Chono, Harumi

蝶野晴美

The central focus of episode 3. Harumi first appears in Episode 2 as Ichi's tutor. She serves as an "oasis for his heart," clearly embodying an oneesama type for the youth. While she appears sweet and professional on the outside, she conceals a dirty and disturbing secret within. Harumi suffers from dissociative identity disorder and, for unknown reasons, has developed a second personality known as Maria.
In this guise, she apparently acts as an "oasis" for the hearts of many others, representing a somewhat darker flipside. In contrast to the law-abiding and "clean" Harumi, Maria is a prostitute who speaks much more openly and even adopts a completely different speaking dialect. Since Maria is a separate entity from Harumi within the same body, they often communicate with one another via the answering machine in Harumi's apartment. Identified by a trademark pair of wigs, a (fake) mole, and a completely different sense of fashion, Maria lives out her deepest desires, believing them to be Harumi's repressed wishes. Initially, although Harumi and Maria are at odds, the latter personality wishes the best for the former. This changes, however, when Harumi receives a marriage proposal from a fellow teacher and begins to desire an end to Maria.
By throwing away Maria's clothing and quitting her job as a sex worker, Harumi seems determined to start a new life as just herself. However, she begins receiving phone calls from Maria demanding that the latter be set free and claiming that Harumi is the actual fake personality. Her grip on reality begins to fluctuate rapidly as she starts to blank out often, realizing that her Maria persona has begun taking over without her permission, forcing Harumi to do things against her will. As the stress and trauma of this situation begin to take their toll, Harumi and Maria ultimately fight for dominance over Harumi's body as Lil' Slugger mysteriously appears.
Harumi's family name contains the word "Chō," which is part of the Japanese word for "butterfly." Butterflies are generally viewed as an ugly creature that turns into a beautiful one, or as a symbol of transformation and/or change. Which persona is the butterfly and which is the caterpillar, however, is a heavily debated subject. Although, they may in fact each be both, as the bookish Harumi is beautiful on the inside, and, while considered pretty by the other characters, is commonly attributed to being less beautiful than Maria (who is portrayed as being ugly on the inside). Harumi and her episode are often compared to Satoshi Kon's other works, Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress, which included similar themes of a lost sense of self.