Ritsu Tainaka

Character

History

Relationships

Trivia

Gallery

For Ritsu's brother, see Satoshi Tainaka.

Ritsu Tainaka
Anime Manga
First Appearance
Manga Debut	Volume 1, Chapter 0
Anime Debut	Season 1, Episode 1: Dissolution!
Other Appearances
Videogames	K-ON!! Ho-Kago Live!
Stages	K-ON!! Let's Go! Live
Movies	K-ON! Movie
Voice Provider
Japanese	Satomi Satō
English	Cassandra Lee
Korean	Yeon So
German	Jennifer Weiss
Profile
Also Known As	Ricchan Ritsu-senpai President Ritsu Prez Tainaka-san Ritsu-san Private Ricchan
Age	15-19
Birthday	August 21, 1991
Class	Elementary School 4-1 Senior High School 1-2 2-2 3-2
Musical Profile
Role	Drummer
Instrument	Drums Yamaha Rick Marotta Signature Hipgig in Mellow Yellow
Characteristics
Gender	Female
Height	154 cm
Weight	48 kg
Hair	Light Brown
Eyes	Hazel
Blood Type	B

Ritsu Tainaka (田井中(たいなか) 律(りつ), Ritsu Tainaka) is the self-appointed president of the Light Music Club, and the drummer of the band Ho-kago Tea Time. She was the one who reformed the Light Music Club when it was on the verge of being disbanded and has become the natural leader of the club since then.

Character

Ritsu is the source of fun and encouragement in her band, often making jokes, puns or pranks and being sarcastic most of the time. She has an ambiguous yet upbeat personality, but has often troubles 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 never has any ill minds and usually apologizes the moment after she went too far. On the other hand, she can't stop annoying everybody around her whenever the chance appears. Because of that, she has developed a certain endurance against Mio's hits.

From time to time, Ritsu has been a very lazy character as well. When it comes to practicing, she only thinks of having fun with her bandmates (such as having tea breaks that almost drove Azusa Nakano away). During training camps, Ritsu usually votes to play 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 (because of that, she actually scores good marks). On very few occasions, when the pressure is too high, she tends to give up 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 on her goal towards Budōkan or attending her university of choice so she can study together with her friends. She also loves playing her drums despite being hardly willed to practice.

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 has 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 often lead to the club's despair, such as when losing their way in the middle of Kyōto. A trademark of her is the habit of putting both arms at the back of her head. She is also very curious and therefore knowledgeable of many places to have fun at, a fact her friend Tsumugi Kotobuki admires. Tsumugi 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 (leading Ritsu to hit her out of embarrassment).

Ritsu has a tough front and would not cry easily. Her weak spot is seeing her friends cry and she would do anything to cheer them up, like denying the fact that she is crying too, despite it being obvious.

Ritsu is a surprisingly good cook and is also very creative, using a hexagonal pen in exams to use it to determine the answer she should choose, regarding the number she diced. In stressful situations however, she quickly looses her head and tries desperate attempts to save the situation.

Although she usually acts boyish and childish, she sometimes shows a girly and shy side, for example when she thought about Mio's lyrics to be a love letter for her or when she had to play the role of Juliet in her class' school act. She can also be very thoughtful, seen when she recalled her past.

When Ritsu gets in a bad mood, the atmosphere gets really intense since it is completely against her character. An example would be her envious side when she gets the feeling, Mio ignores her and spends instead more time with others like Nodoka Manabe. However, this out of character behavior was due to a fever she had at the time. Despite her mostly immature behavior, she has in fact common sense, especially when her unreliable teacher Sawako is around.

Appearance

Ritsu has light brown hair that slightly touches the edge of her shirt's collar, her bangs pulled back with a yellow hairband. Two longer locks of hair fall at the ends of her hairband and touch her shoulders. She has hazel eyes, similar to her hair.

Without her hairband, Ritsu's bangs could reach her nose. Other than yellow, Ritsu wears other colored hairbands once in a while, such as white, black or red (especially when she was a child). At certain points in the anime, Ritsu uses other objects to hold her hair up, like goggles when the girls visited the beach or when she put it up in a ponytail that stuck up when she was about to sleep during a field trip.

Manga

In the manga, Ritsu does button her blazer, yet, like in the anime, she does not tuck in her uniform when seen without it. Besides her school uniform, she is often seen in polo shirts.

Anime

Her school uniform is often untucked (only tucked in by force, such as when Sawako forced her to or for official purposes like the graduation ceremony or the graduation photo) and her blazer is unbuttoned. She is the only one from the Light Music Club that does not wear the beige waistcoat that is part of the summer school uniform and is instead only wearing her white blouse. Ritsu is seen wearing the school's blue tracksuits most often among her friends, mostly when she plays the drums. She had once exclaimed that she prefers wearing comfortable clothing than any other outfits as she had difficulty drumming in those clothes. Like in the manga, she is often seen in polo shirts outside of school.

Attires

Pants over skirts. She likes to wear polo shirts.

Sakuragaoka High School uniform
	Like all Sakuragaoka High School students, Ritsu wears a school uniform. The Sakuragaoka uniform consists of a navy blue blazer, a solid white buttoned shirt (under the blazer), a colored ribbon (different colors for different student years, Ritsu's year is light blue), a light steel blue skirt, stockings or socks (Ritsu's are white), and maroon shoes. The summer uniform replaces the blazer with a beige waistcoat. Additionally, the subject physical education requires a tracksuit (sport jacket with long pants, colored again depending on the year group) with white striped brims, a white shirt with colored endings (again colored regarding the year group) for the summer semester and white sports shoes.
"Don't say 'lazy'" Attire
	Ritsu's "Don't say 'lazy'" attire is a black dress with wide pants and long leather shoes. On her upper arms are black laces. Her left hand is covered by a black glove and she wears a ring with a giant red ruby on her right. Her hair is hold back by a dark headband, which has a great black-and-white striped flower attached to it. In the middle of it is another yellow flower.
"Listen!!" Attire
	In "Listen!!", Ritsu's attire is a long, dark green shirt that also covers her hips. Under this shirt, she is wearing another black shirt. She also wears black leggings, yellow shoes, a black belt, a black glove that covers her right hand and a black headband.
"NO, Thank You!" Attire
	In "NO, Thank You!, Ritsu's attire is similar to any school uniform dress code. Her attire is very similar to the Sakuragaoka High School uniform - navy blue blazer and a white buttoned shirt (under the blazer). The only parts different are a "HTT-logo" pinned to her blazer, a plaid grey skirt, a red tie, dark blue socks and her white shoes. She wears a white headband instead of her yellow one. Her attire appears a bit disheveled, with the tie being disorderly tied and the shirt being messily buttoned. Her jacket isn't buttoned either.
	Ritsu's second attire in "NO, Thank You!". She wears a plain white shirt under a black hoodie with an orange pin near her right shoulder. She also wears yellow shorts over blue tights. She does not wear a headband, so her hair falls down.
"Singing" Attire
	Ritsu's "Singing" attire. Like the rest of the band, she wears a light blue one-piece dress over a white shirt. The skirt goes down to her knees. The dress has four white dots over the chest, a white bow and a white collar. Additionally, Ritsu wears black shoes with white shoelaces over long white socks, which have red and blue stripes on them. She does not wear a headband but a white beret instead. Her hair is not tied and falls down naturally.
	Ritsu's second attire in "Singing". She wears a grey pull-over with a blue hood, black sleeves and the number "999" on it. Under that, she wears a black-white striped shirt. She also wears a short green skirt over yellow tights and light grey shoes. Her hair is pinned up with a hairclip that features a light blue star.

See also

Character Image Songs
K-ON! Character Image Song Series Vol. 3: Ritsu Tainaka	K-ON!! Character Image Songs: Ritsu Tainaka