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Spoiler Alert: This article/section contains details about future plot lines described in the light novels, not covered in the anime. Do not proceed unless you want to be spoiled. |
| “ | I... I'm not Yoshinon. I'm Yoshino. Yoshinon is my best friend. | ” |
—Yoshino | ||
| Yoshino Himekawa | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Profile | |
| Kanji | 氷芽川 四糸乃 |
| Romaji | Himekawa Yoshino |
| Birthday | March 20th [1] |
| Age | 13-14 (Physically) 40 (Actual Age)[2] |
| Status | Alive |
| Gender | Female |
| Height | 144 cm |
| Species | Human Spirit (Formerly) |
| Hair Color | Blue |
| Eye Color | Blue |
| Nicknames | |
| Personal Status | |
| Relatives | Nagisa Himekawa (Mother) |
| Affiliations | |
| Rank | B-Class Spirit |
| Media | |
| Novel Debut | Volume 2 |
| Anime Debut | Episode 3 (Cameo) Episode 4 (Actual Appearance) |
| Portrayal | |
| Japanese | Iori Nomizu |
| English | Tia Ballard |
Yoshino Himekawa (
Summary
When Yoshino first appeared in the series, she encountered Shido while it was raining. From his perspective, Yoshino seemed to be a lost child wandering around in the rain. The next time they met, Yoshino was attacked by the AST and ran away. During the third time, Shido made the decision to save Yoshino from herself and the AST. This decision was because he discovered that Yoshino was an incredibly kind child who didn't want to hurt, even the people who were attacking her.
After having most of her Reiryoku sealed by Shido, Yoshino started living in one of Ratatoskr's living quarters on Fraxinus temporarily before she moved down to the apartment complex next to Shido's home. Yoshino is currently practicing, with the help of Ratatoskr, how to speak for herself or to be more precise on how to talk without the aid of Yoshinon.
Appearance
Yoshino has the look of a young, cute girl at about 13 to 14 years of age with blue eyes and long, wavy blue hair. Yoshino's height is stated to be 144 cm, and her three sizes are B73/W55/H78. Her Astral Dress is an oversized green raincoat with a rabbit theme, sporting a poofy tail with a pink ribbon tied to it on the coattail, and a pair of rabbit ears on the hood. The coat is lined with a gold zigzag pattern, white frills, and the sleeves are partially detached at her upper arms. She wears green boots matching the color of her raincoat with pink socks inside. Under her raincoat is a white dress and a pink ribbon around her neck.
After her sealing, she is almost always seen wearing a hat. In the summer, she wore a one-piece dress and a sunhat given to her by Reine. When she starts attending school, she wears the same white sailor outfit as Kotori, and later the female Raizen student uniform.
In the concept art for her Inverse Form, her hair color becomes a translucent white. She can be seen wearing her Spirit form hoodie with a black color scheme and a small drape-like shirt that covers her cleavage. It also displays sharper ears in comparison to her normal hoodie. Yoshino also wears an eyepatch over her left eye, whilst the color of her right eye has turned red. On her left arm, the Yoshinon puppet has been replaced with the Yoshinon Junior puppet.
Yoshinon
Yoshinon is a mischievous, white rabbit puppet that Yoshino always holds in her left hand. Yoshinon's right eye has a black button with a brown band that resembles an eyepatch, while its left eye is a tiny red dot. The eyepatch is because Nagisa ran out of material to create the right eye. It has an orange and yellow collar around its neck. It is often wearing a miniature version of Yoshino's current outfit.
Personality
Yoshino is described as being a shy, yet kind young child and is far more passive compared to most of the other Spirits, never even fighting back against the AST despite them constantly trying the kill her. During her first appearance, Yoshino was withdrawn to the point of being unable to articulate full sentences or express herself well, instead having her alter ego, "Yoshinon," speak for her. However, while this certainly wasn't a healthy way of living, it did at least help keep her mental state somewhat stable. On the other hand though, whenever Yoshinon was separated from her, the normally quiet Spirit would completely lose her composure and even showed willingness to resort to violence to get her puppet back.
Like the other Spirits, Yoshino's mental state can also be displayed through her powers. During her debut, her powers would constantly cause it to rain, symbolizing how sad and lonely she was. Similarly, without Yoshinon being present, Yoshino would unintentionally freeze her surroundings, showing how unstable she is without her alter ego.
Throughout the story, after Shido sealed her powers, Yoshino slowly begins to improve her communication skills and learn how to integrate herself into society. Not long after starting her rehabilitation, she becomes able to converse with others without relying on Yoshinon. She later also becomes more open and daring in her interactions, especially after befriending Natsumi. During the Spirit's battle royal, the threat of losing Shido caused Yoshino to finally go all out, bravely facing her fellow Spirits. All of this growth culminates in her taking off Yoshinon of her own will and confessing to Shido.
Yoshinon
Yoshinon, the other Yoshino
"Yoshinon" is Yoshino's alter ego that appears in the form of a puppet speaking through ventriloquism and was created to help her bear the hardships of being hunted by the AST. The Yoshinon personality only exists within the puppet; when the two are separated, Yoshinon becomes dormant. However, both Yoshino and Yoshinon don't seem to know this, causing them to believe the puppet is alive and not understand what ventriloquism means.
Since Yoshinon was created to be the shy Yoshino's ideal "hero", the puppet's demeanor has a far more outgoing and outlandish demeanor compared to the latter. In contrast to Yoshino who speaks timidly, Yoshinon speaks boldly and in third-person. Subconsciously, despite having lost her memories, Yoshino based the personality of the puppet on her mother Nagisa, who told her the puppet was a symbol of her always looking after her daughter. Yoshinon has shown to be brutally blunt, to the point of unintentionally insulting others on occasions. She is also very teasing, especially during her first appearance, to the point that she comes off as being arrogant. Yoshino will occasionally cover her mouth when she teases her about her feelings for Shido. However, misguided as she might be at times, Yoshinon has shown to truly care for Yoshino's best interests.
History
Background
26 years ago prior to regaining her memories, Yoshino was a sickly child raised by a single widowed mother. Due to her illness, Yoshino spent most of her life in the hospital. For Yoshino, the narrow hospital room and window was the entire world that she had known. One day, her mother Nagisa presented her a rabbit puppet called Yoshinon, who would act as a symbol of her mother always looking out for her when she was busy with work. Yoshino then planned to make a junior puppet representing herself to give to her mother. However, Nagisa would later die in a work-related accident. As she was crying over her mother no longer visiting her, Yoshino's illness grew worse to the point where she had difficulty even breathing. Mio arrived and gave her a Sephira Crystal, with the subsequent transformation into a Spirit curing Yoshino of her illness. Soon afterward, she then disappeared from the hospital and eventually forgot about her past as a human.
Like most Spirits, Yoshino often appeared in the world through Spacequakes, though she also sometimes appeared silently, without causing a Spacequake. When she appeared in the world, her Spirit powers would, whether she wanted to or not, cause it to rain. Because of this and the Spacequakes which she caused, Yoshino had very little to no contact with others. Instead, she constantly had to run away from the AST, who were always trying to kill her. However, despite the AST attempting to kill her, Yoshino never fought back because she did not want to hurt others. All of this caused Yoshino to become withdrawn and very lonely. In her loneliness, Yoshino unconsciously used the puppet on her left hand and ventriloquism to create another personality named Yoshinon to keep her company. Yoshinon embodied the person she wanted to be, strong and not afraid to speak her mind. Eventually, Yoshino even stopped talking for herself and instead let Yoshinon speak for her.
Media
- Light Novel
- Appearances:
- Volume 2-4, 6-22
- Date A Live Encore 1-11
- Date A Live Material 1-2
- Date A Live Another Route
- Mentioned:
- Volume 5
- Appearances:
- Manga
- Appearances:
Powers and Abilities
Spirit Form
Yoshino has the ability to manipulate all three states of water in her surrounding area, although generally this is shown in the solid state. Before her sealing, Yoshino would inadvertently cause a heavy downpour whenever she appeared. She usually only uses her powers for defensive purposes due to her kind and shy nature. Being a passive Spirit, Yoshino is very agile when running, hiding, and evading her enemies. Defensively, her Astral Dress has enough defensive power to block an AST missile barrage. However, she is a potent fighter when properly motivated, winning the Spirit battle royal after defeating four other Spirits (although Kurumi surrendered after losing enough Reiryoku to sustain Rasiel, and Origami was ambushed after being exhausted from her prior fight). Learning of Yoshino's victory surprised Kotori because of her passive nature, but Kotori had no doubt that Yoshino had the strength to win.
Spirit Data
| Strength | Consistency | Reiryoku | Agility | Intelligence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95 | 82 | 199 | 212 | 152 |
Zadkiel
Angel: Zadkiel (
Weapon: Puppet
Astral Dress: El (
Armor mode: Shiryon (
Her Angel, Zadkiel, is a huge puppet about three meters in length that resembles Yoshinon.[4] In the anime, Zadkiel has two forms. The first form resembles Yoshinon but is a lot bigger, with one red round eye and an eyepatch, large sharp teeth, and white skin. In this form, Zadkiel has the ability to absorb water from the ground and air and release it in the form of freezing air that acts similar to liquid nitrogen. Yoshinon is also able to talk through the puppet and acts as a limiter to suppress the Angel's powers so that it doesn't end up killing anyone. Zadkiel's second form appears to be its true form, this form also resembles Yoshinon but is even larger than when Yoshinon becomes Zadkiel. The second form is larger than a building and does not have an eyepatch. This Zadkiel has the same powers as the other, but its strength receives a significant boost. Zadkiel is manipulated via strings from two holes in its back. Yoshino usually keeps her hands inserted in these holes, but she can use the strings to remotely control the puppet for sneak attacks. Zadkiel shrinks in size after Yoshino's sealing.[5]
At her full power, Yoshino is capable of creating a large blizzard dome that extends to 10 meters. The dome automatically reacts to Reiryoku or the Maryoku fueling AST's CR-Units. Origami notes that she is capable of freezing things without substance, like the Territories generated by Wizards. Kotori even compares the intensity of her ice storms to being constantly targeted by a barrage of shotguns.
Yoshino's Astral Dress is also deceptively durable despite its appearance. It is capable of enduring gunfire from AST that would otherwise be fatal. Shido also notices that her Astral Dress doesn't seem to get wet as normal clothing does during the rain, something which he theorizes is due to a special property of an Astral Dress.
When using Shiryon, Yoshino fuses with Zadkiel, gaining ice armor over her Astral Dress. Her powers over water and ice increase to the point where the surrounding area becomes frozen. Shido remarked that she looked like she was wearing Zadkiel. Usually, her hands in this form are equipped with mittens, but for combat purposes, she can switch to large gauntlets that contain icicle claws. [6]
Wizard
Since Spirits served as the foundation for the creation of the Realizer, Yoshino is compatible with the Realizer and can use it to generate a Territory just like the other former Spirit girls. In order to do so, Yoshino uses a wireless headset to manually operate a <Yggd Folium> leaf.
Quotes
- (To Shido Itsuka) "Yoshinon is… …my ideal… …yearnings of… …myself. Unlike me… …not weak, unlike me… …not hesitant… strong and cool…" [7]
- (To Shido Itsuka) "…………I……hate, painful things. I also hate……scary things. Surely, those people too……whether its pain, or scary things, I think they……don't want it too. That's why, I……" [7]
- (To Natsumi Kyouno) “I was…..a little happy. At this time, Shido-san and the others would go to school so………….I can talk a lot with Natsumi since you have come here………….that’s what I thought. Also, err……..W-we……are friends so……….” [8]
- (To Kotori Itsuka) “That’s……….Perhaps, the way to befriend Nia-san is to give her more time, I think. If we face her precisely, I think she will be able to understand Shido-san’s natural goodness.” [9]
- (To Shido Itsuka) “Shido-san already helped us……….If we draw what Shido-san did up until now straightly, Nia-san will like Shido-san too…………I’m sure…………!” [9]
- (To Shido Itsuka) "──Shido-san. I love you. Since the time you saved me, I've always loved you...! This feeling won't lose to anyone else...! Not even to Kotori-san! Not even to Origami-san! And──not even to Tohka-san! [10]
Trivia
- Yoshino's voice actress, Iori Nomizu, sang the 2nd and 3rd ending themes: Save The World & Save My Heart, as well as being a member of sweet ARMS who sang the opening theme, Date A Live.
- Yoshino made a small cameo in Episode 3 outside the arcade Shido and Tohka entered.
- Yoshino has the "Four" character in her name (「四」糸乃). This refers to the fourth Sephira on Kabbalah's Tree of Life: "Kindness”.
- Her given name also contains the kanji for "string" (糸, shi?) and the possessive particle (乃, no?).
- Her surname contains the kanji for "ice" (氷, hi?), "bud" (芽, me?), and "river" (川, kawa?).
- Her angel Zadkiel's name means "Righteousness of God."
- The name of Yoshino's Astral Dress is 'El' which means 'God', but also implies "The divine one" or "The mighty one'. The dress's armor mode, Shiryon, translates to "armor" in Hebrew.
- Yoshino's design is based on a "jungle girl" which means a "fairy-like female that lives in the forest".[11]
- In Date A Live Tsunako Art Book SPIRIT, an extra illustration was made detailing Yoshino's appearance in her Inverse Form.
- Her favorite things are cute hats, and her least favorite are crowded spaces. [12]
- Yoshino's Astral Dress was initially cat-themed rather than rabbit-themed.[13]
- As an anthropomorphic disaster, Yoshino represents cold weather damage to crops.[14]
- While the official date can shift by one day due to the Earth's rotation on its axis, Yoshino's birthday March 20th is usually Vernal Equinox Day (春分の日, Shunbun no Hi?), a public holiday in Japan celebrating the northward equinox.
References
- ↑ Date A Live Material 2, Spirit Birthday
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 21, Chapter 4
- ↑ Date A Live Encore 8, Kotori Editor
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 2, Chapter 2
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 4, Chapter 5
- ↑ Date A Live Material 2
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Light Novel Volume 2, Chapter 3
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 10, Chapter 1
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Light Novel Volume 13, Chapter 3
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 20, Final Chapter
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 2, Afterword
- ↑ Date A Live Material, Date A Character
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KoshiTachibana/status/1234340823522664448
- ↑ Date A Live Material 2, Date A Interview