Yoshino Somei

Infobox animanga character
name = Yoshino Somei
series = Spriggan


caption = Yoshino confronting Yu Ominae and Bowman in Phantom Isle
first = Forest of No Return Arc (Canon) First Mission (Gaiden)
last =
creator = Hiroshi Takashige and Ryōji Minagawa
voiced by =
alias = Sakura Himeno [Also used in the First Mission Gaiden]
age =
born =
nationality = Japanese
occupation = High school student Mercenary Artifact thief
relatives = Unknown Mother (Deceased), Unknown Father (Unknown, possibly deceased)
paux1 name = Affiliations
paux1 =
aux1 name = Weapons
aux1 = GIAT FAMAS F1
IMI Uzi Glock 19
aux2 name = Equipment
aux2 = Hangglider Unknown quantity of explosives
aux3 name = Skills
aux3 = Known expertise in small arms Explosives/Booby trap specialist Necromancer and Mediumship skills used to communicate with dead spirits and control certain monsters Martial arts expert Hangglider usernihongo|"Yoshino Somei"|染井芳乃|"Somei Yoshino" is a fictional character in the manga series Spriggan. A teenaged mercenary, she specializes in hunting down various kinds of out-of-place artifacts from around the globe.

Origin

Born and raised by her single secret agent mother, [There is no information to what happened to her father, it's assumed that he died before the series started] Yoshino's mother was an agent trained in the arts of necromancy and mediumship for an unnamed intelligence agency. [It is possible to suggest that a Western intelligence agency such as the CIA is her employer since early parts of Spriggan were written in the last few years of the Cold War.] Yoshino was soon orphaned after her mother was assassinated by her employers, suggesting that her skills were a potential threat. [Yoshino said that her mother was assassinated because she was "a threat to national security"]

Before Yoshino's mother died, she taught her only daughter everything she knew, including her skills in necromancy and mediumship in order to help her fend for herself. Realizing that she wouldn't like to be caught dead by those who have killed her own mother, Yoshino decides to be a mercenary instead of having a normal life mainly because of the thrill of it as a means of honoring her deceased mother. [Yoshino: "I decided I wasn't going to waste my talents and youth!! So I became a thief! I steal everything those jerks who run things want, and sell 'em for a huge profit." (Striker: Volume 3, Striker vs. the Third Reich. Viz Media) - ISBN 978-1569313534.]

Appearances

Non-Canon

Her first appearance was in the one shot story Spriggan: First Mission, where Yoshino had infiltrated a Machiner's Platoon research center in Japan disguised as a civilian staff member under the alias "Sakura Himeno" in order to obtain the Megiddo Flame, which was recently taken by Machiner's Platoon soldiers from archaeologists in the Middle East. She encountered Yu Ominae when he tossed a skeleton knife at an area where he taught an armed soldier was hiding; it was later discovered that Yoshino was hiding in a corner nearby to hide from the gunfire.

After waiting for Yu to defeat Humming Bat, Yoshino gassed him after he took the Megiddo Flame from the building's control room. Though she had the artifact with him, Yu was able to recover from the effects of the gas and forced her to hand over the Megiddo Flame to him.

At the end of the mission, the two see other again. But this time in school uniforms.

Canon

Yoshino first made her appearance in the Forest of No Return chapter, seen trying to steal the Rama sculpture. Lost in the cursed forest with Yu Ominae after pissing him off for doing a stunt. [Yu scolded her for trying to steal the sculpture since she tried to swing her way towards the makeshift altar, losing her grip on the rope.] , the two eventually were forced to join forces Iwao Akatsuki, forcing the trio to eliminate the curse that was responsible for making the forest full of horrific demons that prey on humans. During an operation to acquire the Holy Grail, she nearly lost her life when she was critically injured from a gunshot wound. Her life was saved by the Adolf Hitler clone's good personality before it was overwhelmed by his evil personality later on.

Yoshino again teamed up with Yu to investigate Phantom Island to locate out-of-place artifacts, but instead got into a fight with Trident agent Bowman, who happened to be Yu's ex-Spriggans combat instructor. The two once again escaped their fate of disappearing with the island when Phantom Island disappeared once again under a space/time continuum. Yoshino then continues to fight alongside Yu and sometimes, Oboro and other ARCAM staff members in Thailand, Japan and eventually, the South Pole where she was "recruited" to harness the power hidden from the South Pole Shrine before she used her necromancy powers to sabotage Trident's operations in the region.

Character

Yoshino is mainly in the mercenary business in order to sell acquired out-of-place artifacts to the highest bidder, making people think that she happens to be a greedy, selfish and avaricious person. On the other hand, she appears to be an average high school girl who enjoys teasing Yu at every opportunity that Yoshino can throw at him ever since their first encounter in the Forest of No Return. [The Forest of No Return encounter is considered if the First Mission one shot story were to be disregarded.]

However, she has some reservation about the ARCAM Corporation since they're in the way to prevent her from acquiring out-of-place artifacts. She thinks of other out-of-place artifacts-hunting organizations like the Trident Corporation as players in the same game that ARCAM does, which does not suit well for Yu, who was defending ARCAM's prestige against her. [ Yoshino: "I see. So they're an ARCAM copycat."
Yu: "Don't mention us in the same breath as those bastards! We're not weapons merchants." (Striker: Volume 2 - The Forest of No Return. - Viz Media) - ISBN 978-1569312902.]

References

ee also

* Yu Ominae
* Tea Flatte
* Holy Grail