Azusa Shiratori

Azusa Shiratori is one of the two members of "The Golden Pair of Kolhotz High School". She is well known for her obsession for collecting things she regards as being cute and then giving them names, usually with a french origin. "Azusa" means "catalpa tree" while "Shiratori" means "white bird".

Personality
Azusa is very unintelligent (a "half-wit" in the words of Kuno) and strange even by the standards of the series. Shiratori is a kleptomaniac and feels the need to take random objects and people regardless of ownership. If Azusa is denied, she will throw a childish tantrum and resort to violence, until she either has the object returned or is shouted at to stop.

It is worthy of note that the "level" of Azusa's kleptomania varies between the manga and anime continuities, with her being only shown to have in her possession one object at a time in the manga (the only possible exception being her having "Françoise" and "Charlotte" at the same time, although Akane was technically in possession of "Charlotte" at the time). In contrast, the anime shows Azusa as having multiple objects in her possession at the same time, each with it's own name (Azusa will also greet each object individually in the morning and evening) all of which reside in her home.

An example of Azusa's childish intellect is her coming to the conclusion that Tatewaki was a magical Tanuki after a statue fell on him. Still Azusa understands battle tactics and in a rare moment of cleverness correctly deduced that Ryoga was her Charlotte.

Martial Arts Figure Skating Arc
One day, when Akane decides to go skating with Yuka and Sayuri but, when her friends call her in, Akane forgets about P-chan who's lost on the ice. P-chan is then found by Azusa who proceeds to knock P-chan unconscious and gives him the name of "Charlotte".

Later on, Azusa goes to a nearby restaurant with her newly acquired "Charlotte", where Akane happens to be visiting as well to explain the situation to Ranma. An argument between Azusa and Akane soon ensues over the ownership of P-chan/Charlotte, until Mikado steps in by taking P-chan out of Azusa's grasp. Once Mikado has explained Azusa's habits she begins to attack him with objects ever increasing in size, until Mikado angrily demands she stops.

With tears streaming down her face, Azusa declares a challenge to Akane, with the winner getting to keep "Charlotte". At first Akane thinks it will just be a straight up fight, but Azusa soon explains that it will be Martial Arts Figure Skating that they'll be using to decide the winner. At that moment one of Akane's friends recognise Azusa and Mikado as the "Golden Pair of Kolhotz High School", with their title revealed that pair then formally introduce themselves.

Now their true identities have been revealed, Azusa uses this as a way to try and unnerve Akane, by suggesting that she give up now so Charlotte can be hers. Akane, however, refuses to back down. After Ranma also accepts the challenge, by flicking some Narutomaki at Mikado, Azusa declares the Narutomaki is called "Françoise" and begins to hit Mikado again when he doesn't return it to her. While the two fight, Akane, Ranma and their friends leave the pair.

The next day, while Akane is trying to teach Ranma (who's in his female form) how to skate, Azusa injects by knocking Akane to the floor; which sends Ranma flying across the skating rink. Before Mikado can kiss Ranma, Azusa kicks him with the toe of her skating shoe and reminds him it's time for them to practice the "Assault of a Hundred Foes".

The pair easily defeat all of the foes in nine seconds flat, which is a new record for the pair. Suddenly P-chan appears and so both Akane and Azusa skate quickly towards him, with Azusa getting P-chan at the very last moment before Akane.

With her Charlotte returning to her, Azusa presents P-chan with a gift, a collar. Akane is disgusted by this and tries to get it off, but is unable to. Azusa then reveals she locked it with a key, and adds that if Akane wants the collar off, she'll have to defeat her in their match. Azusa also watches Mikado kiss Ranma, after he stops her from falling on the ice.

Once the now angered male Ranma appears in place of the female Ranma, Azusa watches with Akane the fight between him and Mikado. After the fighting is over, Azusa declares the fight a draw since Ranma can't stand up and Mikado being unconscious. However, Azusa's inner child can't resist drawing on the unconscious Mikado, which causes the One Hundred Foes from earlier to join in.

The day of the fight arrives and Azusa and Mikado make a flawless entrance, much to the delight of their respective fans. When Ranma and Akane's entrance is less-than flattering, Azusa can't resist laughing in Akane's face about it. When Azusa finishes laughing she tells Akane that at this right Charlotte is as good as hers.

Now with the entrances out of the way, the two pairs begin their fight. Each side appears equally matched at first, with each of them giving and blocking attacks from the other. However, after Ranma manages to hit Mikado, Azusa begins to punch the point of impact until Mikado screams in pain, demanding she stops. After Mikado and Ranma exchange threats about Mikado trying to kiss Akane, Azusa pulls her eyelid down and sticks her tongue out at the opposing duo. The pairs then return to fighting each other.

Knowing the skill Akane and Ranma posses now, Mikado and Azusa try increasingly dirtier tactics to spilt up the two of them (by having Azusa land ontop-of Ranma). The Golden Pair then use this opportunity to perform their ultimate technique, the "Good-Bye Whirl", to finally split up the pair. However, Ranma refuses to let go of Akane and it is ultimately Azusa who becomes dizzy, so releases both of them.

After Ranma has shockingly recovered from his collision with the edge of the rink caused by the Good-Bye Whirl, Azusa notices that her Charlotte has mysteriously disappeared. When Mikado is ready to return to the fight, Azusa stops him and demands he finds her Charlotte first, but of course Mikado has no interest in Charlotte so just shouts at Azusa for her actions.

The lights on the Skating Rink then go out (which is due to Ryoga trying to partner with Akane instead of Ranma) and when they go Azusa and Mikado see what they believe to be a substitute pair in place of Akane and Ranma. After a quick costume change for the pair, Azusa notices that the collar the male substitute (Ryoga) is wearing is the same as her Charlottes and enquires to Ryoga if he is her Charlotte or not. Ryoga denies the claims completely.

Not giving up, Azusa and Mikado use Ryoga and Ranma's disputes with each other to their advantage, by setting up another Good-Bye Whirl. Unlike the last time, Ryoga gladly agrees to let go of Ranma, but is ultimately slammed into the floor by Azusa when Mikado leaves the base of the whirl so he can catch Ranma.

Angered by all the indignity he's suffered, Ryoga punches the rink, unintentionally breaking it up into multiple large ice flows. The Golden Pair are then declared the enemy along with Ranma by Ryoga, and so the Golden Pair just watch as Ryoga fights his partner, with only Mikado intervening when he thinks Ryoga is going too far (Ryoga just ignores Mikado and punches in into the air and out of the way). However, when Ryoga is only just about above the cold water, Azusa jumps on him and is soon followed by Mikado. Unfortunately for Mikado, Ryoga manages to smash both halves of the ice flow into Mikado in order to stop him (Azusa meanwhile wraps her legs around Ryoga's waist to stay above the water).

Once Ryoga throws the two ice flows and breaks them into several pieces, Azusa jumps away from Ryoga to go and see the fate of her partner. Once Mikado is recovered from the rink, Azusa goes up to see him (wracked with worry according to the announcer, although she doesn't appear to be so). When she gets to Mikado, Azusa notices the duck on his blanket and declares it to be her "Martina". Mikado grabs it back as it's keeping him warm, but is then set upon by Azusa armed with a folding chair. This knocks Mikado out cold, meaning Kolhotz High School forfeit the match, making the Furinkan High School team the winners. Azusa doesn't care, however, as she has her Martina now.

Anything-Goes Martial Arts
Azusa first appears at a Staking Rink that Akane happens to be visiting with Yuka and Sayuri. While they have a break from skating she finds Ryoga Hibiki (as P-chan) and decides that it is "her Charlotte" and asks him to be good and come home with her. When Ryoga tries to run away Azusa grabs him by his scarf and knocks him out with a small wooden hammer with "Marianne" written on it. Azusa then picks up Ryoga and skates off it him.

Azusa then goes to the Daikanki Ramen Shop (untranslated in the dub) where Akane is talking to Ranma about P-chan being abducted. Ranma then points out that the girl who just entered. Ryoga then comes to and begins to squeal at Akane, while Azusa continues protest against the idea that "Charlotte" isn't her's after all, just then Mikado takes Ryoga from her and gives it back to Akane, while Azusa demands that he gives her Charlotte back. Mikado then explains to Ranma and co. that Azusa has a tendency to "collect cute little things" and give them "a silly name", all the while Azusa hits Mikado on the head with increasingly larger objects until Mikado gives in and tells her to stop. Having excepted defeat Azusa challenges Akane to a Figure Staking match where the winner keeps "Charlotte". Yuka then recognises them as "The Golden Pair from Kolhotz High School", the two of them then formally introduce themselves.

After being told about the pair's winning streak, Azusa tells Akane that she should just surrender and get it over with. After Ranma flicks some Narutomaki at Mikado, Azusa wants it and begins to call it "Françoise" and after Mikado removes it from his face Azusa begins to hit Mikado over the back of the head again (at first with a frying pan and ultimately with a lamppost).

Later that day, Azusa returns to the Skating Rink where she finds Akane teaching Ranma (who has turned into his female form to try and avoid embracement). Azusa skates up behind Akane, jumps and uses her knees to knock Akane onto the floor. Just before Mikado attempts to kiss Ranma (who had been sent flying across the Rink after Akane fell), Azusa hits Mikado over the head and tells him it's time to practice the "Assault of a Hundred Foes". A large number of Ice Hokey Players then arrives and begin to attack the Golden Pair.

The Golden Pair then begin to fight the Hokey Players and using a combination of kicks and punches along with other Ice Skating moves are able to defeat all 100 of the group in nine seconds flat (which according to one of the Hokey Players is a new record). Ryoga (who had been turned into P-chan by Ranma earlier) appears and Akane and Azusa skate towards him to try and get him before the other does. Just as P-chan jumps towards Akane, Azusa skates in front and grabs P-chan. She then gives P-chan a pink collar with "Charlotte" written on it. When Akane tries to get the collar off, Azusa reveals she can't since she locked it with her key.

After Ranma leaves and returns in his male form due to Mikado kissing him in his female form, Azusa finds Genma (who was seen skating earlier) eating some Rice Balls and she decides that one of them is her "Josephine" and tries to get it off Genma. However, the Rice Ball is out of her reach so Azusa picks up a Tetsubin and begins to hit Genma over the head with it (Genma simply ignores this and continues to eat the Rice Ball). When Genma finishes eating the Rice Ball "Josephine", Azusa becomes very upset and angry so begins to hit Genma with a nearby chair (the Tetsubin she previously used had been almost destroyed/crushed by this point). This causes Genma great pain and he apologises for what he did.

Once the fight between Mikado and Ranma has finished, Azusa skates up and tells Akane that it looks like Mikado won the match. Akane, however, says that Ranma's the one who won. This causes slight confusion with Azusa, so she takes a closer look at Mikado, realising that he's unconscious. Knowing this Azusa begins to doodle on Mikado and is quickly joined by the Hundred Foes from earlier.

That evening at Azusa's home, she proceeds to say goodnight to all of the objects which she's decided to take as her own. The next morning she greets the objects again, until her Butler, Robespierre, appears and reminds her it's almost time for the competition to start.

The time for the contest arrives and, after Azusa and Mikado make a flawless entrance, Ranma tries to do the same, but falls horribly and makes Azusa decide to laugh at Akane's face because of it. After Akane tells Azusa to stop, Azusa says that they've only just started and Charlotte is as good as hers already. With the introductions out of the way the two pairs begin to fight each other.

At first it seems that Azusa and Mikado have the advantage, but Ranma manages to hit Mikado and cause him great pain. After Ranma narrowly avoids hitting a wall, Azusa skates up to the injured Mikado and begins to punch him where Ranma made contact (all the time asking if it hurts where she's punching) until Mikado has had enough and angrily shouts at her. This response from Mikado causes Azusa to become teary-eyed and note she was only worried.

After Ranma threatens Mikado should he try anything on Akane, the two pairs begin fighting again. At this point Azusa declares that it's time they try and split them up, so when the other pair make their attack Azusa jumps off Mikado's back and on top of Ranma. When Akane angrily skates back to Ranma, asking what he thinks he's doing, Azusa and Mikado are able to use this opportunity to perform their ultimate technique, the Good-bye Whirl.

Despite hoping to split up the pair for good, Azusa becomes tired from the spinning before Ranma lets go, causing both Ranma and Akane to go flying towards a wall (Ranma decides to take the brunt of the impact for Akane). Azusa, along with Mikado, watch from a distance to see if Ranma can still participate, however, Azusa also begins to suffer from dizziness and ultimately collapses waiting. Luckily, Azusa recovers shortly after Ranma does, but notices that her Charlotte has disappeared and demands Mikado helps her find it (thus preventing Mikado from immediately striking Ranma).

As Azusa and Mikado are distracted they don't notice Ryoga stepping in (turning Ranma into his female form in the process) and believe this to be a new substitute pair. Once the new pair get a change in costume, they continue to argue with each other, allowing the Golden Pair a quick and easy setup for another Good-Bye Whirl. This time the technique goes off as planned and Ryoga is planted into the floor of the rink by Azusa. After Azusa asks Ryoga if it hurts several times over, he puts his head up allowing Azusa to notice the necklace around Ryoga's neck and says that he's her little Charlotte.

Panicing that Akane will hear this and deduce he's her P-chan, Ryoga outrightly denies this accusation and claims to be coincidence, however, Azusa refuses to accept Ryoga's excuses. Ranma then appears and also begins to try and get Ryoga admit to his cursed form. This continues until Mikado steps in and tries to stop Ryoga from hurting his "pigtailed goddess", however, Azusa trips Mikado and then slams a mallet over his head, demanding he doesn't hurt her Charlotte.

The impact from the mallet causes the rink to break into several ice flows, however, Mikado is taken off the rink via stretcher. Azusa then wants the blanket over him (which is pink and has a cute duck stitched into it), however, Mikado wants to so he can be warm, but, a quick blow from Azusa holding a large boulder of ice knocks Mikado out cold, forcing the pair to forfeit the match (although Azusa doesn't care as she has her "Martine").

Having changed back from her Skating outfit, Azusa runs outside the skating rink and begins calling for Charlotte, but doesn't get a reply. Slightly depressed, Azusa stares at the sign pointing into the skating rink, before turning around and seeing Genma (in his panda form) sat in front of a fountain eating some Rice Balls. Azusa instantly falls for her "Oscar" and takes him home, where she dresses him period French attire and adds him to her collection of objects.

Outta Control
Azusa is out walking the streets of Furinkan, and being admired by the many males who happen to be around, however, this admiration for her beauty doesn't last long as Azusa is soon after the hat of a passing cyclist (which she has dubbed "Silvie") and causes him to crash after she jumps onto the back of his bike. When the Ambulance arrives to take the man, Azusa also wants the light on top of it, but is met with an obviously angered paramedic who refuses until Azusa hits him with a mallet. As the Ambulance drives off (with the injured paramedic replacing the lost light), Azusa kisses her newly acquired Silvie and George (unnamed in the dub).

Ranma (in his female form) and Akane had observed the scene with Azusa and the paramedic; fearful of interacting with Azusa the pair try to make a quick exit, but believe they've been spotted when Azusa shouts "Scarlet" at the top of her voice. Luckily for Ranma, Azusa saw Kuno's Rickshaw and so ignores her completely; opting instead to chase after Kuno.

Azusa easily catches up to her Scarlet, but is confronted by Sasuke who demands to know what she's doing, but Azusa falls for Sasuke (who she dubs "Sophia"). Azusa's words mean a lot to Sasuke, who thinks Azusa must love him, and thus is distracted enough for Azusa to put lipstick on him as well as doodling on his clothing. Kuno exits the store and is horrified to see Sasuke wearing lipstick and demands he stays away, while backing into the store's door. This scene climaxes with Azusa hitting Sasuke with the Rickshaw because he keeps moving, preventing her tying a ribbon around her. The impact caused the already unsteady hollow Tanuki statue above Kuno to fall on top of him, trapping him inside.

The sight of the Tanuki makes Azusa add it to her long list of times she loves, but decides that something so big and cute needs a really good name. After some moments thought, Azusa settles to call the Tanuki "Marianne". While deciding what to call the Tanuki, Kuno manages to cut off the head of the statue, which makes Azusa think he's turned human like in the fairytales. As Kuno realises the beauty of Azusa and how he's taken the heart of another young maiden, Azusa takes Kuno, Sasuke and the Rickshaw home.

Through some unexplained means, Kuno takes Azusa to his house. At first Azusa doesn't believe this to be her Tanuki's home, but soon decides (even though she was told by both Kuno and Sasuke how wealthy the Kuno family is) that her Marianne made it with her magically Tanuki powers. After Kuno talks to himself about the situation, Azusa and Sasuke enter the Kuno Estate.

Once inside the Estate, Azusa begins to dress up Kuno and Sasuke along with Mr. Green Turtle (dubbed "Bridget"), much to the shock and disgust of Kodachi when she comes across the scene. After inquiring to just what is happening, Kodachi notices Azusa stealing her dolls and takes them back with her Gymnastics ribbon, however, Azusa breaks the ribbon with one of her skates. Azusa takes the dolls once again, with Kodachi chasing after her in anger.

The next day, Azusa is revealed to have acquired a collection of objects from around the estate and is doing her usual ritual of saying good morning to each of them. Azusa finishes by saying hello to "Marianne" (Kuno) and takes her out for a walk (slamming Sasuke into a wall and forcing Kodachi to find temporary accommodation in the process of leaving the estate).

While out, Azusa comes across Ranma and Akane and believes them to be trying to take her Marianne and so sets them a challenge of another Martial Arts Skating match and should they lose they have to agree to stay away from Marianne. The matter of where this challenge will be held is set upon as the Ice Rink at the Kuno Estate. When Kuno raises the issue of his Estate not having one, Azusa says he'll be able to make one with his magic leaf and his Tanuki powers.

Amazingly, the day of the fight Sasuke and Kuno have managed to build an Ice Rink (although it can't handle people putting their weight on the walls). The fight in the empty stadium begins and after a failed attack from Kuno and Ranma (both of whom are really hopeless at Skating), Azusa tries to kick Akane, but Akane successfully dodges. Seeing this, Azusa comments of Akane's improvement but continues by saying their teamwork is still horrible.

Returning to fighting each other, Azusa tries to use the "Couple Cleaver" technique to try and split up Ranma and Akane, but is soon stopped by Akane. After sending Ranma slowly across the rink, Azusa uses a new technique "Dance of the Snowbird" which creates a large mist cloud around Azusa and causes Akane to attack Ranma accidentally instead of her. After the mist clears Azusa explains about how she invented the technique.

Kuno, meanwhile, has crashed into a wall of the rink. After an angry back-and-forth between Akane and Azusa the pair are about to fight head-to-head, however, Kuno's collision with the rink wall has caused it to collapse and reveal the Tanuki statue behind it. Azusa sees her Marianne and so forgets about Akane and goes straight to the statue. Showing a greta deal of strength, Azusa is able to lift the statue but this causes the whole of the rink to fall to pieces.

With the rink in ruins, Akane decides to give up on the match. Azusa, meanwhile, is in awe of the cuteness of the rubble until she sees the camera and decides to take that as well, causing the screen to be reduced to static.

Big Trouble in Nekonron, China
Azusa is out window shopping with Mikado when she notices Ranma running past and begin chased by the group of others, including her Charlotte. Excited about seeing Charlotte and wondering what's going, Azusa decides to follow the group (turning her shoes into four-wheeled rollerblades through some unexplained means). She also drags Mikado with her, almost strangling him with his scarf in the process. The pair are then joined by an even larger number of characters, but are eventually sent flying by Jasmine (before being sent flying, Azusa decides to call the shadowed Jasmine "Josephine").

OVA
Azusa is one of the many visitors to the Tendo Christmas Party. She can be seen talking with some of the other guests before Ranma, Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi and Shampoo begin singing.

Abilities
Due to her being experienced in Figured Skating, Azusa is able to use this to her advantage when practicing Martial Arts Figure Skating with her partner, Mikado. The abilities and techniques the two share has allowed them to break up any Figure Skating couple who they have faced. In the anime, Azusa is also shown to able to turn her Figure Skating skills to Rollerblading as well.

Despite being a master of Martial Arts Figure Skating, Azusa doesn't have any Special Techniques which she alone possesses (although in the anime she is shown to have developed the "Dance of the Snowbird" technique). Instead Azusa seems to just be the "female half" of the Golden Pair, who deals with the males of the opposing team while Mikado deals with the females.

Good-Bye Whirl: This is the only special technique which Azusa is shown to be able to use in both continuities; which she performs in conjunction with Mikado. After getting the partners to hold each others' hands, Azusa grabs their legs while Mikado hauls all three above his head. Mikado then begins to spin and refuses to stop until the partner Azusa is holding agrees to let go of their partner. This technique is usually used as the pairs ultimate technique to breakup the opposing couple. However, it does have limitations as should the couple remain held together too long Azusa can become dizzy and let go of both members of the couple together. Should the technique be successful, Azusa will then proceed to slam the male partner she was holding into the floor of the rink.

Dance of the Snowbird: A technique exclusive to anime, Azusa claims to have developed as a sped-up version of the "Good-Bye Whirl", although the technique itself seems to be more similar to Mikado's "Dance of Death". Azusa spins with the toe of her skate on the ice, causing a mist to rise, with her in the centre. This mist is then used to act as a smokescreen against the enemy, while when the enemy tries to attack who they think is her, they are attacking their partner instead.

Along with these techniques, Azusa also has some other moves which may or may not be argued as to be "techniques" of hers/the Golden Pair's. These include:

Couple Cleaver: Unnamed in the manga, the "Couple Cleaver" involves Mikado holding Azusa above his head and throwing her so that they each end up alone with the opponent of the opposite gender to theirs. To begin with, Azusa simply sat on her male opponent while Mikado kissed the female opponent, however, in her second anime appearance Azusa is also willing to kiss the male opponent to break up the couple.

Assault of a Hundred Foes: More of a training exercise than a technique, Azusa and Mikado take on a Hundred foes (dressed in Hokey gear, presumably for their own protection) and time themselves to see how quickly the Hundred foes can be defeated. During the one occasion they did this the pair achieved a time of 9 seconds, which is said to be a new record, although Mikado wasn't impressed with the time.

Relationships
Mikado Sanzenin is her skating partner and they are often seen together. However this seems to be for practical beneficial reasons rather then true friendship as both often treat each other very poorly.

Azusa dislikes Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo for taking away her "Charlotte."

In her second appearance in the Anime, Azusa believed Tatewaki Kuno was a tanuki, as she had decided to collect a statue of one thad fallen onto Kuno and Kuno cut his way out of it while her back was turned. She then decided that since the "tanuki" had been hers first, then that meant that Kuno was hers as well. Kuno was very annoyed by her behavior, but found her difficult to say no to, as he had a brief attraction to her (Kuno called her the "curly haired girl" in the Japanese version). At the episode's end Kuno was completly through with Azusa, like everyone else.

Sasuke Sarugakure also was unable to stop her, as she was one of the few people who treated him somewhat nicely. Though he too got over this at the end of the episode

In their brief meeting in the anime, Kodachi Kuno was shocked to see Azusa in the Kuno Estate. Kodachi found Azusa so annoying that she packed up her bags and left the Kuno mansion to find lodgings elsewhere.

Like Mikado, Azusa has her own loyal fanclub.

Non-canon Appearances
Azusa appears with Mikado in the Hot songs contest special and Azusa is mentioned in both versions of Lambada Ranma.

Trivia

 * Her personality is similar to that of Elmyra of Tiny Toons (i.e. a kleptomaniac for thinks which they view as being "cute").
 * Despite almost every character holding an antipathy towards her, Azusa has been completly unharmed at the end of both her appearances.
 * Although Azusa and Mikado were removed from the first season due to a combination low ratings and kidnappings at the time, Azusa still appears in two times of that season. The first being in the last scene of Don't Make Me Wild Like You, (the season opening theme) and in Chibi form when Ranma hits Genma in I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!?.
 * Chronologically, Azuka and Mikado's storyline is still supposed to appear in the first season prior to the introductory arc for Shampoo.

Quotes

 * You're so cute! - Azusa's catchphrase when she sees anything she thinks is cute.