Azusa Takatsuka

Azusa Takatsuka (高塚 梓, Takatsuka Azusa) is the main protagonist of Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 6 and its sequel. The player can change her name and birthday to their preferences, but she will be referred to by her default name in official media. Characters will audibly speak her default name if it is chosen.

She is the first Black Dragon Priestess protagonist in the series.

Role in Games
Azusa was born and raised in the modern world's Tokyo. She has spent most of her life with her grandmother since her parents are often busy with their professions overseas.

Several months before the main narrative takes place, her grandmother collapsed and was admitted to the local hospital. Her grandmother underwent surgery and continues to sleep in a coma. Thanks to a brief exchange with a passing stranger, Azusa keeps her hopes high for her grandmother's recovery. She tries to make do by herself by regularly going to classes at her all girls school and visiting her grandmother. Since she is interested in caregiving, she plans to graduate and someday enroll for postgraduate education.

It is during one of her hospital visits that she is summoned to the parallel world by Kudan. Shortly afterwards, Darius and Tora kidnap her. Azusa tries to escape but soon realizes she is in a foreign land when she runs into vengeful spirits. Her dragon god manifests her weapon into existence and she uses it to defend herself. The Demon Clan grant her hospitality when she faints and brief her on her surroundings and priestess duties.

Azusa is told that her path back home can be opened by gathering yin energy from defeated vengeful spirits. She believes her caretakers' words and stays faithful to her task for three weeks. In between her duties, she has a premonition of the spiritually possessed and defends a youth suffering its symptoms. He can't remember his real name so Azusa names him Kohaku after the color of his eyes (amber).

She accompanies the Demon Clan to the White Dragon Priestess summoning at Mount Atago. A powerful barrier obstructs their infiltration, so Darius uses his mask to control Azusa and forces her to summon the Black Kirin. She comes to and is pained to see the people injured by the divine beast's rampage. She fails to stop Darius from destroying the Dragon Gems, but protects Kudan and the newly donned White Dragon Priestess, Chiyo. The Demon Clan drag her with them during their retreat.

Realizing that she has been used, Azusa protests to her benefactors' terrorism and demands her freedom. Darius sees there is no reasoning with her and knocks her unconscious, placing her in handcuffed solitary confinement within his mansion. The incident leaves Azusa questioning the truth behind her priestess duties, which she later learns to have been partially deceived. Azusa shall remain a priestess until the major conflict in the capital is settled. Determined to properly fulfill her duties and to atone for the damage she involuntarily caused, she wishes to reunite with Chiyo –someone who is placed into similar circumstances– to better understand the parallel world. Thanks to Kohaku, Tora, and Murasame, her wish is granted six days later. The priestesses' spiritual link increases through their brief reunion, allowing Kudan to summon Azusa directly into the military compound.

The commander-in-chief interrogates her for information regarding the Demon Clan's headquarters, but Azusa can only provide vague descriptions and repeat information from previous intelligence reports. He orders the priestesses to work with the Elite Squad to cleanse vengeful spirits from the capital and to reside within a military residence henceforth. As she bonds with her assigned comrades in the Elite Squad during their investigations and vengeful spirit exterminations, the military spreads propaganda of the priestesses' exploits throughout the imperial capital.

Azusa begins to doubt the commander-in-chief when he announces the construction of the Force Protection Squad, a militia under his command that allegedly utilizes the gods' powers to subjugate foreigners. Her suspicions strengthen when she sees new recruits become spiritually possessed before her eyes at a fireworks display. A group of zealous citizens stage an armed protest to the military's censorship for the squad, Chiyo is mysteriously knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital, and Seishiro pushes for Azusa to become a figurehead captain. Throughout these occurrences, Azusa and the Elite Squad are told to resume their assignment and are never given detailed information regarding the Force Protection Squad.

Darius and company privately appear to her during the ball to celebrate her military position. Sensing that she has a better grasp of her surroundings, they tell her to lift the Four Gods seal around Ryounkaku to witness the truth kept from her. Kudan agrees to assist her by telling her the location of each god talisman, and the Elite Squad look the other way while the talismans are being removed.

Once the seal is lifted, Azusa sneaks away from the military residence during the twilight hours of September 1 to rendezvous with the Demon Clan. They knock out the guards to reach Ryounkaku's basement, where it is revealed to her that the Force Protection Squad are people who are directly exposed to the miasma of The Fallen God Kagutsuchi. People who are too weak to withstand its influences become spiritually possessed berserkers who are haphazardly unleashed into the capital. Kagutsuchi has gathered enough power to unleash its full power and tears apart the skyscraper, threatening to bury everyone inside its basement.

The main story splits into two major paths at this point. In the majority of the story routes, Chiyo disappears after she uses the last of her powers to erect a barrier to protect the people within the skyscraper and repair the Dragon Gems. The main male cast are mystically donned this era's Eight Guardians and are entrusted to Azusa.

During the default route, the Demon Clan have fulfilled their objective and abandon the premise. Azusa tries to unite the guardians yet Kagutsuchi's disastrous miasma is corrupting the capital at an alarming rate. She runs out of time and decides to face the malevolent deity with her comrades in the Elite Squad. The military personnel evacuate the citizens while Azusa uses her strengthened priestess powers to summon Kagutsuchi towards her. They succeed, and Azusa is immediately teleported back to the modern world. She hopes everyone will do well when she reunites with her awakened grandmother.

In the best ending, Azusa and Chiyo combine their priestess powers to safely evacuate everyone from Ryounkaku. Since Azusa interrupted Chiyo's last gamble, the Dragon Gems remain broken. Even so, Azusa's companions unite under the common goal to slay the evil god. The military informed the public of the Black Kirin incident three months prior, and they were warned of the prophecy which foretold the capital's destruction. Ryounkaku collapses and the skies spell doomsday, leading the disbelievers to form a mob blaming Azusa and the Demon Clan. When the group saves the capital from Kagutsuchi, they cease their stone flinging and realize they have erred. The citizens apologize for their blind prejudice towards their saviors.

The Black Dragon grants Azusa the choice of staying in the parallel world or returning home. She wishes to return home yet is hesitant to leave without witnessing the capital's repairs. One day, during her stay at the military residence, Chiyo invites her to meet her lover at Café Haikaraya. Her companions have staged a surprise party to personally thank and congratulate Azusa for her achievements as a priestess. They hope she enjoys her stay in the parallel world for as long as she wishes.

Alternate Fates

 * Depending on the character, Azusa either stays in the parallel world or goes back home in romance endings. Three endings result in her getting married (two directly seen, one is a proposal).
 * Several premature bad endings can be seen if the player fails to meet the main story objectives. Alternatively, the player can view them in the Events tab within the Extras menu.

Development
The director said that the notion of a Black Dragon Priestess protagonist was decided the moment the team wanted to present a story without the Eight Guardians. Since it is the first time they have made a Black Dragon Priestess lead, they also wanted to emphasize Azusa's respective strengths throughout the scenario to further contrast the previous White Dragon Priestess protagonists. Developers made Azusa while keeping the other Black Dragon Priestesses in the series in mind. Ruby Party strove to make Azusa appear "calm and lithe" throughout her design to stay faithful to the butterfly associated with her dragon god. Her wavy bob cut and retro-modern priestess garb were chosen to give her mature allure and a moga style that fits with the parallel world's setting.

Azusa's namesake comes from two specific sources: azusa-yumi and azusa-miko. The first term refers to a bow traditionally made from wood from an azusa tree. It is never meant to be used as a weapon, being used since ancient times as an instrument to ring in various ceremonies and childbirth. By hitting the bowstring with a stick, the bow's sound is thought to incite a protective ward. Azusa-miko refers to any priestess who performs exorcisms and other rituals without being affiliated to a particular shrine or temple. They are known to play the azusa-yumi or a miniature variation of it during their incantations with the spirits.

Her weapon was chosen because Ruby Party wanted a weapon that fits the modernization within the parallel world and gives Azusa "a beautiful action silhouette" in battle. They were torn over its exact design and length since they wanted to include a noticeable butterfly decoration on it.

Personality
Taking her grandmother's lessons to heart, Azusa is mindful of old fashioned common decency. She tries to be civil and open-minded to whoever she meets; even if a person is confrontational, Azusa tries to be reasonable with them. Though she is often polite, kind and friendly, her words are crisp and direct. No one can misinterpret her thoughtful and serious responses. Her honesty is at times transparent, as she may not always be aware of her facial expressions. She is embarrassed if someone teases her about it.

Canonically, it's in her blood to help others. She never turns her back to the ailing and always faces every obstacle with a thick skin. She listens keenly to each side if possible, and steels herself to do the moral choice. She will fight back if need be, only if she is aware that all other options are spent. When she is surrounded by naysayers, her self-determination and sincerity makes her an unbreakable survivor in the parallel world. Her selflessness for lasting peace and human rights moves onlookers to believe in her. It also leads her to being impulsive and may be her potential undoing. Azusa may head into danger without thinking her actions thoroughly, all because she spotted someone under duress.

For all of her independence and optimism, Azusa can become hopelessly dour. She fears the possibility of her grandmother dying while she is away. She hates the thought of being abandoned. If she spots something that reminds her of her home, she can barely hide her homesickness. When events become polarizing, Azusa may blame herself for being careless. Unexpected tears can line her eyes, which distresses her more than she thinks. In the alternate text options for her character, this may lead Azusa to become ashamed of her youthful gullibility and hesitation. She can never commit to her decisions, leading her to mistrusting others or lapse into laziness and cowardice.

Love is new to Azusa. She had only considered it later into her adulthood. In her every possible romance route, she is always bashful and insecure about expressing her intimacy to her lover. Azusa only becomes aware of her family relation to Chiyo late in the game in certain routes. Even without this knowledge, Azusa is quickly attached to Chiyo's warmth and comity. The ladies swear to do their best to protect one another. Azusa constantly worries about her friend when they are separated, making time out of her busy schedule to visit her. Her endings without a love interest has Azusa admiring Chiyo and her friend's love life.

Character Symbolism
Her first symbolic item is the butterfly. The other is the Japanese primrose (sakura-sou). Both items were used as inspirations for Azusa's entire design process.

The flower's namesake is said to stem from Roman legend. Flora, the goddess of flowers, had a son named Paralisos who was named after his beautiful youth. He fell in love with a nymph and became grief-stricken when his lover died. As he was weeping in agony, Flora found him and turned him into the primrose. It's because of this tale that the flowers can represent the beginning and end of love or the joys and sorrows of youth in the flower language. This particular Japanese primrose is one of the earliest flowers to be in full bloom at the start of spring. Receiving it as a gift is a hearty sign that the winter chill is ending and the warmer spring months are drawing near, leading to its alternative meanings in the Japanese flower language: hope and timeless love.

Azusa's symbolic color is reddish-purple (akamurasaki). In Japan, the color has been a dye used in several traditional and legendary works of art. The hue is thought to have originated in Japan by mixing purple dye with a reddish peony; red peonies symbolize love and excellence within the flower language. Ruby Party prefers the darker red variants of the color for Azusa, assigning it as her hair color.

Quotes

 * "Drifting spirits, please obey me."
 * "Let's go!"
 * "...No point hiding now. We've got to do this."
 * "I'm still inexperienced, but please be gentle with me."
 * "I'm sixteen this year. And a high school student. (Oh, shoot. Thinking about the wrong world.)"
 * "(I didn't know Chiyo could be so girly about her lover. She's so cute. Maybe that's a bit rude to think that though.)"
 * "(Black Dragon God... I don't know if you really exist or not. But if you can hear me, then please... Save me.)"
 * "I come from... I guess I should say I'm from another world. That's why it was used against me. I focused so much on going back home that I didn't pay attention to anything else around me. I really didn't think too hard about why I was chosen as a priestess. But, please believe me. I won't ever do that again. I want to protect the capital."
 * "I don't care if I'm a priestess or not. I will see this world saved!"
 * "Destruction? That's the power I have? ...It can't be true..."
 * "(No, not this again. This is the same feeling I got when Grandma wouldn't wake up. I knew Chiyo's health was failing, but... She's my other half, and I still couldn't protect her...!)"

Talismans
During the player's first playthrough, her birthday decides her starting elemental talisman. Choosing to start a new game after completing the game once with any ending automatically unlocks the rest of the elements.

Azusa's talismans share the same key visuals and stats. Distinguishing characteristics between them are the names and background color based on the element. Her talismans are the only ones to change their appearance based on their levels. Wood is pictured below as an example for all elemental types.