing to bail his sister out. The social life of his sister seems to interest Satoshi, as he is caught at least two times in front of her door when she had visitors (however, one time he blew his cover by laughing about his sister playing Juliet in her class' school act). Ritsu also has some authority over him as the older sister (as seen when he asked her if he could go visit a friend ). Satoshi is also an exceptionally reliable brother, going as far as to find and deliver Ritsu's student handbook to the passport registry for her. |
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Ritsu often sees Ms. Yamanaka as a feckless teacher and is more than once left speechless when Sawako talkas about her personal life. Despite Sawako being a teacher and is therefore an authority, the two tend to address each other casually. Ritsu was the first to call her "Sawa-chan" and is the member of HTT who is the most bold toward her (forcing her to become the supervisor of the Light Music Club, calling her an "idiot" after she yelled at Azusa, dressing her down for getting a hangover the morning of a trip, or trying to swallow a receipt that she had to give to Sawako). When she breaks out her Death Devil persona, however, Sawako assumes complete control of Ritsu and usually forces her to comply with the teacher's demands. |
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Nodoka and Ritsu did not get along very well initially due to Ritsu's laziness and her tendency to often forget to hand in forms for festivals and concerts. On top of that. Ritsu was envious of Nodoka since she saw Nodoka as a rival regarding her friendship with Mio. But since Nodoka was willing to shoulder Ritsu's fault (once again forgetting to hand out a form for the school concert) alongside her and explained that she had no intentions of taking Mio from her, Ritsu dropped her prejudices and the two have generally good relations. |
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Ritsu and Ui get along well. Ui respects Ritsu as a formidable upperclassmen despite her immature nature and is thankful to her for being such a good friend with her sister Yui. Ritsu is always amazed by Ui's housekeeping skills and told Yui more than once that she is envious and "also wants an Ui at home". At one time the two played video games together and Ui beat Ritsu in-game, much to the grief of the latter. |
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Ritsu and Maki are friends from middle school. They are still in contact despite attending different schools, seen when Maki invites Ritsu and her band over to play at a Live House. When the two groups met coincidentally in London, Ritsu was elated to see a familiar face. |
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Ritsu and Ayame got along the moment they first met since both share a similar personality and are also very alike in other sectors like, for example, clothing. Ayame likes Ritsu's outspoken personality, especially towards Akira. The two also share another physical trait, namely their flat chests and constantly need to cheer up the other because of it, especially when Mio and Sachi are around. |
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Ritsu and Megumi became close friends even though the latter was already attending university. Since Ritsu wants to visit the same university, she asked Megumi to lend her important material, which Megumi gladly did. The two hang out so often that Mio thought that Ritsu had a boyfriend. |
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Ritsu and Jun know each other through Azusa (however Ritsu tends to forget Jun's surname and calls her "Sasaki"). Jun's first thought about Ritsu were that she seems like a "very cool" person. Her point of view was corrected, however, by Nodoka who scolded Ritsu for forgetting to hand out a request form. |