I've only been part of the Bandori fandom since its WW release, but Misaki has already wormed her way into my heart with a speed and intensity that's frankly terrifying. If given the time, I could scream about her for days on end, but I've tried my best to condense it all down to something that's vaguely coherent, haha. This is very long, but I worked hard on it, so it would make me really happy if y'all could read it and give me a chance to explain how deserving Misaki is of your love ♡.
Here goes~
Let's start off with a quick introduction! Okusawa Misaki is a first year at Hanasakigawa Girls' High School, in the same class as Kokoro. She is a Libra, and her birthday is on October 1st, ironically making her the youngest member of Harohapi. Her favourite food is anything from a family restaurant, since anything on their menus is a safe and tasty choice! On the other hand, she won't eat anything with cilantro in it. She's in the tennis club, and sews felt dolls for her little sister in her spare time. She's also taught the rest of HaroHapi to make them - they all gave Kanon felt dolls for her birthday recently! Misaki's motto for living life is "nanigoto mo hodohodo ga ii" (everything in moderation) - she doesn't like exerting herself. But that seems to have changed since joining HaroHapi, even if she won't admit it~
Misaki was training for her part time job - handing out flyers in the Michelle costume - when she was involuntarily scouted by Kokoro to become the DJ of Hello, Happy World! She had quite a rocky start with them at first, with Kokoro forgetting her name all the time and the sanbaka not hiding the fact that they liked Michelle much more than her.
Despite all this, despite the fact that she didn't join of her own volition, and even despite the fact that she likes to live life moderately, Misaki works so, so ridiculously hard for the band! She regularly does a physically strenuous activity like DJ-ing in an extremely hot and heavy suit, she writes both the songs and lyrics for HHW (based on Kokoro's ideas, but she might as well be speaking an alien language for how hard Misaki has to work to decipher them, haha), she books all their studio rehearsals and lives, she endures the loneliness and alienation of having to live a double life, and she does all this knowing her efforts will never be fully recognised, as long as the sanbaka don't know she's Michelle. When I first saw Misaki, her DJ and soft futch aesthetic made her stand out to me, but it was really the way she does so much and never asks for anything in return that cemented her as my best girl! (There's this one live interaction in which Kanon calls out, "Misaki-chan!" (not "Michelle", like the rest of HaroHapi), and Misaki answers, "Thank you, Kanon-san..." in such an exhausted and sad voice that my heart just broke???)
Joining HaroHapi has been really good for Misaki, though! It's so inspiring and heart-warming to watch her character develop so wholesomely because of the band ♡. Misaki used to be a very mild person who didn't get passionate about many things, and who tended to dismiss things as impossible before she tried them. But HaroHapi has really expanded her world~ It's so cute to see how fired up she was in the Hello, My Happy World event, even going so far as to help with maintenance to secure the live venue! Not only that - Misaki has also become more patient and more of a creative thinker from dealing with the sanbaka. DJ-ing inside Michelle has even made her a better dancer and tennis player!
Having said all of this, it's so, so evident that despite how pessimistic and tsundere Misaki acts, she loves her band with all her heart. When the suits were going to arrange a live for HHW, Misaki remembered Kokoro's earnest feelings of wanting to rely on their own efforts and stopped them. When she's out shopping, Misaki thinks to buy gifts for her band members to make them happy! She willingly changed into her Michelle persona to calm her band members down when they were nervous before a live. She even cried when she admitted that she hated seeing the HaroHapi members sad (look at that red face and frustrated pout!! So cute aaa...) The Hello, My Happy World event is also incredibly significant in showing this. Misaki admits that seeing HHW happy makes her happy, that she likes doing lives with them, and outright says that she treasures them! (You know I astral projected into the stars in this moment, lmao.) Her love for her band is just so precious, and it's a huge part of why I love her so much~
Now that I've gotten the big stuff out of the way, here's a list of Misaki's quirks that I find endearing, and which really round out her character!
- She has a strong sense of responsibility! In the beginning, Misaki only stayed in the band because she didn't want to leave Kanon at the mercy of Kokoro's antics. Misaki also worked really hard organising the live in the Hello, My Happy World event because she was the one to suggest it. And this hilarious 1koma as well~
- Despite how blunt she can be at times, Misaki really cares about the people around her. She tried to reassure Hagumi when she was worried about liking girly things! And she's especially supportive of and gentle with shyer people like Kanon and Rimi. She praises Kanon's playing, is considerate of her tiredness after the Phantom Thief events, and helps her find her way when she gets lost! (Which is pretty often, poor Kanon, haha.) And Misaki's voice is always so gentle and warm in her live interactions with Rimi, it makes my heart flutter~
- Misaki is an amazing big sister who's really good with kids! She loves making felt dolls for her little sister, and tries to preserve Hagumi's innocence, which ends up with her inventing this ridiculously endearing Michelle persona. Misaki is truly the mum friend of HaroHapi! (Funny when you remember she's the youngest, isn't it?)
- Not a quirk, but I think there really can't be a better seiyuu for Misaki than Kurosawa Tomoyo. She brings out every facet of Misaki's character perfectly - her low-pitched, cynical internal monologue, the awkward stiltedness of her love confession in Phantom Thief and her Michelle persona, the gentle and patient tone she uses for Kanon and Rimi, and even the rare moments when she's happy or excited! Moyochi's voice for Misaki is so beautifully husky and honey-smooth~ i'm jsut.......... gay y'all
- Misaki isn't good with displays of affection and gets flustered super easily! Her blushing face is just too cute~ ♡
- Despite her straightforward manner, Misaki is surprisingly conscious of etiquette! She won't call Kanon without the -san honorific just because she's her senpai.
- She doesn't really have much self-esteem - she thinks it's amazing that people can remember her birthday, and believes she's too ordinary to shine on stage with HaroHapi as herself, which is why she won't get out of Michelle. This hurts my heart a lot because I think Misaki is so incredible and shines so brightly and deserves everything I JUST WANNA GIVE HER A HUG AND TELL HER SHE MEANS THE WORLD... ;;;u;;;;
- Her sarcastic smile is so cute, yet strangely terrifying...?
- "I'm green and I don't want to talk about it."
- Look at her adorable smirk!!
- She has a super cute friendship with Arisa, which began in the Sakura Blooming event. They bond over how much of a handful the vocalists of their respective bands are!
- She doesn't own any formal clothing, so attended a Tsurumaki family function (with some of Japan's most important people on the guest list) in her school uniform, haha~
- She just?? carries around an abacus for whatever reason??? Lmao
Anyway, I think this got way more incoherent towards the end, sorry about that! There are a thousand more reasons to love Misaki that I could name, but this has gone on for long enough, holy crap. Seriously, if you've made it this far, you deserve a gold medal and ALL OF MY LOVE.
I just hope I've managed to bump Misaki a few ranks up in all of your lists, or at least gotten y'all to appreciate her more as a character! There can never be enough love for Misaki~ ♡
EDIT: I totally forgot to say this, but do you ever just think about how ridiculously amazing and talented Misaki is as a DJ and composer? She literally learned something as complicated as DJ-ing in less than a month (assuming that's how much time passed before HaroHapi's first live)! And if you've listened to any HHW song, you'll hear that they're far from simple songs?? HaroHapi is the band with the most complex instrumentation that goes far beyond just the typical rock band arrangement - they have horns, strings, basically a full orchestra in most of their songs! Just how incredible is Misaki to have learned such complex orchestration and composition techniques in such a short time?
I'm a composition student, and let me tell you, it is NOT EASY. I'm not joking when I say I had a breakdown in the process of writing a relatively simple flute-clarinet duet for an assignment, simply because I wasn't familiar with either instrument and the sheer scope of research I needed to do to write well for them was overwhelming. I'm pretty damn sure Misaki doesn't play every single instrument in the orchestra, so to quickly pick up on composing for a whole ensemble, and so sophisticatedly at that, is just unbelievable. NOT ONLY THAT, she also probably had to learn to create the tracks electronically in a music production program, and then mix/master everything so it's ready to be played from her DJ turntables. Y'all I just... can't find the words to describe how much I love this incredible girl sometimes... i cry myself to sleep thinking about one (1) okusawa misaki every night
