Mother is a middle-aged housewife and the central figure of the Tachibana household in the anime series Shin Atashin'chi. She was born in Oita Prefecture and went by the childhood nickname Banban. In her youth, she had a strong attachment to a childhood friend she hoped to marry, but she entered into an arranged marriage with her husband, who is simply referred to as Father. She is the mother of their two children, daughter Mikan and son Yuzuhiko, and serves as the deuteragonist of the story.

Her personality is boisterous, stubborn, and often eccentric. She takes great pride in maintaining a clean home and balancing the family budget, frequently boasting about her frugality and her ability to prepare a tasty dinner on a tight budget. She invents nifty but sometimes illogical shortcuts for household chores, such as vacuuming the rug and waxing the wooden floor all at once, yet she is notably clumsy and often loses control of her own schemes, landing herself in sticky or embarrassing situations. Despite her hardworking image, she is also quite lazy, taking long afternoon naps, watching television while snacking on senbei, and avoiding shopping or cooking on rainy days. She can be overbearing and stubborn, especially when enforcing her own rules, but beneath this exterior she genuinely cares for her family’s well-being in her own unconventional way.

Her motivations revolve around maintaining a frugal, orderly, and respectable household. She is deeply traditional, especially regarding her daughter Mikan: she forbids pierced ears, staying out late for karaoke, excessive fashions, and places greater value on housework than on homework. In contrast, she dotes on her younger son Yuzuhiko, often letting him get away with things that Mikan cannot. This unequal treatment is a recurring source of friction between mother and daughter.

Mother’s role in the story is to drive much of the comedy through her exaggerated domestic schemes, her clashes with Mikan, and her interactions with her circle of housewife friends, particularly Mrs. Mizushima and Mrs. Toyama. She also frequently interacts with the more affluent Mrs. Misumi, whose lifestyle she envies. Her relationship with Father is stable and based on mutual understanding despite his quiet, taciturn nature; she often manages him with a mix of care and frustration. With Yuzuhiko, she is affectionate to the point of suffocating him, which he finds embarrassing. With Mikan, the relationship is frequently contentious but ultimately loving, and the two gradually learn to appreciate each other’s quirks.

Character development is subtle, as Mother remains largely a static comedic force representing the archetypal Japanese housewife. However, small moments of domestic realization and her evolving strategies to maintain household harmony and budget show slight growth over the course of the series. Her notable abilities include extreme frugality and clever (if sometimes misguided) multitasking techniques in housekeeping, as well as a talent for calligraphy and cooking, particularly dishes involving chikuwa. She also has a strong memory for bargains and a knack for inventing household rules that she expects the family to follow. Overall, Mother is the energetic, flawed, and deeply caring heart of the Tachibana family, providing both chaos and warmth in equal measure.