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初月 "First Moon"
The personification of the fourth ship of the Akizuki-class destroyers in Kantai Collection.
She has essentially the same gear as her elder sisters, including her own pair of Chou-10cm-hou-chan. She wears the same basic uniform except with slight different tones of grey and a black neckerchief. Under her uniform appears to be a black full-body bodysuit fully covering her arms and legs. She doesn't wear the gloves as her bodysuit also covers her hands. Her fire director is attached to her right wrist.
She has short brown hair with strands tied to look like horns along with grayish yellow eyes.
Hatsuzuki is a "bokukko", and refers to herself with the "typically young boy" pronoun of "boku". She has a stoic, serious, and taciturn personality, similar in some respects to Kaga, however she has a far more selfless and humble personality. This is likely due to all her service escorting, and her final mission ending in a "last stand" sacrifice so others could escape.
Historically, she wasn't built until a year into the war, and her most notable contribution was escorting Zuikaku, including during her sacrificial decoy run in the Battle of Cape Engaño as part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Hatsuzuki was sunk protecting Wakatsuki, Isuzu, and Kuwa as they rescued then escaped with Zuikaku's survivors after she sunk at Cape Engaño. Earlier, Hatsuzuki had resupplied Zuikaku's fuel with her own when the transports didn't make it. She had also previously helped rescue the survivors of Taihou and assisted Agano and Aoba following damage. All her missions were escort duty for capital ships. In her final battle, Hatsuzuki remained behind to cover the escape, and except for a lifeboat with 8 Hatsuzuki crewmen and 17 of Zuikaku's crew, all hands - including the captain - were lost. (In her official damaged CG this is referenced with her watching a lifeboat leave while her Chou-10cm-hou-chans continue firing.) Because of this history, Hatsuzuki is almost exclusively seen alongside Zuikaku (in an almost - or outright - obsessively devoted servant's role) when not being paired up with her sister ships. Some of her hourly lines also hint at a good relationship with Isuzu.
Beyond this, her hourly lines are rife with talk about eating only barley rice and canned meat, as well as amazement that other foods even exist, making her canonically fall solidly within the joke of the "Feeding the Ducks" pool.
See also
- pool #10990 - Feeding the Ducks - depictions of Akizuki-class destroyers enjoying lavish meals
- The historic Hatsuzuki's page on Wikipedia