Tomo Takino

Infobox animanga character
name = Tomo Takino
series = Azumanga Daioh


caption = Tomo in a color insert from "Azumanga Daioh".
first =
last =
creator = Kiyohiko Azuma
voiced by = Voice Roles
nickname =
alias = "The Wildcat Numbskull Girl"
age = 15-17
gender = Female
species = Human
born =
death =
nationality = Japanese
class =
occupation = Student
title =
relatives = nihongo|Tomo Takino|滝野 智|"Takino Tomo" is a fictional character from the anime and manga series "Azumanga Daioh".

Biography

Tomo is a very hyper energetic and competitive girl, despite being nonathletic and a slacker. She is extremely impulsive and never considers—nor cares about—the consequences of anything she says or does. This usually irritates those around her, especially Yomi, her classmate since elementary school. Because of this, and her usually awful test scores (in which she has a perverse pride), she is the de facto leader of the "Bonkuras" (translated as "Knuckleheads" in the anime and "Numbnuts" in the manga), along with Osaka and Kagura. She is, however, capable of doing well if she tries—though the only notable instance of this is getting admitted to their prestigious high school, and she only did this to annoy Yomi. She also likes to irritate Yomi by teasing her about her weight insecurity- Even to the point of working out Yomi wrote into a radio show under the name "Little Tearful Diet Girl", much to Yomi's chargin. Tomo's favourite foods are fried chicken, egg roll and meat-balls. Tomo once did a breif role as Lord Magistrate in episode 14.

In fact, she spends much of her energy on annoying others. During the second trip to Chiyo's summer home, Tomo grabbed Chiyo's house keys and flung them into the overgrown yard to see what would happen if they lost them. She constantly makes fun of the rest of the girls, particularly Chiyo for being a kid. However, Tomo cares for her friends in her own way, as shown in near the series conclusion when she starts what becomes a standing ovation for Chiyo when she's is honored as the top of the class. She also attempted to cheer Kagura up after unintentionally making her feel guilty when they were preparing for the third year Sports Festival. Tomo is also a delusional egomaniac who constantly imagines that she is competing with others, even when no comparison can be made. For example, she frequently challenges the athletic Sakaki in races (which Sakaki easily wins), and expects to be named valedictorian despite her consistently poor grades. In the manga, when Chiyo announces that she is turning 12 years old, Tomo proclaims she is already 17, as if that were an accomplishment. She is a fan of the manga and anime series "Lupin III" and sometimes compares herself to the sexy Fujiko Mine, despite being completely different in appearance and personality.

Tomo gave Ayumu Kasuga the nickname "Osaka" because she came from Osaka. In the manga, she creates other obvious names: she once had a hamster named Hamu and now owns a dog named Kuro, meaning "black" (in translation, this was changed to a cat named Whiskers and a dog named Spot). Tomo frequently refers to manzai comedians, and expects Osaka to join in ("manzai" being a form of stand-up comedy particularly associated with the Osaka region).

Tomo is more interested in dirty stories and sexuality in general than the rest of the cast, and asks the adults for "information" during the summer retreats (once getting sordid results from a drunken Minamo). Dirty jokes are Tomo's forte, including a particularly nasty one in the manga only, when Yukari and Minamo appeared in their old school uniforms during the third year Sports Festival, threatening to arrest them on prostitution charges. Despite her interest, Tomo remains as boyfriend-less as the rest of the girls.

Tomo is the assistant class representative despite her poor grades, because no one else volunteered. When the girls enter senior year, Tomo announces plans to become a policewoman, even one day entering Interpol (like Lupin's nemesis, Inspector Zenigata in "Lupin III") despite having no idea how to get started as an Interpol agent. She does, however, successfully pass a university entrance exam—before Yomi did, much to the latter's dismay.

Tomo's surname means 'waterfall field.' and her given name means 'Knowledge, Intelligence' (ironically.) She's 154 cm tall.

imilarities between Tomo and Yukari

Tomo's personality is similar to that of her teacher, Yukari, in parallel to Yomi's similarity to Minamo. Tomo and Yomi's antagonistic friendship is often compared to the teachers' and it is suggested the girls will grow up to be similar to their teachers. Tomo is the only student who actually "enjoys" riding with Yukari when she drives. Tomo and Yukari also share a love of video-games, and often Tomo speculates Yukari is late to class because she's out buying a game. While Yomi dismisses these theories, they usually turn out to be correct.Tomo and Yukari have a love-hate relationship, where Tomo is often the bane of Yukari's existence, despite their sometimes similar personalities. One of Tomo's stated dreams is to "mess with the teacher". Despite the similarities between the two, Tomo is much more upbeat and optimistic compared to Yukari, who often complains in general.

Trivia

*Tomo's cellphone's ringtone is one of her character songs, "Poi Poi Peace".
*Tomo is also a fan of "Ayu" (Ayumi Hamasaki), and re-did her hairstyle to look almost like Ayu's when entering into her third year. According to the manga, Tomo is also a fan of Ryoko Hirosue.

Voice actors

;Japanese "(television series and movie)":Chieko Higuchi;Japanese "("Azumanga Web Daioh" short)": Tomoe Hanba;English: Mandy Clark

Character songs

*"Poi Poi Peace" Words by Aki Hata, music by Kosuke Kanai
*"Sora wa Tobikiri Paradise" Words by Aki Hata, music by Masumi Itō