Eli Ayase

Ayase Eri, or also known as Ayase Ellie from her ''Solo Live! - Beloved Ellie'', is one of the nine main characters in Love Live!. She is 17 years old and a third year. Eri 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 part of BiBi, a mini idol unit. Eri is voiced by Yoshino Nanjou.

Background
Eri 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". Eri first says it in episode 10 when Sonoda Umi was awoken by the girl's pillow fight and she threw a "supersonic pillow" 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 Eri as she was also a ballet dancer herself when she was younger. However, later it is revealed that Eri 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
Eri 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 Eri was also trying to save the school, but was denied permission to take action by the chairwoman.

Eri 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 Eri 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, Eri also has a lot of fans in the school. Ever since she joined the group, their popularity rise 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

 * Student Council - President
 * Good at quilting and crafts
 * Idol Research Club

Chronology
In Episode 1, Ayase Eri and her friend Nozomi approach Honoka, Umi, and Minami Kotori. Eri asked Kotori if she heard her mother, Principal Minami, tell her anything about the school shutting down. When Kotori says no, Eri and Nozomi both excuse themselves to go talk to the chairwoman. There, Eri 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. Eri tries to object, but Nozomi shushes her. The chairwoman tells Eri that she knows she means good, and the two excuse themselves.

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

In Episode 2, while Honoka, Umi, and Kotori prepare for their first concert, Eri 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, Eri 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 on 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, Eri 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 Eri 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, then Eri appears. While at a park, Eri 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 this video. She also says that she doesn't support idol groups, because they're amateurs to her, including A-Rise. Umi tells Eri she can't say that, but Eri ignores her and walks away.

When Umi told Nozomi what she said, Nozomi told her that Eri was a ballerina and an expert at dancing. Therefore, Umi wanted to ask Eri to teach μ's how to dance and be their choreographer. However, Nozomi told her that there was something else Umi had to do: help the others study for their exams. When the exams are done and all the members of μ's passed, they started to go to the chairwoman's office, but overhear her tell Eri 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 that'll only happen if the upcoming open day doesn't go well. Umi asks Eri to be μ's choreographer, and she eventually agrees. Eri puts μ's through intense training, but is surprised that they're willing to go through with it.

Nozomi tells Eri that she should do what she wants to do instead of doing what people expect her to do, thus questioning her what is it she really wants to do. This has given her a silent pause and regrets in giving up her dreams. Knowing the truth, Honoka and her friends approach Eri 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 again, and Eri finally join μ's, together with Nozomi as well, who reveals that she came up with the group's name: μ's, which means the nine goddesses of music.

In Episode 9, after discovering Kotori working at a maid café in Akihabara, Eri decides that it'd be the perfect place to hold a concert. Because Kotori knows Akiba best, Eri assigns her the job of writing lyrics for μ's next song. However, Kotori struggles 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. Eri 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 Eri 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, a pillow hits Umi while she was sleeping, causing her to get cranky and begin throwing "supersonic pillows" at everyone, hitting Yazawa Niko, Honoka, and Eri.

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

Much later on in the episode, Eri goes to visit Honoka's house along with her little sister. Eri tells Honoka that μ's is going on an indefinite hiatus. Eri 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. Eri tells Honoka that she taught her to have the courage to move forward without fearing change. Eri then shows Honoka her hand and tells her that she was saved by Honoka's hand.