夕城 美朱
"Nagarate yuku toki
wa hayai kedo kawaranai egao yakusoku shiyou""
(Promise Love)
Name:
Yuuki Miaka
Celestial Name: Suzaku No Miko
(Priestess of Suzaku)
Age: 15 in TV series, 16ish in
OVA2, 19-20ish in Eikoden.
Songs
(Sung by Araki Kae)
Promise Love
Still
Everything For You
Inori Youni Aishite'ru
----
Drama CD songs
(Sung by Hidaka Noriko)
Chiisa na Tegami
Subete ni Wo Ai Ni (Duet with Tamahome)
Futari Dake (Duet with Taka)
Hoshi no Niero (Duet with Taka)
Fushigi no Tobira
Nanodori no Uta
Itsuka Aeru Kara
Ai o Shinjite (Duet with Yui)
Eien no Ai ni wa
Notes/Observations:
Miaka is the Priestess of Suzaku and the clue to this
exists even in her name :) The kanji for Miaka are as
follows: 美 (Mi - beauty) and 朱 (Aka
- crimson, scarlet, vermillion). So she is the "scarlet beauty" - and
Suzaku's holy colour, of course, is red ;)
The other thing of note is the play on meaning of her last name,
"Yuuki". This is totally destroyed by the English subtitles, which
romanise her name as "Yuki" without the long vowel (it's so frustrating
when people ignore long vowels when romanising - there's a big meaning
and pronunciation difference between "ゆ
き” (yuki) and "ゆうき” (yuuki).) Yuki means (or can mean)
snow. Yuuki, on the other hand, can mean courage (although the given
Kanji for her last name are not the kanji associated with that meaning,
it seems like it's one of those dual meanings that the Japanese are so
fond of - a name within a name, much like Tsukino Usagi and her friends
of Sailor Moon fame). In fact, you could
interpret Miaka's name as "Courageous Scarlet Beauty", if you were so
inclined!
Miaka's surname Kanji actually
means "evening castle" which I suppose is also a tiny hint towards her
connection to the night sky and her role of importance as Suzaku No
Miko.
But I like the "courage" option best. ;)
The second observation that must be made is this.
Miaka's English dub is one of the most awful things to listen to, ever.
I highly recommend not bothering :S It may put you off the character
for life :S
Miaka's name is pronounced "Mi-ya-ka"
although in the English dub it's often reduced to "Mi-yah-ka".
I have some of the Drama CD songs for Miaka somewhere. Will add clips
when I can.
Profile
Background: The daughter
of a divorced couple who lives with her mother and her college age
brother Keisuke in Tokyo, there's nothing very remarkable about Yuuki
Miaka. She's greedy, sleeps in her classes and is desperate to get into
Jonan Academy because it's her mother's wish for her, not because she
actually wants to go to school there. Easy going and generous of heart
and nature, she has plenty of school friends but lacks a certain
confidence in herself and her own ability. In the manga, the
relationship between her and her mother is a little harsher than it is
in the anime - her mother is very demanding because she wants her
daughter to have the best of everything and doesn't totally understand
Miaka's point of view. In the anime, though, Mrs Yuuki comes over
fairly coldly also - that she's more concerned with Miaka's school
success than her friendships or her adventures into the world of the
book. (In the manga, there is a big showdown between Miaka and her
mother before Miaka goes into the book the second time. In the anime,
this is excluded, as Miaka never manages to get back to the real world
of her own volition, only with the help of Taiitsukun. In the manga,
this marks her third return to the real world instead). In
contrast to her relationship with her mother - who Miaka obviously
loves very much, despite their troubles - she has an extremely
supportive elder brother who, despite his initial scepticism about the
book, winds up becoming her strongest support outside the book world as
he and his friend Tetsuya attempt to get to the bottom of what's going
on. Despite his initial disbelief, Keisuke still looks out for his
sister and when he sees Miaka disappear into the book, his only concern
from thereon in is his sister's safety. In the OVA continuities he is
also a principle person involved in Miaka's adventures. Though Miaka's
mother never learns properly about Miaka's other world experiences,
Keisuke on the other hand is involved in everything and knows most all
of what's gone on.
Miaka's closest friend is Hongo Yui, a highly intelligent girl beside
whom Miaka perhaps feels a little inferior in terms of classes.
Character: Your average,
slightly greedy, daydreaming teenage girl, Miaka is not the first
person you'd think of if you were holding a Priestess competition. Yet
there seems no doubt at all that she was meant to be the Suzaku No Miko
and through her role as such she learns to believe in herself and her
own convictions, giving her the confidence to face and conquer her
troubles in the real world. In a sense, this is probably the reason for
her selection - that the book somehow reaches out to those who need to
learn something about themselves (the same can, after all, also be said
for Yui). Loyal, unsuspicious and trusting, Miaka's gullible yet
endearing nature gets her both in and out of all kinds of scrapes and
inspires at least four of her fellow warriors to declare some form of
love for her. (Of course this is probably born out of the fact they
exist to serve her, and in some respects the pattern of the story Miaka
and Yui both follow reflect something of what's going on in their own
heads. Consequently Miaka's bonds with her Seishi are strong, forged
from love and trust - and this inspires their devotion, because Miaka
is a naturally trusting, loving person. (Yui on the other hand has so
much bitterness, her bonds with her Seishi are tainted by dark acts and
thoughts). At one point, Yui says that she could have been the Suzaku
No Miko, but I think that it's fairly evident that Miaka was the chosen
one all along, by dint of the fact she saw Suzaku in the library and
was led to the book in the first place. Her connection to Suzaku is
strong throughout the series, even after the end of the television
episodes, and Suzaku calls on her help again in the OVA. By the time
the stories conclude, her understanding of her Suzaku power allows her
to connect with the book world a lot more easily.
Unlike Yui, Miaka never treats the Seishi or those around her in
Kounan/Hong Nan as simply characters from a book. Even right at the
start, she treats Tamahome and Hotohori as people and is as devoted and
loyal to the world inside the book as she is the one outside of it. To
her, Tamahome is not just a fictional character, but someone she loves
with all her heart and he is one of the major reasons she goes back
into the book even despite her brother's warnings. Whilst Yui seems to
consider the lives of the Seishi on both sides expendable because of
their fictional status, Miaka takes the death of any of her warriors
very closely to heart, in particular the deaths of Nuriko and Hotohori,
to whom she is probably closer. She is slow to judge and quick to
forgive, always willing to understand and make allowances and this is
both a strength and a weakness, because in looking for the best in
people, she often doesn't see the worst. When she firsts meets Nakago,
she sees him just as a handsome man who must be all right because he
helped Yui. In truth, he is a lot more sinister. When she is abducted
by Tasuki and Kouji in their play to retake control of the Reikaku-zan
bandits, she is totally unaware of her position as a hostage, instead
rallying herself to their cause and helping them to achieve their goal.
Despite Nuriko's initial hostility towards her, Miaka perseveres in
trying to become her friend, even undergoing mundane and degrading
tasks in order to try and win her third Seishi over. Even though Nuriko
takes a lot of time and effort making her jealous over Tamahome, when
Miaka learns that Nuriko really loves Hotohori, she volunteers to put
in a word on Nuriko's behalf.
There is also a darker side to Miaka's nature, or a confusion that
lives deep within her consciousness. Taiitsukun brings this out in her
when she lures her into the mirror, allowing her shadow-self to take
over. The shadow-Miaka declares her desire to stay in the book world,
to love Hotohori and she outs Nuriko's gender secret, much to the
dismay of all. Yet although Miaka accepts that these things exist
inside of herself, she also proves she is stronger than those things by
risking her life to save her seishi from shadow-Miaka's spell. And,
even though shadow-Miaka's behaviour was cruel and unlike her, the
seishi rally to their real Miko, attacking and defeating the demon
because they know that she's not real.
Miaka has no malice in her, but she's not always the most perceptive of
characters when it comes to her actions and their implications. After
Chichiri gives her the advice that her actions can have implications
for other people, she dives off into danger, determined to prevent
other people from being burdened with her but in fact causing them a
lot more hassle. When she and the others try to summon Suzaku the first
time, Miaka wishes that "no matter how it's done, I want to be with
Tamahome forever." But in reality, she can't be with Tamahome unless
one of them gives up their world and their family ties in order to do
it. Not long after the failure of this ceremony, Tamahome's family are
murdered. Although Miaka's wish was not granted, in effect whilst
Tamahome's family were still alive, there is no way he could fully
commit to Miaka or leave the book world behind him. So although she
doesn't mean them harm, and doesn't think of it as a consequence,
wishing for them to be together at all costs could well have made her
responsible for their deaths, had Suzaku been summoned. (But of course,
this would never have occured to Miaka, because that's just how she
is!) She's not deliberately selfish, but sometimes her youth and her
naivety makes her act in selfish ways. Her concern for her friendship
with Yui over everything is an indication that even though she's
willing to stay in the book world, her mind is still drawn back to her
real life and the way things were before they found the Universe of the
Four Gods book in the library. Although Miaka hates the death of any of
her Seishi, at the end of the day she pursues her goal as much to make
amends with Yui as she does to save Kounan and fulfil her promise to
Hotohori. This is borne out by the fact that Miaka does not actually
wish for Kounan to be saved - but she does wish for Yui to be returned.
In that respect, Miaka's youth and naivety means that sometimes she can
use, hurt and even sacrifice her fellows without even meaning it to
happen - that she sees the immediate consequences but not the deeper
lying ones, and that she breaks many hearts without even knowing it is
testament to that. (People have wondered in and out of the anime why
Miaka is so popular with men in the show - but to me that seems
obvious. The book world is crafted around the incoming Miko, and the
precedent already exists for strong love affairs between Miko and
Seishi, although for both the Genbu and the Byakko Miko, these end
unhappily. In short, the Seishi exist to protect the Priestess from
harm. This being the case, their destiny and reason for being is tied
up in her life, her safety and her well being. No wonder they fall in
love with her, when those ties are already formed so strong.
Miaka has also been accused of being a slut, although that amuses me
because I'm not quite sure how a virgin can be a slut. That aside, it's
true that she does occasionally lead other men on - however, as with
all Miaka does, this is guileless and innocent and indicative of how
little sometimes she realises the impact she's had on those around her.
Her own lack of self confidence at times means she's both dazzled and
confused by the attention Hotohori heaps on her, and she never means to
break his heart - although she undoubtedly does on a couple of
occasions. And when Nuriko tells her that part of his desire to be more
masculine stems from the effect she's had on him, she is confused - she
tells him she's not done anything, and is unable to read between the
lines of his words and realise that really, he's talking about his
feelings for her. (Since I'm pretty sure the whole audience can glean
this from their little conversation, it just highlights Miaka's
innocence once again.
There is, after all, a distinct difference between designed flirtation
and innocently friendly actions. In truth, Miaka's heart always belongs
to Tamahome and in this regard she never
falters.
Miaka's inner strength also becomes apparent towards the end, when she
is able to prevent being devoured by Suzaku (in contrast to Yui being
devoured by Seiryuu). This is probably also indicative of the close
bond between her and her Seishi - and that even in death, her four
departed warriors return to help defend and save her life (Nuriko
literally, by preventing a falling building from collapsing on her
head!). Right to the end, and even with their powers sealed away,
Chichiri and Tasuki are willing to sacrifice their lives if need be in
defence of their Miko, even entering a strange world to do so, showing
how much they respect Miaka and are loyal to her. (In contrast, with
the exception of Suboshi, the Seiryuu Seishi are more loyal to Nakago
or in Nakago's case, more loyal to his own aims and ends than to Yui's
wishes/needs).
Miaka is obviously closest to Tamahome, with whom she falls in love
fairly early on. Their affection for one another overcomes many trials,
including Nakago's kodoku poisoning of Tamahome and attempt to rape
Miaka to prevent her summoning Suzaku. Although Hotohori is very open
about his feelings for her, Miaka values him only as a deep friend,
although she doesn't always realise how much her actions hurt him
(especially when she flits right back to Tamahome as soon as the kodoku
is out of his system). Fortunately for her, Hotohori is an
understanding man, although the rivalry for her affection and her own
nature brings him and Tamahome almost to blows on occasion. Nuriko also
confides in Tamahome that he's come to love Miaka as a man, although I
think his affection for her is unique and not like that held by
Tamahome or Hotohori. Interestingly, Nuriko does not confess his
feelings to Miaka himself (although she overhears them) as if he
understands that the girl doesn't need more confusion in her head about
her connections to the other Seishi. Tamahome loves Miaka the most, but
Nuriko probably has the best understanding of her, and because of the
femininity of his outlook, he is more like her elder sister than
anything. Miaka often turns to him over the others - when she goes
looking for Tamahome, she takes Nuriko as her guardian. When Tamahome's
family are killed, it's to Nuriko she runs for comfort. When she hears
the flute playing, it's Nuriko she's trying to wake to hear it. When
they go to Mt Reikaku, it's Nuriko who defends her from the bandits in
the inn initially, and as a rule, after their initial friction, they
settle down into a close girlish relationship. It's probably safe to
say that Nuriko protects Miaka in ways other than physical strength for
the most part - although he can and does use his Seishi power to defend
her, he only really defines it as being willing to lay down his life
for hers in episode 32, right before his death. His role is more of
confidant than of warrior where Miaka is concerned, and I'm pretty
certain that had Nuriko not died, Miaka would never have fallen for the
fake Taiitsukun, putting herself in Nakago's power. Once Nuriko is
dead, Miaka lacks anyone who really understands the girl's perspective.
Tamahome even comments
on their arguments being 'girl arguments' and in some ways Miaka has
replaced Yui with Nuriko in terms of a female friend in which to
confide and with which she can tease and hang out. When Nuriko dies, it
hits Miaka hardest of all the deaths in the series - to the point where
she doesn't want to continue on. In some respects, therefore, you
could say that in friendship terms Nuriko is closest to Miaka, whilst
Tamahome has claim over her heart.
Miaka's bond with Hotohori is not noticeably blocked by his feelings
for her, because she's so happy go lucky she can completely ignore that
these are there for most of the time. She trusts in him to protect her
and even acts as something of a teacher for him in the art of freedom -
of all the characters, Miaka probably has a more profound effect on
Hotohori in terms of treating him as a real human being instead of a
puppet of state. In this respect, he is able to find an element of his
own identity beyond being the Emperor of Hong Nan, even to the point
where he is able to give his life for his country and the safety of
Miaka's world, not simply for
his own naive devotions.
On a random note also, Miaka is fairly infamous for her general
ditziness within the series. However, there are occasionally things
left out of the anime which would make her behaviour make more sense if
only they had been left in. A good example of this is when she's
infected by the Shikkonki disease/demon. In the anime, she's wandering
around the place looking for Shouka, who is right in front of her.
Ditzy Miaka? Well, actually, no - though it's never explained in the
anime, Shikkonki affects Miaka's vision and more or less makes her
blind. According to the manga, the first thing she sees clearly when
it's all over is the character on Mitsukake's palm as he heals her -
hence her reaction!
Miaka's relationship with Chichiri is also a fairly close one, as she
looks to him as advisor. When she needs advice, or even when she
doesn't, Chichiri's wise head is usually the one to give it. When she's
trying to figure out her conundrum with Tamahome and Yui, it is
Chichiri to whom she goes for help, and in turn he confides in her his
secret and the reason for his scar - something the others don't learn
about until much much later (during the OVA). Miaka is close to all her
Seishi, however - and their deaths or pain cause her great pain and
grief also.
As regards her family, her father is nonexistant. In the manga it's
mentioned that her parents are divorced, but Mr Yuuki never appears in
the anime and only sparingly really in the manga.
Miaka's relationship with her mother often seems to be more
affectionate from Miaka's side than her mother's, although this is
largely because of Mrs Yuuki's preoccupation with her daughter's
shining future. Keisuke, Miaka's elder brother is someone she's very
close to and someone to whom she calls out to and dreams of whilst in
the other world (although her convictions to help the Seishi find the
Shinzahou causes her to break the connection between them by getting
Tasuki to burn the strands of her hair that were allowing them to
communicate). Since to contact the real world from the book world,
there is a need for both a connecting 'object' that both worlds share
and deep, true emotion, this indicates the strength of the link between
Miaka and Keisuke. The only other person Miaka has any communication
with while in the book world is Yui. A further indication of the
seperation between Miaka and her parents is the fact that (in the manga
at least) Miaka decides to drop out of school and marry/live with Taka
in an apartment in the apartment building lived in/owned by Tetsuya's
family, which essentially severs ties between her and her mother for
good. This is not apparent in the anime, where it looks like she
probably stays at school until she graduates. Either way, it isn't
really discussed.
As for Yui, I have to say that Miaka's forebearance where Yui's
jealous, brattish behaviour is concerned is quite wearing at times. At
first, their bond is that of normal school friends, teasing and messing
around, although it is the strength of Yui's emotions for Miaka that
help Miaka come back to the real world the first time. It is also Yui
whose words convince Miaka to fight back after she is wounded in
Taiitsukun's test of character. However, once Yui is pulled into the
book world and becomes the Seiryuu No Miko, she does umpteen things to
betray Miaka's trust and belief in her. Despite this, Miaka cannot bear
a grudge and even holds herself responsible for Yui's bad behaviour. No
matter how many times she is rebuffed or how many times her friends get
hurt along the way, Miaka's drive to get Yui back to normal is never
wavering and she hates the fact that their both being Priestesses has
made them become enemies. At the end, Miaka's perseverance pays off,
when she is finally able to convince Yui that Nakago has been
manipulating her and that they are all in a lot of danger. However,
Miaka's good nature in this instance is the cause of suffering for many
of both the Suzaku and the Seiryuu Seishi, so whether it can be seen as
a positive or not, I don't know. Certainly, it is Yui who first seals
Suzaku, meaning that Mitsukake and Hotohori are unable to use their
powers and so are killed. And yet, it is Yui who releases Suzaku so
that Miaka can save their world. It's also significant that, after all
of this, Miaka's first wish is still for the safe return of her friend.
Yui's own regrets are even stronger in the manga - so I guess she can
probably be forgiven ;)
After the conclusion of the television series, Miaka's faith in Yui is
really rewarded, as she does not turn on her friend properly again and
is often there as a measure of support for Miaka when other things are
going on.
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