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Almost as great a legend in real life as she is her own mind...almost.

Nanako Maaya is a regular supporting character in the high school/sports/romance anime and manga, Umisho.

She may regard herself as the childhood friend of Okiura Kaname, but for his part, he is alternately annoyed by and terrified of her, and was glad to hear she had become a famous model and idol, thinking this would keep her busy and well away from him.

But not long after Kaname met the eccentric Ninagawa Amuro, Maaya returned to his life. She was automatically jealous of the attention Kaname paid Amuro (not that her antics make her easy to ignore) and of Amuro's skill as a swimmer, not to mention her being one of several girls on the team who range from the notably to the absurdly (for a swim team needing speed) busty. At one point, her anger over her slight chest size (which for a model, was actually about the average in an industry where overall looks count more than any one physical feature) caused Maaya to enter into a silly and later embarrassing agreement with teammate Ikuta Maki to try and 'enhance' their standing in that area. The irony is one Maaya could never accept : Outside of the school swim team, she is a huge celebrity, literally in a state of men wanting her and women wanting to be her. On the team, though, she is held second to more skilled swimmers like Orizuka and more naturally gifted ones like Amuro and Ikamasa, and is merely one of many girls pursuing Kaname in some way shape or form. A frequent tactic of hers is to try and get Kaname alone, perhaps on a shopping trip, but this and other schemes usually fall apart in the face of her good-natured competition, Amuro. The fact that the Goku-like Amuro only wants to be her friend as well helps matters not at all.

While Maaya never truly backed off, the growing closeness between Kaname and Amuro eventually just crowded her out and shut down any plans of hers to nab Kaname. According to one account, after high school, she remained a model of some note, often working directly for the Sizu Group, a firm run by the family of her teammate, Shizuoka Mirei, still largely getting the attention she craves.

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