Ms. Tōbaru (桃原先生, Tōbaru sensei, lit. teacher Tōbaru) is a supporting character in Aharen-san wa Hakarenai - Anime. She is a classical Japanese Literature teacher and the homeroom teacher of Raido, Reina, Ishikawa and Hanako's class.
Description[]
阿波連さんたちが通う学校の古文教師。目が細く人相が悪い。古文の教師らしく形容方法が独特。[3]
Translation: An ancient writing teacher at Reina's school. With a pair of thin eyes, her face looks a bit fierce. She has an unique style of describing things because of her profession in teaching ancient literature.TV Anime "Aharen-san wa Hakarenai" Japanese Official Site
Appearance[]
Tōbaru has long black hair and eyes. She wears a charcoal grey sweater over a white dress shirt with glasses, a maroon skirt, and brown shoes.
Personality[]
Ms. Tobaru is shown to be obsessive about Aharen and Raido's relationship due to their closeness. In her mind, she often thinks about shoujo-style couples, which causes her to nosebleed, sometimes until she faints due to 'poignancy'.
Relationship[]
Ms. Miyahira[]
Miyahira sensei calls her Momo-chan. She is her best friend and quite close to her. They often appear together outside of lessons.
Reina Aharen[]
She is the classical Japanese literature and homeroom teacher of Reina. She is heavily invested in Reina and Raido's relationship.
Raidō[]
Trivia[]
Ancient Japanese Words She Uses[]
Ms. Tōbaru frequently uses ancient Japanese words in very unique ways. For example, she often uses ancient Japanese words in combination with English words, like "あはれオブザイヤー" (aware of the year)[note 1] or "モストバリュアブルあはれ" (most valuable aware)[note 2].
あはれ (Aware)[]
- She always uses an archaic word "あはれ" (aware) to express how poignant the relationship between Reina and Raidō is.
- "あはれ" means "deeply touching or moving"[4] or "pathos" without a negative connotation,[4] while its modern-day descendant "あわれ/哀れ" (aware) means "pitiful" or "miserable".[4] Another modern Japanese word "あっぱれ/天晴れ" (appare), which means "admirable" or "splendid"[4] (though it is too theatrical for daily conversation), is also derived from "あはれ".[4]
- See the Wikipedia article "Mono no aware" about the importance of this word and the idiom "もののあはれ" (mono no aware) in Japanese Heian-period (794 - 1185) literature.
をかし (Okashi)[]
- "をかし" (okashi) means "interesting", "tasteful", or "adorable" in Heian-period Japanese.[5] She uses this word in this sense. It also means "funny" in some cases.[5]
- Later, in the Muromachi priod (1336 - 1573), this word came to mean "funny" exclusively.[5][6] The modern Japanese word "おかしい" (okashii, "humorous/funny/strange/erroneous") is its descendant.
Etymology[]
- Tōbaru means “peach field”: "桃" (tō, "peach") and "原" (baru, "field, plain").