Kagari Izuriha

Kagari Izuriha (出灰カガリ Izuriha Kagari) is a character in the 2012 Black★Rock Shooter anime. Her other self is Chariot.

Appearance
Kagari is a girl with long, messy blond hair and hazel brown eyes. She wears a white sleeping gown. She was thought to be permanently bound to a wheelchair, despite having no actual physical disabilities. After the death of Chariot, she starts walking again. She is associated with a particular doll with brown, curly hair.

When she starts going to school, she wears the school uniform, with her hair tied with a pink ribbon in a side ponytail and clipped in the back of her hair. She is approximately 157-160cm tall.

Personality
Yomi's childhood friend. She was thought to be permanently bound to a wheelchair and thus did not attend school. Yomi seems to be very afraid of her, but continues to communicate with her and allow her into her house.

She is unable to become friends with Mato and hates her. She is also very fond of macarons. Her obsession with Yomi is extremely possessive, and she forbids Yomi from making any friends, declaring that Yomi is "hers", and demanding that Yomi "take responsibility". According to the second episode, she has been devoted like this to Yomi ever since they were small children and was broken when Yomi went overseas for a few years due to her father's job. She is not subtle about her like or dislike of someone, offering Mato what she calls the "dirty colors" of her macarons and giving her an ugly doll. She has a doll named Mary, which she sometimes talks to. The second episode reveals that she is not actually disabled, but she seems to have caused herself to believe that she is. She also has a fear of the outside world.

After she started to walk again, she becomes a girl that excels in academics and has a lot of friends. As a result of having her Other Self killed, she forgot most of her relationship with Yomi and aims to become independent of Yomi's attention as well.

History
When she and Yomi were small children, they were close friends, and Kagari was extremely devoted to Yomi. However, Yomi had to move away for a few years overseas due to her father's work, and when they were driving away, Kagari chased after her on foot, only to get run over by a car. Though doctors could not find anything physically wrong with her, Kagari still could not walk.

The Caged Little Bird
Kagari has been staying at the Takanashi Residence for some time, and has been the only person Yomi talks to, which was personally requested by Kagari. She is responsible for Yomi's lack of friends, and when Mato visits Yomi, she gave her a rude reception, feeding her "dirty-colored" macarons. Mato tries to make friends with her, but she despises her, giving her an ugly doll as a present and, talking to her doll, Mary, telling Mato to "go home." The experience heavily scars Mato. That night, Yomi talks to Kagari on the cup-and-rope phone, with which Kagari reminds her that she should not make friends, and that Yomi is hers and that she must "take responsibility."

As the summer festival arrives, Kagari's grip on Yomi's life continues to tighten when she prohibits Yomi from going to the festival; as a result, Yomi is forced to apologize to Mato throughout the night. Yomi would soon show some resistance against her wishes and, to prove a point, Kagari carves in a heart-shaped scar on her chest using one of Yomi's crochet needles, promising her that she will carve the pain out of her heart.

Mato, despite her fear of meeting Kagari again, soon visits the Takanashi Residence, and Kagari, in response, threatens to jump off the stairs, pointing out that Yomi is responsible for whatever happens to her. Despite Yomi's pleas to stop, Kagari throws herself off the stairs. Kagari was taken to the hospital shortly after the incident.

Kagari only sustained a twisted wrist, but she claims that her arm is unusable and Yomi will have to do everything for her. Meanwhile, Mato, who also visited Kagari at the hospital, tries to reach Yomi. This causes Kagari to fly into a rage, yelling at her and Yomi. Soon, Yomi realizes that Kagari is only pitiful because Yomi has made her pitiful, and Yomi begs Kagari to come out of the house, befriend her and Mato, go to school, and stop with the wheelchair. Kagari protests against Yomi's request, saying that she can't go outside; however, she suddenly stops at the moment when Black★Rock Shooter beheads Chariot, and when Mato comes in, Kagari looks at her and smiles. She then promptly falls over and Mato and Yomi find that she is sleeping.

A New Kagari
Kagari quickly recovers from her hand injury and immediately goes to school after. On the first day of her attendance in school, Kagari quickly made some friends and soon became popular at school.

Kagari later tells Yomi that she will be joining the cooking club as making sweets has gained her interest. This surprises Yomi, who knows that Kagari hasn't been with anyone except for her for a long time, but before she could explain herself, Kagari was whisked away by her new friends. Meanwhile, Kagari turns to Mato as she plans to give Yomi something for what she did for her sake.

Days passed and Kagari becomes more and more immersed in time with her new friends and less interested with interacting with Yomi, causing her friendship with Yomi to slowly deteriorate. During this period, Kagari once went to school with Mato instead, leaving behind Yomi who was unusually late. Yomi barely makes it time and scolds Kagari for leaving her behind, but Kagari's friends were there to protect her, saying that it is no longer any of her business.

At a rainy day, Kagari visits Yomi and brings her a gift of cookies. Yomi asks her what they are for and Kagari states that she has very little recollection of them being friends and that the cookies signify them parting. This causes Yomi to drop the cookies and go into an episode of hysteria for the next couple of days. Kagari, on the other hand, is seen living her normal days off in school. She is somewhat upset when Yomi cuts her hair in class, but states that she is unsure of why and brushes it off.

The Unseen Battle
After Mato and Yuu enter the Otherworld, both Kagari and Yomi begin to regain their memories and Kagari collapses in the classroom, complaining that she "feels pain". Kagari later apologizes to Yomi for ever forgetting her and they become friends once more. Kagari, along with Yuu, Mato, and Yomi are seen visiting Saya for coffee and hanging out on the roof of the school.

Trivia

 * Kagari was originally seen with her school uniform design on the official website prior to the anime's start, with her calm demeanor, somewhat implying that she would eventually return to school as she did in Episode 4. Within a few days, the website design changed to the one in her bedclothes.
 * Kagari, even though not in her intentions, causes Yomi to break down, which leads to her forgetting Mato.
 * She is voiced by Eri Kitamura, the singer and actress who was the voice provider of CUL, a VOCALOID3 voicebank.
 * In episodes 1 to 2, her eyes seem lifeless, lacking any reflection of light. After Chariot is defeated by BRS, her eyes become full of life, now having a reflection of light in them.
 * Given her wealthy lifestyle, it is of no surprise Yomi's family received the money needed for them to remain back here within her neighborhood. While this does not justify her cruel treatment later on in the series, it does give her fanbase a reason not to hate her entirely because it was a kind thing to do for Yomi's parents.

Gallery

 * Full article: Kagari Izuriha/Gallery