Hanako Ikezawa

Information

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Plot

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Hanako Ikezawa
Birthday	10 July (Age 18)
Zodiac sign	Cancer
Gender	f
Height	164cm
Blood type	AB
Theme	Painful History
Occupation	Student
Quote	"Can you face your fears?"
Other	Scars, shy demeanour, long dark purple hair

"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 that claimed the lives of her parents. Having lost her only family, Hanako grew up in an orphanage, eventually becoming the oldest resident. In response to years of teasing and bullying by her peers as a result of her scars Hanako developed extreme social anxiety. As a result she is extremely shy and only trusts a few people in whose presence she seems to relax and be comfortable. Hanako grows her hair long and uses it to hide her facial scarring from casual observation. An honest girl, she believes in equality between friends and highly values the few people she chooses to spend time with. As a result of her social isolation, Hanako developed a number of solitary interests including chess, reading and billiards. Surprisingly, and in contrast to her personality, she is also fond of karaoke.

Relationships

Family

Hanako's mother and father died in a house fire when she was little. She survived only due to her mother shielding her from the flames. Unfortunately, the right side of Hanako's body was burned and scarred. With no living relatives, Hanako became a ward of the state. .

Students

Hanako has only brief acquaintances with her fellow students at best. The only person at Yamaku with whom she has a deeper relationship is Lilly. Their friendship started when Lilly moved into the dorm room next to hers. Hanako was able to open up to Lilly presumably because she is blind and does not react to Hanako's scarring. Although Shizune and Misha care for her well being as a student, they frown upon the liberties granted her due to her social anxiety. 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 acquainted with Yuuko through Lilly. She also sees a psychiatrist every weekend.

Plot

See Hanako's route for the full plot line.

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 was bullied and made fun of by other children, including girls who had been friendly with her before she was scarred by the fire. This developed into anxiety about her scarring and led to her voluntary social isolation. She secluded herself in the orphanage's library until she was offered the opportunity to attend Yamaku Academy.

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 farther than Hanako's Route).
• In the leaked beta version, it was revealed that Hanako's original 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 reading "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.
• Rin points out that she saw Hanako go to the bathroom a few times in a row, considering the name Hanako this might be a reference to Japanese urban legend called Hanako-san, which is about a young WWII era girl that haunts school bathrooms