Hotaru Imai

nihongo|Hotaru Imai|今井 蛍|Imai Hotaru is a fictional character from the manga and anime series "Alice Academy".

Background

Hotaru Imai is Mikan Sakura's best friend. She met Mikan during fourth grade when she moved into the country. She went to Alice Academy partly because they gave out money and she wanted to pay her old school's dues, so it wouldn't be demolished. As an Alice, her parents were state-bound to enroll her in the Academy. So, to an extent, they probably got tired of evading the government, too. She wanted to go for the position of 'Honor Roll Student' so she could go home to visit Mikan and her parents.

She was transferred to Alice Academy during Spring time, as revealed in the manga. She was given a two star rank because she has a good reputation. On her first day of class, she didn't bother to talk to anybody. The next day she wore an egg helmet to hide her face and her classmates were surprised that she made the egg helmet in one day. The first one to ever befriend her was Yū Tobita a.k.a.Iinchō, the class representative. Some friends of Natsume's, or more like followers, disliked Hotaru for her arrogant attitude. Because of this, she had to arm herself with weapons to protect her from the attacks of her classmates. Due to the trouble she caused with them, she got scolded by Jinno-sensei a lot.

Later, she was promoted to three stars, but she was not happy. She was thinking of her family and of course, Mikan.

As Iinchō stated, the first time Hotaru ever smiled ever since she came to the Academy was the day Mikan arrived.

Hotaru also knows that both Natsume Hyūga and Ruka Nogi have crushes on Mikan, and sometimes tortures the pair about it. Hotaru has also realized Mikan's budding feeling for Natsume, feelings not even Mikan herself knows about. Hotaru protects Mikan from Luna Koizumi by pretending to befriend Luna.

Personality

She is extremely intelligent and rational. During the story, though she may appear to be rather cold and indifferent on the surface, it is apparent that she genuinely cares for Mikan. Hotaru breaks the fourth wall by teaching the audience about her inventions. The other characters see her explaining her inventions to apparently no one. Hotaru is labeled as weird, odd, and rather strange by other students, and sometimes she can be arrogant and has a bad-mouth (as described by the author)"Alice Academy" Manga] , which others find irritating.

She also tends to be fairly "sassy" through the variety of things she either does to bully Mikan, or punish others who bully her. Though, she does has some "stupid" points; her constant eating habits and her greedy side that causes her to make inventions that need a toll payment. She tends to be a "pig" when it comes to food and has a particular liking in seafoods. Hotaru is very lazy, as she has her inventions to do her work for her. Because she has no talent in swimming, other students teased her for having a 'Non-swimming Alice'.

As an enterprising student, she likes blackmailing people, most particularly of Ruka. She takes pictures of him showing his gentler side, probably to cater to the girls (and some guys) in the school, who would buy them (although it's also known that animals had performed little favors or paid her for those pictures as well). She does not only take photos of him, though, when a returning alumni and current famous actor, Reo, shows up, she makes sure she is at a vantage point to get good photos. She complains that the effect is, however, rather ruined when Mikan somehow falls into Reo's path.

Relationships

Mikan Sakura

Hotaru may bully Mikan a lot, but she actually cares for her. She has a strange way of showing her affections towards Mikan, which could be either painful or not. Mikan's smile always enlightens her, and she always tells Mikan to smile. She doesn't let Mikan hug her easily, and she would usually avoid her. She doesn't tolerate people who bullies Mikan, as proven when she hit a guy that was about to punch Mikan. She stated that she is the only one who can make Mikan cry. Hotaru enjoys bullying the person she likes, especially Mikan, and loves to see her pained expression, which she considers cute.

When she left for the Academy, she grew sad and refused to smile. It was clear that she missed Mikan a lot, and in the anime, she even built a robot to look exactly like Mikan (Amanatsu). In the manga, she invented a robot penguin which has the personality of Mikan.

Hotaru can be very protective of Mikan and she just enjoys teasing, or more like, torturing her many admirers, namely Natsume and mostly Ruka. She had always admired Mikan's strong will and ability to smile always. For her, Mikan is her most valued treasure.

Subaru Imai

Subaru is the older brother of Hotaru. He is a member of the student council and a Special Star student. They share similarities in terms of personality. Like Hotaru, Subaru is also cold and rational, and he doesn't hesitate to insult Hotaru and others, though he's softened up when it comes to Mikan. Even though they may not show it, they actually care for one another. In the Valentine's Day chapter, Hotaru is seen giving her chocolates to Subaru. She also danced with him during the Christmas Party, though they were really trying to step on each other's feet.

Alice

Hotaru's Alice is Invention, and during her time at the country with Mikan and her grandfather, she created many strange but useful inventions, often made to look like animals.

When Hotaru makes something, it always has fine mechanics, but somehow her idea changes into a strange power and takes over the object. Hotaru's Alice is very common and it attracts a lot of firm's attention. But her Alice has its ups and down. Most of the time, she makes inventions for pranks or to help her to be lazy."Alice Academy" Manga Chapter 04]

She has the same Alice as a middle school boy, although he is a 'Double Star' and she is a 'Triple Star' (the second-highest star rank in the Academy, next to 'Specials' like Natsume), partly because more people buy her inventions.

Her alice gave her many fans, just like her brother. On new years there were many cards sent to her.

Inventions and The Spy Infiltration Specialty Set

In the anime, a lot of her inventions are shown.Also the Spy Infiltration Specialty Set contains miscellaneous items. The kit also includes the Fragrant Pig Nose (see above for details).

References

See also

* List of Alice Academy characters
* Alice Academy