Kaede Fuyou

Nihongo|Kaede Fuyou|芙蓉 楓|"Fuyō Kaede" is a character in Navel's "Shuffle!" media franchise. She is one of the main characters in both the original "Shuffle!" and "Really? Really!" visual novels. The characters of "Shuffle!" have a theme of being named after plants. Her given name, "kaede" (楓), is the Japanese word for maple, and her surname, "fuyō" (芙蓉), refers to the "Hibiscus mutabilis". Kaede is voiced by Yuko Goto (Japanese) and Carrie Savage (English) and was designed by Aoi Nishimata.

In the "Shuffle!" anime

Eight years prior to the time "Shuffle!" takes place, both of Rin's parents and Kaede's mother are killed in a car accident. Kaede became traumatized from the incident, losing her will to live. Rin overheard the doctor saying that she needed a reason - any reason - to live. Rin then went to Kaede and told her that on the night of the accident, he was lonely and phoned his parents, asking them to come back. Since his parents and Kaede's mother rode in the same car, he essentially told Kaede that it was his fault that her mother died. This caused Kaede to harbor a deep hatred for Rin. Upon emerging from her stupor, she began to choke him. Since Kaede's father decided to take Rin into their home, Rin constantly had to endure Kaede's deep hatred of him. While putting on a front of being friends to her father, Kaede performed vengeful acts such as destroying Rin's room and attempting to hurt him.

Later, some time during their junior high years, Kaede found a postcard while rummaging through Rin's possessions after destroying Rin's model ship—one of his most prized possessions. The postcard sparked her memory of the night of the accident, and she remembered that the reason her mother (and Rin's parents) came back was because she had a fever, and she had asked her father to call her mother home. This meant that her mother's death was to be blamed on Kaede herself, rather than Rin. Rin rushed in just as she finished reading the postcard, but he was too late to prevent Kaede from remembering everything and feeling deep guilt for her actions.

In order to atone for her actions in the past, Kaede decided to make herself Rin's personal servant by cooking his meals and doing all the work around the house. Rin does not want this, but he is afraid of causing Kaede a relapse by not allowing her to punish herself in this way. One should note that a deeper look into the past events surrounding Kaede and Rin's past are explained in deeper detail in episode nineteen of the series.

In the games

Kaede's personality in the original "Shuffle!" visual novel was somewhat different from her anime incarnation; she was simply a shy and gentle character, without the murderous side. [ [http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/921323/40442 FAQ with notes on game-to-anime changes] ]

Just as foretold in the anime during their childhood Kaede fell ill while her mother was away on a trip with Rin's parents. Upon hearing this Momiji Fuyou hurries back with Rin's parents only to be killed in a car accident. Kaede, learning her mother's death was due to her rushing back to tend to her, blames herself and loses her will to live entering a coma like state. Rin then lies to Kaede saying "I was the one who called them back because I was lonely" making her believe he is the cause of their parents' deaths. Kaede makes a full recovery due to this. However she ended up trapped in the weakness of her own spirit, as she lied to herself by just continuously blaming Rin.

In "Really? Really!", the sequel to Kaede's path in the original "Shuffle!" game, Kaede discovers why her mother and Rin's parents tried to return, but not through a postcard recovered from Rin's possessions (Rin's shipbuilding skills only exist in the anime). Instead, it's when she overheard Rin and her father, Mikio, debating whether or not it was time to tell her the truth about it. She barges in and demands that they tell her exactly what they are hiding from her. To Rin's surprise, Mikio decides to tell her the whole truth. Just like in the anime, when she realizes what she's done to Rin, she runs out of the house. However, she runs back to the playground where, several years earlier, she had declared her hatred for Rin. Minutes later, Rin finds Kaede in the playground, who immediately runs up to him and begins apologizing profusely for all the hatred and physical abuse she has inflicted upon him throughout the years.

References

External links

* [http://www.project-navel.com/navel/shuffle/characters/kaede.html Kaede Fuyou's character profile for "Shuffle!"] ja icon
* [http://www.project-navel.com/navel/reallyreally/char01.html Kaede Fuyou's character profile for "Really? Really!] ja icon