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Akira Akao (
Appearance[]
Akira is a short teenage girl with turquoise hair with lilac endings (blue in the anime) that is always kept it in a messy, low ponytail, with bangs framing her cheeks on both sides of her face and a vertical one falling onto the middle of her forehead, reaching her nose. Just like her aunt, Akira has the same yellow eyes with white pupils, but her appearance reflects her younger age.
During her first appearance, Akira wore a black leather with a white t-shirt below and a pair of dark green pants.
Akira was also seen wearing a green leather jacket with a yellow shirt under it and a pair of pink baggy pants.
Personality[]
Akira is a very kind-hearted girl, though she is shy and prone to be scared, easily anxious when she is alone or in an unfamiliar place like JCC during her first week. She is not hesitant to taking care of people around her, which often leads to her being easily pushed into unwanted situations. Despite this, Akira is shown to be determined to achieve her goal of finding her aunt Rion Akao, demonstrated during her time at JCC where she accepted the challenge proposed by one of her teachers, Etsuko Satoda who allowed her, Shin and Seba to attack her freely for 24 hours to get a hint on the database.
Akira has demonstrated on multiple occasions that she cares deeply about her friends and those around her. She bases most of her choices, and even her life as an assassin, on her aunt Rion, whom she has looked up to and followed as a role model since childhood. Akira often demonstrates her inspiration by Rion and feels they are similar despite their differences. This connection leads her to sometimes refuse help from others and gain courage on her own, always considering how Rion would react in a given situation. Such as, during her first encounter with Sakamoto on the plane, she refused the bullets he offered, stating that Rion would not have accepted them in her place.[2]
She also has a more bloodthirsty side that emerges when she is fighting people who have hurt her friends, and she has no problem injuring or murdering her opponents. A trait that seems to run in her family, demonstrated after Kanaguri revealed to her that her aunt Rion had died. However, once she snaps out of this state, she is shown to be averse to killing. This is shown when she panicked during the JCC Transfer Exams Arc after she and Sakamoto were captured by the other applicants. She panicked while trying to free Sakamoto from the trap, which led to their attack on her.
Relationships[]
Shin Asakura[]
Akira first met Shin during the JCC exams on the initial airplane, where she spotted him sitting next to Sakamoto and immediately recognized him as a newbie. Later, when the plane began to fall, she helped him save himself by sewing all their clothes together to create a makeshift parachute and avoid the fall. During their time at the JCC, Akira, Shin, and Natsuki Seba cooperated closely to find the database. Their teamwork got noticed by Etsuko Satoda, who remarked that Akira's fighting style during their attempts to get the database felt almost like playing with Rion in the past.
Rion Akao[]
Akira is Rion's niece and has shown great affection and admiration for her aunt. Instead of becoming a housekeeper as her parents suggested, she chose to follow her aunt's path and become an assassin. She frequently states that she takes Rion as her inspiration and role model, often thinking about her during her experiences at the JCC. Rion was also the one who taught Akira how to see paths and once attempted to teach her how to use guns, though unsuccessfully.
Taro Sakamoto[]
Akira first saw Sakamoto on an airplane during a JCC test. Initially feeling sorry for Sakamoto and Shin since she believed they were newbies, Akira's perspective changed once Sakamoto weaponized a ballpoint pen and protected her from gunfire afterwards. Sakamoto's skill awed and motivated Akira, inspiring her to eventually sew a parachute together using clothes from other students during a fall.
Etsuko Satoda[]
Akira met Satoda during her time at the JCC while she was searching for the database with Seba and Shin. She attempted to attack and defeat Satoda multiple times to obtain a hint about the database. After finally succeeding in her objective, Akira didn't encounter Satoda again until Slur's attack on the JCC, where she found Satoda already injured and deceased after a confrontation with Kanaguri.[3]
Kanaguri[]
Akira first met Kanaguri on the plane during her entrance exam for the JCC. He immediately took an interest in her, declaring Akira the star of his new film before making the airplane explode. Akira met Kanaguri again during the JCC Infiltration Arc. After discovering her teacher Etsuko Satoda's death, she was shocked, prompting Kanaguri to take an interest in her once more. He expressed his desire to have her as the main character of his film, but Sakamoto stopped him from going further. After Kanaguri's encounter with Sakamoto and his subsequent defeat, Kanaguri was saved by Akira. After discovering her aunt's death, she threatened Kanaguri and made a deal with him: he would take Akira to Slur in exchange for allowing Kanaguri to continue recording his film.[4]
Skills & Abilities[]
Overall Skill Level: Akira has shown and demonstrated multiple times of being a talented assassin, easily dispatching the applicants during the JCC entrance test in the island who attempted to attack her while she was trying to free Sakamoto. Also demonstrating immediate reflexes and ability in blocking Sakamoto's decisive hit towards Kanaguri, saving the latter one before threatening him to take her to Slur. Akira also managed to react in time to a multiple attack from Shin, Seba and Amane, utilizing her special vision.
Paths: Akira has the ability to see paths, an ability taught by her aunt Rion who allows the user to see Imaginary lines representing future actions she can take to kill a particular target. Akira has demonstrated to see multiple paths for the same enemy at one time, indicating that she can simultaneously consider and select between a number of routes to eliminate her foes, such as when she fought against her teacher Satoda. She used this ability multiple times during her times at the JCC, particularly during her entrance exam at the JCC and during all her following fights. When faced with very powerful opponents or stronger than her, Akira instead envisions an impassable cliff between them and her, causing her to be anxious or shocked most of the time.
Enhanced Speed: Akira was able to close in on and assault a JCC applicant without him being able to react. She even interfered in the middle of Sakamoto and Kanaguri's fight, blocking Sakamoto's final attack, which would have led to Kanaguri's defeat. Akira can also sew extremely fast, even while falling and in mid-air. This skill saved Sakamoto, Shin, Mafuyu, and Kill Baby when she sewed a parachute from their clothes while falling from a plane. She has excellent control over her speed, demonstrated by her ability to pluck a butterfly from Baby Kill's shoulder without harming or bothering it.[5]
Marksmanship: Akira initially displayed some difficulty using a light machine gun. However, after receiving a few pointers from Sakamoto, she was able to wield the weapon with greater proficiency, gunning down several other JCC candidates.
Sewing: Akira is a masterful sewer, as noted by Sakamoto. She was able to stitch together the clothes of Sakamoto, Shin, and Kill Baby, managing to create a parachute in midair while falling from a plane after Kanaguri killed the pilots.[6]
Housework: Akira claims her strongest skills are housework like sewing, cleaning and laundry.
Etymology[]
- The name Akira means "clear, crystal" (晶).
- Akira's surname Akao means "red" (赤) (aka) and "tail, ridge" (尾) (o).
Trivia[]
- Akira ranked 7th place in the manga's 1st Character Popularity with 2,883 votes.
