Karin Takakura

Karin Takakura (高倉 花梨, Takakura Karin) is the main protagonist in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 2. She is the player's character for the story. Her name and birthday can be changed to the player's preferences in the game, but she will be known by her default name in official media.

Role in Games
Karin is a student at Maple High School within the modern world. As she was returning home one day with her friends, she spots a maple leaf as it falls on her hands. The leaf signals her link to the White Dragon, who immediately transports her into a heavenly realm and dons her as his priestess. After she answers to the dragon god's questions, he requests that she save the capital and teleports her to the Loophole of Time.

Her trip to the parallel world is interrupted midway due to her weak link to her dragon deity. A bewildered Karin is guided by Akram to her proper destination, falling to the frail capital. Her appearance resembles a comet by its inhabitants. Karin tries to navigate her new surroundings and inevitably meets Motomi. Before he can understand her sudden appearance, Yukarihime and Misono offer their services to Karin. During the confusion, a vengeful spirit emerges to attack them and she fights together with her guardian to defeat it. Karin faints due to suffering a negative distortion and awakens within the twin's mansion.

After she learns the current state of the parallel world, Karin decides to restore peace to the split capital. She does so by defeating vengeful spirits and purifying defilements in every section of the land. Though she starts as a fragile priestess, Karin's steadfast efforts to unite the depraved population skyrockets her reputation and powers. Both the Emperor and the Retired Emperor accept her as the Priestess of the Dragon God after she and her guardians save them from malevolent spirits. The common folk are beginning to hope for the future again. To counter her movements, however, Chitose casts a barrier around the capital to stop time.

Believing that the barrier is impeding the restoration of peace and the Five Elements, Karin and her guardians break each barrier. As the final one crumbles, Karin and company confront Chitose and Misono to stop them from resurrecting further vengeful spirits. Akram shows his true colors when both parties corner one another and wounds Chitose. Her blood is the final ingredient for summoning the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. Learning that they were tricked, Karin's party tries to subdue the evil force. However, they cannot defeat the horde by themselves and are overwhelmed. Both priestesses refuse to surrender to despair, and Chitose entrusts the Black Dragon to Karin. She summons Yinglong and Karin's body is engulfed by the dragons.

For her services, the duo dragon gods will grant three of her wishes. Her first wish is to eradicate every nefarious spirit from the capital, while her second wish is to extend Yinglong's protection throughout the parallel world. After making her third wish to return home, Karin disappears. She returns to the modern world at the exact moment she left it, her priestess powers being completely spent. Karin thinks fondly of the parallel world she helped save and swears to always remember the people she met.

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de ~ Yume no Ukihashi takes place about one month after Karin's arrival in the parallel world. As she sleeps one night, her spirit is sucked into the Heavenly Realm where she meets priestess and guardians from two different eras. Although the events they experience within this reality is a forgettable dream, Karin and the other priestesses trust they will someday meet one another again.

Alternate Fates
The player may choose to alter the game's ending by interacting with other characters. If Karin has high ties with them and successfully finished their events, she will use her third wish for them.


 * If the character is a guardian, she will use her third wish to return to him. She may then choose to live in the parallel world or have him accompany her to the modern world.
 * Karin uses her final wish to restore Yukarihime or Chitose's happiness before returning to her world.
 * Karin uses her final wish to rescue Akram from annihilation. She may choose to wander the parallel world together with him or return to her home without him.

Development
Tohko Mizuno designed Karin with the attempts of personifying a "chipper and energetic" girl. Karin's bright bob-cut hairstyle and her long, flowing sleeves were made to follow this concept. She was one of the characters with the least amount of roughs and retakes. Tohko believes she did a better job of designing Karin than she did the previous protagonist, Akane.

Personality
The player can alter Karin's personality to an extent, either choosing to have her act confident or withdrawn in her new surroundings. She may be a kind person who believes in each person's qualities. At her worst, she may be a close-minded and forgetful person whose only concern is going back home. Karin's overall responses during the game's story events remain on the positive end.

Despite being confused with her surroundings and being ostracized by most people near her, Karin is friendly and courteous to anyone she meets. Blowing customs and pretenses of status to the wind, she acts as she would in the modern world. If she happens to offend someone with her "outrageous behavior", Karin genuinely apologizes. Though she may need some time to consider her choices, she strongly believes in whatever goal she sets for herself. Ultimately driven by her desire to help others, even those who proclaim themselves her enemies, Karin may rush headfirst into danger to rescue them. Karin believes that everyone can understand one another, as long there is a chance for both parties to express their side of the story.

She doesn't hold a grudge against those who don't believe in her, since she didn't accept herself as a priestess either. As an outsider to the parallel world's current strife, she believes in staying cheerful through thick and thin. Thinking that their grief is temporary, Karin thinks they should hope and work for a better future together. Her dreams solidify her priestess powers and strengthens her fierce will to help the capital. Karin forms the selfless desire to use her priestess powers to save anyone who is suffering.

While she maybe a healthy girl, Karin has a bit of a sweet tooth and likes to indulge herself with various desserts. She remarked that she once had a cavity from eating too many sweets. Karin also fears taking English tests, although her confession only befuddles an inquiring Yasustugu.

Character Symbolism
Karin's symbolic flower is the dandelion. Within the flower language the flower is tied to a legendary love story. There was once a young girl with luxurious blond hair waited patiently for her beloved within a grassland plains. She stuck to her regime everyday until her hair suddenly paled, her locks of hair whithering to be elderly. Ashamed by her new appearance before her lover, the girl fled from the fields and never returned. It's due to this story that the flower is associated with sincere romance and partings.

The flower's method of dispersing its seeds has lead to the flower also symbolizes someone who acts on their own will or masks their true self before others. Dandelions are sometimes used in telling romantic fortunes as a sign of warning someone of their partner's feelings.

Japan calls the flower "tanpopo". Its modern spelling today is taken from the Chinese name for it (蒲公英). During the Edo Period, dandelions were instead called "tsuzumi kusa" (鼓草). The flower's shape was said to have resembled a hand drum's appearance, especially once it lost all of its seeds. It has also been said that the shape of the dandelion's petals personifies the sounds the drum makes when played ("tan" for hitting towards the rim and "popo" for hitting the centre of the drum). The drum was used in several musical plays and folklore including those performed before royalty. Various deities or spirits often appear within these tales and are signaled to the stage with the sounding of a drum. As such the flower has been known to represent divine revelations or divine messages of love (for the dandelion's seeds).

Quotes

 * "I don't think I quite understand."
 * "Can I really do it?"
 * "You don't need to force yourself."
 * "Wonder what my family would think if they heard I'm a priestess. I can't imagine it."
 * "I hear a bell. Someone is calling me..."
 * "You want to protect Kyou, don't you? So do I! Why can't we work together?"
 * "Can't we talk things out?"
 * "I won't let it end! I can't let it end!"
 * "Answer me, Dragon Gods! Listen to my- our prayers!"
 * "I'll give it a shot!"
 * "Don't worry about me!"
 * "It'll be okay."

Gameplay
Karin has average power and magic capabilities, her weakest power being her defense. She gravely suffers damage from opposing elements, so it's best to keep at least one of her healing talismans in reserve for herself. Try to be friendly to at least one guardian during battle to minimize the amount of damage she receives, since they may volunteer to block normal attacks from hitting her. Karin's normal attacks are decent, but her strong point is her magical capabilities. She immediately increases her bonds with the guardians she uses magic with, and the spells are powerful counters to an enemy's attacks.

If the player's party is suffering from enemy hits, Karin is the only character capable of healing their wounds. She may choose to serve as backup while her guardians automatically attack. She can shout encouragement to them to boost their willpower for magic. A certain combination of cheers can increase their bond ratings with her.

Her sealing ability is a must for obtaining powerful talismans for her guardians to equip. It's the only way to obtain the Four Gods as well as their respective summoning spell. When a guardian has it in their possession, their stats will increase dramatically.