Kasumi

Kasumi (かすみ, Kasumi) is a kunoichi of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan, who debuted in the first Dead or Alive back during the 1996 arcade release.

Kasumi became a "Runaway Shinobi" after she ran away from home in order to avenge her older brother, Hayate. She is also the older half-sister, and cousin of Ayane.

One of the first three females that appeared in the series (alongside Leifang and Tina Armstrong), Kasumi is considered to be the main protagonist for the Dead or Alive series (specifically in Dead or Alive, Dead or Alive 2, and Dead or Alive 5), and is often viewed as the series' character mascot.

Childhood
Kasumi is the daughter and second child of Shiden and Ayame, and was born into the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan's head family as the second in line to the title of leader, after her brother Hayate.

When they were children, Kasumi and Ayane - unaware that they were related - played together as best friends, although the clan saw Ayane as a "cursed child" and didn't want Kasumi to be around her. Her relationship with Hayate was also ideal, with the two playing games and training together happily.

However, once Ayane learned of her true heritage, and the children now knew that they were siblings, Kasumi's friendship with Ayane ended due to Ayane's jealous anger over her mistreatment by the clan, centering her animosity on the "princess" Kasumi.

Running Away and The First Tournament
A year later, a rogue ninja of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan, Raidou, Kasumi’s paternal uncle and Ayane's father, returns to the village to obtain the Torn Sky Blast. Defeating even the prodigious Ayane, Raidou eventually manages to mimic the technique from Hayate before rendering him both comatose and paraplegic.

After Raidou's rampage, and Hayate in a deadly state, Kasumi is left chosen by Shiden to become the clan’s eighteenth master, but she doesn't know what truly happened to Hayate as her father doesn't want her to know. Her worry over her brother effects her training, but she manages to learn the Torn Sky Blast at least. Wanting to know the truth, Kasumi turns to Ayane. Believing that Kasumi will never become a great leader anyway, she tells her that Raidou was the fiend who harmed Hayate.

With the facts buzzing in her mind, Kasumi finally decides to take the possibly suicidal step and leaves the village without permission in order to find Raidou and take revenge on him for Hayate, although this meant she would become a nukenin and the clan will kill her if she ever tries to return home. The clan quickly finds out about Kasumi's leave, and Ayane is ordered by Genra to find and kill her. Ayane tries to stop her on the bridge out of the village, but Kasumi is saved when Christie appears on a helicopter and separates the two shinobi with gunfire. Although Kasumi doesn't know Christie, she jumps on the helicopter and they flies away from Ayane.

Now in the company of Christie and Bayman, Kasumi learns that Radiou is taking part in the Dead or Alive World Combat Championship, which is being sponsored by the Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee, the company Bayman and Christie work for. They fly her to a cruise liner, the Freedom Survivor, and Kasumi joins the tournament.

While the start of the tournament is being officially announced, Kasumi finds Ayane in the crowd. Ayane tells her that she is there to avenge Hayate too, as well as kill her, under the orders of her foster father Genra. The girls quickly discover that Raidou is working with the head of DOATEC, Fame Douglas, but when Ayane tries to get him, even though Kasumi tries to stop her, the girl is beaten back. Fame then tells Kasumi that if she wants to face Raidou in battle, she has to come out as winner in the tournament.

Kasumi fights her way through the tournament, and does come out as the winner of the tournament, meaning that she will have to face Raidou in the Danger Zone. She manages to defeat Raidou, and was happy because she thinks she had avanged Hayate, but Raidou awakens stronger then before, with inhuman strength caused by DOATEC experiments. Their battle ends in a Torn Sky Blast duel, and with the help of Ryu from the sidelines, Kasumi overpowers Raidou in the end and he is finally killed.

Unfortunately for Kasumi, she is kidnapped by DOATEC, and is taken to their labs in Germany, so they can use her DNA for their experiments; as she managed to defeat their top experiment, they believe that she will be useful in their plans to create the ultimate fighter.

Escaping DOATEC and The Second Tournament
After being held captive for a while by DOATEC, Ryu manages to find her and sets DOATEC Germany on fire. During the chaos, Kasumi is helped out of her cell by Kasumi Alpha, a clone created from her DNA. Although shocked by the sight of her double, she follows Alpha into one of the labs. Once there, Alpha tells Kasumi that they are "sisters", and Kasumi hasn't been a good sister because she keeps Hayate to herself, so now he belongs to Alpha. Realizing that Hayate had been taken by DOATEC, Kasumi fights Alpha. The noise leads one of the scientists, Lisa Hamilton to them and Kasumi demands to know where Hayate was. Lisa tries to silence her by threatening to shoot her, but Kasumi is saved by Ryu, who takes her after from the building, after Lisa and Alpha escaped.

While with Ryu and Irene Lew, they learn from stolen DOATEC data that Hayate was actually at DOATEC Germany at the same time as Kasumi. Worried about her brother's safety, Kasumi goes against Ryu's orders and runs off to find Hayate. Although Ryu sends Ayane after her, Kasumi manages to escape her.

Sometime later, Kasumi finds Hayate alive and well, but as Hayate is suffering from amnesia, he cannot remember her. Ryu appears before them and tells the two siblings to fight each other, as "once reunited in combat, fists which are bound by blood will revive the deepest soul of the shinobi", meaning that Hayate will remember his true self. During the fight, Kasumi is defeated, and Hayate remembers everything. While Hayate and Ryu have to fight Alpha and a brainwashed Ayane, set upon them by Genra, Kasumi presumbly wakes up and runs away, as Hayate cannot find her after the battle.

The Third Tournament
Homesick and constantly hunted, Kasumi still wishes to see Hayate, but has to go into hiding from the Mugen Tenshin Clan again. She spends some time in the geisha district of Kyoto during her running, and to cover up her shinobi identity, she dresses as a normal high school girl and acts like a normal civilian in public to get by. She appears to have become ill from running and living rough, because she develops a fever. When she is half-passed out on the road, she is found by a local maiko Kokoro, but refuses her help. When she sees Ayane, she panicks and runs away again.

During the third tournament, Kasumi tries to find Hayate, who is, at this time, with Ayane and Ryu trying to track down Genra, who has turned against the clan. Kasumi crosses paths with Ayane, but apparently her sister is focused on taking down Genra, so she isn't going to kill her; although Ayame has previously asked Ayane to help Kasumi rather then be against her. Ayane does let Kasumi try to get to Hayate, but not before she beats her up for her troubles.

When Kasumi finally meets up with Hayate, he is torn between the code of the clan, to kill runaways, and his want to see Kasumi. He tries to save her, saying that they can pretend they never met and he can let her live, but Kasumi is prepared to fight her brother. After the fight, Kasumi escapes again and goes into hiding once more.

The Fourth Tournament and The Fall of DOATEC
During the time of the fourth tournament, Kasumi catches word of the Mugen Tenshin's plan to attack DOATEC and take their revenge against the company. Worried about everyone's safety, Kasumi risks her life visiting the outside of the village, and finds Hayate. As she tries to convince him to stop the war against DOATEC, Hayate remains quiet and Ayane arrives to interrupt them, providing enough of a distraction for Hayate to leave and continue on with his mission.

Although the attack is on the go, Kasumi pursues everyone to DOATEC's TriTower headquarters so she can still stop the chaos. There, she confronts Helena Douglas, the current head of DOATEC, and begs her to leave the shinobi alone. However, Helena tells her that DOATEC's latest creation - a modified Kasumi Alpha, renamed Alpha-152 - is about to become active. Helena is about to shoot Kasumi, to stop her from being involved, but she is saved by Ryu, who is there helping Hayate, and Kasumi fights her way past Helena.

She then heads down to the lab to destroy Alpha-152. She 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. After the match, having herself escaped the burning building, Kasumi is last seen watching Helena entering the blazing helipad. As Kasumi tries to stop her, Ayane prevents her from going after Helena, who by doing so saves Kasumi's life as the building starts exploding mere seconds later.

The Search for Alpha-152 and the Attack on the MIST Laboratory
Two years after the fall of the DOATEC Tritower, Helena Douglas decides to hold the fifth Dead or Alive Tournament and she and Kasumi are in the search to find Alpha-152. After Helena brings Hayate to the Freedom Survivor, Kasumi tells hims that Alpha-152 is for her to deal with alone. She then leaves the ship, but Hayate, suspicious that something is wrong with her, has Ayane follow her.

Kasumi travels to New York and asks Lisa where Alpha-152 is. When she gets no reply, the ninja defeats her. As she continues her travels, she finds herself having to escape from getting caught by Ayane, Hayate and Bayman. Fed up that she cannot find her clone, Kasumi returns to Helena and demands from her Alpha-152's location. Helena reveals to her that the clone is hidden at an oil rig. After fighting her way past Rig and Lisa, Kasumi finds and defeats Alpha-152, but is soon found and attacked by Hayate and Ayane. She seemingly dies at their hands, but it is later revealed that she is just an Alpha clone, programmed into believing that she herself is the original.

The real Kasumi has been in Japan the entire time with Muramasa at a hidden village. She receives a message from a falcon sent by Ryu, explaining that Hayate had been captured by Donovan's new organization, MIST. She rushes to the rig and fights her way past Christie and Rig. Kasumi finds her brother in the lab and, with Lisa's help, succeeds in releasing him. After Ryu, Ayane and Hayate have their fights against Alpha-152, she has the final showdown with the Donovan's monstrious creation to stop Phase 4 of the Alpha plan. After her victory against Alpha-152 and the destruction of the lab, Kasumi is shown on the Freedom Survivor thanking Ayane and Hayate before walking off, swearing to defeat Victor Donovan at all costs.

Appearance
Also see: Kasumi's Outfit Catalogue

Kasumi is a slender, physically-fit and petite teenage girl of average height. She was designed to appear "soft" (based on the idea that Dead or Alive is softer in concept compared to Ninja Gaiden, thus making her symbolic to the series) so she was originally designed with a round face small facial features, and wide brown eyes. For Dead or Alive 5, her design was altered slightly, so she now has a oval-shaped face and narrower eyes.

Originally, her waist-length hair appeared to be a dark brown color. However, since Dead or Alive 2, Kasumi's hair has lightened over the years to a copper shade. Today, her hair style is not fixed into one or two fashions like the other girls, as she now possesses four styles to choose from: loose, a low ponytail, a high ponytail tied with a long yellow ribbon, or a low braid tied with yellow bows.

She is usually seen in her trademark outfit: a blue, side-tie dress with short puffy sleeves, white trim, her name (written in Japanese) stitched in yellow on the back, and a light-colored bird pattern on the skirt, complete with stockings, knee-high boots and arm-guards. As well as this outfit - and variations of said outfit - Kasumi sports other shinobi costumes. She also has modern, casual clothes, and Japanese school uniforms, suited for average, everyday girls. No matter what she wears, Kasumi is usually wearing feminine gear, such as skirts, and girly colors, like pink.

Personality
Kasumi is portrayed throughout the Dead or Alive series as a more compassionate character than any of the other fighters. She is an honorable 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. Much of the reasoning behind this comes from the fact that in all appearances in the tournaments (with the exception of the first) her motive was not to fight or win, but to meet Hayate. However she is capable of killing in cold blood, as demonstrated when she defeated and killed Raidou. Although, she is innocent and meek. Kasumi is shown to be a "soft" character and is not afraid to speak her mind and has a keen mind. Also as a soft person, she is emotional, honest, and always helps people. She is highly intelligent as a ninja. Kasumi is caring and a positive person.

However in Dead or Alive 5, on the last chapter of story mode, Kasumi's personality has changed drastically. She's still the caring person that she is, however, Kasumi is shown to be mentally stronger. She is shown to engage in battle when she needs to instead of avoiding it. An example of this is shown when she engage in a fight with Christie, who was in her way, preventing her to proceed further. She also has a much stronger will as she was ready to destroy the Phase 4 project and willing to defeat Victor Donovan at any cost. She is seen to be much happier as well and is finally at peace with both Hayate and Ayane.

She is demonstrably family orientated and would like nothing more than to return home in peace. There were instances where she refused to show mercy though, as seen when she willingly goes to look for Raidou in the first game, fighting her clone in the second game, and also when facing Helena when the woman had almost shot her.

Etymology
The kanji used to spell Kasumi's name (霞) means "Mist", a light fog. Mist and fog are often used as a symbol of isolation and loneliness, maybe alluding to Kasumi's isolation from her clan, forced to live alone. Mist can also represent unclear thinking, possibly reflecting Kasumi's personality who, as a compassionate, empathetic character, is powered by emotion and will react by her feeling rather than think things through first, such as her leave from her clan to take revenge for Hayate.

Mist could also be a physical link to her; just as mist cannot be easily contained, Kasumi has also been proven to be hard to "contain" and be captured by the clan's assassins and has been able to avoid them for a long time.

Finally, mist can be a symbol of the indeterminate phase in development, when things have yet to be                               defined. As she is a runaway shinobi, Kasumi could be seen as living in an indeterminate state, unsure if tomorrow will bring her death or good fortune.

Hayate
Hayate is Kasumi's older brother. Hayate was a very protective and understanding brother to Kasumi, so they had a close brother/sister relationship. After Hayate was injured by Raidou, Kasumi sought revenge on Raidou for what he did to her dear brother, seeking to restore his honor. They have a very strong bond, even as Hayate becomes the leader of the Mugen Tenshin Clan and Kasumi becomes a runaway shinobi. Hayate will never harm Kasumi himself but he will not speak to her out of the shame he feels over Kasumi's abandonment. Still, no matter what, Hayate and Kasumi will always be loyal to each other.

In Dead or Alive 5, Kasumi and Hayate seem to be on better terms with each other, as they work together to stop Phase 4 of Donovan's Alpha plan.

Ayane
Ayane is Kasumi's younger half-sister. Kasumi's mother, Ayame, was raped by Raidou, thus conceiving Ayane. Kasumi and Ayane had a close relationship as friends when they were kids. However, their friendship turned to bitter rivalry when Ayane learned about her true heritage. Ayane was consumed with jealousy over the fact that Kasumi was treated like a princess, while she was treated like an outcast and the clan's "cursed child." After Kasumi left the village to find Raidou, Ayane was sent to kill her. Although it seems the hatred was one-sided from Ayane, as Kasumi was never intentionally mean or cruel to Ayane, and only fought her when it was absolutely necessary; in some games, before fighting Ayane, Kasumi may ask "Why?", questioning the reasons for their battle.

However, there are some signs that they still care for each other. It is possible that their rivalry is over, or at least weakened, as displayed when Ayane stops Kasumi from trying to save Helena during the fourth tournament, as the attempt likely would have ended in Kasumi's death. Also, in Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, Kasumi and Ayane seem to have started to develop a more friendly relationship with each other. Also, in Dead or Alive: Dimensions, when Ayane attacks Raidou and easily knocks her down, Kasumi rushes to her aid and helps her up, though Ayane seemed hardly affected by this.

In Dead or Alive 5, Kasumi and Ayane are finally at peace, as both sisters smile at each other instead of killing one another. When Ayane prevents Kasumi from joining her fight with Hayate against Alpha-152, Kasumi silently grants her request. She also gives back Ayane's kunai at the end.

Ryu Hayabusa
Ryu is good friends with Kasumi, just like how he is with Hayate. Ryu promised Hayate that he would protect Kasumi at all costs. Even though she broke the Mugen Tenshin laws and became a runaway shinobi, Ryu still kept his promise and still watches over Kasumi, as he is one of her only ninja allies not burdened by the clan’s laws. In Dead or Alive 5, it is presumed that it is Ryu who has Muramasa watch over Kasumi.

Helena Douglas
Kasumi seems to be friendly with Helena, and seems to understand the pain that Helena must be going through. However, when Helena tries to kill Kasumi, it is one of the few times that Kasumi has no mercy for Helena. Even so, she still tried to stop Helena from committing suicide, which would have resulted in her death had Ayane not stopped her, showing that she still cares for Helena. After fourth tournament, she and Helena have been more friendly and understanding relationship with each other.

Raidou
Raidou was Kasumi's uncle; he was the older brother of Shiden, Kasumi's father. Kasumi defeated and killed Raidou in the first DOA tournament as revenge for causing Hayate’s then comatose and paraplegic state. This was the only time that Kasumi showed pure hatred and cruelty toward another person.

Muramasa
During Dead or Alive 5, Muramasa watches over Kasumi while her ninja brethren are fighting Donovan and his MIST organization. It's possible that this is a request from Ryu for Muramasa to watch over her. But whatever the reason. Muramasa takes care of Kasumi like she was his daughter.

Dead or Alive
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. However, in the later games, she became a pressure character, focusing more on extremely fast attacks and great interrupters to keep the opponent constantly on the defense.

But as of Dead or Alive 5, Kasumi seems to focus more on her teleportation abilities and can now teleport in between certain moves, with many of her new moves seeming to reflect her ninpo skills, often having sakura petals surround her.

Dead or Alive Xtreme
Kasumi can easily be befriended as anyone's volleyball partner, and vice versa if playing as Kasumi, except with Ayane, who will not become friends with her very easily.

In beach volleyball, Kasumi is a weakling; she can't spike the ball as hard as everyone else and, because of her stature, she will often be knocked down by stronger players, such as Helena, Hitomi or Tina Armstrong. However, while not the most powerful girl, she does have great technique that can be helpful, is a great jumper, good in defense, and quite quick on her feet.

She is best suited playing as defense for Hitomi, or Tina, who both lack the speed Kasumi has, and acts as a balance with their strength. For a team with great speed, and aim, teaming-up with Ayane is ideal, but keep in mind that neither of them are very strong.

Dead or Alive Series

 * Dead or Alive (1996 - 1998)
 * Dead or Alive 2 (1999 - 2000)
 * Dead or Alive 3 (2001 - 2002)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (2003)
 * Dead or Alive Ultimate (2004 - 2005)
 * Dead or Alive 4 (2005 - 2006)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (2006)
 * Girls of DOA BlackJack (2009)
 * Dead or Alive Paradise (2010)
 * Dead or Alive: Dimensions (2011)
 * Dead or Alive 5 (2012)

DOA: Dead or Alive
In the non-canonical 2006 feature film DOA: Dead or Alive, Kasumi is portrayed by Devon Aoki, and bares a cold personality, as opposed to her calm and compassionate nature in the games.

In the movie, she runs away from her clan to find her brother Hayate, who had been missing for a year, and was invited to the Dead or Alive Tournament. Victor Donovan told her that Hayate died during last year's tournament by Leon's hand. However, shortly after she fights Leon and wins, she has serious doubts that Hayate could have died from facing Leon. In the end, she got to go home with her brother despite being a runaway shinobi. Throughout the movie, she and Ryu have shown to have romantic feelings for each other.

Girls of DOA BlackJack
There is a Kasumi version of the game Girls of DOA BlackJack of the, in which she acts as the Blackjack dealer. She is not voiced in the game and her animation is limited but the player can unlock different costumes for her with their winnings, as well as pictures of her which can be used as backgrounds for the iPhone.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma II
Kasumi makes a cameo appearance in Ninja Gaiden Sigma II, appearing to be watching as Ayane fights the Spider Ninja Clan witch Obaba and reappearing at the end of the game with Ryu Hayabusa. Some fans believe that this could be a hint that Kasumi will become an active character in the Ninja Gaiden series, or even appear as a playable character in a future game but Team Ninja has not said anything to support this claim.

Queen's Blade
Kasumi has appeared as a playable character in the visual combat books series,, published by. Her player book is part of the sub-series Queen's Gate which, unlike the rest of the series which features original characters, uses licensed characters from video games and anime series, such as Lili from Tekken, and from . The overall plot of the Queen's Gate:Spiral Chaos game revolves around an interdimensional gate colliding dimensions and fighters joining together to destroy the evil and get everyone back to thier home. Her gallery can be viewed here.

Bijin Tokei
To celebrate the release of Dead or Alive Paradise, Kasumi was featured as a place card girl on the Bijin Tokei iPhone digital clock application, from the 1st April to April 30th, 2010. She appeared at random times at least 10 times throughout the day, holding a placard with the current time written upon it.

Monster Rancher
Kasumi appeared as a playable "Sprite monster" in ' and ', games that are also produced by Tecmo. She must be unlocked by going to the Shrine and inserting the first Dead or Alive CD in the disc tray in Monster Rancher 2, and the Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore disc in Monster Rancher 4. Although the sprite is Kasumi, it has much shorter hair compared to her, tied into a spiky ponytail, and the skirt of the dress is shorter. The sprite also sports a pair of feathery white wings.

As a tie-in with Dead or Alive: Dimensions, the sprite Kasumi will be made available in a limited time event for Tecmo's Japan only mobile game, Hyakku-mon nin no Monster Farm.

Nobunyaga no Yabou: Cat or Alive
Nobunyaga no Yabou, or Nobunyaga's Ambition, is a browser-based social game produced by Tecmo Koei. It is presented as a "cuter", more light-hearted incarnation of Nobunaga's Ambition, a more serious alternative history RPG series, with the added twist of recasting the whole cast as cats.

As a April Fool's joke in 2012, a fake announcement for Cat or Alive, a crossover with Dead or Alive was created. A headline banner for the Nobunyaga no Yabou website was published, showing a render of Ginchiyo Tachibana, a character from the series, dressed up as Kasumi. The banner was taken down the next day.

In 2011, there was a similar April Fool's joke made with a fake announcement for a crossover with Ninja Gaiden, entitled Nyanja Gaiden.

Outfit Usages
Kasumi’s signature blue outfit is an unlock-able costume for Arin in ' and '. In the 2004 survival horror  for the, the outfit also appears as an alternative outfit for Mio Amakura, one of the game’s two protagonists.

Dead Fantasy
Also see: Kasumi on Dead Fantasy Wiki

Kasumi appears as a combatant in Monty Oum's fan-made CG movie series Dead Fantasy, where cast members of the Dead or Alive franchise fight cast members from the Final Fantasy franchise.

She fights with her wakizashi sword, utilizing her Tenjin Mon style and ninpo abilities to battle the Final Fantasy cast. Her main opponent is Yuna from Final Fantasy X. As of the fifth episode, Kasumi is with Ryu Hayabusa and Momiji, who are most likely getting aid for the wounds she recieved from her battle with the Kasumi Alpha clones.

Oum has also made two music videos that Kasumi features in: Dead Fantasy - Obsessed to 's Obsessed and Dead Fantasy - Gee with the song  by.

Musical Themes

 * Ketsui No Toki - Dead or Alive (Ultimate 1)
 * Ketsui No Toki ~pie-02 Mix~ - Dead or Alive (1998)
 * Hitohira -Reminiscent of Ketsui No Toki - Dead or Alive 2 (Ultimate 2) and Dead or Alive: Dimensions
 * Glorious Victory - Dead or Alive 2 (Ultimate 2) Ending Theme
 * Eternity - Dead or Alive 3
 * The Moon Leads Her To... - Dead or Alive 3 Ending Theme
 * Purity - Dead or Alive 4
 * Now and Forever - Dead or Alive 4 Ending Theme

Trivia

 * Kasumi is Tomonobu Itagaki's favorite character in the series.
 * Kasumi's biggest trademarks are the that blow in the wind around her, her, and her blue ninja outfit.
 * Kasumi has been ranked numerous times in many countdown lists created by game-based publications:
 * Ranked #3 on TeamXbox's "Top Ten Xbox Babes" list in 2004.
 * In the 2005 TV show , Kasumi won in the category "Dressed to Kill."
 * IGN featured her in their "Videogame Babe of the Day" series in 2006.
 * Ranked #38 on The Age newspapers's "The Top 50 Xbox Characters of All Time" list in 2008.
 * Ranked #8 on GameDaily's "Top 50 Hottest Game Babes" list in 2008.
 * Ranked #1 on VG Chartz's "Hottest Videogame Babes" list in 2009.
 * Ranked #3 on UGO Networks's "Top 50 Videogame Hotties" list in 2010.
 * The reason Kasumi, Ayane, Eliot, and Kokoro do not have listed ages in western versions of the Dead or Alive games from the original Dead or Alive to Dead or Alive 4 is because they were under 18 years old. Tecmo decided to give them undefined ages to avoid the risk of a moral backlash from western countries.
 * Kasumi's hair was white on the cover of the North American PlayStation release of the first Dead or Alive.
 * Kasumi is the only character in the series to still retain two of her default costumes since the first game. Her blue ninja costume and white ninja costume have appeared in all of the Dead or Alive games in the main series.
 * In Dead or Alive 4, her occupation was changed from a Runaway Shinobi to an Exiled Ninja. This could imply that since Hayate couldn't kill her when he defeated her, he informally sentenced her to life of exile, hoping to keep her alive.
 * Along with Jann Lee and Leifang, and Ayane and Hayate (since Hayate was Ein in Dead or Alive 2), Kasumi and Ryu Hayabusa have been default tag partners throughout the series.
 * Team Ninja stated that Kasumi was the hardest character to remodel for Dead or Alive 5, as she was the face of the Dead or Alive series.
 * Kasumi is the only character to have three chapters in Dead or Alive 5's story mode. It should be noted, however, that her first two chapters are about her clone. Also, Hayate, Ayane, and Ryu Hayabusa are also playable in her final one.
 * In the Official Dead or Alive 5 game guide, Kasumi's birthday is listed as February 3rd instead of February 23rd. This is most likely to be an error or a misprint.