Ritsu Tainaka

## Ritsu Tainaka キンバリー・シャンド *Tainaka Ritsu*

**Ritsu Tainaka** is one of the main protagonists of the K-ON! series, she plays the drums. According to a certain Ask an Anime Character from Youtube, she is 15 years old. But later on, she is 18.

When the Miraculous is inhabited by the OC, Sarufu, Ritsu becomes **Drum Saru**, a monkey-themed superhero who helps Master Bug and friends 'during particularly different missions' in the first season and beyond.

## Bio

### *K-ON! RETOLD* series

In the show, Ritsu is a tomboyish determined young girl who has a love for anything scary, which always gets her in trouble with Mio, who dislikes anything scary or blood and gore. She is also considered a bit of a tomboy according to Mugi.

It is revealed that she hates being insulted and laughed at by Azusa and often choke-holds Azusa because of it, she once tried to bonk Tsumugi on the head but she couldn't bring herself to do it, it wasn't long until Mugi states to her if she was a boy, then she would be pretty popular among girls, which she got offended and very embarrassed by that, and bonks Mugi spontaneously.

### *Kimberly's Adventures* series

She makes her debut in "*From Before to Afterschool Teatime!*", and she later joins the group. As of "*Liam is a Guardian?!*", it is revealed that Ritsu is a Miraculous holder of the Monkey, allowing her to transform into Drum Saru.

## Personality

Ritsu is the source of fun and encouragement in her band, often making jokes, puns, or pranks and being sarcastic much of the time. She has an upbeat yet carefree personality and often has trouble remembering important club activities and announcements. Because of that, she constantly gets whacked by her childhood friend Mio Akiyama. Despite her forgetfulness, she usually brainstorms for ideas to earn more money or for the club's success in general (like blackmailing Sawako Yamanaka to become the club's supervisor). Her attitude of collecting as much money as possible lets her sometimes appear greedy, something she greatly dislikes. Ritsu is always on the go and will stop at nothing for the success of the Light Music Club, even when everyone else gives up.

Ritsu is very barefaced, sometimes audacious, or even impudent, yet she rarely has ill intentions and usually apologizes the moment after she goes too far. On the other hand, her personality has led to her building up a large endurance to Mio smacking her, the bassist being the least tolerant of Ritsu's antics.

From time to time, Ritsu has been shown to be rather lazy as well. When it comes to practicing, she only thinks of having fun with her bandmates (such as having so many tea breaks that they almost drove Azusa Nakano away). During training camps, Ritsu usually votes to play around first the moment they arrive and is often supported by Yui Hirasawa. She is usually too lazy to study and often needs Mio's help (though because of that, she actually scores good marks). On very few occasions, when the pressure is too high, she tends to give up on studying and needs the help of her friends to continue. When she becomes determined, however, she can get her work done in no time. Such determination can be seen in her diligent studying to pass her entrance exam to enter her university of choice so she can study together with her friends. She also loves playing her drums despite being hardly ever willing to practice seriously.

Ritsu has a liking for the band The Who and admires their drummer, Keith Moon, although she dislikes his various past rampages. When it comes to music, Ritsu prefers rock. She also likes metal or punk; as long as it has a good beat, it's alright.
Ritsu is very athletic and is in by far the best physical condition of all members of the Light Music Club. Physical Education is the only subject she is naturally good at.

Ritsu has a strong sense of confidence from an unknown source, although her confidence has led to plenty of the club's problems, such as losing their way in the middle of Kyōto. One of her habits is putting both arms at the back of her head, usually to an annoying effect. She is also very curious and therefore knowledgeable of many places to have fun at, a fact her friend Tsumugi Kotobuki admires. Tsumugi has also described her as the type of person who walks the extra mile for her friends and who would be really popular among girls if she would be a boy (which led Ritsu to hit her out of embarrassment).

Ritsu prefers to put up a tough front and doesn't cry easily. Her weak spot is seeing her friends cry, though even then she'll deny that she's crying with them and try to cheer them up, despite her true feelings being obvious.

Ritsu is a surprisingly good cook and is also very easygoing, using a hexagonal pen in exams to determine the answer she should choose. In stressful situations, however, she quickly loses her head and tries desperate attempts to save the situation that tend to make things worse.
Although she usually acts boyish and childish, she sometimes shows a girly and shy side. For example, when she mistook lyrics Mio had put in her mailbox to be a love letter for her or when she had to play the role of Juliet in her class' school play.

When Ritsu gets in a bad mood, she tends to drag the atmosphere of the club down with her. An example would be her jealous side, which she shows when she thinks Mio is ignoring her and spending more time with Nodoka Manabe. Despite her mostly immature behavior, she has enough common sense to keep her bandmates focused when they need to be, especially when her unreliable teacher Sawako is around.

## Known Monster

### Pokémon

Raichu (nicknamed Chupy) is Ritsu's first known Pokémon she owns. She is an Alolan Raichu.
She first appeared in From Before to Afterschool Teatime!. In TBA, Ritsu reveals that Chupy was previously a Pichu at the time she first her and raised from an Egg, before she evolved.
 Debut
 Japanese
 English

### Digimon

 Debut
 Japanese
 English