| Kyouka Kuze | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Japanese name | 久世 鏡華 |
| Romaji name | Kuze Kyōka |
| Other names | Woman Brushing, Woman with Comb |
| Age | Unknown |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Unknown(though sometimes appears to be silver) |
| Occupation | Kuze Family Matron |
| Cause of death | Pulled into The Rift during The Unleashing |
| Encountered in | Kimono Room, Hall with Tatami |
| Family | Kuze family Yashuu Kuze (mother) Kaname Ototsuki (son) Amane Kuze (daughter) |
| Appearances | Fatal Frame III: The Tormented |
| Voice actor (Jp) | Junko Minagawa |
| Voice actor (Eng) | Courtenay Taylor |
| “ | I won't let you go... | ” |
—Kyouka Kuze | ||
Kyouka Kuze (久世 鏡華 Kuze Kyōka) is a hostile female spirit and the only daughter of Yashuu Kuze in Fatal Frame III: The Tormented.
Past[]
Kyouka was born and spent her entire life in the Kuze shrine, under the tutelage of her mother, the family head.
During a winter after Kyouka grew into young womanhood, a young folklorist named Akito Kashiwagi was allowed entry into the manor under the guise of allowing him to conduct research on local folk music and lullabies.
However, the Kuze family's true purpose in granting Akito's stay was to produce a child with Kyouka. The pair were encouraged to spend time together and he was taken into her room at night and the two enjoyed one another's company. Akito constantly complimented Kyouka on her beauty, especially her long dark hair, even taking pictures of her with his camera. He fascinated her with stories about the outside world that she was not allowed to experience for herself. When Kyouka learned that Akito was collecting songs, she played some songs passed down the Kuze family for him. He recorded this information in his Legend of Song book.
The two fell in love and longed to be together, but men were only permitted to stay in the Kuze house when the snow was on the ground.
Akito left Kyouka, now pregnant, with a set of Echo Stone Earrings, which would allow them to hear each others' voices and he promised to return for her. They would never see each other again, because Yashuu, fearing Akito's attachment to Kyouka and his knowledge about the Kuze family's rituals, murdered him. Kyouka always suspected, but never confirmed, something had happened to her lover, and spent the rest of her life (and afterlife) longing for his return.
Kyouka and Akito's union bore a son. Unfortunately, male children were forbidden to stay in the all-female manor, and male children were regularly disposed of by throwing them down a well. She named her son Kaname; noting that the name symbolized a connection between her and Akito, though this correlation is never explained. It is unknown exactly how long Kyouka was allowed to keep Kaname with her. She notes in a diary that he would be cast out at the age of four, with a heavy implication that he would have been drowned and disposed of.
Instead of accepting this fate for her son, Kyouka snuck him out of the house and sent him to live at a nearby village. She sent with him one of the earrings Akito had given her, believing that all three of them would maintain their bond and eventually be reunited.
Several years later Kyouka had a daughter whom she named Amane, with an unnamed man. She told Amane about Kaname, but insisted that it was a secret that the child should never speak of. As time passed, Kyouka continued to pine for Akito, constantly hoping that he and Kaname would return for her. She would spend hours combing her hair and even began to remove clumps of it and pinning them up around the mirror in her room.
Her decent into obsession and madness made her ill suited as a candidate to succeed her mother, and Kyouka was mostly confined to her upstairs room where the handmaiden Shigure took care of her. Even when the unleashing occurred, Kyouka was still completely consumed with thoughts of Akito. She seems to have survived the shrine's sealing and been wholly uninvolved in the efforts to contain the Rift.
In her last diary entry she expressed regret for having left his photo and earring behind in the manor, (implying she had left to live elsewhere before it was sealed.) She began to fear that she would soon forget his face, and was consumed by solitude.
With such pain and longing to reunite with the dead Akita, Kyouka was a prime candidate to fall victim to the Manor of Sleep, and ironically became trapped in the dream version of her former home without realizing what it had become.
As a ghost Kyouka is called Woman Brushing. She sometimes has a beautiful face, but often it was shown marred with appears to be blood. She continually searches the manor for Akito or plays her koto hoping for his return. Due to Kei Amakura's striking resemblance to Akito and the fact that Kei carries his old camera, Kyouka believed Kei to be her lost loved one. She hurled herself at him, berating him for not coming back for her.
Presumably, Kyouka was one of the shadow ghosts seen crossing over to the other side after Rei Kurosawa lifted the manor's curse.
Files Authored[]
Quotes[]
- "You said you would come back!"
- "Akito…"
- "My child… Kaname is…"
Etymology[]
- The name Kyouka means "mirror, looking glass" (鏡) (kyou) and "flower, petal" (華) (ka).
- Her name is likely related to the Mirror Of Loss.
- Kyouka's surname Kuze means "long time" (久) (ku) and "world" (世) (se/ze).
Trivia[]
- Like Kirie Himuro from the first game, Kyouka also confuses the only male protagonist of the game with her loved one who never returned.
Gallery[]
