Name: Setsuko Himejima

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Appearance:

Personality: Setsuko is a calm and confident person, her gentle and soft spoken disposition belies her intelligent and more intense side. She dislikes seeing people struggle with things, so she enjoys being helpful, also being careful not to overstep her bounds. She has a habit of getting over excited when video games or anime are involved, however. Of course, being an Otaku, having become is like a dream come true for her.

Skills: Computer Whiz - Familiar with various applications/programs and being able to type at 70 wpm, Setsuko's the go to girl if you need anything done on the web.
Skilled Gamer: It's no secret that Setsuko's an avid video game lover. Her favorites are JRPGs and fighting games, both of which she's highly skilled in. Often speedrunning the rpgs and placing consistently high in underground tournaments.
Anime Encyclopedia: Whether it'd be the new hit Shounen, or some obscure OVA made by a now defunct studio, chances are Setsuko's seen or heard of it.

Brief Backstory: Setsuko lived a simple life, her parents the owners of a local eatery in the Akibahara district. Being raised in the epicenter of Otaku culture, it's no surprise that she became one herself.

Often frequenting arcade machines to play the latest fighter or buying the latest manga, she spent her days in leisurely consumption of pop culture.

Surprisingly, her obsession did little to affect her grades, often always in the top ten of her class. However, it did affect her social life. Not having too many friends, Setsuko mainly turned to games and anime to occupy her time. She actually did happen to have one notable childhood friend, who'd been with her through thick and thin. At this point in there lives they lived in different districts, but often kept in touch using various online services. They often played different online games together.

Setsuko and her friend also enjoyed delving into various mythologies, most notably the Asian mythos of the Four Gods. Of them their favorite was Suzaku, the fire bird of the Southern Sky. Her friend even bought Setsuko a scarlet feather charm as a present. Unfortunately, that would be the last time she would hear ftom here friend.

A broadcast when out stating that the bus she was riding on got caught in a landslide, after excavators retrieved the vehicle there were no confirmed survivors. Heartbroken, Setsuko when into a downard spiral and began to shut everyone out. She couldn't bring herself to play their favorite games anymore.

At that point, a fairy of all things came to visit here, much to her shock. It was then she was given abilities akin to pyrokinesis, and she saw that she could also give herself fiery appendages similiar to a bird.

Magical Girl Appearance:

Concept: Fire bird

Archetype: Suzaku

Abilities: Her powers and abilities are based on the aforementioned divine bird. She is able to bombard enemies with a shower of fireballs, let loose streams of flame, and can even create flame pillars and walls. In addition, she has been given greater agility and reaction speed in her transformation. Of course, she can even fly by generating wings made of fiery feathers, and talons to deliver powerful kicks and slashes.

Name: Ukiko Hotaru

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Appearance:


Personality: Brash. Daring. Mischievous. Reckless. All these describe Ukiko and her tendency to seek out trouble before it finds her. Displaying fearlessness that borders on arrogance, she acts like every challenge is no problem for her, right down to taunting her enemies as she fights them. She likes hearing scary stories, and telling them. Urban legends, horror movies, haunted houses, you name it - if it gives her the chills, it's right up her alley.

Of course, it's said courage is not the absence of fear, and this is painfully true in Ukiko's case. Not that she'll admit it. Behind her bold mask, she's constantly plagued with terror - of not being strong enough, of failing to defeat her foes, of letting someone down. The attitude she puts on is for the sake of overcoming said fear.

Skills: Knows a lot about urban legends and stories of supernatural occurrences, as they can be hints at where to find shades. She's also good at bolstering people's mood with her bravado - when she's not annoying the crap out of them, in any case.

Brief Backstory: As a child, Ukiko was the opposite of who she is now - she was quiet and timid. She was only comfortable around her best friend Aika, who'd bring her out of her shell and encourage her to try new things. For years, they were as close as sisters, until everything changed one evening.

They were both 12, on their way back from school, and Aika got her to explore the woods. There were rumours about the place, none of them good, but Aika wanted to prove they were false. As they ventured further in, something moved in the distance. Leaves crunched, as if something was chasing them. Both girls turned and ran. Ukiko, in a state of utter panic, didn't look back until she was out of the forest. That was when she noticed her friend wasn't there. Desperate, she sought help.

Thankfully, Aika was found alive. It turned out a mysterious woman had discovered her injured and unconscious, and gotten her to a hospital. While she did make a full recovery, it was a slow one, physically and mentally. She had little memory of the incident, and deep gouges down her back that looked to be from an animal, but nobody could identify what kind. Worse, it was as if the creature had drained the liveliness out of her - she became withdrawn and depressed for months, verbally lashing out whenever Ukiko tried to help. For leaving her, for not even looking back. Something told Ukiko her friend's mental state wasn't solely a result of trauma.

Even after Aika recovered, both girls were torn up with regret over their actions, and drifted apart. A few years later, Ukiko's family moved to Tokyo anyway. Ukiko took this as an opportunity to start anew. She wouldn't be that helpless coward any more. Slowly, she started to face her fears. She researched urban legends, and the weaknesses of the beings they featured. She learned basic self defense. She started putting up a tough front. If anything like that happened again, she wouldn't let anyone else down. She'd do something, somehow.

That determination was what got her chosen as a magical girl. Once Ukiko had gotten over her bewilderment at a fairy appearing to her, offering her the power to fight shades, it all made sense. The attacker in the woods had been a shade, and a magical girl had saved Aika's life. Now Ukiko had the chance to be something other than useless, and make sure the incident wouldn't happen again. She took it right away. That was the day she cast off the last few traces of the scared girl she used to be, at least outwardly.

Magical Girl Appearance:


Concept: Ghosts

Archetype: Chochin-obake (ghost lantern)

Abilities: As is fitting for a spectral magical girl, Ukiko can float, and become invisible for a few seconds at a time. She can also become immaterial and phase through solid objects, although not through shade attacks since shades aren't exactly corporeal beings, or energy attacks if she were to get into a fight with another magical girl - using this ability several times in a short span of time is also a significant drain on her magic reserves.

Her offensive power takes the form of ghostly flames, similar to hitodama, which she shoots at enemies. These flames are blue-green, and cold instead of hot. A chochin-obake familiar accompanies her, able to breathe this same fire. Together, they can combine their attacks for a powerful finishing move.

Name: Kana Asakura
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Appearance:

Personality: Kana is an odd mix of a what you would call a samurai and a delinquent. Outwardly she comes across as a calm and stoic person, though she also tends to have a very delinquent like speech pattern and actions. She is an extremely determined individual and comes off as very intense at times, though she’d still a just person and will defend the weak, when it comes down to it.

Skills:
Kana is a expert martial artist and street brawler. As the heir to the Asakura dojo, she uses the martial arts style known as “The That Quells the Seas and Silences the Storm” or in less mouthy terms, Asakura Style Karate. Asakura Style Karate’s originates from the Asakura family’s samurai route, due to being a group of traditionalists the form has seen less changes compared to modern Karate, keeping it’s battlefield routes and effectiveness, even keeping weapons handling as part of it’s training.

Motorcycle driving: She has both the license and the image to drive one around. She uses a chopper style bike to get around, it may seem masculine, but she’s always been a bit of a masculine kind of person.

Brief Backstory: Kana’s mother died when she was young, she died giving birth to her younger brother, but both did not make it. Her father and her didn’t know how to deal with that grief and how to properly connect to each other, so he tried the only way he knew how, as the head of the dojo and the heiress. The strict training, only caused the rift to grow between them. As a response Kana became a delinquent in middle school lashing out at everyone and terrorizing those who got in her way, using the martial training she was given.

One day, she saw a student bullying another meeker student. Normally she would have just walked away, but the bullying student has pissed her off earlier, so she punched them out, but before she could leave, the bullied student called out to her and then shot out a rapid fire string of word, which Kana could barely understand, but somehow she got caught in the pace of the other student, who revealed her name to be Kaori.

Kaori became Kana’s only and best friends, their friendship caused Kana to soften just a little, if only so she doesn’t actively starts fights on her own, though she would still raise her hand to protect her best friend if she needed to. They were inseparable, At least until High School. Kaori and Kana started to become distant and Kana didn’t know why. Kaori all of a sudden was really busy and tended to cancel plans and just disappeared out of nowhere and Kana decided to find out why.

Kana tailed Kaori in secret, finding out that she was heading to an abandoned area of town. When she finally stopped Kana finally found out her secret, as she transformed in front of her eyes to combat monsters. Kaori was a magic girl and unfortunately Kana was caught in the middle, even worse this wasn’t a normal Shade either, this was a very powerful Shade, that had enough power to direct other Shades, something that Kaori didn’t realize. The battle didn’t end well, especially since Kaori took a serious injury when the shade realized Kana was there and Kaori got in it’s path to protect her, though she managed to cause a big enough distraction for Kana to drag Kaori out of there.

Kana tried her best to get her friend to the hospital. She had to leave her motorcycle behind to trail Kaori stealthily and their phones didn’t have reception to call an ambulance. The only other person or rather thing around was something that introduced itself as Kaori’s Fairy who was currently trying their best to lead them to the hospital, only for the minor Shades to catch up to them. Surrounded, the fairy gave her a way to save herself. As it turns out Kana did also have potential, but Kaori prevented the fairy from recruiting her in an attempt to protect her, but without any other choice she accepted. Kana transformed and dispatched the Shades handily and got Kaori to a hospital… but it was too late.

Kaori’s death was deemed to be a work of a brutal slasher, as no one would believe that it was a monster made from negative emotions. Kana went to Kaori’s funeral, not just to grieve, but to quietly slay the Shade that would be created by the emotions of grief. She decided that she was going to take up the position of a magical girl and protect the city in Kaori’s place.

Magical Girl Appearance:


Concept: Heavens
Archetype: Susanoo

Abilities:
Kana’s Archetype is based off the Kami Susanoo, god of the storm and seas. In her transformation she gains access to the sword, Ama no Habakiri, which only seems to be a very sharp sword for now. Her physical ability is also increased in transformation.

As Susanoo is the kami of the seas, Kana gains the ability to create and manipulate water. Along with the ability to breathe underwater and other needed abilities to thrive under water, such as underwater pressure resistance and the ability to sense vibrations in water.