Ooi
Ooi is a fleet girl from the browser game Kantai Collection, representing the fourth ship of the Kuma-class light cruisers. Unique for being distributed to early players as a pre-registration reward, she reflects her historical counterpart's roles as a naval academy training vessel and later a heavy torpedo cruiser. Forming a tight pairing with her sister ship Kitakami, she is widely recognized for her devastating opening torpedo salvos and exceptional night-battle firepower.
Overview
Ooi is a fleet girl from the browser game Kantai Collection, representing the fourth ship of the Kuma-class light cruisers. Unique for being distributed to early players as a pre-registration reward, she reflects her historical counterpart's roles as a naval academy training vessel and later a heavy torpedo cruiser. Forming a tight pairing with her sister ship Kitakami, she is widely recognized for her devastating opening torpedo salvos and exceptional night-battle firepower.
Appearance
Ooi has brown medium-length hair and brown eyes. Her initial outfit features a light green short-sleeved sailor shirt with large waist pockets, a black neckerchief, a green pleated skirt, black socks with white stripes, and brown loafers. Her initial rigging consists of a back-mounted funnel and lookout platform, a hand-held 14cm single gun, and twin torpedo tubes on her left arm. Upon her Kai upgrade, she switches to a dark green long-sleeved sailor uniform and gains quadruple torpedo tubes on her thighs and calves. Her Kai Ni form changes her attire to a cream-colored top that exposes her midriff. She boasts a relatively large bust among her class, second only to Tama. Seasonal visual variations include a rainy season outfit holding a men's umbrella and a Valentine's appearance holding a torpedo-shaped chocolate.
Personality
On the surface, Ooi maintains a polite and well-mannered demeanor, but underneath lies a sharply sarcastic and cynical temperament. She frequently directs harsh or distant attitudes toward the Admiral and other fleet girls, often letting slip hostile undertones during fleet operations. She exhibits an intense, borderline obsession with Type 93 Oxygen Torpedoes, deriving eerie delight from launching them in combat. However, after undergoing a Marriage (Marriage Kai) ceremony, her cold disposition shifts toward a deeply obsessive affection directed at the Admiral.
Abilities
Remodeling from a light cruiser into a heavy torpedo cruiser dramatically boosts her torpedo stat, allowing her to execute powerful preemptive torpedo strikes when equipped with a Kouhyouteki. Upon reaching her Kai Ni upgrade, her raw torpedo stat rises to 139, translating to a night-battle attack power exceeding 202 at maximum modernization. Requiring no special items to remodel, she delivers immense offensive capability capable of destroying high-armor enemy flagships like the Battleship Re-Class or Battleship Water Demon in a single night attack.
Background
Launched in 1920 and completed at the Kawasaki Dockyard, Ooi initially spent much of her career serving as a training vessel for the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. Prior to the Pacific War, she and her sister ship Kitakami underwent a massive conversion into heavy torpedo cruisers fitted with ten quadruple torpedo mounts to fire Type 93 Oxygen Torpedoes in fleet engagements. As naval warfare shifted toward carrier airpower, her intended role became obsolete; she was subsequently stripped of most torpedo tubes to act as a high-speed transport carrying landing craft. She was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine Flasher off Manila on July 19, 1944.
Relationships
Ooi shares an exceptionally intense, singular bond with her sister ship Kitakami, prioritizing her above all else and harboring extreme jealousy toward anyone who disrupts their time together. In animated adaptations, she treats fellow fleet members like Fubuki with cold detachment while remaining fiercely protective of Kitakami. Her historical interactions link her briefly to the Army transport submarine Maruyu near Manila, as well as the food supply ship Mamiya, whom Ooi rushed to assist across vast distances following a submarine attack near Chichijima.
Trivia
When spelled in Roman letters ('OI'), her name is among the shortest of any historical warship. Her legacy continued post-war with the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Isuzu-class destroyer escort Ooi, which served alongside her sister ship Kitakami in the 32nd Escort Division based at Ominato for three decades. Additionally, a pitch-black debug silhouette of her carrying red 'NO DATA' text occasionally appeared during severe server congestion in the game's early history.
