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The Kotobuki Squadron
A six-women mercenary flight in semi-permanent employment of the Ouni Company. Founded by Reona and Zara, the squadron based mainly in the town of Rahama doing cargo protection the Ouni Company is hired for against sky pirates. Though generally unconcerned by the state of Ijitsu's politics, they clash with various factions because of their association with Rahama and the radical politician Julia. They all fly Nakajima Ki-43-I Hayabusa with marked with their personal tail art, camo, and color.
Tropes associated with the Kotobuki Squadron:
- Ace Pilot: Each girls are exceptional pilots in their own right. They fly the Hayabusa, which in series are often out-classed by their opponents in term of specs, but always win or never sustain crippling loses.
- Badass Crew: As expected of a squadron of Ace Pilot that tend to meet the engagements is 2-3 man cells, they take down enemies with teamwork between vanguards and her wingwoman.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Discussed; the Kotobuki, specially the younger ones, would rather do what they can with the local's problems, no strings attached. But Reona would not do anything unless the locals sign business contracts with Madame Lulu because their plane's maintenance does not come cheap. Fortunately, Madame Loulou is not that heartless.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Their Hayabusa can be differentiated by looking at the color of their planes' noses, body camo arts, and their wingtips, which are the same color as their clothes.
- Kylie: Red.
- Emma: Blue.
- Kate: Purple.
- Reona: Green.
- Zara: Yellow.
- Chika: Pink.
- The Dreaded: While enjoying a moderate fame at the beginning of the series, they turn into a household name after their feats in the Ikesuka Unrest. Other squadrons both respect and fear them; Harukaze in particular just won't stop gushing about them. Just saying that you're friends with the Kotobuki is enough to make ordinary pirates wet their pants.
- Hired Gun: The Kotobuki Squadron, at its base, is a mercenary squadron that will do Madame Lulu's bidding for cash. Even with friends and acquaintances, they would not lift a finger unless there's a written contract and material benefits, often to their own dismay.
- It's Personal: While they originally enter the war against the Brotherhood of Freedom Union out of their contracted obligation, any reservation they have gets thrown out of the window when they find out that Isao, the head of the Union personally slighted more than half of them in his pursuit of power.
- Mr. Vice Guy: While they're still obviously good, they also have very noticeable personality flaws. The Hero is a Hair-Trigger Temper dumbass, her best friend is a miserly Blood Knight, the Cool Big Sis is a shameless drunkard, etc.
- True Companions: While at the beginning of the series the relationships between pilots aren't very good, like the younger girls not knowing that Reona and Zara met in an airfield named Sapoh or the unsynchronized duo of Kylie and Chika, they slowly learn to appreciate and support each other.
- Vague Age: There's no confirmation on how old are these girls other than Leona and Zara are the eldest, Emma and Kate are younger than them but are already legal, while Kylie and Chika are still too young to drink.
- Subverted by later
Word of God, according to a livestream, it is said that Reona and Zara are 25, Chika is 17, while the other three are 20.
- Subverted by later
- Weak, but Skilled: The Hayabusa isn't the most heavily-armed nor heavily-armoured plane - however, they come with a great climb rate and superb maneuverability. This is best seen in their fight against Ikesuka's black Hayate fighters; the Hayabusa's nose-mounted 12.7 mm machine guns won't quickly shoot down enemies with rubber-lined fuel tanks and they are often incapable of chasing the enemies into their gunsights, but when they're in small spaces like Ikesuka's tightly packed skyscrapers, they fly circles around their pursuers through obstacles, using the buildings as cover.
- With a Friend and a Stranger: When the squadron started out, either Emma or Kate followed Reona and Zara, causing the fledgling team to turn into this.
Kylie
Voiced by: Sayumi Suzushiro (Japanese)
A Rahama-native, hot-headed pilot with natural rudder control talent. When she was young, she had a chance encounter with the only remaining Yufang man who inspired her to see the world in an airplane. Free-spirited and disliking rules, the only things that could restrain her is her captain Leona. Because of her temper, she's often referred as "Kylie the Lightning Storm". She really likes eating pancakes. Kylie's personal decal is a red falcon, inspired by her mentor's own personal mark.
- Ace Pilot: Kylie is the top ace in Kotobuki squadron, and a mix of the Plugger and Steamroller archetypes.
- Catchphrase: Every time someone calls her not by her name, she will answer, "It's not X, it's Kylie."/"X janai yo, Kirie da yo." in a certain sing-song tone. When Isao calls her a newbie (shingao) after he shot down Reona, Kylie answers with, "Shingao janai, Kirie da!" with her usual carefree tone replaced by a barely restrained anger.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Implied from her claim that she fought with others for dinner and her acquaintance with Reona, Kylie was one of the kids from Rahama orphanage that Leona takes care of. Because she has no one, she could seek out this strange Yufang hermit just outside of the town without anyone really stopping her.
- Cute Little Fang: Every time she makes large grins, her upper canines get really noticeable.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: When she notices that several of her squadmates are using their salary for their loved ones, she realizes that she has nothing of that sort. After much mulling and her mentor's spirit pulling her out of life and death limbo, she decides that she'll simply fly because she likes flying.
- Dumbass Has a Point: While her tendency to rant about anything is somewhat obnoxious to everyone around her, Kate always seems to agree with her most of the time.
- The Gift: Kylie is the Kotobuki's best aviator, bar none. While she's not a crackshot, she's natural with the control stick that it doesn't matter if she can't snipe, when she's sticking to enemy's tail so close they can't possibly shake her off. Kate claims that Kylie makes the best of any plane, and it's not an exaggeration; she shakes off half a dozen Shiden-Kai in an Akatonbo, a trainer biplane, before she gets shot down when another dozen reinforcement planes proceed to pile on her. And she survives to tell the tale.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: There's a lot of things that will set her off; knocking her pancake to ground, shooting down her squadmates, flying the same plane as her mentor, her opponent's plane surviving a point-blank barrage, stealing her kill, shooting down her mentor and implying that he died in the crash...
- Heroic Resolve: Against Isao, who has more talent and a much better plane, she gets very badly battered, only to see Old Sabu's ghost guiding her out of her half-death experience. She wakes up from the shock, finding that her Hayabusa is still flying despite the damage it sustained, and pushes on to riddle Isao's Shinden-Kai's entire length full of holes at point blank, then putting a few more rounds into his engine as a final goodbye.
- Hot-Blooded: Pretty much the only thing that matches her love for pancakes is her love to get her top blown off over even the smallest insults.
- Idiot Hero: She's not smart, preferring to rely on instinct and muscle memory. This gets her in trouble when she's fighting against people who have more talent and better techniques.
- It Was a Gift: Her blue scarf was Leona's. Kylie uses to tie her spark plug together after her Hayabusa's engine is shot and she gets stranded in Mount Ofukou.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kylie is a violent hothead, insults even her childhood friend Emma, obnoxious loudmouth and a braggart. She's also a loyal subordinate, kind to kids, protective of her squadmates, and generally never explode to those who don't deserve her anger. When Emma's plane gets shot by Torihei's rear gun, all Kylie does is screaming her name worriedly as Emma tries to control her plane to make an emergency landing.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Pancakes. While she's not exactly picky about the source of the pancakes, she loves Johnny's pancakes the most.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Her reaction of finding an old man lying down in the ground was asking whether he's dead or not, because she really wanted to see a fresh corpse.
- Unstoppable Rage: Kylie flies into one when Isao tells her he shot down her mentor and grandparent figure Old Sabu. Chika has to talk her out of it, since blind hate can cause you to fall victim to fancy flight tricks.
- You Killed My Father: When she hears that Isao had shot down Old Sabu and left him for death from his own mouth, she loses any hesitation she has about fighting in the war and goes after him in a berserk rampage.
Emma
Voiced by: Eri Yukimura (Japanese)
Kylie's childhood friend, a daughter of a now destitute nobleman. A pilot with great situational awareness, but often blinded by her utter hatred for crooks, she's aggressive while also maintaining a layer of elegance such that she's known as "the Fierce". Flying as a mercenary to support her parents, who are oblivious of their daughter's career choice, she's a greedy miser when it comes to money. Her personal is a scythe hovering behind a white rose.
- Animal Motif: Snake, especially poisonous viper. She looks calm, but more often than not she's sizing up her prey, allusions to her sharp tongue is analogously described as poison, and her eyes turn to vertical slits when angry.
- Blood Knight: She became a mercenary likely because she just likes shooting pirates. She even claims in Episode 12 that she's furious, but feels better after she shoots down one plane and makes another smash head first into a bridge support beam.
- Berserk Button: While she makes her distaste for pirates obvious, she also dislikes con-artists in general because her parents keep on getting scammed.
- The Dutiful Son: When her school friend Tamil hears Emma's story about her parents, she wishes that Emma's parents would get smarter already as to lift some of her burdens. Emma replies that she doesn't really need them smart, implying that she's fine with supporting her parents, no matter their flaws.
- Fallen Princess: She'd seen things better in the past, seeing how rundown the mansion she has just 'inherited' became.
- Hellish Pupils: Her eyes tend to turn to slits in battle, especially when in exertion.
- Impoverished Patrician: Emma's parents often get scammed out of their money by con-artists and distant relatives, much to her displeasure. This situation seems to be fairly recent, as her parents don't even realize that they had been impoverished and had been supported by their daughter's mercenary salary. She's still dressed the best of the Kotobuki and has the attitude to match, but now she's sharing a room with three other girls in double bunks and drinks beer from a tankard.
- Interclass Friendship: It's likely that her friendship with Kylie starts like this. In the present, they're more or less equal.
- Lady of War: Subverted, the girl who drinks tea and talks like a rich girl fights like a target-fixated hothead.
- Money Fetish: Because of her parents' antics, Emma is obsessed with the material gain, whether it's for herself or the others. She claps in delight when her salary gets tripled, balks when Chika says that she spent almost 500 pound on her plushy, and considers a half-off fuel as a good deal before she found out that the fuel is low quality and the crew chief vetoes its use. She likely uses her salary not only to support her parents' lifestyle, but also to buy back some of the assets they lost previously. She seems to be the Kotobuki's designed accountant because of this.
- The Ojou: She has all the marking of one, but more an Impoverished Patrician in practice.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Emma really likes insulting people by making an apparent compliment. With Kylie, though, she's a lot more straightforward with her insults because Kylie is also a straightforward trash-talker.
- Pet the Dog: The only time she holds her sharp tongue is when Kate unintentionally offends her by saying that she made a mistake with her financing. While she looks like she would whip out her usual snide remark, she instead admits that she's wrong and corrects herself.
- Shaming the Mob: When the Rahama City Council looks like they would take the Elite Force's offer of the counterfeit paintings in exchange for the mayor's Raiden (and having the town spared in the process), Emma climbs into their podium and shouts that they should just die already if they would have pirates walk all over them rather than fight back.
- Sophisticated as Hell: "Horrid pirates", "annoying insects", and "bastards that plagued me so" are just some of her name-calling for her enemies. Let's don't get on her bad side.
Reona
Voiced by: Asami Seto (Japanese)
The captain and founder of the Kotobuki Squadron, the pilot with most flight time under her belt. The most by-the-book pilot, but a lot more hotheaded when she was younger. A veteran of the Rinouchi Great Air War, she made name for herself as "the Tenacious Reona" because she was notoriously target-fixated and aggressive. When her hotheadedness caused her trouble in the war, she was saved by Isao and she considers it a life debt. Though stern, she often let her emotion clouds her judgments. Her personal mark is the word "寿" (Kotobuki), stylized as a lightning bolt.
- Amazonian Beauty: She has a notably tall and broad frame, with muscular arms and wide shoulders. She pins an adult man with ease and later punches another once to unconsciousness. Adolfo still hits on her.
- Anger Born of Worry: Her general reaction to Kylie and Chika getting in troubles is to scold their ears off.
- Covered in Scars: Her Hayabusa is notable for have visible replacement panels from where she was shot down, of which the camo never get repainted. It gives an impression of someone with a full body tattoo who gets scarred after having it.
- Fiery Redhead: Reona is usually cool, but the idiocy of her squadron brings out the temper. It is said that she was worse when she was younger.
- Former Teen Rebel: The responsible, honorable, cool-headed captain of the Kotobuki Squadron was a close-minded Military Maverick when she first started. She broke formation and Leeroy Jenkins the enemy's rank without regard of her allies, using an enemy's aircraft as Meat Shield against its allies before shooting it down after it served its purpose.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Her insistence that Isao is not a brutal tyrant, despite all evidence pointing toward the contrary, really bites her in the rear, literally. Emma even advises her this, but she doesn't really listen until it's too late.
- Not So Above It All: In one of the game's event, she almost got scammed by Remi with an overpriced treadmill. Remi ends up giving her the treadmill for free as a sign of goodwill after working together against an Areshima mafia family, so everything's okay.
- Orphanage of Love: Rahama orphanage is under her care. She's seen carrying two armful of necessities with the kids happily running up to her in Episode 1, and two of the kids are seen later generally having happy, ordinary childhood.
- Parental Hypocrisy: Her habits of scolding Kylie and Chika is because she used to be like them; hotblooded pilots who fly by the seat of their pants. She almost died from such behavior, yet she still lapses into her old habits from time to time.
- Redhead In Green: While her hair is more brownish red, she's still dressed in green and flies in a plane with green camo and green markings.
- Skilled, but Naive: Reona might be the best pilot of the Kotobuki by the merits of her good aim alone, but for all her experience, she's still the only Kotobuki who thinks that the Freedom Union won't do war crimes against the peaceful towns like Rahama. Even Chika, who previously think that Isao is pretty swell after being entertained by his magic tricks, changes her mind when she witnesses herself just how far he would go. It costs her pretty dearly; Not only does she get shot down, Isao was aiming right into her cockpit and would have killed her had it not been for a last-second yank of the control stick.
- Supporting Leader: Kylie might be the main character, but Leona is the captain of the Kotobuki and Kylie is subservient only to her.
- Team Dad: She's the stern, commanding, and respected presence in the squad. While not exactly off-hand, she's not exactly spoiling anyone either like with Chika's Bar Brawl. She flies at the front and the others would follow her examples.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Leona wears her hair in a messy ponytail, and she's the least feminine member of the squadron.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The Captain apparently really scares her. Then again, the Captain is pretty scary.
- The Worf Effect: In the climax of Harukaze story campaign 2, Reona gets shot down early in the engagement because their enemy caught her off guard. This forces Harukaze Squadron to really step up their game if they want to win.
Kate
Voiced by: Sayaka Nakaya (Japanese)
The younger sister of Allen, Leona's old friend, who she'd taken in after Allen was crippled by unknown assailants. Stone-faced and analytic, a genius pilot of technical knowledge but clueless when it comes to social cues. Now supporting her brother's as a research assistant and their family's breadwinner, she's generally subservient to anyone in her squadron though not afraid to speak her disagreements. Despite how she looks, she greatly respects her teammates and enjoys her times with them. Her personal mark is a bidirectional arrow.
- Anime Hair: While the show generally depicts realistic hairstyles, Kate is a notable exception. Not only is her hair white, her pigtails are sword-shaped.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: She has a good eyes of details, which might be the main reason why Natsuo has her testing the gas they got from Standon Oil. Not only she catches on the engine's knocking because of the fuel, she also calculates just how much her plane's performance drops from that cue. When she gets shot down by the Saber Dog jet fighter's rockets, she immediately warns her wingmates of its possible maneuvers despite jet engines being practically unknown in Ijitsu based on its speed, knows its rockets are radar proximity-fused, and how to take it down. That despite the only glimpse that she could see is the shadow of a plane flying past at an approximate speed of 1,115 km/ hour.
- Brutal Honesty: She practically has no filter between her brain and her mouth. This makes her judgments very objective; she could both praise and insult in the same breath, and not even Kylie could deny it, because it's always true.
- Chessmaster Sidekick: She's an obvious strategic mind, but never really gets in the front, preferring someone else to be her vanguards unless its necessary.
- Emotionless Girl: She's a pretty straightforward Rei Ayanami Expy. Her expression is always flat and she rarely shows displeasure. From her request to explains when the subtlety of the social interactions fly over her head, it more like she understands the emotions, but could not understand the implied layer of it unless it is said outright.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Has this dynamic with her brother Allen. While Allen is a drunken Absentminded Professor, Kate is more The Spock. In one of the game's event, it is revealed that Allen would nilly-willy negotiate terms with Ririko using Kate's salary to pay her service.
- If My Calculations Are Correct: Her tendency to do dangerous maneuver is likely because she has 100% trust on her own calculation. Basically, because she had everything calculated, she has no fear of failing as long as everything is going smoothly.
- Lost Food Grievance: When Rohta's station attendant shows the damage done by a bunch of random air pirates, particularly to the food vending machines, Kate is just about as mad as Kylie and Chika about the whole ordeal to the point that all three of them would kill whomever attacked Rohta as revenge for lost food.
- Not So Above It All: She's just as excited as Kylie and Chika about Rohta's food vending machines (particularly when the latter two mention that one machine makes hamburgers). She's also as displeased when they find out someone had shot the machines full of holes.
- The Caretaker: Because her brother got crippled, Kate became the breadwinner of their family because of the circumstance. She's seen walking with him for some fresh air, paying his treatment with her salary, and buying him books and alcohol. The way Allen says it, it is implied that Allen is Kate's Parental Substitute, and their role got flipped after the incident.
- The Quiet One: She usually remains quiet when off her plane.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Because of her logical way of thinking, Emma's veiled insults tend to get over her head. She also doesn't get that the sea is not literally whispering when she's reading Chika's picture book.
- The Spock: Kate is usually there to explain specifics about planes. This becomes useful when she, Kylie, and Chika are intercepted by the Saber Dog jet. While she gets shot down, she spends the rest of time as a sitting duck rattling off the plane's details, its capabilities, and its possible weakness from what she saw.
- Tranquil Fury: When she shot down Isao, she gives a subtle Death Glare as she asks whether he shot down her brother. She always has a hunch that it was the case, but holds back to her judgment until Isao truly betrays Leona's trust to pursue him as doggedly as Kylie. Kate is just as vengeful as her more obviously explosive teammate.
- When She Smiles: When Allen says that Kate is smiling more often now, Kylie and Chika are confused because they had never saw anything like that. When the Kotobuki Squadron finally wins their war against the Union, she sits alone, giving a tiny smile, as they fly home into the sunset.
Zara
Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura (Japanese)
The Kotobuki Squadron co-founder and Reona's long-time vice-captain, a mysterious woman who she met in Sapoh Airfield at the Rinouchi Great Air War. An ever present support, in air or on ground, she tends to put herself before a threat as a cover or to confuse the enemies. An unabashed drunkard and flirtatious seductress, yet nevertheless forever a gentle role model. Loyal to Leona first and foremost, she watches over everyone with some aloofness. Her personal mark is a smoking funnel.
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Her outfit leaves her midsection completely exposed and she's the most feminine member of the group.
- Cool Big Sis: She's gentle and supportive, while also stern if she needs to. The Elite Force's artist takes a shine on her because she's a fair and encouraging judge, unlike anyone else, and while the initial plan is for her to flee with the Raiden, Zara ends up aiding the Elite Force because she unintentionally protects the artist from traitors among the pirates when she's looking around the hideout.
- Femme Fatale Spy: To give some distraction inside the Elite Force's hideout and steal the Raiden as the other Kotobuki invade the natural fortress, Zara disguises herself among cabaret dancer troupe. She ends up incapacitating the majority of the pirates by seducing these young men and challenging them in a drinking contest.
- The Final Temptation: She gives Reona an offer to just abandon everything and run away with her, away from any responsibility and obligation that will come from fighting against Isao. Reona rejects her offer, and Zara surrenders herself to the fate of constant danger as long as she could always be with Leona.
- Invoked in "Saneatsu's Struggle" event; Saneatsu is on banana-only diet because Kylie wants to make a better pilot out of him and he breaks his fast by eating Kylie's pancakes. On the face of Kylie's fury and his own self-defeatist nature gets the better of him, Zara makes him more pancakes instead, saying that it's okay if he's going to give up. He can eat the pancakes and forget about the upcoming duel for the Madame's hand for marriage. Saneatsu refuses the pancake.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Zara sure loves to drink alcohol. She uses this to incapacitate most of the Elite Forces by drinking them all under the table.
- Hidden Depths: Not only she's an excellent pilot, she's also a good cook and dancer as well.
- Good Bad Girl: She's flirtatious and dresses really skimpily. She's also kind-hearted and gentle Cool Big Sis, and certainly only loyal to one person.
- Morality Chain: Her association with everyone is largely because of Reona. When she asks Reona to run away, she has every intention to go through it, in the possibility that Reona is actually less the person that she is, and abandon everyone right in the eve of the last battle right when they're at the mouth of the lion. Fortunately, Reona is not that kind of person, thus Zara is too.
- Ms. Fanservice: Out of the six main girls, she's easily the biggest source of eyecandy. She uses this to her advantage when infiltrating the Elite Industries base disguised as a burlesque dancer.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: In Episode 5's Natsuo's Mechanical Corner, while Kylie and Chika proclaims their love to their Hayabusa no matter their weaknesses, Zara claims that if Reona asks her to trash it, she's do it without a second thought, showing just how far could go. When Reona asks Isao to talk about ceasefire, from get-go Zara already has a feeling that it would go fubar in no time but she still follows her despite that. Kate actually calls her out on this.Zara: (Reona's) words are still good for me. Right or wrong.Kate: That's illogical.
- Mysterious Past: There's not a lot that we know about her that makes her have so many experiences. The Anime Japan 2019's Kotobuki booth has flyers that are modeled after an in-universe Ikesuka newspaper demonizing the Kotobuki pilots, and the only thing that the Ikesuka journalists can get from her other than "she drinks a lot" is "this hot chick Reona picked up in Sapoh".
- Number Two: Leona's vice-captain, she'll lead when Reona is in some way is incapable of doing so, like when Leona goes in an battle daze in Episode 5.
- Satellite Character: Zara is pretty much Reona's wingwoman, through and through.
- Team Mom: While Leona
- Undying Loyalty: She's loyal to Leona first and foremost, no matter how bad her judgment could be. In Harukaze short Episode 6, she likens her relationship with Reona as "the prince and the knight".
Chika
Voiced by: Miyu Tomita (Japanese)
The youngest member of the squadron, a former street urchin who became pilot from very young age. The same sort of hothead as Kylie, they often butt head over even the smallest of arguments. Because she's short, she's the pilot with most negative-G resistance, which in turn cause her to abuse this perk by making a lot of dangerous stunts. Childish, easily amused, excitable - she often takes pleasure in picking fights with adults above her weight class. Really likes the sea because of the influence of the picture book her brother read to her. Her personal mark is a cartoonish baby seal from the picture book.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: She tends to get distracted by Isao's magic tricks, that she forgets she almost got run over by his car.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Chika has small, but oddly thick eyebrows that are rather noticeable.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Chika fills this role, as the shortest and also most hyperactively obnoxious main character.
- Conveniently an Orphan: For a kid this young, she sure has no adult supervision. She says that she has an older brother, but he's nowhere to be seen in the series. According to Twitter Q&A, she was a street urchin and her 'brother' was just an older kid who happened to teach her and other kids how to read and write. Mizushima later gives more explanation; she was abandoned by her parents and left to seek shelter in the sewers.
- Child Soldier: Given that she's said to be the youngest pilot in the Kotobuki, and Kylie isn't old enough to drink, she should be around 14-15 year old. This 14-15 year old girl cheers loudly when she shoots people's planes down. Granted, pilots in Ijitsu tend to bail out before their planes crash, so Chika doesn't feel particularly guilty about downing the planes!
- David Versus Goliath: Her tendency to pick fight with anyone cause her to get in brawls with adult men, often more than one of them at the same time.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She spends her salary on an anomalocaris backpack-slash-plushy that she always carry around after she bought it, though it's less because she likes plushy and more because she likes ocean lifeforms.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Chika, like Kylie, has a nasty tendency to bite off more than she can chew and may even do something totally stupid if it sounds awesome.
- Meaningful Name: "Chika" in Japanese means "beneath Earth". According to Word of God, she used to live underground in sewers.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Chika may look like an average girl, but she can lift a grown man with little effort.
- Second Episode Introduction: Because she was injured, she's introduced in the second episode.
- Skewed Priorities: Apparently her plushy takes priority over other practical things when it comes to spending her combat pay.
- Too Much Alike: She butts head with Kylie often is likely because their characters overlap. While Kylie get along affably with people like herself, it can't be said with Chika. While they get along better, it's still worse than anybody else's relationship.
- Trademark Favorite Food: While it's not as prominent as Kylie's pancake, she really likes curry, whether it's rice or noodle.
- Ugly Cute: Her "Malo-chan" plush is a googly-eyed, round, orange crustacean about as large as her torso. In Harukaze Gaiden, its usual appearance is apparently a glamour; its real look is actually less round and more shrimp-like with four sharp-looking extra mandible. It's also soft, makes strange bubbling noises when you shake it, and still looks kinda adorable. In-universe, both Kate and Emma say that while it's kinda cute alone, two of them would make it less tolerable.
- Unnecessary Combat Roll: She really likes making a stunt even when it's safer or more practical when she's not. For example, in their canyon run to attack the Elite Force's natural fortress, seeing Kylie smoothly slip in the between of a rock formation causes her to make an unnecessary acrobatic roll to show her up. Chika ends up glancing the rocks with her wings, almost crushing Kate and forcing Emma to roll up the sudden landslide.
Ouni Company
A cargo delivery company based in Rahama and of which the Kotobuki Squadron pledged their service. Owned by Madame Lulu, though nominally affiliated with the town of Rahama, the company offers the Kotobuki's protection service on anyone who could pay the price. Their flagship is Hagoromo-maru, marked by her hishimochi-colored tail.
Tropes associated with the Ouni Company:
- Badass Crew: The zeppelin crew ends up pretty competently defending themselves against hijackers despite being effectively outnumbered. Beside the Kotobuki themselves, the crew has an ex-mercenary, a Ninja Maid, and the dodo also turns out to be a pseudo hunting falcon.
- Companion Cube: The Hagoromo-maru is pretty much another member of the crew. When she goes into a suicide flight to bomb the hole above Ikesuka, the bar crew and the maintenance mechanics who accompany her give her a final salute, knowing that she won't survive it.
- Crazy-Prepared: They have Spy Speak for mid-air hijacking, and trained the Captain to respond on it. Based on Saneatsu's remark, it might not even the only Spy Speak they have for the situation.
- Cool Airship: The Hagoromo-maru is a zeppelin large enough to have a hangar and runway for more than ten planes, effectively making her a several hundred meters long, larger than the Hindenburg-class zeppelin , floating aircraft carrier. She has a bar so large that in the first viewing, the audience could not tell that the bar is inside the zeppelin because the crew painted atmospheric murals on the walls outside the door and windows.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: It seems to be a common occurrence. The First Officer is a mess-up and the Captain is a non-anthropomorphic dodo bird, which make the Bridge Bunnies and the helmsmen taking the full brunt of piloting the airship. The bartender is a Nervous Wreck, while the barmaid is a no-nonsense professional. The chief crew is a wrathful perfectionist, and her mechanics are loyal drones that can always complete her unreasonable demands.
- Undying Loyalty: The crew is implied to work on the airship because personal adoration toward Madame Lulu. While Saneatsu is pretty obvious, Leona and Johnny are also seen with the same love he has (though more platonic).
Madame Lulu
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima
The owner of the Ouni Company. An intimidating woman that is all about professionalism. A harsh but fair boss, she adores her crew yet keep them at arm length.
- A Father to His Men: When the hijackers that board the Hagoromo hold the zeppelin's crew at gunpoint and threaten to blow them off with their beloved airship, Lulu swears that they'll regret from doing so. She keeps the promise, personally leading the bridge crew to take back the airship's helm and shooting hijackers with a level-action shotgun.
- Benevolent Boss: She's actually quite reasonable with her pilots. When Kylie and Chika feel bad that Rahama basically can't defend themselves from a pirate attack because they can't pay the contract she made for the mayor, she rewrites it so Rahama can pay it. She also gives an Exact Words fine print, on themselves, that the Kotobuki would get back the Raiden from the Elite Force after they failed to defend it to give them peace of mind for not capitalizing on Rahama's misfortune.
- Consummate Professional: She won't do anything if there's no contract between her and the client. She won't do the contract if there's no material benefit for the company. Her reason to not answer Saneatsu's confession, despite knowing he has a crush on her, is likely because she would rather keep everything professional between them.
- Dude Magnet: Saneatsu isn't the only one who is charmed by the Madame; Julia said that she attracted a lot of smitten classmates (before Julia intervened), one of which still seems under the impression that Childhood Marriage Promise has any weight on her.
- Friendly Rivalry: She has a good relation with the boss of a rival Gaden Company, Woods, that she agrees to help his Harukaze Squadron to get more experience as a cargo bodyguard squad and crack a human trafficking ring.
- Good is Not Nice: She's a businesswoman first and foremost. She agrees to take on jobs from random people's plight, but she takes on payments that are borderline unreasonable and she knows they can't reject. Kylie, when hearing that she won't help Nanko with their oil rig fire unless they pay in free gas for one year, only says "As expected of the Madame; heartless." But she never cheats out the agreement and only takes on contracts on people she knows is not villainous.
- Hartman Hips: She certainly has some wide hips. Her waist size doesn't quite make for an Impossible Hourglass Figure.
- Ms. Fanservice: Definitely fits the trope. Just look at her!
- This is even played for laughs in the Harukaze Gaiden spinoff; several of the girls are comparing body types with various planes, and then Lulu comes along and they compare her with the Fugaku, a super-heavy bomber!
- Smoking Is Cool: She always has with her a classy pipe to smoke.
Saneatsu
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara
The forever suffering First Officer of the Hagoromo-maru. While an opportunist, he's a indecisive and henpecked man among a crew full of headstrong women.
- Authority in Name Only: While the bridge crew is pretty much fine without him and the Madame can do his job fine by herself, they actually wait for his command as a formality.
- Butt-Monkey: Despite being the secondary commanding officer, he constantly gets the short end of the stick and happens to be outranked by a bird.
- Extreme Doormat: When any of the crew badmouths him, he never actually defends himself and only wilts in resignation that he's a spineless, boring, and good-for-nothing waste of space. It is implied that he went with that persona to suck up to Madame Lulu because he's in love with her, but he got used with it.
- Cannot Spit It Out: He can't bring himself to tell Lulu he has feelings for her that go beyond being her mere subordinate.
- Hopeless Suitor: The Madame knows exactly what his deal is; she's just not interested because she's a Consummate Professional.
- Spanner in the Works: His Potty Emergency saves him from getting taken hostage in episode 8, simply because the hijackers did NOT search the latrine! As a result, Saneatsu is able to spy on the hijackers and relay some vital information to the Kotobuki girls via handy-talkie.
- Take a Level in Badass: He becomes a decent dogfighter after the Kotobuki train him for his duel. While everyone just expect him to dodge his opponent and leave the rest to Nazarin, he - on an Akatonbo, ends up shooting down his rival who's using a degraded Shinden.
Natsuo
Voiced by: Rumi Ōkubo
The Ouni Company's crew chief. An artisan of a mechanic, she's a perfectionist with short fuse when it comes to aircrafts. While she looks like a young girls, she's older than any of the Kotobuki pilots.
- Ass Shove: Constantly threatens her subordinates with this. Yes, she just might stick a hand-crank up someone's butt.
- Butt-Monkey: Three of her "Mechanical Corner" show episodes get hijacked by her guests (Kate, Ririko, Allen). Kate and Allen overshadow her so much in the "explaining the plane" part, to the point of Allen stealing the show's title card and Natsuo literally shrinking and fading into the background. Ririko, on the other hand, threatens to kill her when Natsuo almost spills her background check to Kylie and Chika, and Natsuo ends up clamming up for most of the episode out of dread.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Sticking a bunch of rockets boosters and Type-3 incendiary on 6 Hayabusa, and later sticking those boosters on a zeppelin to make a giant missile, might not the most orthodox of tactics in Ijitsu. But it works.
- Gender-Blender Name: "Natsuo" is a male name. Fio makes fun of this in corresponding event of Harukaze short Episode 4.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While she has a pretty volatile temperament, she's nice to her fellow when the situation is not in emergency. Her game description even says "a good person under that delinquent boss skin."
- The Lad-ette: Natsuo has all the makings of the gruff, foul-mouthed, wrathful yet highly competent head mechanic, despite looking like a very young girl. This makes for the sight of a bunch of men get bossed around by a woman half of their size who acts like a cigar-chomping gangster.
- Phrase Catcher: After issuing her orders, her loyal mechanic subordinates usually answer her with "Roger!" and "As you wish!"
- Older Than They Look: She may look like a young girl, but she's actually an adult. It is said that she's older than any of the Kotobuki pilots.
- Wrench Wench: Head mechanic of the Hagoromo.
Johnny
Voiced by: Yoji Ueda
The Hagoromo-maru's nervous bartender. A former gunman whose wife left him because of his continuance obsession with guns.
- The Bartender: Johnny serves as this as well as cook on the Hagoromo.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He may act cowardly, but is a crack shot and takes down over a dozen boarders with just pistols and a cut-down lever-action rifle, while they had sub-machine guns.
- Henpecked Husband: He seems to be a complete pushover to his wife, even after she left him, given his constant wallowing of her absence.
- The Lost Lenore: While she's not dead, he constantly suffers that his wife Miki left him for being unable to leave all his guns.
- Martial Pacifist: Despite his restrain over fighting once again, he has no qualm when he is convinced that he's needed to take care of the airship hijackers. Even then, all his guns are filled with rubber bullets, even in the bar where there's no sensitive airship console to accidentally damage.
- Nervous Wreck: He's easy to spook and constantly worries about everything. Even when he's showing his badass side, he's still lamenting that he has to shoot at people again.
- Oblivious to Love: He's too obsessed with his ex-wife that he doesn't realize that Ririko is very much in love with him.
- Retired Badass: Johnny used to be a feared mercenary, until he fell in love with his wife and left that lifestyle to become a bartender, but the skills remain. He keeps his guns under the counter. Perhaps Madame Lulu hired him because of that exciting past...
Ririko
Voiced by: Nao Tōyama
The Hagoromo-maru's barmaid and cook. A cold and mysterious woman who most people don't know the past of.
- Action Girl: She might claim to be only an average waitress, but she's very good at fighting and throwing knives.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Every time Johnny is in his usual bout of self-pity that his wife left him, Ririko always passive-aggressively implies to him that his wife would never return to make him notice that there's a closer alternative near him right there.
- Deadpan Snarker: When Allen claims that getting Hagoromo-maru under attack sure makes him feel alive, she replies that sure, they'll feel alive until they don't.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: It is implied that Ririko is especially cold to Adolfo not only he's a Casanova Wannabe, but also because he's a new face. Toward the regulars like the Kotobuki and the Ouni crew, she's a lot warmer and not above gentle teasing.
- Girlish Pigtails: Has her hair this way.
- Mysterious Past: Her past before becoming waitress at the Hagoromo is a mystery. The Natsuo's Mechanical Corner posits that she flew a Toryu while the game has her riding a Ryusei, but Natsuo almost got stabbed by Ririko before she could say anything.
- Nerves of Steel: While not to Kate's level, she handles herself pretty well under pressure.
- Ninja Maid: This barmaid is a lot more badass than she looks. Given that she can throw knives and her personal mark for her plane is a stylized clock, it brings to mind the certain quintessential, time-stopping ninja maid.
- Stocking Filler: Her style are stockings.
- Supreme Chef: Not only she makes the fluffy pancakes really fast and mouth-watering, every time the foods in Hagoromo-maru are shown, they're always look incredible.
- Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: In Harukaze Episode 3 and the accompanying game event, she's revealed to have taken various jobs as the Ouni Company is moored on ground, waiting for their new airship to be constructed. To wit, she still keeps being a barmaid, but also working as Areshima's arowana exhibit receptionist and a restaurant waitress.
Anna and Maria
Anna (left), Maria (right)
Voiced by: Misaki Yoshioka (Anna), Miho Okasaki (Maria)
The Hagoromo-maru's helmsmen.
- All Women Love Shoes: They occasionally talk about going shopping while off work.
- Covert Pervert: When Madame Loulou claims that Julia makes a lot of enemies because her personality is just "perverted", Maria's exclamation is accompanied with a small blush and a wide grin.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Anna is a lot more outspoken about what she thinks, especially about Saneatsu, while Maria is more retrained, tho no less critical. They're even color-coded.
- Those Two Guys: Always seen together and talk to each other.
Ady, Betty and Cindy
Ady (left), Betty (middle), Cindy (right)
Voiced by: Miyuri Shimabukuro (Ady), Aoi Koga (Betty), Natsumi Kawaida (Cindy)
The Hagoromo-maru's mission system specialists.
- Alphabetical Theme Naming: Their names Ady, Betty and Cindy.
- Bridge Bunnies: Their main function is to note the radars and operation of the airship's engines.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Ady wears red and has red eyes, Betty wears yellow and has gold eyes, and Cindy wears green and has green eyes. All in all, their colors are corresponds to the color of the traffic light.
- Greek Chorus: They usually the ones who drop commentaries on other people or the current situation, even outside of the usual Bridge Bunnies business.
- Inexplicably Identical Individuals: They may look like Same-Sex Triplets (sans their bust-sizes), but they are not actually related.
Captain Dodo
The captain of the Hagoromo, who happens to be a flying Dodo bird.
- Feathered Fiend: He really likes to attack people, even his own crewmates as Chika finds out. Given that he's a particularly large (for a dodo) bird with sharp talons and apparent intelligence, this makes him an effective attack bird.
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: He usually gets used as a messenger bird for Kylie, likely because she had lost her personal radio in the manga.
- Intellectual Animal: Captain dodo seems to be smarter than the average bird, delivering messages and acting cool under pressure. He even seems capable of reading maps and using his wings to hold the helm.
- Nerves of Steel: Captain Dodo stares down a pistol-wielding hijacker. The hijacker LOSES the staring contest.
Other Pilots
The Nazarin Squadron
Voiced by: Satoru Yamamoto (Fernando), Shinobu Matsumoto (Adolfo)
The five-man freelancer mercenary squadron from Nanko that worked for Ouni Company in Episode 1, before they got wiped out in their engagement against the Doborok Pirates. They cross paths again with the Kotobuki as fellow mercenaries hired in Areshima, but only Fernando Utsumi and Adolfo Yamada remain in the squadron. They exclusively fly the Kawanishi N1K-J Shiden.
- Back for the Finale: Rodriguez, one of the other Nazarin pilots, appears in the Episode 12 as one of the extra hands in Rohta station to prepare the last of the coalition fleet in their war against the Union. Given that he's already hunchbacked, it is implied that the injuries he got from his last mission forcibly retired him, but it doesn't prevent him from helping out in any way possible.
- Boisterous Weakling: At the beginning of the show, Adolfo boasts that he had been a pilot for five years, and got 11 stars (kill marks) under his belt. Cue the Kotobuki girls laughing at his record. He doesn't really get much leap and bound in skill, but he gets slightly smarter not to get ahead of himself.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: After their continuing failure to attract new pilots into their squadron, Adolfo tells Fernando and the Nanko station attendant that he will quit being a pilot. The Standon Oil mercenary squadron proceeds to bomb his town the moment he finishes saying that.
- Casanova Wannabe: Whether on the ground or in the sky, Adolfo never seems to impress any girls and his mediocre (or even disappointing) combat record makes matters worse. Will this guy ever improve his manners or flying skills enough to win over a girl's affections?
- Dark and Troubled Past: Implied with Fernando, as when he is asked whether he wants to quit, he answers that he can't with his past.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Nazarin Squadron is modeled after a real-life aerial acrobatic team, the Whiskey Papa
, a team of the show's many military advisers. Nazarin's mark is a slightly modified version of Whiskey Papa's, their planes color schemes are similar, and Fernando (Utsumi) and Adolfo (Yamada) are named after the team's pilots. - Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After they get shot down in Episode 1, Ishmael and Miguel, the younger members of the squadron, are never to be seen again. Ady, Betty, and Cindy imply that they realized that being a mercenary pilot is not all fun and games and the guys quit out of fear for their lives.
- Token Religious Teammate: Fernando's a former priest. He even conducts a marriage ceremony midflight!
- Useless Boyfriend: Adolfo ends up being this to Naomi. While she thinks he's a pretty sweet guy, she ends up always worrying because his idiotic antics always put himself in danger that Naomi has to pull him out from.
Naomi
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō
Kylie's mysterious purple snake Zero Model 32 rival. A woman with boundless thirst for excitement, she aids just about anyone who would give her opportunity to challenge the strongest side.
- Always Someone Better: Try imagining Kylie. Now try to imagine her being better at everything, and you essentially get Naomi. Compared to Kylie, Naomi is a lot more technical a pilot, a better marksman, a person with a more significant amount of training from Old Sabu, unyieldingly sassy, and fuller in figure.
- Hidden Depths: She was also mentored by Old Sabu. Given that she met him 8 years ago, it's likely that Old Sabu took her in because of the Rinouchi Great Air War.
- I Fight for the Strongest Side!: Inverted; she seems to pick the underdog because it would maximize the amount of excitement she would get from the engagement. She aids Julia because she doesn't like Isao, and because Julia's position as an exile just fits her taste.
- Mirror Character: Given that Naomi and Kylie are both free-spirited fighters who do what they want and were mentored by the same guy, what did you expect?
- The Reveal: We initially hear her and then finally get to see her in Episode 10.
- The Rival: She's the Zero pilot who has always bested Kylie since episode 1.
- Sheathe Your Sword: Kylie always limps away from her fights against Naomi but never gets injured. Naomi's shots were never actually intended to outright kill her. The result is that Kylie's plane gets damaged enough so that she can't continue chasing after Naomi when it's clear that the skirmish is over. In Episode 6, twice Naomi has Kylie in her sight, yet she never fires into the cockpit and only shoots at the Hayabusa's engine the third time.
- Supporting Leader: In the initial skirmish against the Union, she's appointed captain for the coalition's distraction fleet to pin the the Union's entire air force. Too bad that the intel about the number of the Union's planes is faked.
- Thrill Seeker: She's the self-proclaimed 'doing things because it's fun' woman. She aids just about anyone so she can pick fights with anyone she wants. When Hideaki challenges her for a dogfight, she smiles and whispers that life-or-death dueling is just the way she likes it. Don't think Hideaki will win against her.
- Tsundere: While she claims that she wishes to shoot down Old Sabu, the way she says it makes it clear that she's also fond of her mentor.
- Wild Card: She aids sky pirates because she feels like it. Given that Kylie had crossed path with her several times, she has aided more than three pirate clans. All because she's just that much of a Thrill Seeker.
Camilla
Voiced by: Mai Fuchigami
The captain of Shouto Vigilante. She force-lands in Hagoromo-maru's hangar after being attacked by Isao's bomber entourages despite Shouto being Ikesuka's long time ally. A clumsy yet competent pilot, she along with the rest of Shouto Vigilante join anti-Union coalition in their Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien.
- Bearer of Bad News: Her arrival informs the heroes that Isao has gone full megalomaniac, attacking Shouto when the city is Ikesuka's ally on the ground of the research paper they stole from Allen claims that the Yufang hole would open over the city, shooting down Camilla even as she was surrendering, and would attack Rahama next with a payload that will flatten bigger cities.
- Boob-Based Gag: Her breasts are enormous, barely contained within a corset and tend to jiggle at the slightest movement.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite her clumsiness, Camilla is a captain for a reason. In the giant furball over Mount Ofukou, she's seen using leading shots to score kills and in the last battle over Ikesuka, she's the last Shouto pilot that never get shot down, despite Ikesuka's abundance of flak guns and fighter planes.
- Dumb Blond: She's somewhat an airhead, as seen when she tells Ouni crew on how she got herself shot.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: She trips on her platform boots and falls face first into the Hagoromo's flight deck during her introduction to the cast.
- Hidden Depths: While she's a lightweight drunkard, an airhead, and a pretty useless human being in general, her skills as a vigilante captain is no joke. She's a physically fit woman who run circles on Acco, who herself isn't that bad.
- Revenge Before Reason: Played with. While she wants revenge on Ikesuka for bombing her city, thanks to Naomi's words she keeps her head focused on fighting calmly.
Tamil
Voiced by: Akira Sekine
Emma's old school friend. She's an archaeological researcher that work part-time as volunteer peace-keeper.
- Ascended Extra: She appears only in one scene in one episode, but her role is greatly expanded in the Harukaze short Episode 5 and the game's Harukaze second story campaign.
- Adventurer Archaeologist: She jumps directly into the Yufang's weapon cache excavation by setting up explosives in an old mine, exploring the mine herself, and verbally manipulating pirates that ambush her escort into terrorized wrecks.
- Damsel in Distress: In Harukaze's second story campaign, Tamil is taken hostage by pirates that rob her and the Harukaze Squadron of their Yufang blueprint because she's the only one who can read Yufang's more complicated language and technical terms.
- Impoverished Patrician: She looks even worse than Emma. While she still talks like a rich girl and wears her hair is in Princess Curls, she looks like she has been living a sloppy life in a trailer, with her tank top, shorts, and her curls in a mess of hairclips.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's got big breasts, long blonde hair, and her wardrobe suggests that she doesn't wear underwear. Despite her messy curls, she's quite attractive.
- Shame If Something Happened: After she gets taken as hostage, she realizes that the pirate is flying toward Rahama airspace and says that she's friends with the Kotobuki Squadron. The pirates, already hearing about the Kotobuki's reputation, pretty much wet their pants from knowing that they had kidnapped the friend of the fearsome, murder happy women.
Musako and Higako
Voiced by: Risae Matsuda (Musako), Satsumi Matsuda (Higako)
Twin veteran pilots who used to be Leona's war buddies. Musako is the older twin and Higako is the younger one. They're now working as postmen.
- Alleged Lookalikes: While All There in the Manual says that they're twins, they don't really look alike, mostly because they're wearing different fashion styles.
- Ascended Extra: They appear only in one scene in one episode, but their role is greatly expanded in the game's Harukaze second story campaign.
- Big Brother Mentor: When Akari goes into a berserk rage because she found the pirate that killed her brother and gets into trouble because her opponent turns out to be very skilled, Musako quickly covers Akari's ass and lectures her out of her Leeroy Jenkins way.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Higako is dressed like this, while Musako is more a punk goth.
- Retired Badass: While they no longer actively sortie in frontline, they would still hold their own against troublemakers both on ground and in the air.
- Twin Banter: They really like doing an almost Marco and Polo exchanges, with Musako saying a statement about Higako and Higako answering it with a jested passive-aggressive offence.
Brotherhood of Freedom Union
Isao
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese)
A magician turned ace pilot turned businessman, he's a politician - later mayor of Ikesuka. A war hero in Rinouchi Great Air War, he saved Leona when she was still a new pilot. Julia's political rival and the founder of the Brotherhood of Freedom Union, he's a childish man with frightening competence in a plane. He's obsessed with the Yufang and intends to monopolize the Yufang technology that come out of the dimension holes that show up, going into an Ijitsu-spanning conquest to do so. He's first seen flying an Aichi B7A Ryuusei with his butler, before choosing a Kyushu J7W Shinden as his main aircraft.
- Ace Pilot: Very obvious. It is said that he scored 12 stars in a single skirmish in the Rinouchi War and in the present, he shoots around 10 planes, two are Kotobuki pilots, before he gets shot down.
- Bad Boss: Subtly shown in the Raid of Areshima; that one plane he shot that smash against buildings and explode doesn't seem to spit out its pilot in time. Given that the pirate attack was arranged by Isao, it means that Isao kills him to make a very convincing spectacle, while thinking nothing about him.
- Beware the Silly Ones: His introduction is that of a cheap street magician who forgets his own priorities and even his plane. Turns out he's not as foolish as you think!
- Big Bad: A very non-intuitive bad guy, but a bad guy nonetheless.
- Broken Pedestal: His status as a war hero, an entertainer, and a rising politician makes him a quite popular figure in Ijitsu. When Ikesuka bombs Shouto, no one in Shouto saw it coming. Camilla even tries to surrender without a fight thinking that there's no way Isao would attack his own ally. By the last episode, even Leona, who fervently tried to convince everyone that he's not a bad person the entire series, only gives a contemptuous sneer as the Kotobuki prepare to assassinate him in his home city.
- But to Me, It Was Tuesday: He doesn't seem to treat worthy opponents with any form of respect in his memory. Given that he doesn't seem to know Leona despite her life is pretty much changed by her life debt to him, he doesn't remember anyone not associated with the Yufang.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: While his skills are no joke, he's putting himself as the spearhead against pirate menace is basically a sham because he arranges the majority of the pirate attacks in the show. He puts himself in the pedestal in a calculated move to make the public opinion shifts toward him, so he can push the "pirate associates" casus belli against anyone who doesn't support him.
- Faux Affably Evil: He keeps a childishly friendly demeanor despite being an unredeemable megalomaniac.
- Greed: His goal is utter monopoly of the Yufang prosperity. He would not accept that the hole would open up above other cities beside his own, and would bomb them to occupy it himself. Despite being the most powerful, rich, and adored man in Ijitsu, he would not stop unless he has the Yufang under his control too.
- It's All About Me: He sees the holes in the sky and everything that comes from them as his to control and use, damn everyone else.
- Keystone Army: After he gets sucked into the ensuing black hole, the pirates that he funded flee with the planes Isao provided and his air force surrenders. In Harukaze Gaiden, it is said the Freedom Union and Ikesuka still exist, but they have to pay war reparations to the cities they had bombed like Shouto and Porokka and the Union is in chaos from the scandal of Isao's war crimes. They're unlikely to make a comeback from that.
- Mid-Life Crisis Car: The military adviser that responsible for making the paint job of the show's planes claims that he makes Isao's Shinden bright red to give an impression of a sport car because Isao is just that kind of person who like big, shiny things that he could not have in his past.
- One-Winged Angel: After Kate shoots down his Shinden, it is revealed that he later upgrades his Shinden into the jet-engined Shinden-Kai by reverse engineering the Saber Dog's engine and putting the copy-cat turbine into it.
- Psychopathic Manchild: After his true nature is revealed, his previously endearing traits turn sinister, turning the previously known harmless clown into an utterly ruthless man who thinks nothing of his tyranny and freely throws his weight around at everyone. He thinks of war as a game he has complete confidence of winning and betrays anything he no longer deems useful.
- Villainous Breakdown: When he futilely chases after Hagoromo-maru after she's turned into a giant missile to destroy the hole above Ikesuka, his reaction is to whine like a child whose toys are being taken away.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Before he shows his true nature, he comes across as an affable, adorkable man-child with a lot of charisma. The Union is well-received, even among the Ouni crew, because his monopoly prevents black market counterfeits from littering the the trade and his air force is fending off a lot of pirate attacks.
Isao's butler
Voiced by: Hiroshi Naka
Isao's loyal butler, even in his depravity. He flies a Ki-64 in the battle against the anti-Union coalition.
- The Dragon: For Isao. His Ki-64 even has an ukiyo-e dragon nose art.
- Man Behind the Man: Looking at the shoes and the gloves, he was the mysterious man who pressured Old Sabu to make warplanes in Kylie's childhood flashback. Given that flash back was before Naomi met Old Sabu 8 years ago, that mean the butler has been lobbying the immense air power Ikesuka is seen throwing around before Isao made his name in the war.
- No Name Given: Even after the show ends, there's no one who calls him by his name.
- Not So Stoic: Loses his cool for the first time when he sees Leona is about to ram her plane against his engine.
- Oh, Crap!: When Leona is about to ram her plane into his.
- Servile Snarker: He's always deadpan towards the antics of his boss. He even called Kylie and Chika "foolish girls" back when they're still maintaining affable front.
Hideaki
Voiced by: Mitsuaki Madono
First introduced as the Human Resources Department Head for the Elite Forces, he is revealed to be one of the Union's spies that infiltrate the pirate clans not associated with Isao to steal their planes. A total scumbag who thinks only of himself, he initially flies the Elite Force's Ki-43-III Hayabusa before switching to a Kawasaki Ki-100 "Type 5 Fighter" after showing his true allegiance.
- Elite Mook: He's this to the Union, as he's the most notable officer of the villain team, has a slightly different paint job to the other mooks, and slightly more capable.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears glasses and is a corrupt scumbag. He even threatens a nurse with death just to get information on patients and their belongings.
- In the Back: He backstabs Torihei almost literally by shooting his plane when the latter asked for help against the Kotobuki girls.
- Karma Houdini: All this guy gets at the end of the series is the status of "stranded with a parachute somewhere in the desert." One wonders if he'll die of thirst.
- No Name Given: Subverted; at first, the show and the official site only identifies him as "the HR Department Head", but after his name is said by one of his lackey in Episode 9, every interfaces of the show calls him Hideaki.
- Sissy Villain: His tendency to make a very gross-sounding giggle is noteworthy. The military adviser paints his Type 5 eye-searing pink and yellow because "it just fits his personality". The paint job makes his plane stands out even among the Union's other gold-colored Type 5s.
- Smug Snake: Acts all smug when he thinks he has the advantage, but he only survives out of dumb luck.
Other Characters
Julia
Voiced by: Ayaka Shimizu
Madame Lulu's childhood friend and a wealthy councilor of the city of Gadoll. A headstrong woman who has an unsavory reputation because of her outspoken personality. Despite somewhat brash and pompous, she's honest, charitable, and concerned of the state of Ijitsu.
- Brutal Honesty: Julia never lies. If she has something to say about it, she would say it even to her expense. It's arguably that her tendency to run off her mouth is deconstructed; because she keeps saying things that antagonize people, she comes across as extremely unpleasant, even borderline evil. Because of that, coupled with her abysmal charisma, there's no one who will vouch on her innocence when the genuinely corrupt councilors in Gadoll accuse her with false charges. Even the Kotobuki pilots don't doubt it when she gets ousted because of those charges. Only her bodyguards, who know her personally, keep their loyalty.
- Green and Mean: Dresses in green and she's not nearly as reasonable as Lulu.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The first thing she says when boarding the Hagoromo is an insult for the zeppelin, yet she comes with supplies for the kitchen and full cash payment for her escort. Julia even claims that she doesn't mind being called evil, as long as no one calls her stingy. While her method and advertisements need a lot of work, she's genuinely concerned with the slowly declining standard of life in the wasteland and she always pays her due, good or bad.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Sure, her anarcho-capitalism idea is flawed, but she sees Isao for what he is, a cunning dictator bent on ruling the world and even the world beyond the dimension holes.
- Nerves of Steel: What's her reaction when a bomber crashes into the front door of the building she's currently at? Calmly continue to drink her tea.
- Only Sane Man: She's the only one in the Gadoll city council who sees Isao as a prospective tyrant in-making. The others are either corrupt old-guards or naive youngsters who are smitten by Isao's charisma.
- Uncle Pennybags: Every time she asks the Ouni Company for the Kotobuki's service, she always gives lavish payment and supplies to them.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Lulu.
Allen
Kate's brother, who studies the Yufang and the dimension holes that randomly appear around Ijitsu. Reona's old friend, he was crippled by unknown assailants during one of his research.
- Absentminded Professor: Despite being very smart, his absolute languid demeanor at just about everything is a quiet sight to behold.
- The Alcoholic: He somehow gets booze into his hospital room.
- Career-Ending Injury: Getting shot down resulted in spinal nerve injuries, rendering him paraplegic. He still can fly a passenger plane because it has co-pilot seat.
- Dissonant Serenity: He reacts to a trap that pins his sister along with several hundred other pilots with an "Oh, well. That happened." and later reacts the same when the Hagoromo, with him inside, is under attack.
- Drunken Master: He claims he aims better when he's tipsy. Kylie doubts him, but his shots with a pintle-mounted Lewis Gun against more advanced fighter planes are indeed pretty good.
- Fire-Forged Friends: He ends up befriending Phantom Thieves Akatsuki because he let them go despite initially going after them when they steal a precious fish, fight with them against pirates, and bonding with Roig over 'romance'. In later event, when Kate recognizes Akatsuki's squadron mark because Allen told her about them, Calan and Begg end up cancelling their plan to rob the airship Kate and Emma are guarding because they won't steal from their friend's little sister.
- Genius Cripple: He might be in a wheelchair, but he's one of the most knowledgeable about the Yufang and the holes. His research makes him capable of predicting the possible locations of the hole's appearance.
- It Amused Me: While he at first decide to capture the Phantom Thieves Akatsuki for stealing Areshima's arowana, he let them go because Roig's romanticism about "letting the fish reunite with its friends" is a good reason enough for him.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Unlike Kate, this kid happily expresses himself like no tomorrow.
Rahama's Mayor
Voiced by: Toshiharu Sakurai
Very obviously the Mayor of the town of Rahama. He used to be a mercenary, and his personal plane, a J2M Raiden, is on public display.
- Cowardly Lion: Very hesitant to do anything on his own volition, it's a shock that he personally sorties against the pirates who want to take his Raiden away. He's still crying the entire time, though.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While he's not exactly ideal leader, he's not a corrupt mayor, his concern toward his town is genuine, and his main grievance toward Madame Lulu's offer is because his town just has not enough money to pay it without raising the tax higher.
- Took a Level in Badass: When he is first introduced, the mayor comes across as extremely indecisive to the point of Emma climbing into the council's podium to scold him. By the time Isao's megalomania becomes apperent, the Mayor personally tells the Union's representatives that Rahama won't bow to the Union and takes a stand against the Freedom Union when they demand Rahama's loyalty and access to the dimension hole above the town, even with the threat of getting bombed to hell. And after having seen what the Freedom Union is willing to do to ensure access to said hole, the Mayor joins the anti-Ikesuka coalition as an active combatant pilot in his Raiden, along with some of the town's under-powered vigilantes.
Old Sabu
Voiced by: Kan Tanaka
Kylie and Naomi's mentor. He was the last Yufang man who remains in Ijitsu after the hole that connected the two world disappeared 70 years ago.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not really clear whether he died or not when Isao and his butler attacked him. Given that he appears to Kylie when she gets gravely injured in the last battle against Isao, it's likely that he did, because even if he survived the crash, he's already sickly and old.
- Cool Old Guy: Because it is said that the hole was closed 70 years ago, Old Sabu was approximately 80 years old when Kylie approached him. He was still an excellent pilot, that Isao, while dismissing him as "nothing much for a Yufang", still admits that he flew his Zero "like a hawk".
- Going Native: He stayed behind in Ijitsu after the rest of the Yufang left and the hole closed. He then gained a reputation as that strange old man living in Rahama's outskirt doing suspicious things. Isao's reason of attacking him seems to be that Old Sabu is less the Proud Scholar Race that is the Yufang, and more the crusty, free-spirited Ijitsu in Isao's eyes.
- Grumpy Old Man: When Kylie pestered him to teach her about Yufang, Old Sabu came across as extremely irritable and brusque. He got slightly better when he saw Kylie's curiosity was genuine, but he ended up pushing her away to save her.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Old Sabu left Kylie because there were people who keep pressuring him to make weapons, and likely would use Kylie as a hostage to make him comply. He likely did the same with his other student, Naomi.
- Last of His Kind: While Word of God claims that Yufang left many descendants in Ijitsu, Old Sabu is the last full-blooded Yufang remaining in that world.
- Like Teacher, Unlike Student: Both Kylie and Naomi are free-spirited Blood Knight, while Old Sabu was a Martial Pacifist. It is seen with their personal marks; Kylie and Naomi has predator animals (falcon and snake), while Old Sabu has a dove, which is a traditional symbol of peace. Despite that, Kylie and Naomi still have a lot of respect toward him, and when Kylie goes after Isao in revenge for his claim that he killed Old Sabu, she screams that Old Sabu hates people like him the most.
- Living MacGuffin: As a Yufang military engineer, his knowledge about Yufang R&D is valuable to any potential wannabe fascist dictator who wishes to conquer the known world by force.
- Martial Pacifist: He's such an excellent pilot, that Naomi never won a dogfight against him. He's never seen attacking anyone.
- Self-Deprecation: When he first met Kylie, he claimed that he was a blood-thirsty despite being Martial Pacifist, likely because he used to be a soldier.
