Spoilerific! What I immediately noticed about Shizuru Fujino was her Kyoto accent. A lot of animes have a character from Kansai but they are usually Osaka-ben speakers e.g. Ayumu Kasuga (Osaka) of Azumanga Daioh, Kero of Cardcaptor Sakura, Mitsune Konno (Kitsune) & Kaolla Su of Love Hina, Sorata Arisugawa of X and so on. The only character I can recall who spoke Kyoto-ben and then apparently not very well was Afura Mann from El Hazard. I really do like the Kyoto accent as it sounds quite refined especially when spoken by a female so please leave a comment if you, gentle readers, know of any others.
From the obligatory beach episode (ep 9), it was quite clear that Shizuru doesn’t mind having a group of fangirls fussing over her, attracted by her height, beauty, position as Student Council President, elegance and refinement (she teaches the arcane tea ceremony). Another hint about her sexual orientation can be found on her character interview on the official website. When asked about her likes, she responds with “I really enjoy looking at cute girls.”
As the series develops, it becomes quite clear that Shizuru has a “slight creepy crush” (cf: Kabitzin) on Natsuki. One thing that’s not clear is the basis of her attraction to Natsuki. Well, I guess we’ll just have to put it down to a love-at-first thing though perhaps the radio plays/dramas may have more info. Anyhow Shizuru can’t help but act on it as the situation demands and opportunities to do so arise. And she does quite a lot more than look.
And *surprise surprise*, Shizuru is not just a token Kyoto-ben speaking character but has got full supporting character status as a HiME. She intervenes, at first in secret, in order to protect Natsuki. Cool weapon. Love that starting pose with the guan dao, a weapon invented by Guan Yu of the Three Kingdoms era who is now venerated as Guan Gong, patron saint of war and literature. The hydra/chthonian-like Kiyohime also takes the cake for being a big bad monstrous Child but will probably get owned by Kagutsuchi if it ever came down to it.
As the HiME tragedy unfolds, Shizuru’s facade of control, calm and refinement starts to crack as she indulges in a little bitty bit of innocuous Natsuki lurvin’. Oh, a little kiss can’t hurt, right? No one knows, even Natsuki who’s zonked out most of the time. Apparently she didn’t hear the sound of herself slipping down that slippery slope. What really crossed that moral line was that her actions were taken without Natsuki’s consent and took advantage of Natsuki’s current weakness. Thus the horror of being found out, the pain of losing Natsuki’s trust and then outright, horrified rejection eventually shatter, what was afterall, a very strained and vulnerable teenager’s mind. Definitely the runner-up to Chikane Himemiya for Most Violent Reaction Of Repressed & Unrequited Love. I’m always a sucker for characters with unrequited feelings (and a bonus if they eventually do get their girl).
In her delusional state, Shizuru deals out considerably death n’ destruction, defeating Yukino’s and Nao’s Childs. It is during the rather one-sided fight with Nao and Julia that Natsuki, through another one of Nao’s epiphany-causing utterances, that she comes to realise that Shizuru’s love, while creepy, had saved her from becoming even more of a delinquent than she already was. Ironically it is Natsuki’s acceptance of Shizuru as her Most Important Person that allows her to defeat Shizuru which also sacrifices herself in the process.
Really got to hand it to Natsuki for forgiving Shizuru and then trying to get used to Shizuru’s now very public displays of affection. Also Shizuru should really thank Nao for sparking off Natsuki’s acceptance of Shizuru’s feelings. Not killing her was a good start. Adopting her in their own little “White Rose family” (cf: Fencedude’s title of the left screencap) would also be nice.
In all, interesting character with the public/private dichotomy, the Kyoto accent, cool Element and Child and, of course, yuri. Next, Miyu Glea!
