Kaguya Shinomiya
Kaguya Shinomiya |
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| Profile | |
| Kanji Name: | 四宮 かぐや |
| Rōmaji Name: | Shinomiya Kaguya |
| Nickname(s): | Shirogane Kaguya (married name) Ice Princess (during junior high by other students) Auntie (byMaki Shijo) Muscle Queen (by Student Council members) Princess (byMikado Shijo) Demon (byYu Ishigami) |
| Personal Info | |
| Gender: | Female |
| Age: | 18 |
| Birthday: | January 1 (Capricorn) |
| Eye Color: | Red |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Height: | 158 cm |
| Blood Type: | AB |
| Residence: | Sengaku-ji, Minato Ward |
| Occupation | |
| Status: | Alive |
| Occupation: | Photographer High School Student (former) Student Council Vice President (former) |
| Grade: | Junior (2-A) Senior (3-A) |
| Relatives: |
Kaguya (Ice)(Subconscious) |
| Portrayal | |
| Japanese VA: | Aoi Koga |
| English VA: | Alexis Tipton |
| Actor: | Kanna Hashimoto |
| Media Debut | |
| Manga | Chapter 1 |
| Anime | Episode 1 |
| “ | ” | |
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— Kaguya Shinomiya
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Origin
Kaguya Shinomiya draws inspiration from Nayotake no Kaguya-hime (名夜竹の輝夜姫), the central character in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Her icy demeanor is influenced by Aka Akasaka’s portrayal of Kaguya-hime, who famously assigned her numerous suitors impossible tasks.
Appearance
Kaguya’s full appearance.
Kaguya Shinomiya is a stunningly beautiful young girl with fair skin and long black hair, typically tied back with a black-red ribbon. When her hair is let down, it reaches mid-back length, framing her face with bangs and strands on either side. She possesses large, almond-shaped red eyes that can appear sharper depending on her mood, complemented by thin eyebrows and a slim, feminine build with a notably small chest. In her manga character profile, she is described as having “stunning beauty.”
Initially, during her time in the Student Council, Kaguya wore her hair down without her iconic ribbon. Known as “The Ice Princess,” her eyes appeared sharper, darker, and lifeless, embodying an aura of gloomy, cold, and unattainable beauty. This reflected her mental state shaped by a ruthlessly strict upbringing, leading her to act coldly toward others as a defense mechanism to avoid causing them pain.
As she grew closer to the other Student Council members—particularly Miyuki Shirogane—Kaguya requested her maid, Ai Hayasaka, to help her appear “cute.” The addition of the ribbon symbolizes her desire to seem less imposing and marks a significant shift in her personality. Instead of distancing herself from others, she begins to cultivate meaningful relationships, becoming brighter, cuter, and happier. This transformation is particularly evident in her eyes, which are now wider and more vibrant, no longer vacant and distant.
Kaguya typically wears the Shuchi’in school uniform; however, family policy requires her to maintain an extensive wardrobe at all times.
Personality
Kaguya Shinomiya initially presents as a cold and rational individual, but her character evolves throughout her time in the Student Council. In her earlier days, she views Miyuki Shirogane as a potential romantic partner, but only on the condition that he confesses first. This leads her to engage in mind games to prompt him to declare his feelings. As the series progresses, Kaguya begins to accept her growing affection for Miyuki, though she struggles to admit it openly.
Raised in a wealthy and influential family, Kaguya can come off as arrogant and overly confident in her intelligence and abilities. However, this persona masks the immense pressure she feels to meet her family’s expectations, leaving her desperate to experience the everyday joys her friends enjoy.
At heart, Kaguya is a genuinely selfless and kind person. Yet, the unhealthy environment of her upbringing has led her to doubt her own goodness, resulting in a longing for true kindness—an obsession she finds reflected in her relationship with Miyuki. She cares deeply for her fellow Student Council members, regarding them as treasured friends. Despite this, Kaguya has a tendency to resort to wealth to resolve her problems.
Kaguya typically addresses others formally, often using their last names. Having experienced a sheltered childhood, her interactions have been largely limited to Ai Hayasaka, her maid, who she considers more of a sister than a servant. This lack of socialization has left Kaguya with little knowledge of common experiences for someone her age, such as shopping in groups, watching fireworks, or taking photographs with friends. She is also largely unfamiliar with technology, discovering platforms like Twitter only after Ai informs her.
Her upbringing has resulted in mood swings that give rise to distinct pseudo-personalities, which occasionally act out mental court cases in her mind. These manifestations include the Ice Queen, representing her pre-council self; The Moron, depicted with a flower sprouting from her head; and Kaguya Child, who takes on the role of judge.
When Kaguya falls ill or is incapacitated, her basic human desires surface more prominently due to a decline in her usual mental acuity. This leads to a dormancy of her self-control, allowing her more primal instincts to take over. Chika describes this state as akin to that of a “baby,” and Kaguya herself has no memory of her actions during these episodes.
Kaguya’s limited sexual knowledge contributes to her immature sense of humor, particularly when it comes to sexual innuendos. Words like “wiener” elicit hysterical laughter from her. Although Kaguya is popular among her peers and often approached for love advice, she has never had a boyfriend, making her attempts to offer guidance somewhat misguided.
History
Kaguya Shinomiya is a member of the Shinomiya Zaibatsu and the daughter of the Shinomiya family. Born to a night worker, her existence introduced complexities regarding reputation and succession within the zaibatsu. Despite these challenges, her father insisted on keeping her within the family, although he remained largely absent from her childhood following her mother’s death.
A multi-talented genius, Kaguya is capable of excelling in various fields, though she struggles to outperform Miyuki Shirogane in exams. From a young age, she has been subjected to the strict rules and expectations of the Shinomiya family, which has ingrained a logical mindset in her that often seeks to manipulate others for her own and her family’s benefit. This perspective leads her to be cautious in forming friendships, subjecting potential friends to “trust challenges” to assess their reliability.
Kaguya’s sheltered upbringing has prevented her from learning what is often deemed “inappropriate,” leaving her with gaps in common knowledge. Following her mother’s death shortly after her birth, Kaguya developed a negative relationship with the rest of her family. Being the youngest and born to a night worker diminished her prospects of inheriting the zaibatsu; her oldest brother had originally planned to arrange her marriage to the Shijo family to preserve their family’s influence and utilize her children as pawns in their schemes.
While she has a relatively poor relationship with Un’yo Shinomiya, her third brother who effectively raised her, Kaguya acknowledges that he taught her vital skills for navigating the manipulative dynamics of the Shinomiya family and surviving the rivalry posed by her older brothers. Although she possesses a “beautiful and healthy” heart, her weak constitution renders her physically susceptible to mental stress.
Relationships
Family
Gan’an Shinomiya
Gan’an Shinomiya is Kaguya’s father. The two are implied to have a very distant relationship, as Kaguya mentions that he has never shown her any form of parental affection.
Nayotake Shimizu
Nayotake Shimizu was Kaguya’s mother. It is unknown what sort of relationship they had due to her death when Kaguya was young, though Kaguya expresses anger when other girls make fun of her for her status as an illegitimate child.
Un’yo Shinomiya
Un’yo Shinomiya is Kaguya’s older half-brother. Amongst the Shinomiya family members, these two probably have the “best” relationship. Even though Kaguya thinks he is a terrible person and mocks his shallow pride, she has a great deal of respect for him for keeping his word and never breaking a promise. Her displays of manipulation, intimidation, apathy, and diplomacy are more or less Un’yo’s influence and teachings. Un’yo is what Kaguya would have become had she not joined the Student Council.
Maki Shijo
Maki Shijo is Kaguya’s second cousin twice removed. As a part of a distant branch of the Shinomiya family, she openly dislikes Kaguya and calls her Auntie/Old lady as Kaguya is technically two generations above her. The Shijo house split off from the Shinomiyas after calling out their unsavory business practices. Both families fought with trade and companies in Japan before the Shijo’s globalized. During this time, young Maki and Kaguya met each other at a family meeting, in which the former’s father warns her to stay away from any members of the Shinomiya house. As such, when Kaguya tries to befriend Maki, the young Shijo rejects her in a fit of prejudiced anger. The two start getting along after the events of Chapter 168. Through their discussion about sex after watching a pornographic video borrowed from Nagisa, Maki reveals that she is aware of the relationship between Kaguya and Miyuki and that it was obvious just by looking at the two of them.
Kaguya’s Sister-in-law
While the latter has never been seen on screen, Kaguya and her sister-in-law appear to have a rather amiable relationship, as she was the only member of the family to wish Kaguya a happy birthday in Chapter 162.
Student Council
Miyuki Shirogane
The relationship between Miyuki and Kaguya is the main instigator of much of the series, as both like each other but are too prideful and of a different class to confess to each other. Kaguya is unwilling to openly admit it to him that she loves him, because of her status as a Shinomiya and her immense drive to win, since whoever falls in love first loses. This leads her to start mind games to corner Miyuki and make him confess, which the latter is also doing.
To Kaguya, she first met Shirogane in summer, a few months into high school, when he openly challenges her to who can achieve better scores in assessment in order to catch her eye. Though in reality, Miyuki had approached her several times before. More surprisingly, he delivers on his promise and comes first in his year level, beating her and gaining her and everyone else’s attention as a role model in the Student Council. He attracts her attention yet again when he saves her hair ribbon from a swamp in which she had once jumped into to rescue another, the memory of which caused Miyuki to fall in love with Kaguya. It’s uncertain if this particular act of kindness made Kaguya begin to develop feelings for Shirogane, but it was during this time period in which they both joined the Student Council. He was one of the first people Shinomiya wanted to trust and get closer to, due to his compassion and selflessness, the absence of which in herself she loathes. Even so, she is pictured slapping Miyuki over some unknown reason and immediately regretting it.
Of the two, Kaguya is more proactive in coercing a confession, due to her natural scheming and desire to win. Despite this, Miyuki can generally scrape by with a draw or win with no planning, or rely on the mysterious force known as Fujiwara to save (or damn) him.
After chapter 160, they officially started dating. However, they agree to keep their relationship hidden from the others for the time being. This does not mean that she does not openly show her affection for him, however, as she and Miyuki secretly hold hands when the rest of the Student Council is caught up in Chika’s antics, or when she legitimately tells the Council they’re dating, under the guise of a prank.
In contrast to Miyuki, Kaguya believes a relationship should have both sides knowing everything about the other, leading her “Ice” personality (which initially met Miyuki) to resurface after the Culture Festival, believing that he should love that part of her as well if they should be in a relationship. Upon learning that Miyuki hides the “weak” parts of himself and believes he needs to be “perfect” in order to have anything in life, including a relationship with her, she shows increased concern and confronts him about it outright.
Lately, Kaguya has been known to have days where her love “overflows” and is apparently constantly looking for opportunities to kiss him or get him to embrace her. Due to her excitement and frequent carelessness, several characters now know about their relationship (Kashiwagi, Onodera, Kobachi, Iino, Maki, Fujiwara, Hayasaka, Kei, Ishigami, and Karen are confirmed to know).
The topic of sex and the inevitability of confronting it with Miyuki is made aware to her by Kashiwagi and Maki. Kaguya notes that she does not think she is ready for it just yet, but she is also afraid that if Miyuki were to instigate and she were to decline him, he would come to resent her, and thus would probably accept, much to Maki’s worry. Maki later confronts Miyuki about it, and at this point, he also silently notes to himself that it’s not a topic they can or should avoid when it inevitably creeps up.
Kaguya ended up marrying Shirogane.
In Chapter 220, Kaguya and Miyuki attempt to engage in sexual intercourse for the first time. It wasn’t until her hesitance to continue that prompted him to stop. Kaguya wanted to keep going since Miyuki was going to be in America at Stanford for 4 years. They talked, and she revealed her fear of him finding another woman and that their long-distance relationship would fail. He told her that “men who haven’t experienced a woman before are less likely to cheat,” and they can wait until she’s ready. As the chapter ends, Kaguya kisses Miyuki, telling him that she loves him, which he reciprocates. They keep telling each other “I love you,” leading them to having sex.
To end the feud between the Shinomiyas and Shijos, Kaguya was forced to break up with Shirogane to marry Mikado. But using her tactics, she secretly aided Miyuki to rescue her, and by the end of Chapter 261, he did just that, and the two of them resume dating, ending the arranged marriage. When Miyuki moved to Stanford for college, Kaguya visits him various times using her family wealth until she could move there as well the coming year. According to the Oshi no Ko special chapter and Chapter 276, Kaguya ended up marrying Shirogane, with the former taking his surname.
Kaguya and Chika.
Chika Fujiwara
Chika Fujiwara has been friends with Kaguya since middle school. At times, Kaguya detests her and her friendly nature because Fujiwara mostly gets things that Kaguya cannot get (e.g., Miyuki’s lunchboxes, Kei and Fujiwara’s BFF-ness, getting married to Miyuki at a board game, etc.), calling her the incarnation of avarice and greed, vile woman, personification of sexual desire. Despite Kaguya thinking about Fujiwara like that at times, she finds her friendship with her irreplaceable in its own way, enough for her to say that it has the same weight as her love for Miyuki. It is revealed that Kaguya deeply trusts her as a friend due to Chika being one of the few to have passed Kaguya’s harsh tests of trust.
The two find themselves at odds with each other when they find out that Chika is a supporter of a romance between Ishigami and Miko compared to Kaguya, who is a supporter of a romance between Ishigami and Tsubame. However, supporters of both romances remain on good terms, and Kaguya also supports Ishigami and Miko after Tsubame rejected Ishigami.
They were at odds once again when Kaguya and Miyuki revealed their relationship to the student council, with Chika feeling Miyuki “stole” Kaguya from her. Chika was eventually able to grow over it.
Yu Ishigami
Yu Ishigami is Kaguya’s underclassman. Early on, Kaguya seems to have a low opinion of Ishigami, occasionally wanting to kill him due to him accidentally interfering in her plans, which contributed to Ishigami’s paranoia and extreme fear of her. However, she thought enough of him to try and help him better himself and avoid being held back a grade. While normal students scorn Ishigami, she has openly said that Ishigami is someone worthy of
Etymology
Kaguya’s surname, Shinomiya (四宮), translates to “four” (四, shi) and “temple, shrine, or palace” (宮, miya). This reflects both her family’s significance and their place within the cultural context of Japanese society.
Her married name, Shirogane (白銀), means “white silver” (白, shiro meaning “white” and 銀, gane meaning “silver”), symbolizing purity and elegance.