Arika Yumemiya is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Mai-Otome anime and manga series.
She is voiced by Mika Kikuchi in Japanese and by Angie Beers in English.
Arika is first introduced in the first episode where she travels through the desert to Windbloom to find out more information about her mother, whom she was told was an Otome. After seeing the power of the 3rd Column, Shizuru, she decides to follow her mother and become an Otome. She is sometimes nicknamed Anty (Arinko-chan in Japanese) because her name, Arika, could be "蟻か" in Japanese, which means ant. The way her head turns into an ant's head is a way to show how she feels when someone calls her this nickname (which must have followed her all her life).
Overview[]
Arika is a traveler from the faraway nation of Galelia, who arrived in the kingdom of Windbloom to enroll at Garderobe Academy for clues to the whereabouts of her Missing Mom. She was given the "Azure Sky Sapphire" Gem, which becomes the key to realizing her dream of becoming an Otome. Arika is the daughter of Lena Sayers, the previous Azure Sky Sapphire and Otome to the previous king of Windbloom.