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Yumi Ishiyama
|  |  | "Are you up for a girls' day out? (...) Well, we walk around without going anywhere, we giggle like idiots, look at boys...we go shopping, try on a bunch of clothes without buying anything. When we're tired out, we come back for tea at my place. And Laura won't be there, obviously."
#21 Imposters |
Yumi is a young girl of Japanese origin who attends school at Kadic Academy, in year 11. Although being fully French herself, we know that part of her family still lives in Japan (episode 06 “Suspicion”).
Yumi is a model student in all aspects. At the same time she is both a studious person (we often see her studying with William) and a sporty one, as we see her training regularly with Ulrich (episode 01 “XANA 2.0”). Above all, she is especially an indispensable element of the group. | | |
| | "I said the truth. Maybe it hurts, but it's the truth. I should be the one not speaking to you, after waiting all morning for you. (...)It's always the same. Never around when I need you! Not mentioning how touchy you can be..."
#14 Stowaway |  |
Yumi may be the most mature element in the group of Lyoko Warriors. Composed, thoughtful, intelligent, her straight-headedness makes her deserving of her being Jeremy's choice for accompanying Aelita during delicate negotiations with professor Tyron on the Cortex (episode 16 “Confusion”). We also remark that principal Delmas trusts her when she books the gym to organise a fundraising party to give aid to Japanese people after a disaster (episode 06 “Suspicion”).
Her maturity obviously contrasts with the impulsiveness and jealousy of Ulrich, the boy who is madly in love with her. Being very adult in their relationship, more often than not, Yumi pushes Ulrich to change, confronting him with the reality and not hesitating to speak frankly with him about his selfishness.
Despite everything, Yumi also has moments of irresponsibility, like in episode 14 “Stowaway”, during which she is devirtualised in the middle of a mission so she can go explain herself to him. What's more, Yumi is also madly in love with Ulrich. She plays a minx somewhat in pretending she doesn't know how Ulrich feels...and by trying to get him to state his feelings for her during idle conversations on Lyoko (episode 09 “The Bait”).
In the end, during an exchange with Aelita in the Megapod (episode 26 “The Final Mission”), we learn that the Japanese girl may be waiting for things to calm down, especially between Ulrich and William, before any declaration.
A sensible person, Yumi cares a lot for the people around her. She is by far the least hostile towards William when he wants to rejoin the group. She even finds her friends' reactions to this excessive (episode 02 “The Cortex”). She is well aware that William suffers from the fact that Yumi doesn't share her true feelings. She also worries about her moral code (episode 15 “Spartan”) and feels guilty when she accidentally breaks it (episode 22 “Mutiny!”).
She and Aelita get along like sisters. The two girls are very close and, when Jeremy is too busy to take care of Aelita, Yumi is the one who puts her at ease by taking her on a girls' day out (episode 21 “Imposters”).
Finally, one of Yumi's strongest character traits is that she knows how to put her foot down when she needs to. This can happen during an argument with Ulrich, or one of Laura's overly ambitious sermons. Yumi really knows how to tell it to people straight. In episode 13 “Betting on Odd”, she joins Aelita in criticising Ulrich and William's irresponsible behaviour.
However, Yumi is not at all spiteful. She forgives her two pretenders for their actions and behaviour and knows to thank Laura when she saves the day (episode 04 “Lady Einstein”). She is also helpful and aids Odd in managing his flower order bill (episode 13).
Finally, to complete the Japanese girl's meliorative portrait, Yumi is also the most prudent and thoughtful member of the group. She easily recognises the spectres in episode 21 “Imposters” and escapes other ones the most often, notably the formidable spectre from episode 25 “Disaster”, which she avoided for a long while. Yumi's precautions pay off, as she is the one who has the least source codes stolen by spectres. She's the one who has the highest percentage of codes at the end of the fight against XANA.
She is caught off-guard sometimes however, notably by the spectre of William (episode 05 “Rivalry”).
Also, her prudence is not at all cowardice.
Yumi doesn't hesitate to take risks when the situation calls for it. She volunteers to carry Jeremy's false source codes (episode 09 “How to Fool XANA”) but Ulrich takes her place in the end. Later on, she accepts to act as bait to trick the spectre in episode 19 “The Trap”. On Lyoko, she is no longer hesitant in the least: she sends the Megapod straight into a group of Krabs guarding the Iris of the Cortex (episode 18 “Resolve”). Finally, her last brave act will be staying to confront and distract Tyron and his lackey to allow Aelita to reach the factory and infect the Cortex with their virus (episode 26 “The Final Mission”). | | |
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"I'll bring up your staff."
#10 A Time to Fight |
On the virtual world, Yumi fights alongside her friends. She is armed with two fans. They are formidable long-ranged weapons that present multiple advantages. They are fast, very precise and ideal for attacking from a distance. This allows her to eliminate some dangerous monsters, such as Megatanks, while remaining in a safe spot. Their manoeuvrability even allows Yumi to use them while jumping or performing other acrobatic feats (episode 01 “XANA 2.0”).
These weapons nevertheless are somewhat lacking when it comes to defence. As such, Yumi must rely on her flexibility to dodge away. Finally, the fans are unusable during hand-to-hand fights. Also, when it is revealed that the gang must fight Tyron's Ninjas, Jeremy programmed Yumi a new weapon: a staff.
The Japanese girl uses it extremely well. Along with Ulrich, she is the member of the group who copes best against Ninjas. She defeats a large number of them in episode 10 “A Time to Fight” and even faced them alone in episode 24 “Time Warp”. On the other hand, even her staff wasn't must help against the William clone from episode 15 “Spartan”.
Yumi was the first one to deactivate a tower, other than Aelita (episode 03 “Spectromania”). She was also the first to try out the Megapod, although she isn't quite as good as Odd. To conclude with vehicles, Yumi is generally the one who pilots the Skidbladnir when Aelita isn't available to do it.
In terms of strategy, like on Earth, Yumi knows how to intelligently analyse situations. She doesn't charge in head-first. She's the only one to notice and escape the time loop sphere from episode 24 “Time Warp”. The Japanese girl feels very negative about William and his tendency to charge in regardless of the danger (episode 07 “Countdown”). | | |
| |  | "Speaking of guys, how are things with you and Ulrich?"
"Cool. (...) He pays more attention to me. He doesn't fight with William. He's growing up. We're all growing up. Thank you, XANA."
#25 Disaster |  |
Living a calm and full life, Yumi had been the one who had no remorse about shutting the Supercomputer down. So it's not surprising that she reacts negatively when Jeremy and Aelita suggest turning it back on again after seeing signs characteristic of XANA manifest around Kadic. She doesn't appreciate the fact that Jeremy virtualises Aelita and Odd without reason in episode 01 “XANA 2.0”.
However, having directly witnessed Ulrich being attacked by the first spectre, one of Jim, Yumi yields to the new fight against XANA.
The Japanese girl becomes involved in a number of elements very quickly.
The first is William's return. The boy wants to rejoin the group and his friends fiercely oppose the idea. Yumi believes their reaction to be a little too harsh. After some misadventures, William finally rejoins the group. Tensions between Ulrich and the black-haired boy are still lively, but they ease over time, much to Yumi's pleasure.
The Japanese girl will however experience two frightening events concerning her classmate. The first time is in episode 15 “Spartan”, during which William, manipulated by XANA, turns against her for a short time before regaining his senses. The second time, in episode 22 “Mutiny!”, William is caught by the Scyphozoa before being freed. In the end, despite the fact that Yumi doesn't reciprocate William's feelings for her, the situation tends to calm down.
And this is for the best, because trouble is stirring in the virtual world.
Yumi learns from Jeremy that XANA survived thanks to source codes implanted in her, Ulrich, Odd and Aelita. XANA sends its spectres after the heroes to get the codes back. And so, they must be cautious when XANA attacks. Nevertheless, she usually makes it out alright.
On Lyoko, XANA's source codes allow them all to deactivate towers. Because of this, they take on a new role in the fight on the virtual world.
Finally, Jeremy's investigations lead them to a new world in which XANA has taken refuge: the Cortex, a virtual world generated by a supercomputer belonging to an old collaborator of Aelita's father: professor Tyron.
Jeremy decides to infect this machine with a virus to destroy the Cortex, and XANA along with it. Yumi's virtual life is thus split between missions to deactivate towers activated by XANA, and exploring the Cortex. In the Cortex, the heroes are confronted by Tyron's defenders: Ninjas. They are formidable humanoid avatars that are very adept in combat. Jeremy then programs Yumi a close-range weapon: a staff that gives her an advantage against these new enemies (episode 10 “A Time to Fight”).
Evidently, the dangers of virtual life are ever present. On one occasion, Yumi must free her friends who have been taken prisoner within a temporal loop on the Cortex, on another, she falls victim to the residue of a spectre that was accidentally virtualised and falls into a coma.
Yumi risks her skin. She barely avoids falling into the Digital Sea on several occasions, mainly due to their new vehicle, the Megapod, contracting a bug (episode 04 “Lady Einstein”) or because of one of Jeremy's typing (episode 23 “Jeremy's Blues”).
However, Yumi's work doesn't reside only on the virtual world. As the most mature member of the group, she single-handedly deals with her friends through their daily trials. This includes dealing with William when he's overly sensitive, snubbing Ulrich when he acts like a grumpy child (episode 14 “Stowaway”) or even helping Aelita through her depressive slumps (episode 21 “Imposters”).
Yumi is also there to have her voice heard during big decisions such as William's reintegration (episode 05 “Rivalry”), and Laura's exclusion (episode 22 “Mutiny!”). This is especially true when Aelita discovers that her mother is still alive and with Tyron (episode 18 “Resolve”). When the virus for destroying the Cortex is finished, the heroes make the choice to wait before launching it, so that Aelita will have enough time to contact her mother.
Unfortunately, XANA regains too much power after a devastating spectre attack in episode 25 “Disaster”. With Ulrich and Odd drained of their codes and Yumi's highly diminished, the heroes must launch their attack.
But when the ultimate attack on the Cortex commences, Aelita is held back at Kadic by Tyron. Yumi bursts into the room they are in and Aelita seizes the opportunity to flee. The Japanese girl then decides to stay at Kadic to keep Tyron at bay, leaving her friends time to inject the virus into the Cortex interface (episode 26 “The Final Mission”).
But Tyron shuts down his machine and goes back to Switzerland. Thus, XANA is deactivated, but the virus hasn't been launched. If Tyron turns his supercomputer back on, the virus will activate and destroy both the Cortex and XANA.
In this waiting game situation, the heroes can now shut down their own Supercomputer and begin a new quest, to help Aelita find her mother again. | | |
| |  | The actress portraying and dubbing Yumi Ishiyama in Code Lyoko Evolution is Mélanie Tran. Click on the picture to access her page! |
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