Sairenji Haruna

Haruna Sairenji (西連寺 春菜) is the second female protagonist of To Love Ru. She is in Rito's class and is the girl of his affections. Haruna has similar feelings for him, having been attracted to him because of his kind, gentle nature since junior high, but believes them to be unrequited and has not built up the nerve to confess to him. Despite her growing love for Rito, her friendship with Lala causes her to suppress her feelings since she doesn't want to hurt Lala who also loves Rito. However, with some encouragement, she eventually tells Lala of her feelings for Rito which Lala accepts, stating that Haruna is her rival for Rito's heart, while still remaining friends.

In the anime, there is a running gag where Rito is about to confess to her, only for something (or someone) to come between them.

Haruna is affiliated with the tennis club and also is left handed.

Appearance
Haruna has blue hair and purple eyes, she has quite a cute complexion which most boys seem to like. She always wears a red vertical hair clip on the left of her head.

According to Mio Sawada, Haruna's measurements are B79-W56-H82. Despite being considered physically attractive for a girl her age, she often feels inferior being surrounded by girls like Lala and Yui, who are far more developed physically.

Personality
A highly responsible person, Haruna's personality can sway her classmate's hearts to vote for her as their class representative, even when she did not run as a candidate.

Haruna is also a very kind, understanding and patient person, to the point that she's polite to everyone around her, especially to Rito. Despite his perverted clumsiness, she always forgives him in time. However, she does occasionally slap him for it out of fear, even though she is fully aware that he does not do it on purpose, but she forgives him very quickly.

In the beginning, she had feelings for Rito, but did not express them until she started hanging out with Lala, after which she started showing signs of jealousy. This did not prevent her from becoming good friends with Lala. Once when she was intoxicated off of Deviluke herbs, she couldn't help but cling on to Rito (while half naked and wet) and said that he's all hers for the moment (Darkness Chapter 26).

Haruna secretly enjoys Rito's kindness; one time he found her when she had been turned into a cat by one of Lala's inventions and, unaware that it was Haruna, started playing with her, which she claimed was like being in heaven. It is her genuine wish to be with Rito, though her shyness and Rito's clumsiness stand as the obstacles for her to advance.

As the series continues, she begins to fantasize the moment where she found herself being with Rito romantically, but quickly shakes them off and blushes. It is hinted that Haruna is a perverted girl as well, because she even thinks about ecchi moments with Rito in secret.

She has a severe fear of ghosts and the supernatural with the exception being Oshizu Murasame, but only for a while. When frightened, she has a habit of grabbing the nearest thing around her – typically Rito – and swinging wildly, in an attempt to get rid of whatever frightens her.

History
When Haruna was 13, her parents moved because of her father getting a job in another city. However she and her older sister stayed behind because they didn't want to leave their home at Sainan.

In eighth grade, Haruna was in the same class as Rito, which has been stated to be the last time that Haruna and Rito were classmates (prior to the start of the series). One time when the school garden was vandalized, Rito, who was caught on the scene was mistakenly presumed to be the guilty party. Haruna, knowing how much he cares for his own garden, was the only one who believed in his innocence.Unknown to her, Rito overheard her defense of him and was touched by her belief in him, which was the origin of his feelings for her.

Powers and Abilities

 * Ch58_pg10.jpgImm​ense Strength: Even though she seems shy and weak, she has more strength in her than everyone thinks she has, which is occasionally revealed rather comically. Her strength is often shown when she is in a state of panic or frightened of something, and she becomes capable of lifting, swinging and throwing an actual person (mainly Rito) and knocking and fighting back the thing she's scared of.


 * Tennis Skill: Haruna is quite skilled in tennis, as she is a member of the tennis team and club.


 * Improvising: She is also good at improvising, like when she and her friends were inside the virtual reality game Trouble Quest, she skillfully used a sword, comparing it to how she uses a tennis racket, or using an actual person as weapon when bare-handed.


 * Natural Leader: She has also shown to have great leadership skills and is able to keep everyone calm when they are panicking.

Etymology
The word "Haru" (Kanji: 春) in her name means Spring. The word 菜 means "vegetable". Therefore, her name can be translated as "Spring Vegetable".

Her family name ((西連寺 - Sairenji) might mean "The Western Continuous Garden".

With the debut of Haruna's parents in the Darkness Chapter 54, the whole Sairenji family will make up the four seasons of a year: Haru in Haruna is of Spring; Natsu in Natsumi is of Summer; Aki in Akiho is of Autumn (Fall); and finally, Fuyu in Fuyuhiko is of Winter, thus complete the cycle.

Trivia

 * She has a cameo appearance in Mayoi Neko Overrun! Chapter 6 page 8 together with Oshizu and was partially seen with Lala in Chapter 8 page 27.
 * Haruna is left handed.
 * Haruna's reduced role in the manga is due to her being based on series artist Kentaro Yabuki's now ex wife, who was awarded the rights to the character in their divorce.