Karin Kanzuki (AST)

**Karin Kanzuki** is the elitist rival of Sakura, and heiress of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu.

## Appearance

As a self-styled rival of Sakura, Karin naturally has a similar outfit, complete with sailor fuku, except hers is predominantly red and white with a blue bola tie. She stylizes her blonde hair into long, oversized Victorian Europe-style ringlets, with two small forelocks and braids encircling her head, and occasionally wears a blue bow in the back. She wears black shorts and completes her outfit with matching black socks and short, red boots. She also wears brown fingerless gloves.

## Personality

Karin's laugh and mannerisms are derived from the unpleasant "ojou" stereotypes common in anime and manga as well as the "rich person"/"popular schoolgirl"/"spoiled brat" stereotypes of Western fiction; while she is typically snobbish and haughty as per the standard, her lifestyle is not one of all pampering. Rich, ambitious, and intelligent, Karin has devoted herself to martial arts to a near equal measure as Sakura.

Karin is calmer, more level-headed and cynical, and serves as the voice of reason for the impulsive Sakura. She also lives by her family's motto more than the rest of her family, which is why she both apologized to Kasumi for her recklessness and paid for the repairs to the San Cheng Huang as thanks for rescuing her from kidnappers.

## History

Karin is the daughter of Daigenjuro Kanzuki and his wife Nadeshiko Kanzuki; their butler is Ishizaki‎, and Shibazaki is the family steward. Karin's father Daigenjuro is a rather strict man as he constantly pushes his daughter into becoming a better heir to the Kanzuki family fortune, as he wanted a son.

The wealthy Kanzuki family's mottos are "All you need is victory" (also interpreted as "Be the winner in everything") and, alternately, "The worst we'll ever be is the best". Her family's private estate covers 200 miles of land, and not only has its own geographical features but its own climate. The Kanzukis are even wealthier than the Masters, so rich that they have their own satellite called "Red Spider-Lily". Karin was given a son's upbringing because her father always wanted a male heir to his conglomerate.

Additionally, Karin was given several tests by her father to complete or else she would be disqualified from inheriting the family fortune. Her first test was when she was nine years old, where she was taken to the woods with meager food and water; she had to come home safely or else she'd be disowned (her father struggled two weeks to accomplish this when he was her age, but Karin polished the trial off in four days). Another test, based solely on her gender, was that if she didn't charm at minimum 5,000 of the world's gentlemen she cannot inherit the family fortune (she passed this test too, and her mother Nadeshiko is said to have charmed 50,046 gentlemen, including her husband, to see if Nadeshiko would qualify to be Daikenjuro's wife). Yet another test required her to stop a stampede of fifty wild bulls, single-handedly stopping a running of the bulls at age fourteen. Karin subdued fifty bulls in all, beating her father's record by one.

Karin enrolled in Sakura's old school, Tamagawa Minami High, to "observe the life of commoners"; intrigued by her ability to fight, Karin challenged her to a match, showcasing a deadly style created by blending together all the martial arts that she had mastered, however Sakura managed to defeat her, thus sparking off their rivalry.

She eventually tracked Sakura down after she transferred to Furinkan High School and challenged her to another fight. She gave a much better showing this time even after 15 minutes neither girl had gained any real advantage. They were about to start round 2 when they were interrupted a by a man who demanded that they come with him. When they refused he had his men attack them.

The battle did not last long. While they fought the men off the best they could the fatigue left over from their previous battle meant that they were quickly overwhelmed. Luckily Kasumi arrived just as they were being dragged off. The man, Sakura, and Karin watched in shock as she efficiently defeated the men. Checking to see that the two were okay Kasumi was about to go after the men who had recovered and fled.

Karin stopped her sure that they’d be in more trouble with who hired them then the law. Telling Sakura that they’d finish their fight later she introduced herself to Kasumi and thanked her for her help. Kasumi in response told her to be sure to schedule their duel after school.

Looking Kasumi up she discovered what happened to her restaurant and as thanks hired someone to rebuild it. Karin is seen later after the repairs were done to the San Cheng Huang. Since Shampoo and Kasumi were out she decided to wait for them. When they returned she thanked them for intervening in regards to Shadowloo. She even decided to furnish the building as an extra gift for such as the group had been a thorn in her company's side for some time. As Kasumi led her to the door Karin asked if they could spar when she recovers, which Kasumi happily obliged.

## Abilities

Though she styles herself as a rival to Sakura, Karin uses the Kanzuki style martial arts, a style she created herself, instead of the "original" style Sakura uses. The style could be considered a form of "lifestyle fu" as it is based on the Kanzuki family mottos. Kanzuki Style Martial Arts is described less as a registered fighting style and more of an elegant form of street fighting. She combines the basic and advanced principles of unarmed fighting with a multitude of other martial arts styles and combat forms gathered over time, together in single harmony.

Karin has a wide array of strikes, throws and potent reversals, and she prides herself on being able to handle any opponent she faces. She prefers to keep her opponents guessing by varying the speed of her attacks, and also makes them second-guess their own choice of moves for fear of her powerful counterattacks.

She is well versed in various forms of Bushido, military arts, and "combative sports". This was probably mistranslated from a term that meant "combat sports", which includes various events (e.g. Japanese pro wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts groups). However her attacks are noted to favor Bajiquan, as they utilize the hallmarks of the style such as elbow attacks, palm strikes, explosive motions, double front kicks and most importantly, the Tetsuzanko move, a powerful shoulder smash. The sum of all her accomplishments in the field of martial arts is equivalent to 100 dan and 8 kyu (the Japanese ranking system for martial arts, among other things).