Akiza Izinski

Akiza Izinski or in the Japanese version Aki Izayoi, is one of the main protagonists in the series,Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, who is also one of the six signers. She also doubles as the main antagonist in the Fortune Cup arc. Akiza is a teenager who once possesses psychic powers which also has the power to bring duel monsters to life and inflict real damage before her powers disappear during her crash by Team Catastrophe. Akiza is formerly known as the Black Rose Witch or Black Rose in the Japanese version.
She is voiced by Ayumi Kinoshita in the Japanese verison in the anime, and by Erica Schroeder/Bella Hudson (who also voiced Mai Valentine in Yu-Gi-Oh!) in the English version in the anime.
==Biography==
===Past===
Akiza was born to in New Domino City as the only daughter of Hideo Izayoi and Setsuko Izayoi. Her father loved her very much but could not be able to spend time with her as he was very busy attending meetings such as not being able to attend Akiza's birthday. One day, when her father gave Akiza her first deck, she wanted to duel her father but he couldn't so she stormed out crying saying she hates him. On another day when she and her father dueled, her father's phone rang and he had to answer the call. This angered Akiza, who activated a facedown card which unintentionally awakened her psychic powers and signer mark which caused the damage to be real to which injured Hideo. After the duel, she approached her father but Hideo scared told her to get back and called her a monster. This caused her to cry and Hideo attempted to apologize but Akiza was still hurt by his words.
===Teenage Life===
A few years later, Akiza enrolled in Duel Academy. Her parents hoped that she can find someone to help Akiza control her powers.
Unfortunately, Akiza was not able to get the help she needed. This eventually led to Akiza injuring one of the students who was an Obelisk Blue whose name was Koda (in the English anime) with Violet Witch. This event caused Akiza to be feared by all the students and caused her to have no friends. One day, she decided to run back home only to discover that her parents were laughing and enjoying themselves without her when she saw them in the window. Seeing this she drew a card and activated her psychic powers which caused her to destroy the window and run away as soon as her parents saw her. Afterwards Akiza believed that her parents no longer loved her or needed her as a daughter.
Akiza started to gain entrance to dueling underground where she made a reputation for herself. Her powers kept growing unchecked and caused many duelists serious injuries as she dueled. Eventually, Akiza could no longer handle the guilt of hurting people that she created a persona called the "Black Rose" to deal with the rejection to which she used to terrify duelists.
Eventually, Akiza was founded by Sayer, the founder and leader of the Arcadia Movement, an organization of Psychic duelists like herself. Sayer takes her in while proclaiming her as the "future" of psychic duelists. During her time with Arcadia, Sayer manipulates Akiza into hating the world and playing into her dark and troubled past so as to use her as a pawn to take down Rex Goodwin and amass an army of psychic duelists.
Akiza came into contact with another psychic duelist: Toby Tredwell, the younger brother of Misty Tredwell. Toby idolized Akiza and wanted to know how to be like her. She responds that she should ask Sayer but Sayer unfortunately killed Toby during a test (in the dub Toby is sent to a secret location in the Arcadia Movement). Unknown to Akiza herself, many people believed that Toby was killed in one of her duels while watching it.
One day, Leo and Dexter decided to duel the Black Rose. At that time Akiza sees Yusei Fudo who also possessed a Signer mark of his own for the first time. She expressed surprise that someone other than herself would possess a signer mark and during that brief confrontation, Akiza used her telepathic and telekinetic power to disappear in a powerful explosion.
===Fortune Cup===
Akiza is invited to join the Fortune Cup. She defeated both Sir Gill Randsborg in the first round and Commander Koda in the semi-final. But lose to Yusei at the finals.
===Dark Signers Arc===
Akiza dueled Misty Tredwell. When Misty about to defeat Akiza, their match was interrupted when the Arcadia Movement's destruction due to Carly Carmine. She was rescued by Jack Atlas and took her to the Hospital. Akiza once again dueled and lost Yusei when he promised her parents to relieve her from her previous actions towards them. After her defeat by Yusei again, she realized that Sayer used her as a pawn when he lied to her and has abducted children to use them as experiments including her. After arriving at the Satellite Sector, Akiza and Mina headed to the abandoned amusement park to confront Misty for a rematch. During her duel, Akiza realize Misty's brother was none other than Tobi. Sayer arrived to brainwash Akiza and use her to defeat Misty. However, when the brainwashing was undone and Sayer eaten by her Earthbound God after Yusei fooled Sayer into revealing the truth to Misty that he killed Tobi and framed Akiza for the murder. When the duel continues, Akiza defeated the darkness possessed Misty. However, they were too late to seal the gateway of the netherworld when the King of the Netherworld emerges. Akiza and Luna summons their dragons to fight off against the minions of the King. After the defeats of both Rex Goodwin and the King of the Netherworld, Akiza has a postcard from the now-revived Misty who travel to France for a fashion show.
===Grand Prix Arc===
After Defeating the Dark Signers, The new threat appeared known Iliaster. Akiza reenrolled to Duel Academy. She became the top duelist but didn't inflict towards her schoolmates until the Vice Principal attempt to expel the younger students from the Academy only to defeat him with the help from Yusei. When Yusei gone missing, Akiza and Mina investigate Yusei's whereabout and learned he was kidnapped by a team of thugs. Akiza found Yusei in the truck. However, when losing Mina, Yusei rides his Duel Runner while Akiza hop on the top. They encountered a mystery turbo duelist who duel Yusei. The turbo duelist revealed to be a female turbo duelist named Sherry Leblanc who wants Yusei to join her team just so for revenge on Iliaster. When the thug team attempt to kill Sherry, Akiza used Yusei's Stardust Dragon to save Sherry with her psychic powers. After the duel interrupted, Akiza decided to become a Turbo duelist. In her driving lisence, she failed and fall countlessly. Yusei trained her to get it right. Yusei, Jack and Crow modified Akiza's duel runner with adjustments. She turbo dueled Trudge and defeated him where she passed her turbo duel license. After Crow was injured by Team Catastrophe, Akiza take his role. Both her and Jack lost to Andre of Team Unicorn but Yusei defeated them all. When training her duel runner, Akiza crashed by Team Catastrophe as well her psychic powers simply vanished. Yusei contact her parents causing them to rush off to the hospital to visit the unconscious Akiza. Crow retaken his role (despite his injuries) and managed to defeat Team Catastrophe's shadow card "Hook the Hidden Knight". Akiza awakened from her unconsciousness but stay in the hospital when the tournament was overrun by duelbots send by Primo.
In answers of Iliaster, Akiza helps Yusei to capture Lazar.
Resuming of the World Grand Prix, Team 5d's defeated Team Ragnarok to face the three Iliaster (who later fused into their true form as Aporia). In short celebration the circuit has fully complete and the Divine Temple is attempting to destroy New Domino City. Akiza joint with Yusei and the others to head to the Divine Temple from destroying New Domino City. Akiza and Crow dueled and defeated Sherry Leblanc. With Sherry's rejoice them, they head to the main gear to face Z-One. In Yusei's duel against Z-One, Akiza gives her Black Rose Dragon to Yusei to defeat Z-One.
==Personality==
Initially, Akiza was very insecure and unsure of herself and had a very cold and distant demeanor, a result of spending years being treated as a monster. She viewed everyone around her as her enemy and eventually stopped caring about other people's feelings. It wasn't until Sayer showed her compassion that Akiza began to have hope in her life again. Despite this new feeling of self-worth from Sayer, Akiza's rage at the world continued to grow, which Sayer intentionally drove her towards. After meeting Yusei, Akiza began to question the path she took of distancing herself from normal society. Finding conflicted emotions between both Yusei and Sayer's words, Akiza began to lose her focus and by extension her performance began to slip. When Sayer "died" and Akiza lost her last "place" to turn to, her parents, the people who unintentionally drove her down her hate-filled path, showed how sorry they were for their mistakes and wanted her back with loving intentions. With assistance from Yusei this allowed Akiza to finally find peace and be willing to join normal society again.
After joining Yusei and his friends, Akiza's demeanor has become much more caring, sweet, brave, heroic, kind-hearted, and valuing of true friendship, and she has become more eager to help those close to her whenever possible. Akiza has also developed feelings for Yusei, as Jack pointed out whenever it came to his safety she often gets too worked up. She also cares very much for children, as seen when she stood up to Rudolph Heitmann declaring "I never approve of adults who try to harm children!"
== Deck ==
Akiza plays a "Plant" deck, primarily focused on quickly Synchro Summoning her signature card, "Black Rose Dragon", and supporting it with cards such as "Blue Rose Dragon" or "Thorn of Malice". She also uses cards such as "Shining Rebirth" and "Synchro Back" to return "Black Rose Dragon" to the Extra Deck so that she can summon it again and continue to utilize its effect of destroying all cards on the field. Otherwise, Akiza usually focuses on inflicting effect damage on her opponent, but with varying strategies. She primarily uses cards such as "Rose Flame" and "Rose Tentacles" to take advantage of supplying her opponent with Plant-type Monsters via "Black Garden" or "Wall of Ivy", while using "Ivy Shackles" as a contingency.
When Turbo Dueling, Akiza runs a burn strategy, using cards such as "Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis" and "Blossom Bombardment" to inflict large amounts of effect damage on her opponent. She is also more flexible with Synchro Summoning, as demontrated when she Synchro Summoned "Black Rose Dragon" and Yusei's "Stardust Dragon" in one turn. 
==Trivia==
*Akiza Izinski is arguably the most developed out of all the main female protagonists in the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, as she's a powerful duelist that can even fight alonsgside her male counterpart, suffered a tragic past, gradually undergo considerable character development, as well as possessing a special card (Black Rose Dragon).
*Akiza is the only character to undergo a application process to attain her Turbo-Duel license.
**Yusei, Jack and Crow had been driving for years; Jack was legally given his license by Goodwin, while Yusei and Crow were illegal drivers (but likely given licenses as a reward for stopping Goodwin).
*During her crash by Team Catastrophe, Akiza lost her psychic powers. Likely due some kind of brain damage.
*Akiza's shown to be good with children, as she treats both Leo and Luna as if they were her younger siblings.
**In the series epilogue, she would later go on to become a doctor at a hospital, whose patients consists of children.
*Akiza goal to become a doctor in order to help others is a twist to how socially distant she was initially.
*Akiza has similarities of Alexis Rhodes from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX:
**They are the both the strongest female duelists of their own series.
**They are in love with the main protagonists (Jaden Yuki for Alexis and Yusei Fudo for Akiza).
**They were both being defeated by the main protagonists twice (Jaden defeated Alexis and Yusei defeated Akiza).
**They were both being brainwashed by villains as their pawns in their disposals before set freed by their heroes (Alexis was brainwashed by the Light of Destruction and Akiza was brainwashed by Sayer).
**They have their own signature monsters (Cyber Blader for Alexis and Black Rose Dragon for Akiza).
**They are students for their own Duel Academies.
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