Our first playable Genshin character from the
Japanese inspired region of Inazuma is finally here, with the release of Kaedehara Kazuha. And
just like with every character in this game, there is so much detail behind every aspect of
his design. So today in this video I am going to be discussing some of those things including
his name, visual design, talent names, and more. Disclaimer: as always this discussion
will be mostly speculation based, so if you have anything to add or correct, feel
free to comment. Also, for the sake of this video I will be referring to him as Kazuha, though
I understand the importance of his full name very well. With that said, let’s get into it.
Everything about Kazuha very clearly revolves around maple trees and maple leaves. If you’re
from the West, that might make you think of Canada because of their flag, but actually two thirds of
all species of maple trees are from Eastern Asia. All maple trees exist under the Genus of Acer,
and the specific species associated with Kazuha is the Acer Palmatum, or Japanese Maple. We know
this because it is the name of his constellation. Acer is latin for sharp, and Palmatum is latin
for “hand-like.” Although they originally referred to describing the shape of maple leaves, these
meanings could also potentially relate to Kazuha’s swordsmanship. These trees are characterized by
their foliage which turns from green into shades of deep red every autumn. Historically, they have
been a common subject of Asian art and poetry. Sometimes the leaves floating in a river
would represent “going with the flow,” or leaves stuck in a ditch would represent
people being stuck in life. Additionally, Japanese maples are commonly used in the art of
bonsai, growing miniature trees. This is because they have strong endurance and can easily adapt to
different climates. All of these themes definitely relate to Kazuha’s story, as he went from being
the son of a noble family to a wandering traveler, then later abandoned his homeland of Inazuma
and had to adjust to life with the Crux Fleet. Japanese maples can also represent peace,
paralleling Kazuha’s desire to end pointless conflict. Lastly, momijigari (lit. maple tree
hunting), or maple tree viewing, is common in Japan during the autumn season. According to the
Shinto religion, this act represents connecting with the spirits of nature. One thing unique
about Kazuha is how in tune with nature he is. After the Kaedehara Clan had dissipated, he
became very observant of his natural surroundings and acquired the ability to read its sounds to
predict the weather. As we will continue to see in the rest of this video, Kazuha’s relation
to maple leaves only gets deeper and deeper. The name Kaedehara Kazuha is originally Japanese
of course. That means that it is constructed of these characters called kanji. Each one has
its own set of possible meanings and readings, and they are often combined to create different
words. Let’s start with Kaedehara, his surname and the name of the clan of samurai of which he is
from. This contains the kanji for maple and field, so that translates to something along the lines of
a maple grove. Kazuha on the other hand, has the character for ten thousand and leaf. However, the
first character can also be used in a less literal sense to refer to a generally large number, so
a translation might be something like a myriad of leaves. Interestingly, the kanji which make
up Kazuha can alternatively be read as Man’you, just like the Man'youshuu, the oldest collection
of classical Japanese poetry in existence. We know that Kazuha himself is no stranger to
poems because his character demo opens with him reciting a haiku, a Japanese style of poem
that follows the 5-7-5 syllable structure. In terms of Kazuha’s visual design,
there's a lot to break down, so let’s go roughly from top to bottom. Kazuha
seems to have some form of 着物 (kimono) on, which you can see on the upper half of his body.
The jacket covering his left arm is a 羽織 haori, which typically have stylish designs. Kazuha’s is
fittingly adorned with imagery of maple leaves. The rest of the haori is draped around Kazuha’s
waist. Samurai typically wore full sets of armor, such as the 大鎧 (ō-yoroi) or 胴丸 (dō-maru), but
Kazuha only wears a single shoulder guard, called a 袖 (sode). It has your typical layered armor look
to it. Like with other single shoulder guards, it is likely worn under the assumption that you
can defend one side of your body with your sword using your unrestricted arm, and then the other
side has that added extra bit of protection. Kazuha has his right hand bandaged up but not
his left hand, likely to protect his dominant hand from being damaged by holding his sword. The
pants seem to be a modified kind of 馬乗り袴 (umanori hakama), which feature wide legs and defined
pleats. Kazuha’s only go down to past his knees, but typically they would be the length of
the full leg. Kazuha’s belt is a specific one called a 角帯 (kaku obi). Obi in general, help
hold traditional Japanese clothing in place, but kaku obi in particular are also used for 居合道
(iaido) swordsmanship, which will be discussed more in the next section. The knot resembles an
一文字結び (ichimonji musubi), meaning straight line knot. This simple knot is the preferred one for
those wearing a hakama. Around Kazuha’s calves are 脚絆 (kyahan), cloth leggings worn by samurai.
Usually they served as padding between the leg and armor, but they could also be worn by themselves
as protection from cold and insects. On Kazuha’s feet he is wearing 足袋 (tabi), traditional Japanese
socks that separate the big toe from the rest of your toes. These were used so socks could be
comfortably worn with traditional Japanese shoes that are all put on like sandals. This allowed
for shoes to be put on or taken off very easily, which was necessary due to how loose, flowing
traditional clothing would often get in the way. Kazuha’s shoes most closely resemble 草履 (zouri),
which are not nearly as tall as other kinds of traditional Japanese sandals. Overall, Kazuha’s
visual design is a strong mix of traditional Japanese clothing and modern styling with a touch
of battle practicality. And even though this isn’t a part of Kazuha’s design, his splash art
features him holding a katana, a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade,
and a handle with a 柄巻 (tsuka-maki) pattern). Kazuha’s attack animations are really impressive
when you take a second to look at them closely. One thing which makes his stand out is of course,
is his faux-sheath for his sword. The reason why he doesn’t have a real one is because with
how Genshin’s swords are so varied in shape, it would definitely cause model clipping. The
image on this sheath is the 三つ巴 (mitsudomoe, lit. three commas), a symbol within the
Shinto religion. It can symbolize many things, such as Heaven, Earth, and Man, or represent
qualities like strength and courage. There are many different sword fighting styles for samurai,
each with different purposes and techniques, but one style that seems to have been an influence for
Kazuha is 無双直伝英信流 (Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu). This style focuses on 居合道 (iaido), the skill of drawing
the sword and cutting within the same motion. Kazuha’s English talent and constellation names
are a combination of translated and romanized Japanese words. Romanization is the process of
converting Japanese sounds, represented by kana, to English words consisting of letters of the
alphabet. In his normal attack, 我流 from “Garyuu Bladework” means self-taught, which makes
sense given how Kazuha seems to have not been formally trained by his own clan. Elemental
Skill Chihayaburu means tremendous power, but its significance more so comes from it being the
opening line to a famous poem. The 小倉百人一首 (Ogura Hyakunin Isshu) is a collection of 100 classical
Japanese poems by 100 different poets. Poem 17, written by Ariwara no Narihira around the 12th
century, describes the beautiful sight of autumn leaves on the Tatsuta River. Plunge attack: 乱れ嵐斬
/ Midare Ranzan, roughly means “Wild Storm Slash,” referring to the destruction caused by high speed
winds. Elemental Burst: Kazuha Slash is a bit off putting to some people, but as far as translation
goes it’s just as accurate as the other ones. The Japanese name of the talent is this: 万葉の一刀, where
the first two characters can be read as either kazuha or man’you. It is basically impossible
to maintain the significance of this duality while translated though. However, regardless of
which reading is used, it still means “slash of ten thousand leaves.” The translation makes a LOT
more sense if you think of it as the word kazuha, meaning a myriad of leaves, rather than the
character’s own name. 相聞 from Kazuha’s 1st ascension passive, soumon swordsmanship,
references the aforementioned Man'youshuu. In it, poems are divided into three genres: 雑歌
(zouka) or miscellaneous poems, 相聞歌 (soumonka) referring to love poems, or 挽歌 (banka), which
mourn the deceased. 相聞 itself means connection through listening to one another, which fits
the passive talent that connects Kazuha with a nearby element by absorbing it into Chihayaburu
and Midare Ranzan. 風物 in ascension passive 4, Poetics of Fuubutsu, refers to Japanese poems
about natural scenery and the four seasons. This fits well into Kazuha’s strong ties to
nature, but the four seasons could also relate to the four elements which Kazuha can swirl. Lastly,
Kazuha’s utility passive, cloud strider, is the only name that is a significant departure from the
Japanese version. Originally, it is 霞立つ松風 (kasumi tatsu matsukaze), roughly meaning “the sound of
mist blowing through pine trees.” Kasumi tatsu is the opening line to poem 846 in the Man'youshuu,
which talks about a plum blossom on a spring day. Moving onto constellations, it’s more or
less the same deal. C1, 千山紅葉 (senzan momiji), meaning “a thousand autumn colored mountains”,
is translated to Scarlet Hills. Senzan is the first half of 千山万水 (senzanbansui), a Japanese
idiom meaning a great distance to travel. C2 山嵐残心 (yama’arashi zanshin), meaning “prepared
for a mountain storm,” is translated a Yamaarashi Tailwind. It was likely changed since there is no
succinct way to translate zanshin while romanizing Yamaarashi, but I also feel that tailwind is quite
fitting. A tailwind blows in the direction you are going, giving you a boost, similar to how
the field created by Kazhuha’s elemental burst grants a boost in elemental mastery. C3 is really
interesting because it contains Monogatari, a Japanese word meaning story, although the Japanese
constellation name doesn’t even include that word. In Japanese, it is 楓袖奇談 (kaede sode kidan). The
first kanji means maple, the second means sleeve, and the last two translate to a romantic or
colorful story. The maple sleeve could be referring to his actual sleeve or his shoulder
guard, and kidan fits with the theme of poems. So although a different Japanese word was used
for the English translation, it means roughly the same thing. C4 contains two romanized words, 大空幻法
(oozora genpou). Oozora literally means great sky, the 3rd kanji means illusion, and the 4th kanji
means method. Sky is quite fitting for this constellation specifically, since it includes a
benefit for gliding in the air when on low energy. In C5, 万世集 (banseishuu), bansei means
eternity, and shuu means a collection of, just like the Man’youshuu. Bansei could
potentially be a reference to the Electro Archon being Teyvat’s God of Eternity. And
lastly, C6 is 血赤の紅葉 (chiaka no momiji), meaning blood red maple leaves. It is translated to be
a bit more straightforward as Crimson Momiji. As a last note to this video, I just want to
say that translating is harder than you probably think it is. Especially with Japanese where the
sounds, grammar, and writing are all completely different from English, it’s always a tough but
necessary decision to include certain meanings while discarding other ones. For example, do
you romanize a Japanese word or translate it? Translating it causes it to lose some of its
cultural significance, but romanizing it requires the audience to do their own research to even
have a basic understanding of it. What I’m trying to get at is that we should be respectful of the
translators because what makes a good translation is all subjective opinion. With that said, I hope
that this video taught you something new, and showcased just how detailed Kazuha’s design really
is. As always, thank you so much for watching.
