House of Kagari

* Atsuko Kagari
* Yumi Kagari (Akko's mom)
* Aguri Kagari (Akko's dad)
* Burai Kagari (Akko's grandfather)
* Kaoru Kagari (Akko's grandmother)
* Wasio Kagari (Akko's paternal aunt)
* Ayu Kagari (Akko's ancestor, deceased)

**Kagari family**, formerly known as **House of Kagari**, are a family which Akko hailed from in *Little Witch Academia: Witches of Midgard*.

## Description and Characteristics

Relatively mundane on the first glance, Kagari family have an intriguing history that can be traced back to Feudal Era. They claimed heritage from the obscure yet formidable eponymous Daimyo House of samurai that doubled as assassins; samurai of House of Kagari were trained in the arts of stealth and deception not unlike ninjas yet upheld the code of bushido at the same time similar to Hattori Hanzō the Daimyo House allegedly associated with. Outnumbered by its rivals, the House of Kagari must rely on greater skill, cunning, and loyalty to one another to make up its shortcomings.

Despite being the most obscure of Daimyo Houses in its time that official records pertaining it scarce at best and shrouded in myth, House of Kagari did gain reverence through few yet notable exploits which showcased what it truly capable of. Elite members of this Daimyo House were responsible in eradicating Orochis, eight-headed, eight-tailed draconic serpents said to be progenies of the mythical Yamata-no-Orochi itself, that threatened unsuspecting villages and dispatched bandit hordes and rogue practitioners of Onmyōdō alike who sought to disrupt peace in their land. Its reputation and capabilities earned House of Kagari respect and even awe from a band of Thapolian scholars who fortunate enough to encounter it during their time at the Land of Rising Sun as much as ire from their common enemy; an ominous coven of foreign witches and wizards with snake-themed banner referred in Edda of Vör as Followers of Rime Serpent.

When one of Thapolian scholars, Athena Cavendish, was kidnapped by the latter group, her desperate colleagues resorted to seek aid from House of Kagari. The Daimyo House's leader, Ayu Kagari, was initially reluctant to involve in the foreigners' affairs until one of her men who had spied on Followers of Rime Serpents for quite some time clarified that its presence won't bode well to their land, prompting her to rally her best samurai in a bid to deal the threat and save the kidnapped scholar along the way.

The ensuing ambush and subsequent confrontation between House of Kagari's elite samurai led by Ayu herself and Followers of Rime Serpent were moments when the Thapolian scholars learned firsthand why the obscure yet formidable Daimyo House was feared. Through sheer determination and ingenuity alone, Ayu and her men swiftly took out the entire coven all while suffering little to no casualties among their own. Such victory was further made possible thanks to both intel gathered by the Daimyo House's spies and their enemies' own overconfidence. The fight culminated with Ayu defeated Followers of Rime Serpent's leader after ensuring that Athena was safe and sound, though her mortally wounded opponent abruptly spirited away by a giant serpentine entity before she could deliver a final blow. As the Thapolian scholars departed back to their home country beyond the seas, Ayu gave Athena one of her Kagari-Shurikens as a memento to remember her by.

The following years after the encounter with Thapolian scholars were unkind on House of Kagari. During the last years of civil wars throughout the Sengoku period, its eventual involvement in such conflict saw Ayu perished in combat. As a result, her people were reduced into a band of ronin who struggled to improve their lives through different occupations such as becoming fishermen, blacksmiths, personal advisors, and even mercenary hired by one of warring clans. Being originally pacifists who fought only if their situation called for it however, the Kagaris fared much better than their warlike rivals during such difficult times. With conflicts came to a close, the Kagaris gradually abandoned their violent ways in favor of peaceful life, but nonetheless maintained their heritage by passing down the family's wisdom and Kagari Style Archery techniques to younger generations so they can become strong like their ancestors.

### Kagari Style Archery Techniques

Among proofs of Kagari family's samurai heritage is the tradition of passing down **Kagari Style Archery Techniques** to new generations of the family, regardless whether they are Kagaris by blood or outsiders who adopted into the family. Kagari Style Archery Techniques are a collective of archery techniques unique to House of Kagari such as rapidly firing arrows while running and evading attacks in succession, nailing the target despite the arrows' path impeded by obstacles, and letting two arrows loose at once. Akko is regarded as a prodigy among her generation in Kagari family when it comes about the mastery of Kagari Style Archery Techniques despite of it mostly motivated by the desire to be like Shiny Chariot than upholding such tradition, but nevertheless worried whether she can live up her family's expectations, an issue that Diana can relate.

### Kagari-Yumi and Kagari-Shuriken

Best bowyers of the House of Kagari crafted a type of symmetrical bow not unlike Saigū-Yumi which in turn, based on the Mongolian recurved bow, called **Kagari-Yumi** that allowed its samurai to perform the Kagari Style Archery Techniques better than with asymmetrical, ordinary Yumi. It was even rumored a variation of Kagari-Yumi was developed as well, one with small blades attached on the base of each limb so the user could use it as close-quarter weapon if the situation called for it without affecting its performance as long-range weapon, mainly by targeting the enemy's vital points (ex. carotid arteries). However, fearful both types of Kagari-Yumi would be stolen and appropriated by nefarious forces in the event of their Daimyo House's downfall, they eventually erased all records of its schematics entirely and took this secret to their deaths.

Another signature weapon of House of Kagari is **Kagari Shuriken**, the unassuming yet deadly custom-made shuriken that appeared as a metal ring with two kunai-like blades. Unlike typical shurikens, it can be used both as throwing weapon and close-range assassination tool as demonstrated by Ayu Kagari.

## Creation & Conception

*"The idea of Akko's family being related to the eponymous obscure yet formidable Feudal Era Daimyo House was from a conversation between me and an associate of mine back when we worked on Little Witch Academia: Ragnarok Tetralogy, beta version of Little Witch Academia: Witches Midgard, as well as the latter's dream pertaining Akko's background which shared similar premise albeit darker. Unfortunately, our ill-fated attempt to adapt such ideas became one of reasons of our fallout as I failed to notice my said associate intended Kagaris being part of affluential hi-tech corporation which basically Japanese's answer to Wakanda from Marvel Comics. That didn't stop me from reworking it from scratch through Witches of Midgard-verse, more so after figuring out why my said associate were fascinated by Samurai faction from For Honor game and therefore influenced their past proposals as much as Wakanda. Those who unfamiliar with Kagaris' intriguing history won't expect Akko indeed have innate talent in archery (explaining her proficiency with Shiny Arc) and even martial arts."*
― BSoulstone about House of Kagari's concept

The idea of Akko's family descended from the obscure yet formidable eponymous Daimyo House of samurai that doubled as assassins was based on the conversation between BSoulstone and GKoh (who may or may not have changed their username into the current one Ron PRL) about their respective experience in seeing Little Witch Academia characters in their dream. While the former about Akko talking to Diana about her past bullying experience while being the member of a cheerleading squad during her middle school days, the latter revolved around Akko's disillusionment over her family's dark secrets along with involvement in a conflict known as Onmyoji Civil War culminating to her and her men slaughtered innocent people by mistake as her lover was among casualties. During the same conversation, G Koh came up with the idea of Kagari family being a royal family affiliated with hi-tech megacorporation called Kitsune Clan aka. Kitsune Corporation who utilized special meteoric alloy to craft advanced technology along with events that pit Kitsune Clan and witches against one another in the past.

Unfortunately, while brainstorming for the best way to adapt latter ideas into *Little Witch Academia: Ragnarok Tetralogy*, beta version of *Little Witch Academia: Witches of Midgard*, it became apparent BSoulstone and G Koh/Ron PRL desired different things on how they played out thus became one of reasons of their eventual fallout with one another – G Koh/Ron PRL intended Kitsune Clan to be Japan' answer to Wakanda from Marvel Comics and therefore had sufficient power and resources to topple magic community across the globe, effectively making it too overpowered as BSoulstone noted. Before they could discuss it further, G Koh/Ron PRL left for months and unsure what to do, opted to rework *Little Witch Academia: Ragnarok Tetralogy* into *Little Witch Academia: Witches of Midgard* instead, finding the former had become a lost cause resulted from their differences.

Subsequently, the concept of Kagari family reworked into current version which was admittedly done to explain how Akko has innate talent in archery and martial arts. Along with inspiration in form of Kusugami Clan, a clan from Makai Community that excels in archery skills collectively known as *Kusugami Style Archery Techniques* from *Garo: The One Who Shines in Darkness*, BSoulstone expanded Kagari family's history after receiving some useful input from Ron PRL who proposed the idea of Kagaris belonged to the eponymous Daimyo House who reduced into ronin after the death of its daimyo along with the latter's revelation of both it and Kitsune Clan also inspired by Samurai faction from *For Honor* game. Lastly, the reason BSoulstone established House of Kagari as an obscure Daimyo House was to stay true with Kagaris' image as ordinary mundane family and nobodies in the eyes of those who don't familiar with their heritage.

## Articles & References

1. ↑ **G Koh's Original Proposals and Inspiration of Kagari family being part of Wakanda-esque faction called Kitsune Clan:**
**Dream that inspired it:**
Well mine was different, Akko was an Onmyoji just like I mentioned. However her clan's profession were assassins and Akko had seen things. She saw her clan slaughtering people which didn't sit well for Akko that she ran away.(proposed in 3/7/2017)
**Full recap of the dream:**
Initially Akko was fine to be an assassin and she had a fiance to boot. She was happy but the sad thing was that she was born around the time where an Onmyoji Civil War was about to erupt. The Onmyoji main council including Akko's grandfather decided to make peace with Witches but others think that Witches were a menace.
Akko and her team were sent to aid their branch faction in defending their village from demons. However, the rogue Onmyoji tricked Akko's and the brach as he casted a veil that caused Akko and her team to see the people they were suppose to save as demons and the branch did too.
Akko's fiance was killed after the trick was discovered by Akko. Akko's family started a hunt on those that harmed their child but Akko decided to leave out of shame that she accidentally murdered her love. (proposed in 4/7/2017)
**Proposal of Kitsune Clan:**
Another thing, my idea regarding Akko's family that she and they were members of an order of warriors with highly advanced technology.
The history behind it was that at some point during the Age of Yggdrasil, a meteor fell to Japan carrying a rare form of metal. This metal revolutionized Japan's advancement creating weapons like guns earlier. However at some point, it was decided that they kept the power secret to ensure the power would not fall into enemy hands.
They were the Protectors. They had much technology such as advanced warships, laser pistols etc.
The Kagari family weren't just members, they were the Royal family with Akko's mother the duchess.
After Akko left due to losing her fiance which I brought up, Akko's family sent their servants to look after her. These servants were very loyal to Akko and would sacrfice their lifes to ensure she lives. One is a big sumo, the other is the spunky girl and the other is like the head maid. Each one were deadly.
At some point during LWA, the rogue faction attacked Luna Nova and Ako was forced to return to her family after saving the Witches and their families which left the academy to become warzone.(proposed in 6/7/2017)
**Proposal of Kitsune Clan Part 2:**
Kitsune Clan Technology
-Purifiers = Previously were mobile mortar launchers until redesigned to be implemented on tanks. They fire a powerful flame that burn witches till ashes.
-Juggernaut = They were giant mechanical automotons that had slaughtered many witches. Coated with the metal mineral and salt.
-Utility Gauntlet = A gauntlet built to be all purpose. Flamethrowers, sonic blasts, laser rounds, poison darts etc.
-Vibranium = A katana when vibrated at a specific frequency could cut even the toughest metal.
The Massacre on Kyoto = Taking place during the Witch Hunts, it was the event where the Kitsune Clan purged their homeland of Witches.
**Proposal of Kitsune Clan Part 3:**
The Massacre on Kyoto was an event taking place prior to the Golden Age of Witches. Although, many historical experts viewed the Massacre as what made Witches to change their ways.
Prelude
During some point around the time of Yggdrasil, a meteor fell to Earth somewhere in Japan, the natives there went to investigate and discovered an unknown form of metal. Because of this event, their advancements escalated to new heights. However since the villagers there were the only ones who knew about the metal and word about wars erupting, the owners of the unknown metal was kept secret.
The Coming of Foreigners
Years later, foreigners, most witch covens migrated to Japan to expand their unfluences. However when the Witches overstepped their limits and began to harm Japan and unleashed the Nue, the owners who became a clan organized a striek against them.
The Massacre
The Witches built a fortress on Kyoto. However, they clearly didn't realize the full scope of Japan's might. Lead by the Kitsune Clan, Japan were getting more ground.
The Kitsune Clan began by using their Purifiers which fired a ball of white fire. More than several hundred Witches were killed. Their enemy softened, the clan sent in their armies. The Kitsune Samurai was reported to have killed thousands, both Witches and magical creatures.
However the most crippling blow was that their assault was a distraction that allowed ninja to infiltrate the fortress and held the main heads hostage.
Aftermath
The war ended and the Witches fled Japan.(proposed in 6/7/2017)
2. ↑ **Ron PRL's proposal**:
**Kagari Clan part 1**: They are the family where Akko was born from. They are mostly a relatively normal family in appearance but truthfully, they have a very interesting history.
The Kagari were formerly samurai for a powerful warlord but after the fall of their lord and empire, they departed alongside their family and became ronin. While they maintain their samurai heritage, they do attempt to try various jobs such as fishermen, construction workers, geishas and more.
It was because they interact more with the people that their skills were more diverse over the years.(proposed in 18/8/2018)
**Kagari Clan part 1**: List of occupations the Kagaris had after became ronin:
- Bodyguard
- Rice Seller
- Fishermen: As Fishermen, the Kagari helped a hotel with lack of sea food. They brought back a huge stock of crabs. Because of that, the Kagaris get to use the hotel whenever its closed.
- Geisha
- Construction
- Workers
- Ice Trader: As Ice Traders, the Kagaris head to the mountains and found rare flowers which they later plant on their gardens, making it very beautiful.
-Blacksmith: As Blacksmiths, their workload allows them to become strong and best at arm wrestling.
- Circus Performers
- Snake Farmers
- Messengers
- Small-time official advisors: They were personal advisors to small-time officials, they gain experience in financials and accounting.
(proposed in 18/8/2018)