Sasaki Ran

“	Mother? What's a mother?	”
—Ran in Prayers from an Ancient Sky

Sasaki Ran (佐々木藍) is a first-year Lily who attends Herensuge Institute for Girls. She is a member of Legion Hervör.

Personality

Ran is the same age as her legion's leader, Aizawa Kazuha, but it's instantly apparent that she hasn't spent much time in school—or anywhere other than in GEHENA's laboratories. She lacks many things that are nearly universal among Lilies her age: knowledge of the world, social skills, and (to a certain extent) maturity. Between Ran's innocence and her small stature, she's easily mistaken as being quite a bit younger than she is. Those Lilies with maternal instincts (such as Chikaru and Kaede) are often drawn to her, and vice versa.

Despite this, Ran has a surprising degree of emotional intelligence and is able to sense when others are troubled. She'll occasionally arrive at straightforward solutions to problems that others overthink. Finally, she has a firm moral sense based on her desire to protect her friends and the things that they hold dear.

In Last Bullet, Ran is a rather lethargic girl who rarely takes any interest in anything other than eating her favorite foods and fighting Huge. However, she loves to spend time with her friends and will join them in other activities if encouraged. Little can compete with Ran's sheer love for fighting; she's often the first to rush into battle, and only against the most fearsome and insurmountable opponents does the possibility of getting injured or killed even enter her mind.

In the stage plays which feature her, Ran is quite a bit more energetic and outgoing. She quickly forms friendships with others, particularly fellow Boosted Lilies like Raimu. Sometimes these friendships are rather one-sided on her part, like in the case of "Kotopi."

History

Ran was made into a Boosted Lily (more specifically, into a Princess of the Huge) while still in her mother's womb and was raised in GEHENA's laboratories. She never knew her parents as such, and indeed doesn't even seem to know what "parents" are. While cracking a GEHENA thumb drive, Kagawa Makina discovered Ran's name on a list of Boosted Lilies associated with the 13 Sisters Project, as well as two project staff members named "Sasaki" who she theorized were Ran's parents. However, Ran has showed no particular interest in learning more about them.

Ran spent her formative years undergoing constant experimentation and testing; she was able to make few friends during this time except for Esaka Shizuku, who she was later separated from. GEHENA personnel often referred to Ran by her designation of "Subject A05" rather than her name.

At the Hinode Tragedy, as part of an experiment, Ran was embedded in a Madec squad that was wiped out by the Huge. Her life signs ceased at this time, only to spontaneously resume, to the amazement of the scientists monitoring her. One proceeded to call her "GEHENA's greatest achievement."

Stage plays

This information is specific to the stage play continuity.

Anime/game

This information is specific to the anime/game continuity.

Rebellion of Skjaldmær

If you girls can't do it, then I will!
I'll fight to protect our loved ones! Me!
That's what's important to everyone, right?
Then I'll protect what's important!

—Sasaki Ran, Rebellion of Skjaldmær, scene 5-3

During one of the newly formed Legion Hervör's very first sorties, Kazuha orders the other three members of the legion to draw a Large-type's attention to prevent it from damaging civilians' homes. Between the Large-type and its escorts, the four Lilies are quickly overwhelmed and request reinforcements from Herensuge, which are slow to arrive.

Just as the legion gets pinned down with no hope of escape, Ran appears and begins slaughtering the nearby Huge while laughing in delight and calling herself "their backup." Kazuha is shocked that Herensuge has only sent a single Lily and not a legion, but quickly orders Hervör to assist Ran; together, they succeed in killing the Large-type before collapsing in exhaustion. Quite some time later, a full team of Herensuge Lilies—Hervör's actual backup—arrives on the scene and are confused to find no Large-type anywhere to be seen.

Immediately after the battle, Kazuha inquires with Herensuge about Ran and finds that she isn't part of a legion, then requests and receives permission to have her become a member of Legion Hervör. Following her proper introduction to the others in the legion, Ran quickly bonds with Chikaru and Yo over food, and enthusiastically takes to Kazuha's unconventional training methods. When Ran tells the others that she isn't scared of dying, it saddens Chikaru, and she has Ran promise that she won't die, lest that make Chikaru sad. Over the coming days, Ran trains and fights earnestly together with the others in Hervör, now paying slightly greater heed to self-preservation.

In the final battle of the event, when Kazuha loses her will to fight, Ran gets angry at the rest of Hervör and shouts that she'll fight to protect all of their loved ones, then runs off on her own to do just that. After Kazuha recovers her confidence, Ran regroups with her and the legion, declaring that with all of them here, she's invincible. Together and more united than ever, Hervör proceeds to defeat a powerful Large-type and stop Roppongi from being destroyed.

After the battle, Ran joins in the Shieldmaiden's Vow that the five Lilies of Hervör take together. Her contribution is having all of them vow, "May we have the time to eat yummy taiyaki every day."

Combat Style

Despite her petite body, Ran has immense raw strength, enough to wield a CHARM much bigger than she is and even to throw it at enemies with deadly force. Her spontaneous fighting style is focused on offense, and is complemented by her thirst for fighting Huges and her Rare Skill, Lunatic Trancer. Thanks to her strength and ferocity, she excels in the AZ as a power-type attacker on the front line.

However, Ran's fighting style is also her greatest weakness. She tends to be very reckless in combat and disregards defense completely, which makes her very vulnerable to counterattacks. The only way to counteract this is by having Ran fight together with other Lilies, or in a Legion that can provide support for her. Hervör is the most successful legion at doing this thanks to using tactics that were specifically created with Ran's fighting style in mind, allowing her to do whatever she likes in battle.

Relationships

• Esaka Shizuku: Old friend

Trivia

• Hobbies/Interests: Eating, fighting, afternoon naps
• Favorite food: Taiyaki
• Likes: Futons
• Dislikes: Coffee, spicy curry, injections
  • Ran specifically dislikes bitter coffee. She's later introduced to coffee milk by Esaka Shizuku, which she calls "delicious", delighted to have developed an adult taste
• Ran is tied with Miliam Hildegard von Guropius as the second shortest character with a confirmed height in all of Assault Lily; only Futagawa Fumi is shorter.
  • Outside the anime/game continuity, she may be the shortest character of all.
• Ran's given name means "indigo." Her surname, Sasaki, literally means "helpful tree" but is thought to originate from an ancient word meaning "cowpea" (or possibly "cowpea castle").
  • Ran's surname may be a reference to the real-world entomologist Sasaki Chujiro, who made contributions to archaeologist research.

Gallery

See also: Category:Lily costumes for Sasaki Ran

Designs

• 
  Ran's design in Assault Lily: Last Bullet

Stage

• 
  As portrayed by Natsume Aimi in The Fateful Gift

Miscellaneous

• 
  Ran's character design sheet for Last Bullet

Navigation

Legion Hervör Members Aizawa Kazuha  ·  Hatsukano Yo  ·  Iijima Renka  ·  Sasaki Ran  ·  Serizawa Chikaru Related people Michikawa Miaki