Akari Ichijou

Akari Ichijou (あかり) is a character in The Last Blade. She is symbolized by spells, mononokes (spirits), and ribbons. Her official slogan is "Magical Little Girl" (さな, Chiisana Onmyōji).

Story
Born and raised in Kyoto, Akari hails from a family of onmyoji. Her father asked her to take care of the Hell's Portal when it first opened. Wanting to see the world with her own eyes, Akari complied.

When her older sister, Hikari, succumbed to a mysterious illness, Akari grew worried and suspected it had something to do with Hell's Gate. By the time her father called her to tell her do what was to be done, she sets off determined to seal the gate again and cure her sister. Her ending has her escaping her father's wrath regarding her sudden departure and starting another adventure to find a mermaid, which is all left for poor Juzoh to absorb.

Personality
A spoiled little child, Akari often ignores her father's wishes to get what she wants. She likes adventuring and often leaves home having fun despite the circumstances of the journey. Although flippant in nature, she cares deeply for her family and friends.

Akari knows some English, most likely having learned it from her hobby in browsing an English dictionary. One winpose has her say to her foe, Just a moment! as she drinks tea served to her by a Youkai. Unfortunately, she does not have enough skills to carry a conversation in English, and at times, uses it wrongly. One example is her Let's Dancing! battlecry at the start of her Speed combo mode.

Powers

 * Onmyōdō - Akari is an onmyōji, a kind of supernatural sorcerer. She is extremely talented in onmyōdō, and has the ability to summon and bind evil spirits to her will. Onmyōdō is notoriously difficult for most people to learn, but Akari is a natural at the practice, and can summon the most grotesque and powerful of supernatural creatures with ease.
 * Summoning - Akari's specialty lies in the art of summoning. She can summon a variety of monsters, spirits and demons from Makai and into the material world. She also binds them to her will, taming the most wicked of creatures and using them to further her goals. She may use them in combat, but she usually tends to use her creatures for menial tasks as well, such as serving her tea. Her vast powers of summoning let her conjure a myriad of creatures, such as shikigami, yokai, yurei and oni, all with the most varied forms and powers. She may also summon Hagure Hitogata. Her strongest magic allows her to summon several demons at once, a powerful feat, which is based on the concept of Hyakki Yagyou.
 * Teleportation - Akari can open dimensional portals with her magic, and uses them to teleport and confuse her enemies.
 * Doppelganger - Akari can create a clone of her opponent, an exact copy of her enemy, having not only his/her appearance, but also, her opponent's powers. Her usual tactics when using this power is to teleport to a safer distance, while her clone takes care of the fighting for her. This doppelganger is actually Hagure Hitogata.
 * Sealing - Akari can use her abilities to seal her opponents, making them unable to use their powers and special techniques. To do so, Akari uses her ofuda and places them on the opponent. This move actually consumes some of Akari's energy. Also, by using the ofuda, she may negate opponents' projectiles or cause a mystical electric discharge if the enemy touches it.
 * Spirit energy - Akari can infuse some of her attacks with spiritual energy, which causes damage if the opponent simply touches it.

Skills

 * Academics - Akari is a diligent person who takes studies seriously, which may be one reason she is good at Onmyōjutsu.
 * Speaking English - Despite not being able to speak it correctly, she has shown interest in foreign languages such as English. Her possession of an English dictionary also points to her focus on studies in general.

Fighting Style
The Ichijou-ryu style has the primary goal of teaching its students how to summon and control spirits and youkai, although it teaches some fighting techniques with the heihaku.

Akari is mobile enough to be pesky and be an actual threat in Speed and EX using her combos. Her Power mode makes her more powerful, but she becomes more predictable, unless she clone her enemies and use their own strengths against her foe.

Her 100 Demons' Night (Shikigami Hyakkiyakou) super move has several cameos depending on the game:
 * SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium: Dhylec (Donovan Baine's sword), Ryuhaku Todoh, Go Hibiki (Dan's deceased, Tengu-faced father), Mizuki Rashojin, Gore Gajah from Star Gladiator, a pair of small Mars People, Red Arremer, Mukuro, Hannya (Bishamon's cursed suit of armor), Shiro Tokisada Amakusa and, lastly, an SV-001.
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum: Youkai Kusaregedo, Gandara, Ryuhaku Todoh, Earthquake, Wild Iori, Honki ni Natta Mr. Karate, Nicotine Caffeine and one of the spirits summoned by Sokaku Mochizuki.
 * SNK Gals Fighters: Ryuhaku Todoh, Goro Daimon, Akari's friends, P-chan and another chick, Mr. Karate, and then, Juzoh.

Technically, Akari cannot be killed as she replaces herself with a shikigami moments before she is slain. In The Last Blade 2, she even taunts her enemy before forfeiting the fight.

Music
Akari sings a song which is titled as Akari's song in the Last Blade Arranged Soundtrack. An instrumental version is also used for her appearance in SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium.

Voice Actors

 * Mayuko Omimura - The Last Blade series, Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting
 * Kana Ueda - pachislot title

Game Appearances

 * The Last Blade
 * The Last Blade 2
 * The Last Blade - Beyond the Destiny
 * SNK Gals' Fighters
 * SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium - unlockable
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting
 * Gekka no Kenshi Gaiden ~ Akari to Nanatsu no Ayakashidama

Cameo Appearances

 * The Last Blade - in Juzoh's stage, when she's not present fighting
 * The Last Blade 2 - in the Elephant stage, on a poster, and when Juzoh fights in this stage
 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves - in Hokutomaru's stage during the third round
 * The King of Fighters XIV - in one of the artworks

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (ninth title) - unplayable
 * SNK Gals Island Beauty Dungeon Mimi to Kimashita!
 * SNK High School Collection
 * The Rhythm of Fighters - Support Character
 * Kimi wa Hero

Similar Characters

 * "Akari" Ichijou
 * Hagure Hitogata

Last Blade Drama CD
Akari makes an appearance in the Last Blade Drama CD where she and Juzoh once again serve as comic relief. In the alternate ending, she sets out to travel with Yuki where they appear together in two scenes.

In the Drama CD, it is revealed that Akari is very confident with her English, yet fails to make an American man understand what she is saying such as her attempts to say the common phrase: "Don't cry over spilt milk."

Etymology

 * The name Akari means "light" (あかり) in Hiragana.
 * However, when written in kanji (明里, 朱里 or 朱莉), it could possibly mean:
 * 明里 - "bright, light, clear" (明) (aka) and "village" (里) (ri).
 * 朱里 - "vermilion red" (朱) (aka) and "village" (里) (ri).
 * 朱莉 - "vermilion red" (朱) (aka) and "white jasmine" (莉) (ri).
 * Akari's surname Ichijou means "one" (一) (ichi) and "article" (条) (jou).

Trivia

 * Aside from her sister, Akari hangs out with two other girls. Their names are Shizuka Kujo ("Shichi") and Aoi Yahata ("Acchi"). Shizuka has black hair and Aoi's outfit has green ribbons. They're usually seen cheering for her in the background or in her endings.
 * Akari has some animations and quirks that are lost in The Last Blade 2. These includes idle animations when upclose, among others.


 * In Akari's dislike section is stated that she doesn't like tea, yet in most illustration she is seen with a cup of tea, which is strange.

Gallery
Akari Ichijou