Hyo Amano

Hyo Amano (天野 漂, Amano Hyō) is a character from The Last Blade game series. He is visually modeled on the manga character Kumo from the 1973 manga, Haguregumo (浮浪雲, literally "Vagrant Cloud"). His symbolic items are sakura (cherry blossoms) and money; his official slogan is "Romancing Wanderer": 江戸の喧嘩桜 (The warrior of the Cherry Blossoms from Edo).

He is voiced by Akio Ohtsuka.

Story
His role in The Last Blade is somewhat ambiguous. As a carefree and fun-loving individual, Hyo has a strong love for sake, women, and the thrill of the fight. When he discovers the petals of the beautiful cherry trees falling from their branches, he panics and decides he must go kill his opponents to solve the “problem”. In the end, he discovers it was only the changing of the seasons that resulted in the petals falling from the trees.

After learning of the cause for the various Sakura trees petals falling, Hyo is devastated to learn that the sky is turning a dreadful gray color due to the re-opening of “Hell's Gate”. He draws his sword, but finds it oddly dull and fragile. In order to fix it, he decides to ask his friend Takane Genzō, a master swordsmith, to fix it. However, his friend has passed away. Amano discovers that he had a daughter (Hibiki Takane) who had recently departed the household. Concerned for his sword and for Hibiki, he sets off to locate her.

Hyo's ending in both games is interesting in that the player must choose one of two (or three in the first game) choices, akin to a visual novel. Different choices produces different dialogues and ultimately a different ending sequence. He will normally ask if the player is a man or woman and will have different scenes and quotes depending on their answer. In the second game, not answering at all in the first dialogue will result in a melancholic ending for Amano.

Personality
Amano is characterized by his outlandish mannerisms and flamboyant personality. He is quite fond of women, and may have seen through Kaori's disguise as Kojiroh, with him having a special introduction quote.

Powers

 * Explosive Fire Projectile - Amano can throw a projectile to the floor which causes an explosion. This projectile takes the form of a Shogi "Tokin" (と金) promoted pawn piece.
 * Petal Attack - Amano has several special techniques involving attacking with his sword engulfed with energy and Sakura petals.

Fighting Style
Amano fights with his self-taught one-handed Kenjutsu style, "Garyū Kenka Yagura", translated in English as "Self-Taught Fortress Brawling", Fortress/Yagura (矢倉) being in reference to a tactic in Shogi, also known as Japanese Chess. Being an avid Shogi player, Hyo incorporates Shogi references into both his fighting style name, and some of his techniques. Hyo carries a comically large Shogi piece with the Hiragana Character of "To" (と) on his waist. The piece is a "Tokin" (と金, literally "Reaches Gold") promoted pawn, which is an upgrade of the "fuhyō" (歩兵, food soldier) standard pawn. Hyo can throw the Tokin piece at his opponents as a special technique at varying angles/trajectories in order to set off an explosion on impact with the ground or the opponent. His katana Otokomae is mounted in Shikomizue (prepared cane) fittings, a sword mounting style that conceals the blade while sheathed, giving it the appearance of a cane or stick, however he almost exclusively wields it as if it were a bokuto, striking opponents with the sword still sheathed in it's scabbard. In The Last Blade 2, Otokomae is repaired, and one of Amano's moves allows him to perform an unblockable draw cut with the sword, albeit with a short delay. When swinging with significant force with Otokomae, many of his heavy attacks produce a streak of cherry blossoms.

Some of Amano's basic attacks involve lengthy recovery times if the attack did not land on the enemy. For players, this can force one to carry out an attack only if the hit is certain, whether it will be blocked or it will land.

Because of this, playing as Amano is comparable to learning a new game from scratch. However, mastering it can be very rewarding, as he has combos, anti-airs, and even grab attacks that dish out a great deal of damage if landed correctly, even in Speed or EX.

Amano's Power Guard Crush attack baits CPU enemies easily, sometimes allowing the player for an easy playthrough.

Game Appearances

 * The Last Blade
 * The Last Blade 2
 * The Last Blade - Beyond the Destiny
 * Samurai Shodown (2019) - Mentioned indirectly in Hibiki's ending, end quote and win quote vs. Yoshitora - Cameo
 * Capcom vs. SNK 2 - Mentioned in Hibiki's winquote against Dan in the Japanese version

Etymology

 * The name Hyo means "drift/drifting, float (on liquid)" (漂).
 * Hyo's surname Amano means "heaven/heavenly, sky, imperial" (天) (ama) and "field, wilderness" (野) (no).

Gallery
Hyo Amano