Eli Ayase

Ayase Eli is one of the nine main characters in Love Live!. She is 17 years old and a third year in high school. Eli was born on October 21 and is a Libra. She has blonde hair that is tied up into a ponytail and blue eyes. Her main color is blue/light blue. She is 162 centimeters tall, and her blood type is B. She is the center of BiBi, a mini idol unit under μ's. Eli is voiced by Yoshino Nanjou.

Background
Eli is partly Russian from her grandmother. Because of this, she is known to say the Russian word "хорошо" (pronounced "harasho"), which means "good" or "okay". Eli first says it in episode 10 when Sonoda Umi was awoken by the girls' pillow fight and she threw "supersonic pillows" in her rage.

She has a younger sister named Ayase Arisa, though she has two brothers in the manga. She told Umi that her family has been living abroad since they were little and haven't really adapted the lifestyle in Japan yet. Her grandmother is also an alumni of Otonokizaka High School, which urged her more to defend her high school from getting shut down.

In Episode 7, it is shown that her mother and grandmother did ballet through the glimpse of the photos in her room, and it's a legacy passed down to Eli as she was also a ballet dancer herself when she was younger. However, later it is revealed that Eli was actually at the bottom of the list in ballet compared to the other dancers and could hardly pass the auditions. Due to her constant failures, she gave up her dream of becoming a ballet dancer and gradually tried to close her heart and distance herself from her dream to shine and dance again.

Personality
Eli is shown to be a perfect role model to the students in Otonokizaka High School. With her as the student council president, she is often portrayed as a cold and strict character due to her responsibilities, and being against the idea of Kousaka Honoka and her friends forming an idol group to get more attention from the public. However, ironically, Toujou Nozomi reveals that Eli was also trying to save the school, but was denied permission to take action by the chairwoman.

Eli is highly respected and well-known among the students, especially among her juniors. Unlike Nozomi, she appears rather stoic and skeptical in the early episodes, but it is shown that Eli is actually very kind and caring towards people that are close to her, like her little sister. Despite of that, she is also dependable as her grandmother entrusts her to prevent the school from getting shut down.

Other than being admirable, Eli also has a lot of fans in the school. Ever since she joined the group, their popularity rose and became quite famous in the school idols ranking. Honoka also complimented her beauty, saying she is beautiful, tall, and has a great body shape. On top of that, she is also very mature and level-headed and acts as a strategist in promoting their group as she planned to introduce μ's in Akihabara by having a street performance.

Clubs and Hobbies
She is Otonokizaka High School's student council president before Honoka succeeds the  position. She's also good at quilting and crafts and is part of the Idol Research Club.

Chronology
Season I = In Episode 1, Ayase Eli and her friend Nozomi approach Honoka, Umi, and Minami Kotori. Eli asked Kotori if she heard her mother, Principal Minami, tell her anything about the school shutting down. When Kotori says no, Eli and Nozomi both excuse themselves to go talk to the chairwoman. There, Eli tells her that the student council believes they should continue club activities under the assumption that the school isn't going to close. However, the chairwoman replies that the student council should focus on improving the school life for current students, instead. Eli tries to object, but Nozomi shushes her. The chairwoman tells Eli that she knows she means good, and the two excuse themselves.

Later on, near the end of the episode, while Honoka, Umi, and Kotori were leaving the school, Nozomi overheard what the girls were saying, and tells Eli that she wishes she could tell someone she knows that she understands how Honoka feels. Eli tells her that she always says a little too much, to which Nozomi replies that it's the vice president's job to do so.

In Episode 2, while Honoka, Umi, and Kotori prepare for their first concert, Eli warns them that their plan of becoming school idols could backfire and ruin the school's reputation even more. However, they continue with their plans, anyway.

In Episode 3, after μ's perform their first live in a nearly empty auditorium, Eli walks down to the stage and asks Honoka what will she do next, and she is met with the reply that they will work harder and one day fill up the whole auditorium.

In Episode 5, μ's realizes that they have more than enough members to form an official club. However, Eli tells them that there's already an Idol Research Club.

Near the end of episode 6, after μ's finishes their new music video, "Korekara no Someday," Nozomi tells Eli that she should help μ's.

In Episode 7, Umi finds a girl named Arisa waiting in front of the school. Umi notices her watching a recording of one of μ's performances and asks how she got it. Arisa explains to her that her sister recorded it and then spots Eli. Umi quickly figures out that Eli is Arisa's sister. While at a park, Eli admits that she did record the first performance of μ's and uploaded it to the web. She says she did that so that she could show μ's they had no fans, but her plan went wrong due to the huge, positive reaction to the video. She also says that she doesn't support idol groups, because they're amateurs to her, including A-Rise. Umi tells Eli she can't say that, but Eli ignores her and leaves with her sister.

When Umi tells Nozomi what Eli said, Nozomi tells her that Eli was once a ballerina and an expert at dancing. After this, Umi decides that she wants to ask Eli to teach μ's how to dance and be their choreographer. However, Nozomi tells her that there's something else Umi has to do: help the others study for their exams. When the exams are done and all the members of μ's pass, they go to the chairwoman's office, bur overhear her tell Eli and Nozomi that the school will stop accepting new students next year and shut down.

In Episode 8, following the events of the previous episode, the principal explains to μ's that it will only happen if the upcoming open day doesn't go well. Umi asks Eli to be μ's choreographer, and she eventually agrees. Eli puts μ's through intense training, but is surprised that they're willing to go through with it.

Nozomi tells Eli that she should do what she wants to do instead of doing what people expect her to do, thus leading Eli to wonder what she really wants to do. She stays silent and begins to regret giving up her dreams. Knowing the truth, Honoka and her friends approach Eli and ask her to join the group. Even though she was not convinced at first, she sees this as a way for her to rise back up again, and Eli finally joins μ's, together with Nozomi, who reveals that she came up with the group's name μ's, which refers to the nine Greek goddesses of music. Coincidentally, there are nine members in μ's. The now complete group performs "Bokura no LIVE, Kimi to no LIFE" at the open day to a pleased crowd, making the open day a success.

In Episode 9, after discovering Kotori working at a maid café in Akihabara, Eli decides that it'd be the perfect place to hold a concert. Because Kotori knows Akiba best, Eli assigns her the job of writing lyrics for μ's next song. However, Kotori struggles with writing the lyrics. But with Honoka and Umi's help, Kotori is able to write the lyrics for μ's new song "Wonder Zone".

In Episode 10, μ's decide to go to Nishikino Maki's beach house after getting permission from her parents. Eli creates a rule that no one is allowed to use the honorifics "senpai" for the duration of the trip, so they can break down the barrier between upper and underclassmen. The girls spend the whole day at the beach playing, but Nozomi and Eli are quick to notice Maki not participating. At night, Nozomi initiates a pillow fight and all of them join in except for Umi, who is already fast asleep. However, two pillows hit Umi while she was sleeping, causing her to get cranky and begin throwing "supersonic pillows" at everyone, hitting Yazawa Nico, Honoka, and Eli. At the end of the episode, all of μ's go out to the beach and watch the sunrise while holding hands.

In Episode 11, μ's has manage to reach rank #19 on the school idol ranking site, making them eligible to apply for the Love Live! tournament. This puts pressure on μ's to keep their position. However, Nico fails to win a lottery spin to use the auditorium, causing μ's to think of where to have a concert. Honoka comes up with the idea that they can use the rooftop to hold their performance, and the group hesitantly agrees. On the day of the concert, it's raining, but the group decides to perform, anyway. They perform "No Brand Girls", but as the song finished, Honoka faints.

In Episode 12, following the events of the previous episode, Eli tells the audience that one of the members had an accident. The next day, μ's go to Honoka's house to check on her. They discover that she's still recovering and has a sprained leg. They sadly tell Honoka that they dropped out of the Love Live! tournament, meaning their ranking was removed from the school idol ranking site. Honoka blames herself for the incident, but μ's tell her that it's everyone's fault, instead. Everyone gets depressed from this event, but Honoka the most. At the rooftop, Maki, Hanayo, and Rin all announce that the school has been saved, thus the group decides to have a celebration. At the party, however, Umi and Kotori are noticed to not be in jolly spirits. Umi then reveals to μ's that Kotori is moving to a fashion boarding school for the rest of her high school career. Everyone is surprised by the announcement, but Honoka gets angry at Kotori for not telling her earlier. Kotori explains to her that she wanted to tell them but couldn't, and runs away.

The next day, on the rooftop, μ's reveals that they're planning to do a final live with everybody before Kotori leaves. But Honoka tells them that it was her fault and that none of this would've happened if it wasn't for the accident. The members tell her to stop saying that, but Honoka then says that the school is saved, therefore there's no reason to keep on performing and that it's impossible to go against a group like A-Rise. Honoka tells them that she quits, but before she leaves, Umi slaps her cheek, saying that she didn't think that she's that kind of person and that she's the worst there is.

In Episode 13, Eli decides to put μ's on a hiatus. Nico disagrees with Eli, saying that she wants to continue being a school idol. Maki tells her that they can't continue without Honoka. Later, Nozomi and Eli are working, and Eli tells Nozomi that "μ's isn't μ's unless there are nine members".

Much later on in the episode, Eli goes to visit Honoka's house along with her little sister. Eli tells Honoka that μ's is going on an indefinite hiatus. Eli confesses that she's jealous of Honoka's personality and how she isn't afraid to show them. She tells her that everyone is shocked that Kotori is leaving, and that is was even more unbearable when they think about how Honoka and Umi are feeling about it. Eli tells Honoka that she taught her to have the courage to move forward without fearing change. Eli then shows Honoka her hand and tells her that she was saved by Honoka's hand.

After fetching Kotori at the airport, near the end of the episode, Honoka runs into the backstage of the school auditorium and slips, hurting her butt. Kotori also comes in and μ's begin performing "Start:Dash!!", despite wearing their school uniforms, and this time with the auditorium full of people. Afterwards, Honoka tells the crowd to say "μ's Music Start!" and μ's are in the school idol ratings again. Season II = In Episode 1, Princpal Minami announces that Otonokizaka will still accept student applications for next year. After the announcement, the podium is then passed on to the succeeding student council president, Kousaka Honoka, to deliver her speech. Honoka managed to introduce herself but had forgotten the contents of her speech.

At the student council room, Umi scolds Honoka for forgetting her speech that they wrote together then places a large amount of student council work in front of her. Eli arrives at the student council room together with Nozomi to check on the trio.

μ's talked about the news about Love Live! being held once more. They were hesitant at first because of the thought that they have to compete against A-RISE for the preliminaries, but after Umi stated that it was too early to give up, they all agreed to give it a shot, except for Honoka who told them that it's okay for them not to enter Love Live!. All of them were shocked at Honoka's statement and asked her if there was anything wrong with her but she said that she was happy just being able to sing and dance with everyone. Honoka then suggests that they all hang out together after school for a change of pace.

That night, the members of μ's, except for Honoka, talked about Honoka's weird behaviour. Nozomi told them that the regular dance practices and sessions may be enough for Honoka.

The next day, Nico challenges Honoka to a race to decide whether the group enters Love Live! or not. During the race, Honoka finally understood the meaning of Yukiho's words, as at that time, Eli, Nozomi, and Nico will graduate and no longer be school idols, making this year's Love Live the last opportunity for μ's to perform together as a group of nine.

Everyone told Honoka their feelings about entering Love Live! making Honoka state her true desire to enter Love Live! as well. They all sang "Susume→Tomorrow" and Honoka told them that they will aim for victory.

In Episode 2, Hanayo tells everyone that only unreleased songs are allowed to be performed at Love Live!, meaning they can't use any of their existing songs. Eli tells them that they have no choice but to make a new song and decides to go on a camping trip.

They were amazed that Maki's family had a vacation house even at the mountains. When they were about to leave the train station and head for the bus, Rin told them that they might be forgetting something. They forgot about Honoka who was still sleeping on the train.

Everyone was amazed yet again when they saw the house and the things inside. They found out that Maki still believed in Santa when they were talking about the fireplace. Nico was about to laugh and mock her for it but the others prevented her from doing so, claiming that it was a serious crime to say it. After settling down, Maki, Umi, and Kotori proceeded to doing their jobs upstairs while the others proceeded to doing some basic drills outside.

While in the living room, Honoka noticed that Maki wasn't anywhere near the piano and decides to take the tea that Hanayo made to the girls upstairs. Honoka opens the door to where Umi was staying but found no one inside, finding a note on the table stating "Please don't look for me" instead. Panicked, Honoka proceeded to Kotori's room and found no one inside as well, finding a picture on the wall with the words "Help me" instead. Honoka soon noticed that there was cloth tied by the window that leads outside. She looks outside and finds the three sighing.

The others found out that the three were in a slump because of the pressure and decides to split the work to all of them. They decided on forming three groups, with the first group consisting of Kotori, Hanayo and Honoka to work on the costumes, the second group consisting of Umi, Rin and Nozomi to work on the lyrics, and the third group consisting of Maki, Nico, and Eli to work on the music. There was no progress for the first few hours but after hearing some encouraging words from their group mates, the three who're originally assigned for the tasks met on the house and was able to finish everything that night. The others found the three of them sleeping in the living room with their finish products and decided to let them sleep for a while. They immediately started practicing as soon as the three woke up and continued to practice hard even after returning from their trip, aiming to win Love Live!.

In Episode 3, Honoka, Hanayo, and Eli were browsing the Love Live! site. They saw the different stages prepared for the preliminaries. Hanayo told them that because of the number of groups that will enter the preliminaries, they are allowed to perform anywhere other than the concert halls. After practice, μ's talked about the mechanics of the contest. Four groups will be able to move on to the final round of the preliminaries. They also concluded that there will only be three spots to compete for, knowing that A-Rise will get a place for sure. Honoka suggests that they use their school as their stage so that they can perform comfortably. Nico and Hanayo told Honoka that she was naive and that they only have one shot at it. They needed something original to stand out and catch everyone's attention. But before they can decide the place, they still needed to practice being on air so they asked the broadcasting club for help. Honoka, Umi, and Hanayo were the ones who tried out the mic. The results wasn't what they really wanted but at least it was very μ's-like.

After that, μ's decided to look for a place to hold their live but it turns out that they're out of new stages. They looked elsewhere and ended up in front of the UTX building. The group saw A-Rise's promotion and Honoka says that they won't lose. Just then, A-Rise's Kira Tsubasa appeared in front of the sceond year trio. Tsubasa hushed Honoka before others could see her then she grabbed Honoka's arm and ran, dragging her inside the building. Hanayo and Nico noticed that Tsubasa was there, running with Honoka and chased after them.

A-Rise revealed to μ's that they've been watching and keeping an eye on the group for quite a while. They thought that μ's was going to be their biggest rivals during the last Love Live!. Tsubasa, Erina, and Anju then revealed each of μ's members' good points. Eli asked them why they knew so much and Tsubasa answers that it was because it was rare to see a group with a caliber like μ's and that they didn't want to lose to μ's. Honoka also states that they won't lose either and says thank you to them. Tsubasa then offers to perform with μ's on the same stage, which is their school's rooftop, to which Honoka immediately agrees, surprising the rest of μ's members.

The day of the preliminaries came, A-Rise's Tsubasa and μ's Honoka agreed to give it their all and shook hands. Arisa and Yukiho are shown watching with a laptop at the Kousaka residence. Arisa was worried but Yukiho assured her that they will be fine. A-Rise performed their new song, "Shocking Party". Seeing A-Rise perform, most of μ's members were starting to feel that they can't win. Honoka immediately disagreed and cheered everyone up. Some of there schoolmates came and cheered them on as well. μ's found a new hope and was ready to perform. μ's performed their new song, "Yume no Tobira" and received good responses from their audience.