Yurigaoka Private Girls' Academy (setting)

Not to be confused with Yurigaoka Girls' Academy, an element of the current Assault Lily setting.

Yurigaoka Private Girls' Academy (私立百合丘女学院 ) was a setting that Obanazawa Kenei posted on his blog and a website he was associated with (that of the model dealer "Moumantai") between 2005 and 2006. It was the earliest public form of the setting that would later evolve into Assault Lily.

The setting was explicitly described as a parody of Maria-sama ga Miteru, and also contained aspects taken from Kamen Rider and other tokusatsu shows.

History and Location
By the year 2230 (in the earliest blog post given as 2100), environmental changes have caused many creatures to evolve into giant monsters that prey upon humans; for example, lizards have evolved into dragons. Because of this, every human being needs to learn to defend themselves starting at a young age.

Fortunately, humans are no longer Night Heads, and most of them can use over half of their brainpower now. This gives them abilities that are a lot like magic and superpowers (these abilities are never described by the setting in detail.)

The belief that humanity can't survive without fighting has spread throughout society, and 30 years ago, Japan's national high school curriculum changed to incorporate combat training.

Yurigaoka Private Girls' Academy is a Christian missionary school that moved to Ikuta, Kawasaki upon implementing the new combat curriculum. It's located on the site of the former Noborito Research Institute (currently the Ikuta campus of Meiji University in the real world.)

Yurigaoka is described as having a beautiful cathedral atop a hill, and as "a garden in which the chosen maidens gather."

It has an associated junior high school, as well as an associated college, Yurigaoka Girls' College.

Educational System
Yurigaoka's high school division lasts for three years. Students from each year have a collective name:


 * Year 3 students are Erzengels (German for archangels)
 * Year 2 students are Schutzengels (German for guardian angels)
 * Year 1 students are stray sheep

Following the beginning of the school year, Schutzengels will look for a stray sheep to guide and vice versa. There is no name given for their bond, but the stray sheep will call her chosen Schutzengel "Onee-sama." They will also usually join the same party, a group of three Yurigaoka students who fight together.

Yurigaoka's curriculum uses a credit system and is described as challenging. The school offers electives in equipment training (with missile launchers, bombs, communication gear and so forth.)

Student Council and Sororities
Yurigaoka has a powerful student council. It has three presidents, known as the Yellow Lily, White Lily and Red Lily. These student council presidents are usually Erzengels.

There are also many sororities, which are similar to after-school clubs. Five of the most powerful sororities are officially recognized by Yurigaoka, and act as an opposing force to the student council. The leaders of these sororities are called "Masters."

Weapons
All students at Yurigaoka must learn to use the Deposition Synchro-System by their second year. This allows them to materialize weapons from thin air.

They also make use of a Deck Battle System. By collecting cards, each of which has a special technique with unusually potent offensive ability sealed within it, the students acquire highly effective attacks they can use while fighting monsters, although there's a limit to the number of times they can be used.

There are 13 unique weapons known as Gears, with special card readers which can read advanced decks. These "High Rankers' Decks" are held in cases with touch-sensitive displays, and by entering the right password (things like 555, 333 and 000), the wielder of the Gear can use super special techniques.

The Gears belong to the leaders of the student council and the masters of the sororities. They can only be wielded by those that they themselves deem worthy.

Weapons used by Yurigaoka students are otherwise suggested to be relatively conventional, and include giant swords, missile launchers, mines, and guns similar to the FN P90.

Specific Students
Some students at Yurigaoka are:
 * Fumi (ふみ), who was later renamed Ruri (or replaced by her), appears in a brief snippet of conversation in the original blog post.
 * "Fumi-san, what would you say to enrolling in 'Introduction to Land Mines'?" "Huh? N-No, I was going to take the missile launcher course..."
 * Ruri (瑠璃), a new first-year student who just entered Yurigaoka by passing the high school entrance exam. Obanazawa imagines her voice as that of Saito Chiwa.
 * Miki (美姫), a second-year. She is one of the three student council presidents and Ruri's onee-sama. As an onee-sama, she is gentle, yet sometimes strict. She is "rich enough that it'll blow your mind." Obanazawa imagines her voice as that of Nabatame Hitomi.
 * Shigure Hisae (時雨緋冴), another of the three student council presidents, described as the "commander of the Tricolor Lilies". She's a straight-laced person who seems like she's similar to a samurai, but is one of the most capable student council presidents of all time. She's especially skilled with swords and uses the Gear "Mistilteinn." Obanazawa admits to her being based on Signum from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's.

Parallels to Assault Lily

 * Yurigaoka Girls' Academy is still central to the Assault Lily setting, though its spelling in Japanese has changed.
 * In the early Assault Lily novels by Kasama Hiroyuki, the time frame of the setting and the location of Yurigaoka are closer to the ones given here. The in-setting year of 2052 and location of Yurigaoka in Kamakura City were established by Assault Lily: Bouquet.
 * The term "Schutzengel" now refers to the older Lily in Yurigaoka's oath of sisterhood (who may be a third-year or, in rare cases, a first-year) rather than all second-year students. It is also now the name of the oath itself.
 * Parties appear to have evolved into legions. They may also have given rise to Norns.
 * Yurigaoka still has three student council presidents, but they have been renamed and are no longer direct references to Maria-sama ga Miteru.
 * A single sorority is known to exist in Assault Lily: the Labyrinth Sorority, associated with Legion Ginnungagap. Like the original sororities, it acts as a check on the power of the Yurigaoka student council.
 * The 13 Gears no longer exist in any fashion that we know of, but may have been the numerical inspiration for the 13 legions of the Fólkvangr.
 * Fumi's name was used for Futagawa Fumi, though it's unclear whether they are the same character.
 * Ruri may have later become Hitotsuyanagi Riri.
 * Likewise, Miki may have become Shirai Yuyu, though she is no longer one of Yurigaoka's student council presidents.

Links

 * Obanazawa's original blog post
 * A later writeup on the Moumantai website (part 1)
 * Part 2
 * Part 3