Makoto Kikuchi

Makoto Kikuchi is is one of the original characters of THE iDOLM@STER series.

She is voiced by Hiromi Hirata.

Appearance
Makoto has short, black hair and lavender-coloured eyes. Her casual attire consists of simple, tomboy-ish clothing. She is usually seen wearing a red and grey tracksuit.

Personality
Makoto is an energetic and honest girl who wishes to make herself more feminine.

She is very confident in her dancing skills, and though being self-taught, she is known to be one of the best dancers in 765 Production. Makoto also loves to do sports, in fact before her idol debut she used to train at an Aikido dojo near her house.

Background
Makoto is known as "The Pretty-boy Idol" who has more female fans than male ones that she is very popular at her all-girls high school.

Makoto's family consists of herself and both her parents. Her dad is a professional race car driver who wished to have a son and therefore raised Makoto like a boy which is the reason for her boyish demeanor. After Makoto one day discussed with her dad how she wished to be more feminine, her dad came to the conclusion to make her an idol and introduced Makoto to 765 Productions.

Etymology

 * The name Makoto means "real, genuine" (真).
 * Makoto's surname Kikuchi means "chrysanthemum" (菊) (kiku) and "earth, land" (地) (chi).

Trivia

 * Makoto's design may be loosely based on another NAMCO character, Makoto Kotobuki from the sports arcade game Mach Breakers.
 * Despite Makoto being boyish most of the time, she has a natural fear of insects to the point of even hesitating to say the name of any insect she mentions or sees.
 * Makoto suffers from claustrophobia due to a childhood memory of being trapped in an elevator.
 * Even though Makoto forces herself to be feminine, she will occasionally curse and speak in the slang of a Japanese high school gangster when angered.
 * If Makoto receives more fan mail from girls than boys, she'll become depressed for the rest of the day.
 * One of the main reasons why Makoto decided that she wanted to become more feminine was during her freshman year in her all-girls high school, she was appointed to do the Romeo part in her Romeo and Juliet play, after the play was over, the girl who played Juliet clung to Makoto's arm for the rest of the day whispering "My lovely Romeo; Makoto" as well as kissing Makoto before she left for the day.
 * Makoto is also known to be physically strong, she's able to pick Yukiho and Producer up as if it's nothing.
 * Makoto has a tendency to talk on before she realizes she's being made fun of, particularly when Producer makes fun of her androgyny or when he tricks her into saying "Konbanwa (good evening)" instead of "Ohayo (good morning)" during the morning greetings.
 * Makoto tends to make a mischievous cat-like face during conversations, a similar trait shared with Haruka's Nonowa face.