Izumi Watanuki

Izumi Watanuki (綿貫 いずみ) is a character in the Aikatsu Planet! series. She is the manager at Starlet Promotion.

Appearance
Izumi is an average adult female with short brunette hair and dark brown eyes. She consistently wears earrings. In Aikatsu Planet, she is depicted not far from her real life self with the exception that her eyes are more of a red-brownish color and her clothes are consistently a red shirt topped with unbuttoned white cloth and blue jeans.

Personality
Izumi takes the role of Manager in Starlet Promotions, as she recruits idols and help them grow to become top idols. Izumi is seen as a professional person, as she guides Mao in becoming the new Hana and gives her valuable advices to her. She is also supportive of Mao and her road to become a top idol.

Relationships

 * Mao Otoha


 * Izumi first saw Mao when she and Ruli were about to meet up about the new schedule Ruli was about to go along with. When Ruli asks Izumi why she had her eye on Mao, Izumi states that Mao reminds her of Meisa when she first started doing Aikatsu as Hana. When Izumi was called in an emergency by her fellow co-worker, Itsuki, that Meisa has left her role as Hana without a warning, Mao was the first person Izumi thought of to take over as Hana in place of Meisa. Throughout Mao's experiences in becoming an idol, Izumi has been a good mentor towards Mao as she supports her and gives her valuable advice.


 * Ruli Tamaki


 * Ruli and Izumi have worked together for a long time. Ruli sees and relies on Izumi as a dependable manager and Izumi in turn sees Ruli as an amazing idol. When it comes to fashion, Izumi trusts Ruli enough to the point of assigning her in helping Mao get a new dress. Izumi also trusts Ruli enough to reveal Hana's new user to her.


 * Kyōko Umekōji


 * Just like Ruli, Kyōko and Izumi have worked together and relied on each other. Izumi trusts Kyōko in helping Mao understand better what it means to be an idol only oneself can be.


 * Ayumi Tsukishiro


 * Although they are from different agencies, Ayumi and Izumi still have respect for each other, as they are seen discussing their work together in peace. Izumi also sees Ayumi as a suitable role model for Mao to learn from.


 * Meisa Hinata


 * Prior to the events occured before the Aikatsu Planet anime, Meisa and Izumi have worked together for a long time when Meisa was the user of top idol Hana. When Meisa left the Aikatsu world and her role as Hana altogether without a warning, Izumi is visibly distraught. When Meisa and Izumi were reunited again, Izumi is seen with a guilty expression most of the time and apologises to Meisa multiple times, possibly from the guilt of over-burdening Meisa with endless works when she was still Hana.

Etymology
Watanuki (綿貫) - Wata (綿) means cotton and nuki (貫) means pierce.

Izumi (いずみ) has no particular meaning when written in hiragana, but can be written in kanji as "泉" (fountain).

Trivia

 * She is the second character in the Aikatsu! franchise to be played by a former member of AKB48, following Haruka☆Ruka.
 * She is referred to as "Izumin" (いずみん) by Sala.