#{ ooc: for real though thank you all for loving Yumiko- }

[windstormwielding]

{ ooc } Can I just say “thank you guys” for all the positive feedback I got from you all on Yumiko there-? Because seeing some of you getting smitten with her so fast got me feeling all warm and fuzzy in my inside parts.

As thanks, how about a not so teensy bit of trivia behind my creation process for her? Because guess what I am not done rambling about Kōta’s feral but doting mom. Dropping it all under the cut for length!

Goroawase! The Japanese language has an entire pun system dedicated to matching certain numbers together to create phrases, and you can find them in everything from phone numbers and advertisements to dates on the calendar. For Yumiko’s birthday, June 26 was not chosen at random, because with a minor tweak, the date itself can be read as “rotenburo-no-hi.” Translation? Open-air bath day. What was her zanpakutō’s special ability again? Steam!  

Yūgiri! The zanpakutō shares its name with a few Japanese warships down to the Kanji, but relevantly I named it after a Fire Emblem Fates character. Hailing from Hoshido, Reina is a Kinshi Knight who serves Queen Mikoto. She is a bloodthirsty warrior who’s eager to indulge in the morbid pleasures of the battlefield, but in sharp contrast to her sadistic side, she also happens to be quite the motherly sort towards her allies! Reina was her English-localized name, but in the original Japanese release? It’s Yūgiri.  

Steam! Reading Yūgiri as “Evening Mist,” I figured it would be fun if Yumiko had a zanpakutō power that leaned on the meaning, so I went hard with the steam concept since I don’t think there’s a Bleach character that works with such a power to an explicit extent? As for her ultimate attack, Jyōki Bakusatsu (蒸汽爆炸), the Chinese characters are pulled from the mythical Steam Pokémon Volcanion’s signature move “Steam Eruption” – while it works serviceably enough as Kanji, turns out Pokémon moves tend to use Katakana more over Kanji or Hiragana for their naming, in this case reading as “Steam Burst.” Who knew! I wonder if her own Pokémon team would consist of Fire and Water types...  

Sukeban! I’m quite fond of delinquent/boss girl-type characters and realized Bleach had a distinct lack of exactly that sort of archetype amidst its cast of badass ladies, and the only real “delinquent” presence in the series were all the nameless banchō bullies Ichigo put up with. From there, my brain turned to the 11th Division and its own distinct lack of ladies; aside from Yachiru Kusajishi who is too adorable for words, and Retsu/Yachiru Unohana as Division founder and first Kenpachi, it’s a bit of a sausage fest. Isn’t that the kind of squad where a delinquent girl would be a perfect fit though? So, looking at Kōtarō’s mom who raised him a dangerous place like Kusajishi and taught him how to fight with a sword, I thought “Hey, but what if...” until I settled on Yumiko’s physical appearance!  

Bleach itself! Regardless of however one may feel about some elements of the novels, I just plain love world-building (because it’s not like we’ve got much else to gush or theorize about since the series proper ended). I welcome further attempts to bring in elements from anime filler and other media into the main canon with Kubo’s seal of approval, because god damn I love me some added cohesion towards a bigger and more developed world. I’ve actually got full-on written notes with my own ideas at doing the same; including the premise of the Sealed Sword Frenzy OVA (plus elements of Spirits Are Always With You) as part of Yumiko’s own backstory, and headcanoning the OVA’s villain Baishin as a former Captain and Kenpachi, is just the tippy top of the iceberg of expanded concepts I jotted down for my own personal pleasure and use!  

Undertale! To add to the above, one of my big inspirations in creating her was Undyne the Undying, the boss fight from the game’s Genocide route, hence Yumiko’s character theme being “Battle Against a True Hero.” Just as the Determination-fuelled Undyne defied her own death to take on the murder-happy player character in order to protect the world, leading to the hardest boss battle in Undertale shy of Sans himself, I like to play out a similar battle in my head between Yumiko and Baishin after he turned into a crazed shinigami-zanpakutō fusion. She would’ve been 64th to his kill count of seated officers, but—at the cost of her own powers—she would be the one to succeed in pushing him back and forcing him to flee to the world of the living. Yumiko doesn’t just got it going on; she’s a genuine, fiercely determined badass, and a true hero... though she’s one of Kōta’s biggest heroes above all else. Sidenote, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I listened to BAaTH on loop for the past week, from the original to remixes and covers with lyrics, just to get a proper feel for Yumiko’s past self-  

Kōtarō himself! I wanted to expand his own backstory a bit and really build on the woman who raised him, but going full ham in drawing more parallels between him and Yumiko than I initially counted on was so much fun. Similar doting and goofy personas towards those they care about! Parallels in their zanpakutō elements! Her teaching him how to fight like she used to! Wholesomeness just warms my heart so friggin’ much.