Hanako Arasaka
| Hanako Arasaka | |
|---|---|
| |
| Type | Main Character |
| Affiliation | Arasaka |
Hanako Arasaka is the daughter of Saburo Arasaka and one of the most mysterious figures in the Arasaka corporation. She is a gifted netrunner and the head of the Kiji, the conservative faction of the company's old guard. Her past is kept secret by a team of lawyers ready to sink any journalist who digs into it. After her father's death she becomes the key to V's hopes of a cure, and the choice to trust her leads to the Arasaka ending.
Biography
A Sheltered Life
Hanako's mother died soon after she was born, and she became her father's favourite child. Saburo raised her within the family compound near Tokyo to shield her from the outside world, with tutors brought in to teach her. She was rarely allowed to leave, and then only under heavy guard. Cut off from the world, she learned to explore it through the net instead and became a skilled netrunner on her own.
Hanako loved her father but chafed under his control, and she dreaded his plans to marry her off for a corporate alliance. Her closest family member is her brother Yorinobu. While he rebelled and rode with a street gang, the two kept meeting in the net. When he asked to return to the family, her support helped him be accepted back.
The Kiji
Hanako was one of the few people who understood Alt Cunningham's work on Soulkiller, and she worked on her own version of it, meant to move a mind into a cloned body. After the death of her eldest brother, the old guard of Arasaka gathered around her and formed the Kiji faction. They want to carry on Saburo's plans while making peace with the New United States. She opened a preserve in Japan for the green pheasant, the bird that gives the faction its name.
Night City
Hanako travels with her father and her bodyguard Sandayu Oda to Night City, where Saburo means to confront Yorinobu about the stolen Relic. After her father's death, she agrees to speak in his memory at the Arasaka parade in Japantown. Goro Takemura snatches her from her float and takes her to his hideout, where V tells her the truth about the murder. Hanako secretly calls for help, and Arasaka soldiers storm the building.
She later contacts V through a proxy and asks the merc to find a copy of Soulkiller. She then invites V to dinner at Embers, a high-class restaurant. There she admits that no one at Arasaka believed the poisoning story, but no one dared stand against Yorinobu, herself included, until she learned he had tried to have her killed. She offers to save V's life in return for V's testimony before the Arasaka board.
Hanako Arasaka Map
The map shows the places of the story of Hanako Arasaka: Arasaka Tower and Embers.
Hanako Arasaka map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Personality
Hanako is calm, graceful and intelligent, and she commands with quiet authority. Employees describe her as kind, but she is also a cold strategist who knows how the corporation works. She loves her family deeply, Yorinobu above all, and that love makes her slow to accept the truth about him. She rarely shows anger, and she never forgets an insult.
Relationships
Saburo Arasaka is her father, and she still honours him. Yorinobu Arasaka is her beloved brother and the man who killed their father. Sandayu Oda is her bodyguard. Goro Takemura served her father and becomes her ally if he survives. Anders Hellman works for her in the final act.
Jobs
Hanako's part starts at the parade in Play It Safe and Search and Destroy. Nocturne Op55N1 is the meeting at Embers where she makes her offer, and Last Caress and Totalimmortal follow if V accepts it.
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| Play It Safe | Main Job |
| Search and Destroy | Main Job |
| Nocturne Op55N1 | Main Job |
| Last Caress | Main Job |
| Totalimmortal | Main Job |
Endings
If V accepts her offer, Hanako's men take her to the family estate, supposedly for her safety. V, Hellman and Takemura, if alive, rescue her there and fly to Arasaka Tower. Hanako shows V the engram of Saburo kept in Mikoshi, then faces the board with V's testimony and her father's digital voice behind her. When Yorinobu's soldiers attack the meeting, V protects her and her niece and captures Yorinobu. Saburo's engram is then written over Yorinobu's mind, and the old man lives on in his son's body.
In the endings where V turns down her offer, Hanako's plans fail without V. Alt Cunningham's attack on Arasaka Tower kills her, or she dies in the coup when Yorinobu's men attack the board. In the Phantom Liberty ending with Solomon Reed, her coup fails and she is killed, and Yorinobu blames Takemura.
Notes
Hanako is only met in the main story. She never appears in side jobs.
All Main Characters