OTAKU must not disappoint the 2D; the manufacturer also must not let the believers down.

Tomoya Aki (安芸 倫也 Aki Tomoya) is the main protagonist of the Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata series.


Tomoya is described as a 'hardcore geek'. However, he is one of the three most notable students at Toyogasaki Academy, along with Utaha Kasumigaoka and Eriri Spencer Sawamura, due to his strong advocating of otaku culture at the school.


Tomoya is a teenage otaku boy with straight black hair that covers his forehead and light blue eyes. He almost always wears glasses and he is shown either wearing his school uniform or his casual clothes. He also sometimes wears contacts, but prefers to wear glasses-- especially the pair given to him as a gift by Megumi. However, he starts to wear contacts regularly after Megumi "mocked" his new glasses, ironic as she was the one who gave them to Tomoya.


Tomoya is described as an otaku and prefers reading comics and light novels, watching anime, and playing visual novels above anything else. He is an enthusiastic fan of Utaha's novel Koisuru Metronome. He is the founder and representative member of Blessing Software, serving as the producer, director and programmer. He is also the manager of Michiru's cover band "Icy Tail".

When motivated, especially by otaku-related factors, he can be shown to be very hardworking. After his encounter with Megumi Kato, his strong desire to make his dream game drives him to take up several jobs for funding. He is extremely tenacious and would do anything to get what he wants, but is easily distracted. He was a typical consumer otaku who would spend the money at his part-time job on anime and games, but his money and time are later devoted to his own games.

He is very friendly despite his eccentric personality, and he has a strong sense of morals and conviction when dealing with others. He is most commonly referred to as Rinri-kun / Mr. Ethical (倫理君) by Utaha.


Middle School

What is known is that he and Eriri Spencer Sawamura were in same class and grade when they were in 3rd grade. However, about the time when the second semester of the third grade began, Tomoya and Eriri were targeted for bullying. Those who didn't like beautiful girls like Eriri hanging around with an otaku boy like Tomoya, would often look for ways to ridicule them. Hurt, Eriri started to distance herself from Tomoya, but according to Tomoya, it was unthinkable that he would allow himself to let go of the first otaku friend he had.

Eventually all for Eriri's sake, he kept broadcasting anime songs at lunch break, brought mangas to school, preaching them everywhere. Starting from those timid guys who did not participate, then the fujoshi's who were alienated from class from the beginning of the school year. More and more classmates began to accept that Tomoya's games, mangas, and animes were interesting. That took Tomoya a year to bring back the place where Eriri and he could be themselves in their own "otaku kingdom". But Eriri did not come back in the end and made new friends, which had a huge impact at Tomoya at the time.

First Year of High School

When Tomoya was a first-year student at Toyogasaki High School, he succeded in convincing the vice-principal to allow an anime screening at the schools Culture Festival.

Second Year of High School

Tomoya is currently a second-year student at Toyogasaki Academy. After his fateful encounter with Megumi Kato, he is inspired to make a dating sim game, also knowns as Gal Game. However, he didn't know it was Megumi that he met under the cherry blossoms, so he was very surprised when he found out that the two had been in the same class since the first year, but due to her lack of presence, he never noticed her. Despite this, Tomoya still makes the dating sim with his circle, called "Blessing software".

Third Year of High School

Even after Eriri and Utaha quit the circle, Tomoya still continues with his new project along with Megumi.


Megumi Kato

Tomoya says that he was instantly drawn in by Megumi's beauty and resolved himself to carving her into the perfect moe game heroine. He is initially disappointed by Megumi's plain, real personality, but because of her open attitude towards him, the pair becomes close friends throughout the course of the series. He is often unaware of Megumi's feelings because of her lack of expression and typically takes her words at face value. However, she is more open towards him than the others and cares for him greatly, though this becomes an issue when she is inadvertently betrayed by his actions. The two experience a temporary one-sided falling-out, but even after months of not speaking to him, she is still deeply affected by his words.

Despite his initial reluctance and her lack of experience in otaku culture, she believes in Tomoya's determination alone and goes out of her way to motivate him. Tomoya is often overbearing towards her, holding lofty expectations that she has no real hope of achieving. But even when she is not on good terms with him, he still declares that she is the one and only heroine for him, refusing to find another one for his game. After being inspired by Megumi's efforts, he describes her as his greatest partner. Megumi helps Tomoya with his game making after Eriri and Utaha leave the circle. Tomoya is deeply grateful for this, and feels like Megumi was always there for him. Romantic interest from both of them is hinted as time progresses. And finally, in volume 12, he eventually confesses his love for Megumi.

In the final volume of the series, it is shown that Megumi has accepted Tomoya's confession and feels the same way. They even had a kiss together. She also starts to refer to herself as Tomoya's girlfriend when chatting with him.

Eriri Sawamura

Tomoya's childhood friend and first otaku friend he ever had. Their childhood friendship was significant, and Tomoya has admitted that she was his first love. The two did everything together, and Tomoya even went out of his way to introduce otaku culture into the school so that they could be themselves, but Eriri left his side for two years. In the present, he recruits her as the illustrator for his game, unaware that she still holds lingering feelings for him. With no intention to, he sets her in a position where she must constantly watch Megumi take the place that she had always wanted, but when she becomes close to Megumi, she becomes more accepting.

Though Tomoya is often put off by her spunky personality and conflict with Utaha, he cares strongly about her and rushes to her side when he is needed, even when it means abandoning the others in the circle. Although this briefly causes a rift between him and Megumi, he never blames Eriri, but feels that he could have found a solution that could have satisfied everybody.

Utaha Kasumigaoka

Utaha is one year older than Tomoya, and he calls her Utaha-senpai. It is hinted that Utaha holds feelings for Tomoya, as she sometimes blushes and gets embarrassed when Tomoya compliments her. She also slept in the same bed as him two times. Furthermore, she is shown to be jealous usually when Tomoya gets close with other girls such as Megumi. In the past, she used to call Tomoya for Tomoya-kun but after the incident of him not wanting to read her the manuscript to the final volume of the light novel before the actual release date, she began to call him Rinri-kun. Regardless, they are currently on good terms with one another, being able to openly share and discuss their opinions on the characters and plot on Tomoya's project. In volume 7, She also stole Tomoya's first kiss.

In Volume 9, even though he was betrayed by her by joining the group of Akane, he still continued supporting her secretly. His feelings for her are undoubtedly fighting because he deeply respects her as an outstanding writer (calling her Goddess) and upperclassman because he is still thinking that she has no feelings for him and she is just teasing him like a normal Kohai-Senpai relationship. She is someone he reserves as a special someone that couldn't be replaced by anyone. However, he started to open his mind and turned the table in one piece to understand what's his true feelings for her. 

In the spin-off, he is starting to feel something that he hasn't felt in his life. There is a hint that he started to fall in love with her, not as her personal Editor-in-Chief but someone else special. Spin-off Chapter 51, the two confessed to each other, and in the end they become couples.

Michiru Hyodo

Being born on the same day and the same hospital as Michiru, Tomoya has developed a very close relationship with her. Michiru is Tomoya's cousin and childhood friend who has stuck with him the longest. Michiru likes to play around with Tomoya, like she did in the lake. Tomoya is also very comfortable with her and praises her skills in music, which lead to him wanting her in the circle. It is hinted that Michiru has feelings for Tomoya, but due to her stoic composure, it's not clear if she holds any feelings for him.



Characters of "Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata" Universe
Main Characters Tomoya AkiEriri Spencer SawamuraUtaha KasumigaokaMegumi KatoMichiru HyodoIzumi Hashima
Rouge en rouge Iori HashimaAkane Kosaka
Fujikawa Shoten Sonoko Machida
Icy tail Tokino HimekawaEchika MizuharaRanko Morioka
Relatives of the main characters Keiichi KatoMr. SawamuraSayuri Sawamura
Class 2B Yoshihiko Kamigo