I've noticed that there seems to be a general consensus among fans to, well...not outright hate Maruko, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of sympathy towards her. I've heard people say that she's stuck-up, possessive, way too prideful, jealous etc. Now granted, she sure seems to be jealous (or at least suspicious) of Alpha, but it's not like she actually goes out and lashes out at Alpha or anything - in fact she seems to hang out with Alpha as much as anyone else.
The way I look at it, Kokone and Maruko represent the two sides of the same coin - Kokone more dependent, someone who needs to latch onto an "onee-san" and companionship, while Maruko is more independent, more willing to express her individuality and more afraid of being tied down to any one spot or person. In a way, I see them as external personifications of Alpha's own conflicting personality traits:
- She has a tendency to latch onto relationships and other people, just like Kokone (and including Kokone, no less)
- She places a very high value on commitment just like Kokone (with Owner and her commitment to the cafe)
- Like Kokone, she seems to be very lonely before the two meet each other.
- Like Kokone, meeting the other seems to have given her a new direction and meaning in life
...but....
- Like Maruko, she's not afraid to express her individuality, which I think was the main point of her "shopping trip" (she needed to get away from the Cafe for a little bit and go on a voyage of self-discovery, to reconnect with her individuality, and this takes no less than a whole year to achieve. In fact, I got the impression that she was even beginning to feel a little "suffocated" by staying at the Cafe and the people around her, which may explain why she didn't bother to tell Kokone!)
- Like Maruko, she's very expressive creatively, and a very creative person (her little workstation thingie is always shown to have some project on its desk)
- Like Maruko, she seems to prefer being her own boss (the jobs where she had to work under someone else, she didn't really hold onto for all that long, and the manga spends only enough time on them to equate to being barely mentioned; and when Makki goes to work with her, she makes it subtle yet clear that it's Alpha, then Makki in the Cafe hierarchy)
- Like Maruko, she seems to exert herself as the dominant one in her relationship with Kokone, though whether this is a conscious or subconscious effort by Alpha or by Kokone is up for debate |