Asahi Ōka

Asahi Ōka (, Ōka Asahi) is a middle-school student at Yotsuba University Affiliated Junior High School who's one of Mahiro Oyama's closest friends and classmates. She was originally friends with Momiji Hozuki and Miyo Murosaki, having known the former since elementary school. She later became friends with Mahiro through Momiji, and later befriended Nayuta Tenkawa through Mahiro. She is voiced by Kana Yūki in the anime.

Appearance
Asahi is a short, but extremely cute and athletic girl with short dirty blonde hair and green eyes. When she smiles, she has pointed teeth in the back of her mouth that give off the appearance of fangs. She tends to keep her hair hung in side pigtails, a style that Momiji gave her when they first met.

When not wearing her school uniform, she tends to dress in a very boyish style with shorts and tee-shirts. Due to the fact that she never gets cold she is always seen with her legs bare; never wearing long pants or tights even when it's freezing cold out.

Personality
Asahi is an extremely energetic and outgoing tomboy who speaks whatever is on her mind and is always looking to make friends with whoever she can.

Asahi comes off as a bit dumb due to her sheer energy and a tendency to say whatever is on her mind regardless of how it makes others feel. Despite this, she never means any harm by it and wants to be friends with everyone.

She has a habit of giving nicknames to anybody she meets, and sometimes these nicknames are picked up by her other friends. She calls Mahiro "Mahiron", Miyo "Miyochin", Momiji "Momijiro", and Nayuta "Nayutan".

Due to her excess energy, Asahi is a severe tomboy who loves to explore in her free time. She also has a habit of racing with Momiji who is also extremely athletic. In these races, Asahi tends to come out as the winner. Also due to being such a tomboy, with the sole exception of her school uniform, Asahi tends to only wear what can be considered boyish clothing much like Momiji. She has mentioned that she never feels cold, and doesn't wear tights even in the winter. The one time that she was shown wearing a dress, it miraculously tamed her wild nature, and she even admitted to feeling a little off balance in it. It didn't last though, as she quickly regained her adventurous spirit after eating some lunch. Despite this, both Mahiro and Kaede note how unbelievably adorable Asahi looks in dresses, and no one ever mistakes her for a boy the way that they do for Momiji.

Asahi has a naïve and innocent personality. Due to not having yet developed as a woman, she is completely unfamiliar with periods and never understands subtext involving them when her friends discuss them. It was shown that before she met Momiji, Asahi was also ignorant of the differences between boys and girls. She would always bathe with her older brother, and upon bathing with Momiji for the first time, she was confused and asked if "it" grew in later. Everyone around Asahi treasures her innocence and have done their best to help her maintain it for as long as possible. Momiji has refused to explain the concept of periods to her, and her brother Yuya claimed that a dirty magazine of his that she found was a magazine about wrestling.

Due to her energy and innocent personality, Asahi comes off almost like a pet. Mahiro noted that it was very soothing petting her head, and once noted that her spirit animal could be the dog due to her energy and playfulness.

Asahi's one weakness however is tests. When she has to face them, she loses all her energy and acts nothing like her usual self, even falling asleep during a few tests. Fortunately she has her friends to help her bounce back from these episodes.

Due to Asahi's excess energy, her metabolism is very high. As a result she tends to get hungry very easily. A running gag is that Asahi tends to run out of money due to her spending all of her allowance on large amounts of food and vendors during festivals. In some of these cases, her friends are more than willing to give her bites of their food.

Early Life
During grade school, Asahi was in the same class as Momiji Hozuki, Nemu Fujimi, Nodoka Fushimi, Akira Nakai, Aoi Tachikawa, Yuta Sakurada, and Minato Senkawa. On her first day, she was excited and eager to make new friends and said good morning to Akira, Aoi, and Nemu, but none of them were interested in being her friend. Asahi remained unfazed by this though and continued trying, eventually introducing herself to Momiji. Asahi became immediately enamored by Momiji's topknot, thinking she was a samurai (and also a boy based on how she was dressed) gave her the nickname Momijiro. Momiji pointed out her real name, and Asahi appeared to get it, but accidently thought it was "Jiro", which caused Momiji to angrily correct her again.

Walking home with Momiji, Asahi called her topknot cool and wished that she had one. Seeing Asahi as a bit weird but also funny, Momiji decided to give Asahi two topknots by putting her hair into side pigtails. Asahi immediately fell in love with it, and the two became the best of friends.

From that point on, the two hung out together all the time. They looked at frogs on plants after rainstorms, they played in puddles, and at one point they played a game of soccer with Yuta and Minato (where Yuta was the goalie). In the latter, Asahi scored the winning goal, and the two slapped their hands together in triumph. Seeing how muddy they both were, Asahi said that her mother was going to kill her. Momiji then offered her a chance to take a bath a her apartment since it was nearby, and Asahi thought that it was a great idea.

Once the two got there, Momiji asked if it was okay if they bathed togther. Asahi was surprised by the suggestion, and Momiji noticed this saying that they didn't have to. Asahi was unfazed though, saying that she bathed with her older brother all the time. When Momiji undressed, Asahi became shocked at seeing Momiji's smooth front. When they were in the bath, Asahi asked Momiji if "her's" was going to grow in later, but Momiji had no idea what she was talking about.

Eventually, the two were able to get into Yotsuba University Affliliated Junior High School together. At some point after starting, they met Miyo Murosaki and the three became a tight knit group of friends.

During the second semester of their first year, Momiji met Mahiro Oyama and starting telling Asahi and Miyo about her. The three soon planned to find an excuse for Mahiro to meet and hang out with all three of them.

Etymology

 * Although her first name Asahi (あさひ) is always spelled in hiragana and hardly ever shown in kanji, Nekotofu has revealed that the kanji is supposed to be 朝日, meaning "morning sun" (朝日) (asahi).
 * Her last name Ōka means "cherry blossoms" (桜花) (Ōka).

Trivia

 * In the original Japanese version, Asahi uses her own name ("Asahi") when referring to herself, which is considered cute yet somewhat childish and immature.

Manga

 * Mahiro and the Middle Schoolers
 * Mahiro's First Day
 * Miyo's Refusal
 * Momiji's Nickname
 * Mahiro's Difficult Class
 * Mahiro and Conversation
 * Mahiro's Lunch
 * Mahiro's Final Exams
 * Mahiro's Touch
 * Asahi's Innocence
 * Mahiro the Patissier
 * Mahiro's Sleepover (Part 1)
 * Mahiro's Sleepover (Part 2)
 * Mahiro Rings in the New Year
 * Mahiro and the Spicy Kiss
 * Asahi and Momiji
 * Mahiro and the Allure of Bare Legs
 * Mahiro and the Unexpected Guests
 * Mahiro and the Mystery Brew
 * Mahiro on Valentine's Day
 * Mahiro and the Homemade Chocolate
 * Mahiro and the Adult's Only Section
 * Asahi's Crepe
 * Mahiro and the Guidance of the Stars
 * Mahiro's Surprise Party
 * Mahiro's Final Present
 * Mahiro Pretties Up
 * Mahiro's Big Secret (Part 1)
 * Mahiro's Big Secret (Part 2)
 * Mahiro and the School Physical
 * Mahiro and the Health Committee
 * Mahiro and the Perfume
 * Mahiro and the Barbecue Secret
 * Mahiro and the Seasonal Attire
 * Mahiro and the Sticker Collection
 * Mahiro and the Sunshine Girl
 * Kaede's Nickname
 * Mahiro and Visitation Day
 * Mahiro and Swim Class (Part 1)
 * Mahiro and Swim Class (Part 2)
 * Nayuta's Recent Past
 * Mahiro's Colorful Life
 * Mahiro, the Sun, and the Northern Wind
 * Mahiro and the Midsummer Romance
 * Mahiro and the Strategy Meeting
 * Mahiro's Beach Fun (Part 1)
 * Mahiro's Beach Fun (Part 2)
 * Mahiro and the Squishy Thingie
 * Mahiro's Summer Homework
 * Doujinshi Volume 20 Commemorative Manga
 * Mahiro's Anime Time
 * Mahiro and the Summer Festival
 * Mahiro's Second Semester Debut
 * Mahiro Shelters From the Storm
 * Mahiro's Weight-Loss Plan
 * Mahiro and the Charming School Festival (Part 1)
 * Mahiro and the Charming School Festival (Part 2)
 * Mahiro's Masculine Ego
 * 2020 Summer Special Brochure
 * Mahiro and the Fan World
 * Mahiro's Field Day
 * Mahiro's Autumn Outing
 * Mahiro's Cosplay Round-Table
 * Miyo and the Enchanted Night
 * Asahi and Nii-chan
 * Perfect Onee-chan
 * Mihari's Research Lab

Anime

 * Mahiro Discovers Adventure and Social Gatherings
 * Mahiro Goes Back to Middle School
 * Mahiro's Role-Playing Game
 * Mahiro's First Girls Sleepover
 * Mahiro Rings in the New Year
 * Mahiro Ponders Boobs and Identity
 * Mahiro Pretties Up
 * Mahiro's Future as a Sister