Asuka Kurashina

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**Asuka Kurashina** (倉科 明日香, *Kurashina Asuka*?) is the main heroine of the Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue visual novel game and the main protagonist of the anime series. She is a transfer student who transfers into Masaya's class. She is the current all-Japan Flying Circus Fall tournament champion.

## Appearance

Asuka is a beautiful fair-skinned young teenage girl with flowing straight hip-length baby-pink hair that has a small piece of hair tied into a ponytail at the side by a blue wing-ribbon (which is later revealed to be one of the wing parts of Zephyrion action figure given by Masaya Hinata) with an ahoge pointing up and blue eyes.

### Outfits

* Asuka is usually seen in a normal Kunahama Academy uniform, which consists of a white short-sleeved shirt, a sailor-like blue-collar, and a red ribbon hanging from it, and a navy blue-colored skirt which her shirt tucks into. She also wears brown general grav-shoes, which she was clueless as to how to use at first.

* In her Flying Suit, Asuka wears a suit that covers her entire body except for her shoulders. The suit is white but it is pink in various areas; on the collar, chest, stomach, and legs. She also wears white gloves and white/pink competitive grav-shoes.
* Otherwise, Asuka wears normal clothes, mostly a white dress with black accents, and a green-laced bra with pink/red ribbons, brown sandals with white accents, and a Zephyrion toy wing as her ponytail.

## Personality

Asuka is an all-natural girl who prefers to fly in straight on. She is also kind, cheerful, energetic and honest who has it easy to make friends. She loves and admires Zephyrion. She always talks politely, no matter who she speaks to. She is diligent and brimming with curiosity. Once she sets her mind to a goal, she'll give it her all to achieve it. At times, she can also be somewhat air-headed, childish, and clumsy, but she is also mature and can stay calm under pressure. She is also clever during matches and uses her abilities to her advantage. As to that, during competitions, Asuka is neither a sore loser, nor one to hold grudges. When she loses, she'll politely congratulate the winner.

As a child, Asuka was shy and had an opposite personality compared to her present self, which is cheerful and sociable. She also has her bad moments, as revealed when Masaya talked to her, with her saying, "Do you think I'm some sort of freak? Sometimes I get so frustrated I don't want to look at the sky anymore". (Visual Novel: Asuka's Route)

## Background

     As a child, Asuka wished she had the ability to fly, as she sings "Oh you are so weak, but you can fly." Asuka had visited the Four Islands Archipelago as a child because of her dad but lived elsewhere because of her father's job.

## Plot

When Asuka was young she visited Kunashima a few times. When she visited Kunashima, she met a boy (Masaya), she played a lot with him, but when she had to leave, he gave her a present, which was a part of a Zephyrion wing (as she now uses it as hairpiece).

Years later, Asuka returns to the island Kunashima. Coincidentally, she met Masaya Hinata again on her first day of school in Kunahama Academy and befriends him, and meets a girl named Misaki Tobisawa. They then go to the school together at Kunahama Academy. If they were going to be late for school, Misaki suggested to go flying, but Asuka had never flown before with grav-shoes. However, they taught her and arrived exactly in time for class. In the visual novel, Misaki was not present so Masaya had to carry or let Asuka hold onto him while they flew.

After the class ended, they went outside, and Masaya and Misaki helped Asuka to properly fly. The next day, they were helping Asuka to fly again, and little by little, she became better. They then all go home, and Misaki and Mashiro walk Asuka home. As they were going home, they see an FC battle between Shion Aoyagi and Reiko Satoin. Asuka realized that the Kunahama "in" was in danger, and she challenged Reiko to an FC match, and she then accepted, and their battle started. Asuka was having a hard time while Reiko was getting point after point. Then, Masaya came and took Misaki spot as Second. As advised by Masaya, Asuka was trying to get a point through her back but Reiko dodged the move and Asuka was about to fall in the water but she managed to do an Air Kick Turn, and she scored a point. The match ended with Reiko 20 - Asuka 1, it was Asuka's win.

With Asuka's win, everyone was shocked. Shion was really grateful for what Asuka did, and asked her if she wanted to join the FC club, but she still wasn't sure yet. Shion then asked Masaya, but they all ran off quickly.

The next day Madoka asked if they want to join the FC club. Asuka was still unsure, but when the class ended Madoka asked again if she would join the FC club and she agreed. At the FC clubhouse, she sees Misaki and Mashiro, who are joining the FC club too. When the training was over, Madoka asked if they are free tomorrow to buy some FC stuff.

The next day, they went to buy some Grav Shoes and a Flying Circus Suit. At the store, Asuka is hesitating for which type is going, at that moment Minamo Shirase is suggesting she will take the all-rounder type. The next day, Misaki wanted to have a match against Asuka, to which she agreed. When they asked if Aoi wanted to be Asuka's second, she suggested that Masaya be her Second. The match started and Asuka is not going to solid but it is going better than first. Then Masaya suggested that Asuka is trying to do a nAir Kick Turn but it failed... With a very big disappointing result, Asuka is frustrated and wants to be better, and asked if Masaya will be her coach again, and he agrees. After Masaya agrees, Aoi gets a call from the Takafuji Power House asking if they can participate in the training camp.

When Asuka and the rest are on Takafuji ground, they begin their training. First up is just flying a course, where Asuka is going to fly she stumbled a bit. When the training was over, Asuka and the rest of the girls (Misaki, Mashiro, Madoka, and Rika) went to a hot spring.

After the hot spring, they went to eat some food. The next day, they have matched some players to go against each other. Asuka is going against Rika, Mashiro is up against Satoin and Misaki is up against Shindo. They wanted their strongest member to fight against Shindo, but when Shindo walked in he was disappointed that he was not up against Asuka.

Outside the first match started Rika vs Asuka. The match started and Rika is starting solid, but Asuka has improved since the last time, taking a shortcut, but Rika used Scissors to confuse Asuka. It almost ended with 6 -0, but Asuka gets 1 point via an Air Kick Turn. The match ended with Rika 6 - Asuka 1.

All the matched has ended and Asuka is frustrated that she didn't do anything good, so she wanted to try even harder from now on.

A few days later, it started to rain so they are practicing inside, so when Misaki is chasing Asuka, Asuka does a backflip and landed behind Misaki. Everyone was surprised and said that her jumping skills are amazing.

The next day it was still cloudy but they still practiced outside, it seems that Asuka has improved since the last time. When Mashiro saw that she started her secret lessons with Rika. When those secret lessons were over, Mashiro wanted to duel Asuka. Asuka was surprised when she saw that Mashiro has changed. So she motivated herself to become even better and prepare for the summer tournament.

That night they went and eat Mashiro udon, but when Asuka asked what for ingredients are in the udon, Mashiro's Mom said that the secret ingredient is flying fish, and when Asuka heard that she was heart-broken, as her favorite animal is in the delicious udon. After they eat the udon, Asuka got a mail from her mother but dropped her phone, but then a girl came by and picked up her phone for her.

The All-Japan Flying Circus Summer Tournament West-Kyushu Qualifiers finally begins. Asuka and the rest of the club are very excited, But she saw Mashiro's mother her stand and she thinks about the flying fish and felt heart-broken. Then they went to see who they were put up against. Asuka was against Arika Okoze, a childhood friend of Mashiro.

They went off and changed in their flying suits, and Asuka is hyped because it is her first time wearing a flying suit. When all the matches are finished, Asuka's match has begun. It began with 2 - 0 for Arika, but Asuka used an Air Kick Turn to make it 2-1. The match ended with 3-2 for Asuka. When the match finished they all went to Asuka, wanting to congratulate her when they see Asuka sleeping. Misaki and Mashiro are helping Asuka to bring her to her be room. Underway Misaki congratulates Asuka on her first time winning.

The next day of the tournament, Asuka is facing Kasumi Kurobuchi in the second round. When the time was over Asuka won and moved forward to the next round. As she is watching Misaki is against Shindo, she sees that Misaki lost and her next opponent is Shindo. When they are eating udon, Asuka is not doing to well as she is tired from her previous match. When Misaki sees that she takes Asuka to the washroom. Misaki helps Asuka get ready for the next match, and when they heard the announcer say that the next round will be starting, Asuka and Misaki are heading over there.

Then the match against Shindo vs Asuka has begun. But before the match started, Shindo said he is going to be real this match. The match started and Asuka takes a shortcut, but when she wanted to touch his back, Shindo unleashed a move that he hasn't used in the tournament: the Cobra. Everyone was in shock that he would use it. Asuka takes another shortcut and followed Shindo again but this time she did an Air Kick Turn, but when she did an Air Kick Turn, Shindo used it too. Asuka refused to give up and used a 3 straight Air Kick Turn. The match was almost finished, but then Shindo screamed and scored 2 points. The match ended with Shindo 6 - Asuka 4.

When the match ended against Asuka got a lot of fans around her asking how she did a 3 straight Air Kick Turns. The crowd left and went to go watch Saki Inui vs Kazunari Shindo. When the match ended, Asuka thought it was awesome how Saki "battled" against Shindo.

After the tournament, they had a day off with the FC club but without Misaki, Asuka dove in the sea, but when she dove she got a jellyfish on her feet. After the swimming they went and eat meat on the barbecue, Asuka then begged Masaya on being her coach again.

When they finally meet up again at the Club Room, Madoka came with a letter that says that Misaki left the team, Asuka is in a big shock...

Everyone is shocked why Misaki is leaving and when the next day began, they went to go see Misaki but she said it was just boring. When they followed Misaki and she runs away Asuka chased her and asked why she is leaving. Misaki said that she was scared of flying again.

The next day they heard a helicopter when they are training. They went and go see who is on the helicopter. It was Irina Avalon and Saki Inui asking if Aoi Kagami wants to play a match against Saki, but Aoi refuses. But Asuka said she wanted to play against Saki, they approved it. The match started, Asuka is taking a shortcut, but Saki is then using the birdcage which makes Shindo loses against Saki. Asuka was not playing to lose so she used an Air kick Turn but she failed and fell in the ocean... Everyone was shocked when they saw Asuka falling in the sea and Misaki came to rescue her. When Asuka is breathing again, she was completely wet and her hands were shaking of fear.

The next day Asuka didn't come to school. Misaki and Mashiro were nice to bring Asuka her some school stuff. The next day Asuka came to school and thanked them for bringing her the stuff. At the training Asuka didn't do well it was like day one when she started. Masaya then suggested taking a day off. At night Asuka is watching Zephyrion while thinking about her past when she met a guy at the island, she played a lot with him but then Asuka had to leave so she couldn't play with him anymore.

The next day Asuka is at a light tower but then Misaki came to bring her lunch which she forgot to take from the classroom. Then Asuka asks why Misaki left the club and Misaki replied that she can't fly anymore when Asuka heard that she made her decision. She is taking a break from the FC club when Madoka saw the paper from Asuka said that she is taking a break shocked her whole group. Mashiro texted Misaki a message that Asuka is taking a break and it now where to be found Misaki is shocked at was planning to search for Asuka but then saw her in front of her house wet.

When they are in Misaki's house Mashiro came too, to see how Asuka is doing. When they are finishing eating dinner Misaki is saying that Mashiro has to leave so she can talk with Asuka. When Mashiro leaves Misaki is asking why Asuka takes a break from the team. Asuka said then that she can't fly anymore, but Misaki then encouraged Asuka and that motivated her. Then Asuka is sleeping with Misaki.

When Misaki, Mashiro, and Asuka are going to school they are almost going to be too late, like day 1. But then Asuka stopped midway and said that she wants a match against Misaki, to find the answer: because the answer is in the sky.

Madoka and Masaya are shocked when they see Asuka and Misaki preparing for a battle. Masaya wondering why Misaki is flying again, Misaki said then if Asuka is going to win she will be returning to the club. The match started Misaki and Asuka are having fun battling each other, but Misaki won the match against Asuka, and Misaki returned to the FC club.

The next few days they were practicing for the Fall Tournament.

The following day Asuka was practicing early when the rest of the team came they here surprised how early Asuka came. A few minutes later they heard a voice and that was from Satoin, and Rika, Asuka asked them if they wanted to come to practice together.

During their practice, Asuka did a 3 vs 1 against Rika, Mashiro, and Satoin. It was to help to dodge the opponent.

After that Asuka sprained her arm and went to the shop to get some medicines for her arm. On the way home, she saw a cat and walked towards it. But then she saw Saki watching over the cat and Asuka told that she is training hard to put a better match against her. Saki said that that is impossible.

The next day Shindo came (Misaki called him) and helped him with their practice but during the practice, Masaya interrupted the practice match of Misaki and Shindo. Masaya said then that Asuka had to take a point from Masaya, Asuka tried but it was too hard. Later Aoi-sensei interrupted their match and said that all of them shall try to make a point.

A few days later the Fall Tournament began, Asuka and Misaki are cheering for Mashiro. Who is up against Rika. When the match ended Asuka is overjoyed when Mashiro won. Later that day they go and eat Mashiro Udon, and Asuka's match was right after that and she won. The day ended when they go home they saw a helicopter when they try looking who is in there they saw Irina and Saki.

The next day Asuka has her match against Mayu, she has won the match and goes to the finals. She rushed over to watch Misaki's match against Saki. But unfortunately, Misaki has lost and Saki is advancing to the finals and Asuka's opponent is Saki for the finals.

So after a few hours, the match between Asuka and Saki is beginning. Asuka is really excited to face Saki. When they are ready to face each other Asuka said that she is going to do her best to put a better battle than before.

The match started and Asuka is using 3 straight sonic boosts to get the first buoy. Next, she is using Pentagram Force to confuse Saki and get another point from her. Next Saki wants to get her revenge and tries to touch Asuka but Asuka is dodging every single move. It is going further and then Asuka is going to do a super low yo -o and gets another point. Irina is getting a little mad because Saki is not doing well and said that Saki should release her balancer. Saki released her balancer and gets all the points to get the points even. Next Saki is using green sleeves to drain away all Asuka's energy. But then the time is over and they will have a little break and after that over-time will start.

Asuka is sitting on the ground and is really exhausted, but Asuka said that this match is fun and said that she wanted to release her balancer too. But Masaya and the rest said that is ridiculous. Only Misaki is on her side and said that Asuka can handle it and that we should trust her.

The over-time is over and Saki and Asuka are returning to the field. Asuka is struggling to fly straight but it is not going to well she is going straight to the water and dived in the water. But then all the water splashed away and her Grav Shoes wings go bigger. She went straight for the buoy and the second buoy but Saki was straight behind her but Asuka used then a 3 Straight Sonic Boost again. Asuka said then to enjoy this match but Saki doesn't know how and Asuka is showing her the scores were even and they both went straight in the air, and because they are flying circles, the contrails they are leaving are starting to become a big pink and green ball.

The over-time was over and the person who scores a point now wins the game, but Asuka lost control and Saki was almost going to touch her but she managed to control her grav shoes again and she touched Saki from behind and won the match.

Asuka came back and Misaki ran toward her and congratulate her for becoming champion.

## Relationships

### Masaya Hinata

Masaya is the first person Asuka meets on her first day at Kunahama Academy. Masaya is also Asuka's coach, and they trust and care for each other, and show respect to each other. Asuka feels generally comfortable being with him, and Masaya feels that he can't leave her alone. Masaya also played with Asuka when she came to the island when she was little and gave her the clip that she always wears.

In the visual novel, Asuka started liking Masaya romantically since the common route, and that Masaya was attracted to her. In several routes, Masaya thought of Asuka as a "monster" or a "freak" because of her extreme proficiency in FC, but he never said it out loud or to anyone.

In the visual novel, Shindo Aoi, and Hayato despite having pointed out that Asuka has extraordinary talents in FC, believe that she cannot meet her full potential since she has a "fragile" side and needs a person to guide her or be with her, and this person was heavily implied as Masaya.

### Misaki Tobisawa

Misaki is also one of the first people Asuka met. Asuka looks up to Misaki and thinks that she is really cool. Misaki is also Asuka's coach and gives her good advice, which Asuka appreciates.

In the visual novel, during Misaki's route, she called Asuka a monster because she was able to successfully copy Saki's Birdcage and even out a match with Reiko, and was one of the reasons why she quit FC.

### Mashiro Arisaka

Asuka thinks Mashiro is cute and Mashiro was jealous of Asuka because of how close she was to Misaki. At the beginning of the series, Mashiro didn't like Asuka very much, but further in the anime, Mashiro and Asuka became closer.

In the visual novel, Mashiro admires Asuka because of her skill in FC.

### Kazunari Shindo

Shindo believes that Asuka has a lot of potential in FC and was very interested in her skill, and he was disappointed when he didn't face Asuka for the training matches.

In the visual novel, during Misaki's route, Shindo revealed to Masaya that he was scared of Asuka because she grows too fast, and even mid-game.

### Saki Inui

Thanks to Asuka, she managed to change her flying style, and get to know how to enjoy Flying Circus. It was also thanks to Saki that Asuka realized that flying wasn't always fun.

## Abilities

At first, Asuka wasn't really talented in flying but in her first flying circus match against Reiko Satoin, she sub-consciously pulled off an air kick turn which was one of the more difficult maneuvers. She also has an incredible jumping ability, as shown in Episode 4. As the series progresses, she is able to pull off 3 air kick turns in a row while in a match against "The King of Kings", Kazunari Shindo, which earned her a lot of praise from the others. She was also able to gain control over her grav shoes in the match against Saki Inui while the balancer was turned off despite the fact that she didn't train for it and when she first tried it, she didn't do so well.

* In the visual novel, Asuka was able to mimic Saki's Birdcage against Reiko during Misaki Tobisawa's route.
* In the visual novel, during Asuka's route, Masaya Hinata showed Asuka an Angelic Halo variant that was Masaya's unique technique used in tournaments during his childhood. Despite Asuka having only seen this FC move once, she was able to use it, and even won against Saki in the fall tournament's final round.
* In the visual novel, it was discussed that Asuka absorbs FC concepts and techniques like a sponge and is able to recall them easily. The problem is her body can't keep up with the things in her mind. Once caught up, she will be one of the best FC players.
* In the visual novel, it was discussed that Asuka thinks a lot during an FC match which will definitely help her improve. This is in contrast with Misaki, who relies on instincts and reflexes and never thinks. Misaki's playstyle was said to stunt her growth.
* In the visual novel, Asuka was the only known person that was able to get out of Aoi Kagami's **Angelic Halo** with help from Masaya as her second.
* In the visual novel, during Asuka's route, she is able to dodge attacks from Misaki, Mashiro, and Shion (Rika Ichinose, Mashiro Arisaka and Satoin in the anime) in quick succession. She used this practice session to dodge attacks from Saki during the fall tournament.
* In the visual novel, during any of the heroines' routes, Aoi, Shindo and Hayato Shirase believed that Asuka is the most talented player in the Kunahama FC club. (Masaya was most likely not included in this comparison since he was inactive at the time).
* In the visual novel, during Asuka's route, Masaya said to Irina Avalon that Asuka does not have a skill ceiling.

## Etymology

* The name **Asuka** means "tomorrow" (明日) (**asu**) and "fragrance, fragrant" (香) (**ka**).
* Asuka's surname **Kurashina** means "warehouse, storehouse, barn, treasury, granary, cellar, magazine, godown, depository, elevator, storage place, repository, supply shed, grain elevator, stockpile, arsenal" (倉) (**kura**) and "department, section" (科) (**shina**).

## Trivia

* For some reason, Asuka has an attraction to the Flying Fish around the Four Islands Archipelago.
* Asuka's personality is similar to Miyuki Hoshizora from Smile Precure! and both characters are voiced by Misato Fukuen.
* It was suggested that the little boy Asuka met before on Four Islands Archipelago was Masaya Hinata.
* Asuka's competitive grav-shoes type is the Mizuki Hien Type4.
* Asuka's measurements are B85/W56/H86.
* In the visual novel, Asuka's grav-shoes' voice activation is the default "FLY!" or "フライ".
* In the visual novel, Asuka is a lot more talented than she thinks and she often underestimates herself.
	+ For their first exam, Asuka barely passed with scores of 50-60.
	+ For their second exam, Asuka passed with scores of 90 and above on everything, and even perfecting an exam, having even equal or greater scores than Masaya.
	+ She always tells Masaya and the other Kunahama FC club members that she gets lucky when she wins a match and Masaya had to lightly lecture her about how she would feel if she lost to an opponent who said that he was just "lucky" to have won.
	+ In any of the heroine's routes, Aoi Kagami, Kazunari Shindo and Hayato Shirase believed she was the most talented among the girls in the Kunahama FC club.
* In the visual novel, at the epilogue of Asuka's route, it was stated that her opponents didn't mind losing to her because she made every FC match fun.
* Asuka chose to be an all-rounder because Masaya was.
* Asuka chose the Mizuki Hien Type series as her Grav-shoes because Masaya used to have this model.
* Asuka's sandals in her casual clothes (white dress), do not have an anti-graviton function.