Age: 16-17 (Born: August 20)
Grade: Second Year (Later Third Year)
Position: Head of the Disciplinary Committee, Head of Chorus Club
Kaede's got long, straight light brown hair usually worn in two braids down her back, dark brown eyes, and she's noticeably shorter than Tsuda—usually about a head shorter, though the series isn't always consistent about it. She keeps a stern expression most of the time, fitting her role as head of discipline, though she visibly softens around people she's comfortable with. There's a running joke where Aria once compared her twin-tails to something anatomical, which led to the two briefly switching hairstyles.
She first shows up right after the School Council's disastrous beach trip, where they ended up stuck at an inn overnight because their chaperone got drunk. When Ranko shows her photos of the incident, Kaede confronts them hard—she even threatens to have Shino dismissed as Student Council President. It takes real effort to calm her down. The whole thing made it clear just how seriously she takes her job, and also how badly her fear of men affects her; she literally couldn't make herself go through the door when Takatoshi opened it.
Kaede's defining quality is her strict, principled approach to everything. As head of the Disciplinary Committee, she's constantly calling out students who break school rules, and she maintains that same disciplined attitude even outside of school. It's who she is.
The thing that really shapes her character, though, is her androphobia—a genuine, fairly serious fear of men. The origin is comedic, but the symptoms are real and pretty debilitating. She can't have normal conversations with guys, she reflexively distances herself when men approach her, and physical contact makes her pass out. She shakes and stutters around most males she's not comfortable with. Interestingly, her reactions don't trigger if she doesn't know someone's male—instances with Uomi and Tsuda have shown she'll act completely normal if she's unaware.
Despite all this, her androphobia has actually pushed her to be more conscientious about living an upright, principled life. She's determined to do her job and improve herself regardless of her condition.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
