Kai

Kai is thought to be Ujinaga Narita's daughter who is famous for her beauty and her act of personally riding into battle. Though heralded as a brave woman, modern historians wonder how many of her accomplishments are real as they might be fictional stories from the Edo period. Her heroics are not mentioned in notable historical records, making her actual name and existence unclear.

Before her playable Samurai Warriors appearance, she is a lady samurai bodyguard in the series. In Gamecity's Sengoku Musou 3: Empires character popularity poll, she is sixteenth place out of forty characters. For the Samurai Warriors 4 poll, she is voted twenty-second.

Her Nobunaga's Ambition counterpart is fifty-fifth place in Gamecity's character popularity ranking for 2015.

Role in Games

 * "Lady Kai, you are truly magnificent."
 * - Yukimura Sanada; Samurai Warriors 3

Samurai Warriors
Kai starts as a fresh recruit for the Hōjō army. Her first battle is at Tonegawa against the Uesugi. After the conflict, the battles in Kantō momentarily subside and Shingen passes away. Soon after Nobunaga's death, Ieyasu and Sanada troops invade Shinpu Castle. As they fight, Kai begins to grasp what it means to protect those important to her and swears to better serve her master, Ujiyasu. Hideyoshi eventually becomes the land's most influential ruler and heavily surrounds Oshi Castle after Masamune's surrender. Although the odds are against them, Kai fights to inspire the men and breaks the water gate. While she knows that the battle is still against them with Masamune's reinforcements, Kai defends the Hōjō until the conflict ends.

Upon their victory, however, Ujiyasu passes away and entrusts her to continue protecting the Hōjō family. Odawara Castle falls with Ujiyasu's death and they surrender to the Toyotomi. When Masamune riots against Hideyoshi in Oshū, she decides to uphold Ujiyasu's final wishes and joins the subjugation effort. By this time, Kai believes that she is fighting for a more valuable dream for her lord and won't tolerate Masamune's ambitions. After Mitsunari perishes, the Toyotomi family is in danger so she joins Yukimura's desperate resistance at Osaka Castle to continue protecting her dream of a normal, happy world. Before the battle, she spots a depressed Kunoichi struggling with her feelings and encourages the other woman to fight against the odds. Together, they successfully save Yukimura and the struggling Toyotomi army, claiming victory against the Date and Tokugawa forces. With her dreams fulfilled, she enjoys her life as a normal woman in the new land of peace. She and Kunoichi humorously try to pick out new clothes and join the court women in fawning over Muneshige while scoffing at the accompanying Ginchiyo.

During Sengoku Musou 3: Empires, Kai appears in two different scenarios. Throughout Masamune's story, she develops a bond with the Date warlord once he establishes ties with the Hōjō clan. Their first meeting takes place during Masamune's solo trip to Odawara Castle. On the way there, he tries to kill a bear for standing in his way until Kai defends it. Claiming to be the bear's owner after its parents were killed, she is insulted by his apathy towards its plight. Despite his bad first impression, Kai brings him to Ujiyasu and is interested by her lord's assessment of his raw capabilities. His words ring true when the warlord feigns allegiance to the Toyotomi while coming to the Hōjō's aid in secret. Kai rebukes Masamune for his double-dealing only to be surprised by the latter's refusal to let her suffer her pet bear's fate.

Although the two of them manage to drive off the invaders from Oshi Castle, Hideyoshi's victory at Odawara signals the end of the Hōjō. While Kai refuses to leave her homeland, she is touched by Masamune's concern for her and implores him to leave before the enemy troops arrive. The Toyotomi army later sends her to Ōsaka Castle to be kept as their hostage. Unexpectedly, the Date forces arrive to lay siege on the castle, though their efforts are rendered futile by the Toyotomi's cannons. Only Masamune perseveres to save Kai who pleads for his safety. Against all odds, the battle ends favorably for the Date. Thankful to her savior, Kai has him accompany her back to Kantō. The pair quietly enjoy their ride together in peace.

Her first meeting with Ujiyasu is shown in the beginning of his story route. Eager to dispel the rumors of her family colluding with the Uesugi, she is relieved by the Hōjō warlord's sound judgement but becomes annoyed by his jokes about her beauty. Kai has high hopes for her master unifying the land and carries out her tasks with enthusiasm. She initially has mixed feelings for Ujiyasu's alliance with their former enemies, but her lord's wish to make his wife happy pleases the female vassal greatly. After ending the wars, Kai is seen playing kemari with Yoshimoto and Shingen.

Samurai Warriors 4 Kai reprises her service under Ujiyasu, being in every Hōjō related battle as a result. When the Hōjō decide to assist the Imagawa at Kakegawa Castle, Kai initially mistakes Naotora to be a man based on her name. She criticizes the young lord for her indecisiveness, feeling that loyalty to loved ones and a righteous cause is all that matters. The warrior woman continues to hold onto her rigid beliefs as she accompanies her lady to the Uesugi civil war, protects the townsfolk near Oshi Castle, and resists the Toyotomi siege at Odawara Castle.

When Ujiyasu perishes, Ieyasu states that the ladies must obey the victor's commands and must be sent to Osaka Castle. Since the princess is too somber to be coherent, Kai decides that she alone will surrender to the Toyotomi. She wishes for her lady to surrender to Ieyasu and remain in Kantō, entrusting the young maiden to keep watch over their family's true home. Her new allegiances leads her to join the Western army at Ueda Castle and her fight at Osaka Castle. She hopes to protect the last remnants of her lord's spirit and to help Kunoichi. If she faces Lady Hayakawa, she commends the princess for making her father proud and seeks to test her resolve to live in combat. Otherwise, Kai may perish while reinforcing Yukimura's final charge.

Warriors Orochi
During the original timeline in Warriors Orochi 3, Ujiyasu left Kai in charge of Odawara Castle's defense as he left to join Sun Jian. In his absence, the castle was gravely surrounded by the serpent army and the defenders lost their lives trying to protect it. Kaguya and company prevent these events from happening by saving her and the other defenders in the past. Grateful for their assistance, she joins the coalition in the future. Kai quickly befriends Kaguya during their time together and teaches the mystic the values of humanity.

Later she helps save Musashi from his fate and joins the chase for Da Ji at Nanzhong. While their target escapes, her party is able to defeat Himiko. Rather than force her to join the coalition, Kai lets the girl leave since she respects her will to protect Da Ji. She reunites with her lord at Changban while battling the Oda-Shu Army.

In the Good Ending, she assures Kaguya that humanity will prosper without the mystics' help and bids her farewell. Conversely in the True Ending she has no memory of her time in the dimensional world, vaguely stating that she had a strange yet fantastic dream.

Kai joins forces with Kaguya and Okuni in the downloadable stage, "Manhunt". They find and defeat handsome men to make them their husbands, unaware that this was all a trick set up by Hideyoshi. In "Reclusive Beauty", she helps Sima Yi in teaching Wang Yi the value of having a partner.

Pokémon Conquest
Resuming her role as Ujiyasu's retainer, Kai opposes the protagonist at Cragspur Castle in Pokémon Conquest. She echoes her lord's desire to fight for a greater purpose, shouting that she wishes to protect those dear to her. When the protagonist defeats them, Kai explodes with disappointment with their second loss before following her lord's retreat.

Nobunaga's Ambition
Nobunyaga no Yabou highlights her kitty counterpart during the ''Dokii! Himedarake no Neko Senki'' scenario. Nyarita Kaihime is described as a stunning beauty, or as "the flower of the battlefield". She helps her father repel Mitsunyari's army at Oshi Castle, often being the only hero shown fighting for its defense. Her family's last stand is described as the last vigil of hope for the dying Hōjō.

Personality
Kai is a maiden raised since birth to be a warrior. Instilled with strict training from her clan, she secretly desires to live as a normal woman of her class. Wanting to protect her home and family, however, she fights with daring, masculine pride. Even with her skills, she isn't the most experienced or tact person on the field, which sparks occasional teasing from veterans. During the spin-off titles, there is a running gag that her tomboyish attitude is barbaric and closer to a bear or some form of wild beast. Her experiences in war somewhat matures her flippant tendencies over time, as she eventually values the responsibility of protecting something important to her.

Like Kunoichi, Kai talks in a frank and modern dialect, although she is more aggressive with her words than her counterpart. In the Japanese script, she constantly worries about looking cool to others and respects people who immediately fit her ideal feminine image of herself. Her various responses with some of the more humorous characters are also exaggerated for comedic effect. This trait is omitted in English to instead emphasize her tough-skinned warrior traits.

Ujiyasu doesn't address her as a woman, unceremoniously calling her "boy" or "brat". While annoyed by his nicknames, she respects her master and his wishes to protect the common man. She addresses him as "great lord" (お館様, Oyakata-sama). To her, Kunoichi is the one person who she doesn't want to lose to in battle or in beauty. Since she also respects and admires Yukimura, she considers Kunoichi her rival and is insulted when she is compared to her. The shinobi's insults always makes her flustered and irritated. Even so, she will be kind to her when the situation calls for it and they eventually become good friends. She befriends Kaguya and Sun Shangxiang in her Warriors Orochi appearance.

Character Symbolism
She is symbolized by the characters "luster" (華), "fester" (爛) and by red flower petals in the Samurai Warriors series.

All of her weapons in Samurai Warriors 3 have a serpent naming motif. Her weapons are named after a water dragon (Normal), earth dragon (Power), and aerial dragon (Speed). Her third weapon in Chronicles 3 follows this theme by being called a cherry blossom dragon.

Yamata no Orochi forms the namesake of her unique weapon, though she wields the dragon blade named after the eight headed serpent. In the Yamato Bumi, it is described as having oak and pine growing its back and eyes like red winter cherries. Its body extended to form eight hills and eight valleys. The well known account of the serpent is its demise to Susano'o's divine blade. The god sought to save a maiden named Kushinadahime from being sacrificed to the beast, had the beast drink from eight barrels of wine, and killed the beast whilst it slept from its drunken stupor. He cut open the beast's tail and found the sacred Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. Other myths regarding the serpent associate him with bodies of water. Its stomach blood, for example, is mythologized to have given birth to iron sand or poison. Within the Tales of Heike, Yamato no Orochi embodied the drowned Emperor Antoku to fetch Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi from the waters.

Her second Unique weapon is named in Okitsukaibera's honor. After Izanagi escaped the grasps of his reanimated dead wife within Yomi-no-kuni, he decided to undergo a water purification ritual to wash off the taint. As he discarded his clothing, several deities were born from them. Okitsukaibera and two other gods were given life from the discarded braclet from Izangi's left hand. Okitsukaibera is thought to be a type of water god who resides along beaches. Specifically, Okitsukaibera embodies the power of waves crashing along the shore.

Voice Actors

 * Nicole Karrer - Samurai Warriors 3 (English-uncredited)
 * Daniela Bette-Koch - Samurai Warriors TV series (German)
 * Masami Suzuki - Samurai Warriors series, Warriors Orochi 3 (Japanese)

Live Action Performer

 * Kana Tsugihara - Sengoku Bushou Matsuri

Quotes

 * See also: Kai/Quotes


 * "What are you so surprised about? My victory was never in doubt!"
 * "Absolutely perfect!"
 * "Who does that Kunoichi think she is? I'll show her!"
 * "I won't stop until I win!"
 * "Feel my wrath!"
 * "Come, you're strong, you can do this."
 * "I'm unstoppable! Come, I'll take you both on!"
 * "In my house, you play by my rules."
 * "Hey, who are you calling a wild beast!?"
 * "What is that girl doing now? And naturally, I'm the one who has to save her!"
 * "Wait, the Sanada!? Yesterday's friend is tomorrow's enemy I guess."
 * "I fight for my people and for their simple everyday lives."
 * "Don't worry everyone, I'll protect you!"
 * "Well, am I a fine woman yet, my Lord?"
 * "You're so strong yet... beautiful."
 * "That horrible man! Argh, how infuriating! I just hate guys who think they're so smooth..."
 * "Aw, did someone break your heart?"
 * Magoichi, Kai, and Kunoichi; Samurai Warriors 3


 * "(sigh) Why aren't the guys liking me?"
 * "Ah, it's y'know, it's because you have such a strong front. But what you're lacking is in the inside. You gotta focus on being good-looking rather than the warrior stuff. If that doesn't work, you can always try another way to trap a man. Like winning him through his stomach! Oh, that's a good idea! You'll be famous for sure!"
 * "(sigh) Why am I hanging out with you?"
 * Kai and Masanori; Sengoku Musou 3: Empires


 * "Ahh! No one pick those up! I'm beating down anyone who reads them!"
 * "C-Could this be...?"
 * "Ah! You're reading them?! Give them back! Those are the culmination of my maiden's heart, love letters to the man I'll meet someday!"
 * "...Beautiful. The penmanship, the boldness of the strokes... Each word sends my heart dancing, as though I have drunk a potion of love..."
 * "...W-Wait, that means... Oh yeah! Here we go! Spring is here for Kai!"
 * Kai and Takakage; Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3


 * "Do you mind if I ask you something? What do you mean by "chin" when you call me Kagu-chin?"
 * "I heard it from a ninja friend of mine, so now I use it too. Isn't it so hopelessly cute?"
 * "Perhaps it can even build friendship. Then maybe I should grow to like it."
 * Kaguya and Kai; Warriors Orochi 3


 * "You are so refined and beautiful, Lady Kai. I hear that you are also very skilled in the kitchen."
 * "Huh? Haha, uh, yeah, I guess! I'm just pleased bears weren't mentioned in the rumors about me."
 * "I wonder if you would make something for me to eat some day soon."
 * "Absolutely! It would be my pleasure! Do you have a small appetite, or are you one of those people who eats a surprising amount?"
 * "Me...? No matter how much I eat, or how much I drink, lam never satisfied."
 * "W-Well, that's... unexpected. Sounds like it might be worth my while. Okay! I'm going to make more food than you could ever eat, and leave you satisfied if it's the last thing I do!"
 * "Hehe... Thank you. I'll look forward to it."
 * Wang Yi and Kai; Warriors Orochi 4

Ground Moveset

 * undefined: Extends whip-like sword directly in front of her before lashing it back towards her. Hits foes twice.
 * , undefined: Two-handed vertical swing. Launches struck foes.
 * ,, undefined: Quick back kick.
 * ,, , undefined: Two criss-crossing whips from her extended sword. May send opponents away.
 * ,, , , undefined: Hopping, spinning slash with sword in its whip state. Hits foes twice, launching them. Needs some time to recover as she stands up.
 * ,, , , , undefined: Stabs sword fowards in whip state. Whips sword around her to return it to its normal shape. If the entire motion hits, the action hooks opponents closer to her. Otherwise it clears them away from her.
 * ,, , , , , undefined: Extends sword into whip form and stabs forward. If it connects, the sword will pierce a single foe. Kai turns to face the player whilst grabbing her weapon's hilt with both hands. She then swings her sword downward to slam her captured foe behind her.
 * ,, , , , , , undefined: Sprints forward and whips the ground twice. Doesn't hit downed foes.
 * ,, , , , , , , undefined: Performs a handstand while her sword rotates around her on the ground below.
 * ,, , , , , , , , , , : Three diagonal slashes with blade in its normal state. Extends sword into whip state and swings it horizontally four times. Places one hand on her hip as she continues with four diagonal whippings. Ends the chain with a turning whip. Needs a moment for her sword to revert to its normal state.
 * Criss-crossing whipping attacks as she slowly walks forward. Sword strikes creates damaging ground effect to harm more targets.
 * (Ultimate/Kaiden): Rapidly whips ground in front of her to create a damaging geyser. Ground spikes and a final water splash blasts foes away from her.


 * Weapon Deadlock: Stabs opponent with sword extended. Whilst it pierces them, she whips them onto the ground twice before flinging them behind her.
 * Dashing : Spinning slash with normal blade.
 * , : Downwards swing with sword in whip state.
 * , undefined: Plummets to stab ground below.


 * Spirit Cancel: Lunging knee attack.
 * Special Skill: Conjures a series of water geysers to damage nearby foes. Effect lasts a short time after she begins it.

Mounted Attacks

 * , undefined: Extends sword for an overhead whip.
 * ,, undefined: Downward stab with whip sword.
 * ,, , undefined: Circular whip with extended sword.
 * ,, , , , , , : Seven slashes to the right of saddle. Extends sword for the eighth twirling slash.


 * Warriors Orochi 3
 * R1: Sweeps enemy away with a raging torrent of water.
 * , R1 (Ultimate only): Sends down two massive energy waves below surrounding foes.

Samurai Warriors 4
Mighty strike is the same as Deadlock Attack. Keeps relatively same moveset as the previous entry with the following changes.


 * Finisher changes to her whipping her sword four times to conjure giant waves at foes.
 * (Ultimate/Kaidan):
 * Rage Attack/Musou Gokui effect:
 * Awakened Skill effect (4-II only):

Hyper Moveset

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 * undefined, undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined:

Samurai Warriors
Kai is a beginner friendly character with easy to use attacks. A majority of her charge attacks hit foes surrounding her in a large radius and remain versatile in crowds or duels. Her special skill is especially useful for crowd clearing and creating high numbered combos. While her attacks retain their effectiveness on harder difficulties, the somewhat sluggish recovery time needed for her sword's transformations may hamper her destructiveness slightly. Pay attention to the precise range and speed of her sword's whipping motions to keep her in the fight. If players are struggling with her as she uses her Unique weapons (Power types), they might want to try equipping her with a sturdy Speed weapon to remedy her slowed pace.

She is the statistically strongest female character in the cast, meaning she can deal and take damage better than other women in the game. However, she is also one of the slower ladies to compensate. Kai won't be as powerful as mightier male characters, but she offers an effective alternative for players who wish to experiment.

Warriors Orochi
It's difficult to take advantage of her character type (Speed) as many of her attacks are tricky to jump cancel and her new R1 cannot be effectively used in most combos. Her character type may also prove hazardous for her crowd clearing capabilities. Even so, her attack speed has increased dramatically for this incarnation and she is quicker than before. She is overall easier to use than her Samurai Warriors counterpart.

Weapons

 * See also: Kai/Weapons

Rare Weapon Acquisition

 * Stage: Ōsaka Winter Campaign - The Pursuit of Ieyasu

Historical Information
Kaihime was Narita Ujinaga's eldest daughter and a maiden said to be of unparalleled grace and beauty. To appease her father, who lamented only having daughters as his heirs, she also possessed bravery and cunning that was unlike other princesses. She was said to have had two sisters, Makihime and Atsushihime. She spent the majority of her youth at Oshi Castle. She was married to Yura Narishige until his death in 1578.

As Mitsunari's soldiers were fleeing from the water attack at Oshi Castle, Kaihime was said to have volunteered to rout the remaining soldiers. She donned armor and rode on horseback with 200 men. Sanada Masayuki, Sanada Nobushige, and Asano Nagamasa came to Mitsunari's rescue. She met with Sanada's reinforcements in combat and slayed their vassal, Miyage Takashige, in battle, taking his head as her trophy. Her accomplishments gave a huge boost to ally morale and forced Mitsunari to surrender, reporting his failure to Hideyoshi. According to the gunki-monogatari Narita Heiki, she was only nineteen years old at the time. Mitsunari was greatly ridiculed for failing to capture a position "guarded by a woman". To this day, the long strait where the incident occurred is also known as the "Ishida Tsutsumi".

When Odawara Castle surrendered, her father also chose to do the same with hope to end warfare. When her family exited the castle, Kaihime exhibited an air of dignity. Hideyoshi generously forgave them and allowed them to keep their properties. A few rumors say that this was due to Kaihime's elegance.

After their surrender, Kaihime and her father were entrusted to Gamō Ujisato and lived in Iwashiro-fukui Castle. Sometime when her father was away, an internal rebellion was caused by Hamada Shugen and his younger brother. During this time, her mother-in-law (or mother in other sources) was killed. As soon as she heard about the incident, Kaihime sought to end the rebels. After hiding her beloved sword, Nagiri, under her robes, she feigned a jovial conversation with her parent's killer and waited for them to lower their guard. When she saw her chance, she slayed the instigator and two followers, effectively repressing the bloodshed. Since her time at Iwashiro-fukui Castle was relatively short, some people argue that this could have occurred at her family home instead.

Hideyoshi heard of her bravery and took a great liking towards her. He donned her one of his concubines, awarding her family with 20,000 koku and more territory as a result. Her fate from here is largely unknown though it is said that she saved Senhime during the Ōsaka Campaign and retreated to live as a nun. Others say that she either committed suicide or was slain before or during the conflict. Another story says that when the castle fell, she fled with Oiwa no Kata (Narita Goheisukenao's daughter) and Nāhime (Oiwa no Kata's eldest daughter) and the three of them became nuns at Tōkei-ji. Another story says that when they were retreating, Kaihime personally defended Nāhime from assassins. Some speculate that this was because the girl was actually her and Hideyori's child.

Gallery
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