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"For every smile you see, someone is crying"
—Chieri talked about hardships in AKB0048 to Nagisa
Chieri Sono
Chieri by ChiAri

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Japanese Name 園智恵理 (その ちえり)
Romanized Name Sono Chieri
English Name Chieri Sono
Statistics
Age 13
Birthday December 8th
Height 161 cm
Homeworld Sagittariusstar
First Appearance
Debut Episode 1 - Uneraseable Dream
Voice Actress/Actor
Japanese Voice Mayu Watanabe
English Voice Emily Neves


Chieri Sono (園 智恵理 Sono Chieri) is the main character in the AKB0048 anime series alongside Nagisa Motomiya. She is also known by fans as Cherry as a member of AKB0048. She is the heiress of the Zodiac Group and one of the trainees of AKB0048. She currently holds the position of Center Nova.

Appearance[]

Chieri has long, wavy, aqua blue hair and aqua blue eyes. She has a lilac flower braided into her hair. When performing, she ties her hair up in a ponytail. Like all the AKB0048's trainees, she has a heart-shaped lining in her hair and eyes.

Overview[]

She has a cool personality and her seriousness and dedication surpasses that of the other girls. She is also the daughter of a large conglomerate.

Personalities[]

Chieri has a cold, dedicated, and serious personality. She initially thinks that AKB0048 is a place full of competition just for the spotlight and the opportunity to appear in contrast to Nagisa's opinion.

Actually, Chieri is cold to her friends because she doesn't want the fact that she is the daughter of 00's enemy to be revealed and for them to be disappointed in her, so she distances herself from them before that happens. But as time goes by, Chieri's cold personality starts to melt and she becomes closer and cares about her friends, Chieri then becomes more open and cheerful after trusting her friends more and knowing that they accept her for who she is regardless of her background.

Relationships :[]

  • Nagisa Motomiya : A fellow 77th understudies and her roommates together with Suzuko. Nagisa was one of Chieri's childhood friends on Lancastar. They promised to be a member of 00 together before she returned to her home planet and met again 4 years later while on her way to auditions. At first Chieri was very cold to her and other girls because of her principles, but slowly their friendship was reconnected and Chieri became more caring and kind to those around her. They see each other as best friends and rivals for becoming Center Nova and currently are in the same sub-unit named NO NAME.
  • Yuka Ichijou : A fellow 77th understudies. Yuuka is one of Chieri's childhood friends on Lancastar. Chieri is initially rude to her and Yuuka also dislikes her attitude during the second round of audition despite their close relationship in the past. But over time, Yuuka's view of Chieri starts to improve and they make up. Even Yuka congratulates her on choosing Chieri as a stands-in and admits that she was amazing during Chieri's first concert as a stands-in. They are currently in the same NO NAME sub-unit.
  • Aida Orine : A fellow 77th understudies and the one of Chieri's childhood friend in Lancastar. They seem to get along. Chieri defends and protects Orine from the haters who came at their first handshake event by distracting him. They are currently in the same NO NAME sub-unit.
  • Sonata Shinonome : A fellow 77th generation understudies. Sonata originally nicknamed Chieri meanyface because of her cruel words to her older sister, Kanata, during their first practice. But their relationship got better and Sonata never called her meanyface again other than the first practice. They are currently in the same NO NAME sub-unit.
  • Suzuko Kanzaki : A fellow 77th understudies and her roommate together with Nagisa. Suzuko doesn't talk much about Chieri's behavior or takes sides with anyone, but she respects Chieri as a fellow 77th generation understudies.
  • Makoto Yokomizo : A fellow 77th generations understudies.
  • Father : Chieri hasn't had a good relationship with him. Her father is CEO of ZODIAC Corporation, who makes him very busy with his works and hardly ever come home, even after his wife and son's died. Initially he opposed his daughter's dream to joining 0048. But when times went on instead he supported her in order to launch his big ambition to make a new Center Nova and open the gate to another world which get disagreement from her. Her and him almost made up but unfortunately just at it was about happen, he was shot death.
  • Yasunaga : The one who took care and watch over Chieri since her childhood. He was Sono's family butler and probably her father's personal assistant at the same time. He deeply cared about Chieri and even attend her consert as the new Center Nova.
  • Mother : Chieri's mother who died before the series.
  • Brother : Chieri's siblings who also died before the series like her mother.

Plot[]

Early life[]

Chieri was born in Sagittariusstar as the daughter of the CEO of ZODIAC Corporation, thus her father is rarely home and never present in her life because of her work, this is made worse by his absence when her mother and brother died.

Chieri lives in a big mansion, but she is always lonely because she lives alone without her family members there and she only had Yasunaga as her family butler, her maids, tutor, and her self-defense instructor to accompany her. One normal day, Chieri finds her father's PDA left on the small table in the lobby of their house and accidentally sees an AKB0048 concert in it, at that time Chieri was still very young but she knew that it was forbidden. But she couldn't forget the feeling of joy when she first watched 00's performance so she started collecting 00's songs secretly with Yasunaga's helps.

During the summer four years ago, her father did the unconventional thing by taking Chieri away with him on a business trip at Lancastar. After inspection with her father, Chieri went around and found a burger shop where she wanted to buy it but couldn't because it was too crowded and in the middle of the crowd of customers, she met three girls her age who offered to buy burgers for her. After buying burgers, they went to sit and eat by the river, Chieri said that she came from Sagittariusstar and the three girls introduced themselves as Nagisa, Orine, and Yuka. They had a lot of fun that summer, Chieri even playing in the river for the first time because of them.

Chieri then accidentally eavesdrops on Yasunaga's conversation with his father that 00 will be holding a guerilla concert in Lancastar, she is very happy and takes the opportunity to show 00 to her new friends. On the night when the 00 guerrilla concert was held in Lancastar, Chieri took them to the abandoned mine where the concert was being held by going through ditches and culverts because legal access was closed.

When they arrived, Yuuka gave her a drink and Nagisa asked what entertainment was as great as she said, Chieri replied that Nagisa would only know if she saw it for herself because their light will never be forgotten. Soon the music starts and they run outside. The girls are quickly captivated by the bright light and the idols' courage to fight to bring music throughout the universe and they vowed to become member of AKB0048 together.

A Kirara takes an interest in her and follows her back to the hotel, her father who is surprised to see Kirara with her, asks Chieri if she saw the 00 concert which she confirmed, Chieri then tells her father that she wants to become a member of 0048 which her father quickly disapproves of and tells her that 0048 is a terrorist and she is doesn't allowed to think like that because she is her only living family and her only daughter as she is the sole heiress of ZODIAC Corporation. Chieri asked her father for an audition again and again when they returned home but his father did not budge. She later returned to attend the 00 concert because she refused to give up, but when she saw the mobile suit that used by DES, she realizes it came from her father's company. Chieri then ran away from home carrying makeshift supplies and a rifle to protect herself when she found out about the audition for the 77th generation of AKB0048.


Season 1[]

Chieri04

Chieri in disguise.

Chieri then appear at the space airport where she bumps past Yuka and Orine by mistake, closely followed by her pet Kirara close by. She is later featured on a news channel, where it is announced that she has mysteriously gone missing. Chieri is in fact on the ship, in disguise to hide her identity. Chieri later confronts Nagisa during the DES attack on the ship they are travelling on, telling her that she must view everyone as a rival. The chandelier then comes crashing down on top of Nagisa, but Chieri saves her by pushing her, which results Chieri to be trapped under the chandelier, but, thanks to the efforts of Nagisa and Yuuko that she is saved.

Ep03 screenshot41

Chieri reloading her gun to fight DES.

During the qualifying round, Chieri continues to isolate herself from the other girls, including Nagisa. Her cold attitude does not endear her to the others, especially Yuka who gets angry with Chieri despite admitting the latter's serious approach regarding AKB0048 is not wrong. During the test on the guerilla concert, Chieri takes a bullet to protect Nagisa, only to find that it was a paintball and she passed the test. At this point, the girls warm up to her.

Upon arrival at Akibastar, Chieri seems the least impressed upon meeting Mimori and Kanata. When Ushiyama asks Chieri to take center stage during dance practice, Chieri refuses, stating that she wants to see her superiors perform and how it is done, causing Kanata to run off crying and Sonata to berate Chieri for treating her sister so poorly. As the other girls go after Kanata, Nagisa confronts Chieri about her attitude, and Chieri responds that while she is impressed with Kanata's skills, she doesn't see a point in Kanata being there if she doesn't want to be. While the other six members of the 77th Generation find Kanata and Mimori and sing with them, Chieri is shown getting on a train into the city by herself.

AKB004805-0590

Nagisa trying to protect Chieri from a man she thought was from DES.

During Episode 5, on their day off, Chieri sets off into the city alone to do some shopping, with Nagisa tagging behind. Nagisa eventually catches up to her, and after a brief misunderstanding with a man, the two talk a bit by the river, to have Yuuko startle them by taking a candid shot of the two girls. Yuuko then takes Chieri and Nagisa and shows them previous photos of AKB0048's members, including previous Center Position, Atsuko Maeda. Yuuko then runs off, and both Chieri and Nagisa express their admiration for her. The two vow to practice their dancing until they are good as Yuuko. They begin to imitate Yuuko's dancing and quickly attracted people's attention which they gave Chieri and Nagisa an applause for their skill.

In Episode 6, Orine receives a letter from a hater, resulting in her performing badly during dance practice. Chieri berates her for it and she runs away crying. Afterwards, Nagisa confronts Chieri about the incident but she tells her that if Orine can’t overcome this hurdle they won’t be able to achieve the dream of becoming successors together. Some time later, the girls participate in their first handshake event and when Orine’s hater appears, Chieri confronts him and protects Orine.

In Episode 7, some of the members are leaving for a peace conference and need to be replaced during their absence, so Tsubasa decides to reestablish the stand-in system. Chieri is picked as a stand-in for Yuuko, causing Nagisa, who is a fan of Yuuko, to get slightly jealous. After seeing how hard Chieri’s working in her practices, however, Nagisa gets over her jealousy and decides to support Chieri. Unfortunately, some understudies from the 76th Generation find out that Chieri is the heiress of Zodiac Corporation and accuse her of being a spy. Chieri is about to quit the group as she feels she doesn’t deserve to be there, but Kanata stops her, telling her that her dream of being an idol has nothing to do with her father’s company, and that she isn’t alone as all her friends and teammates are there for her. 

Season 2 - Next Stage[]

During the AKB trial in Episode 14, she speaks up to the court and delivers a passionate speech, which makes her popularity increase. When she finds out that her father had been involved in the trial, and had sponsored a commercial for her, she begins to resent her popularity. She tells Tsubasa that if she gets elected, she will graduate (quit) from the group.

At the General Elections, she gets elected, ranking 6th (9th in early results), but decides not to graduate as she realizes it would be disrespectful to her fans.  After the General Elections, she and Nagisa declare their rivalry and their Kirara glow brightly together. Ooshima Yuuko said that light is just like Atsuko Maeda the 13th.

Due to becoming an elected member, her popularity increases even more and she does many concerts with the other elected members. Rumors also begin to circulate that she might succeed Atsuko Maeda.

In Episode 19, Chieri notices Nagisa is acting strange, but after Nagisa overcomes her doubts, Chieri notes that she is beginning to change. During the elected members' concert, Chieri and Yuuko both shine brightly performing Ponytail to Shushu. Chieri tells Yuuko that she will beat her but Yuuko replies that Chieri's radiance is not at Acchan's level yet.

In Episode 24, Chieri and Nagisa travel to Sagittariusstar to meet with Chieri's father. While they wait in her family mansion, Chieri tells Nagisa about her past, said that she was always by herself during her childhood. Her father was hardly ever home, so she only had her servants, tutors, and self-defense instructor to keep her company. She also states that Nagisa, Yuka, and Orine were her first friends, and that her mother and brother had died. Later on, they meet with Chieri's father and Chieri tells him that she’ll become a Center Nova for him if he spare Nagisa and the group. He accepts and she shows him her radiance through an acappella performance of Hoshi no Mukougawa. As she finishes her song, her father is shot. Soon after, she and Nagisa are sent back to the Flying Get by Yasunaga

Center Nova

Chieri formally announced as Center Nova

In Episode 26, the last episode of the series, Chieri becomes the new Center Nova.

Etymology[]

  • The name Chieri means "wisdom, intellect" (智) (chi), "favor, benefit" (恵) (e) and "reason, logic" (理) (ri).
  • Chieri's surname Sono means "garden" (園).

Trivia[]

  • Sonata Shinonome gave her the nickname "Meanyface" but only ever called her the name in one episode.
  • Mayu Watanabe (Chieri's seiyuu) is the only current member of AKB48 to voice a character in the series and have a character based on her, Mayuyu.
  • Chieri's original design was very different from what it eventually turned out to be. Originally, she resembled Sae Miyazawa in her design, having a boyish build and a short blue haircut.
  • Chieri's family's butler is Yasunaga.
  • As shown in Season 1's opening, Chieri is skilled at the piano.
  • In Episode 15 and Episode 16, it is revealed that Chieri ranked 9th in the early results of the General Elections.
    • However, in Episode 17, at the General Elections with the final results, she ranked 6th.
  • Kojiharu and some of Chieri's fans in the series call her "Cherry", a nickname they have created for her.
  • Chieri and Yuuko both have a similar fringe.
  • Chieri does not like peppers.
  • Chieri's first friends were Nagisa Motomiya, Yuka Ichijo and Orine Aida.
  • Chieri ran away from home to attend the auditions of 0048 just like what Nagisa also did.
  • Chieri's birthday is on December 8th, which is the day AKB48 debuted. 
  • According to Yuuko, Chieri's radiance combined with Nagisa's radiance could rival that of the last Acchan.
  • In Episode 24, it is revealed that Chieri's family have died:
    • An older brother who died before the beginning of the series.
    • A mother who also died before the beginning of the series.
    • A father who was shot by the end of the episode.
  • Both Chieri and Mayuyu own stuffed alpacas.
  • In Episode 26, Chieri becomes the Center Nova.
  • Her name, in conjunction with Nagisa's, is a play on the words from AKB48's song "Nagisa no Cherry". Note that in Japanese katakana, "cherry" (チェリー) and "chieri" (チエリ) are spelled similarly.

Gallery[]

Category Page: Images of Chieri Sono.

Artwork[]

Screenshots[]

Fanart[]

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