Bonus tonight since we haven’t had a proper Kiku post in a while and a pending draft made me think of this. If you didn’t know, Kiku’s made it into a One Piece game. Her, Kin, & Oden are a DLC pack for Pirate Warriors 4. Really feel her and Kin should have just been base game since it includes early Wano...but whatever. I used Tashigi mostly in PW3 and fittingly, Kiku really plays as a better Tashigi. With ice elemental attacks. And she’s accurately sized so you get the benefit of being comically huge which I enjoy.

It’s fun to play as her, and I’ve long been a fan of these Koei Warriors series games in moderation. Giving them a One Piece spin is a natural touch. Which gets us to the fun part...her lines. These games always have a lot of fun little special lines characters linked in the source material will say to each other. Gives a lot of fun teasers for what if scenarios. DLC character means you don’t get others referencing her directly but it’s cute what she says about some... 

My favorite is the “beautiful” aspect. Because that’s part of her reputation, we get some for Cavendish and Hancock. First, y’all are gonna love the sapphic energy radiating off her lines towards Boa. Pretty bland though. Just “you’re as strong as you are beautiful, amazing!” type things. It is hilarious to see petrified Kiku with big heart eyes popping out. Cavendish? “Your pursuit of beauty has led to a failure to pursue strength.” 

You obviously get fun ones for the big flashy Okama. Iva’s cute, “The ability to change ones sex, what a marvelous sorcery!” Bon’s is the better one to me though. A little more reserved delivery, uses her confused face icon, “The way that you dress...where does your heart lie?”

There is also one neat trick they pulled for other characters addressing her. Sure, they didn’t re-record a bunch of new lines for base roster faces, but they had a smart little backdoor. The Whitebeard Captains always have a special one or two for Luffy. The ones that don’t name Ace or him they’ll say to Kiku as well! I give an audible daww every time.

You get that and more out of the game + DLC package. I like her big special following up with the cute Bakura “Oh, why did I just do that?” and donning the mask as a transformation ability is so satisfying. She also gets in on a cool little Iai style mechanic a few swordsmen share.