Shiina Mahiru has got to be one of the cutest female characters of today. Instead of the usual fanservice, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten chose to focus more on Shiina Mahiru’s surreal cuteness which contributed to gaining a lot of interested fans. However, she has more qualities to take note of aside from her physical appearance.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten based on Saekisan‘s novel series and illustrated by Hanekoto has been a popular hit since its debut. The series become one of the animes that welcomed fans this year. It is a romance-comedy and slice-of-life anime that explores the theme of overcoming traumas and school life.
A Ms. Popular meets Mr. Nobody kind of anime. The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten follows the story of Shiina Mahiru and Amane Fujimiya. Although the anime features the usual popular girl and unpopular boy trope, Shiina and Amane’s story takes a different turn when they became neighbors. Despite living next to each other, the two did not have much interaction until one particular incident.
This incident gave the unlikely pair more interactions that slowly led them into coming up with an agreement wherein Shiina will be in charge of Amane’s food and even cleaning his apartment. This setup began to change their relationship to a whole other level.
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Furthermore, when the series came out in January 2023, it instantly rose to one of the most anticipated series of the season. In fact, it even won several awards during the Winter 2023 Anime Awards. During the said award show, its characters won several awards, including Shiina Mahiru who garnered Best Female Character. This adorably cute female character not only won the award because of her insane facial features but also had qualities that made her the character that almost carried the whole show. To sum it up, here are 10 interesting facts to remember about Shiina Mahiru:
10. A Beauty and Brain Protagonist
Shiina Mahiru has become her school’s most popular girl not only because she possesses the beauty admired by her schoolmates. She is not your ordinary popular girl because she has both the beauty and brain that made her rose to the top of her school’s social hierarchy. As the girl who almost has everything, Shiina gained the nickname angel which became the name that almost everyone calls her.
With her soft personality, blonde hair, and caramel eyes, Shiina Mahiru gained a lot of fanboys in their school. Her exceptional beauty is admired by both girls and boys in their school. She also has a brain that proves that she is not solely admired because of her face. Although Amane also has an intelligence of his own, Shiina is more consistent. Shiina is a consistent top student who never once became second to anyone. This made her a high-achieving student that her schoolmates admired and envied. Her intimidating beauty and intelligence allowed her to be the most popular girl in their school.
9. Shiina Mahiru Only Has Few Friends
She may be the most popular girl in school, but this doesn’t mean that she has plenty of real friends. Being the school’s angel has gained her both fans and haters, and Shiina is very much aware of it. Shiina Mahiru even said to Amane when they overheard some girls talking bad about her that it is only natural to have haters, and she did not expect in the first place that everyone will like her.
When Amane’s close friends uncovered his real relationship with Shiina, they also began to approach her and be friendly with her. Shiina liked the company of Amane’s friends because it was unusual for her, at the same time, comforting. However, Chitose Shirakawa comfortability around Shiina made her said an honest opinion about Shiina.
In episode seven, Chitose told Shiina that she seems uptight and bored whenever she is at school. She follows it up with Shiina distancing herself from almost everyone else. Thankfully, Amane entering Shiina’s life made her more open towards others and building genuine friendships with them. Shiina’s development allowed her to be friends with Chitose, Itsuki, and Yuta.
8. A Master Chef in the Making
One thing that adds to one of a girl’s heavenly qualities is her skills inside the kitchen. As they said, the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Indeed, Amane Fujimiya was a victim that willingly succumb to his neighbor’s exceptional cooking skills. Amane may have owned a place of his own, but his cooking skills were still not ready for him to live alone.
Because of not having a healthy diet, Amane became skinnier and pale due to only eating take-outs. For her personal satisfaction, Shiina decided to be in charge of Amane’s meals because she couldn’t ignore the pitiful life he was living in. Through this agreement, Amane looked much healthier which his friends also noticed, and his relationship with the school’s angel grew more.
7. The Practical Shiina Mahiru
Shiina Mahiru knows how to handle her life well. She actually defines the real meaning behind an independent girl. And because of her having to deal with her issues alone, Shiina also developed the habit of being practical when it comes to things. Shiina adheres more to reality than her desires. She always chooses the option where she can save more in the long run.
For instance, she takes advantage of grocery sales and even asked Amane to buy the product on her behalf to save more. Shiina is a careful shopper who always prefers to purchase high-quality products that are budget-friendly. Moreover, instead of a more girly material thing as a gift, Shiina requested Amane for a whetstone for sharpening her kitchen knives.
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6. Shiina Mahiru Doesn’t Like Her Nickname
Her popularity in school earned her a nickname that people uses to call her with instead of her actual name. Shiina Mahiru became her school’s angel because of the qualities that she possesses. As the top student in the class and having a beautiful face, Shiina was highly admired at school. In Amane’s point of view, she was a star that was completely out of his reach.
According to him, Shiina is called an angel because she is attractive, graceful, has excellent grades, and is even good at sports, but never forgets to be kind and humble. Although her nickname was made to compliment her, she didn’t want Amane calling her that way. Whenever Amane refers to Shiina as an angel she would get annoyed and stop him from using that nickname.
She believes that calling her angel disregards the hard work she puts in all the things she does, specifically with school, because an angel is someone who effortlessly achieves perfection without the need to stay up all night working for it.
5. She Is Close to Amane’s Parents
Amane and Shiina weren’t the only ones that develop a relationship when they crossed paths. Their bond of friendship became a bridge for Shiina to also gain some friends of her own, including Amane’s parents. Amane’s mother, Shihoko Fujumiya, decided to give her son a surprise visit, but end up being the one who was shocked because of Shiina Mahiru inside his son’s apartment.
Shihoko was very supportive of him having an adorably cute girl in his apartment and even assumed that they were a thing. Shihoko didn’t hide her fondness for Shiina, and the two even exchanged numbers to keep in contact. Amane’s father, Shuto Fujimiya, also shared the same feelings as his wife towards Shiina. Even after their visit, Shihoko and Shiina remained in touch. Shihoko even shares some childhood photos of Amane with Shiina. Well, if the two really do have a happy ending then Shiina would never have a problem with her in-laws, right?
4. Shiina Mahiru Suffers from Family Trauma
No matter how perfect others perceived her life, Shiina Mahiru couldn’t escape her past that keeps on hunting her. She expressly told Amane how she felt envious of his relationship with his family. Unlike Amane who grew up in a well-off family and was surrounded by his parent’s love, Shiina never got even a drop of affection from her parents.
Amane saw Shiina’s mother outside her apartment who had a very rude and cold personality. Knowing that Amane saw the incident with her mom, Shiina finally opened out to him. She told him that her parents were forced to marry each other, and more so in having a child. The absence of her parents in her life affected her greatly.
She strived to be the best in all aspects of her life but was never enough for them. It is only their housekeeper who looked out for her when she was young and the one who taught her the housework she needed to live independently. She was the unwanted child with whom her parents wanted no connection at all.
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3. A Sentimental Person
Shiina Mahiru was raised half-heartedly and coldly by her parents. This made her into a person who had to put a huge wall against the people around her. However, everything changed when Amane came into her life. Amane never forgets to show his appreciation for how Shiina has helped him live a better life through gifts.
Amane is aware of Shiina prefers more practical things as presents; hence, he gifted him a key holder, hand moisturizer, and a whetstone. However, he never forgets to give her something she adorably deserves, such as a teddy bear and a bracelet.
All the gifts that Amane got for her symbolize their relationship. Hence, Shiina Mahiru treasured all of his gifts dearly. Shiina is a very organized person. It was no surprise to see that all of the gifts she got from Amane are well-arranged in her room. She even revealed to Amane once that she always sleeps next to the teddy bear that he got her which he always teased her with.
2. Shiina Mahiru is Straightforward
Despite her innocent and modest personality, Shiina Mahiru has a very blunt way of speaking. Instead of stumbling over her words, especially around Amane, she never hesitates to speak what is on her mind. She didn’t hesitate to show any sign of embarrassment or shyness when she offered her help to Amane.
Whenever she notices something about Amane, she always tells him, including him living a pathetic life, even when she notices that he actually has a pretty face. Shiina Mahiru has always been honest with the way she feels. When their classmates find out why she befriended Amane, she told everyone all the good qualities that Amane possesses. She even told them all that Amane is the special person in her life without worrying about tarnishing her title as the school’s angel.
1. Shiina Only Has Eyes Amane-kun
The two played a significant role in each other’s life. They became each other’s greatest companions. Because of this, they began to grow a deeper and more intimate relationship. He was her shoulder to cry on, and so was he. Therefore, it did not take that much time for Shiina to loosen up and be more comfortable around him.
Furthermore, she isn’t the type of girl who easily gets attracted by pretty faces. Amane-kun may have a handsome face hiding beneath his bangs, but it was never the reason why she liked him. Mahiru knows that her pretty face is admired by almost everyone; however, she also acknowledges that she is in no way near perfection.
Thus, when it comes to liking a person Shiina prefers to see the good in others rather than basing it only in their physical features. Amane has always respected and always showed his appreciation to Shiina. Moreover, during the sports event, Shiina was okay to tell everyone that Amane is the one who she considers the dearest person in her life. In conclusion, Amane has the perfect qualities that suit Shiina Mahiru’s imperfections perfectly.
