| Tachibana Mei | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Kanji | 橘 めい | |
| Romanji | Tachibana Mei | |
| Characteristics | ||
| Age | 16 17 |
|
| Birthday | December 25th | |
| Sign | Capricorn | |
| Gender | Female | |
| Personal Status | ||
| School | Toumei High School | |
| Occupation | High School Student | |
| Relatives | Mother Father (Deceased) | |
| First appearance | ||
| Manga Debut | Chapter 1 | |
| Anime Debut | Episode 1 | |
| Voices | ||
| Seiyū | Ai Kayano | |
Mei Tachibana (橘 めい Tachibana Mei) is the female protagonist of the Say I Love You manga and anime series. She is Yamato's love interest and current girlfriend.
Appearance
Mei is a young teenage girl with fair skin, brown hair and brown eyes. She could be considered rather pretty (judging from the Stalker incident), but this is not officially confirmed.
She is quite thin and appears to slump over slightly. Mei rarely smiles, but she is frequently seen blushing when she is around Yamato.
At the beginning of the series her hair is in a short, leveled hime-cut style with bangs just above her forehead, she has chin-length strands framing both sides of her face. Over time, she allows her hair to grow, and it now reaches down to her shoulders with straight bangs covering her forehead.
Mei is usually seen wearing her school uniform, but outside of school, she usually wears casual clothing.
Personality
At first, Mei is someone who is very cynical of others. She is very bitter and unsociable, and she tries to distance herself from everyone so she doesn't get hurt. She gets embarrassed very easily, a trait that has stayed with her the entire manga, and is very aggressive when provoked. She doesn't seem to have much self confidence at the start either.
As time goes on though, her personality begins to change. She becomes more accepting of the people around her, which helps her make friends again. She grows to be more social and starts to become closer to others. This is proven when Megumi befriends Asami and Aiko in order to leave Mei without friends. Despite this change in her personality, Mei continues to be as clumsy, observant and honest as she was in the beginning.
Mei also begins to help people who are in situations similar to the ones she has experienced and tries to give out advice every now and then. She has become more confident and is willing to express what she has to say.
History
When Mei was little she had friends who she trusted. However, when the classroom pet died, her 'friends' turned against her. They blamed her for the pet's death, but Mei was not the one responsible and the true culprits were her 'friends.' This experience greatly impacted Mei's life as she learned that people turn against each other, and therefore she learned its better not to trust anyone at all.
Plot
Mei is a quiet girl who was reclusive and did not talk much during school. She never had a boyfriend, and has not had friends since the death of the class pet. This is due to the fact she believes people are quick to betray one another, therefore she does not need them. Her so-called friends called her "freakishly gloomy" and they believed they never heard her voice.
One day, Kenji Nakanishi accidentally pushes her to the floor, causing her hands to bleed a bit (in the manga, Nakanishi is the one who pushes her in order to make Yamato laugh). However, she does not say anything and just walks away. Not long after, Kenji sees her again on a staircase and he tries to see her underwear. When Yamato Kurosawa tries to stop him, Mei turns around and accidentally kicks Yamato which causes him to fall, yelling at him to leave her alone. Some of the other girls yell back at her and ask her to apologize since Nakanishi is the culprit, not Yamato. However, he just laughs and says that she is interesting.
When Mei goes to put on her shoes after school shortly after that incident, some letters drop from her locker saying that she should apologize to Yamato and calling her a b***h. When she turns around, she sees Yamato is already there and he asks her if she is okay. She finally apologizes to him and gives him some bandages. Yamato says that she is interesting and he wants to get to know her better. He asks her for her mobile number, which she reluctantly refuses to give. Despite this, Yamato writes his number on a piece of paper and gives it to her. She asks herself what to do with his number but decides to do nothing.
A few days pass and Mei doesn't call or text, which makes him curious. He meets her at school and asks why, but she says that she hates phones and that she doesn't need friends in her life. She shows him her contact list, which only contains the numbers of her home and work place.
When Mei finishes her part-time job at the Bakery Farm, she realizes that she is being stalked by a regular customer. She tries to walk faster and finally ends up at a drugstore to protect herself. She calls her home a few times but nobody answers, thus making her panic even more. She waits for the stalker to go away but to no avail. Feeling desperate, she finally calls Yamato and asks for his help. He rushes to where Mei is, cancelling his karaoke date with some popular friends, and calmly solves the problem by acting as her boyfriend and kissing her, which makes the stalker go away. Mei screams as it is her first kiss, but Yamato just laughs and says that he's happy to know that Mei called him. Finally, she accepts it as a kiss that helped her.
At school, Yamato and his friends (including Asami Oikawa) approach Mei and ask her to join in on some karaoke, which she agrees to. Some of Yamato's friends, including Aiko Mutō are shocked to hear that Mei now speaks a lot. Asami asked Mei if she is falling in love with Yamato or is sleeping with him, which she denies. Mei said that she only kissed him once, and it was to help her to get rid of a stalker. Asami merely laughs and says she has only kissed Yamato once, too. She then says that he has kissed every girl in the school except Miki Arai, who is Yamato's first crush. Mei appears to be shocked by this and starts to wonder if Yamato still has feelings for her.
Mei meets Miki Arai at school and she admires her cuteness. She starts to think that she didn't like it when Yamato kissed her forcefully because she believes it to be rude. Later, Yamato calls her and asks her to hang out, but Mei refuses. She asks if Arai will also join him tomorrow, and Yamato answers that she is. Mei asks if it is true that Arai is his first crush, and again Yamato says yes but asks her reason for asking. She explains that she heard about the rumor (that he has not kissed Miki Arai yet), and Yamato says for her to just think what she wants to think, because he only kisses a girl whenever he wants to.
To satisfy her curiosity, Mei decides to follow him when he goes to a karaoke place. She tries to disguise herself with a hat and a pair of glasses. During the spy session, Yamato is asked to meet Miki Arai in the bathroom, which he refuses by leaving the karaoke place. Upon leaving, he encounters Mei and asks her why she is there. She says that she thinks that he would come out with Arai, and Yamato asks her what would happen if he did. He also asks why she talked about Arai on the phone, which makes Mei yell at him to stop. Yamato kisses her again, and Mei screams, asking him why he kissed her again without her permission. He simply replies that he did it because he wanted to. Mei says that it is hurts being kissed without having any feelings behind it, and that she is definitely not happy with it. Yamato appears shocked and and kisses her again. He says it is a kiss which means hello. He kisses her again, and says it is a kiss to a person he thinks is cute. He kisses her again, and says it is a kiss to a person that he wants to know better. He kisses her once more and says it is a kiss to a person that he has feelings for. He asks her whether she understands the differences between those kisses, and asks her if she has feelings for him. Mei says that whenever she thinks about him, her heart aches, which Yamato replying that it is love. Finally, he kisses her for real, and Mei says it tastes like fried chicken.
Relationships
Yamato Kurosawa
At the very beginning, she doesn't want anything to do with him, Yamato was the first person she learned to trust. Yamato gave Mei his number insisting she call him some time and even though she swore she wouldn't, she ended up calling him when she was being stalked by a man. Solving the problem calmly, Yamato was Mei's first kiss. Yamato also was the first to become her friend and eventually her boyfriend. As the series progresses, Yamato and Mei continue to grow as individuals and as a couple. He introduced her to most of Mei's current friends.
Kai Takemura
They first met at the bakery where Mei works. Mei later found out that Kai was Yamato's childhood friend and that he used to be bullied. Kai firmly believes that Mei and him have more in common than Yamato and her, therefore he believes that he understands her better. He is in love with Mei and is determined not to give up, even if he knows Mei doesn't feel the same way.
Asami Oikawa
Asami is Mei's first female friend and one she learns to trust. Mei even went as far as to defend Asami from two girls who were saying mean things about her. Asami is also one of the few people Mei opens up to. When Megumi manages to distance Asami away from her, Mei feels devastated. They are currently very close friends, so much that they adorn their cell phones with matching accessories .
Aiko Mutō
At first Aiko thought Mei didn't deserve to be with Yamato since Mei didn't work hard enough to get him. After she heard Mei talk about herself and Yamato, though, she accepted her and became her friend. Aiko always sees through Mei and can tell when she is hiding something. When Aiko notices Megumi's plan to make Mei feel alone, she stops hanging out with Megumi. Aiko remains close friends with Mei and helps her in her relationship with Yamato.
Megumi Kitagawa
Megumi considers Mei her enemy and love rival. At first, Mei was fooled by Megumi's "good-girl" act, but she later found out about her true character: a cruel, manipulative, and superficial girl. Megumi hasn't changed and continues to try to split Mei and Yamato up.
Nagi Kurosawa
Nagi can be considered a younger Mei. When they first met, Nagi wasn't fond of her brother's girlfriend. However, when Mei told Nagi her story, she started to see the real Mei and how similar they were. Mei helped Nagi overcome her insecurities and encouraged her to try and trust people.
Trivia
- Mei is very talented at bowling and catching goldfish.
- Mei finds herself in a state of trauma when cooking, this is due to her first cookies having broken her father's teeth.
- When angry, Mei tends to eat a lot.
- Mei adores cats and even owns one named "Marshmallow".
- Mei's name can mean "sprout, garment", "sprout, reliant", or even "bright, reliant", which seems to fit her unique, odd, and yet beautiful personality.
Quotes
"I don't want to worry about unnecessary things since I'll just be betrayed again. But that's just my opinion."
"It's like a doll house.You hang out together and pretend to be good friends, but when it doesn't suit them, they just abandon you."
"When you trust someone and get to know them, you eventually learn about their wounds, too."
"Someday, maybe you'll find someone like you to share your pain with. I can't tell you when that will happen... but the important thing is not to reject them."