Honoka (Dead or Alive)

Honoka
Dead or Alive character
Honoka in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round (2015)
First gameDead or Alive 5: Last Round (2015)
Designed byNatsuko "Fubuki" Kawakami
Voiced byEN: Kira Buckland[1]
JA: Ai Nonaka[2]
In-universe information
OriginJapan
NationalityJapanese
Fighting style
"Honoka Fu"

Honoka (ほのか) is a character in the Dead or Alive series by Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja development team. She made her debut in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and is voiced by Kira Buckland in English[1][3] and Ai Nonaka in Japanese.[2]

Conception and development

Honoka was designed by Natsuko Kawakami.[4]

Appearances

Honoka is an 18-year-old Japanese fighter who made her debut in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round as a downloadable content character.[5] She is a self-taught martial arts fan capable of learning any fighting move that she sees and participated in the 5th tournament's Asian qualification. However, during one of her fights a mysterious inner energy went haywire knocking both Honoka and her opponent out. This caused her disqualification and Honoka herself can’t recall much of the incident.

In Dead or Alive 6, this incident catches MIST’s attention as the unknown power showed similarities to Raidou’s fighting mimicry. As part of a plan to resurrect him, both of her and Ayane end up captured by MIST and later it is confirmed they are half-sisters with Raidou as their common father. During the course of the story, the Mugen Tenshin ninjas save her and put Honoka under their protection.

Promotion and reception

In merchandise, figures of Honoka have been produced by companies such as Kaiyodo and Freeing B-Style.[6][7] Several 3D mousepads were also released, with the wrist rests designed to emphasize her large bust.[8][9] She and Marie Rose were also featured on promotional swimsuit posters given out for pre-orders of Xtreme 3.[10]

Nishikawa-kun of Famitsu stated that while she was a relatively newer character in the series, she became popular very quickly, called her figure "one of the nicest bodies in the series" due to her large bust size and interactions with the player in Venus Vacation. Stating that while she is portrayed as gentle and naive, he considered her lively personality adorable, and also voiced approval for her tendency to show a vulnerable side. In particular, he enjoyed her friendship with Marie Rose due to them sharing this characteristic, something he felt came across well when they interacted with fellow character Nyotengu.[11]

Kim Young-hoon of Korean gaming outlet Gamemeca praised not only her appearance, describing her as "the most beautiful girl ever" in the series due to her figure, but also her charm in how she was a martial arts prodigy. Going further, he called it an intriguing premise, adding that while she lacked the strength to use them effectively she made up for it with versatility.[12] Fellow writer Seo Hyung-Geol praised the introduction of Honoka and Marie Rose in Last Round, stating that while the conflict between series protagonists Kasumi and Ayane brought players to the series, it had become stale after twenty years and the franchise felt on the verge of collapse. By comparison, he felt the new pair not only reinvigorated the series, bringing a fresh charm to the series as the protagonists of Dead or Alive 6.[13]

The staff of Kakuchopurei on the other hand voiced disdain for her character, regarding her only slightly better than Marie Rose in their eyes due to her prominent role in Dead or Alive 6, and considered her fighting style nonsensical. Instead they felt she was designed to cater to a schoolgirl fetish, something they felt was already done by other characters as is.[14] Meanwhile, Matt Sainsbury of Digitally Downloaded saw her as an example of Tecmo taking virtual idols and recreating them into their games, comparing her to the Love Live! series character of the same name.[15]

Dr. Ardian Indro Yuwono in a paper for Indonesian journal Interaksi examined the designs of several female characters in Dead or Alive 6, which included Honoka. In it, he described her as having a "fairly ample bust" and the most sexually appealing body proportions of the cast. He felt this coupled with her schoolgirl attire served the joshi kōsei archetype often seen in Japanese pornography, especially with consideration for her personality which he considered child-like. Examining the latter aspect further, Yuwono stated that such media often included such character to cater to those attracted to innocent or childish adult themes. He further argued that the emphasis of swimsuits in her regard was a form of "inappropriate forced sexualization", as bikinis were seldom appropriate attire for fighting and thus appeared strictly for the pleasure of the audience.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 "Kira Buckland ☆ VoiceActress". Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Honoka Voices (Dead or Alive)". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on April 13, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  3. ↑ Buckland, Kira [@KiraBuckland] (March 1, 2019). "#DOA6 is out today! Honoka will always hold a special place in my heart as the first playable character I ever voiced in a fighting game. 💕 Hope you enjoy and feel free to tag me if you come up with cool combos, etc!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 2, 2019 – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ "『DOA6』新堀P＆『DOAXVV』作田Dのコメントも掲載！ 『DOA』ファンの祭典""DEAD OR ALIVE FESTIVAL 2018"全体リポート". ファミ通.com (in Japanese). November 21, 2018. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Honoka Revealed for Dead or Alive 5: Last Round". IGN. January 14, 2015. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  6. ↑ 後ろ姿がチラ見せ！『DOA6』ほのか、マリー・ローズの監修中フィギュアが一部お披露目―「みんなには内緒だよ。」 [Show me the back! ...DOA6 Honoka, Marie-Rose's supervised figure partially unveiled - "Don't tell everyone."]. Inside Games (in Japanese). June 23, 2025. Archived from the original on June 1, 2026. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  7. ↑ [피규어메카] 발전된 그래픽만큼 피규어도 일신한 'DOA' [[Figure Mecca] 'DOA': Figures Revamped to Match Advanced Graphics]. Gamemeca (in Korean). March 20, 2019. Archived from the original on April 25, 2026. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  8. ↑ 《死或生：沙滩排球女神假期》欧派鼠标垫公布 [Dead or Alive: Venus Vacation Oppai Mouse Pad Announced]. Sina.com.cn (in Chinese). December 30, 2017. Archived from the original on April 19, 2026. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  9. ↑ 给你100%的真实手感 奶排3推出等胸超大鼠标垫 [Giving you a 100% real feel, Xtreme 3 launches an extra-large mouse pad with equal breasts]. Sina.com.cn (in Chinese). April 22, 2016. Archived from the original on June 1, 2026. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  10. ↑ 《死或生：沙滩排球3》玛丽 穗乃果性感海报一览 ["Dead or Alive: Beach Volleyball 3" Marie Honoka sexy poster list]. 3DM (in Chinese). March 11, 2016. Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  11. ↑ Nishikawa-kun (May 27, 2021). DOAXVV 3.5周年アップデート情報まとめ。みさきインタビュー＆新水着“ヴィーナスナイン”ほのか版の独占公開も！ [Summary of update information for the 3.5th anniversary of DOAXVV. Includes an interview with Misaki and an exclusive look at the new "Venus Nine" Honoka swimsuit!]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 28, 2026. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  12. ↑ Young-hoon, Kim (February 17, 2015). DOA 5 라스트 라운드, 개선된 물리엔진... 자연스러운 흔들림 [DOA 5 Last Round: Improved Physics Engine... Natural Shaking] (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 1, 2026. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  13. ↑ Hyung-Geol, Seo (March 11, 2019). DOA 6, 잘 만든 격투게임이지만... '비호감'. Gamemeca (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 1, 2026. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Ranking The Dead or Alive Waifus From Hot To Scoville-Breaking Smokin'". Kakuchopurei. February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on December 13, 2025. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  15. ↑ Sinbury, Matt (April 13, 2018). "Dead or Alive has a new character (sort of)". Digitally Downloaded.net. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2026. What's perhaps most amusing about this though is that Koei's new habit for Dead or Alive seems to be taking virtual idols and making "Dead or Alive"-style replicas of them in its games. Honoka, of Dead or Alive 5: Last Round fame onwards (she also appears in Xtreme 3 and Venus Vacation) is explicitly based on Love Live's Honoka.
  16. ↑ Yuwono, Adrian Indro (June 2022). "Perempuan Dalam Video Gim: Representasi Perempuan Dalam Dead or Alive 6" [Women In Video Games: Female Representation In Dead or Alive 6]. Interaksi: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikas (in Indonesian). 11 (1): 66–67. doi:10.14710/interaksi.11.1.60-72. eISSN 2548-4907. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
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