- "Alright! I will do my best!"
- —Honoka in Dead or Alive 6
Honoka is a young student and self-taught martial artist, who made her debut in the 2015 title Dead or Alive 5 Last Round.
She later becomes an important character in Dead or Alive 6 due to her connection to Raidou.
Honoka is the daughter of Raidou, the biological niece of Shiden and Ayame, the cousin of both Hayate and Kasumi and the cousin and half-sister of Ayane.
History[]
Early life[]
Full details of her early life are unknown, other than that her mother conceived her with the infamous ninja exile Raidou around five months prior to his raping Ayame, which also resulted in the conception of her half-sister Ayane. She ended up being raised by her grandmother since her birth.
The Fifth Tournament[]
Honoka acted as a participant in the fifth tournament. She had gotten as far as the second match of the fifth division of the Asian qualifiers when her secret powers kicked in, releasing a burst of energy from her right hand that caused her opponent, Thomas Blake, to be knocked over, leaving both with minor injuries and interrupting the match. She was disqualified as a result, and Honoka herself was left with no memory of the incident. It was this event in particular that piqued Victor Donovan's faction of DOATEC, MIST's interest in her.
Arrival at New Zack Island[]
Honoka won a raffle (although it is implied that Zack had been involved ensuring in her win, as she mentions that she recognized the guy who gave her the winning ticket to the island from somewhere), and although hesitant due to it meaning leaving her grandmother behind, she ultimately went to the island for two weeks.
On the last day, she talked with her "friend", Mr. Moo, about how she had several firsts during her vacation and expressed interest in taking another trip, before making sure to thank the Owner for their hospitality during her time on the island.
The Sixth Tournament[]
Due to her similarities to Raidou, Honoka is wanted by MIST to complete Raidou's revival. Thus Helena orders Marie Rose to protect Honoka. Ayane, too, is assigned to keep an eye on her. After Marie Rose and Honoka meet, they are attacked by a pterodactyl in Lost Paradise. Marie Rose dodges the attack, impressing Honoka enough for her to decide to have a friendly fight with her. Although Honoka was defeated, she is able to copy Marie Rose's dodging moves, with Ayane observing in the distance. At some point later, Honoka ended up doing something that concerned Marie Rose enough that she was forced to prematurely end a scheduled report to Helena in an attempt to stop her.
She later meets Eliot as he is reading his scroll from his master, Gen Fu. She was curious enough to try and read it but was stopped by Marie Rose for being too close to Eliot. She challenges him to a fight and uses his master's stance, but it is unknown who won the fight. She later encounters Leifang and after recognizing her style as taiji quan, challenges her to a fight. Leifang refers to Honoka as "an airhead" but fights her due to her curiosity of Honoka. Honoka wins the fight.
Honoka later finds the runner up to the fifth tournament, Hitomi, about to train for the current tournament, and despite Marie Rose trying to stop her from butting in on her training, requests that they spar since she plans on entering the tournament as well. Hitomi accepts, although she makes clear she won't hold back. Hitomi wins the encounter, although Honoka is nonetheless satisfied and politely thanks her by bowing and vowing to train harder.
She later watches Bass and Tina fight and even attempts to mimic the latter. Upon Tina defeating her father, she notices Honoka and invites her up for a round, with Honoka eagerly accepting. Tina bests Honoka in battle and Honoka remarks on Tina's strength. Tina offers her another match in the future before continuing to fight her father. Unbeknownst to everyone, however, Ayane and Hayate observe this from the rafters, and are shocked at Honoka's ability to perfectly copy other fighters, which they've only seen once before.
Ayane subsequently ambushes Honoka and proceeds to fight her. Marie Rose scolds Ayane for hurting Honoka, but Ayane simply acknowledges that her abilities were indeed what she suspected. Afterwards, Honoka directed Marie Rose to a confectionary shop and implied that a ninja often frequented there before admitting she had been joking. Unbeknownst to her, however, said ninja, Kasumi, was present and had overheard them. Ayane later ambushes them again, intending to take Honoka into custody, and is forced to fight Marie Rose. Unfortunately, after Ayane defeated Marie Rose, both realize that Honoka has been abducted by Christie during their fight.
Resisting Christie, Honoka breaks her bonds and insists she be let free. After a hard fight, Christie, manages to subdue her. She is then placed in the machine next to Raidou. However, not even her powers are enough to revive Raidou, forcing NiCO to find Raidou's other offspring, Ayane. Christie then uses Honoka's confiscated cell-phone to send a text to Marie Rose (who tried calling her multiple times out of panic), knowing full well that Ayane is in the same vicinity.
After Ayane is captured trying to rescue Honoka, both girls are forced by NiCO to revive Raidou. Honoka is later about to be "disposed of" by NiCO with the help of Phase 4 clones, but Hayate manages to rescue her, while Kasumi is forced to fight a brainwashed Ayane. Honoka, according to Hayate, ultimately survives the ordeal, although with severe enough injuries that she is left unconscious.[1] She is then left with Marie Rose, Ryu Hayabusa and Bayman, the latter two vowing to watch over the girls while the others deal with Raidou. Honoka is still unconscious and carried out by Bayman when Helena arrives at the facility.
Arrival at the Venus Islands[]
Sometime later, Honoka won another vacation prize in what was presumably another shopping raffle she participated in when helping her grandma with her groceries. She then pondered upon her luck before deciding she might as well enjoy her vacation to the fullest, although not without feeling slightly guilty for having fun. She eventually met the owner of the island after an accident aboard an inflatable orca on the beach, when the owner helped retrieve her swimwear. She then became his partner in terms of helping with the local Venus Festival as a way to repay him, citing that she has had prior experience with both manning food stands as well as setting up festivals (the latter due to local Japanese festivals).
Character[]
Appearance[]
- See also: Honoka's costumes
Owing to her status as a Japanese schoolgirl, her default outfit consists of a school uniform including a blazer, as well as a glove that has a winking skull and crossbones logo on the back of the hand.
She has light red eyes, similar to her half-sister, and somewhat tanned skin, along with shoulder length salmon pink hair that is tied into a half ponytail on the left side using a ball with the same winking skull and crossbones motif as her glove, or some variation thereof, save for certain DLC costumes like Last Getaway and New Challengers outfit, which use a flower instead. 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. She is also one of the shortest characters in the series (with only NiCO, Marie Rose, Kanna and Luna being shorter than her). It is also implied that her massive bust acted as a hindrance towards her wearing swimwear, having them break off multiple times when trying them on (although Honoka herself seems to believe it's due to her eating a lot).
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 hairband in the former.
Personality[]
Having been raised all her life by her gentle and loving grandmother, she is, in contrast to her father and half-sister, 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. She also gets apologetic and offers to help her opponent up after defeating them, implying that while she does want to test her powers out, she cares for others' well-being and doesn't want to injure people. She believes in helping others, and especially in that doing so nets a reward. However, she isn't above lightly teasing her friends, such as Marie Rose. She also loves to eat, especially during festivals, and has a tendency to overeat during those times.
Honoka is depicted as having a very child-like demeanor (although not to the same extent as Marie Rose). In the Japanese version of Dead or Alive 6 and Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation, Honoka, similar to Marie Rose, sometimes refers to herself in the third person, although not nearly to the same extent. She seems to be quite naive and oblivious, irritating other characters at times with her lack of perception. During the sixth tournament, Leifang remarks outright that she thinks Honoka is an airhead. Furthermore, Honoka's naivete was such that Misaki would often screen the photographs Honoka sent to her grandma to make sure she didn't send a risque one, being too naive to tell the difference. However, she does at least seem to be aware of these shortcomings, as she thanked Misaki for helping her stay on track for the first covergirl event, citing her own airheaded nature as why she couldn't have done it otherwise. She also has a habit of forgetting people she has met before, such as Ayane and Zack. She talks to animals as if they are people, greeting a dolphin on New Zack Island 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/Momo (Momo-chan in the Japanese version) as if it is alive, and in Xtreme Venus Vacation has referred to the doll as her "best friend", even sleeping with it when she's away from her grandma. In Warriors All-Stars, she is seen to be quite upset that she doesn't have Mister Moo along with her. Lastly, while proficient with learning various fighting styles, she is not quite as good regarding academics by her own admission. Once, she even requested that Marie Rose tutor her in a subject due to failing a test.
Etymology and Concept[]
The name Honoka is written in hiragana (ほのか), which has no special meaning (though it sometimes translates to "faint"). However, when written in kanji (和花 or 穂香), it could possibly mean:
- 和花 - "harmony, peace" (和) (hono) and "flower, blossom" (花) (ka).
- 穂香 - "grain" (穂) (ho) and "fragrance, fragrant" (香) (ka).
According to Tom Lee around the time of Honoka's debut in Last Round, Honoka was created to fulfill the Japanese audiences' desires for more of the girls (while the other "newcomer" to appear in the game, Raidou, was focused more on the Western audiences).[2] Dead or Alive 6 producer and director Yohei Shimbori stated in an interview relating to the game that Honoka was derived largely from anime tropes, in particular having a youthful face yet a large bust.[3] She was designed by Natsuko Kawanami.[4]
Relationships[]
Marie Rose[]
Honoka & Marie Rose
Honoka is friends with Marie Rose and they share a full Tag Battle partnership. In Xtreme Venus Vacation, they seem to get along well, even napping together during a sleepover. Interestingly, Honoka is one of the few people who Marie Rose doesn't object to treating her like a child. They first meet during the sixth tournament, after Helena orders Marie Rose to watch over Honoka, suspecting that MIST might try and use the powers Honoka possesses for worse ends. During her travels with Honoka, Marie Rose doesn't leave her side and both form a strong bond. Marie Rose cares very deeply for Honoka, although Honoka is mostly oblivious to her company. She does nonetheless value her as a friend, as when captured by Christie, she worked up the courage to fight her way out, citing that Marie Rose needed her.
Raidou[]
Honoka shares a mysterious connection with Raidou. Both have the ability to copy moves from other fighters merely from sight. They also both have a mysterious red misty energy. 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.
In Dead or Alive 6 it is revealed that Honoka is indeed Raidou's daughter, and she is targeted by MIST to aid in an experiment to revive him. All Star Warriors implies that Raidou played absolutely no role in raising her when she was born, as she admits to Kasumi (who suspected Raidou was the father) that she doesn't even know who her father was.
Ayane[]
In Dead or Alive 6, Ayane secretly observes Honoka and becomes suspicious of her powers. She then ambushed Honoka and tested her abilities. Although Ayane won, she nonetheless became certain that Honoka had Raidou's powers. She later attempted to stop Honoka, but she unwittingly ended up getting her captured by MIST while distracted with fighting Marie Rose. NiCO later revealed that Ayane and Honoka are half-sisters, thus the reason for using them for Raidou's resurrection. It's safe to say that Ayane cares for her newly found sister as she reaches out for her before yelling out Raidou's name.
Although ultimately caring deeply for her half-sister, Honoka's friendly attitude to Ayane has at times annoyed her, as she admitted during her birthday celebration on the Venus Islands (though she makes clear that in spite of this, she's glad Honoka attended). Honoka and Ayane also worked together alongside Kasumi for a special school event, where they wore the Hanzo National Academy school uniforms. While Honoka does care for Ayane, she is not above getting into arguments with her half-sister, which was evident during the third anniversary, where the pair got into an argument in front of the Owner over a comment Ayane made regarding Honoka's enormous appetite, which resulted in Honoka accidentally bump-checking the Owner into the pool.
Kasumi[]
While Kasumi and Honoka don‘t have many noteworthy interactions in the main series, they do interact in the crossover Warriors All-Stars. According to Honoka, she’s been a big fan of Kasumi ever since she won the first DOA tournament. Honoka describes Kasumi as “cool and collected”. Kasumi is flattered by her praise and thanks her. Overall Honoka and Kasumi exhibit a friendly relationship, though she nonetheless resolved to keep an eye on her due to suspecting she was the daughter of Raidou. It’s not clear if this interaction is considered canon due to Warriors All-Stars being a crossover spin-off. However, it's implied that she was at least familiar with Kasumi's existence in Dead or Alive 6 due to her jokingly mentioning to Marie Rose that a ninja often frequented a confectionary shop for its strawberry mille-feuilles.
In Dead Or Alive 6 after defeating a brainwashed Ayane, Hayate carries over Honoka, who is unresponsive. Kasumi expresses worry over both Honoka and Ayane until Hayate notes that they are simply unconscious. Due to the revelation of Honoka being the daughter of Raidou, this would make her Kasumi’s paternal cousin. However, neither are likely to be aware of this as NiCO only tells Ayane about their familial relationship and Kasumi leaves after the defeat of the resurrected Raidou.
In Dead Or Alive Xtreme 3, the two are very close to each other at the very beginning of the vacation as both are bearing 3 musical notes to each other.
Honoka's grandmother[]
Honoka has been raised by her grandmother for most of her life, and often helps run errands for her such as grocery shopping. 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. In Warriors All-Stars, Honoka is saddened and worried that she is away from her grandmother. In Xtreme Venus Vacation, when receiving a letter from her grandma, she also grew conflicted with whether to remain as the Owner's partner for the setup of the Venus Festival, or return home to see her grandma, though she was adamant that she resolve the issue on her own. She ultimately decided to stay on the island, with her grandma being implied to be understanding of her decision. When giving the Owner a personal bath, she also implies that her fondness for partaking in onsens was because they gave her fond memories of her grandmother.
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. During either the second New Year festivities at the Venus Islands in the DMM version or the aftermath of the first anniversary in the Steam version, Honoka alongside Luna was hand-picked by Momiji to act as Mikos (shrine priestesses) for the event, including handing out fortunes, and as such were told to greet the newcomer, Nagisa.
Misaki[]
She is fairly friendly with Misaki, having worked with her to help set up the Venus Festival, and also helping Misaki get through a cover girl gravure shooting. Owing to their friendship, Nagisa when formally introduced to Honoka made sure to personally thank her for her kindness to her sister, with Honoka modestly rejecting the thanks. 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. In addition, Honoka was (albeit unintentionally) responsible for Misaki's idea for a pajama party when engaging in small talk.
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. She and Kokoro also worked together regarding a spa event that the Owner planned, as well as a Summer Festival. Honoka also attempted to interview Kokoro for the Naked Truth magazine, although her initial attempt at asking her led to an awkward misunderstanding where Honoka clumsily worded her request in a way that made it sound as though she wanted Kokoro to "bare it all" (ie, strip) in front of her. Kokoro when doing the interview also expressed amazement and (in the Japanese version) slight jealousy at how Honoka was able to maintain her beauty with barely any real exercise. She also speculated when Honoka admitted that some of her clothes no longer fit her that she was undergoing a growth spurt, although she eventually decided otherwise when Honoka rattled off a list of foods she often eats.
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. They also helped out Fiona regarding dancing advice during the Dancing Party of Love that she helmed at the Owner's request. She also aided Nyotengu and Marie Rose in setting up for the first anniversary of the island.
Tina Armstrong[]
Honoka and Tina had a formal encounter while the latter was fighting her dad, Bass, at the Muscle, with Honoka watching and even trying to mimic Tina's fighting style. Tina, noticing this, then offered Honoka an opportunity to fight her, an offer that Honoka eagerly accepted. Honoka was ultimately defeated by Tina with enough force that Honoka acknowledged that Tina was very strong, with Tina politely thanking her and offering to let her have a rematch sometime in the future. It was this fight in particular that piqued Ayane and Hayate's interest in Honoka, specifically, her ability to copy fighting styles, an ability that was all too familiar to them. She also indicated that Tina as well as her dad Bass tied among her two favorite fighters due to their being professional wrestlers.
Bass Armstrong[]
Honoka presumably met Bass during the latter's match with Tina, with Bass being shocked that she used a particular wrestling move (implied to be one of his own), with Honoka admitting she saw it on TV. She also seemed to harbor some distaste towards a wrestler calling his opponent nasty names and smacking people with chairs, although it is unclear whether she herself was aware of Bass doing those things. She also indicated that Bass alongside his daughter Tina tied among her two favorite fighters due to their being professional wrestlers.
Luna[]
She and Luna got along fairly well, as they both acted as cheerleaders to Fiona's strength building via rock climbing, and also offered her advice on how to do it. Similarly, both also were handpicked by both Momiji and the Owner to act as Mikos for the second New Year's festivities, including fortune telling, although Luna in particular was implied to not understand the concept of Miko shrine maidens at all, while Honoka, although familiar with the practice, was inexperienced with it due to miko shrines not existing in the shopping district. Luna also educated her a bit on the concept of Easter, and once they even tried to search the Jungle for a possible space alien due to Honoka earlier having an encounter with one while investigating a shooting star (which was speculated to be a UFO).
Fiona[]
Honoka alongside Nyotengu helped Fiona do the final touches of the dancing party. She also supplied some advice to Fiona about dance methods, albeit in a more flustered manner due to her being experienced with Bon Dances, yet only having second hand knowledge from school about folk dances. In addition, Honoka not only helped cheer Fiona on regarding rock climbing and building her strength for the festival, but also helped Fiona out by doing a demonstration on how to rock climb.
Hitomi[]
Honoka and Hitomi have a fairly friendly relationship. She seems to be genuinely impressed with Hitomi's training regimen, as when Luna mentioned that Hitomi had left earlier for training purposes, Honoka mentioned that Hitomi frequently goes to the countryside to fight bears as part of her training.
In Dead or Alive 6, Honoka fights Hitomi in a friendly fight, although she is defeated. Accepting the loss, she then leaves, although not before bidding farewell to "Eins" (one of the statues Hitomi was about to train with). Hitomi vows to see her at the tournament, though they unfortunately never get the chance to do so due to MIST abducting Honoka immediately prior to the tournament's start.
Nagisa[]
Honoka met Nagisa during the second New Year festivities, when the latter was sent to meet her and Luna by Momiji (as they had taken the role of Mikos for the festivities). However, Nagisa was at least familiar with Honoka via her sister Misaki, prompting her to thank Honoka for being hospitable to Misaki, with Honoka modestly stating that Misaki was a good friend. Honoka also offered to help Nagisa with the Miko elements together when she was uncertain about participating.
Kanna[]
Honoka and Kanna met each other while the latter and Luna were preparing for an Easter-related event. Honoka was shocked and startled initially upon learning of Kanna's status as an Oni, but she welcomed her as a friend all the same. She was fairly wary of Kanna's reputation as an Oni, and also was initially shocked at Kanna's joking claim that she had been the Oni that the titular protagonist of Momotaro encountered. Honoka also forgave Kanna when the latter, in an attempt to demonstrate her thunder abilities, accidentally destroyed their outfits barring the barest essentials. While waiting in boredom to start the Venus Festival activities, she also wondered if she'll be playing with Honoka.
Monica[]
Honoka and Kasumi met Monica to play a card game with her after she made a bet with the Owner where if she lost to any of the girls in anything, she would have to do whatever the Owner asked. They agreed to rounds of the card game "Old Maid" at Honoka's suggestion, though Monica ultimately had exceptional difficulty winning, with Honoka in particular possessing an exceptional amount of luck (according to her, her luck happens 1 every 10 chances). She ultimately won by placing cards, though she conceded defeat due to her technically cheating in order to do so. Honoka then suggested she continue playing Old Maid with them.
Tsukushi[]
Honoka tracked down Tsukushi to invite her to a spa, and also complimented her Cinderella Heart outfit (which had been a design she made for the other girls). She alongside Nyotengu also taught her how to do massages for others (as Tsukushi was only experienced with self-massages due to her line of work). She also acted as a manga model, albeit reluctantly due to Tsukushi immediately opting to draw the scene in the bathroom. She also expressed concern for Tsukushi as she did so, due to her previous admission that her posture from drawing manga results in various pains in her body.
Honoka later worked with Tsukushi regarding posing for photoshoots by Leifang at the latter's request, as she intended to help Tsukushi with modeling for her manga.
The two were later paired up to compete in a Butt Battle, with Tsukushi reluctantly using a special move to beat Honoka, though the latter didn't mind too much due to finding fun in falling into the pool. Just before their match, Honoka also mistook Tsukushi's ecstasy with competing against a "goddess" in Butt Battle as her suffering from a fever due to her blushing and offered to take Tsukushi to Sayuri for a checkup.
Honoka later worked together with Tsukushi alongside Sayuri for a promotional gig she suggested to help boost sales at a newly-arrived soft serve ice cream shop. Tsukushi in particular suggested doing a poster photoshoot when Honoka failed to come up with a specific plan for marketing beyond dressing up like her doll Mr. Moo.
Nanami[]
Nanami got acquainted with Honoka alongside Marie Rose, with them briefly teaching her about Beach Volleyball. They also had an icebreaker chat regarding preferred movie genres, with her offering Honoka the opportunity to watch some movies at her room. They then agreed to a compromise of watching each of their respective genres.
Shandy[]
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.
Gameplay wise she is amongst one of the faster characters and has a good damage output, with her combos often dealing good damage while allowing her to juggle her opponents near danger zones for even more damage. She has decent throws and has offensive holds she can use to shut down counter attacks from her opponent, and her mix ups are very good and terrifying due to how random and unorthodox her style is visually. She can also use stances such as Helena's Bokuho and she even possesses her own stance that she can use in stun to throw off opponents. Overall, she can be regarded as somewhat of a speedy jack of all stats type fighter as she has great speed, safety, pressure, mix ups, good damage and also good defensive tools and throws.
While being formidable, she does suffer from lack of range as most of her attacks are close quarter oriented and she doesn't have many safe attacks she can use to approach, which can make her moving in on her opponent pretty difficult if she doesn't carefully assess the situation, making her more suited to being closer towards her foe to overwhelm them. She's also somewhat tricky to pick up but she can be very dangerous if mastered. In Dead or Alive 6 she's mostly the same as before, but as of recently her throws have been made quicker all around making her more grappler oriented up close which adds to her arsenal up close.
Stats[]
The following are Honoka's official stats as listed in the games.
| Game | Strike | Throw | Hold | Power | Speed | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead or Alive 5 Last Round | 4/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 5/5 | 2/5 |
Dead Or Alive Xtreme 3[]
In Dead Or Alive Xtreme 3, Honoka is easy to befriend, although it's recommended to interact with her or give her gifts in the morning or in the afternoon as she is quite sleepy in the evening as her friendship notes temporarily turn to 1 in the evening if she is not your starting partner (except for Kasumi and Marie Rose). It's easy to partner up with Honoka if the player is either using Kasumi or Marie Rose, with both of them bearing 3 friendship notes with Honoka.
While playing as Honoka, she is very easy to satisfy as she likes many food items in the game and only dislikes 3 food items. In beach volleyball, she is also a somewhat well-balanced character as she is capable of hitting the ball quite hard and is good in terms of speed. Although she is a bit slow to recover when hit by the ball and her jumps for blocking are not that high.
Appearances[]
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)
- Dead or Alive 6 (playable, 2019)
- Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme (playable, 2025)
Non-Dead or Alive appearances[]
Warriors All-Stars[]
Honoka in 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.
Marvelous Games[]
Honoka and Marie Rose appear in several Marvelous Inc. games.
Senran Kagura series[]
Honoka, Marie Rose and Ayane serve as recurring Dead or Alive guest characters in most of the Senran Kagura games.
- 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).
- New Link
Alongside Ayane, Marie Rose and Kasumi, Honoka also made an appearance in the game Shinobi Master Senran Kagura: New Link as part of a collaboration between that game and Dead or Alive series. Whereas Ayane has appeared in every Dead or Alive event, Honoka and Marie (followed by Tamaki) are solely representing the Xtreme Venus Vacation event, while Kasumi is solely representing the Dead or Alive 6 event.
In Xtreme Venus Vacation, as part of the collaboration, Honoka alongside Kasumi and Ayane will also wear an outfit derived from the Hanzo National Academy uniforms from New Link, with the other girls wearing differing outfits based on the other factions. Aside from this, her Senran Kagura swimwear from Xtreme 3 also returned, alongside her hairstyle with that outfit.
If the player links their accounts between Xtreme Venus Vacation and New Link, they will get 12 bonus episodes involving Marie Rose and Honoka in the latter game.
Dolphin Wave[]
Honoka and Marie Rose appear as playable characters in the limited collaboration event. Honoka serves as a rider, while Marie serves as a gunner within a team representing their home series.
Destiny Child[]
Honoka, alongside Marie Rose and Kasumi, makes an appearance in the app game Destiny Child as part of a collaboration between that game and Xtreme Venus Vacation. Unlike Marie Rose or Kasumi, however, Honoka is not known to have a costume based on one of the characters in Destiny Child.[5]
Azur Lane[]
Honoka herself appears as a guest shipgirl character in mobile warship game Azur Lane, and her hull type is BB (Battleship). Others are Nagisa (battleship), Misaki (light cruiser - CL), Marie Rose (destroyer - DD), Kasumi (heavy cruiser - CA), Monica (light cruiser - CL) and Nyotengu (aircraft carrier - CV). On the title screen for the first run, she cosplayed as the shipgirl U-81. She later reappeared in the second collaboration with the same role. Besides her shipmate status in both collaborations, Honoka also had a cameo appearance in the background of second collaboration newcomer Luna's key art "Venus of the Beach", where she was seen playing in the nearby ocean with Misaki and Sayuri.
The King of Fighters series[]
The King of Fighters All Stars[]
Honoka appears as a guest fighter alongside Marie Rose, Kasumi and Nyotengu. She also copies one of the moves of original Team Japan members (mainly Benimaru Nikaido and Kyo Kusanagi), as a reference to her ability to copy other fighters' moves.
The King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match Online[]
Honoka appears as a guest fighter alongside Marie Rose and Nyotengu.
Idle Huntress[]
Honoka appears in one of the official artworks of the collaboration with this game and DOAXVV, however she is not actually part of the initial collaboration which was limited to Kasumi and Marie Rose. She was, however, added to the second collaboration alongside Misaki.
Figure Fantasy[]
Honoka, along with Marie Rose appears as guest characters. As the title of the mobile game suggests, they appear in a figurine version of themselves.
Fighting quotes[]
Music themes[]
The following are the music themes used for Honoka throughout the series.
| Theme | Game appearances |
|---|---|
| "Our Little Secret" | Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (default theme) Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade |
| "Like the Blue Sky" | Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation |
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[]
The lower left concepts for Marie Rose resembles Honoka.
- 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.
- In her Japanese bio, it was mentioned under her hobbies that she enjoys partaking in onsens (Japanese bathhouses/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."
- Aside from her vested interest in fighting, she's also implied in Xtreme Venus Vacation to be an avid video gamer, to the extent that the Owner once tried to pull an all-nighter just in an attempt to beat her in a round of video games, and also stayed up trying to find a particular treasure in an RPG game, only to fail to do so. Similarly, she was shown to be knowledgeable enough about RPG elements that during an RPG enactment, she stated several archetypes and clichés from them to Misaki.
- 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.
- On a similar note, when meeting the Owner while wearing her Aries swimwear, she refers to herself as Sheep Honoka to help the Owner get to sleep, and beforehand was also heard counting, which is a pun on both the Aries swimwear's obvious resemblance to a sheep and the mental exercise of going to sleep, counting sheep.
- It seems Honoka knows some Dead or Alive characters such as Eliot, Zack, Tina, Bass, and Mila even though she doesn't have any intros, outros or tag throws with any of these characters in Last Round. Since her hobbies include watching pro-wrestling shows and martial arts matches, it's likely she heard of them from those sources.
- Honoka has a special taunt where she'll perform a rock paper scissors action, which the player can use to hit their opponent if they don't block them correctly, with rock aiming low, scissors aiming high and paper being the middle.
- 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. Instead, she asks Marie Rose for a simple practice round, and Marie Rose's reaction when using the English voices makes it seem like she's jealous of Honoka's bust size.
- 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 the latter's bust measurements probably refer to her when 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.
- Similarly, she implied in her gift-giving episode of the Xmas 2018 event that she frequently dressed up as Santa Claus in the Shopping District of Japan during Christmastime.
- Based on several comments by her in the Main and Event episodes, she lives in one of Japan's Shopping Districts.
- In Xtreme 3 and Xtreme Venus Vacation, Honoka is the one of only three girls who appeared in both games where her character intro scene is completely 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), the only other being Misaki and Leifang (the latter two being included in Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Scarlet).
- In Xtreme 3 and Xtreme 3: Scarlet, Honoka is the only character in the game that has an ending where she is inside her bedroom instead of the beach like the rest of the girls.
- Oddly enough, the TGS 2018 demo has Honoka referring to herself in the third person similar to Marie Rose[6], despite her not doing so in Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation. Likewise, the same demo has Marie Rose notably forgoing the same trait.[7]
- In Xtreme Venus Vacation, a chibi version of Honoka is used as the wait icon for transitional scenes, where she is seen bouncing on a volleyball with excitement.
- Kasumi and Honoka's interactions with each other in Warriors All-Stars implied that Raidou was Honoka's father, and thus Ayane her half-sister.
- A subtle hint towards Ayane and Honoka's status as half-sisters was included in Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, where they shared the bonus costume from DOAFES in 2016.
- This is confirmed to be true in Dead or Alive 6, so Honoka is technically related to Kasumi, Hayate and Shiden as well, thus sort of making her a part of the Mugen Tenshin Clan as well due to her bloodline.
- On a related note, Honoka's interactions with Ayane in the same game had Honoka, while mostly oblivious to the situation she's in, indicating that Ayane was akin to a big sister (with Ayane mentioning that she's glad Honoka's not her sister), and also has Honoka admitting she wants to fight alongside Ayane since she wouldn't want to have Ayane be in danger and not know of it, which not only foreshadowed Ayane and Honoka's blood relation, but also the fact that Ayane would end up captured by MIST while trying to rescue Honoka in Dead or Alive 6.
- When first meeting Marie Rose in Dead or Alive 6 by literally bumping into her, her actions and remark to Marie were reminiscent of one of her victory poses in Last Round.
- When Honoka lost to Tina in the Story, her action and remark is a reference to her losing pose in Last Round.
- In the DOA6 trivia entry, "STOP!", Honoka despite being impressed by Brad Wong's creation of a bloody mary cocktail refused it because she alongside Marie Rose were underage and thus not legally allowed to drink alcohol. This was also referenced later in Xtreme Venus Vacation, where she was exempt from the soy cocktails that Sayuri and Tamaki had in their newly-formed adult women's nightlife club due to her underage status. In Japan, the legal age for drinking alcohol is 20.
- Honoka's mimicry of various fighters' attacks is given a brief nod in her character introduction episode in Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation, where she mentions she's very good at mimicry. The same game also implies this talent can be utilized for more mundane tasks, such as dancing and swimming. One event episode even indicates that her using her mimicry abilities while watching martial arts films is the closest she's got to actually exercising to maintain her beauty.
- Honoka is one of only eight characters in Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation who has a pre-determined outfit for her first episode (ie, the player cannot have her wear whatever outfit the player chose for her in the episode), the others being her half-sister Ayane, Patty, Misaki, Tsukushi, Lobelia, and Nanami.
- Honoka's age was explicitly given outside of bios in the event episode arc "My Name Is... Follow the Light", where she, when trying to draw out an alien she encountered, stated that she was, among other things, 18 years old.
- Honoka and Marie Rose has the most crossover appearances in various games.
- In at least the English localization for the Event Episode "The Ice Cream Crisis", Honoka at the start of the episode excitedly sings a paraphrase of the Ice Cream novelty song.
- Honoka's English Voice Actress (Kira Buckland) also seems to love Cow themed clothing as her V-Tuber avatar has her dressed in a cow themed outfit. This is similar to Honoka's love for cows.
References[]
- ↑ Dead or Alive 6, Team Ninja (2019)
Hayate: Don't worry. They [Honoka and Ayane] are only sleeping. - ↑ http://www.siliconera.com/2015/02/11/dead-alive-5-last-round-remixes-hot-zones-team-ninja-brought-raidou-back/#SgxIJ58o44IewDd4.99
- ↑ http://www.siliconera.com/2019/01/11/dead-or-alive-6-producer-explains-the-inspirations-behind-new-characters-diego-and-nico/#h4WL20f8yL0CULTz.99
- ↑ 『DOA』ファンの祭典““DEAD OR ALIVE FESTIVAL 2018”全体リポート - ファミ通.com (famitsu.com)
- ↑ https://twitter.com/destinyc_info/status/1049944641045327877
- ↑ Dead or Alive 6 TGS 2018 gameplay demo
Honoka: よーし！ほのか、かんばります！ - ↑ Dead or Alive 6 TGS 2018 gameplay demo
Marie Rose: お掃除しちゃいますよ
External links[]
[]
| v · e · d | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Kasumi • Momiji • Hitomi • Helena Douglas • Marie Rose • Honoka • Nyotengu • Kokoro • Ayane • Misaki (DLC) • Leifang (DLC) • Zack (NPC) |
| Terms | |
| Games | Beach Volleyball • Blackjack • Butt Battle • Poker • Pool Hopping • Tug-of-War • Beach Flags • Rock Climbing • Roulette |
| Other terms | Gift Giving • Pictorial Scenes • Pole Dancing • Stats • Swimsuits • Virtual Pictorial • Zack Dollars • Girl Mode • Owner Mode |
| Locations | |
| New Zack Island Casino • Hotel • Niki Beach • Pool and Poolside • Sports Shop • Tranquil Beach • Zack of All Trades | |
| Archives | |
| Achievements • Costumes • Downloadable Content • Item Collection Datasheet • Merchandise • Promotional Artwork and Wallpapers • Transcripts | |
| v · e · d | |
|---|---|
| Starting Characters | Kasumi • Momiji • Hitomi • Helena Douglas • Marie Rose • Honoka • Nyotengu • Kokoro • Ayane • Misaki |
| Post-launch Characters | Luna • Tamaki • Fiona • Leifang • Nagisa • Kanna • Monica • Sayuri • Patty • Tsukushi • Lobelia • Nanami • Elise • Koharu • Tina Armstrong • Amy • Shandy • Yukino • Shizuku • Reika • Meg |
| Minigames | Beach Volleyball • Blackjack • Butt Battle • Pool Hopping • Rock Climbing • Roulette |
| Terms | Gift Giving • Pictorial Scenes • Stats • Swimsuits • Virtual Pictorial • Zack Dollars • Girl Mode • Owner Mode |
| Venus Islands Locations | New Zack Island • Hotel (Owner's Room) • Casino • Nikki Beach • Pool and Poolside • Private Beach • Jungle • Bass Island • Accessory Shop |
| Transcripts | Year One • Year Two • Year Three • Year Four • Year Five • Year Six • Extra Episodes |
| Miscellaneous | Soundtrack • Costumes • Item Collection Datasheet • Collaborations • Merchandise (Official 4-koma Manga) • Nagisa True Colors Webmanga |
| v · e · d | |
|---|---|
| Starting Characters | Misaki • Fiona • Elise • Tamaki • Honoka • Nanami |
| Terms | TBA |
| Venus Islands Locations | TBA |
| Transcripts | TBA |
| Miscellaneous | Costumes |