Amachi Hitsugi

Amachi Hitsugi (天地ひつぎ) is Tenchi Academy. She owns the school, and is its Dean, its Director, and President of its Student Council. She invented the Hoshitori and the swordbearer system. She is Tenchi's finest duellist and, together with her shinyuu Miyamoto Shizuku, its most highly ranked.

Character
Extravagant, outlandish, stentorian-voiced, Amachi is simultaneously the untouchable, nearly divine presence at the summit of Tenchi Academy, and its most unrepentant clown.

As the school's autocratic ruler, she shows fierce loyalty toward and immense trust in her students, yet she also tends to view them as tools for amusement in her personal playground. Her regal, dignified bearing notwithstanding, she can be counted on to make a joke out of nearly everything and, more than any other character, is responsible for introducing the absurd, the obscure, and the bizarre into the story.

She took over control of the school from her mother, and is never hesitant in making use of her family's immense wealth, whether for scholastic or for, shall we say, extracurricular purposes. In addition to owning Tenchi, she is also a student at its high school. It is unclear whether she actually attends classes, but the same could be said of most of the series' characters.

Her fighting style is upright and powerful. She grasps her sword at the very end of its hilt, with a single hand (her left), using her off hand as a brace or, occasionally, to attack or throw opponents. Her prowess knows no equal.

Volume 1

 * Appears on the inner front cover with Miyamoto. In the MediaWorks version, she mentions her pleasure at the speed with which the first volume came out, and hopes that a 100th volume can be reached within a year. In the Shueisha version, she discusses the reissue, and the fact that the inner front cover comic has not changed.
 * Addresses the gathered students of Tenchi at the first assembly of a new term (5-8).
 * Talks with middle-schooler Mudou Ayana about her continued tanshin status (13-16), then introduces herself to newly-arrived student Kurogane "Nagi" (actually Hayate) (16-18).
 * Sits overlooking the dining terrace during lunch (79). She and Miyamoto intervene when a fight appears about to break out (84-87).
 * Having discovered that "Nagi" is really Hayate, she admits both of them to Tenchi, contingent on Hayate passing a special trial (89-93).
 * Swordbearer Register file appears on 96.
 * Praises the tonal quality of Miyamoto's Hoshitori bell (112).
 * With Tatewaki, monitors the progress of the Hoshitori, in particular Hayate and Ayana's duel against the Aida/Suzuki pair (114, 116, 118, 122, 128).
 * Reviews video footage of Hayate fighting, praising her speed (142-146).
 * Has a discussion with Mikado Akira and Inori Sae on Hayate and Ayana's challenge to their randori record (161-162, 166, 170-173, 178).
 * In the Shueisha-only extra, investigates one of Tenchi's seven (or eight) wonders (181-182, 184).

Volume 2

 * On the inner front cover, laments the slow progress of publication. She believes Volume 51 should already be on sale.
 * Serves as an official observer of the individual duel between Kibi Momoka and Kiriya Ouka. She is not a fan of Ouka's fighting style (38, 45-49, 57-58, 63, 65, 67-68).
 * Is greatly amused by Ayana and Hayate's latest combat move (141-143).
 * Presides over Tenchi's athletics festival. The sight of swordbearers struggling with their swords through sports events and obstacles courses is greatly entertaining to her (164-165, 170, 175).

Volume 3

 * On the inner front cover, remarks on this being Hayashiya's first series to reach a third volume.
 * Denies the possibility that a Tenchi student might be involved in the recent incident of a bag-wearing intruder invading the offices of Smiley Finance LLC. (24-25).
 * Discusses Ayana's return to Rank B with Miyamoto (33-35)
 * Reprimands Miyamoto for trying to hide her illness (42-45), then for her overenthusiastic and ineffective methods of combating it. It emerges, however, that Amachi herself is far more severely sick (52-55).
 * Receives a phone call from Shizuma Nami (65-66).
 * Nami visits. When she moves to strike Jun a second time, Amachi intervenes, challenging her to a duel. Yuuho then steps in (101-102, 106-109, 111-113, 115, 118-120, 125-126).
 * Watches the Yuuho/Jun vs. Hayate/Ayana battle over the live video feed, with Akira and Sae also present (161-162, 171-172).

Volume 4

 * Brings Tatewaki on board for the inner front cover comic.
 * Through a camera installed in the infirmary, witnesses Jun and Yuuho acknowledge openly for the first time that they are sisters (32).
 * Grants permission for Jun to fight and earn stars in the Hoshitori alone, fighting with two swords, while Yuuho is hospitalized (44-50).
 * Looks forward to the upcoming Summit Battle match with the Minori/Claire pair (54-55).
 * Explains the origin of "Rank S" (from seitokai, meaning "student council") (59).
 * Practicing sword strokes in the training hall, she enters a trancelike state of concentration. She collapses immediately after being broken out of it, and Miyamoto must carry her out (62-67).
 * Addresses a meeting of the student council (123-129).

Volume 5

 * On the inner front cover, proposes celebrating the fifth volume by burning leftover copies of the first five volumes.
 * Appears as a child, as Miyamoto remembers their first-ever meeting. Amachi had a boyish appearance as a young child, and is at first taken for a boy by Miyamoto (6-7).
 * The Summit Battle against Minori and Claire commences. The combatants are introduced by Tatewaki and have their weapons checked (21-25, 27, 29).
 * Asks Claire what her wish is in making the challenge. Her remark, "Hoshikawa-san, you and I haven't spoken much before," indicates that the two do not know each other well at this point (34-40).
 * The duel begins. Claire attempts to attack Amachi's weak point, which Akira and Sae have informed her is her left leg. The attempt is ineffective; Amachi explains that her left leg is "made of steel." Disappointed in Claire's gambit, she cues up a dance track from 1988, Hikaru Genji's "Tsurugi no Mai" ("The Sword Dance"), and easily begins spinning Claire around with her sword (42, 50, 53-59, 61-65, 67).
 * Appears again as a child, encouraging Miyamoto in early athletic and swordfighting endeavors. Her speech pattern at this time in her life was brusque and masculine (70-71, 73-75).
 * Appears in Miyamoto's memories at various different times in her life: As a younger Tenchi student, she wears her hair in the recognizable style of later years, but much shorter and without her distinctive "crossed-blades" hair clip. Her uniform is black, indicating that she was not always the highest-ranked swordbearer and thus not always the Student Council President (kaichou). As a young child, her hair short and boyish, she happily catches a gigantic fish with her bare hands. Slightly older, she lay in a hospital bed, her right hand bandaged, staring at a picture of her with her mother and father. Slightly older than this, she is shown walking with a crutch. Her hair and clothes are now distinctly feminine, and she is surrounded by what appear to be business attendants (78).
 * With the song drawing to a close, Claire and Minori are easily dispatched with two simultaneous strikes, ending the fight. Claire is eager to leave in a hurry afterwards, but Amachi stops her and reminds her she must undergo a "penalty game" (79-82, 85-87, 89, 92-96).
 * Supervises Claire's penalty game (111, 115-116).
 * Addressing the student body, admits that she had completely forgotten about the upcoming school festival. It emerges that 70 percent of the student exhibitions for this event will feature maid uniforms in some manner, but this does not bother her (119-122).
 * Suggests the student council also wear maid uniforms. Miyamoto discourages this. Tatewaki discourages it by practicing it (150-151).
 * In a side chapter, observes the recording of the Drama CD (153-155, 159-160, 167).
 * In an extra, Miyamoto suggests that a President Amachi-specific complaint box be instituted. She replies that anyone with a complaint to make of her is free to come take her star (170).