Junko Asagiri

Anime
Manga
Suit

Kanji name

朝霧純子

Alternate names

Vixen of the Desert
Booby Girl (ボインちゃん)
Milk Mounds (English version)

Voice actors

Japanese

Tomoko Kotani

English

Stephanie Young

Personal statistics

Gender

Female

Hair color

Purple

Species

Human

Loyalties and affiliations

Current partner(s)

Kanta Mizuno & Koji Okawa (Chapter 75 onward)

Previous partner(s)

Koji Okawa (before Chapter 4)
Seiji Tanigawa

Current affiliation(s)

West Oasis Government

Previous affiliation(s)

Current team(s)

Eighth Army

Current occupation(s)

Mercenary

Appearances

Debut (manga)

Volume 1, Chapter 1

Debut (anime)

Demon and Boobies

Junko Asagiri (朝（あさ）霧（ぎり）純（じゅん）子（こ） Asagiri Junko), also known as the Vixen of the Desert (砂漠の女狐), is a recurring character in the anime and manga series Desert Punk.

Physical appearance

Junko is a tall woman between 20 and 30 years of age. She has green eyes, fair white skin, and long purple hair, which she keeps flowing down but also puts it in a ponytail on occasion. Notably, she has large breasts (about a G cup size)^[1] and accordingly has custom clothing that fits her bust. Her desert suit is a tan suit from Uzumaki Chemicals built with Fisheye technology, and its helmet is equipped with a radio, a noise sensor, binoculars, night vision system, and heat detection. Her desert suit is custom-made, but it was created to survive the desert environment, not as a combat suit.

Personality

Junko is a voluptuous and cunning woman, and she is not above using her well-endowed body to obtain what she wants. This trait is shown multiple times as she bests the famous Desert Punk and Seiji Tanigawa. Due to her manipulative nature and overly large breasts, Kosuna despises her as a fierce enemy. Much like Desert Punk, she is highly skilled with weaponry and is just as clever as the Demon of the Desert. Following along with the central theme of the series, Junko seemingly represents selfishness and disloyalty, as she switches sides whenever it is in her favor quite often.

Weaponry

Junko carries a variety of weapons with her, particularly a small self-defense pistol which is the Spanish-origin Modelo Expresso 6.35 caliber (a fictional gun that looks like a Schwarzlose M1908). Other firearms she has used in the series include an ARWEN 37 and an FN P90. She also carries a Tiger Shark knife (22.5cm blade), throwing knives, and a smaller pocket knife.

Biography

Meeting Desert Punk

Like other characters, not much is known about her family and childhood background, and she travels independently as a mercenary. When Junko is first introduced, she was unconscious and left for dead in the middle of the desert until Desert Punk found her. Claiming that she had been abducted by Makoto Kawazu and had escaped, Junko pleaded with Kanta to protect her. As Kanta conveniently was looking for him since he needed the key that Makoto stole, he agreed to confront the Kawazu Clan on Junko's behalf at their hideout, which she pointed out nearby using a balloon. As Junko stayed behind and Kanta fought with the gang, it was later revealed that it is all a trap to get Desert Punk to take out the Kawazu Clan for her and collect the necklace that the gang stole.^[2]

Fire Dragon Kong

Three months later, rather than give the key necklace to Koji Okawa (who hired her), she decided to auction the necklace between him and his brother Koichi, who hired Desert Punk to get the necklace. This fails since Koji got angry at her price-raising and he attempts to track her down with the Fire Dragon Kong (a powerful and virtually indestructible tank).^[3] Accordingly, Junko sought out Desert Punk at night and and found out that he was only a 17-year-old boy, making her laugh. When Kanta told her to go away and grabs her breast, Junko points her pistol at his head and remarked that it was "10,000 Yen per touch." Telling Kanta that she found out from Mugen-Ya about his great debt, she promised to pay him double of his alleged debt of 3 million Yen (which was actually 1.6 million Yen) to help her successfully escape Koji and take her to the East Oasis. Excited at the pay, Kanta bowed down and agreed to her terms.

The next morning, in addition, she also hired the Machine Gun Brothers to help her, and the three brothers and Kanta were annoyed at seeing each other. When Junko arrived, all four men told Junko that they would not work together, but she replied that she would pay them an extra 1 million Yen each if they continued the job, so they all agreed and signed the contracts she provided. As they begin their job, Kanta and the brothers saw Junko's bag of several weapons, including an M72A2 LAW and an ARWEN, wondering why she needed such firepower. Nonchalantly, Junko mentioned that the Fire Dragon Kong was after her, surprising the mercenaries. Feeling misled, they immediately try to leave after hearing that, but she reminded them that they already just signed the contract, which handymen cannot back out of lest they want to diminish their reputations. are all misled as they had no idea about Koji's powerful tank.

Very soon, the tank arrived and fired a round near the group. Safely inside the armored powerhouse of a tank, Koji stated that he tracked down Junko via the West Oasis Handyman Guild, which surprised Kanta. Smirking, Junko told Koji not to underestimate the four men she hired, although they think differently and plead with Koji to be merciful by claiming that they are weak. Laughing, Koji asked Junko why she was still running away with his special key, which Kanta heard and became suspicious about. As the Kong prepared to fire another round, Junko fired a round from her ARWEN at the Kong, briefly creating some smoke outside the vehicle that made the four gunmen think that the tank stopped. Running away, Junko yells at them to run, but they did not hear her and only began to run upon seeing the tank as the dust disappeared.^[4]

After Kanta forced the Machine Gun Brothers to distract the tank, Kanta demanded Junko to explain her wrongdoing against Koji, but Junko refused and the two began teasing each other until the angered Fuyuo interrupted them. Continuing to run, Kanta reasoned that the tank's superior firepower could have easily killed them at that point, and he came up with a plan that involved everyone feigning surrender. Ten minutes later, the Machine Gun Brothers dropped their weapons and held their hands up, and Junko used Kanta's shotgun to fire a flashbang and smokescreen round at the Kong to mess up the tank's tracking devices. Running from the tank, Kanta pushed Junko into the sand with the brothers, concealing themselves. After Koji ordered his men to drive the tank to the east to continue their pursuit, Junko and co. emerged from the sand, with Junko berating Kanta for his "elaborate" plan of hiding.^[3]

While traveling eastward in a nearby skeleton city, the frustrated Junko agreed to tell the mercenaries about her bargain between the two Okawa brothers and how the key that she took from Desert Punk (back in Chapter 1) had great value. When Kanta stated that he had a plan, Junko became happy until learning that Kanta's plan was merely "running like hell." As Kanta walked away, the Fire Dragon Kong fired a round at him, throwing him into the air from the scene and making Junko and co. think that he got killed. Exiting from his tank, Koji told Junko that he pretended to lose sight of her and had a scout following her the entire time. As Koji's men walked forward to search Junko's body for the key, the nervous Junko backed up and was saved by Kanta dragging Hiro down the nearby cliff. Surprised to see him alive, Kanta angrily explained that all his best equipment was destroyed, charging at Junko and blaming her.

As he put his hand down her cleavage, Junko kicked Kanta away, then seeing seconds later that he swiped the key from her. As Koji's men began shooting at Kanta, Junko and the Machine Gun Brothers ran away from the scene, angering Koji. Running further into the skeleton city, Fuyuo told Junko that they needed to stop Kanta as soon as possible since Kanta's crazy state would make him kill himself and the Kong even if the key got destroyed. Hiding in a small crevice, Junko and the brothers waited until Kanta ran by after the latter taunted and tricked the Kong, grabbing him into the crevice. Holding him at gunpoint, the Machine Gun Brothers and Junko told him to give them the key, but Kanta responded by pulling out a grenade and threatening to blow himself up with the key.

Successfully fleeing from Junko and co., Kanta continued running until a final standoff with the Kong. When Kanta successfully immobilized the tank by using his shotgun to break the rocky arch above, Junko thought that the key was gone, but Kanta appeared and told the Machine Gun Brothers to start firing at the weakened Kong. After the Machine Gun Brothers used their namesake on the Kong, Koji's crew surrendered, so Junko was able to deliver the key to Koichi, paying Kanta and the Kawaguchi brothers their fair share.^[5]

85th skeleton city

As time passed, Junko went to Desert Punk's residence once more to hire him for a treasure expedition led by Kaoru Kaizuka, but Kanta initially refused since Junko got him into trouble in the past, specifying that he would not be tricked by Junko's sexual charms since he planned on grooming Taiko Koizumi, his new apprentice, as one of several girlfriends. Laughing at his dream, Junko convinced him to take the job when she stated that Kanta would be paid 10 million Yen. As she introduced him and Taiko to Kaizuka, they again refused the job since they believed that Kaizuka would not be able to pay, but both Kaizuka and Junko confirmed that the former had made lots of money from selling the Game of Life.

As the four of them began to travel, Junko played with Kaizuka while Kanta and Taiko had to haul the heavy baggage. Behind Kaizuka's back, she secretly informed some mercenaries about the place so that they could steal the treasure. The next day when they arrived at their destination, the place was a skeleton city and Junko was surprised to hear Kaizuka mutter that he had been to the location before. After a quick break, Kaizuka told Junko to stay behind with him while the two mercenaries explored the city. As Kanta and Taiko began their eerie exploration, Junko became suspicious and asked him why they stayed behind if the city was empty. Soon, an explosion from Taiko's grenade launcher in the city made Junko suspicious, so she got into her combat gear and told Kaizuka that she had to find out about the chaos for herself. Although hesitant to see her go, Kaizuka gave her an RPG launcher to aid her. In the city, Junko saw the robot Guardian charge at Kanta and Taiko, so she saved them by firing a rocket at the robot, who dodged it.

Sharing Kanta's suspicion, the three agree to leave the city and question Kaizuka, but as Kanta kept watch, the two women fell into a hole and latched onto the ledges as the Guardian stood above them. Only thinking for less than a second, Kanta charged at the Guardian and dove into the hole, grabbing Junko with him and telling Taiko to follow. As the Guardian peered from the outside, Kanta fired a rocket at the robot, who once again dodged the projectile. Seeing the network of tunnels below the city and deducing that the Guardian used the tunnels to hide, the three used the same tunnels to leave the city, confronting Kaizuka about his omission.^[6]

Understanding their anger, Kaizuka elaborated that the city was guarded and being protected for hundreds of years by a robot known as the Guardian. Upon commenting that the city was where he found the Game of Life and likely had similar treasure, Junko, Kanta and Taiko's eyes lit up in greed. Remarking that she had to cool off, Junko told the crew that she had to leave for a bit, and Kaizuka tried to keep track of her since he did not want the city's location being leaked. Minutes later, Junko called her soldiers from the company who had hired her to spy on Kaizuka, and all the mercenaries began raiding the city to Kaizuka's disappointment. Subsequently, Kanta and Taiko went into the city, and the former told the latter that they would swipe the treasure while Junko's men were distracted by the Guardian. As Junko's men could not kill the Guardian, she told the rest to continue fighting while she and another squad quickly went into the central tower to find treasure.^[7]

Coming across a treasure room, Junko and her men began searching for any goods and came across a coffin, not knowing that it was the Guardian's resting tomb. Once Kanta successfully scared the Guardian underground, the Guardian detected Junko's squad and began charging at them. As Junko ran away with a treasure item, one of the soldiers unsuccessfully fired a rocket at the Guardian, collapsing the tunnel and sealing off the treasure room. While leaving the tunnel, Taiko confronted Junko at gunpoint, but Junko laughed off her threat, claiming that Taiko did not have the will to murder. Provoked by Junko's taunting, Taiko dropped her weapon and tried to attack her, but Junko subdued her and held a knife to the young girl. Only cutting off some of her hair, Junko told Taiko that she would not spare her next time that they clashed.^[8]

As she attempted to leave with one treasure, Taiko stopped her and began a gunfight, successfully disarming Junko and ordering her to strip so that she could not hide any weapons. Immediately, Taiko took the captive Junko to Kanta, who had defeated the Guardian and commended Taiko for her feat. As Kaizuka's helicopter arrived to pick him up that night, Kaizuka agreed to pay Kanta for salvaging the robot as well as giving Junko's pay to Taiko, angering Junko. As the elderly man began to depart, Kanta said that he would be taking Junko prisoner, disappointing Taiko since she wanted to kill Junko for her betrayal.^[9] Walking through the desert back to town, Kanta told Taiko to go ahead while he "dealt" with Junko, taking the prisoner to his secret base. After a week of trying to coerce Junko into having sex with him, the two became trapped inside the base since Kanta forgot the code after Junko had kicked him in the head. As both were tired and dehydrated, Junko tricked Kanta into signing a contract which he thought was a promise to sex, but actually stated that she was no longer his prisoner. Kanta woke up in the hospital after being discovered by Taiko, and she explained to him about the real premise of the contract, greatly shocking him into despair.^[10]

Uzumaki incident

Junko is not seen again until she stirred trouble once more when she was trying to run away from Seiji Tanigawa, who she tricked into giving her secret documents from Uzumaki Chemicals. She gets a contract from Mugen-Ya's Handyman Guild and hires Desert Punk to rescue her. After being captured by Tanigawa and running away again, she is rescued but is taken into government custody for potential information she knows. The rebel faction within the West Oasis Government decides to deploy her as a nurse.

Anti-Government faction and betrayal

Junko new look — Junko's new look in Chapter 129

While working for the anti-Government faction in the West Oasis, she briefly works as Kaizuka's secretary, and in Chapter 68 shows Kanta the intel that Natsuko Kawaguchi retrieved in some underground ruins.^[11] Soon, she and Kanta meet up with Koji Okawa in Chapter 75 to secure his partnership and betray Kaizuka's opposition group, working alongside Desert Punk in Ōtaki's majority faction. She and Kanta turn over Kaizuka to the West Oasis Government, gaining their approval.^[12]

During the subsequent war between West and South, she teams up with Kanta, who is now the frontline commander of a new robot army. Junko is clad in a new outfit, now wearing a metal helmet that covers her eyes and hair. She helps him gain intel on their enemies in the anti-West faction, and after the capture of D-3 she tells Kanta she will gather information on a man named Shirasu, who is apparently the superior of Masaru Kaidō.^[13] It is unknown what Junko does during the war as well as what she does after the war ends.

Trivia

In a popularity contest, Junko ranked 3rd with 2,703 votes.^[14]
The name Junko means "pure, clean, simple" (純) (jun) and "child" (子) (ko). Junko's surname Asagiri means "morning" (朝) (asa) and "fog, mist, haze" (霧) (giri).