Zuihou

Overview

Zuihou is a light aircraft carrier fleet girl from Kantai Collection, modeled after the second ship of the Shouhou-class. Despite her petite build and youthful appearance, she possesses a mature side, enjoys alcoholic beverages, and approaches her duties as a fleet member with diligence and cheerfulness. In battle, she wields a bow patterned after a flight deck to launch aircraft-shaped arrows. Famous among players for her domestic charm and her habit of serving homemade tamagoyaki (rolled omelets) to the Admiral, she is affectionately nicknamed "Dzuho" by the community.

Appearance

Zuihou features medium-long brown hair tied into a ponytail with a single hanging lock, paired with orange-tinted eyes and a red-and-white striped headband. Her ensemble consists of a sleeveless white archer's top edged with red trim, attached sleeves bound at the shoulders with navy thread, and a chest guard secured by a light blue cord. She wears short red monpe trousers with white stripes cinched at the thighs with metal fittings, white tabi socks, red-and-white striped clogs, and a brown archery glove on her right hand. Her waist rigging holds two rear-opening containers housing three rocket launchers, accompanied by a ship-hull quiver and a red-and-white striped bow. Upon remodeling, her attire shifts to green camouflage with the hiragana characters "Dzuho" on her trousers.

Personality

Zuihou possesses a cheerful, outgoing, and friendly demeanor. As a secretary ship, she takes her responsibilities seriously and gently prompts the Admiral to focus on fleet duties, yet retains a childlike innocence when celebrating victories. She has a passionate fascination with aircraft, particularly praising the design of the landing gear on Nine-Nine Dive Bombers. Toward the Admiral, she is exceptionally affectionate and domestic, frequently offering freshly prepared tamagoyaki. Beneath her youthful air, she also reveals a mature preference for drinking Japanese sake and shochu late at night.

Abilities

As a light aircraft carrier, Zuihou possesses standard combat stats combined with a remarkably high Luck stat. Her high Luck boosts her daytime shelling accuracy and evasion, while also significantly improving the trigger rate for night carrier cut-in attacks when equipped with specialized gear. Her aircraft capacity is unevenly distributed across slots, allowing commanders to load fighters or bombers into her larger slots while utilizing her smallest fourth slot for reconnaissance planes or secondary guns. Upon remodeling, she arrives equipped with the Tenzan torpedo bomber.

Background

Zuihou is modeled after the second ship of the Shouhou-class light aircraft carriers. Unlike several other light carriers converted from submarine tenders, she was completed directly as an aircraft carrier. Formally registered as the lead ship of her class in official paperwork, she served alongside numerous carriers and escorts. Her historical record includes participating in aircraft transport operations as well as major battles such as the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Cape Engano.

Relationships

Although Shouhou is her official sister ship, Zuihou shares a closer historical tie with standard aircraft carriers Shoukaku and Zuikaku due to joint combat operations. She also maintains warm connections with the destroyer Mikazuki, who served as her escort, and the carrier Unyou, with whom she conducted aircraft transport missions; Zuihou notably shares her signature tamagoyaki with Unyou for dinner. Additionally, she interacts with fellow aircraft carriers such as Kaga, Ryuujou, Chitose, and Chiyoda.

Trivia

Her popular nickname "Dzuho" comes from the hiragana identification characters painted on her physical flight deck during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which is reflected visually on her remodeled monpe trousers. The character shares her name with the real-world Hotel Zuihou in Sendai; when the hotel was featured on television, fan interest temporarily overwhelmed its web servers. Her in-game voice line warning the Admiral against touching her hangar became a well-known meme within the fan community.