Hoshizaki Ao

* Uniform
* Reflector

**Hoshizaki Ao** is the protagonist of *Blue Reflection Tie*.

## About

Ao was an ordinary girl leading an ordinary life. She scored a red dot on the final exam, and upon entering summer school to take supplementary lessons, she wanders into a strange world. There, she meets Utsubo Kokoro, Kinjou Yuki, and Miyauchi Rena, and they collaborate to find a way to return to their original worlds.

## Profile

### Appearance

Ao has a brunette bob, brown eyes, and wears a black hairband. She sports a purple plaid tie and skirt, white dress shirt and a dark blue school blazer. White calve-length socks and brown dress shoes complete the look.

In her Reflector form, her hair turns a light auburn in color and eyes glow purple. She wears a black hair ribbon with a black, one-piece dress featuring a pencil skirt. The dress also contains purple plaid cutaways. Lastly, she wears white and black thigh-high boots.

Ao wields a long scythe. The handle is cut from a twisted, black tree branch.

### Personality

Bright and sunny, Ao's enthusiasm makes her a born leader, regardless of her lack of experience or the occasional dumb mistake.

Ao is a tomboy and has a flirty personality, which can easily overwhelm the other girls at times.

## Story

### Blue Refection Tie/Second Light

One day, in the real world, a message saying "Be Reborn" appears on Ao's smartphone as she was on her way to class. A strange light engulfed her and sucked her into the world of Oasis, where Rena, Kokoro and Yuki were already residing. Oasis consists of a school on a tiny island surrounded by a vast ocean, with magical connections to other worlds known as The Faraway. The school is powered and fully functional, and there is even a social media platform known as 'FreeSpace that allows the girls to communicate with one another. However, the computers do not have an internet connection and there is no way for the girls to communicate with the outside world.

Unlike the others, Ao remembers most everything about her former life. Soon thereafter, Kokoro's Heartscape appears in The Faraway and Ao, Rena and Kokoro decide to forage for materials there, while Yuki stays behind to safeguard the school. When they step foot in her Heartscape, they come upon a demon that they've never seen before. Ao asks ReSource, an AI created by Shijō Raimu *(Lime)*, if there's something they can do to defeat it. The AI states that she, Kokoro and Rena are Reflectors and can summon weapons by using their new Reflector Rings. Ao and the others defeat the demon and began exploring the Heartscape.

As the leader of the group, Ao plans excursions into each of the girls' Heartscapes as they appear in the Faraway, to recover the girls' memories. This is key to finding a way out of Oasis. As memories are discovered, more Reflectors and Heartscapes appear and the process begins anew. When things look down, Ao always finds a way to cheer the others up. However, the pressure of leadership begins to weigh heavily on her when events occur that she believes to be her fault, such as the cracks (bugs) appearing in the sky over Oasis.

It is eventually discovered that the world of Oasis was created by Shijō Yuzuki and Lime. It was meant to be a haven from the Ash sickness that is spreading throughout the real world and which is killing off it's entire population. Without any means to communicate with the outside world, it is unclear to Ao and the others if this was done in a bid to buy time and discover a solution to the crisis, or if the real world is already lost and that this is merely the last bastion of humanity.

The group meets Yuzu at Oasis, who has unfortunately lost her emotions. She informs the group that Lime is unconscious, having sacrificed her power to sustain Oasis and protect it from the outside world. Ao eventually finds a way to restore both of the sisters to their former condition.

Ao is the last one to gain access to her Heartscape. With everyone's help, Lime and Yuzu manage to create an artificial one by taking a piece of Ao's heart and creating a Heartscape out of the Fragment. While exploring the Heartscape, the others seem confused by how normal it appears, until they place their gaze upon a giant gear-like object that appears in the sky.

The girls learn the truth about their world and the universe. The World System oversees all, and is attempting to reset the world by using the Ash to rid itself of humanity. The key to solving the Ash crisis is to defeat the World System and reset the timeline to before the period the Ash began to fall. Lime and Yuzu have completed their duty of summoning all the Reflectors to Oasis, and the young women prepare themselves for a final showdown.

As they venture into the Heart of the World System, they put their individual Fragments into mechanisms and one by one begin to leave the FreeSpace group. Ao and the others eventually reach the core, and the demon representing Ao's doubts and fears manifests itself. After a prolonged battle that exhausts the Reflectors, Yuki, Kuno Kirara, Hirahara Mio and Komagawa Uta transfer their memories and feelings into the main group, so that they can continue to do battle. As the last of the group's energy is expended, everyone uses their remaining strength to empower Ao for one last push, and she topples the demon once and for all.

Back at the school, Ao says goodbye to the others, and wishes them luck in the new world that they want to create.

## Trivia

* Her Reflector look is said to be inspired by one of her favorite animes (likely Death God Theory).
* Ao's attack names are in Old Norse.

## Gallery

Artwork
Artwork of Ao (with Hiori) for the revealing of new Blue Reflection projects.Artwork by Kishida Mel, to celebrate *Blue Reflection Tie*'s release in Japan.Ao and Ryza from *Atelier Ryza 2*.Ao and Hinako in Kishida Mel's 5th Anniversary artwork.
Screenshots

## Etymology

* **Hoshizaki** means "star" (星) (**hoshi**) and "cape, peninsula" (崎) (**saki**/**zaki**).
* **Ao** means "love, affection" (愛) (**a**) and "center" (央) (**o**), which literally means "center of loves" altogether.
	+ **Ao**, with a different kanji, also means "blue" (青), which is one of the Blue Reflection series' themes.