Kaguya Shinomiya

Kaguya Shinomiya (四宮しのみや かぐや, Shinomiya Kaguya^?) is the titular protagonist of the Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai series. She was a student at Shuchi'in Academy^[2], a member of the Archery Club, and the Vice President of the 67th and 68th Student Council.

Origin

Kaguya is based on Nayotake no Kaguya-hime (名夜竹の輝夜姫), the main character of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Her cold personality is based on Aka Akasaka's interpretation of how Kaguya-hime charged her many suitors with impossible tasks.^[1]

Appearance

Kaguya is a beautiful, fair-skinned young girl with long black hair that is usually tied by a black-red ribbon (her hair appears to be mid-back length when she lets it down) with bangs/hair strands hanging on either side, large, almond-shaped red eyes (that can look sharper, depending on her mood), thin eyebrows and a slim, but feminine build, with a noticeably small chest. She is described in her manga character profile as possessing 'stunning beauty'.

In the past, and at the beginning of her time in the Student Council, she always wore her hair down, without her iconic red ribbon. As 'The Ice Princess', her eyes appeared sharper, darker, and lifeless, giving her the aura of a gloomy, cold, unapproachable, and unattainable beauty. This reflected her mental state, influenced by her ruthlessly strict upbringing, where she acted cold towards others, pushing them away because she feared hurting others.

Later, as she became closer to the other members of the Student Council, (in particular, Miyuki Shirogane) and other students, she asks her maid Ai Hayasaka to make her "cute". The ribbon is her attempt at making appear less imposing and cold to others and marks a shift in her personality. Rather than coldly pushing and distancing herself from others, she starts to form meaningful relationships and becomes brighter, cuter, and happier overall. This change is particularly reflected in her eyes, which no longer looked vacant and distant. Now, her eyes appear wider and livelier.

She is typically dressed in the Shuchi'in school uniform. However, Shinomiya family policy requires her to have an extensive wardrobe at all times.

Personality

Kaguya was a very cold and rational individual, but she slowly changed after joining the student council. During her earlier days in council, she considered Miyuki Shirogane as one she would be fine to be in a relationship with if, and only if, he confesses first, thus she constantly plays mind games in trying to get him to confess. Later in the series, her actions imply that she is starting to accept her feelings of liking Miyuki, but won't openly admit it.

Due to being part of a wealthy and important family, Kaguya is sometimes seen arrogant and is very confident about her intelligence and incredible skills. However this is only an image she displays on the outside. Deep down she is always accompanied with an immense pressure for accomplishing her family's expectations, feeling desperate to do things her friends are able to do on a daily basis.

While she is a genuinely selfless and kind person at heart, given the unhealthy environment she grew up in, she doesn't consider herself a good person and as such, has a longing for true kindness that borders on obsession which she found in Miyuki. She cares about the members of the student council and considers them as treasured friends. Kaguya has a bad habit of immediately turning to money to solve her problems.

In general, she tends to address people in a formal manner, and almost always uses their last names in a conversation.

Because of having a very protected childhood, Kaguya rarely had interacted with people apart of Ai Hayasaka who's served her since a very young age and Kaguya considers a sister rather than a servant until she joined the student council. She also lacks of what could be considered as common knowledge or doing common things from people of her age such as going to shopping in group, watching the fireworks at night, and taking photographs with her friends. She also doesn't know much about using the internet, had no idea that websites like Twitter existed and only found out about it when Hayasaka told her.

Kaguya suffers from mood swings, which is a result of her upbringing, with the various moods having their own distinct pseudo-personalities that occasionally act out mental court cases in her head, serving as a visual representation of her psyche. There is Ice Queen, taking form with a Kaguya's pre-council hairstyle and being the prosecutor of other representations. The Moron, appearing with a flower sprouting from her head and deformed to a chibi in later appearances. And finally, the Kaguya Child version takes the role of the judge.

It has been shown that when Kaguya becomes sick or otherwise incapacitated, her basic human desires skyrocket as a result of her brain not being as sharp as it usually is, thus making her ego (self-control) fundamentally dormant while her id (animalistic desires) take over her. Chika describes this state as akin to a "baby" and Kaguya herself has no recollection of any events during this state. M

Due to her lack of sexual knowledge, she developed a rather immature sense of humor, especially regarding words related to sex such as "wiener"^[5] and tends to laugh hysterically when such words are uttered. Like Miyuki, Kaguya is very popular and female students often ask her for love advices believing she has experience and has many knowledge about it. But turns out she's never had a boyfriend before, so she doesn't really know much about it but tries her best to hide that fact.

History

A member of Shinomiya Zaibatsu and the daughter of the Shinomiya group. She was born to a night worker, which created reputation and succession complexities within the zaibatsu, but her father insisted on keeping her within the family though he was largely absent from her childhood following her mother's death. A multi-talented genius who can do anything if she sets her mind to it (except, beating Shirogane in exams).^[6] Because she has had the rules and expectations of the Shinomiya family drilled into her from a young age,  her logical side always looks for ways she can use people for her and the Shinomiya family's benefit. This causes her to be wary of all potential friends, putting them through "trust challenges" to determine whether she should befriend them. She has had a very protected childhood, where she has been kept from learning things that are deemed "inappropriate". Kaguya's mother had hereditary heart problems leading to her untimely demise, but her own heart is "beautiful and healthy". Regardless, she appears to have a weak constitution as her physical state is easily affected by her mental turmoil.

Other than Hayasaka who has served her since childhood, she has rarely interacted with other people before she joined the student council, leading to her reputation as the "Ice Princess". She is a sheltered girl resulting in her lacking several pieces of what might be considered as common knowledge. Her mother died shortly after she was born, and she is shown to have a negative relationship with the rest of her family. As she is the youngest and born to a night worker, there was little hope for her taking ownership of the zaibatsu and originally, the oldest brother planned to enter her into an arranged marriage with the Shijo family to preserve relations and use her children as his pawns. While she has a relatively poor relationship with Un'yo Shinomiya, the third son who essentially raised her, she acknowledges he taught her how to survive the Shinomiya family succession and manipulation of her older brothers.

Etymology

• Kaguya's surname Shinomiya means "four" (四) (shi) and "temple, shrine, palace" (宮) (miya).
  • Her married name Shirogane means "white silver" (白銀).

Trivia

• Kaguya still doesn't understand love very well, but she wants her relationship with Miyuki Shirogane to be as "normal" as possible.
• Kaguya likes dogs and shortcakes.^[7][8]
• Kaguya has a severe lack of knowledge about how to navigate the internet, causing a lot of trouble for Ai Hayasaka when she was setting up her Twitter account.^[9]
• Kaguya always wanted to have a little sister and now she wants to have Kei Shirogane call her Big sister (nee-san - 姉ねえさん)^[10]. Kaguya is slightly attracted to Kei due to her resemblance to her brother.
• Kaguya knows a lot about puzzles and riddles.^[11]
• Kaguya is talented at archery, using a bow with 15 kg of draw weight, which was equivalent to the boys of the Japanese Archery Club in the academy.
• On rare occasions, Kaguya has a fang.^[12]
• Kaguya can't handle Moeha Fujiwara's tendency to say scary stuff at times.^[13]
• On Miyuki's birthday, Kaguya gave him a fan with the words "Masen Tekken" inscribed on it, meaning "Unyielding Diligence"^[14]. She did the calligraphy herself.
• Kaguya likes the glare-y sleep-deprived sharp cool look in Miyuki's eyes compared to how it is when he has a healthy amount of sleep.^[15]
• The glare fetish Kaguya has is due to her liking Miyuki. She believes it is cool as it is a sign of relentless hard work. She mentioned she does not mind licking his eyeballs, which unnerved Miyuki significantly.
• Kaguya wears different patterned ribbons throughout the first 10 chapters of the manga.
• Kaguya knows a lot of French insults and swear words that she used in her monologue against Betsy.
• Kaguya is sensitive to strong stimuli such as loud noises.
• Kaguya lets her hair down when she takes on the "Ice Princess" identity.
• Kaguya is actually left-handed, but she has been trained to write and eat with her right hand.
• Kaguya has lost her virginity alongside Miyuki.^[16]
• Following Miyuki, Kaguya also decided to study at Stanford University after she graduates from Shuchi'in.^[17]
• Kaguya makes a cameo appearance in Oshi no Ko, another manga series by Aka Akasaka set several years after Kaguya-sama. She is shown as a successful photographer who is put in charge of Ruby Hoshino, using the name Kaguya Shirogane (白銀 かぐや, Shirogane Kaguya), implying that she and Miyuki are married in the future.^[18]

References

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