Aria H. Kanzaki

"I'll pump you full of holes!"

- Aria H. Kanzaki

Aria Holmes Kanzaki (神崎・H・アリア) a.k.a. Sherlock Holmes IV is the main female protagonist and title character of the Hidan no Aria series. She is a female transfer student of Butei High School. An Assault department S-Rank Butei, who wishes to recruit Kinji Tohyama as her partner after their initial encounter to defeat the IU and exonerate her mother. Over the course of the series, she falls in love with Kinji although she has a difficult way of expressing it.

Background
Aria was born on September 23th, 1992 to Kanae Kanzaki and Sherlock Holmes III in England. From a young age, she showed great talent in being a Butei - a result of her being a descendant of Sherlock Holmes. Thus she was trained and studied to become a Butei in London, eventually earning the title of "Quadra" and legendary S-Rank. In addition to her status as a Butei, Aria is also a member of British nobility holding the status of Dame. She was even granted a piece of territory with her title known as "Baskerville."

Three years before the start of the series, Aria survives an assassination attempt from an unknown assailant. The bullet was unable to be removed as it would put her life in danger. Not long after, her blonde hair and blue eyes slowly became pink and scarlet. However, it later turned out the bullet contained Hihiirokane (Scarlet Irokane), which had part of the Scarlet Goddess.

Appearance
She has ankle-length pink hair tied in two pigtails that reach her knees. Her ponytails are decorated with red horn-shaped hairpins. Aria also has big red eyes. She mostly wears the standard uniform of Tokyo Butei High School, and wears black thigh-length stockings as well. Aria hides a pair of guns under her skirt. She has a rather big forehead, something she's proud of and Kinji tends to tease her about. To better display it, she wears a gold heart-shaped hairpin (Pink in the AA anime) that holds her bangs up. However, she received a scar on her forehead during a mission against the Butei Killer so she was forced to cover up her forehead.

It is later revealed that her hair and eye color are originally flax blonde and blue respectively, and the drastic change was caused by a Hidan bullet embedded in her body. The Hidan bullet also has the ability to extend a person's lifetime, but at the same time, it will heavily delay all growth in one's body. This is why Aria, despite being 16 years old, has a childlike body. Aria has a height of 142 cm (4'8") and weighs 34 kg (75 lbs). She has a complex about her height and flat chest.

Her hairstyle was revealed by Sherlock Holmes to be the common hairstyle for all women of the Holmes family. The reasoning behind it, according to Kinji, was so Sherlock, and anyone skilled enough, could read the movements of the woman based on the movements of how their twin tails move about. It can be inferred that the actual purpose was different after Aria and Kinji's intrusion on IU, her long twintails serving to protect them from free fall thanks to the irokane in her body.

Personality
Aria is a haughty girl who prioritizes herself most of the time. She is a very loud and outspoken person, and always expresses her opinions shamelessly. Unfortunately, this pride is one of many traits she has which prevent her from focusing properly on social interaction and human empathy, which in turn kept her from having true allies until she met Kinji. Indeed, Aria is shown frequently to be socially inept, as she doesn't seem to see anything wrong with a girl staying the night in a boy's dorm room and believes merely being kissed can cause a girl to get pregnant, though she was told the latter by her father.

Aria is often very bossy and immature, such as when she more or less barged into Kinji's dorm room and declared him her slave, though it's later revealed that she was simply too proud to say "partner." She is incredibly short-tempered, often threatening to shoot Kinji or anyone else who annoys her. What makes her angrier than anything else, however, is whenever someone brings up relationships. Aria is a celibate (someone who has no interest in romantic or sexual relations), claiming that relationships are nothing but a waste of time, and even goes so far as to look down on people who think otherwise. Plus, Aria will distance herself from people who have hurt her really badly or betrayed her as shown when she ends her friendship with Reki after she claims Kinji as her husbandundefined and sees Kinji as a traitor for trying to make peace with his half-sister Kaname, so soon after she had tried to kill her and the other Baskerville girls, creating a deconstructing relationship between the twoundefined.

Aria is also unshakably determined, and makes it clear early on that she hates words like "tired" and "impossible", claiming they are only excuses people use to hide that they are scared of their full potential. However, Kinji suspects her attitude towards those words are actually the result of being an aristocrat and growing up in a society of "winners", which has resulted in a lack of understanding for those who are weak, poor or hopeless.undefined She is also very stubborn and prideful and hates to admit when she's made a mistake, to the point that she'll often demand proof from people before she'll believe something that goes against her initial assumption. In addition, she is very much the kind of person who doesn't take 'no' for an answer, going so far as to stay the night in Kinji's apartment until he reluctantly agreed to become her partner.

Despite her immaturity and egotistical attitude, Aria is very dedicated to her loved ones and cares for them deeply, especially her mother and Kinji. She is extremely loyal to and trusts her fellow Butei, since the first rule of being a Butei is to put one's faith in others, and is even willing to risk her life to save someone she doesn't know, which is how she and Kinji first met. She's also aware that she can be overbearing at times, though she nevertheless insists that it's for her friends' own good. She loves cute things and sweets, especially peach buns, eating at least seven on the night she met Kinji. Despite her battle skill, she is scared of thunder and is still able to feel fear whenever she goes too far like when Kinji gets really angry. In general, Aria is a lot more fragile than she likes to admit; although she pretended she didn't care at the time, Kinji saying he despised her shortly after they met really hurt her and it takes him kissing her to convince her that he doesn't.

While she's certainly intelligent, Aria inherited none of her ancestor's incredible deduction abilities and is called the "Defective Holmes" as a result. Interestingly, she seems to have no problem with admitting this flaw, despite her otherwise prideful nature. To make up for this, Aria has a tendency to rely on her intuition, such as when she is convinced for certain that Shirayuki is being targeted by Durandal. Unfortunately, due to her inability to explain her theories logically, no-one ever believes her, much to her endless frustration. Aria has also shown the capacity to learn from her mistakes and know her limits, as shown when she gets Shirayuki to form a trio with her and Kinji after they defeat Jeanne, as they were only able to defeat her via the three of them working together. She's more than capable of sympathy as well, such as when she lashes out at Riko for trying to get her to help her steal a rosary that belonged to her mother, only to regret it upon discovering that while her mother may be in prison for crimes Riko committed, Riko's mother is dead, and the rosary is the only thing she has left of her.

Quotes

 * (To Kinji) "There are three words that I absolutely despise: "tired", "exhausted", "impossible". Those are the three words that keep everyone on this stupid planet from reaching their full potential. Never say any of those words in front of me again. Are we clear?" (Anime, Episode 2, English Dub)
 * (To Kinji) "I know I can be a little overbearing at times, but it's for your own protection." (Anime, Episode 7, English Dub)
 * (To Kinji) "You're just like the rest of them. Nobody ever believes anything I say. Like, right now, I can sense that an enemy is closing in on Shirayuki. I'm not anything like my great-grandfather. I don't have the words to explain it logically. That's why they call me the "Defective Holmes", the one who didn't get the gift. But I know that I'm right this time!" (Anime, Episode 7, English Dub)
 * (Aria being really angry with Kinji): "R-r-re-really, you find girls wherever you go! Y-y-y-yo-you're really popular aren't you. Girls aren't a problem for you, right!? Why don't you go out with Riko or Shirayuki!?...You're fired! Because all you'll do is go out and fool around with girls! So you're no longer part of the operation! You'll sit here in seiza until we go back hooooome!" (Volume 13, Chapter 3)
 * (Aria reaction after Kinji fights back): "What...? Fine, do whatever you want! You won't accomplish anything anyway! Despite all our careful plans, because of you we'll end up heading back to Japan with nothing to show for it! Is that what you want!?...Is that what you want!?" (Volume 13, Chapter 3)

Trivia

 * Aria is named after the musical term aria, which is a solo melody sung in an opera. This is fitting, as she worked alone for a long time before meeting Kinji, which the two discuss.
 * Aria shares many similar traits to Taiga Aisaka from Toradora!, Louise de la Vallière from Zero no Tsukaima, and Shana from Shakugan no Shana:
 * They all have a small stature with very long hair
 * All of them treat their male companion poorly
 * They all are very bossy and short-tempered
 * They all share Rie Kugimiya as their voice actress
 * They all fall in love with their male companion
 * They become separated from their male companion for a period of time
 * Aria hairstyle is similar to Kotori Itsuka from Date A Live, Mine from Akame ga Kill!, and Enju Aihara from Black Bullet.
 * Aria along with Akari's hairstyles, weapons, and uniforms can be purchased in Sega's Phantasy Star Online 2.
 * Aria has a fondness for cats.
 * Aria makes a cameo in the anime Mayo Chiki.
 * Aria is unable to swim.
 * In the end credits of the anime, when Aria is making her fingers into a gun and pretending to fire, it is similar to Spike Spiegel final moment in Cowboy Bebop.
 * Aria H. Kanzaki came in 5th place In the 2017 MF Bunko J's Light Novel Heroine Contest.undefined
 * Aria appeared on the three volume covers of the Hidan no Aria AA series, which is the same amount as her amica, Akari Mamiya.
 * Aria's guns have a slightly difference of dante's guns (ebony and ivory) In devil May cry series due to his colour and slightly design.