Honoka

Honoka is a high school student, and secretly a martial artist, who made her debut in the 2015 title Dead or Alive 5 Last Round.

Appearance

 * See also: Honoka's costumes

Owing to her status as a Japanese schoolgirl, she constantly wears a school uniform including the blazer, as well as a glove that has a winking skull and crossbones logo on the back of the hand.

She possesses shoulder length salmon pink hair that is tied into a ponytail on the side (which is always represented as a ball with the same markings as the winking skull and crossbones motif or some variation thereof, save for her certain DLC costumes like Last Getaway and New Challengers outfit, which uses a flower instead) as well as reddish eyes and somewhat tanned skin. Honoka currently possesses the largest bust out of all the female characters in the series, a direct contrast to her friend and rival, Marie Rose who possesses the smallest bust, which was even the subject of a pun for their Japanese tag team intro. Her bust size had been hinted at in Famitsu prior to her official announcement, where it mentioned that the new girl had "the biggest." She also has a more curvaceous and voluptuous figure than most of the other younger girls, having very curvy hips, and short but rather shapely legs (in fact, the only one to have an overall more voluptuous figure than Honoka is Mai Shiranui; if one counts guest characters).

Besides her swimwear, she dresses relatively modestly, which could be due to her innocent nature and grandmother's influence. Some of her outfits also contain a cow motif, such as a cow face print on a t-shirt with "milk" written under it, as well as clothes with a cow marking-print and an attached stuffed cow. In Xtreme 3, she is able to wear her hair fully down, and in Last Round, she wears Hitomi's bob cut in pink on certain collaboration DLC such as her Schoolgirl Strikers and Arc Systems DLC with a white hair band in the former.

Personality
Having been raised all her life by her gentle and loving grandmother, she is a sweet, easygoing kind of girl, but when she sees a fight, she cannot contain her excitement - or the mysterious power surging within her. Honoka has a strange knack for instantly learning any fighting move she sees. She has kept this power hush-hush, but has been itching to test it out in secret.

Her victory quotes indicate she doesn't even know the origin of her powers and seeks to find out about it. In some victory quotes, she also gets apologetic and asks if they can stand up while rushing towards them to offer them a hand, implying that while she does want to test her powers out, she doesn't want to injure or cripple people with them. However, she isn't above lightly teasing people, as evidenced by the Venus Festival when she, when Marie Rose angrily reacted to Honoka talking with the Owner, pointed out that Marie Rose just said she wanted to try out the cute cotton candy.

Although she is very eager for a challenge and a fight to the extent that she can't help herself, even she has her limits, as her losing quote has her whining that her opponent is too strong. She also seems to be quite naive and oblivious. This can be seen when she wins a tag match with Ayane, she'll make the mistake of asking if Ayane's a ninja, much to the latter's disbelief and annoyance. This is further seen in the Japanese version when she makes an accidental pun that angers Marie Rose, due to her not knowing that Marie Rose is jealous of Honoka because of her "assets".

Largely because of Honoka's more innocent nature, she also at times gets disturbed when her breasts are commented upon or interacted with, with the most notable example being when Tamaki groped her to gauge her breast size, terrifying her. She also seemed to be embarrassed about the fact that she wore pajamas and shopped for them (mostly because of the ones at the hotel were too small for her), which can be inferred from her interaction with Misaki when she reluctantly admitted such. Likewise, she also talked to animals as if they were people, as one of her first actions on New Zack Island was to greet a dolphin as "Mr. Dolphin" and proceeding to bow to it while asking if they'll hang out for a couple of weeks. She also often talks to her stuffed animal Mister Moo as if it is alive. In Warriors All Stars, she is seen to be quite upset that she doesn't have Mister Moo along with her.

Etymology
It is unknown what is the official kanji used to write Honoka's name.

Marie Rose
Although none of the details have been released yet - such as how long they've been friends, how they met, or how they interact with each other - Honoka is friends with Marie Rose, even sharing a special interaction as well as being Tag Battle partners where Honoka requests to Marie Rose for a practice round. In addition, when winning a tag battle with Marie Rose, she does Marie Rose's signature pose with her. In Xtreme Venus Vacation, they seem to get along well enough, even napping together during a sleepover.

Raidou
It's unknown what their exact connection is, but she is apparently tag partners with Raidou. It might have something to do with Honoka having the ability to copy moves from other fighters by just looking at them doing it, which Raidou is well known for. They also both have that mysterious red mist energy, which might be the source of their move copying power. She may have met him in the past, as she seemingly recognized him in their tag team victory pose, but didn't know from where. Before a tag fight, however, she says that she's "kinda scared" while conveying body language that indicated she was uncomfortable, implying that her fighting alongside Raidou is out of reluctance.

Ayane
As seen in during Tag Mode, they seem to know or at least are familiar with each other. Although Ayane herself seems unaware that Honoka might have a connection with the kunoichi's evil father, Raidou. Their win scene has Honoka asking if Ayane is "some kind of ninja," with Ayane apparently getting irritated, saying "Are you serious?". Fans have theorized that they may be half-sisters and not know it, judging by Honoka's quote and similar powers to Raidou and them both having red irises.

Honoka's grandmother
Honoka has been raised by her grandmother for most of her life. As such, she loves and cares about her very much, expressing some hesitance about going on a vacation to New Zack Island and leaving her grandmother, and also spending the vacation at times wondering how she's doing. In addition, she also briefly pondered what kind of souvenir she should pick up for her upon her return.

Momiji
It's unclear how and when they met, although Honoka is familiar with Momiji. The two of them can be partners in Dead Or Alive Xtreme 3.

Misaki
She and Misaki have a fairly friendly relationship with each other, having worked with her to help set up the Venus Festival, and also helping Misaki get through a Cover Girl gravure shooting. However, while she doesn't mind Misaki too much, she did once get very uncomfortable when Misaki behaved oddly toward her in the changing rooms while getting into their designated swimwear (it is heavily implied that Misaki's odd behavior was due to her getting enchanted at seeing Honoka's "assets"). On a related note, she also was unintentionally responsible for supplying Misaki with the idea to have a slumber party, which occurred when, during small talk, Honoka reluctantly admitted that she had been shopping for pajamas to replace the ones provided by the hotel for being "too tight".

Kokoro
Kokoro and Honoka, presumably having met on Zack Island, seem to get along pretty well, since she alongside Misaki worked with Kokoro regarding giving ideas on setting up the Venus Festival.

Nyotengu
She apparently had some respect for Nyotengu, viewing her as a good teacher, as she admitted to the Owner after the events of a Pajama Party. Likewise, she alongside Nyotengu and Misaki helped plan the Rivals Festival that the Owner proposed.

Tina Armstrong
It is unclear whether Tina and Honoka have ever actually met each other or interacted, although Honoka was at the very least familiar with her, as she sometimes calls out her name during a tag match. Presumably, she knew of Tina via various pro-wrestling shows she had watched.

Bass Armstrong
Like with his daughter, it is unclear whether Bass and Honoka have ever actually met each other or interacted, although Honoka was at the very least familiar with him, as she sometimes calls out his name during a tag match. Presumably, she knew of Bass via various pro-wrestling shows she had watched.

Zack
It is unclear whether Zack and Honoka have ever actually met each other or interacted, although Honoka was at the very least familiar with him, as she sometimes calls out his name during a tag match. Presumably, she knew of Zack via various pro-wrestling shows she had watched. She presumably met Zack later on when she got a raffle ticket from Zack at the shopping district in Japan to go to the island, although she admitted after arriving at the island that she recognized him from elsewhere, but couldn't put her finger on where exactly.

Mila
It is unclear whether Mila and Honoka have ever actually met each other or interacted, although Honoka was at the very least familiar with her, as she sometimes calls out her name during a tag match. Presumably, she knew of Mila via various pro-wrestling shows she had watched.

Eliot
It is unclear whether Eliot and Honoka have ever actually met each other or interacted, although Honoka was at the very least familiar with him, as she sometimes calls out his name during a tag match.

Tamaki
Honoka alongside Marie Rose first met Tamaki on the island. Although they got along pretty well, she did end up deeply disturbed when Tamaki proceeded to grope her breasts to "gauge" her measurements.

Gameplay

 * See also: Honoka's command lists

Honoka studies her favorite moves and fighting styles, and combines them into a unique style which she calls "Honoka Fu" (ほのか流, Honoka-ryū, lit. "Honoka style"). Since her build is that of an average teenage girl, her moves, while skilled, may not always pack the same punch as the fighter she learned them from. In her Hissatsu-no-Kamae (必殺の構え, lit. "Fighting Position of Annihilation") stance, however, she is imbued with an unbelievable strength and becomes capable of techniques she has never seen from any other fighter.

Stats
The following are Honoka's official stats as listed in the games.

Dead or Alive series

 * Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (playable, 2015)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 (playable, 2016)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation (playable, 2017)

Warriors All-Stars
Honoka is a playable character in Koei's hack-and-slash title, Warriors All-Stars, representing the Dead or Alive series alongside Ayane, Kasumi, and Marie Rose.

In an alternate world that relies on a miraculous spring to sustain itself. The King who could control the spring's powers suddenly perished, leaving the world in turmoil. The Queen told her daughter, Tamaki, to summon otherworldly heroes to save their land, but the attempted summoning malfunctioned and left them scattered in different areas. Eventually, other members of this royal family are deemed eligible for the throne, dividing all the heroes into three warring factions.

In the game, Honoka, along with Kasumi and Marie Rose, is a member of Setsuna's force.

Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash
Honoka appeared in Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash as one of the paid DLC characters released on March 30th, 2017 for the game, and will be one of the three representing Dead or Alive along with Marie Rose and Ayane (with the latter formerly appearing in Senran Kagura: Estival Versus).

Fighting quotes

 * Dead or Alive 5 Last Round

Music themes
The following are the music themes used for Honoka throughout the series.

Voice actors
Her current voice actors are Ai Nonaka in the Japanese version and Kira Buckland in the English version. Owing to the character's demeanor, she is voiced by both voice actresses with a youthful, innocent, girlish, and gentle tone.

Gallery

 * See: Honoka gallery

Trivia

 * Honoka bares a strong resemblance to Honoka Kousaka from Love Live!.
 * both characters share the same first name.
 * In her Japanese bio, it was mentioned under her hobbies that she enjoys partaking in onsens (Japanese bath houses/hot springs). This was localized outside Japan as simply being "taking hot baths" due to there not being a word in English that accurately translates the Japanese term "furo."
 * The cow-related apparel in several of Honoka's costumes, including her stuffed doll Mister Moo, are an unsubtle reference to her significantly large bust, owing to cows being well known for constantly producing milk.
 * According to Tom Lee, Honoka was created to fulfill the Japanese audiences' desires for more of the girls.
 * Some of the Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate concept artwork for Marie Rose had various similarities to Honoka, barring that she was blonde instead of pink-haired as well as having a noticeably smaller bust. This suggests that Honoka's overall design was reused from an unused concept for Marie Rose.
 * Being the latest character, it seems Honoka knows some Dead or Alive characters such as Eliot, Zack, Tina, Bass, and Mila by calling their names even though she doesn't have any intros, outros, and tag throws with any of these characters. Since her hobbies include watching pro-wrestling showings, it's likely that she was familiar with at least Zack, Bass, Tina, and Mila via that source.
 * In the Japanese version of Honoka and Marie Rose's tag team intro, Honoka asks if she could borrow Marie Rose's chest, acting as a pun on their radically different bust sizes and on a typical Japanese request for a sparring round derived from Sumo Wrestling, where it is believed that a wrestler's power lies in their chest due to their heart being located there. This was toned down in localization to Honoka directly requesting for a practice round, since the pun was untranslatable and inappropriate in the West.
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 was released on Honoka's birthday (March 24th).
 * Honoka acted as the basis for Fukua's 21st color palette from Skullgirls.
 * When Honoka performs the moves of other fighters, she'll also mimick the sound they make.
 * Technically, Honoka has the second-biggest bust in the series after SPARTAN-458, although it is unclear whether the latter's bust measurements were her own or whether that was while she was in her Mjolnir armor.
 * Although Honoka and Misaki are technically the same age, the former is older than the latter by a couple of months, which is implied by Honoka referring to the latter by "Misaki-Chan", as "chan" is a Japanese pronoun reserved for addressing those younger than the speaker.
 * According to the first episode of the First Cover Girls event, Honoka had previously acted as a support leader for a sports day event.
 * Of the various 18 year olds in the series (ie, Ayane, Eliot, Marie Rose, Misaki, and Luna), Honoka is the oldest of them.
 * In Xtreme 3 and Xtreme Venus Vacation, Honoka is the only one of the girls who appeared in both games where her character intro scene is different in each game (in the former, Honoka simply plays on the beach and then stops to ponder about what to get for her grandma, while in the latter, she was seen riding an inflatable Orca in the middle of the ocean before falling into the water due to losing her balance and being implied to have lost her top from the fall into the water).