Hanako Ikezawa

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"At a young age, Hanako Ikezawa had a traumatic experience that left her life in shambles. Her parents died when their home burned down in an accident, which also disfigured Hanako permanently and leaving her in an orphanage. She is extremely shy, shunning from most other people to the point of actually panicking from any social contact. Her only trusted schoolmate is Lilly, who has taken Hanako under her wing ever since the two were introduced to each other."

— Official Description

Hanako Ikezawa (池沢華子, Ikezawa Hanako) is one of the five primary heroine characters in Katawa Shoujo. She is badly scarred on the right side of her body due to a house fire; she uses her long, dark purple hair to hide her facial scarring. Hanako developed extreme social anxiety in the years that followed the fire. She is extremely shy and only trusts a few people, which with whom she seems to relax and be comfortable. An honest girl, she believes in equality between friends, and highly values the few people she chooses to spend time with.

Hanako was raised for years in an orphanage, eventually becoming one of the eldest one there, she familiarized herself with multiple hobbies including chess, reading, billiards and (contrasting her personality), karaoke.

Relationships

Family

Hanako's mother and father died in a house fire when she was little, she survived it thanks to the sacrifice of her mother that shielded Hanako with her body against the flames, but left her body scarred horrifically. She was orphaned and became a ward of the state. No other relatives, living or dead, are mentioned in the story.

Students

Hanako has almost no relationships with anyone other than Lilly. Shizune and Misha overlook her frailty and do not treat her kindly because of this. She is shown to be crippled in social situations on multiple occasions and is prone to running away or even breaking down, leaving other students to speculate what had occurred. Later in Lilly's route, she ends up joining the newspaper club, and makes a few more friends, overcoming her anxiety.

Staff

Hanako only interacts with Yamaku's staff members if necessary. Usually teachers, including Mutou, try to give Hanako time to herself which often leads to her secluding herself in the library, even during class. Hanako is also acquaintances with Yuuko through Lilly. She also sees a psychiatrist every weekend.

Plot

See Hanako's route for the full plotline.

Background

Ten years ago, at the age of eight, Hanako's house inexplicably caught in flames at night (hinted to have occurred on the night of her birthday), not only burning the house down but taking the lives of Hanako's parents as well. Miraculously Hanako survived due to her mother shielding her from the flames. Afterwards, Hanako lived at an orphanage where she didn't make friends nor did she want to (due to bullying and name-calling by the other children, including ones who had been friendly with her before she was scarred by the fire). Instead, she secluded herself in the orphanage's library until she was offered the opportunity to attend Yamaku Academy, an offer she accepted.

Trivia

• Out of the main five girls, Hanako has only one H-scene, while the rest all have at least two.
• Hanako's name can mean "flower child," or "flower girl." This can either be in contrast to Lilly's name or to exemplify her inner beauty.
• Hanako appears to be more outgoing in Lilly's Route than her own "Good Route" (though this is understandable, as chronologically, Lilly's Route goes much farther than Hanako's Route).
• In the leaked beta version, it was revealed that Hanako's route was a "trap" of sorts. If the player chose Hanako's path the only endings the player could get were bad. In order to get Hanako's good ending, you would have to first achieve all three of her bad endings and then the option for Hanako's good ending would be available as a branch off of Lilly's route.
• Hanako is seen reading the book "Life of Pi" when Hisao first meets Hanako. 
• Hanako is the only main character whose theme (Painful History) does not play when Hisao first meets her. Instead, the song Everyday Fantasy is heard.

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