Mio Minato

"I'll make my color shine brilliantly!"

- Mio before her performance in season 2

Mio Minato (湊みお) is one of the two protagonists of the Aikatsu Friends! series. She is a student of the idol division at Star Harmony Academy. Mio is a cool-type idol whose preferred brand is her self-created brand, Material Color. Along with Aine Yūki, the two are a part of Pure Palette.

Appearance
Mio has cerise eyes and chest-length sky blue hair with a lavender ombre. A braid resides on each side of the head and meets at the center, while her bangs are spread out with the left tucked and held with a two gold star clip. She has a single curled strand at the center, while her forelocks reach her shoulder.

As of season two, Mio's bangs are now held by a single star clip with a white feather.

At a younger age, Mio's hair was separated into two braids and tied into side buns, her forelocks held with a star clip similar to that of the one she uses now.

Personality
Mio is known to be cool and is a girl who is constantly in a professional mindset. Mio is also a bit shy when it comes to Aine because of her feelings and how she cares about Aine.

Background
Mio has been doing idol activities since she was young and is good at fashion design. She is a popular and active idol among Star Harmony Academy, and is the cover model for the magazine "Aikatsu! Style Times". She is also both designer and muse for her own brand, Material Color.

Mio met Aine at the Penguin Café by coincidence and asked Aine to join her on her idol activities.

Relationships

 * Aine Yūki
 * Mio first met Aine when she delivered Mio lunch from Aine's family cafe. The two quickly became friends, and Mio invites Aine to perform with her for an event, with Aine transferring to the Idol Division of the school following Mio's invitation to join her on the path of idols.


 * Tamaki Enjōji
 * Tamaki is Mio, Aine, Maika and Ema's manager.


 * Reiko Minato
 * Mio's mother.


 * Osamu Minato
 * Mio's father.

Etymology
Minato (湊) means harbor or port.

Mio (みお) can be written as "澪" in Kanji, which means waterway or channel. Other common forms of the name also include "海央", used to describe the beauty of oceans.

Quotes
"All the dresses I've worn till now, are all filled with my precious feelings."

- Mio Minato

"Let's go! One stage higher!"

- Mio before her performance in season 1

"If you become an idol, the cards will be your friends; the fans cheering you on will be your friends, and you'll be able to make a million friends. That's why... shall we Aikatsu together? Let's go. Together."

- Mio to Aine

"It came to me in a Vivid flash!"

- Mio's catchphrase

"Rivals are not to compete against, but to improve with. That's right. Aine is my ultimate Friend and rival!"

- Mio Minato

"I stopped worrying about surpassing Love Me Tear's legend or the outcome of our battle. Just being able to share that stage with you was my happiness."

- Mio to Aine

"Maybe to you, I'm just one friend out of many, but to me, you're my one and only."

- Mio to Aine

"I felt the same way you did. I couldn't abandon a friend either. And it's that part of you that I want to form Friends. That's the Aine I want to become Diamond Friends with."

- Mio to Aine

"Back when I was on my own, I had my fair share of tough times. But meeting you was my salvation. Those are the feelings I put into our song."

- Mio to Aine

"Out of all her countless friends, Aine chose me. She became my number one Friend. The fire in my chest burns hot when I think of her."

- Mio

"One plus one makes infinity. Just like Love Me Tear was able to create infinite possibilities, the more I shine, the brighter Pure Palette will be!"

- Mio to Aine

"I want to make Pure Palette shine! So intensely that no color or light can outshine it!"

- Mio to Aine

Trivia

 * She is 155cm tall.
 * She is tied with Aine as the shortest main characters.
 * Her star sign is Capricorn.
 * Her birthday, January 6th, is known as Color Day in Japan, as the numbers 1/6 (i ro) can be read the same as "color" (色). The holiday celebrates people whose occupations are related to colors, alluding to Mio's position as the designer of Material Color.
 * Along with Aine's birthday, the two's dates can be connected as 7 2 1 6 (何色 nani iro, lit. any color). This is a reference to their song, Everyone Everyone!, with one of the lines being This forever-going story, what color will it be this time? (ずっと続いてゆくストーリー 今度は何色だろう).
 * She loves picture books.
 * Her favorite food are sandwiches (especially tomato basil and cheese sandwiches).
 * Her specialties are dining reports and designing.
 * Her weakness is working together in groups.
 * Mio is the seventh character in the Aikatsu! franchise to have ombre hair, following Sora Kazesawa, Nina Dōjima from the original Aikatsu! series, as well as Yume Nijino, Yozora Kasumi, Lilie Shirogane and from the Aikatsu Stars! series and Aine Yūki.
 * She is the twelfth character overall in the Aikatsu! franchise to have dual colored hair, following Sora Kazesawa, Mikuru Natsuki, Rin Kurosawa, Nina Dōjima from the original Aikatsu! series, as well as Yume Nijino, Tsubasa Kisaragi, Yozora Kasumi, Lilie Shirogane, Elza Forte and Kirara Hanazono from the Aikatsu Stars! series and Aine Yūki.
 * Her hair bears similarities to Nina Dōjima's from the original Aikatsu! series.
 * Mio resembles Cosmo Hojo from PriPara and Pretty Rhythm.
 * Both have blue hair worn in similar styles.
 * Both have purple eyes.
 * Both have futuristic style clothing.
 * She shares her voice actress with Asami Himuro and Kurumi Mori from the original Aikatsu! series.
 * Coincidentally, both Mio and Asami are cool-type idols.
 * Following Aine Yūki, Mio is the second main protagonist whose debut performance is not a solo, but a duet.
 * Mio is also the second main protagonist to already be a second-year middle school student in her introduction.
 * She is the first protagonist not to be a cute-type.
 * Mio shares her last name with Yukina Minato from BanG Dream!.
 * She is the eighth idol in the Aikatsu! franchise to have created her own brand, following Mizuki Kanzaki, Sora Kazesawa, Hime Shiratori, Lilie Shirogane, Elza Forte, Yume Nijino, and Rei Kizaki, followed by Mirai Asuka.
 * She is the ninth teenager overall to have a brand, following Mizuki Kanzaki, Sora Kazesawa, Tsubasa Sena, Hime Shiratori, Lilie Shirogane, Elza Forte, Yume Nijino, and Rei Kizaki, followed by Mirai Asuka.
 * Mio addresses Penne as Pen-sama (ペン様) out of admiration and love for him.
 * She is shown to be afraid of bugs.