Kasumi (Dead or Alive)

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Kasumi (Dead or Alive)
Nationality:	Japanese
Gender:	Female
Birthdate:	February 23
Age:	17
Height:	164 cm (5 ft 5 in) (DOA1-2) 158 cm (5 ft 2 1/2 in) (DOA3 and later games)
Weight:	48 kg (106 lb)
Measurements:	B88 W52 H89 cm (DOA1-2) B89 W54 H85 cm (B35 W21 H33 in) (DOA3 and later games)
Fighting Style:	Ninjutsu (Mugen Tenshin Style)
Occupation:	Runaway Shinobi
Favorite Food(s):	Strawberry Millefeuille
Hobbies:	Fortune-telling, origami
Voice Actor(s):	Sakura Tange (DOA-DOA2) Hōko Kuwashima (DOA3-DOAX2) Kari Wahlgren (DOAX2 English dub)
First Appearance:	Dead or Alive (Arcade)

Kasumi (霞, Kasumi^?) is a fictional Japanese character from the Dead or Alive video game franchise. According to series canon she won the first Dead or Alive Tournament.

[edit] History

[edit] Dead or Alive

Kasumi, also known as "the Kunoichi of Destiny", is a female ninja skilled in the Mugen Tenshin Style of Ninjutsu. She was to become the 18th Master of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan, but ran away in order to enter the Dead or Alive tournament. There, she hoped to defeat the one responsible for crippling her brother Hayate. By leaving the secretive ninja clan, she became a nukenin (runaway shinobi). This means that she must live on the run from her former comrades every day as they seek to silence the "traitorous" Kasumi.

[edit] Dead or Alive 2

After having won the first tournament (and killing Raidou), she was captured by DOATEC and a clone of her was created. However, she managed to escape (defeating her clone in the process) and made an attempt to return to her village, but she wasn't allowed to, due to the fact that dishonored ninja can never rejoin their respective clan.

[edit] Dead or Alive 3

Now labeled as a "traitor" to her village, Kasumi has been pursued incessantly by assassins from her clan; not a day passes without an attempt on her life. Despite this, Kasumi still wishes to see her brother and enters the third tournament to meet him one last time.

[edit] Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball

Kasumi was invited to Zack Island for the fourth Dead or Alive Tournament. However, the tournament was a hoax and Kasumi (with the other DOA girls) were stuck for two weeks on the tropical island.

[edit] Dead or Alive 4

Kasumi again seeks to find Hayate, and have him and herself return to the Mugen Tenshin village. She meets her brother and tries to convince him to stop the war against DOATEC and return to the village with her. However, Hayate remains quiet and her half-sister Ayane interrupts them. Kasumi and Ayane fight, and is delayed long enough for Hayate and rest of the ninjas to attack DOATEC. Kasumi then confronts Helena and inquires why she has revived DOATEC. Helena says she wants nothing to do with the ninja fighters (this includes Ryu, Ayane, and Hayate). Helena also mentions that a clone of Kasumi - codenamed ALPHA-152 - is about to become active. Kasumi fights her way past Helena and then heads down to the lab to destroy ALPHA-152, who resembles Kasumi in form and fighting style, but seems to be made up of pure energy. Kasumi fights her clone to her best efforts, but in the end it appears ALPHA-152 escapes in the chaos of the destruction wrought by the Mugen Tenshin invasion. Kasumi is last seen watching Helena entering the blazing helipad. When she tries to stop her she is prevented from doing so by Ayane, rightly so since it was indeed too late to try and help her.

[edit] Dead Or Alive Xtreme 2

Kasumi is a runaway Ninja who abandoned her position as head of the Mugen Tenshin clan to avenge her brother, Hayate. She came to New Zack Island upon hearing that her brother was there, even though she wondered what he was doing on a tropical island.

[edit] Personality

Kasumi is portrayed throughout the DOA series as a more compassionate character than her younger half-sister, Ayane, and any of the other fighters. She is an honourable and kind spirit and although a highly skilled kunoichi with deadly abilities she does not enjoy or wish to fight. Many of the statements she makes in the game series before a round begins reflect her desire to avoid confrontation. This is perhaps rather an awkward element of her portrayal when considering she has essentially entered the tournament knowing she would have to fight. Her statements also often reflect the fact Kasumi is very merciful. She doesn't like to see people suffering at the hands of her skills and is inclined to show mercy to her enemies. However she is capable of killing and this is shown in the first DOA story where she defeated and killed Raidou. This was notably in a fit of rage and in revenge for the crippling of her brother, Hayate, by Raidou. Therefore if the circumstances had been different and Kasumi hadn't seen red she may have struggled to kill him although this is speculative. These actions also represent how strongly Kasumi feels for her brother. She is demonstrably family orientated and would like nothing more than to return home in peace.

[edit] Gameplay

Similar to the other Dead or Alive ninjutsu characters, Kasumi is considered a mid-to-top tier character due to her balanced character traits. She features good speed, execution, and fairly simplistic input commands. However, her range is lacking and her single strikes do little damage.

Kasumi's playing style has differed slightly over the series. In the original Dead or Alive and its sequel, her commands were suited to performing air combos and juggles (her Sakura Parrie is an excellent tiger knee). However, in the later games she became a strike character, focusing more on powerful single strikes and throws.

[edit] Trivia

• The reason Kasumi, Ayane and Kokoro who made her debut in Dead or Alive 4 do not have listed ages (17 and 16, respectively, at the time of the first game) in western versions of the Dead or Alive games, is because they are under 18 years old. Tecmo decided to give them an undefined age to avoid the risk of a moral backlash.

• Kasumi appeared as a playable "monster" in Monster Rancher 2 and Monster Rancher 4, also produced by Tecmo. She must be unlocked by going to the Shrine and inserting the Dead or Alive 1 CD in the Disc Tray in Monster Rancher 2, and the Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore disc in Monster Rancher 4.

• By unlocking Kasumi's clothes, the character Arin can dress like her in the Nintendo Wii game Super Swing Golf. She can be seen in this trailer.

• In the Xbox version of the game Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, produced by Tecmo, Kasumi's original blue costume for Mio Amakura and Ayane's original purple costume for Mayu Amakura can be unlocked. One thing these characters have in common is that they are sisters, although Mio and Mayu are twins, not half-sisters.