The end of the Genshin Impact 1.5 livestream had a surprise reveal of six new Inazuma concept art, simultaneously teasing a brand new character, though we only got to see her in SD – Who is this character, and how is she related to Yae Sakura from Honkai Impact 3rd?
Who is Yae Sakura?
If you’ve never played Honkai (or skipped all the dialogues) here’s a summary of what you should know about Yae Sakura, courtesy of the Honkai wiki. The English and the Japanese one. Needless to say, this contains spoilers.
Yae Sakura is a playable character in Honkai Impact 3rd, another game by Genshin developer miHoYo. She used to be the Miko (shrine maiden) of her hometown Yae Village. However, her ill sister Yae Rin was scarified to a fox Youkai in the village. In a futile attempt to stop the Houkai.
Three years later, nurturing hate for the village and herself despite her late sister’s final wish, but still a kind person, Yae Sakura became a hermit. Honing her katana skills and protecting the village. But the hate in Sakura’s heart ended up feeding the Houkai.
One day, Sakura found Kallen Kaslana, corrupted by houkai, alongside a box containing Higokumaru, the will of the Herrscher from the previous civilization.
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Sakura and Kallen
Later on, as Sakura was defending the village against Houkai beasts, Kallen heard about the situation and rushed to protect her. This was the first time Sakura ever had someone lend her a hand, so she fell in love with Kallen.
Following this Houkai beast raid on Yae village, the villagers decided it was time for another sacrifice to try and quell the Houkai. So Kallen, who heard about Rin’s tragic story from Sakura, decided to stop the sacrifice and fight the fox Youkai and its manipulator.
However, the identity of the manipulator turned out to be Sakura. The hatred in her heart made her long for revenge against the village, and she got manipulated by the Houkai and the will of the 12th Herrscher. Turning Sakura into a Pseudo Herrscher. In the end, Kallen ended up sealing Sakura.
500 years later, Yae Sakura was then found by Kliana Kaslana in the current Honkai Impact storyline.
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Houkai and Herrschers explanation
Houkai is basically the world’s immune system. It’s a cyclical natural disaster which manifests when a civilization reached a point where it could harm the planet and the natural balance of the universe.
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Similarities between Yae Sakura and the mysterious new Genshin character
Yae Sakura is a Miko, and several skins and attires of hers in Honkai Impact 3rd reflect that. The mysterious SD character teased on the Genshin 1.5 livestream has a Miko-like outfit as well. All of Sakura’s skins in Honkai are Japanese themed, with a kunoichi skin, etc. Which fits the Japan-inspired Inazuma in Genshin. And overall, both characters look incredibly similar.
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Sakura and Ayaka
Moreover, it’s a known fact among Genshin fans that Ayaka Kamisato mentions a character named Yae Sakura in her voiced lines. See Honey Impact.
Ayaka was playable in the first Closed Beta Test of Genshin Impact in early 2020, which wasn’t under any NDA. So you can easily find Ayaka gameplay anywhere. However, Ayaka has yet to be released in the official game.
In her lines, with the beautiful voice of veteran seiyuu Saori Hayami, Ayaka talks about Yae Sakura with a lot of respect. Again implying she’s a revered Miko or high spritual in Inazuma.
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Is the new character Baal, the Electro Archon of Inazuma?
As we explained in the past, the Electro Archon in Genshin Impact has several names. She’s named Baal, but she’s also called the Raiden Shogun.
There’s a certain character in Honkai called Raiden Mei. While we haven’t seen what the Electro Archon Baal looks like yet, seeing she’s also called Raiden Shogun, it’s very likely she will look similar to Mei. And this is what Mei looks like, nothing like the SD pink character from the stream:
There are several Genshin Impact characters who look strikingly similar to Honkai characters, or share the same name. The unknown god in the intro looks very similar to Kliana from Honkai, and they have the same seiyuu, Rie Kugimiya. Both games are connected and are akin to parallel universes too.
Lastly, on the livestream, according to fan translators, the mysterious character was introduced as a fox, which would fit Yae Sakura’s story. And as a friend of Zhongli and Baal. SO she can’t be Baal herself.
As such, the new mysterious character from the 1.5 livestream is very likely Genshin Impact world’s version of Yae Sakura from Honkai.
Genshin Impact 1.5 will launch on April 28. The PS5 version will launch then as well. For now the game is available on PS4, PC, and mobile. A Switch version was also announced.
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