Kaede

Kaede is a minor character in the manga and anime of InuYasha. In the story she provides advice and backgrounds for the story to progress.

Background
Kaede(楓) is Kikyo's younger sister and assisted her with various tasks such as gathering herbs or holding her arrows. Kaede also travelled with Kikyo to a priest's shrine to learn to be a priestess.

Kaede lost an eye sometime during her life. In the beginning of the series, her eye appears to be freshly bandaged and bleeding shortly before Kikyo's death, suggesting that the wound occurred when InuYasha attacke 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 became a miko in her own right and defended the village against demons. When Kagome arrived, Kaede recognized her as the reincarnation of Kikyo. After Kagome freed Inuyasha, Kaede put 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, Kaede took on a running gag where people would usually mistake 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.

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.
 * Jacket

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.
 * Kosode

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.

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.
 * Hakama

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

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

Relationships
* Kikyo and Kaede Relationship

Kikyo and Kaede had a good sisterly bond. Kaede would always try her best to help her sister and Kikyo protected her if she could. When Kikyo died, Kaede was saddened and cried to see her sister die. When Kikyo was revived, Kikyo did not shown any sign of caring for Kaede, however, in one episode Kikyo told a little girl (who she was treating nicely) that she used to have a sister at her age, which showed that Kikyo still cared for Kaede. Kaede in return was sad that Kikyo would not face her death and insisted to keep on living.

* Kaede and Shippo Relationship

Shippo treats Kaede like his grandmother and Kaede treats Shippo like her grandchild and thus they get along really well together. Shippo sometimes shows his drawings to Kaede and creates 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 Kagome through her journey. Kaede works with Shippo to get Kagome and Inuyasha back together when they are mad at each other. Kagome sees Kaede as a wise priestess, and she takes her advice to heart 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 is normally annoyed by Kaede's wise speeches. Kaede doesn't mind showing her rude side to him.

Kaede and Miroku Relationship

Kaede and Miroku are equals. They used an invisible barrier to hide InuYasha from the giant wolf demon Royakhan.

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.


 *  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.
 * Sacred Arrow: Kaede has only been shown to shoot a sacred arrow when she was younger, and it looked weaker compared to Kikyo and Kagome's sacred arrows.
 * Eyesight: Just like Kikyo and Kagome, Kaede can see anything that is or may seem invisible to the human eye like Yura's hair, and spirits for example.

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 for quite some time. Also, her right eye is damaged instead of her left.

Trivia

 * In Kagome's dream (when Tsubaki place the curse on her), Kaede appeared in the modern world buying a gift from Kagome's grandpa for her grandson Shippo.


 * When still young, Kikyo was the one who gave wise advice to Kaede, however, now that she's older, she's the one giving the advice. instead.


 * In the episode The Tragic Love Song of Destiny, Part 2, Kaede lost her eye when Kikyo shot an arrow at a demon. The explosion of the demon caused Kaede to lose an eye.