Yuki, whose name means "snow", is one of the few characters in Last Blade not to originate from Japan. Her family managed ship trades for several years. Sadly, Yuki's family was killed in a terrible ship accident. She is then adopted by a man named Gaisei, who trains her in fighting along with two others: Moriya Minakata and Kaede. Unlike them, she picks up the naginata instead of the katana. Gaisei knew that her strength could adapt better with the naginata. Over the course of her training, she develops feelings for Moriya.

When Yuki was 13, she returns home with Kaede to find their teacher dead, with Moriya standing over the body. Mortified, she watched as Kaede attacked Moriya. Moriya silently took his leave shortly thereafter. She and Kaede then embarked on a five year journey, eventually discovering the truth: a powerful swordsman named Kagami Shinnosuke was the one who had murdered their master. She assists Kaede in defeating Kagami, both avenging their master's death and clearing Moriya's name.

In Last Blade 2, Yuki and Kaede discover that she is the maiden that is to perform the sealing of evil, as evidenced by her necklace and its recent glowing. After this, she and Kaede part ways and she is left to make her decision about her destiny. Eventually she agrees, and she sacrifices herself to close Hell's Gate.
 
                                                       
  

                                                     
 

Page Updated:  June 8th, 2022
In my opinion, Yuki comes off as a pretty casual and somewhat bland design for a 2D fighting game character in the late 90s. I do appreciate the fact that she isn't blatantly "over-sexualized" like some other female character designs in the same era, but it's mostly her outfit that strikes me as boring. I feel like I've seen it before many times. On the bright side, most of Yuki's animations are great... but I also don't find her staff-based moveset to be particularly innovative or exciting. I know I've seen a more interesting "ice staff user" in my days. Still, as one of the prominent heroines of The Last Blade, she's likeable in some ways... but I think she could've been a far more interesting character. Who knows, she might've had the opportunity to cross over to another fighting game series if she developed a bit more (but Kaede, Moriya, and Washizuka took the slots in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, instead). On a side note, her outfit, long headband, and color scheme definitely reminds me of Yuri Sakazaki.
	Fighting  Style  /  Moveset
	Personality  /  Charisma
	Outfit(s)  /  Appearance
	Effectiveness  in  series
	Overall Score