Ichika Nakano

* **Overview**
* Gallery
* Relationships

* Anime
* Manga

**Ichika Nakano** (中なか野の 一いち花か, *Nakano Ichika*?) is one of the main characters in the manga and anime series *5-toubun no Hanayome*. She is one of the quintuplet sisters, with the other four being Nino, Miku, Yotsuba, and Itsuki Nakano. Ichika is the eldest of the siblings and serves as one of the main love interests for the protagonist, Futaro Uesugi.

Ichika is depicted as an aspiring actress who balances her studies with her acting career. She is a responsible and caring older sister to her quintuplet siblings, and often takes on a motherly role among them. In terms of her personality, Ichika is friendly, outgoing, and has a positive attitude, making her popular among her classmates. However, she can also be insecure and sensitive, particularly about her own shortcomings and her relationship with her sisters.

Throughout the series, Ichika faces various challenges in her career and love life, including conflicts with her sisters over Futaro's attention and a difficult decision about whether to pursue her acting career or focus on her studies. Her character's arc provides significant plot points in the story and contributes to the series' themes of family, love, and self-discovery. Overall, Ichika's character is multi-faceted, with her ambition and emotional depth making her a compelling and relatable figure in the series.

## Appearance

Ichika is a girl with very short hair that has a single long strand on the right side. She has white-pink hair colour, ranging from oyster pink to light pink shade in Volume 1, and oyster white to light pink shade in Volume 4. Her notable accessory is a single earring. Like her sisters, she has dark blue eyes, an average height, a well-endowed figure and large breasts. A stall owner praises Ichika for her cuteness, but she doesn't praise her sister nearby, Itsuki Nakano.

Ichika wears her school uniform with a thin jacket tied to her waist, sometimes with unbuttoned top; revealing her cleavage. She is shown to wear a handbag.

### Gallery

Ichika's designIchika's character profileIchika's sketchIchika's sketch #2
## Personality

Ichika acts as the eldest sister of her sisters, as she seems to have a calm and composed demeanor; making herself an approachable person. Futaro Uesugi noted that her smile is fake and encourage her to put away that kind of smile.

She initially had pessimistic attitude towards the sisters' learning capabilities, making her one of the obstacles for Futaro tutoring lessons early in the story. After being inspired by him, she began to change her mind and started to take studying seriously. He also helped her fix any issues she had with her sisters; making them closer than ever before. Despite her smug expression and teasing behaviour, Ichika is shown to have a weakness to romantic moments happening to her; blushing whenever thoughts about it came to her mind.

According to Futaro, each of the Quintuplets have their own characteristics regarding their sheets. On Ichika's case, her writing and paper would be sloppy. She was also remarked to pick things up quickly and is troubled when her sisters make decisions without her presence.

As her pride of being the eldest sister, she plans to be successful first before telling her sisters about the job. She is shown to study in between her filming; whether it be inside a car on the road or late at night. Futaro was also impressed at how she was able to balance her work and school.

## Ability

Ichika is a model and an actress. She is able to impersonate her sisters' expression and traits, showcasing her excellent acting capability, but to not to the extent of Miku, in which she can impersonate them flawlessly. Futaro is usually left impressed at how good her acting is, like when she accidentally eats the cake made by him, but managed to praise it wholeheartedly.

She is hinted to have good insight about human psychology, as she is able to, "see through people." This is evident when she easily deduced Futaro and Itsuki's quarrel, and correctly guessed the state Itsuki she was currently in.

Ichika's "big sister" traits are first shown when she refers to herself as "onee-san" to Futaro and asks him to consult her. Among the sister, she is ranked in the middle part of the five, with Mathematics as her strongest subject.

## Relationships

Main Article: *Ichika Nakano/Relationships*

## Quotes

**Yotsuba Nakano**: “*Don't feel like you should be the only one holding yourself back. Just do whatever you want to do... I guess!*”

**Ichika**: “*What I want do to...?*”

**Ichika's monologue**: “*I wanted things to continue like this forever. I didn't want this comfortable situation to change. But in reality...*”

**Ichika**: “*I didn't want anyone else to have it.*”

— Ichika to Yotsuba about what she wants, *Chapter 66*

**Miku Nakano**: “*Equal... you should be his partner...*”

**Ichika**: “*You shouldn't make choices you might regret... Because things might not continue as they are forever.*”

— Miku and Ichika discuss on being Futaro Uesugi's dance partner, *Chapter 27*

**Nino Nakano**: “*When I realized he was my prince, I wasn't able to put the breaks on anymore.*”

**Ichika Nakano**: “*And that's why you fell in love with him... ? Don't you think things fell into place a bit too easily for you?*”

— Ichika discusses Nino Nakano's affection toward Futaro Uesugi, *Chapter 65*

## Trivia

* The name **Ichika** means "one" (一) (**ichi**) and "flower, blossom" (花) (**ka**).
* Ichika's notable accessory is a single earring, representing number 1, which is a part of her name and the order of her birth.
* Ichika's voice actress Kana Hanazawa is the oldest among the voice actresses of the Nakano Quintuplets and has the character 花 in her name 花澤 香菜, *Hanazawa Kana*

## References

1. **^** *Manga* Chapter 52 (p. 19).
2. **^** Negi Haruba's tweet and Quintuplets' birthday hashtag
3. **^** *Manga* Chapter 64 (p. 1).
4. **^** [@5Hanayome] (Feb 8, 2018). “「教えて！五月せんせー！」 その１『標準体重』” (Tweet in Japanese) – via Twitter.
5. **^**
*Manga* Volume 9 –
Extra Bonus Comic.
6. **^** Volume 1 Cover
7. **^** *Manga* Chapter 33, page 1
8. **^** *Manga* Chapter 1 (p. 22)
9. **^** *Manga* Chapter 8 (p. 11).
10. **^** *Manga* Chapter 1 (p. 45)
11. **^** *Manga* Chapter 1 (p. 46)
12. **^** *Manga* Chapter 27, page 13
13. **^** *Manga* Chapter 11, page 9
14. **^** *Manga* Chapter 3, page 11
15. **^** *Manga* Chapter 13, page 4
16. **^** *Manga* Chapter 13, page 3
17. **^** *Manga* Chapter 28, page 16
18. **^** *Manga* Chapter 35 (p. 10).
19. **^** *Manga* Chapter 11 (p. 12).
20. **^** *Manga* Chapter 58 (p. 15).
21. **^** *Manga* Chapter 58 (p. 16).
22. **^** *Manga* Chapter 58 (p. 7).
23. **^** *Manga* Chapter 10, page 20
24. **^** *Manga* Chapter 53 (p. 11).
25. **^** *Manga* Chapter 1, page 37
26. **^** *Manga* Chapter 17, page 15
27. **^** *Manga* Chapter 1 (p. 24)
28. **^** *Manga* Chapter 20, page 7