Sumire Kanzaki

Sumire Kanzaki is a recurring supporting character in the Sakura Wars series.

Appearance
Sumire in her youth wears a loose fitting purple kimono with flower patterns that is draped loosely around her shoulders showing off her cleavage. She wears a yellow obi around her waist tied up at the back. Her hair is chin length and held back by a silver hairband. Around her neck she wears a purple ribbon also tied up at the back. She wears white thigh high stockings and pink heeled shoes.

She has a distinctive beauty mark near her left eye and can often be seen with a fan.

In Sakura Wars (2019), an older Sumire has changed her hairstyle slightly, tying up the left hand bangs to the back of her head in a ponytail, and she wears her kimono less suggestively, hiding her shoulders and her cleavage, giving off the air of a more mature beauty.

History
Sumire is the daughter of Kanzaki Heavy Industries, the creators of the Koubu. During the development of which, the test pilots proved to be too weak to pilot the Kobu. When Sumire's massive spiritual energy set off the detectors at the workplace, Sumire volunteered herself to test pilot the prototype Kobu. Her willingness to volunteer led to the successful completion of the Kobu project, allowing humans to fight back against demons.

As a result of this success, Sumire has a sense of inflated ego, as without her there would have been no Kobu for the Flower Division to even be able to fight back, which sometimes puts her at odds with the likes of Kanna Kirishima and Sakura Shinguji.

Unfortunately this volunteering had two major downsides on Sumire's upbringing. Firstly as a result of the success, her parents and grandfather became entirely consumed with the Kobu project meaning Sumire was often unintentionally ignored leading to her being a very lonely little girl, although they spoiled her as often as they could leading to Sumire being both ignored and doted on. The second was the constant use of her as a test subject for the Kobu led to her spiritual energy being drained. As a result of this, Sumire had to retire early from the Flower Division as she no longer had the spiritual energy to pilot a Kobu.

When Ichiro Ogami first arrives at the Imperial Theatre, Sumire mistakes her new captain for being a hired hand, and orders him at first to pick up a spoon in the kitchen that fell on the floor. When discovering he's the new officer, she begins laughing her signature laugh.

Over time Sumire begins to gain feelings for Ogami, and it is up to the player whether he pursues her or not.

Due to the aforementioned draining of her spiritual energy, Sumire was forced to sit on the sidelines during the Great Demon War and was the only Combat Revue member to not be involved in Operation Twin Capitals. As a result, she is the sole survivor of the Great Demon War among Tokyo's Flower Division, Paris' Fleur Division and New York's Star Division, with every single other member being trapped in 'Shadow Tokyo', an alternate world created with an incredible magical sword, locking the demons in battle and preventing them from escaping to the real world.

Sumire was placed in charge of the Imperial Combat Revue, forming a new team with Hatusho Shinonome and Clarissa Snowflake being the first two members, before later recruiting Sakura Amamiya who had been saved by her old friend and rival, Sakura Shinguji, as a child and Azami Mochizuki. However, with finances running out, outdated Kobu in their care, a lack of the core Imperial Combat Revue members and the new girls general lack of experience and skill as actresses and pilots, the Imperial Theatre is a shadow of it's former self, having to let the Shanghai Combat Revue, who look down on the new Flower Division, protect Tokyo in their place due to a lack of funds.

Determined to turn things around, Sumire hires Seijuro Kamiyama to become the new captain of the Flower Division after hearing about his brave but failed attempt to save people from demons whilst in the navy, and Anastasia Palma, a young up and coming starlet to bolster the theatre's acting skill. Lastly, Reiji Shiba, Seijuro Kamiyama's friend from the navy, is hired as the new Kobu mechanic. Sumire gives Seijuro his orders; to turn the Flower Division around and help them win the Combat Revue games, a popular sporting event that had risen up after the Great Demon War to help restore the theatre to the way it was.

It is revealed Sumire does all of this to keep the Theatre running so that when Ichiro Ogami, Sakura Shinguji and the rest of her former comrades return from Shadow Tokyo they'll have a home and safe place to return to. Sumire believes completely that her friends are still alive and are still fighting the demons in the alternative Tokyo.

Trivia

 * Sumire is the only member of the Sakura Wars series to not be trapped in Shadow Tokyo with the demons during the Great Demon War.
 * Sumire has a fear of spiders having been bitten by a poisonous one when she was a child.
 * Regardless of who the player chooses for Ichiro Ogami to date, Sumire still expresses feelings for him in Sakura Wars (2019), even stating that Seijuro Kamiyama reminds her of him.
 * Sumire still holds great star power in Sakura Wars (2019), being able to make three fans faint at the sheer sight of her.
 * Sumire is one of three Sakura Wars characters to be included in Lagrisser, with the other two being Sakura Shinguji and Ichiro Ogami.