The Connections Project

Shinobu Miyake

Ataru unswervingly lusts after Shinobu. Her feelings for him vary throughout the show. In the early episodes, the affection is mutual. Later, she grows colder and colder to Ataru as she falls for Mendou.

We don't know how Ataru and Shinobu met each other, but they seem to be friends from early childhood. In the first episode of the show, they are boyfriend-girlfriend, and Shinobu even promises to marry Ataru if he can win the game of tag against the Invaders.

In the early parts of the anime, Lum and Shinobu are bitter enemies, endlessly fighting over Ataru. Later on, their relationship mellows out as Shinobu's heart turns toward Mendou.

Shinobu also lusts after Rei, Lum's ex-fiance, in one of the more obscure love triangles of the series.

Mendou and Shinobu share a mutual affection, but nothing ever comes of it, in no small part because Mendou is constantly hitting on other girls instead. In short, Shinobu (eventually) is infatuated with Mendou, whereas Mendou merely likes Shinobu as one of many girls.

Shinobu's dislike of Cherry seems to go beyond the annoyance most characters feel: to her, Cherry is like a cockroach, worthy only of unmasked physical disgust.