The Puppet Club

While attending his first year of college, Godai meets a strange group of people. They are the Puppet Club, and when they were in need of a new recruit, the beautiful and mysterious Sayoko Kuroki decided she would stalk Godai until he accepted. At first he thought she might be in love with him, but by the time he figured out the truth it was too late to quit the club.

The group consists of Saotome, the club president and only other male member. He is a humongeous behemoth of a man, but has a strange affinity for speaking with the voice of a his favorite puppet, a little girl.

And of course there's Kuroki, who acts more or less like the leader of the group. She has a laid back personality, but won't accept any excuses from Godai. She has the remarkable ability to wrangle him back into the club, even after he's been away for long periods of time, and even manages to get Kyoko to fill in on a few productions.

The final two members are Kamizaka (brunette) and Koizumi (black hair). They more or less have the same position that Godai has in the group, but they usually play the smaller roles in the actual productions, whereas Godai gets the leads. In most of the stories they stay in the background, but once they got drunk and called Maison Ikkoku asking for Godai, which got him into a bit of a misunderstanding with Kyoko.

---

The Meaning Behind the Name

The Puppet Club has a lot of interesting puns involved in their names. Saotome (早乙女) means "early maiden" referring to his penchant for female roles. Sayoko Kuroki (黒木小夜子) means "unbarked lumber" but is very similar to kuroko (黒子), which are Japanese theater prop men. Kamisaka translates to "god hill".

Voices: Saeko Shimazu & Nicole Oliver Saeko Shimazu is famous among fans of Rumiko Takahashi's anime for playing Shinobu Miyake in Urusei Yatsura, and Kodachi Kuno from Ranma 1/2, Abi in Inuyasha, Yuri from Dirty Pair and Four Murasame in Z Gundam. Nicole Oliver who has provided the voices of Lin-Lin and Ran-Ran in Ranma 1/2, Key in Key the Metal Idol and Emeraldas in Galaxy Express 999 lends her sultry voice to Kuroki.

Megumi Hayashibara & Cathy Weseluck One of the most famous voice actresses in Japan is Megumi Hayashibara, the voice of Koizumi. Megumi got her start playing Yosuke Nanao in Maison Ikkoku and has since gone on to star as Ranma in Ranma 1/2, Pai in 3x3 Eyes and Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop. Cathy Weseluck who has lent her voice to many other Takahashi characters including Shampoo in Ranma 1/2 and Urasue and Kagome's Mother in Inuyasha provides Koizumi's English voice.

Yoshino Takamori & Saffron Henderson Yoshino Takamori plays the role of Kamizaka in Maison Ikkoku and can be heard as Li Ex in Five Star Stories, Empress from Gasaraki, Nadia from Nadia, The Secret of Blue Water and Enju of Please Save My Earth. Saffron Henderson, who also provides Kentaro's voice is the English voice of Kamisaka.

Hiroshi Otake & Paul Dobson Hiroshi Ootake plays the voice of Saotome. He portrayed 004 in Cyborg 009, Zanack in Dragon Quest, Yattaran in Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Carrot Master in Dragon Ball. Paul Dobson is his English voice and is best known for playing Happosai in Ranma 1/2, Naraku and Myoga in Inuyasha and Shion in Please Save My Earth.