Background

Hatsuho is a Tokyo native who was born and raised in the city’s Shitamachi ward. As the daughter of the Shinonome Shrine’s keepers, she’s grown up to become the historic sanctuary’s poster girl.

As a child, Hatsuho was fast friends with Sakura Amamiya, who would make an annual pilgrimage to the Shinonome Shrine with her father, who would travel there to make deliveries. Though they lived miles away, Hatsuho and Sakura would come together each year to watch the cherry blossoms bloom, particularly those that came from the Shinonome Shrine’s famed Thousand Year Cherry Blossom tree.

Sakura Wars The Animation Episode 04 still - a brown-haired girl and a red-haired girl dressed in kimonos smile at each other.

A red-haired girl in a shrine uniform smiles at the camera. her hair is tied in a side-tail.

A red-haired girl in an orange-and-white leather jacket looks at the camera. her hair is tied in a side-tail.

Voice Actor: Maaya Uchida
Affiliation: Imperial Combat Revue, Flower Division
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan (Shitamachi)
Birth Date: 9/9/1923

The two experienced a falling out one year, after they tried to imitate the shrine’s holy dances beneath the Thousand Year Cherry tree. Sadly, they didn’t have a chance to make up, as Sakura’s father would stop making deliveries to the shrine soon afterwards.

In the years that followed, Hatsuho would join the Imperial Combat Revue’s Flower division, which was struggling to keep the lights on at the time. She would later reconnect with Sakura in the months that followed, when the latter joined the Flower Division, herself. With their friendship reforged, Hatsuho and Sakura would stand together onstage and in battle, sharing a bond that’s stronger than family as they work together to bring light to the hearts of the people, and purge the city of darkness.

Personality

Hatsuho is a woman of Shitamachi, who adores her hometown and people. She’s a bit of a hot-head and tends to speak bluntly, but her heart is always in the right place. That said, she’s not above giving a quick punch to the jaw if it means knocking some sense into someone who needs it. And though some would liken her euphemisms as rude, Hatsuho has proven herself time and again to be a reliable mediator and a grounding presence, who can bring the peace as well as she can kick demonic butt. She loves her hometown, its people, and especially its festivals.

Character Song

Japanese Title: Onna! Matsuri no Kokoroiki (Woman!! Heart of the Festival)
English Title: That Festival Spirit

Music Video

In Battle

At the beginning of Sakura Wars 2019, Hatsuho pilots a red Kobu, which is a modification of Kanna Kirishima’s Kobu Mk. III unit. Following the events of the game’s first chapter, she makes her sorties in a crimson Mugen. In both cases, she wields a heavy warhammer, which is slow, but has immense room-clearing capabilitites.

The back end of the hammer houses a rocket propulsion unit that lends a bit of extra oomph to her heaviest swings, and especially her special, which sees Hatsuho’s mech spinning in a deadly tornado.

Mugen

A red robot bursting forth with the aid of a propulsion unit. It is holding a giant war hammer.