akebono (kancolle)
曙 ("Daybreak")
The personification of the Japanese destroyer Akebono in Kantai Collection.
Character design by Drew, voiced by Hayasaka Kozue.
Appearance
Akebono has purple eyes and very long purple hair in a side ponytail. She wears a hair flower and hair bell at the place where it is tied. She wear a serafuku, consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and blue pleated_skirt. She also typically wears black kneehighs and loafers outside of her combat gear.
Her combat gear includes a backpack-like smokestack and tripod mast, with a boxy, twin-cannon turret held with both hands, and carried over a shoulder strap. Her shoes are armored, and she wears dual torpedo turrets on her thighs, like many in the Fubuki-class.
She gained a new kai remodel CG for Christmas 2016, taking full advantage of drew's refinement of his art style. She's the least changed of the 7th Destroyer Division, with the only significant changes being her new black thighhighs and her new long 10cm twin turret (with a bunny sticker on it).
She obtained her second remodel on the Hinamatsuri 2021 update (March 1, 2021). See the page for more details.
Personality
Her most salient trait is her tendency to refer to the admiral/player as a "Shitty Admiral," and is seemingly always angry about something. In some fanworks, calling the admiral "shitty" is so ingrained in her, she even calls the admiral "shitty admiral" when she's in love, like other girls might say "darling". She's typically portrayed as a tsundere with almost no dere, at least not verbally, or a bitter-tongued tsukkomi. Oftentimes, she's seen playing a big sister role to Ushio, who is often portrayed as the most childish and clumsy of the 7th Des Div.
Along with the rest of the 7th DesDiv, Akebono has been one of the most frequent targets of limited-time special event artwork. She has a special portrait for New Years, giving her a basic Wa Maid uniform consisting of a short kimono with a floral print, tasuki, a small apron as well as a broom and a dustpan. This one was updated for 2016 with the addition of another broom and Oboro's crab. She also has Valentine's Day art, wearing a cardigan over her normal outfit and handing the viewer a heart-shaped box while blushing. During Summer 2015, she wore a pink bikini under her skirt and a magenta wrist scrunchie. This one is updated with a platter of yakitori for 2016. Autumn 2015 brought out a fishing outfit for the saury-fishing event. She wears a fishing vest, rubber boots and pantyhose, carries a fishing rod and a book on fishing. For Rainy Season 2016, she is holding an umbrella while carrying an extra with her. For Autumn 2016, for a promotion with Nakau, she wears a yukata with a leaf pattern along with a serving of Nakau's udon.
History
Or "why is Akebono the tsundere she is (in)famously known for?"
In real life, Akebono was part of the 7th Destroyer Division, along with her sister-ships Oboro, Sazanami and Ushio.
Like Kasumi, her sharp tongue is based upon her historical namesake being the victim of unfair treatment by the real-life admiral in charge. The captain of Akebono was unjustly scapegoated by the admiral for letting Shoukaku become damaged during the Battle of Coral Sea, even though there was little a destroyer could do about multiple waves of aircraft. She was reassigned to the rear after that, and never again had a prestigious post. Furthermore, on her next escort mission USS Albacore sank her sister-ship Sazanami. When Akebono went searching for USS Albacore, it delayed her so much the transports she was escorting were also destroyed.
In the battle of Leyte Gulf/Surigao Strait, she was assigned to protect Mogami after a collision with Nachi caused by the admiral's hasty retreat. Mogami was then sunk by air attacks which Akebono was powerless to stop. Akebono was afterward tasked with protecting Nachi from further air attacks in Manila, which resulted in Nachi being destroyed by aircraft and Akebono being severely damaged. Akebono was towed to dock by Ushio, but further air raids destroyed Akebono in Manila Bay alongside Akishimo. Ultimately, Ushio was not only a survivor of the war, but her better war record got her improved anti-air defenses to protect against air raids, while Akebono languished.
Ayanami-class destroyers
See also
The following tags are aliased to this tag: akebono_(kantai_collection) (learn more).
The following tags implicate this tag: akebono_kai_(kancolle) and akebono_kai_ni_(kancolle) (learn more).