Ayase Kishimoto

Ayase Kishimoto (岸本 あやせ Kishimoto Ayase), also known as FES, is the lead singer of Phantasm and a Gigalomaniac. Phantasm was renowned for their lyrics predicting the next New Gen cases, for example of one of their songs, “Crucifixion Mass ~Excerpt from the Gladioul Chronicle of the Revelation Psalms~”, that predicted the Cruc-affixion killing.
==Appearance==
Ayase is a fairly tall pale-skinned (being a soft white color) girl who is very good-looking despite being somewhat androgynous (that both boys and girls are interested in her especially when she dresses as the vocalist FES) with pale blue hair that is styled in a pageboy, brown eyes, a slender body and she generally has a stoic expression where she looks focused and together, but she shows a bit more emotion when interacting with Takumi Nishijou.
Ayase is typically dressed in her school uniform. However, when she is performing as the vocalist FES, she dresses in a black leather jacket, a red corset, a black leather miniskirt, red garter belts, black knee-high stockings and black high heels.
== Personality ==
From a distance, Ayase appears emotionless with a stoic expression on her face that rarely changes. She usually keeps to herself and does not interact with others as she seems to be an introvert.
Ayase is a strong believer in the supernatural. In particular, she believes she is being guided by a force she refers to as the Great Will. Devoted to the Great Will, she forms the gothic rock band, Phantasm, and predicts the New Gen events through her song lyrics. While performing with her band, Ayase can be melodramatic.
Both Ayase and Sena Aoi are somewhat able to explain what Gigalomaniacs are to Takumi Nishijou, and while Sena’s explanations are logical and based on actual in-universe science, Ayase’s explanations sound nonsensical and based on an obscure myth that Ayase might have made up. Her explanations could well be true, since Ayase does have the gift of prophecy and has demonstrated the ability to predict the future with her songs as well as with the Gladioul Saga books, that no one except her seems to be able to read. She likes to read.
However, Ayase seems to be genuinely mentally ill as she used to be a long-term patient at a psychiatric hospital, the Ark Heart Medical Group. Additionally, she also attempts to commit suicide on October 27, 2008/2009, further evidence of mental illness. Despite, or maybe even because of her mental illness, she is a very gifted performer and has many devoted fans who love her, with a very loyal following on @channel.
Although Daisuke Misumi flirts with Ayase often, she appears to have no interest in him and typically just ignores him. However, she does seem to have an interest in Takumi and shows more emotion when she is with him. In Takumi’s delusions, Ayase is a darkly seductive femme fatale and tends to grab him by the shirt collar. It is unclear whether this is just how he sees her or if part of her is actually like this. 
==Music==
As the lead singer of the band Phantasm, using the stage name FES, Ayase has written and performed many songs, within the universe of the Science Adventure Series, and some characters in later games, like Faris NyanNyan in Steins;Gate, are big fans of hers. She writes and performs songs of prophecy that are able to predict future events, within the Science Adventure Series universe.
Her band briefly broke up in 2008/2009 as a result of her October 27, 2008/2009 suicide attempt and her long-term inpatient psychiatric hospitalization at Ark Heart Medical Group becoming public knowledge, but Phantasm soon got back together, and as of 2020 within the Science Adventure Series universe, they are still performing and making new songs.
In the real world, the voice actress who plays Ayase, Yui Sakakibara, has the identity of FES, and has released songs as FES with the band Phantasm, which exists in the real world too. For more information on all of the songs FES and her band Phantasm wrote and performed, please look at the Music Category.
==DI-Sword==
==Background==
For her entire life, Ayase perceived the world in a unique way - with red sky and tanglible dark miasma of wicked hearts. It is not clear if this is purely a mental illness, or a power to see things other people are incapable of seeing.
When she was a child, Ayase was institutionalized at the Ark Heart Medical. Once her potential as a Gigalomaniac was noticed, all personnel in the hospital was replaced, and she was subjected to torture to draw out her abilites. That has eventually proven successful, and some time later she was discharged.
==Plot==
At some point she discovered the Gladioul Saga and started the band Phantasm to spread R.C.O. Zeigler's prophecies about the Black Knights. The lyrics have predicted multiple New Gen cases, however Ayase denies any connection between her songs and the murders. Takumi Nishijou and Daisuke Misumi eventually come to one of her concerts, where she notices Takumi's potential as a Black Knight and later tells him to get his DI-sword.
On the day of the Second Melt, her poems from as a child are discovered by @channel, as well as the fact that she was a patient in Ark Heart Medical. Later on that day, she jumps down from the roof of the school's building. She claims that she did not want to die, and intended to "ascend herself to a higher stage". She then gets hospitalised in AH Tokyo General Hospital. Shortly before the Third Melt, she comes to the roof of the hospital and saves Yua Kusunoki from a porter.
===Ayase Route===
:Main Article: Ayase route
In her route in ChäoS;HEAd NoAH, Ayase gives up on gathering all seven Black Knights in person, and instead tries to collect their swords. She succeeds, and with Takumi's help manages to defeat Gladioul (aka Noah II in this context).
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
* Ayase likes chocolate, singing and thinking about conspiracies and mysteries of the world, however she dislikes maths and getting up early.
* Ayase's birthstone is the garnet.
* During her spare time, Ayase does research about myths and legends from around the world.
** Ayase is particularly interested in mythology, especially the mythology of Ancient Europe.
* Ayase is obsessed with DI-swords as well as a legend about Gladioul and the 7 Black Knights called the Gladioul Saga. She is a typical Evil Eye-type Chuunibyou, something she has in common with the main character of Steins;Gate, Rintaro Okabe, except she is way more far gone of a Chuunibyou than him and is quite delusional.
* Ayase is considered a textbook example of a perfect Rei Ayanami Expy, a character based on Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
** Just like Rei Ayanami, Ayase is mysterious, has light blue or violet hair and pale skin, has a dark and troubled past, is a teenager, is oddly stoic, behaves strangely, gets injured and hospitalized, has superhuman powers, has a kuudere personality, and eventually becomes more emotional through interactions with the main character.
Minor spoilers for Steins;Gate 0:
* In Episode 01 of the Steins;Gate 0 anime, Yuki Amane can be seen cosplaying as FES in a flashback sequence.Similarly, Yuki can be seen cosplaying as FES again in two different photos in Episode 08.
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===Etymology===
* Ayase's surname Kishimoto means “beach” (岸, kishi) and “book, present, main, origin, true, real” (本, moto).岸本 - Jisho.org
==Gallery==
AyaseKishimoto.png|Looking up at the night sky
FES.jpg|Performing as FES
Ayasefalling.PNG
===Ayase Route===
AyaseTakumi1.PNG
AyaseTakumi2.PNG
AyaseTakumi.PNG
AyaseeDI-Sword.PNG
AyaseSmile.PNG
===Others===
Birthday 2023-01-29 Kishimoto Ayase.jpg|Graphic from Ayase's official birthday post in 2023.@kagakuadv: Ayase's birthday's tweet on Twitter (2023)
==References==
==Navigation==
Category:Main Characters
Category:Female Characters
Category:Gigalomaniacs