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- "There are certainly enough enemies to go around."
- —Chachamaru Karakuri
Chachamaru Karakuri (絡繰 茶々丸, Karakuri Chachamaru) is a character from the series Negima!: Magister Negi Magi by Ken Akamatsu and a protagonist in Kuro Arashi: The Black Storm. The 10th student in Japanese alphabetical order of class 3-A, she is actually a robot invented by class mechanical geniuses Satomi Hakase and Chao Lingshen (though Hakase says she did the whole thing), as the partner for immortal vampiress Evangeline A.K. McDowell.
Because of her connections, she is consistently found on the opposite ends of conflicts with teacher Negi Springfield, whether it is fighting alongside Eva or being programmed to assist Chao during her attempt to reveal magic to the world. But in actuality, Chachamaru is a machine who is trying to discover herself and her humanity, particularly with her own crush on her teacher.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Chachamaru is a robot with a mechanical and magical power source created by Satomi and Chao for Evangeline and was manufactured, presumably, at Mahora only roughly a year before Negi's arrival. She is essentially a technological golem. Despite her robotic parts showing very clearly, not many in her class actually seem to notice. As well as being Evangeline's partner, she performs maid duties at the cottage they share on the Mahora campus.
Class 3-A[]
- Main article: Class 3-A
Although initially appearing silent and merely on the sidelines when Negi arrived at Mahora, she began to become a nuisance to Negi at the very moment Evangeline made her move against the son of the Thousand Master. While fighting against a vampire was one matter, fighting against both a vampire and her robotic servant made even more trouble for Negi as he began to doubt his ability and start his own search for a ministra magi to assist him. This would lead towards Negi making his first pactio contract with Asuna Kagurazaka, who would take over fighting against Chachamaru while he took on the vampire. Yet even during this initial encounter, the boy teacher discovered the robot student was not as evil as she appeared, showing her helpful and kind nature even while being both Eva's servant and a threat to himself. After the battle, Chachamaru chose to stay by her master's side instead of going to Kyoto, only appearing as backup for Evangeline during her battle against Fate Averruncus.
Kyoto Field Trip[]
Despite her assisting Negi in Kyoto, Graf Herrmann declined to go after her, lest he risk drawing the attention of Evangeline, whom he wanted to avoid. Even so, she, Evangeline, and Kaede Nagase, who avoided being kidnapped, did discover his presence, but held back, preferring to see if Negi and Kotarou Inugami could handle the situation themselves.
Mahora Festival[]
- Main article: Mahorafest
During the Mahora Festival, Chachamaru slowly became friends with reclusive classmate Chisame Hasegawa, whether she wanted to or not. Considering Chisame's own aggravation initially in that one of her "child teacher's" students is a robot, Chisame is approached by Chachamaru as she drags her into the thought of the existence of magic as well as clues her in on the plot of Chao Lingshen regarding the tournament and ultimately the entire Mahora Festival.
Mages vs. Mars[]
- Main article: Mages vs. Mars
Yet amidst these comments, Chachamaru also gets into a heart-to-heart with the hacker classmate regarding the feelings the two of them have towards magic and Negi as well as the possibility of becoming a partner with their teacher. While Chisame scoffs at these comments at first, she eventually is forced to fight against the robot with a pactio hacking ability during the final day of the Festival, along with Ayaka Yukihiro and Makie Sasaki. Chachamaru's role at this point was as the main maintenance of the computer networks, taking control of the Mahora network and preventing any interference for Chao's plans. Once the master was defeated, she unconditionally surrendered to Chisame, much to her classmate's dismay after fighting so hard to get the magical barrier back online.
The Unsung War[]
During the course of the Human-Covenant war, Chachamaru was seen serving as the UNSC artificial intelligence for Evangeline's Third Marine Special Operations Division, as well as the shipboard AI for Evangeline's starship, the UNSC Yamato. Upon meeting with Chao in 2552, the Chinese girl surmised that Chachamaru had been the basis on which the UNSC had based its smart AI technology, an interesting turn of events as it was that very same technology that Chao had used as the basis for Chachamaru. To date, Chachamaru's physical body has not been seen.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Computer Interface: Due to her own AI and computer programming, Chachamaru has the ability to interact and connect with other computer networks with ease, allowing her to hack and control even the Mahora systems during the final day of the festival.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat: Her overall combat abilities are considerable though her current level is unknown. (Though it is likely she was programmed to perform numerous martial arts techniques seeing how Chao Lingshen had a hand in her creation.) Previously she was able to use her abilities both as Evangeline's partner as well as a test/training partner for Negi as he trained with the vampiress. Due to her latest upgrade after the Mahora Fighting Tournament, her creator stated that Chachamaru was now able to perform some of the more advanced techniques, such as Instant Movement.
- Mechanical Functions: Chachamaru is equipped with several devices, which include a Bind-Canceller (to undo Binding Circles), laser emitters in her eyes, magic-powered thrusters on her legs and back, retractable rocket fists, and whatever else her creator Satomi can come up with, in addition to the basic enhancements as prototype of the Chachamaru Program. Her thrusters allow Chachamaru to fly, however she can only do so for 15 minutes, which indicates that she has a limited fuel supply.
- Weapon-Morphing Arms: Her latest upgrade now allows her to transform her arms into large swords or guns, though this will tear the sleeves of her clothes apart and has a tendency of draining her magical "battery" rather quickly.
Technical Overview and Upgrades[]
Chachamaru's body is powered by an internal spring combined with magic.
Once a day, Chachamaru has to be recharged with a combination of winding her spring plus the infusion of magic into her systems. For Chachamaru, this feels much like forming a pactio, but the force of the winding and the amount of magic given to her can dramatically alter the intensity of the sensation (making it feel almost orgasmic). The process involves using a large key which is inserted into a slot in the back of her head. Normally, it is Evangeline who turns the key and infuses Chachamaru with magic.
As the only mechanical member of class 3-A, Chachamaru can not literally grow or change physically on her own due to being limited to a robot body. However, that doesn't mean that she is not eligible for the occasional upgrade or model change to her system. Due to the consistent, obsessive research of her co-creator Satomi, Chachamaru's physical form and abilities are occasionally changed or altered in order to make her more human.
- Teenage Body v. 1: The primary physical body used by Chachamaru, giving her the appearance of a tall middle-school student. This form is noted for the appearance of more mechanical joints and pronounced "machine ears" (of which Chisame immediately identified her as a robot instead of an ordinary student in the class). The ears were upgraded to a more streamlined look a while before the Mahora Festival.
- Teenage Body v. 2: As Chachamaru returns to a teenage form, she has been given several upgrades to her physique. The special skin in the younger body has been added and her joints are no longer noticeable compared to before, making her virtually identical to the other girls when naked, excepting joints on her shoulders. The ears are usually held vertical like the original Teenage Body. For combat and defense, her arms can be reconfigured into weapons, such as a blade or gun. Furthermore, Satomi increased the size of Chachamaru's bust, allowing her to appear more adult or seductive. Satomi also added a longer lasting "magic battery" of sorts allowing Chachamaru to be wound up once every 24 hours instead of every 12 hours. However the "battery" is drained faster while when in combat situations due to her transforming arms and increased magical output.
Appearances[]
- Future Perfect: Chao Lingshen's Tale (Mentioned only)
- Kuro Arashi: The Black Storm (First appearance)
- The Unsung War