Izayoi

From BlazBlue Wiki
"Please, show me... your justice!"[1]
イザヨイ
Izayoi
Name

Izayoi

Birthday

March 14

Species

Human

Voice Actors

IMAI Asami (Japanese)
Julie Ann Taylor (English)

Blood Type

A

Height

160cm

Weight

47kg

Hair Color

Red

Eye Color

Red

Drive

Scarlet Justice

Birthplace

4th Hierarchical City of Naobi

Likes

Historical Dramas

Dislikes

War

Hobbies

Painting, Singing

Affiliation

Novus Orbis Librarium
Yayoi family

Character Themes

Justice Sword, recta ratio
in JUSTICE

Appearances
Games

BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma (playable)
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Extend (playable)
BlazBlue: Central Fiction (playable)
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (playable)
BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma
BlazBlue Revolution Reburning
BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War

Manga

BlazBlue: Remix Heart

Izayoi (イザヨイ) is the alternate form of Tsubaki Yayoi, an alias she adopts whenever she uses the Zero-Type Izayoi.

Izayoi was designed by MORI Toshimichi and KATO Yuuki in collaboration. She was first teased during the Chrono Phantasma arcade opening movie on October 17, 2012. In the 29th November issue of Weekly Famitsu, she was officially announced as a playable character for BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma on November 15, 2012[2], and would later be added to arcades on December 12, 2012. Izayoi was revealed for BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War on the 8th of July, 2021.

Appearance

Izayoi's appearance.

Izayoi is a fair-skinned woman of average size with red eyes and long red hair up in a high ponytail. Her hair is parted to the left and the hair that falls to the front of her shoulders is in two special hair ornaments in a similar fashion to Tsubaki.

Izayoi's outfit consists of a dark purple skin-tight bodysuit, a short white dress-like garment, and detatched white sleeves. She has golden armor on her neck, chest, lower arms, and hips. She is also wearing white thigh-high boots with gold armor at the feet and a gold hair accessory tying back her hair.

Personality

Steadfast and an organizer of people, she is beloved because she never fails to consider those around her. However, she can be too serious and has a tendency towards stubbornness, so there are times when she's unable to adapt.[3][4][5]

Calm, intelligent, modest, and outwardly professional with even the smallest of things-- Tsubaki was raised by the Yayoi family to be a responsible heiress. She uses her status as a noble to try and make a positive influence on the world around her; upon meeting Makoto for the first time and seeing her being the victim of racially motivated bullying, Tsubaki intervened, defusing the situation with her influence as the Yayoi heiress. This incident is what lead Tsubaki to become friends with Makoto and Noel. To the friends around her, Tsubaki is known to be kind, yet nosy and stubborn.

Raised sheltered, she met her first friend, Jin Kisaragi, during family meetings between the Duodecim; she would later develop romantic feelings for him. She also admires Hakumen, who was a hero she read about growing up.

Tsubaki struggles to find her own sense of justice, a weakness that is exploited by Izanami and Yuuki Terumi; she wants to act on what she believes is right, but struggles to defy the Duodecim and NOL which she was raised to be obedient to. She is also prone to jealousy; particularly, for those around Jin. Such feelings were manipulated by Hazama alongside Terumi to goad Tsubaki into fighting Noel. As time has progressed, Tsubaki overcame her family conditioning and dark feelings, fighting for her own beliefs and friends.

Powers & Techniques

Thanks to her bloodline and years of training in martial arts, Tsubaki is a fierce combatant. She has a high Ars Magus aptitude that allows her to effectively utilise the Sealed Weapon Izayoi, a weapon passed down the Yayoi household. When using Izayoi, Tsubaki is able to fight against most opponents on an even keel, and frequently switches between its whip and sword form for its blade. Izayoi is able to effectively blind Observers from using Phenomenon Intervention, and Tsubaki can even cast a Zanki Barrier to further fight against that class of opponent.

Tsubaki is the only known person able to use the Zero-Type Izayoi, giving her access to the Immortal Breaker. With this, she can kill beings like Rachel Alucard and force her opponents to recognise their own death. There is a drawback in that it cannot kill those with the Power of Order or individuals with unique circumstances like Izanami, who is a Drive.[6] Regardless of Izayoi, Tsubaki is a skilled negotiator and quick-thinker who is constantly aware of her surroundings, having realised that the Battle of Ragna the Bloodedge was a trap to ensnare her from the second she was invited serves as one example.

Unfortunately, Tsubaki is not as powerful as Jin or Noel, who wield Nox Nyctores class weapons. She will lose to either in a straight fight, and is forced to rely on the Zero-Type in order to effectively best the strongest opponents, but even then this may not be enough. She was previously easy to manipulate thanks to her hidden feelings and tendency to confine her emotions for the sake of others, but Tsubaki has overcome this with time and the help of her friends. She already fallen prey once to Izayoi's nature to blind its user; however, Tsubaki's eyesight was restored thanks to the Imperator's power. [7] In addition to this, she also once over-relied on her weapon to the point of dying in one Continuum Shift.[8] Despite the drawbacks of using the Izayoi, it is implied that having a strong mind and will while wielding the Izayoi can help counteract the deadly side-effects, which Tsubaki was able to achieve after she awakened the Zero-Type Izayoi.[9]

As a result of Jin's power weakening, Izayoi is shown to have inherited the Power of Order from him.[10] Either the Power of Order or Izayoi itself allows for Tsubaki to have heightened intuition;[11] she is able to sense certain presences such as Amane Nishiki being an Onlooker and also Hazama being free of the presence of Yuuki Terumi.[12]

Creation & Development

Izayoi's design was a collaboration between Yuuki Kato and Mori Toshimichi, with Kato handling the inner design and Mori designing the armor. Mori initially wanted Izayoi's waist unit to have wiring attached due to the Izayoi's nature as a prototype, but the idea was scrapped due to movement limitations.[13]

BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Material Collection Commentary

Creator's Comments

Kato: When I first drew her design I thought, "Something seems off." With that feeling of unease I slept on the idea and redrew her character many times. At first her design had more of a Japanese feeling to it, but it clashed with her story too much and was thrown out. Mori-san and I ended up discussing the design and throwing ideas back and forth until pieces would stick. Among all of the characters, she took the most time.

Mori: Kato-san's design had her holding a Japanese blade, but after much deliberation we settled onto the weapon as you see it now. If you're curious as to why she wasn't given a Japanese sword... that's a secret (haha).[14]

Early Designs

Mori: From a Japanese style to simple costumes with minimal armor, Izayoi's design experimented with various possibilities. However, the hair ornaments imitating wings is a detail that stuck during revisions.[16]

Relatives

Yayoi
Head family
Ayame Yayoi
Killed during the Dark War
Tsubaki Yayoi/Izayoi

Official Profiles

BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Official Site Profile

Severing the spell that bound her to the Imperator's will and awakening the "Zero Type Izayoi," Tsubaki uses the power of the Murakumo Unit Prototype to follow her own justice and convict all sins. Although she escaped the darkness of the past during which she could only avert her eyes, her sword trembles. In the future lies a "true light" to be obtained.[17]

BlazBlue: Central Fiction Official Site Profile

Story

Tsubaki, who awakened the power of the "Zero Type Izayoi (Sixteenth Night)." Following her own justice, she convicts all sins. In order to bring the "World's Evil" Ragna the Bloodedge to justice by her own hands, she searches Kagutsuchi.[18]

Personality

Steadfast and an organizer of people, she is beloved because she never fails to consider those around her. However, she can be too serious and has a tendency towards stubbornness, so there are times when she's unable to adapt.[3][4][5]

BlazBlue: Central Fiction Library Entry

Izayoi

The Zero-Type Izayoi is the true form of the Sealed Armament Izayoi, as awakened by the Imperator. It represents Tsubaki's transformation.

She exists to serve the Imperator's form of justice, fighting anyone who stands in her way.

Nevertheless, when confronted by Noel, Makoto, and Jin, Tsubaki is able to break free of the Imperator's curse by waking up to her own forgotten feelings.[19]

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Official Site Profile

Having severed the spell that bound her to the Imperator's will while awakening the "Zero Type Izayoi," this is Tsubaki Yayoi's truest form. Following her own justice, she convicts all manner of sins.

With intimidation provided by the projectile Sonic Saber and midair movement provided by Mirage Thruster, take control of the pace of the match. When the time comes for close-quarters combat, fluster the opponent with Overdash (ホバーダッシュ)![20]

BlazBlue 10th Anniversary Official Site Profile

Tsubaki, who awakened the power of the “Zero Type Izayoi.” Glimmering before the darkness of the past that she continuously averted her eyes from is the "true light" that she was able to obtain, and following her own justice, she convicts all manner of sins.[1]

BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War Official Profile

Tsubaki Yayoi after unlocking the true power of the Sealed Weapon Izayoi, called the Zero-Type Izayoi. In this form, Tsubaki has the power of Immortal Breaker, and she wields a sword of justice to judge all evils.[21]

Appearances in other Media

  • The mobile game Mabinogi Duel stars Izayoi as a playable card.
  • The arcade collectible card games Lord of Vermilion 3, from Square Enix, has Izayoi appear as a super awakening for Tsubaki Yayoi.
  • The MMORPG Phantasy Star Online 2, by SEGA, features Izayoi's outfit, hairstyle, voice (only female avatar) and weapon as customization for the player character.
  • The mobile game Hoshiribe features Izayoi as a playable character.

Trivia

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 BlazBlue 10th Anniversary Site (JP), Izayoi
  2. https://www.famitsu.com/news/201211/15024349.html
  3. 3.0 3.1 BlazBlue: Central Fiction Consumer Edition Official Site (JP), Character - Tsubaki Yayoi
  4. 4.0 4.1 BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Official Site (US), Character - Tsubaki Yayoi
  5. 5.0 5.1 BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Official Site (EU), Character - Tsubaki Yayoi
  6. BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Arcade Mode, Izayoi, Act II
  7. BlazBlue: Central Fiction Official Setting Material Collection, Timeline, Page 253
  8. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Story Mode, Tsubaki Yayoi - ARCH ENEMY, Bad Ending
  9. BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Arcade Mode, Izayoi, Act III
  10. BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Arcade Mode, Izayoi, Act II
  11. BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Arcade Mode, Amane Nishiki, Act III
  12. BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Arcade Mode, Izayoi, Act III
  13. http://dengekionline.com/elem/000/001/164/1164108/
  14. BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Material Collection, Characters - Izayoi, Creator's Comment, Page 40
  15. BlazBlue: Chrono Phantamsa Material Collection, Characters - Izayoi, Emblem Description, Page 39
  16. BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Material Collection, Izayoi Early Designs, Page 49
  17. BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Official Site (JP), Izayoi
  18. BlazBlue: Central Fiction Consumer Edition Official Site (JP), Story - Izayoi
  19. BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Library Mode, Character #021
  20. BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Official Website (JP), Characters, Izayoi
  21. BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War, Izayoi Profile
  22. BlazBlue Radio Ace, BLAZBLUE CHRONOPHANTASMA ver 2.0 In Progress Special