Karigane

Karigane (カリガネ) is a secondary character in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 4. He joins the main party in the second chapter of the game's story.

Role in Game
Karigane is Sazaki's faithful childhood friend. For as long as both of them can remember, he has stayed beside his friend through thick and thin.

When they were fifteen, Sazaki obtained his first ship and led his rag tag crew in search for adventure. None of them could cook, but the captain insisted for Karigane to be their chef. His early creations were disastrous and nearly inedible, yet Sazaki complacently ate everything his friend made –except for any egg or horsetail dishes– and encouraged him to improve his skill. Karigane persevered in his secondary duty and eventually could create delicious food anyone could enjoy.

In the same year Sazaki obtained a ship, the captain led his crew to infiltrate Nakatsu Kuni's capital and main palace, Kashihara. The pirates were discovered and were chased out by the royal guard. During their escape, Karigane's wings were hit by a poisoned arrow and he was unable to fly. He was found by a young woman named Kureha (呉羽), a villager nearby the capital. Rather than treat him with socially accepted prejudice, she chose to shelter him and his comrades. She gently nursed him back to health. During their time together, they fell in love and reciprocated their feelings. Their romance became one of Sazaki's favorite stories to tell during banquets.

When Karigane's injury fully healed, he chose to resume his life of piracy. He hoped Kureha would wait for his inevitable return, but he only found a grave at her hut. Sometime after they had left, the nearby villagers had murdered her. They hated her for being "sinfully" intimate with the winged crew and couldn't accept her existence. Blaming himself for Kureha's death, Karigane has cursed his own wings. He avoids flying for long stretches of time.

Without much hurrah, Karigane joins Chihiro at the same time as Sazaki. Throughout the timelines, he occasionally supports his friend in both battle and reconnaissance. In the final and canon timeline, he is aboard the flying ship with the other survivors. At Kazahaya's request, he prevents Chihiro from seeing the sheer nothingness of the mortal realm around them. If the player chooses to use him, he can assist the final battle against the White Dragon. He returns to his pirating ways in the reconstructed world.

Personal Route
One day, Chihiro happens to ask Karigane about his wings. He mentions a woman who is dear to him helped him, yet seems loathsome as he says his wings are injured. When he remains quiet the princess curiously touches them to inspect them. She apologizes, but he draws away and exits. Later he happens to find her marveling over wild blossoms within a field. Karigane identifies the flower near Chihiro before telling her to not pick it. When she asks for his reason, he doesn't reply. The princess chooses not to prod further and thanks him for his gift.

The flying ship lands in Kashihara, yet Chihiro notices Karigane looking troubled. The princess asks if he had visited the woman dear to him yet. Karigane then reveals Kureha's name and what happened to them in the past. As he blames himself for her death, Chihiro asks him to not let his departed loved one's feelings be in vain. Hoping to encourage him to treasure himself, she gently touches Karigane's wings again and compliments them as the wings Kureha once cherished.

On the night before the final battle, she finds him on the upper deck of the flying ship. He notices her warming herself from the night breeze and uses his wings to cover her. Karigane confesses he flew like he did in the past before she came and thanks her. As Chihiro is happy to hear about his flight, expressing her joy for him and his wings. He responds that his wings force him to be migratory. The winged man needs to fly north in the spring and returns to Nakatsu Kuni during the snowy weeks in winter. He is concerned for her, but she instead insists on winning the war for both of them. After they retake Kashihara, Karigane gives her a bouquet of flowers before her enthronement ceremony.

It's spring in his epilogue scenario so Karigane needs to leave. He says his goodbyes to Chihiro the day before he departs. She offers to make time to properly see him off, but he requests she didn't for his sake. Seeing her might cause him to reconsider. Chihiro respects his wishes and bids him a safe journey, stating that she will always be waiting for him. Time passes and autumn is nearly over. Chihiro has a dream of reuniting with Karigane until she is awakened by one of the ministers who was searching for her. As snow begins to fall around her, Chihiro intuitively believes Karigane will return to her soon.

His Aizouban extra event takes place during the winter. Sazaki and his crew have finished their trip from the north and have returned to Kashihara for renovations of their ship. Chihiro brightens at the chance to see Karigane again and, wanting to cook a dish for him, arranges for a banquet with the Himuka captain three days later. While Sazaki leaves to prepare his crew for the party, Chihiro rushes to finish her royal duties in time. On the promised day, she hustles into the kitchen to try to make a meal. The maids protest the queen's presence in the kitchen and nervously forbid her from meddling with the meal. They are eventually called away to prepare arrangements for the one hundred guests so Chihiro uses the opportunity to cook.

Tooya teleports into the empty kitchen and smells cow's milk. Chihiro decides to make Asuka nabe (milky pot) from his recommendations, and he tells her the recipe. Futsuhiko comes in to deliver bear meat from Sazaki, immediately protesting the queen with a knife in her hands. As the trio prepare the meal, Oshihito patronizes Chihiro to properly tenderize the meat with apples and wine before dunking it into their pot. The group of four are nearly finished when Sazaki barges in to see what Chihiro has cooked for Karigane. Once he realizes that they have cooked the bear meat he brought, he gripes that his childhood friend hates bear. Chihiro accidentally knocks the meat into the pot, and the group do their best to fan out the smell. Unfortunately, the time spent eliminating the odor uses any time which could have been used to make another dish. The maids return from their housework and promptly chase the group out of the kitchen.

During the banquet, the queen tries to make merry with the other guests but dreads the thought of disappointing Karigane. The other guests leave after their formal greetings and meal, and the only ones left in the room are the queen and the pirate. Chihiro tries to draw attention away from her dish by changing the subject. Karigane hasn't touched a meal all day and eagerly wishes to eat her cooking. She frets and tries to take away the bowl she had prepared, but Karigane gently takes her wrist and eats a bite. His pleased reaction has Chihiro realize that he merely wants to treasure her heartfelt gesture in their time together. She happily feeds him more, purposely avoiding his question about the meat he is eating.

Development
Karigane is based on the kingfisher, one of the five birds who flew during Amenowakahiko's memorial. Archaically, the kingfisher was actually called hisui. Since a preexisting character already claims the name, developers chose to use an alternate name for his character. They wanted him to be the straight man to Sazaki's antics.

Personality
Karigane is calm and observant. He often utters his thoughts curtly in one breath and, more often than not, he only speaks to correct Sazaki's spoken misconceptions or to question his judgment. Karigane may look annoyed with his childhood friend, but he enjoys the adventures they have together and trusts him. His carefree nature is subtle compared to Sazaki and his other crewmen, his stoic behavior belying a kind and generous individual. If someone were to express prejudice towards him or his friends before him, however, Karigane will snap back at them in unchecked anger.

As Chihiro approaches Karigane, she gradually becomes accustomed to his silent behavior. She tends to be the active speaker in most of their conversations, responding to whatever one liner Karigane says. With time, Chihiro begins to appreciate the silence during their talks as it allows her to better perceive Karigane's persona from his honest facial expressions. Karigane becomes attracted to her willingness to help him and her love for his wings. Rather than compare her to Kureha, he appreciates her as a different lover in his life. Her support helps him to finally overcome his sorrow over Kureha's death and to begin anew.

Character Symbolism
His symbolic color is hai-aoi, which literally translates as "ash blue".

His symbolic item is the bluebeard flower, a tiny blue flower which blooms throughout East Asia. It grows only within mountain regions in Japan and is commonly named karigane-sou. Supposedly the flower was named after the image of migrating geese within the autumn months, which corresponds with the flower's blooming period. The shape of its petals have been thought to also resemble a sailboat during ancient times, thus it is also called "sailboat flower". Within the flower language it symbolizes candor, tranquility, and thoughtfulness.

The flower he associates with Kureha is the great burnet, a tall crimson blossom which can grow in snowy regions throughout the world. Its contemporary name in Japan is waremokou, often written with the characters "I too am red". A legend for this name claims that these are the exact words the flower had said to distinguish itself, as it was nearly forgotten amongst the world's other flowers. An alternative phonetic spelling for the flower instead has the characters read as "my country's fragrance". Its scent resembles a type of Indian daisy and is used within this namesake. It represents change or attachment within the flower language.

In the first meeting with Sazaki and his crewmen, the player may choose to eat the snack Karigane made. He spontaneously names it "lotus cake" and claims to have just named it on the spot. In reality, this snack is real and can be found in China.

Quotes

 * "Sazaki, we messed up..."
 * "I'll do it."
 * "You seem fine."
 * "Are you hurt?"
 * "We'll follow your lead, Sazaki. As always."
 * "Kept ya waiting, huh, Karigane?"
 * "... Everything set?"
 * "Yup. We got everything we need and we can set sail any time. Forget that for now; I've got something good. See? It's a treasure map."
 * "... It's real this time, right?"
 * "Aye, it's genuine. The loot we've found 'til now will look like junk compared to this one."
 * "... The last one was a dud."
 * "Argh~! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
 * Sazaki and Karigane


 * "Chihiro... This is for you."
 * "Wow, it's such a pretty bouquet. It's like a collage of nature."
 * "... I don't know which flower you like. So, I plucked every one I saw."
 * "All of them?!"
 * "Tell me... I want to know your favorite flower."
 * Karigane and Chihiro

Fighting Style
Karigane as an enemy might be a threat to a Fire innate Chihiro due to his element. However, this isn't an issue if the player isn't trying to solo the game. Since he is a boss during the game's first chapter, he becomes increasingly easier to beat in subsequent playthroughs. Use Nagi or Kazahaya to weaken his health for minimal losses.

Chihiro's summon for Karigane is the same as Sazaki's Sitting it Out ability; they both call for Karigane to attack for their turn. This summon is useful for helping her harm Fire opponents. Karigane is good to use for normal encounters, but his strength might be dismal in boss fights.

In select battles within the game, the player can place Karigane in battle. This omits the summon ability for him, so it may be wise to not have him in the same team as Sazaki. He is the sub character who is most likely to dodge enemy attacks, so he can hold his own against common foes. He will struggle if he fights against the dragon deities.

Given that he is a sub-character, he cannot learn special abilities from the Five Elements. Here are Karigane's stats as an ally:


 * HP - 140
 * Will - 120
 * Attack - 55
 * Defense - 48
 * Magic - 46
 * Speed - 63


 * Magic
 * Kousui Zanei (湖水残映) - Stronger Water magic. Requires Chihiro to be in the party.

Trivia

 * The cosplay duo, Oukanro, was voted to first place in the Neoromance 20th Anniversary cosplay lobby contest for their Sazaki and Karigane costumes.