The Japanese manga series To Love Ru and its sequel To Love Ru Darkness feature an extensive cast of characters created by author Saki Hasemi and illustrator Kentaro Yabuki. After high school student Rito Yuuki accidentally gets engaged to Lala Satalin Deviluke, the runaway crown princess of the alien planet Deviluke, he reluctantly helps her transition to life on Earth, while gradually befriending his dream girl, Haruna Sairenji. Along the way, Rito meets and gets entangled with a colorful cast of other girls (both humans and aliens alike), such as the uptight, high-strung Yui Kotegawa, the sex-switching alien Run/Ren, and the queen bee of their school, Saki Tenjouin. At the same time, Rito must fight off Lala's antagonistic alien suitors, one of whom sends the assassin Golden Darkness to kill him.
Hasemi said that the latter half of the manga features a lot more quirky and unique characters because, the newer the character, the harder he and Yabuki had to work to establish their personality.[1] Yabuki said that by the latter half of the series, they were treating all the female characters as main heroines.[1] Many of the characters also make a cameo appearance in the manga version of Mayoi Neko Overrun!, which Yabuki illustrated.
- ^ a b Hasemi, Saki; Yabuki, Kentaro (2019) [2010]. "Special Interview". To Love Ru. Vol. 17–18. Seven Seas Entertainment. ISBN 978-1-947804-39-5.