Karen Kamishiro





"Every path leads to Aikatsu!"

- Karen before her performance in season 2

Karen Kamishiro (神城カレン) is a character in the Aikatsu on Parade! series and was one of the main characters of the first and second season of the Aikatsu Friends! series. She is a graduate of Star Harmony Academy. Karen is a cute-type idol whose preferred brand is Classical Ange. Along with Mirai Asuka, the two are a part of Love Me Tear.

Appearance
Karen has long flowing golden-blonde hair worn loosely with a thick, fanned out nose-length ponytail held by a scrunchie with a large cherry bow. Her thick bangs have a small part on the left and a few loosely curled strands. Her eyes are light indigo. When she was a child, the section of hair that Karen let down had a larger volume and had two fanned out pigtails held by red ribbons instead of her current single ponytail.

When she was in Star Harmony, Karen's long hair was tied into a high ponytail that held with a light pink bow.

Personality
Karen is known to be kinder than anyone else with a strong heart, described as a cute princess and an angel of love, as well as an idol full of smiles and overflowing with love. Her prodigal skills give her an overwhelming aura of elegance.

Background
As a child born into a wealthy family, Karen had received special education and grew up into a lady who excels at whatever she does. With her professional ability in traditional Japanese refurbishment activities, Karen is known to be a Yamato Nadeshiko.

Karen, later on, paired up with Mirai to form Friends and later won the Diamond Friends Cup together.

Upon season 2, Karen embarked on a trip around the world to share love through Aikatsu!.

Relationships

 * Mirai Asuka
 * Karen's partner who won the Diamond Friends Cup together.


 * Alicia Charlotte
 * Karen reunited with Alicia after embarking on her trip around the world. Karen wishes to help Alicia after listening to her troubles.

Etymology
Kamishiro (神城) - Kami (神) means god and shiro (城) means castle.

Karen (カレン) is the Danish form of the feminine given name Katherine, meaning pure or clear. One of its many forms in kanji is 華蓮, meaning beauty or brilliant.

Quotes
"The Aikatsu! way cannot be mastered in just one day!"

- Karen before her performance in season 1

"Shine bright, Mirai!"

- Karen to Mirai before their performance

"Aine and Mio hold a radiance far greater than any I have ever felt before from another Friends. Perhaps they're already up there, bringing warmth to the world from heights that can overcome any barrier— Right where we're trying to go."

- Karen to Mirai

Trivia

 * Her birthday, October 4th, is known as Angel Day in Japan, as the numbers 10/4 (ten shi) can be read the same as "angel" (天使).
 * Coincidentally, when adding their birthday digits respectively (Karen's 10+4=14 & Mirai's 5+9=14), both Karen and Mirai reach the same sum of 14, which can also be pronounced as 1 4 (石) in Japanese, alluding to them not only being Diamond Friends, but to share a meaning within their birthdays.
 * She likes cooking.
 * Her favorite food is senbei.
 * She dislikes mushrooms.
 * Her specialties are archery, flower arrangement, and tea ceremony.
 * She is afraid of caterpillars.
 * Karen bears resemblance to Hime Shiratori from the Aikatsu Stars! series.
 * They both have a shade of blonde hair.
 * They both have a shade of eyes from the cool color spectrum.
 * They are both cute idols.
 * They are both the top idols of their series.
 * They are both founders of their own brands.
 * They both wear a bow on their ponytails.
 * They both have an elegant personality.
 * She shares her voice actress with Aoi Kiriya from the original Aikatsu! series, Yuzu Nikaidō from the Aikatsu Stars! series and Smart Kyūbi from the Aikatsu Planet! series.
 * She shares her first name with Karen Kurebayashi, Juri's mother, from the original Aikatsu! series.
 * She shares her last name with Rei Kamishiro from the original Aikatsu! series, however, they're written in different kanji.
 * She is the second known Yamato Nadeshiko in the Aikatsu! franchise, following Miyabi Fujiwara from the original Aikatsu! series.
 * She is the tenth idol in the Aikatsu! franchise to have created her own brand, following Mizuki Kanzaki, Sora Kazesawa, Hime Shiratori, Lily Shirogane, Elza Forte, Yume Nijino, Rei Kizaki, Mio Minato, and Mirai Asuka.
 * She is the third idol in the Aikatsu! franchise who owned her own idol school, following Orihime Mitsuishi from the original Aikatsu! series and Elza Forte from the Aikatsu Stars! series.