Poppy Pipopapo

Poppy Pipopapo (ポッピーピポパポ) is a benevolent Bugster based on the character of the same name from DoReMiFa Beat. Poppy serves as the "navigator" for the Kamen Riders, and takes on the civilian identity of Asuna Karino (仮野 明日那), a registered nurse at Seito University Hospital and a personnel from the Ministry of Health.

Using the Toki Meki Crisis Gashat and the Buggle Driver II, she is able to transform into Kamen Rider Poppy (仮面ライダーポッピー).

As recorded by CR, Poppy is part of the Mid Tier of Bugsters within Kamen Rider Chronicle: alongside Vernier, Kaiden and Gatton.

Origin
The mascot of the Genm Corp. game DoReMiFa Beat, the character of Poppy Pipopapo was conceived by Kuroto Dan, the teenage son of Genm CEO Masamune Dan. As a Bugster, Poppy's origin is traced to the bug, which left what would be known as the Bugster Virus on the younger Dan's computer shortly following New Year's 2000. Secretly incubating the virus by infecting the young Emu Hojo with it, Kuroto Dan would arrange for its matured form to be extracted by Michihiko Zaizen ten years later, using it to execute the Zero Day incident in the following year.

The Bugster Poppy Pipopapo had already emerged by the time of Zero Day, having been born from the Bugster Virus infection of Kuroto Dan's mother, Sakurako Dan, her host's life was sacrificed in the process as she succumbed to the Game Disease, thus completing Poppy's existence as a Bugster, and Kuroto also regretting having lost his mother. She was later assigned to be a navigator for the Kamen Riders, taking the guise of "Asuna Karino" in order to blend in more easily.

Second Bugster Outbreak
Five years later, a second outbreak of the Bugster virus occurred. While Hiiro Kagami had been selected as CR's Rider, Asuna proposed a second candidate: a prodigious and anonymous gamer known only as "M". While Kyotaro Hinata seemed hesitant, he agreed that having another candidate was wise after the incident that cost Taiga Hanaya his job. He gave her a Gamer Driver and the Mighty Action X Gashat to give M should she find him, and gave her the orders to reopen CR.

Along the way, Asuna ran into Emu Hojo, a pediatrics intern chasing after his escaping patient. Asuna quickly realized that the patient, Sota Suyama, was experiencing symptoms of the game disease, a diagnosis that was confirmed shortly after. For the boy's sake, Asuna had Emu help bring Sota to CR. After touching base briefly with Haima Kagami, she left for Mighty Action X's press release in the hopes of finding M there, only to find Emu had brought Sota to the release. When she tried to take Sota back, the Bugster took over the boy's body, wrecking havoc on the conference. Asuna was forced to explain the Bugster virus to Emu, and told him about trying to find someone to use the Driver, not expecting that Emu would take it for himself. Much to her shock, Emu was not only compatible with the system and capable of becoming a Kamen Rider, but he had been M all along. After watching him defeat the Salty Bugster, Asuna finally showed him to CR, revealing her true form as Poppy and christening Emu as Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.

Soon after, Poppy was contacted by Kuroto Dan, who requested a recording of the Action Gamer's specs as performed by Emu. As such, Poppy had Emu undergo a brief virtual reality simulation within the CR patient room using a device designed by Kuroto Dan. She promptly left after the simulation was concluded without explaining her reasoning to Emu.

Ganbarizing
Asuna accompanies Emu on his way to Genm Corp., the intern having been instructed to return the Kaigan Ghost Gashat back to Dan, only to be intercepted by a Collabos Bugster. When Dan is attacked by the Bugster after providing Ex-Aid with additional Kamen Rider Gashats to fight it, Asuna takes him to safety only to lose him as he secretly joins the battle to collect data as Kamen Rider Genm, culminating in the completion of his Ganbarizing Gashat.

Poppy Pipopapo later finds the inert Collabos Bugster which she is unable to budge, projecting a blank Game Area which soon enough manifests as Ganbarizing, causing it to come back to life and go berserk before Ex-Aid arrives, allowing Poppy to get away. After Emu uses the Ganbarizing Gashat to destroy the Bugster, both he and Poppy are confused to find that a Game Clear message has not appeared. The Ganbarizing Gashat then suddenly ejects from the Gashacon Breaker on its own before entering the Game Area from which a figure emerged. Though Emu recognized him as Kamen Rider Hibiki, Poppy mistook him for a malicious demon and ran away.

Brave's Day
On February 20th, Asuna and Emu witnessed Hiiro scolding Mizuki and Satsuki for their oversight, noting that he was quite rough with them. The following day, Poppy informed Emu that a Level 4 Gashat entitled Night of Safari had been stolen after being created by the Genm Corp. development team. Learning that Satsuki had been assaulted last night, Poppy asserted that Hiiro should stay to treat her only for Mizuki to insist that she would take care of things as he would leave to New York to be acknowledged as Doctor of the Year. Ultimately, however, Hiiro chose to stay behind, rescuing Mizuki from the perpetrator before assuming the Safari Gamer to defeat him, proceeding to tend to the injuries of his nurses. Seeing that Hiiro had retained his cold demenour, Asuna noted to Emu that he shared a secret deep bond with his nurses.

Chou Super Hero Taisen
In a misunderstanding, Poppy found herself pursued by the.

The Bugster Horde
When Kuroto Dan's plot to revive in the Game World caused an army of Bugsters to perpetually revive and emerge into the real world, Asuna stood by at CR as Emu was sent to the Game World to stop Dan while Brave and Snipe held off the endless horde. Meanwhile, within the Game World, Emu and the deceased Kamen Riders were greeted by a hostess "Poppy Pipopapo" who was eventually revealed to be Dan's servant monster Totema Ultimately, Dan's revival was stopped thanks to Kazuma Kenzaki, whose nature as a Joker Undead caused the Game World to be destroyed when he entered it.

Kamen Rider Chronicle
She is revealed to be a final component of the Kamen Rider Chronicle, thus being targeted by other Parado's forces and her mind is altered by none other than the third Genm Corp. CEO Ren Amagasaki.

Now being a part of Kamen Rider Chronicle, Poppy serves her new role as the navigator for the Ride-Players instead. She is later given the Gashacon Bugvisor II and the Toki Meki Crisis Gashat, allowing her to transform into Kamen Rider Poppy, enforcing the game's rules and punishing characters who fail to serve their purpose. It is later revealed by Parado that Poppy's memory was actually reset, and that her supposedly "benevolent nature" was part of her original programming, as her true purpose was to collect data from CR for the Bugsters.

However, it appears that Poppy retained some of her memories which are suppose to be cleared as Poppy was relieved that Emu was saved by Snipe upon Lovrica's defeat.

The Hidden Level 0 Room
Poppy was having visions from the memories from her host, where one of them was a young Kuroto told the host that he was developing a way to prevent Bugster infection, so Poppy went to investigate Kuroto's abandoned game studio. Suddenly, a vision of a young Kuroto was passing by, Poppy follows the vision, leading her into a hidden room.

There was a treasure chest in the room, containing a brand new Gamer Driver and the Proto Mighty Action X Origin Gashat. There's also a manual right next to it, titled "Level 0 Manual".



Sacrifice
1="Be a doctor that helps people's lives and their happiness."

- (Presumably) Her last words to Emu

2="Hiiro, don't eat too much sweets!"

- (Presumably) Her last words to Hiiro

3="Kiriya, keep the lying to a minimum, okay?"

- (Presumably) Her last words to Kiriya

4="Taiga, please be more gentle to Nico."

- (Presumably) Her last words to Taiga

5="Nico, take care of Taiga."

- (Presumably) Her last words to Nico

6="Kuroto, stop troubling everyone, okay? From now on, please make a fun game that makes your players smile."

- (Presumably) Her last words to Kuroto



Personality
Poppy Pipopapo was created to serve as a guide to the Riders in CR. She provides insight on the Bugster viruses, the Rider system, and helps to transfer patients to CR if the situation requires it.

Poppy's true personality is bubbly and energetic. As Asuna, however, she takes on a mature and no-nonsense persona, although her normal personality will momentarily surface if she is addressed by her real name. But there have been times when Poppy as Asuna reverts to her true personality on her own free will. Despite being based on a Vocaloid, ironically, it is revealed Poppy cannot sing very well without music to accompany her and causes distress to those around her when she does. It is also revealed during an encounter with Kamen Rider Hibiki that she has a fear of Oni and ran away scared upon first seeing him.

After being brainwashed by the Bugsters, Poppy still has her bubbly personality, but she seems completely apathetic to the suffering of humans and casually focuses on her job as the "navigator" of Kamen Rider Chronicle. However, if Kamen Riders help the Ride-Players in the "game", which she states is against the rules, she will take on a serious persona briefly with a deeper voice and attack them as Kamen Rider Poppy. When Emu tried to get through to her to snap out of it, her erased memory and programmed loyalty to her kind caused her to knock him aside without a second thought. Fortunately, Emu restored her to normal using his reprogramming powers as Ex-Aid Maximum Gamer Level 99.

However, she has gained the memories of the female patient she killed in order to be brought into existence as a side effect. This briefly traumatized her to the point of almost breaking her emotionally, but Emu tried to reason with her that it was not her fault she was born into the world that way and she is not a killer as she has helped him save countless lives as his nurse. This seems to have made her feel a little better, but it is unknown how much of an impact it has on her emotional guilt. Being a Bugster born from Sakurako Dan, she also exhibits signs of maternal traits at times such as during her death she told Hiiro not to eat too many sweets and Kuroto to be a "good boy".

Powers and Abilities

 * Teleportation: Like the Bugster executives, Poppy is capable of entering any level selected by the Kamen Riders.
 * Dance Influence: Poppy can influence Bugster Viruses into a rhythm dance.
 * Hebitsukai Snake Eyes Immunity: Presumably thanks to her Bugster nature, she's unaffected by Naga Ray's immobilization.

Arsenal

 * Two Energy Blades: As Poppy Pipopapo, she can turn a knife and a fork into energy blades that she can either attack an enemy with or break a Chocolate Block from the Mighty Action X Gashat to receive an Energy Item.

Devices

 * Bugster Buckle II
 * Buggle Driver II - Transformation device. Combined from Bugster Buckle and Gashacon Bugvisor II.
 * Rider Gashat - Transformation trinkets.

Weapons

 * Gashacon Bugvisor II - Transformation device and primary weapon.

Portrayal

 * Asuna Karino/Poppy Pipopapo is portrayed by Ruka Matsuda (松田 るか), who previously portrayed Katsumi Sasahara in Kamen Rider Ghost: Ikkyu Eyecon! Awaken, My Quick Wit Power!!. As Kamen Rider Poppy, her suit actor is Jiro Uchikawa (内川仁郎).

Etymology

 * In episode 12, Hiiro Kagami pointed out that her alias, Asuna Karino is simply a wordplay of "temporary nurse" (仮のナース). As Poppy Pipopapo, her name likely originates from the Japanese onomatopoeia "pipopapo" a sound effect often used for computers or video games, similar to the English "beep boop."