Kiriko, Team Waruda's manic purple-haired doctor, is one of the most unique characters in 100% Orange Juice if you couldn't already tell at first glance with 8 hit points, negative defense, and the block of text on her character card.

Her passive is a two parter:
- She is not able to heal by ANY means. Every HP she loses she can't regain until she KOs
- Playing a battle card provides a +1 Atk/Evd boost but reduces her maximum HP by one (not her current HP)

So at first glance KIRIKO looks... TERRIBLE. The advantage of her large healthpool is negated by -1 Def and inability to heal. Cards that regain HP are completely useless cards. Finally, she can't use battle cards too often or else her max HP will be too low to be functional. But rest assured dear 100% OJ player, her downsides can be mitigated with the right playstyle and cards. Plus, Kiriko has a fantastic hyper and her +1 Atk/Evd bonus can be gamechanging if you PICK. YOUR. BATTLES.

Let's get right into it.

Her hyper, Final Surgery, is the cornerstone of Kiriko's gameplan. She is extremely hyper dependent because not only does it have the potential to reap her a LOT of stars (minimum 15 if she KOs just one person), she needs it to survive and win. That's right. Remember when I told you Kiriko can't heal herself? No need to worry, when you have Final Surgery

Final Surgery is a level two hyper that only costs ten stars which makes it usable at any point in the game. Units at 1 HP are instantly KO'd on use, and you gain 25 stars per KO'd unit.

First things first, keep in mind that you want to save your hyper to KO yourself to prevent yourself from losing stars you are holding. If you see a juicy opportunity and have two or more opponents at 1 HP, go ahead and use it to net 40+ stars. But for the most part you want to save it for strategic suicide. An out of battle KO is the only way for Kiriko to effectively "heal" herself to full, though you will spend a bit of time reviving.

Because Kiriko's hyper is so important to have in hand, it's prudent to bring cards that will help you get your hyper ASAP. No need to worry too much about Mimic or an errant Gift Exchange that gives one of your foes a hyper; if they KO you out of combat while you are low HP, they are doing you a favor.

Finally, don't be so quick to pull out Final Surgery and help KO your opponents when they are nearby. Why not KO them yourself in battle and steal half their stars? You have an average +0 Atk which can be boosted with her passive + battle cards. Just because you CAN hyper doesn't mean you should.

Due to her quirky passive effects, a lot of new players will struggle in figuring out what the hell to do with Kiriko. Should she be played as a star farmer like Fernet or Kyoko? Then why can't she heal herself and has -1 Def? That's no good at all. Should she be played aggressively as a battle character? Her +1 Atk/Evd boost when using a battle card seems to encourages fighting while her -1 max HP penalty discourages it. Disregard previous notions of how to play regular 100% OJ characters. You are playing an INSANE DOCTOR, with a similarly bizarre and unique gameplan.

During the early and mid game, you do want to play Kiriko very passively. Any stray damage you take adds up because unlike the rest of the cast you can't heal it up. Focus on collecting stars and getting at least one Final Surgery into your hand. Avoid battle squares and fights with other players unless you are confident they can't damage you or that you can KO them for their stars.

Managing your HP is VERY important. While you are going around the board collecting stars, you will inevitably run into trouble and take damage. Always be on the lookout for creative ways to KO yourself out of combat to preserve your star count whether it be with cards, your hyper, or field events. Air Raid, Bomber, and Minelayer can be very beneficial to you. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM. Position yourself within the blast radius of a bomb or purposely let a random NPC get you to 1 HP range for Air Raid. Be creative in your suicides. That's right. The BEST Kirikos are the ones that look for effective ways to out of combat KO themselves. If you don't have a hyper immediately in hand, there's always a way.

Example of inventive suicidal scenarios:
1) You sit uncomfortably at 3 HP, but you have a hyper in hand. There's a bomb within range that's going to blow any minute now. You purposely move within range, take 2 damage, and KO yourself with your hyper.
2) You sit at 2 HP and an opponent attacks you. You play R-Bits to bump up your Defense to +1 and make sure you take only 1 damage in the fight. You KO yourself with your hyper at 1 HP.
3) Again you sit at 2 HP... but you don't have a hyper. However an Air Raid, which happens every five chapters, is guaranteed to deal damage next turn. An enemy rolls a 1 for her attack. Sure, you could evade it.... or you can purposely let yourself eat 1 damage by defending and then gracefully accept death by Air Raid.

Simply DEVIOUS. Make sure to cackle triumphantly when you pull these maneuvers off.

Ideally at this point of the game, you have a big star lead and are going to win. You avoided getting KO'd in battle and you've used Final Surgery a couple of times on yourself to snowball to ~200 stars.

However, this is 100% Orange Juice. Things will not always go as planned. You might find yourself behind despite your best efforts because that +2 Atk bully just dealt 6 damage and robbed you of your stars. Never fear, for Kiriko has amazing comeback potential and can steal games when behind.

The trick is to take advantage of her passive which boosts her Atk and Evd by +1 when she plays a battle card at the cost of reducing her max HP by 1. At the late game, you can disregard trying to keep your max HP up; you want to assassinate the person carrying the most stars and norma your way to victory. Your current HP remains unchanged when you play a battle card so you only have to worry about your reduced max HP the next time you revive after being KO'd. Similar to Krila's overheal, Kiriko can find herself at 8/6 HP after playing two battle cards.

Kiriko synergizes well with certain battle cards like Big Magnum (+3 Atk at the cost of 1 HP!), I'm on Fire, and Rainbow Colored Circle which takes advantage of her stat spread when she wants to make a comeback. However, bringing powerful offensive battle cards to the deck can work against you because of your poor defense so I would not recommend them. Doesn't mean you can't take them as they come!

Battle Cards
R-Bits: At first glance a strange choice because you can't take advantage of the +1 Evd bonus she gains when playing it. However it is an invaluable card to manage your HP and bring it down to 1 so you can Final Surgery yourself. As long as you're not fighting an opponent that's +2 Atk or higher, +1 Def should be enough to make sure you take no more than one damage.

Big Magnum: +3 Attack when played! Good for comebacks. Very bad when you already have a lead. Bring at your own risk.

Boost Cards
Nice Present: More cards! Find your hyper as quick as you can.

Extend: You'll find yourself KO'd at least a couple of times per game. Stop wasting time with revive rolls and get right back into the action after you Final Surgery yourself.

Princess' Privilege: You might wind up with a trash hand of healing cards. Perfect solution to draw a fresh one and get your hyper.

Passionate Research: A no brainer. If you are a hyper dependent character like Kiriko, you need this.

Treasure Thief: Can be decent, steal a card from a bully that wants to hit you. Or a recently KO'd victim.

Event Cards
Cloud of Seagulls: Might be bad on the off chance it hits you when you have a lot of HP but it will benefit you way more than most other characters. It's an easily available option to KO yourself out of battle if you don't have your hyper in hand. Even better, if you have hyper in hand and sitting at 3 HP, you can Final Surgery yourself if you play Seagulls and self-inflict 2 damage.

Forced Revival: Expensive and niche, but can be an easy way to gain stars if an opponent plays it. It's even more imperative that you have your hyper if you decide to bring this card, because you don't want to be a sitting duck at 1 HP for long.

Sealed Guardian: The dream if it gets into play. KO all players sitting at 1 HP as you'll gain 100 stars! Ideally someone else plays it for you, but late game you can still play Sealed Guardian + Final Surgery yourself for a net 40 star gain.

Mix Phenomenon: Battle and boss panels suck. You may just eat too much damage from them that you can't heal back. This is a good way to get rid of them for three chapters.

Play of the Gods: Can be risky, but pays off big when you have hyper in hand and Forced Revival or Sealed Guardian comes into play.

All gift cards and trap cards are either neutral or bad for you, with the exception of Piggy Bank

With this guide, you should have all you need to know about Kiriko and her unique strengths and weaknesses she brings to the table. Manage your HP wisely, find effective ways to out of combat KO yourself, play battle cards at the right time, and OBTAIN FINAL SURGERY.

You will struggle if you are unlucky enough to never draw your hyper just like any hyper dependent character. But once you do have one in hand (or two... or three), you will be a hard character to deal with as you increase and preserve your pool of stars with every tactical medicinal suicide.