Yuzuru Nishimiya (西宮 結弦, Nishimiya Yudzuru?) is a major character in the Koe no Katachi series. She is the granddaughter of Ito Nishimiya, the younger of the two daughters of Yaeko Nishimiya and the younger sister of Shōko Nishimiya who is a third-year junior high school student (9th grade), but she rarely attends and instead takes photos with her camera around town.
Biography[]
Yuzuru became interested in photography at an early age, fascinated by the camera she received from her grandmother Ito Nishimiya. Through years of teaching herself, Yuzuru has become a surprisingly good photographer for her age, winning first place in a local photography contest.
Though the reason is unclear, Yuzuru stopped attending junior high and became solely interested in messing around with photography. It’s shown that Yuzuru almost exclusively took photos of dead animals and insects for a majority of the series, which is later revealed to be an attempt to show the gruesomeness of death and dissuade Shōko Nishimiya, who expressed a desire to die when they were younger. After Shōya Ishida recovers from his coma, she is given a chance to return to school and decides to take it, not wanting her sister to worry about her anymore.
Personality[]
On the surface, Yuzuru appears to be rather abrasive, brash and cold towards people she dislikes or does not trust. However, her behavior is actually a defense mechanism to both protect her older sister Shōko Nishimiya and hide the more vulnerable and uncertain parts of herself.
It’s implied through several interactions that Yuzuru struggles with friendly encounters, finding it hard to open up to people she is unfamiliar with. However, after Shōya Ishida begins earning her trust, Yuzuru reveals herself to be a kind and sweet girl who cares deeply about the people close to her. When Yuzuru opens up, she shows a lot of compassion and empathy that fuels her desire to protect her loved ones. Initially, her compassionate nature was exclusive to Shōko, but appears to have extended to Shōya as their bond began to grow over time.
Yuzuru struggles with understanding herself, choosing to invest her time into her sister rather than herself. However, the end of the series shows Yuzuru finally beginning to become her own person and allowing her sister to explore who she wants to be.
Physical appearance[]
Yuzuru is a rather short fair-skinned girl for her age with jet-black hair that she keeps cut short to which the longest part ends at the nape of her neck and then goes back up to the front locks that end on the bridge of her nose, dark-blue eyes and she possesses a small build.
Her androgynous appearance causes her to be mistaken for a boy, a trait she uses to trick Shōya Ishida into believing that she is Shōko Nishimiya's boyfriend.
List of Appearances[]
Volume 02[]
- Chapter 08 — "Friends?"
- Chapter 09 — "The Right To Be Here"
- Chapter 10 — "That's Just Great"
- Chapter 11 — "That Face"
- Chapter 12 — "Sis"
- Chapter 13 — "Struggle"
- Chapter 14 — "Yuzuru Nishimiya"
Volume 03[]
- Chapter 15 — "Better News"
- Chapter 18 — "I Don't Care in the Least"
- Chapter 20 — "Reason"
- Chapter 21 — "Pretend Friends"
- Chapter 22 — "I Want to Know"
Volume 04[]
- Chapter 24 — "Change"
- Chapter 25 — "Just My Imagination"
- Chapter 26 — "Birds of a Feather"
- Chapter 27 — "Hate"
- Chapter 28 — "Reply"
- Chapter 29 — "Granny"
- Chapter 30 — "Support"
- Chapter 31 — "Letter"
- Chapter 32 — "Gum Syrup" (cameo)
- Chapter 32.5 — "Sisters"
Volume 05[]
- Chapter 34 — "I Don't Want to Go"
- Chapter 36 — "What I Wanted"
- Chapter 37 — "Now and Forever"
- Chapter 38 — "Jumping at Shadows"
- Chapter 39 — "Just Some Passerby"
- Chapter 40 — "Pretend Date"
- Chapter 41 — "Everyone"
- Chapter 42 — "Fireworks"
Volume 06[]
- Chapter 44 — "Blight"
- Chapter 45 — "It Was All For Nothing?"
- Chapter 46 — "Tomohiro Nagatsuka"
- Chapter 51 — "Shoko Nishimiya"
Volume 07[]
- Chapter 54 — "To You"
- Chapter 55 — "Homecoming"
- Chapter 56 — "Going to School"
- Chapter 57 — "Reunion"
- Chapter 58 — "Results"
- Chapter 59 — "The Future"
- Chapter 60 — "Nobodies"
- Chapter 61 — "Graduation"
- Chapter 62 — "A Silent Voice"
Hobbies[]
- Photography
Relationships[]
Friends[]
Shōya Ishida: Yuzuru hated Shōya at first, believing his desire to befriend Shōko Nishimiya was purely for self satisfaction. She uses several tactics to prevent Shōya from seeing her sister, including lying about being Shōko’s boyfriend and getting him suspended from school.
Yuzuru begins to warm up to Shōya after she runs away from home when she and Shōko get into a fight over Shōya getting suspended. Shōya shows her kindness despite learning she was the one who got him in trouble and the two continue to hang out after that, eventually becoming friends. Their bond continues to grow as Yuzuru and Shōya come to trust each other a lot, with Yuzuru becoming very appreciative of Shōya’s friendship with Shōko and supports the possibility of him dating her sister.
When Yuzuru is struggling to cope with her grandmother’s death, Shōya is the one to comfort her and help give her the courage to return to the funeral, further cementing their close bond. After Shōya recovers from his coma, Yuzuru asks him to help her study so can do better now that she’s back in school. Now having a connection similar to an older brother and younger sister, the two are able to confide in each other and come to terms with Shōko wanting to move to Tokyo after graduating.
Tomohiro Nagatsuka: When they first meet, Yuzuru immediately dislikes Tomohiro due to him being friends with Shōya Ishida, a person she initially hated. The two bicker during their first interaction, which causes Shōko to notice that Shōya came back to see her and meet him on the bridge. Even after Yuzuru warms up to Shōya, she still teases Tomohiro, though their banter is playful rather than hostile.
Miyoko Sahara: Miyoko introduces herself to Yuzuru in Chapter 18 after Yuzuru notices her hanging out with Shōko Nishimiya and Shōya Ishida on the bridge. Miyoko’s sincere behavior causes Yuzuru to become bashful, though the two become friends after this interaction. Once Miyoko begins joining everyone on the bridge every week, she and Yuzuru get comfortable around each other and even conversate among themselves while watching Shōko and Shōya interact.
Family[]
Shōko Nishimiya: Yuzuru and Shōko share a very close bond, both sisters caring deeply and wanting the best for each other. For a long time, Yuzuru has acted as Shōko’s self-imposed protector despite being the younger sibling. She has no issues lying or retaliating against others if it means protecting Shōko, though this can sometimes go against her sister’s wishes.
Much like other siblings, they are prone to getting mad at each other and arguing, a key example being Shōko’s anger at Yuzuru when she got Shōya suspended from school. Despite this, Yuzuru still does her best to look out for her older sister, perhaps not fully realizing that Shōko is capable of taking care of herself and is looking out for her as well.
After Shōko begins to recover from her depression and feelings of self-loathing, she heavily considers moving to Tokyo in pursuit of her dream of becoming a hairdresser. Though Yuzuru is uneasy and sad at the thought of her sister moving so far away, she’s grateful that her sister is thinking about her own future and wants to give her the chance to be happy, especially after Shōko gave her the chance to give school another shot and begin being her own person.
Yuzuru is also surprisingly supportive of Shōko’s feelings for Shōya and the idea of them dating, helping her sister practice speaking aloud so can use her voice to confess.
Yaeko Nishimiya: Yaeko is Yuzuru and Shōko’s mother, though she has a rather distant relationship with both of them. Yuzuru believes her mother is aloof and uncaring, especially with her. However, this belief stems from a lack of understanding despite how similarly the two deal with their emotions, something Ito Nishimiya points out in the letter she wrote to Yuzuru before passing away.
In truth, Yaeko loves both of her children deeply but has created an emotional barrier due to her own struggles as a single mother. Yuzuru is unaware of this for a long time due to young age, instead growing to resent her mother. The two grow closer after Ito dies and Shōko attempts to take her own life, with Yaeko beginning to act more motherly despite still being reserved and Yuzuru finally beginning to understand her mother.
Ito Nishimiya †: Ito took care of both Yuzuru and Shōko while Yaeko worked to provide for them, causing both girls to become very close with their grandmother. To Yuzuru, Ito understood her more than Yaeko could and was the only person besides Shōko that she cared deeply about for most of her life. However, Yuzuru’s heavy investment in Shōko caused Ito to worry that her granddaughter was neglecting herself. In their final conversation together, Ito tells Yuzuru she should try to learn more about herself, something Yuzuru seems to take to heart after her passing.
Etymology[]
- The name Yuzuru means "string" (結絃).
- It can also mean "tie, bind" (結) (yu) and "string, cord, samisen music" (絃) (tsuru/zuru) separately.
- Yuzuru's surname Nishimiya means "west" (西) (nishi) and "temple, shrine, palace" (宮) (miya).
Trivia[]
- Yuzuru's camera looks exactly like the Nikon D3300 and the lens was Nikkor 55-250mm F3.5-5.6 VR.
- Yuzuru was deliberately given a masculine name and was raised as a boy by their mother Yaeko Nishimiya, so as to supposedly protect and defend her older sister, Shōko Nishimiya.
- In the Japanese language, the first name 'Yuzuru' is masculine and it means "to yield to" or "give up possession of one's rights or heritage". Yuzuru was forced to give up her femininity, making the name so appropriate.
- This is making it unknown if she was born in September 1999 or Early-Mid 2000.