Akari Minashima

Akari and Lucky Ignite

**Akari Minashima** (みなしま あかり, *Minashima Akari*) is one of the four main characters in the Lucky Besties (anime) series. She is one of Trixie's best friends. Her catchphrases are "**Let's find our own sparkle!** (自分だけの輝きを見つけよう!, **Jibun dake no kagayaki o mitsukeyou!**)", "**dazzling** (眩しい, **mabushii**)", and "**How is that possible?** (そんなことがあるものか?, **Son'na koto ga aru mono ka?**)". Her alter ego is **Lucky Ignite**, whose theme color is red.

## Bio

### Personality

Akari is a kind and generally sweet girl who is willing to help others out. She doesn't usually get mad, but when she does, she's not really sweet--even going as far as to call out the bad things that people do (such as plagiarism, cheating, etc.). She is selfless and values her friends more than anything--and can get defensive when her friends are hurt. She's generally cheerful--but can get emotional at times, and it doesn't usually take long to revert back to her rather energetic self. This is actually a mask, however, because in reality, she is actually lonely and depressed, and isn't very energetic, since she only masks to hide her depression. She doesn't usually like having to choose between things, often getting frustrated by this, and then asking one of her friends what they would choose.

Akari likes cute things, such as plushes, cute clothing, makeup, hair accessories, and phone aesthetics. Aside from that, she also likes manga (as seen in an episode of season 1), music, and video gaming, and wants to work in video game design when she grows up (which is her dream--or as she sometimes calls it, her "sparkle"). She can be naïve and airheaded sometimes, which causes her to misunderstand some things. She has low stamina, which causes her to get exhausted easily--but her stamina improves over the course of the series. She's also shown to be good at math (her favorite subject), but can't understand some of the more advanced concepts. She also owns an orangish-red Yamaha TRBX174 bass guitar, which she calls "Teion-chi" (or "Rhythm" in the English version).

Akari uses sarcasm at times, and speaks rather informally (such as her personal pronoun being "boku" instead of "watashi"--being reflected in some songs sung by her), also mixing in "cutesy" versions of phrases (ex. "thanks" is "thanksies"). She also likes to give her friends nicknames (such as calling Trixie "Trix"). She is a mix of girly and tomboyish, which is often reflected in her clothing style. Despite her innocent looks, she is actually very strong--as her Lucky Form; in her civilian form, she's not as strong, and she describes herself as "weak".

### Appearance

#### Civilian

Akari has long nut brown hair tied into a braid held with a black ribbon, fringe bangs, a red ribbon on the top of her head, red round-neck eyeglasses (which she's had since a month before school started), and yellow eyes. Sometimes she carries around a pair of white headphones. Her Lucky Bracelet is always worn on her left wrist.

In Season 1-2, her outfit consists of a black sleeveless turtleneck top with a frilled neck, a red off-the-shoulder knit sweater with a white ribbon on the front, a navy blue skirt with white frills, loose red socks, and brown sneakers with white shoelaces and bottoms. In the fall, she adds black leggings.

For summer, her outfit consists of a red T-shirt, light beige shorts, a black sleeveless hoodie, brown sandals with a buckle, and a black scrunchie on her right wrist.

For winter, her outfit consists of a black sweater under a big white coat with an orange ribbon on the front, a red high waist pleated skirt, red gloves with white frills, light brown tights, and brown winter boots.

For school, she wears a variant of the Yumeirogaoka Ginga Academy uniform, but with a red hoodie with white pockets and red frills on each pocket (winter) or red sweater vest with white frills on the bottom (summer), a red bow, and loose white ankle socks with a single red stripe on the top.

In Season 3-4, her new spring/summer outfit consists of a black T-shirt, a lacy red top with a white bow on the front and thin straps that are tied in an X-shape in the back, dull light blue Jean shorts, black over-the-knee socks, and red and white high top sneakers with somewhat poorly tied laces. She also accessorizes with a black choker.

In Season 5-6, her new spring/summer outfit consists of a loose black T-shirt, a red usually unzipped hoodie with big white sleeves, a navy blue skirt, loose black socks, and the same shoes as S3-S4, but with better tied shoelaces. She wears the hoodie sometimes during spring/summer, but in fall, this is subverted, so she wears it most of the time. She now wears a new black choker, this one having a bow on it.

In Generation 2, Akari is now a college student and makes changes to her look: first, she gets an ahoge; second, her hair gets sidepieces, and two red barrettes are worn on the top of them; third, she no longer wears glasses, opting for contacts instead; fourth, she loses her ponytail and slightly cuts the bottom of her hair. Her spring/summer outfit is a black thin-strap top with white laces on the neckline and four small white bows gong down it, a white pleated skirt with white lace, a denim red hoodie, black thigh high socks and red thigh high boots with black lacing on the front. She accessorizes with a black choker similar to her S3-S4 one.

#### Lucky Ignite

As Lucky Ignite, Akari's hair is now bright red with orange ombré, and tied in twintails held by orange ribbons. The top part of her outfit consists of an orange top with a black collar and a red ribbon with white stripes, a red vest with gold accents and three gold buttons, and short, flared black sleeves. The bottom is a slightly lighter red skirt with two layers. She also wears red oval earrings, long black fingerless gloves with the front parts cut out, orange thigh thigh socks with a petal-like design at the top and a gold border, and red boots slightly folded at the top.

### Etymology

**Akari (あかり, ***Akari***)**: *Akari* means "light", which alludes to fire producing light because of the science behind fire, and her fire powers.

**Minashima (みなしま, ***Minashima***)**: *Mina* comes from *minami*, which means "south", while *Shima* means "island".

### Relationships

**Trixie Hanami**: Akari's childhood best friend. She enjoys going on shopping trips with her.

**Yua**: One of Akari's friends.

**Akira Hoshine**: One of Akari's friends. She is fascinated by Akira's card game skills and enjoys their company.

**Kogeta**: Her doppelganger.

**Misaki Tsutsuji**: Her apprentice.

## History

### Pre-Series

When Akari was young, she was very close to her father, but then lost him at the age of six. She became insecure and depressed and started blaming herself for it (which her mother agrees with). Not only that, but her older brother (who looked up to him) and her mother both got depressed. Since she's lost a bunch of family members, her mother took her anger out on Akari, with no explanation, which gave Akari serious post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trust issues. She also didn't have many toys during childhood, and was often too scared to ask her mother to buy her any because of two reasons: PTSD, and because the family was very poor (her mother quit her job due to depression and hasn't worked since then). Her mother also became very attached to Kori, and has even claimed he was her favorite child. This has since stopped two years before the series began. When she was 11, her mother finally got a job, but worked late, so Kori (who was 17 at the time) was the one fixing meals and helping Akari with her homework and the twins (who were 8) with theirs. Akari looked up to Kori and considered him her favorite person and her best friend, and after graduating, he decided to do online college so he could stay home and look after his siblings since their mom was still working late.

In elementary school, everyone thought she was fun to be around, but after her father died, she stopped being energetic and spent her time alone, often rejecting to play with other kids. After that, everyone at school thought she was generally not a fun person to be around, and a lot of kids there decided they didn't like her. She was also severely bullied in 1st-3rd grade, and a lot of kids pulled her hair, kicked her and called her several names (such as an "emotionless android"). Not to mention she never told teachers or anyone about any of it or about her situation. She pretty much had no friends at all, and thought she had no support.

Some time after finishing 3th grade (before her birthday), Akari and her family moved to Yumeirogaoka, in hopes of the family getting a fresh start. Her mother still takes her anger out on Akari (although to a lesser extent), which has caused Akari to not have a very good relationship with her. Because of all of this, she gets depressed and hates herself a lot. She has even considered running away at the age of 9, and even slept outside that winter. After starting 4th grade, she decides to pretend to be cheerful and energetic to hide what she's like on the inside. She then befriends Trixie, who's almost five months older than her, and since meeting her, Akari has become less depressed and has actually found the one person that can remain her friend and not think she's weird or a boring person to be around, and soon, Trixie became Akari's best friend and childhood friend.

## Lucky Rainbow

"The red flames bursting! Burning with hope! Lucky Ignite!"
*赤い炎が燃え上がる！ 希望に燃えて! ラッキーイグナイト！*
*Akai honō ga moeagaru! Kibō ni moete! Rakkī Igunaito!*
"A burning red flame that bursts with hope! I’m Lucky Ignite!" (English Dub only)
**Lucky Ignite** is the Lucky form of Akari. In order to transform, she needs her Lucky Bracelet and Lucky Gem.

### Attacks

#### Main Attacks

* **Ignite Flame:** Ignite’s first main attack. She snaps her finger and summons a small flame, then summons her crossbow and puts the flame to the arrow, making the arrow tip catch fire. She aims the arrow at the target and releases it, which then sets the target on fire for three seconds, and makes it explode into fire and become purified. The attack does not always work. It is first used in Season 1 Episode 1.
* **Ignite Double Flame:** An upgraded version of Ignite Flame. It’s similar to Ignite Flame, but with changes: there are two arrows instead of one, and the flames are stronger. Like its pre-upgraded version, this attack isn’t always guaranteed to work.
* **Ignite Triple Flame:** An upgraded version of Ignite Double Flame. It’s similar to the previous two versions, but like its previous version, there are changes: there are three arrows instead of two, and the flames are even stronger. Like both pre-upgraded versions, this attack isn’t always guaranteed to work.

### Sub-Attacks

* **Ignite Pa-Punch:** Ignite’s first sub attack. Ignite inserts her first Attack Lucky Gem into her Lucky Bracelet, then snaps her finger and said hand glows bright red. She charges at her opponent, swings her fist a total of five times, and punches her target. It is first used in Season 1 Episode 2.
* **Ignite Ka-Kick:** Ignite’s second sub attack. Ignite inserts her second Attack Lucky Gem into her Lucky Bracelet, then taps her foot in a rhythmic pattern, and after the fifth tap, her foot glows bright red. She charges at her target and jumps up. Using her glowing foot, she kicks her target. It is first used in Season 1 Episode 2.
* **Ignite Barrage:** Ignite’s third sub attack. Ignite inserts her Barrage Lucky Gem into her Lucky Bracelet, then snaps her fingers and creates two small flames, expands them a little, and shoots them as a barrage.
* **Ignite Fireball**: Ignite’s fourth sub attack. Ignite inserts her Goal Lucky Gem into her Lucky Bracelet, then snaps her fingers and throws a small fireball down to the ground, and catches it with her left foot, then starts kicking it with her left foot and knees. As she kicks it, the fireball expands. Once it’s big enough, Ignite kicks the fireball at her target. The fireball causes the enemy to burn for one second, then explode into fire and become purified as she says, “Goal!” Like many of her attacks, this isn’t always guaranteed to work.
* **Ignite Ta-Teleport:** Ignite’s fifth sub attack. Ignite inserts her Teleport Lucky Gem into her Lucky Bracelet, then her hand glows red, then she raises her hand and teleports herself to another location. To teleport others, she does the same thing, but instead of raising her hand, she aims her hand at someone else and teleports them instead.
* **Ignite Firewall:** Ignite’s sixth sub attack. Ignite inserts her Shield Lucky Gem into her Lucky Bracelet, then summons a big flame and transforms it into a big barrier which can be used to protect her allies and others.

### Duo Attacks

* **Flame Thunderbolt:** Lucky Ignite and Lucky Tricks’s duo attack. This attack requires Ignite’s crossbow and Tricks’s grimoire. It is first used in Season 1 Episode 1.

## Songs

Akari's seiyū, **Hiyori Kono** has sung a lot of songs for the character she voices. Some also include **Satomi Sato**, who voices Trixie, **Nanami Akino**, who voices Yua, and so on.

### Solo Songs

* My Own Flame!
* Always Burning BANG BANG

## Trivia

* Her birthday is June 10, making her a Gemini.
* She likes candy, her most favorite being hard candies.
* Some of her attacks have a repeated first syllable (ex. "Ignite Pa-Punch").
* Along with Mari Kaen, Akari is the only Lucky Bestie with fire powers.

## Gallery

Akari 2023 School 2.pngAkari 2023 Heartful Ignite.pngAkari 2023 Super Heartful Ignite.pngAkari 2023 Winged Ignite.pngAkari 2023 Eternal Wing Ignite.png