STATISTICS
(花柳香子) Kaoruko Hanayagi
FULL NAME
17
AGE
March 3rd
BIRTHDAY
Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight
CANON
Post-movie
CANON POINT
A Song, or the Blooming of Flowers...?
THEME
PERSONALITY
Kaoruko, in short, isn't a very likable character.She's not exactly supposed to be, either. Lazy and manipulative, haughty and childish, Kaoruko is the girl who got everything she wanted - and then some. She's spoiled and loves to be praised, to the point that as a child, she'd run from practice just to play in the street and be cooed over as a cute kimono girl by visiting tourists. She demands mountains of snacks, foot massages, and a mode of transportation that doesn't require her to walk - she even boasts, at one point, she's never lifted anything heavier than a pair of chopsticks! And she'd like to have all of that without having to work for it at all, even well into her teenage years.
read more
Despite that, however, the reason she entered Seisho in the first place was to study all types of dance, not just Japanese - she tells Futaba she wants to become the very best dancer in the entire world, and while being fairly talented at picking up dances and such in school thanks to the hard training her grandmother put her through as a child, she becomes akin to a lion resting lazily on his laurels while actually attending school: she becomes complacent. It's important to mention that while Kaoruko is extremely calculative, she's also incredibly dense; she doesn't realize the importance of things until it's almost too late, and this, combined with her complacency in her abilities, is the crux of her issues in Revue Starlight.It isn't all of her issues - she has a deep-set fear of losing face in front of her peers, as well as the admiration of Futaba - but it's what brings those issues to the forefront of her character. Because she becomes lazy and happy with her place, thinking it's good enough because she's talented and the heiress to a renowned school of dance, she doesn't evolve - she doesn't try to get better, while Futaba - ever playing her opposite - strives to work even harder to reach the same point that Kaoruko's resting at. Maya says it best: those like her and Kaoruko have to keep being their best for the sake of those who chase after them, for those who cheer them on. For Maya, it's Claudine, who claims she'll beat Maya one day; and for Kaoruko, it's Futaba, who holds onto the promise they made when they were children: that she'd be the first one to see Kaoruko bloom.
It's also what sets the stage for her Revue of Malice with Futaba in the movie: because she's ignorant, either on purpose to make things easier on them or not because of her self-centered personality, to Futaba's feelings. How Futaba needs to move on and not return to Kyoto with her, because it's the only way she can stand beside Kaoruko as an equal and not just as a fan or as someone always running to catch up with her.
It isn't all of her issues - she has a deep-set fear of losing face in front of her peers, as well as the admiration of Futaba - but it's what brings those issues to the forefront of her character. Because she becomes lazy and happy with her place, thinking it's good enough because she's talented and the heiress to a renowned school of dance, she doesn't evolve - she doesn't try to get better, while Futaba - ever playing her opposite - strives to work even harder to reach the same point that Kaoruko's resting at. Maya says it best: those like her and Kaoruko have to keep being their best for the sake of those who chase after them, for those who cheer them on. For Maya, it's Claudine, who claims she'll beat Maya one day; and for Kaoruko, it's Futaba, who holds onto the promise they made when they were children: that she'd be the first one to see Kaoruko bloom.
(This was in trade for Futaba's devotion, naturally. Children vow so easily.)
Kaoruko still acts the same as she always does, despite the fact those who know her (and those in her graduating year do) know she's different than the haughty, elegant, better-than-you girl she puts on in front of them as a front for her feelings; she even does this in front of Futaba, who knows better than anyone that it is just a bluff, and one she calls frequently to boot. It's her awkward way of making sure she doesn't get embarrassed or lose face for not knowing things (an unending occurrence, given her traditional upbringing - in one event in the mobile game, she gets confused by the prospect of Halloween and dismisses it because she feels both left out and embarrassed that she doesn't know what any of them are talking about, and in the Seisho side story to the main story in Revue Starlight RE:LIVE, she wonders to herself what a "server" is - the context being an internet server), as well as her way of showing people she definitely, definitely has a situation under control! She definitely, definitely isn't freaking out, or she definitely isn't relieved the person she wanted to see the most has arrived just in time to stop her, or -
Well, a lot of situations.
And in the end she also gives in to Futaba's wishes and, despite saying she won't wait for her, that she'll keep moving ahead—she is waiting for her to reach the same stage as her. Maybe it isn't a complete stop, because as the new head of the Senka-ryu school of dance she can't stop entirely, but she let Futaba go and she's taking care of something important to the both of them, something that acts as a symbol of their relationship: the motorcycle Futaba worked for and worked to get her license for in their first year at Seisho, when they first started living together, for an easy ride to school.
Around new people, however, she becomes more reserved - more specifically, people her age and younger. She can handle adults well enough, given she would've dealt with them more growing up as the heiress to the Senka-ryu school, but for people her own age... There's only ever been Futaba, and even then, due to how the Isurugi family seems to operate directly alongside the Hanayagi family, it's likely they've known each other since they were much, much younger than the glimpse the anime shows of them; there wasn't a "getting to know each other" type of period for them. She tends to hide or shy away from conversation, though people making an effort will get her talking quickly enough, as will topics she has stronger opinions on. While she's better by the time Hikari transfers into their class, she also has an entire class she'd consider her friendly rivals by then, too; she's in a more comfortable place. She's with people she can tease and be more herself around, with her airs slipping more easily, and while she's still bothered by that it isn't the worst thing if it happens.
(Unless it deals with things she has no idea about that it feels like she should know, given that everyone else is familiar with - but that definitely falls under being left out and deciding to sulk and pretend she's not bothered about it or interested in it anyway, though with some helpful nudging - or being voluntold into it - she will investigate and find out what it's all about.)
ABILITIES & SKILLS
THE KNOWLEDGE OF A STAGE GIRL
Singing, dancing, acting - Kaoruko can do it all, thanks to her study at the Seisho Music Academy. Dancing is her strongest suit, however; she's best at traditional Japanese, particularly the Senka-ryu style her grandmother teaches and is the head of, but she's determined to learn all types of dance and become the very best dancer of them all.
A SONG, OR THE BLOOMING OF FLOWERS?
With theater comes fight scenes - not to mention what goes on in the underground Revues the Giraffe holds. Wielding a naginata, Kaoruko battles the same way she dances: with grace, with elegance, and without stopping. She's not above underhanded tactics either, as long as it achieves an end where she wins. These aren't her strongest suit, especially against people more determined than she is, but she's a force to be reckoned with when she puts her mind to it.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON!
Any other skills she picks up will go here!
YOGEN
Arrival Date: 03/03/2022Residency: Dormitory, room to be decided
Inventory: The Yogen-issued uniform, PDA, her Seisho Academy school uniform, and this casual.
