| Yayoi Yukino | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Title | Earth: Yayoi Yukino Original: La Andromeda Promethium |
| Gender | Female |
| Race | La Metalian |
| Faction | La Metal colonists (formerly) Earth |
| Family | Mother: Larela Sister: Selen |
| Homeworld | La Metal |
La Andromeda Promethium better known by her Earth name, Yayoi Yukino is one of the main characters of Queen Millennia, serving as the titular Millennial Queen of La Metalian colonists on Earth. As Yayoi Yukino, she is a secretary to Professor Amamori and a friend of his nephew Hajime Amamori.
Appearance
Yayoi has the standard female appearance of Leiji Matsumoto's characters: a tall, beautiful, willowy young woman with long blonde hair extending to her waist and glittery brown eyes. In her casual clothes, Yayoi wears a long sleeved shirt that ranges from blue, purple, or pink and blue jeans. She often wears a white sling when making deliveries.
As Andromeda Promethium, she wears long black dress with a red crown that features a green heart-shaped jewel (in the anime TV series the jewel is pink) in the forehead area as well as a necklace with a daisy decoration.
Personality
Yayoi is kind, compassionate, and really wants the best for all people she has a relationship with, including her Earth family as well as the La Metalians. While respecting her role as the Millennial Queen and a La Metalian, Yayoi dislikes being called 'Promethium-sama' preferring her given name La Andromeda Promethium or Yayoi Yukino. As mentioned by her adoptive mother, Yayoi's favorite food often had rice dishes.
As a child living on Earth, Yayoi had a fascination for space, especially stars. Since then she began to study astronomy and after graduating with a PhD she managed to achieve a career working with Professor Amamori. This might have something to do with waiting for the day La Metal is supposed to come near Earth.
In spite of her role to help spearhead an invasion of Earth, Andromeda Promethium had grown attached to Earth thanks to her parents and Hajime, the first people to show her any real love and affection compared to the loveless ways of La Metal. The manga even implies that Yayoi inherited the memories of her predecessors that also grew to love Earth. The TV version of Yayoi however only stayed close with her parents and coworkers seeing competent Earthling solely for their merits. Yet, repeated encounters with the people around her convinced Yayoi that the feeling of love and affection could change La Metal for the better and immediately abandoned her real mother's plans to abduct Earthlings as slaves. She immediately told the ones closest to her about La Metal's course and what actions she chose to partake.
This however does not say that Yayoi outright rejects La Metal for all that it is, staying connected to the colonists she has in the underground shelter. Andromeda also wished to connect with her mother, and still wished for a better future even though she was forced to rebel against Larela. Andromeda however, did get help from Selen, a La Metalian rebel fighter who was revealed to be her sister.
With feelings of Earth at their highest, Yayoi is willing to risk her body and life to save anyone she could including using her psychic powers out in the open in the face of disasters like tsunamis and even challenge her mother in a duel to the death.
Yayoi had also won the affections of several people from either La Metal or Earth including her engaged partner Dr. Fara. However there was a fallout between them when Dr. Fara stood against Earth in support for its takeover and enslaving Earthlings. Her coworker Daisuke Yamori had brief feelings for Andromeda Promethium his feelings were unrequited, lacking the courage to face her in life but would proudly live and die for Yayoi just as his ancestor from many years ago did for his queen. In the TV anime Daisuke Yamori, known by his La-Metallian name: La Els Milliue, betrayed Andromeda Promethium and has always been determined to thwart her plan to save Earth, this arrogance led to him being killed at the cost of Mirai (the guardian of the Sacred Tomb of the Millennial Queens)'s life. Yayoi however was closest with Hajime, sharing their love of Earth despite all of its shortcomings. The manga even has a previous Millennial Queen having a similar relationship to a vagrant that was friends with her, a memory inherited by Yayoi. Hajime's strong will was also what inspired her to stand up to La Metal and its dominating ways.
Abilities and Powers
Yayoi Yukino in the TV anime.
As a La Metalian, and the Millennial Queen, Yayoi possesses a long and powerful lifespan, able to live and retain her youthful form for a thousand years. She has a powerful constitution that allows her to survive multiple gunshots and also possesses a healing factor that allows Yayoi to heal from injuries at a much faster rate than a human or an average La Metalian.
Through the crown passed down through the Millennial Queens, Yayoi is able to access their memories and use powerful psychic abilities such as psychokinesis powerful enough to stop a giant moving tsunami. Yayoi can also see into the future with clairvoyance allowing her to sense natural disasters, as a side effect these visions give her headaches.
History
Due to Loose Continuity and differences between adaptations Yayoi's story is difficult to line-up. We will be using the manga as the primary storyline.
Beginnings
Andromeda Promethium was born in the Cocoon along with Selenium and was later sent to Earth as a baby. In the TV and movie version, she grew up throughout many millennia while the manga has her land around the 20th century. She was later adopted by an elderly couple with the name Yayoi Yukino, running as the poster girl for their ramen business especially for deliveries. Secretly she also leads the underground colony of La Metal. By 1999, she served as the secretary of the Tsukuba Observatory working under its director Professor Amamori. She later meets Prof. Amamori nephew, Hajime after his parents are killed in an accident. In the movie, Yayoi is Hajime's teacher.
La Andromeda Prometium in promotional art done for the manga.
By the time La Metal is seen in view, Yayoi begins to question her right as a Millennial Queen, especially after all of the love and affection she has been exposed to. Hajime finds out about Yayoi's secret identity but decides to keep seeing Yayoi as a friend rather than an enemy. With this, Yayoi defects from her mother Larela's plans and eventually allies up with rebels lead by her long lost sister Selen.
Confronting the Holy Queen
With Yayoi refusing to become her successor and rebelling against her plans, Larela challenges Yayoi to a duel to the death to decide the course of action (in the TV anime Larela sends a successor from La-Metal, and she challenges Yayoi). Larela had planned to make Yayoi subservient. Everyone else was against this because of the risks involved. Yayoi however went through with the duel at the Black Venus capital. Yayoi manages to defeat Larela, but chooses not to kill her (in the TV anime Yayoi dodges the ram attack from successor sent by Larela, cuasing her to crash into a cliff, and being crushed to death by it). With this, Yayoi keeps her title as Millennial Queen and begins to work out a new plan for both worlds.
Conflict with La Metal
With La Metal approaching, Yayoi reveals the Noah protocol, a hollow vessel in the Kanto Plain to protect the population from the coming disasters. Other ships around the world are used for this same effect to protect the earthlings by having them leave Earth. Yayoi had stayed behind to finish things with Larela as she and her forces approach Earth from the atmosphere bridge. Using the memories and stored power of the previous Millennial Queens, Yayoi manages to protect the people but lost some friends in the conflict including Yorumori and Selenium. Larela's ship is brought down during the battle but survives.
Yayoi blames Larela for not calling a truce but recognizes the problem with how La Metal is and how it was what caused Larela to become her current self. With Larela defeated, a ceasefire was established. Yayoi decides to go back to La Metal to fix the black hole problem that keeps La Metal in orbit. Yayoi tearfully bids her foster parents, Prof. Amamori, and Hajime goodbye in order to find peace for both planets. On the ship, Carmilla, with her mother's help Andromeda Promethium manages to seal up the black hole putting La Metal in a new direction. In the TV version, Yayoi sacrificed herself by selfdestructing her ship inside a black hole that was going to destroy both La-Metal and Earth. In the manga however, Yayoi survived as the last Millennial Queen.
Under her new rule upon succeeding Larela, new projects arose including an artificial sun project that gave the inhabitants of La Metal a better chance to live. For an unprecedented amount of time, Andromeda Promethium had ruled La Metal peacefully. By some point, Yayoi/Andromeda Promethium would later become Queen Promethium (the main antagonist from Galaxy Express 999 and form the Machine Empire.