| Kareha Banouin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Profile | |
| Kanji | 絆王院 華羽 |
| Romaji | Banaōin Kareha |
| Status | Deceased |
| Gender | Female |
| Species | Quasi-Spirit |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Green |
| Personal Status | |
| Relatives | Mizuha Banouin (Younger Sister) |
| Occupation | Dominion (Formerly) |
| Media | |
| Novel Debut | Date A Bullet 3 |
| Portrayal | |
Kareha Banouin (絆王院 華羽?) was the Dominion of the Eighth Region Hod.
Summary[]
Kareha was the Dominion and leader of the army against the rebel forces in Hod, and was the orchestrator behind the war being non-lethal. She wished to play with and fight against Retsumi Jugasaki, the general of the opposing army.
Appearance[]
Kareha had long dark hair styled in a hime cut and jade-colored eyes. Her Astral Dress took the form of an elegant light pink and purple kimono with a distinctive floral pattern.
During her transformation into an Empty, she gained the typical red eyes and white hair. In order to hide this, she started wearing a wig to cover up her slowly whitening hair.
Personality[]
Kareha acted like a refined Japanese princess with a fake Kansai accent. Sometimes, she forgot to use her faux accent. In reality, she had a playful little devil-kind of character, just like Kurumi. In a school setting, she would be the type of girl who doesn't have many friends.
During her life as a human, she admitted to being aggressive towards boys who tried to meddle with Mizuha, or talk about her own name. Kareha's name in writing is uncommon because rather than "flowery wings," Kareha usually means "dry leaves"(枯葉).[1]
Although she wore a confident facade, Kareha was actually hiding fear because she was transforming into an Empty due to having her heart corrupted by love for the White Queen. Realizing this, she also refused to meet with Mizuha.
She sent Hod into an eternal summer so her time playing with Retsumi would never end.
Despite being the type of Quasi-Spirit who experienced the feeling of being alive by living on the edge, she hated killing and thus wouldn't want to go back to Malkuth.
History[]
Background[]
Uncommon for a Quasi-Spirit, Kareha retained many of her memories from when she was human. She was the daughter of a rich family who lived in wealth and was surrounded by servants. She also remembered that her family name was Banouin, and she had a sister. After arriving in the Neighboring World, she fought to survive in Malkuth while protecting her younger sister, Mizuha. She lived her new life to the fullest.
When touching a crystal formed by a Compile, she saw the memory of a girl standing alone on top of a pile of ruins. This brought back her own sealed memories of dying under rubble and debris, likely caused by a Spacequake or typhoon.[2] The memory and realization of her death triggered her gradual transformation into an Empty.
Eventually, Kareha fought her way up until she claimed the position of Dominion of Hod. During her rule, an Empty came to challenge her. Despite being defeated, the Empty kept coming back stronger than before, until she recovered. That Empty, who had lost all her memories, asked for a name. Jokingly, Kareha named her Retsumi Jugasaki. After that, Retsumi often came to visit, and they became close friends.[3] The relationship between the two is so close that even Mizuha admitted being jealous of their care for each other. But because of their position as leaders of the two opposing sides within Hod, Kareha and Retsumi rarely met up anymore.
At some point, Kareha fought against the White Queen and was infected with her love. The emotion corrupted her mind, and only by holding onto her love for Retsumi, she managed to keep her sanity. Yet even with that, she has lost half her heart to the Queen, a condition that worsened as her transformation into Empty progressed.
Media[]
- Light Novel
- Appearances:
- Mentioned:
- Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet 5, 7-8
Powers and Abilities[]
Unsigned Angel: Ougai Sange (
Weapon: Fan and Sakura petals
Astral Dress: Bleume Ales (
Kareha's Unsigned Angel takes the form of a fan that creates and controls flower petals, but it is actually the flower petals themselves.[4] The fan merely serves as the catalyst to summon and control the sakura petals.
The flower petals can be formed into various kinds of offensive and defensive moves.
- Kogarashi (
小嵐 ?. lit. "Small Tempest"): By using a large amount of Reiryoku, Kareha gathers her sakura petals to form a large tornado. While the tornado is in effect, Kareha is unable to move. - Kamikirimushi (
天牛 ?. lit. "Longhorn Beetle"): After enclosing her target with her sakura petals, Kareha crushes them into pieces. - Tekka (
鉄火 ?. lit. "Red-Hot Iron"): Kareha hardens her sakura petals in order to deflect against incoming projectiles. - Agito (
顎門 ?. lit. "Jaw"): With a swing of her fan, Kareha launches an attack with her hardened sakura petals. Each individual petal has the same sharpness as a razor. - Hato (
波濤 ?. lit. "Surging Sea"): As the sakura petals produced by her fan explosively proliferate, Kareha shapes her attack in the form of an incoming tsunami. - Ninjiyō (
刃傷 ?. lit. "Bloodshed"): Closing her fan, Kareha gathers her sakura petals around it to form a ten meter sword construct. While flashy, Kurumi notes that it lacks the individual sharpness of each sakura petal and was able to parry the blow with <Zafkiel>'s pistols. - Kika (
奇貨 ?. lit. "Rare Opportunity"): By opening her closed fan, Kareha launches a surprise attack from every direction using sakura petals she had hidden around the battlefield.
Quotes[]
- (To Kurumi Tokisaki) “……Kurumi-han. Will you bear witness to my affairs until the very end?” [5]
- (Last Words To Retsumi Jugasaki) "Good-bye Retsu-chan.” [6]
Trivia[]
- The name Kareha contains the kanji for "petal" (華, kare) and "feather" (羽, ha).
- Kareha's surname Banouin has the kanji for "bonds" (絆, ban) and "royal palace" (王院, ouin).