Kaede

December 1, 2009

Kaede(楓) is Kikyo’s younger sister and assists her with various tasks such as gathering herbs or holding her arrows. Kaeda also travels with Kikyo to Priest Shrine to learn to be a Priestess.

Kaede loses an eye sometime during her life. In the manga, her eye appears to be freshly bandaged and bleeding shortly before Kikyo’s death, suggesting that the wound occurs when Inuyasha attacks the village to steal the Shikon Jewel; supplementary information states that she “lost her elder sister and her eye in an incident fifty years ago.” The anime simply says that she lost it during a demon attack on the village.

Current Event

After Kikyo’s death, Kaede becomes the new miko in her own right and defends the village against demons. When Kagome arrives, Kaede recognizes her as the reincarnation of Kikyo. After Kagome frees InuYasha, Kaede puts the “Beads of Subjugation” onto him to give Kagome the power to control him with a spoken word. Kaede is well-respected and held in high regards by the villagers and the members of InuYasha’s group, which she often advises about demons and other spiritual anomalies. Though InuYasha is easily annoyed with her, he listens to her when necessary and doesn’t hesitate to protect her from a threat.

Later on in the series, Kaeda took on a running gag where people would usually mistaken her as a demon and not a priestess, due to her old age.

Kaede’s Outfit

Kaede’s clothing is identical to Kikyo’s. She is wearing the tradional dress of a Miko, which has remained essentially unchanged to this day.

• Jacket

Kaede wears a white jacket with sode-kukuri (cords) through the sleeves and the open shoulders similar to Inuyasha’s and Jaken’s. Strings called muna-himo are attached to each lapel, and are tied in front to keep the garment in place.

• Kosode

Kosode (literally: “little sleeve”) were originally worn as underwear but by the Kamakura era, became accepted outer layer garments; more dressy with less sculpted sleeves. Kosode of the Heian and Kamakura Periods were always white. Inuyasha’s kosode would be very much like a modern Kendo or Naginata Keikogi, with the sleeve fitting somewhat closely like a modern loose shirt, and extending to slightly past the wrist.

The slits in the side of the hakama show the white kosode, and the openings at the sleeves and shoulders of the hitoe show it as well. This is a deliberate fashion effect.

• Hakama

Kaede wears bright red hakama, which include the small board at the lower back. A Miko is one of the few women who would wear hakama.

• Tabi

On her feet, Kaede wears common tabi (socks with a split for the big toe) and rice straw sandals.

• Eyepatch

During a battle prior to Kikyo’s death, Kaede lost an eye. She now wears an iron Tsuba (sword guard) as an Eye-Patch.

 Relationships

* Kikyo and Kaede Relationship

Kikyo and Kaede have a good sister bond, Kaede would always try her best to help sister and Kikyo protects her if she can. When Kikyo died, Kaede was sadden and cried to see her sister death. When Kikyo was revived, Kikyo didn’t shown any sign of caring for Kaede, however, in 1 episode Kikyo told the little girl (who she was treating really nicely to) that she use to have a sister at her age, this shows that Kikyo still cares for Kaede. Kaede in return is sad that Kikyo don’t face her death and insist to keep on living.

* Kaede and Shippo Relationship

Shippo treats Kaede like her grandma and Kaede treats Shippo like her grandchild and thus they get along really well together. Shippo would sometimes shows his drawing to Kaede and create a plan with her.

* Kaede and Kagome Relationship

Kagome is her sister’s reincarnation, and thus, Kaede helps Kagome every time she can, giving wise advice to guide through her journey. Kaede will work with Shippo to get Kagome and InuYasha back together when they’re mad at each other. Kagome sees Kaede as a wise priestess, and she takes her advice deeply and sometimes helps her with spiritual things.

* Kaede and InuYasha Conflict

There is not really a conflict as InuYasha would save her if she is in danger, but InuYasha will normally be annoyed at Kaede’s wise speeches. Kaede doesn’t mind showing her rude side to him.

Powers & Abilities

Being a Priestess, Kaede has many spiritual attacks that are used to defend against demons that attack the village.

•  Spritual Power: Kaede has the power to unlock weak barriers and spells.

•  Bow and Arrow: Kaede wields a bow and arrow very skillfully but she cannot shoot a Sacred Arrow the way her sister Kikyo could.

•  Seal Spell: Kaede places a seal on a demon. (InuYasha)

•  Sutra Magic: Kaede uses sutra magic to scare off demons

•  Barrier: In the movie, Kaeda created a barrier around her village to prevent the demon from attacking it. However, she was very weak afterwards.

 Anime/Manga Differences

In the manga, her eye appears to be freshly bandaged and bleeding shortly before Kikyo’s death. However, in the anime, her eye seems to have been lost forquite some time.

Trivia

• In Kagome’s dream (when Tsubaki place the curse on her), Kaeda appeared in the modern world buying a gift from Kagome’s grandpa for his Grandson Shippo.

• When still young, Kikyo was the 1 who gives wise advice to kaeda, however, now that she’s older, she’s the 1 giving the advice instead.