| Warning: information below contains some spoilers! |
Oreki, you're strange!
Mayaka to Houtarou
Mayaka Ibara (伊原 摩耶花 Ibara Mayaka) is one of the four main characters of the Hyouka. She is a student of the Kamiyama High School belonging to class 2-C (1-? earlier), a volunteer librarian in the school library and a member of both school's Classics Club and Manga Club.
Overview
Appearance
Mayaka is a fairly short and small framed girl, standing at 148 cm (4'10"). She has short sepia-brown hair that is cut just below her ears. She has short diagonal bangs that are cut above her eyebrows (Mayaka's hair is generally styled in a way that fans out near the bottom, though on occasion she wears it up in small pigtails) and fandango-pink eyes (they sparkle whenever she reads manga). Mayaka is principally seen in the Kamiyama High School uniform. When not in her school uniform, she dresses in a rather "casual chic" style. She also does cosplay of classic manga characters.
Personality
Mayaka has a strong sense of responsibility[1] and even nit-picky with herself and others, and consequently fairly irascible. Though she can be impulsive, stubborn and rudely frank, Ibara is very capable of being nice. She generally, unless annoyed, is very pleasant and kind to the people around her. Her more pleasant demeanor is shown through habits such as giving nicknames to her friends like Eru Chitanda, whom she calls "Chii-chan".
She is also very fond and possessive of manga and their artists, as she is a manga artist herself. She also likes foreign mysteries.[1]
Biography
Mayaka has been in the same class and school as Houtarou Oreki for nine years [1] since their first grade in elementary school, while she and Houtarou attended the same middle and high school as Satoshi Fukube. As of now, Mayaka is a member of the Manga Club, a volunteer librarian for the Library Club on Fridays, and the Classics Club, of which she joined in May,[1] primarily due to Satoshi being a member.
Plot
Revitalizing the Classics Club
Mayaka was not initially interested in joining the Classics Club, which was only recently repopulated by Houtarou Oreki and Eru Chitanda. During that time, Mayaka was active as an assistant on Kamiyama High School's own library. Mayaka's interest was only piqued after finding out that Houtarou was trying to solve a mystery case. After being lured in by Houtarou's achievement in learning the truth behind the book checked out every Friday, Mayaka began joining Houtarou and Eru, as well as Satoshi Fukube, in club activities.
Mayaka helped mostly in the Hyouka anthology case by brainstorming with Satoshi, Eru and Houtarou.
The Hoshigaya Cup Endeavour
During an unspecified time between Spring of that year and the Hoshigaya Cup, Mayaka decided to quit from the Manga Research Club, a decision that was respected by the Classics Club because of their knowledge of her unstable relationship with its members.
Relationships
Satoshi Fukube
Mayaka has had a crush on Satoshi since middle school. However, he always brushed her feelings aside with a joke. She is oblivious to the fact that Satoshi actually reciprocates her feelings, but is hesitant to act upon them. Due to this, she restrains her emotions and hides her feelings for him. Nevertheless, Mayaka calls him by the nickname "Fuku-Chan". At the start of the second year, Mayaka finally received an answer from Satoshi and the two started dating since then.
Eru Chitanda
She quickly became close friends with Eru and calls her by the nickname "Chii-chan".
Houtarou Oreki
Mayaka has known Houtarou since elementary school. They were called Kaburaya Middle School's best couple, much to the disgust and annoyance of them both. (This may have been no more than a joke Satoshi made.) She usually talks to him in a sarcastic manner, for she dislikes Houtarou's laid-back attitude and life-style. She seems to have trouble accepting the fact that Houtarou is able to solve mysteries and puzzles that she herself couldn't.
Despite this, the two do care deeply for each other; her showing legitimate concern over his health and well being while Oreki in turn holding her feelings in high regard, even to the point of being confrontational to Satoshi during their Valentine's Day case. The two tend to be harsh with each other due to their clashing personalities, but are nonetheless close friends who waste no time in ensuring the other's well being.
A story in one of the later books reveals that her negative feelings toward Houtarou date from an incident in their last year of middle school. He promised to take care of part of a class project, then apparently did a slipshod job on it. Present-day, Mayaka realizes that failing to do what he'd agreed to handle is out-of-character for Houtarou. She investigates, finds out the truth ... and then apologizes to him for her grudge.
Quotes
- "Oreki, you're strange!"
- "What an idiot."
- "Use your brain."
- "This is just sad, I'm running away to Fuku-chan."
Etymology
- The name Mayaka means "chafe, grind, polish, rub, scrape" (摩) (ma), "question mark" (耶) (ya) and "flower, blossom" (花) (ka).
- Mayaka's surname Ibara means "this one" (伊) (i) and "field, plain" (原) (hara/bara).
Trivia
- Mayaka is the shortest person among the Classics Club members.
- Mayaka's favorite manga is a A Corpse by Evening and used it against her senior in the Manga Society.
- During Kanya Festival, Mayaka has cosplayed characters from 3 different classic manga series.
- Frolbericheri Frol from They Were Eleven
- Akko from Himitsu no Akko-chan
- Senri Mariko from Rainbow Parakeet
- Mayaka loves manga and she is also a talented manga artist, although she feels the stories she comes up with are unsatisfactory.
- Mayaka calls Satoshi Fukube "Fuku-chan" and Eru Chitanda "Chii-chan".
- Mayaka dislikes cheese for its scent that she is unable to eat anything with cheese on it for this reason.
Gallery
References
| Classic Literature Club and Hyouka series featured characters | |
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| Main characters |
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| Students | |
| Other | |