

Even though she's an elementary school student, she is very reliable and cooks nearly every meal for Yamazakura. Chika Tanaka ( 田中知香, Tanaka Chika) Voiced by: Chika Sakamoto Yamazakura's orphaned niece. She ends up with new teacher, Somei, who falls for her once she finds out that she is one of the only women who he is not deathly afraid of other than his mother. After she is rejected by Yamazakura, she takes a hiatus from softball but soon returns for the team rather than for Yamazakura. She has a crush on Coach Yamazakura, and manages to date him by agreeing to join the softball club. Ayako Sawamura ( 沢村 亜矢子, Sawamura Ayako) Voiced by: Hiroko Emori A rough, aloof girl who is the only person who can catch Minatsu's pitching. At the end of the anime series, he and Minatsu are married. He has a preoccupation with the female behind, and frequently gives unwanted attention to female students at the school.
STRID EMANGA PROFESSIONAL
While in college, he worked toward becoming a professional boxer but gave up this dream after his sister died in order to take care of his sister's daughter, Chika. Kango Yamazakura ( 山桜監悟, Yamazakura Kango) Voiced by: Akira Kamiya A teacher at Asaoka High School and advisor to both the softball and boxing clubs. He falls in love at first sight with Minatsu's alter ego Maria, and becomes Shū's rival in boxing and in trying to win Minatsu's affections after learning that Maria and Minatsu are the same person. He lives in the same apartment building as Minatsu but attends a different school, in a different grade. Naoto Kadomatsu ( 門松 直人, Kadomatsu Naoto) Voiced by: Ryō Horikawa A third-year student at Jōsei High School and a member of its boxing club. He is in love with Minatsu, and in rivalry with Naoto Kadomatsu joins the boxing club, working hard to try to beat him in order to win Minatsu's affection. His father is a company president and he has a light-hearted, somewhat irresponsible personality. Shū Akiba ( 秋葉 習, Akiba Shū) Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi A boy in the same class as Minatsu and a member of the Asaoka High School boxing club. In the anime, she falls for and marries Kango Yamazakura. She tends to be curt and somewhat rough in her manners.
STRID EMANGA PRO
Her father is a lesser-known pro wrestler. As her disguised alter ego Maria Sudō, she evades some local gangsters and is pursued by Naoto Kadomatsu, who lives in the same apartment building. She is the object of affection of both her classmate Shū Akiba and Coach Yamazakura. Her plans for evading their pursuits of her grow increasingly convoluted, even involving taking on alternate identities.Ĭharacters Minatsu Nakazato ( 中里 美夏, Nakazato Minatsu) / Maria Sudō ( 須藤 麻里亜, Sudō Maria) Voiced by: Minami Takayama A student at Asaoka High School and pitching ace for the softball club. It follows Minatsu Nakazato, a popular high-school girl, as she deals with the unwanted romantic attentions of multiple boys and a teacher. Slow Step is a romantic comedy boxing and softball manga by Mitsuru Adachi.
