ashigara (kantai collection)
Ashigara is the third Myoukou-class heavy cruiser, in Kantai Collection, though historically she was launched fourth and last. Her name is taken from Mount Ashigara meaning "Leg/Pattern". The name is actually born from Ainu language Áskar-i meaning "Place of Purity", which is a locative form of Àskan-ne meaning "Purity".
The Myoukou-class wears a purple uniform with a black tight skirt, white pantyhose and white elbow gloves. Ashigara herself has wavy long brown hair with a white horned hairband as well as brown eyes. Her second remodel gives her a new modified uniform shared with her sister ships' second remodel. Her main difference is the addition of a patterned neckerchief made up of various international maritime signal flags (the ones identified so far are the G, L, M, X, Y and Z flags).
Ashigara is a shipgirl with a strong and independent persona. She is also said to be a good cook (mostly curry) and has a voluptuous, womanly figure. Well-known for her obsession with victory, almost on a level equivalent to Sendai's obsession with night battles. She is nicknamed "Hungry Wolf", which was given during the naval review celebrating King George VI's coronation where she was Japan's representative. Because of this nickname, it's not uncommon to draw her with wolf ears and/or fangs.
She is a doting elder sister toward her younger sister Haguro. In turn, she goes to Nachi or Myoukou for comfort when she is troubled about being single, often going out for drinks together. Arguably the most popular of the Myoukou-class, followed by Nachi, Haguro and Myoukou (by post count).
A running gag on 4chan and Futaba Channel is that she is a "Christmas Cake"; a woman above 25 who for whatever reason is unable to find a candidate for marriage and has gotten desperate, or one who is just exceptionally poor at romance. Where exactly this joke came from is unknown. It could be a play on her nickname "Hungry Wolf" - a joke on her being hungry for males, or could be a reference to the historical fact that several of her commanding officers were never married. It's also possible the joke came from her name "purity", which is usually thought of as a good thing but it's possible the joke is she's still "pure" (virgin, unmarried) despite her mid-to-late 20s look. One other theory about her being a "Christmas Cake" is related to the legend of the folk-hero Kintaro who was raised in Mount Ashigara by a Yama-uba , or in other words, a Mountain Hag. Like the "Nagamon" meme, this fan-created joke was featured in the anime.
She's getting better these days after Bob released an official art of her (post #2104873), depicting a more domestic Ashigara.
See Also
- pool #10502 - Ashigara the Christmas Cake - depictions of Ashigara complaining about being single or being ignored by the Admiral