Kure Karura (
Quick Answers
What is the significance of Kure Karura's nickname, The Succubus?
How is Kure Karura related to Kure Erioh?
What role does Kure Karura play in the Kure Clan?
What is the relationship between Kure Karura and Ohma in Kengan Ashura?
How does Kure Karura's appearance contribute to her character in Kengan Ashura?
Appearance
Karura is a beautiful young woman with a deceptively defined physique, a small frame and a moderately sized bosom. She has long black hair with several bangs that hang over her forehead and two long lengths of hair that drape either side of her face, a small dainty nose, full lips and the telltale sclera and pupils of the Kure Clan.
Initially, she wore a parka, dark-blue shorts with wrappings around her legs and ankle-length brown boots with buckles. After her identity was fully revealed, she later switched to a dark-purple sailor fuku uniform with wrappings around her legs.
Two years after the Tournament, now a college student, Karura's newer outfit was a vest and turtleneck, alongside a coat and beret.
Personality
Karura is an extremely curious and independent individual, going off to explore wherever she wants on a whim. Upon sensing Tokita Ohma's great strength, Karura has become infatuated with him to stalker-like levels, bluntly telling him that she wanted his children. However, she has also grown to be close friends to Elena Robinson, showing concern for her and her brother Mokichi, and expressing rage at her own relative Raian for nearly killing him.
Plot
Kengan Ashura
Concealing her appearance under a fluffy hood, she listened on as Kure Erioh mused on who to send to the Kengan Annihilation Tournament to represent Under Mount Inc.
Onboard the S.S. Kengan, she noticed Tokita Ohma when she walked by him. Later, having tracked Ohma down, she attacked him to test his strength. With the two pulling their final strikes, Karura pulled in close to Ohma and bluntly told him that she wanted his babies, shocking everyone present. Hearing this, Ohma promptly put her down and took off. Before she could chase after him, her relatives found her and brought her back to her great-grandfather where she told him of her infatuation.
Arriving at Ganryu Island with the rest of the Kure, Karura quickly struck up a close friendship with Elena Robinson, Mokichi's younger sister, and the two hung out together on the first day. Karura was also seen chasing Ohma that day.
On the opening day of the tournament, while with Elena, Karura wished Mokichi good luck in his fight against Kure Raian. She then watched the fight alongside Elena and was left furious when Raian brutalized Mokichi and fatally ended the fight. Afterwards, Karura stayed with Elena while Hanafusa Hajime went to work on saving Mokichi's life. With Hanafusa's treatment successful, Karura gave Elena some reassuring words; she then began beaming happily, having seen Ohma's victory over Inaba Ryo. She quickly found and jumped on him after his match, saying that it was time for them to make babies. While walking the Kengan Dome corridors with Elena, the two bumped into Kiryu Setsuna with the latter giving Karura unsettling vibes. Having witnessed Hanafusa's apparent "death" after fighting Bando Yohei, Karura and the other ladies were left sombre until Dazai Yukio snapped his neck back into place, reviving him, with Karura happily jumping for him.
On the intermediary second day, Karura, alongside Elena, Hanafusa, Yoshizawa, Kaede and Kazuo, spent their day relaxing by the lakes.
On the day of the second round, Karura watched Ohma's fight against Raian with the rest of the Kure members, noticing that something seemed different about Ohma. With Ohma being put on the ropes, Karura frantically cheered for him as he made a surprise turn-around to eventually win the fight. With Ohma victorious, Karura ecstatically stripped off and exclaimed that they could now be married and start having babies with Hollis telling her to stop being immodest. After the close of the second round, during Hayami Katsumasa's attempted coup, Karura helped to subdue the attacking Guardians.
On the final day of the tournament, Karura was being eagerly gentle with Ohma as he received special treatment from a Kure medical professional. With Ohma praising the treatment, Karura happily told him that her great-grandfather had given them his blessing with Ohma casually brushing it off. With Ohma stepping out to face Imai Cosmo, Karura told a confused Elena that Ohma was still "changing".
In the intermission between the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, Karura noticed the smell of fresh corpses after she and Elena came across cordoned off areas of the Kengan Dome.
During the finals between Ohma and Kuroki Gensai, Karura cheered Ohma on as he fought valiantly against the Devil Lance.
After the tournament, Karura ecstatically reaffirmed that Erioh had given his blessing for her to marry Ohma, having recognised his strength.
Kengan Omega
Karura is mentioned to be in college and still plans to marry Ohma, much to Kure Erioh's despair and Ohma's annoyance. While Ohma, the whole Kure Clan and others were having breakfast at Kure Village, she appeared with her mother, father, brother and with Kure Fusui. As soon as she arrived she took off her clothes and jumped towards Ohma (as usual for Karura) while he was talking to Katahara Retsudo about going back to Tokyo.
Along with Mokichi, Cosmo, Adam Dudley and Elena, Karura watched Gaoh Ryuki's match against Naidan Mönkhbat in the Kengan Association vs Purgatory Tournament. She recognized that Ryuki was entering the point of no return with dealing with Naidan.
Power & Abilities
Karura is a deceptively powerful combatant, being considered a "deviant" even by the standards of the Kure Clan that she hails from.[3] Karura has also been noted to be very agile and light on her feet, capable of effortlessly evading Lihito's swipes and even some of Tokita Ohma's attacks.[4] It has been noted that she is a very powerful combatant and if there were a women's division in the Kengan matches, Karura would reign supreme.[1]
Kure Clan, Secret Technique: Removal
For a relatively young member of the Kure Clan, Karura is able to release a staggering 85% of her latent power. It is the second-highest rate known among the living members of the Kure Clan, second only to Raian's.[5] It's unknown whether this release rate increased in the two years after the Annihilation Tournament, as she was only 16 at the time.
Etymology
- Karura (
迦 楼 羅 ) is a transliteration of "Garuda", a bird-like creature of Buddhist mythology and one of the Eight Legions (八 部 衆 , Hachi Bushū; "Aṣṭasenā"), alongside the Deva (Komada Shigeru's epithet "The Deva King"), the Asura (Tokita Ohma) and the Yaksha (Kure Yakusha). - Interestingly, Sandrovich uses katakana to spell it (カルラ), mostly because the kanji is difficult to read.[1]
- The kanji spelling is still used in her reintroduction in Chapter 55 of Kengan Omega.
- Karura's epithet, The Succubus (
天 魔 , Tenma; lit. Heavenly Demon), is a reference to Mara, the deva of the sensuous realm, who tried to prevent Gautama Buddha from attaining liberation from samsara on the night of the Buddha's enlightenment by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women.
Notes & Trivia
- Karura's family lives in Tokyo.[6] Her father Hanjiro is a hitman, her mother Yakusha is a teacher and her younger brother Sarura is a student, though both her mother and her brother are also assassins.[7]
- Karura's mother is also a recurring character in Danberu Nan-Kiro Moteru? Karura herself makes a couple of cameos in the sister series.[8][9]
- Karura's extracurricular activities include Wind orchestra and her favourite book is The Grasshopper by Anton Chekhov.[1]
- Karura is the most popular character in the series that is not in the tournament, the most popular female and the 6th most popular overall, earning 13,498 votes in the official popularity poll.
- With the Kure Clan being modelled off the Gracie family, Karura's name and familial status are modelled after Carlos Gracie's great-granddaughter Kyra Gracie.[1]
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