Ai Ebihara

Ai Ebihara is a supporting character in Persona 4. She is a 2nd year student of Yasogami High School.

Befriending her will help Narukami realize the potential of the Moon Arcana.

Personality

Ai is a very highly materialistic girl with a prima donna complex, who often talks down to her admirers, and has no qualms with outwardly insulting them, by deeming their confessions worthless if their looks aren't up to par with her standards. She is also extremely selfish, but being with Narukami reveals her to be a shy person and a sweet, loving soul; she harbors a crush on Kou or Daisuke, depending on the player's sports club choice. She fears rejection and acts dramatically upon receiving it, culminating in an attempt to jump off the school roof. She puts herself through various trials to become more appealing to her choice, and appears so desperate for love that she forces Narukami into briefly dating her. However, due to her lack of actual affection for him, she ends up pushing him around and treating him cruelly.

In Persona 4: The Animation Ai's story is roughly the same, but she solely likes Kou, and overhears him mentioning he likes Chie. Unable to tolerate Chie, she becomes immensely jealous of her and engages in slapping her. Eventually, she comes to terms with her treatment of others and still pursues Kou, hoping to do better.

Appearance

Ai has long, wavy blonde hair and matching color eyes. At school, she wears the school uniform of Yasogami High, with various eccentricities: a lace fringed choker, pink turtleneck, and white leggings. On weekends, she wears a pink dress with matching pink ribbon, a white bolero jacket, and pink high heels.

In Persona 4: The Animation, her hair and eyes are much darker, and she wears a short skirt instead of her video game counterpart outfit. During Summer, while attending the Summer festival, she wears a light pink shirt, a striped scarf, and a pink miniskirt.

Persona 4 (Anime)

In the anime, Ai met Yu on April 19 at basketball practice, when he is dragged there by Kou. It is similar to her in-game social link, with a few differences. She orders Yu to find out from Kou himself whether he liked anyone or not, since Ai harbors a crush for him. She hides inside an empty vaulting horse in the changing rooms, as Yu talks with Kou. Kou is embarrassed by the question, stumbling over himself; he eventually admits he likes Chie. Kou soon leaves, and Yu discovers Ai wallowing in self-pity.

As in the game, she threatens suicide on the school roof, already climbing the chain-link fence. Yu pulls her down, and after much struggle, she eventually calms down enough to confide in him. She relays her past troubles with her weight, and the subsequent bullying it brought down on her. She cries, claiming Kou should love her for her beauty, because she had worked so hard to achieve her looks. At length, Ai becomes placid enough to forget about Kou, and instead forces Yu to be her fake boyfriend, until she found a suitable replacement.

Ai proceeds to treat Yu as her personal chauffeur, and bag carrier. She drags him off to see movies, to shop, and generally regards him as hired help. She forces him to proclaim his affection for her, and to engage in impromptu make-out sessions. Yu's tolerance slowly crumbles. All the while, Yu's friends worry about his well being, as he has no time for the rest of them, and he is constantly called by Ai.

(Yu's specific ringtone for Ai is Zigeunerweisen Sarasate, the Game Over theme from Catherine, another game developed by Atlus.)

Soon, an important basketball game begins, as it will be Kou's last game, before he quits basketball in favor of becoming his family's heir. Behind the scenes, Yosuke is lead to believe Chie has feelings for Yu, due to misconstruing her words and actions. As a result, he brings her to the basketball game to act as manager, in order for her to realize her true feelings.

Ai immediately becomes jealous, as she believes Chie is in love with Yu, as well. Chie is confused during all this, not understanding both Yosuke and Ai's attitudes towards her.

During the game, Ai interrupts Chie's filming, stating that she was unnecessary. Chie is puzzled and upset, arguing the fact she had nothing to do with Ai, and vice versa. Chie claims Ai is treating Yu horribly, and he doesn't deserve such treatment. Ai's demeanor shifts, saying aloud that Chie "has the hots for [Yu]."

They soon start to bicker, and Ai slaps Chie out of anger. The two exchange blows as they fight, the players too focused on their game to notice. Out of the corner of her eye, Ai watches as Kou scores a shot just as the final buzzer goes off; unfortunately, Yasogami loses, despite their efforts. Ai, in turn, feels guilty for Kou, and his performance cements her feelings for him.

Later, at Aiya's, the team celebrates their game, still joyous in the face of their failure. When they leave, Ai hangs back with Yu to talk with him. She says she wants to remain friends with Yu, and instead wait for Kou to notice and love her. Instead of her compact, Ai gives Yu a roll of photos from their photo booth session. He watches as she moves on ahead to walk beside Kou, striking up a conversation.

Ai later appears during the school festival by visiting a fortune teller. She also appears asking Nanako to let her use her toy stick to get her scarf off of a tree branch and later she let's Narukami use her scarf to cover up Eri's head injury. However she gets her scarf back when Eri recovered.

Knownable Relatives

• Unnamed Mother
• Unnamed Father

Trivia

• Her name in Japanese means ???.
• Her birthday is ??? and her blood type is ???.
• Her favorite food is ???.
• Her star sign is ???.

Voice Actresses

• Japanese : Kanae Ito
• English : Julie Ann Taylor

Gallery