Kaguya Shinomiya (四宮 かぐや, Shinomiya Kaguya) is the titular character of the manga series Kaguya-sama: Love Is War by Aka Akasaka. She serves as the student council vice president of Shuchiin Academy and comes from the wealthy Shinomiya family. She has feelings for Miyuki Shirogane, the student council president, but is too proud to confess her feelings. Later on in the series, they are able to confess and become a couple, although their relationship is complicated by Kaguya's family circumstances and Miyuki's decision to study abroad at Stanford University.
| Kaguya Shinomiya | |
|---|---|
| Kaguya-sama: Love Is War character | |
| First appearance | "I Want to Be Invited to a Movie" |
| Created by | Aka Akasaka |
| Portrayed by | Kanna Hashimoto |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Position | Student council vice president |
| Affiliation | Shuchiin Academy |
| Family |
|
| Significant other | Miyuki Shirogane |
Akasaka modeled Kaguya's personality on the character of Kaguya-hime from Japanese folklore. He originally had Kaguya and Miyuki have similar personalities, although their characters diverged over time. Kaguya is voiced in Japanese by Aoi Koga and by Alexis Tipton in English. She is portrayed by Kanna Hashimoto in the film adaptations.
Kaguya has been well-received by fans. She has ranked highly in popularity polls, and won the Best Girl award at the 2021 Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
Creation and development
editAka Akasaka said that he modeled Kaguya to be like Kaguya-hime in that both are princesses at the start, but have something deeper about their character later. He made both Kaguya and Miyuki to have similar personalities at first, both proud and intellectual but later revealing to be more like "goofy idiots" on the inside. He would later have the two diverge in tendencies, with Kaguya being more like a "bad girl". Akasaka also said that while Kaguya has a dark side to her, he didn't want people to hate her so he tries to keep the positive and negative emotions balanced.[1]
Actresses
editKaguya is voiced by Aoi Koga in Japanese, and by Alexis Tipton in English.[2][3] In a two-part interview with Febri, Koga reminisced about how, during the show's first season, she aimed to do her best in voicing Kaguya so she could not hinder her fellow voice actors.[4] She also felt that during the anime's third season, Kaguya's heart was warming and becoming more similar to a high school girl of her age, and Koga wanted to reflect this change with her acting. She also noted that Kaguya also expressed emotions and feelings she did not show during the previous seasons.[5] As the series went on, Koga felt that playing Kaguya allowed her to grow as a person, and she could relate to how Kaguya's personality changed between the first and third seasons.[4]
Kaguya is portrayed by Kanna Hashimoto in the movie adaptations.[6] Hashimoto was a fan of the manga series and was excited when she was offered the role of Kaguya, believing she could do the role. In portraying the character, Hashimoto wanted to express Kaguya's thoughts and feelings, especially her love for Miyuki and her role as a member of the student council. She admitted it was a challenge to play Kaguya, noting how being a fan of the original manga and how she handled the role were essential in adapting Kaguya to live-action.[7]
Appearances
editIn Kaguya-sama: Love is War
editKaguya is the vice president of Shuchiin Academy's student council. She is known for her beauty, intelligence and wealth, her family owning one of the largest business conglomerates in Japan.Ch. 1 Due to being born into a high-class family, the manner Kaguya was raised caused her to be prideful, cold and calculating; but underneath her personality traits, she is really an innocent, kind and fair-minded teenage girl at heart. Her social status and upbringing also causes her emotional suffering due to loneliness and isolation. In spite of her intelligence and resources, she is surprisingly inept at utilizing social media and digital technology (although she excels at older, analog methods of input such as typewriter). She is also quite naïve when it comes to romance and sexuality, and had to be taught how to utilize fashion and femininity to her advantage. To make Miyuki confess his love directly or indirectly, she usually plans ahead to tilt the circumstances in her favour. Apart from engaging in student council work, she is in the Archery club.Ch. 28 Although she is left-handed, she writes with her right hand.
Eventually, Kaguya and Miyuki mutually confess their feelings during the school festival, sharing their first kiss as heart-shaped balloons float above the sky. They later have sex for the first time when Kaguya spends the night at the Shirogane family apartment.Ch. 220 She is initially disapproving of Miyuki's decision to study at Stanford University but ultimately accepts. She even secretly accompanies him to the United States to bid him a proper farewell, and she visits him on a regular basis. She also has plans to study at Stanford after graduating.
It is revealed later in the story that Kaguya was born out of an affair by her father and a prostitute named Nayotake Shimizu, who died less than a month after giving birth to her Ch. 254, and as of such wouldn't be considered part of the family going by tradition. Despite her father still considering her as much of a member of his family as the rest of his children, she is still treated akin to a political tool by her two oldest brothers.Ch. 249
Other appearances
editKaguya makes a cameo in a bonus chapter of Oshi no Ko, another manga series by Akasaka, where she serves as Ruby Hoshino's photographer during a shoot. It is implied she has married Miyuki, as she is credited under the name Kaguya Shirogane (白銀 輝夜, Shirogane Kaguya).Special Chapter
Reception
editIn a 2019 popularity poll conducted by Akiba Souken, Kaguya ranked first with 3,409 votes.[8] She ranked 4th in a 2021 popularity poll conducted by the website NetLab, with 406 votes,[9] and ranked first in a popularity poll among characters voiced by Aoi Koga.[10]
At the 2021 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Kaguya won the Best Girl award, while she and Miyuki Shirogane were among runners-up for the Best Couple Award.[11]
References
edit- ^ Aka Akasaka (February 16, 2020). "Wielding emotions to create a story: "Kaguya-sama Wants to Be Confessed To" author Aka Akasaka shares his strategy for writing manga". Guya.moe (Interview). Interviewed by Daisuke Okamoto. Translation by Kaguya-sama Discord. Retrieved July 8, 2020. based on: Aka Akasaka (January 30, 2020). "感情を操り、物語を創る。『かぐや様は告らせたい』赤坂アカが考える"戦略的"漫画論" [Manipulate emotions and create stories. "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai" Akasaka's "strategic" comic theory]. Livedoor News (Interview) (in Japanese). Interviewed by Daisuke Okamoto. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (October 26, 2018). "Kaguya-sama: Love is War Anime's Teaser Video Reveals Lead Cast". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ Friedman, Nicholas (July 24, 2020). "Kaguya-sama: Love is War? Season 2 Dub Cast Revealed, First Episode Arrives Saturday". Funimation. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ a b "『かぐや様は告らせたい-ウルトラロマンティック-』四宮かぐや役・古賀 葵インタビュー②" (in Japanese). Febri. May 3, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ "『かぐや様は告らせたい-ウルトラロマンティック-』四宮かぐや役・古賀 葵インタビュー①" (in Japanese). April 28, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ Antonio Pineda, Rafael (February 21, 2019). "Kaguya-sama: Love is War Manga Gets Live-Action Film in September". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ^ "漫画を愛する橋本環奈 実写化は"どれだけ原作を愛して挑むか"が課題". Crank-In! (in Japanese). Broadmedia Corporation. August 20, 2021. Archived from the original on August 20, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ "【投票】かぐや様は告らせたい 人気投票 - アキバ総研". Akiba Souten (in Japanese). Kakaku.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ "【かぐや様は告らせたい】キャラクター人気ランキングTOP31！ 1位は「早坂愛」に決定！【2021年投票結果】". NetLab (in Japanese). ITmedia, Inc. June 9, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ "【声優】「古賀葵」が演じたテレビアニメキャラ人気ランキングTOP32！ 第1位は「四宮かぐや（かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～）」【2024年最新投票結果】". NetLab (in Japanese). ITmedia, Inc. May 7, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ Luster, Joseph (February 20, 2021). "Rewatch the 2021 Anime Awards Here (and Find Out Who Won!)". Crunchyroll. Retrieved August 18, 2024.