Chigusa Tsukikage

Chigusa Tsukikage (月影 千草 Tsukikage Chigusa) is Maya Kitajima's mentor and a former street urchin who once was a very talented and beloved actress, most notable for her role at the legendary play "Crimson Goddess" (紅天女 Kunenai-Tennyo) whose performance was so acclaimed that its author left the rights over it solely to her in his will, but she got horribly scarred in an onstage accident (a lamp lighter hit her and burned half her face off) and had to leave the acting scene, opening an acting school instead. She has very weak health and is hospitalized several times during the story. Yet she is a woman of unstoppable will, refusing to give the rights of "The Crimson Goddess" to Masumi Hayami and his father, as according to her, currently there is not an actress suitable for the main role. After finding potential in Maya, she takes her under her wing despite Haru Kitajima's (Maya's mother) objections and strives to shape her into the best actress ever, so she can contest with Ayumi Himekawa for the leading role in "The Crimson Goddess". In Episode 4, Tsukikage understands that an actress's face is her most important feature that she covers Maya when Haru tries to throw a kettle at Maya's face.

Trivia

 * The name Chigusa means "thousand" (千) (chi) and "grass, herb, weed" (草) (kusa/gusa).
 * Chigusa's surname Tsukikage means "moon" (月) (tsuki) and "light" (影) (kage).
 * In Episode 49, Tsukikage fell in love with a man named Ichiren Ozaki when she was young.