------ - - - -  -  -  - >  Character Information // Kurata Misako

Kurata Misako. An extraordinary mother, writer, schemer, eavesdropper, and avoider of deadlines. If anything, Misako is anything but your average person. Her hair style from the very beginning proves this. You think you know strange hairstyles? You haven't seen anything yet until you've seen Misako's. She's got a squirrel living up there, for starters. Misako is a famous writer and has gotten an Aoki Award for her book, "The Gigolo and I," which is a story about her ex-husband.

Misako was a normal woman living in Japan when she learned from the doctors that the chance of her having a baby was only 5%. She was very saddened by the news and decided to drop her ordinary life to become extraordinary. She started off with getting a different haircut, one that was unlike any other, and then soon found herself skipping and singing along the streets. She didn't mind the stares that everyone was giving her. She was her own person; different from the rest. She's definitely not average.

Misako-sensei is an amazing woman. She's more like a friend to Sana than a mother, and they always joke and talk together. Misako-sensei once said how Sana was the only person that truly understood and accepted the way that she was. They really have a great relationship. Though Misako jokes a lot of the time and has a very casual, friend-like relationship with Sana, she's still a mother and supports her when support is needed. In return, Sana supports her mother also. Misako often says, "I didn't raise my daughter to get easily upset over something so little." Misako has a never-die attitude, and this has been incorporated somewhat into Sana. She taught Sana to never give up, and to always keep her self, even through the tough times. She taught Sana to never back down; that a tough situation is a challenge, and you have to accept it and pass it. Misako never backs down from anything and teaches Sana to do the same; to be strong.

For example, when Sana was battling against Hayama, the biggest troublemaker in their grade, Misako didn't tell Sana that it might be a bit dangerous clashing with him, but instead got very interested in the whole situation. She got that evil, scheming gleam in her eye and that imagination which made her a writer started cranking. She didn't worry about Sana because she knew she raised Sana to be strong enough on her own to meet the challenge of stopping Hayama and his minions wrecking the classroom. And when Misako found out that Hayama stole a kiss from Sana, she invited him to their house to see just what kind of person he was. He came in and sat, and Misako said to him, "So, you're Hayama-kun. You forced a kiss upon my daughter, didn't you? Now listen, I have one thing to say to you: You must continue doing things like this! It's fun! End of lecture!"

At the same time, Misako is a kid at heart. There are times when she is very mature, but deep down, she's still got her sense of childhood. The tough times that Sana goes through, Misako knows they're natural and that they'll come as she grows up. She lets Sana live out her childhood as she wishes to and lets her take care of problems and decisions on her own. Sana's acting career is all her own choice. Misako doesn't influence Sana when she's having a hard time deciding if she still wants to continue being an actress or not. The choice is completely Sana's to make, as it is her life. Of course, Misako's always available if Sana needs advice or help, but never forces her advice on Sana and lets her learn on her own. Misako's a strong believer in the idea that going through and making mistakes is the best way to learn through life.

Atop Misako's head among her crazy haircut, lives a squirrel named Maro-chan. Misako's hair changes day to day, and often mirrors the situation that she's in. For example, when she went to New York, her haircut consisted of the Empire State Building. Sometimes her hair is a plain house for Maro-chan to reside in, while other times there's a carousel and a tower, or a rocket ship that blasts off, covering everything in smoke. Maro-chan himself is quite the smart one. He goes to the bathroom on a leaf instead of on Misako-sensei's head, and wipes himself. He's sometimes found building stuff such as the rocket ship, houses, or signs on top of Misako-sensei's head. They're quite a combination, those two.

At home, Misako spends most of her time riding around in a small red car and running away from her editor Onda, avoiding the deadline for some manuscript or another. Onda, her poor editor, spends forever trying to get her writing turned in on time, while she just laughs evilly and drives away from him, enjoying herself while the poor guy nearly passes out from trying to catch her. She taunts him a lot of the time, teasing him with all the weird gadgets that are in the house and burst from the top of her head. She's quite a tricky one when it comes to meeting the deadline; she'll do anything to avoid Onda at all costs. It's not too rare seeing Onda run over by her red car. :P Often times he whines at her, saying that if she doesn't give him the manuscript, he'll have to stay late at work again, or his boss will torture him some way or another. :P It's a normal scene in the Kurata household to see Misako running away from a groveling Onda.

Now, Misako wasn't always a single mother. There's a man that comes and visits the Kurata residence every once in a while. Motodana Yousuke: Misako's ex-husband. He arrives being a smart-ass, not ashamed at all of his awful habit of gambling, and asking for money. He sees an expensive vase and his eyes gleam, asking if he can take it. An oriental rug? Same thing. Anything to provide him with money to fuel his gambling habit. Sana and Misako graciously invite him in (Misako saying that she needs some exercise :P), and the three sit in the living room with him. Yousuke at first flatters them both by saying how beautiful they are, then goes onto begging both of them for money, Sana included. He offers to double or triple the amount afterwards with that sleazy smile on his face. Meanwhile Misako is getting angrier by the second and Sana's enjoying herself to the fullest watching him beg.

After Misako's finally had enough of Yousuke, she gets a giant remote-control out and straps him onto the chair that he's sitting in. She makes the chair spin, then it goes out of control and flies out the door and up the stairs, with her ex-husband still in it. Misako and Sana follow in the small red car and there's a high speed chase through the house. Then the chair throws him off and Yousuke finds himself caught in a bungee-jumping set.

Then, with him still begging them for expensive items, Misako and Sana drop him into a big box, and shoot him off into the horizon, sparkling salt out from behind him. Rei is shocked and asks why they invited him in when they were going to kick him out like that, when Misako replies: "He reminds me of how foolish I was when I was young. Then I regain my determination!" And laughs triumphantly. Obviously she feels marrying him was a huge mistake. Rei makes a note to never piss neither Misako nor Sana off. :P If Misako's mind is set on it, she can be ruthless.

Now, if there's one person that Misako has a liking for, it's Hayama. She says to him when she first meets him, "I see. You have good eyes. I've grown to like you. From now on, I leave my daughter in your hands." In return, Hayama respects her like he respects no other adult. He actually uses a formal way of talking, instead of being a smart ass and using a very informal speech, which is what he does all the time. Hayama doesn't believe that adults should get respect unless they deserve it, and he seems to think Misako to be worthy of his respect. :P It's hard to explain, but Misako is one of those people that you want to respect, and you want to get to know. You want to be close to her. She's got that charisma that draws people to her.

Misako is sane. She's so sane that she's insane. Her advice may seem crazy to other "normal" people, but it's the most sane advice you can get. "School isn't going anywhere. I don't care if you're tardy or not, you can't leave until you eat your breakfast." she tells Sana when she's late to school one day. How much sense does that make? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Sana's in a time of growth. She needs her breakfast. Instead of saying, "Hurry up and get to school, you're late!" Misako makes perfect sense in that unexpected way. Misako's got a way of looking at life that is very laid back. While other people may spazz out about the small things in life, getting bent out of shape over them, Misako can see that they're not that significant. So what if Sana's tardy to school a few minutes? Breakfast is still important. This problem will pass. When Sana gets caught up in a situation that seems very hard to handle, Misako knows that even though it feels like the world is falling apart for Sana, it will soon pass. She knows that growing up is like that. Misako's able to see her life in an observer's point of view, and pick out what things are worth getting bent out of shape about, and what things aren't.

Most often when Sana's going through tough times, Misako's the neutral support that always helps her out. Misako brings Sana a sense of peace and brings her down to earth whenever she arrives at the scene. When Sana was out in the mountains for two months shooting a film with Naozumi, she got very stressed out. Misako realized how Sana was feeling and got a helicopter to go and see her. She gave Sana a remedy of putting her problems in perspective, and soon Sana was able to sort her feelings out. Once her work there was done and everything was in order, Misako left, Onda once again at her heels, begging her for her manuscript. :P She's not only very helpful to Sana when her daughter needs it, but protective, too. She says something to the extent of, "If Sana is hurt in the least while I'm gone, you're a dead man." to Rei, scaring the living daylights out of him. :P

Misako is an amazing woman with personality. She's one of my most favorite characters. She's got that flair to her, with both childlike comedy and adult like maturity mixed into one person. Misako doesn't take the little problems in life seriously and always has lighthearted and insane comedy following her wherever she goes. Yet when the time calls for it, she's strong and knows what she's doing. She's unexpected and downright awesome.

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