Akiyama, Mio

秋山澪

Mio is a timid girl who belongs to the light music club. She plays a left-handed, 3-Color Sunburst Fender Jazz Bass equipped with a tortoiseshell pickguard, although she is depicted playing a Fender Precision Bass in the first volume of the manga. She uses D'Addario EXL160M medium bass strings. Her bass is named Elizabeth later in the anime. Although she originally planned to join the literary club, her childhood friend and the club's president/drummer, Ritsu, forced her into the light music club. She achieves excellent grades at school and is often mature and strict, particularly regarding Ritsu; her weakness is the macabre and horrific, and she is frequently incapacitated by fear when stories involving ghosts, blood, injuries, haunted houses, barnacles, or other disturbing topics arise. She also fears being in the spotlight and gets embarrassed easily, often becoming the target of teasing from Ritsu and Sawako, their club adviser and eventual third-year homeroom teacher. Mio has long, straight black hair and gray eyes (which are angled slightly more than those of the other characters). She states that she chose the bass because it is not the center of attention in the band, unlike the guitar. Mio is more technical regarding music, and Yui often turns to her when she needs more guitar tutorials.
Together with Yui, Mio is one of the band's main vocalists, but due to her dislike of being center stage, she tries to avoid taking the lead vocal if possible, generally singing only when Yui is unable to. She writes most of the songs, although they usually feature some odd and overly girlish lyrics, such as "Light and Fluffy Time." Because she is left-handed, she becomes entranced whenever she sees left-handed instruments, owing to their rarity. After their first live performance, the attractive Mio gained a huge fan following (largely due to an unfortunate accident that occurred at the end of the show), led by an infatuated former student council president. Also resulting from her sudden popularity, most of her classmates voted for her to portray Romeo in their class play. Mio comes to greatly enjoy her time at university as she encounters many new experiences. She is also able to overcome some of her shyness and make new friends, such as Sachi and Ayame.