Origin
Japan
A kunoichi who is deeply loyal to Uesugi Kenshin. She was initially from a the same ninja village of Sarutobi Sasuke rather than the Uesugi clan itself. However, she fell in love with Kenshin's beautiful appearance and benevolent nature after an attempt on Kenshin's life, thus betraying her clan to serve Kenshin. She in general dislikes war, but is a very skilled kunoichi who Kenshin both adores and relies on heavily. Her beauty, personality, and skill in battle lead Kenshin to calling her "Beautiful Blade"- a moniker she seems quite fond of. The soldiers of the Uesugi refer to her as the "Goddess of the Battlefield"- an apt moniker given her liege/partner's moniker as the "God of War". Her personality could be described as a unique fusion of kuudere and tsundere- she swoons over Kenshin, while she is more biting and critical of Keiji Maeda (though still regarding him as a valued friend), holds great annoyance with but grudging respect for Sasuke, and has a general default setting of nonchalant coolness towards all others, friend or foe- but she *can* warm up to those who aren't Kenshin, provided they don't act too prideful or goofy. She also tends to be hateful towards those she considers villainous- namely those who seek to kill Kenshin or harm the innocent, such as Nobunaga Oda, Hisahide Matsunaga, and Matabei Gotou. Kasuga seems to be fond and protective of children, going so far as to shield Itsuki (a child character she'd never met before in the play's story) with her body in one of the stage plays. While she is portrayed as slightly clumsy in the IG anime, she is much more capable in all other portrayals of her character. Kasuga is also quite easily flustered by those who point out how she acts towards Kenshin or those who point out her rather revealing attire. In general she seems to be regarded as beautiful; besides Sasuke, who teasingly flirts with her, Yoshiaki Mogami, Motochika Chousokabe, Shikanosuke Yamanaka, and generic Takeda army soldiers also appear to have crushes on her, and Sorin Otomo seems intent on calling her "Geisha girl" and forcing her into a bunnygirl suit. All of the attentions of her would-be suitors are MUCH to her chagrin. Also, whenever Kenshin compliments her too much or she fantasizes too hard about Kenshin, she has an episode of extreme joy in which she holds herself and croons out; given what it sounds and looks like, fans have taken to calling it a "Kasugasm", though it is officially called a "delusion". Kasuga seems to hold her abilities in high regard, yet at the same time, is willing to sacrifice her life if it would mean serving her liege's interests. In the second game, however, Hanbei Takenaka convinces her she should not sacrifice herself for Kenshin but instead should live for Kenshin. Unlike many characters in Sengoku BASARA, Kasuga does not have a historical counterpart. Instead, she is an amalgamation of various concepts. During the creation of the first game, the team wanted to create a "sexy ninja" sort of character to rival Sasuke, and also wanted to give Kenshin a love interest in order to elaborate on the Takarazuka influences on Kenshin's character (i.e., give Kenshin someone to dote upon and have swoon over Kenshin). Thus they decided to create Kasuga. Her name was based upon the historical Kenshin's home castle, which he used as a base for his entire life. In a way, given how protective she is of Kenshin, she fulfills Kasugayama's role of protecting Kenshin. Her primary weapons are a set of kunai with wire attached, which she uses to create traps and snare opponents. Her various ninjutsu include: the ability to create light constructs such as clones of herself or exploding balls of light called "Fireflies" (Mitsugi); the ability to summon an owl she can use to glide with; the ability to create lightning (however she can only do this in tandem with Sasuke); and sinking into the ground and traveling along it as particles of light. She is also very physically skilled and athletic, being able to spin kick while moving forward as if a top, to name one feat. She has made many appearances across the various media of the Sengoku BASARA franchise; thus far she has appeared in every game of the series, relegated to a non-playable status in only Sengoku BASARA 3 (released in the West as Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes),Sengoku BASARA 4, and and the fighting game spinoff Sengoku BASARA X (in which she is Kenshin's assist character). She has also appeared in both seasons and the movie of Production IG's Sengoku BASARA anime (albeit only in a non-speaking cameo in the movie), Sengoku BASARA Judge End, and the live drama Sengoku BASARA - Moonlight Party. Kasuga also plays a secondary role in the Takarazuka adaption of Sengoku BASARA, and has appeared in two of the live stage show adaptations. Her Japanese seiyuu is Natsuko Kuwatani, while her English voice actress is Stephanie Sheh. She was also portrayed in the "Devil Kings" adaptation of the first game by Venus Terzo- ironically being renamed "Venus". In Moonlight Party she is played by Kyoko Ochiai, in the stage plays she is portrayed by Sayaka Chinen, and Ayaka Ousaki portrayed her in the Takarazuka play.
Sengoku BASARA
During the Sengoku period, there are many factions constantly at war. One of these is led by a one-eyed man named Date Masamune and another by the imposing Takeda Shingen. The latter has a fiercely loyal subordinate named Sanada Yukimura who goes head to head against Date Masamune multiple times, but the battles between them tend to get interrupted. One such battle occurs when both men try to go after another leader named Imagawa, and they’re forced to break off their heated duel when Imagawa attempts to flee the scene with his body doubles. Yukimura and Masamune go after separate Imagawas, but all of the doubles are killed by a third party, and when their paths cross again, they are in front of the menacing Oda Nobunaga and his army. It was Nobunaga’s subordinates that killed those body doubles, and Nobunaga himself proceeds to kill the real Imagawa with a shotgun blast to the head.
