Hanamaru

Hanamaru Kunikida is a main character in Love Live! Sunshine!!. She is a second-year student at Numazu High School. She is a member of AZALEA, a sub-unit under Aqours. Her image color is yellow.

She was a first-year student at both Uranohoshi Girls' High School prior to its closure and Seishin High School (albeit temporarily) before fully integrated into Numazu High.

Background

Hanamaru, known as "Maru" for short (by herself and her friends), is a first year student and the daughter of a family who has run a nearby temple for generations. She lives with her grandparents, and since she does not have a computer, she often reads a lot. Hanamaru is Ruby Kurosawa's best friend, and both are often seen near the other. She also attended the same kindergarten as Yoshiko Tsushima, also one of her friends.

Hanamaru has a distinctive verbal tic and dialect, tending to end her sentences with "zura" (ずら), as well as using "ora" as a first-person pronoun to refer to herself.

In the anime, in the first episode, Hanamaru and Ruby are quickly approached by Chika Takami, who invites them to be school idols. Confused, Hanamaru quickly dismisses the invitation. It is later revealed in Season 1 Episode 4 that Hanamaru actually was interested in school idols, especially after seeing a picture of Rin Hoshizora from µ's, but couldn't bring herself to being a school idol herself because of her appearance and lack of physical condition. She talks Ruby's sister, Dia Kurosawa, into paying attention to what her sister actually wants, which was being a school idol. After Ruby joins Aqours, she tells Hanamaru about the story of Rin and µ's, and Hanamaru finally decides to join Aqours, supporting Ruby in her endeavor.


Personality

Hanamaru is a hardworking girl who diligently works at her family's temple. She spends a lot of time reading alone and is easily distracted by books. Since she was raised as a temple girl, Hanamaru does not watch television much, nor does she use the internet, making her outdated. Because of this, she is fascinated with modern technology, yelling her catchphrase "Mirai zura!" (未来ずら "It's the future, zura!") when she sees something advanced such as a computer. She was often teased due to this, but was usually defended by her best friend Ruby; however, the first time it happened, Ruby ended up crying, causing Hanamaru to comfort her instead.

Hanamaru seems to be quite self-depreciating, calling herself a "chibi procrastinator" and "neither cute nor interesting". She aspires to be like Ruby, whom she sees as "beautiful, cute and dazzling". She is also gentle and caring for those around her. Despite her appearance, Hanamaru is also smart and not easily fooled.

Due to the fact the Second Years are considered "the heart" of Aqours, Hanamaru has some difficulty relating to the Third Years, which is shared with Yoshiko; this is due to her preference for the indoors and for calmer activities. Season 2 Episode 2 explores this, and after a rainy evening forces the girls to stay indoors, the First and Third Years are able to relate to the others, with Hanamaru seemingly relating to Kanan Matsuura the most.

Hanamaru is shown to have a playful and mischievous side; this is especially present when she teases Yoshiko's Fallen Angel behavior and her embarrassing moments (often alongside Ruby), which annoys Yoshiko all the time. She has a surprisingly large appetite, able to eat a food helping quickly and often asking for another one immediately after, and is usually seen eating sweets in the background, the most common of them being a roll of noppo bread.

In Season 1 Episode 4, Hanamaru stated that since she was little, she was a quiet girl who played off to the side.


Clubs and Hobbies

She is a gifted singer, earning her a spot in a choir. She loves reading and has a deep fondness for Japanese literature, often spending most of her time in the school library, which she helps out at. Her ambition is to become a writer some day.