Shizu (
History[]
Shizu with her husband Tsukuyomaru and an infant Shiori.
The village in which Shizu lived was under constant attack from bat yōkai until she met Tsukuyomaru, a bat yōkai and son of Taigokumaru, who asked his father to stop the attacks or he would abandon his duties as guardian of the barrier that protected their tribe. Taigokumaru agreed, and Shizu gave birth to their hanyō child Shiori some time later.[2]
During the story[]
There was a short period of peace in Shizu's village following this. Unfortunately, due to the ability of making the barrier being passed on to his daughter during her birth, Tsukuyomaru had passed away and the attacks begin again. Taigokumaru made an agreement with the villagers - he will stop the attacks if they hand over his granddaughter, Shiori.[2]
Shizu is torn between letting her daughter go or keeping her in the village, where she receives daily physical and emotional abuse. The villagers, however, eagerly agree to Taigokumaru's demands, and hand over Shiori. Taigokumaru, however, did not honor deal and had the bat yōkai continue their attacks on the village. The villagers blamed Shizu for deceiving them. They beat her up before Inuyasha's group arrived to stop them. Inuyasha had arrived with the intention of slaying the guardian of the yōkai bat cave with Tessaiga in order to absorbs their power with it.
Shizu took Inuyasha's group to her house afterwords. She explained the situation that her village faced with the yōkai bats, and how she gave up her daughter Shiori to them. Inuyasha decided to go to the cave to rescue Shiori. Shizu lead Inuyasha along the shoreline until they saw the cave over the water. They were confronted by Taigokumaru as soon as they saw Shiori by the cave's entrance. Shizu immediately accused Taigokumaru of lying to her. He responded by saying that he would never honor a promise to humans. Shizu then demanded that he return Shiori to her. He refused since she was fulfilling her duty as guardian of the cave. Inuyasha attempted to destroy Taigokumaru with the Kaze no Kizu, but the barrier around the cave blocked his attack. Taigokumaru retaliated by firing a sonic blast at both of them. Shiori tearfully pleaded with Taigokumaru to spare her mother's life, and promised that she would carry out her role as guardian of the cave if he did. Taigokumaru claimed that Shiori had more common sense than Shizu or Inuyasha. He stated his case for keeping Shiori with him by claiming that she would not be happy back in the village since she was constantly being bullied there for being a hanyō.
Shizu and Inuyasha returned to her house by nightfall. She acknowledged that Taigokumaru spoke the truth regarding Shiori and the village. She thought that her daughter would be accepted by the bat yōkai, but Inuyasha claimed that she was wrong based on his own experience as a hanyō.
Taigokumaru decided to destroy the village to remove any distractions from Shiori. He promised his granddaughter that he would spare her mother if she maintained that barrier around him during the attack.
Shizu pleaded with Taigokumaru to spare the village since it was his son, Tsukuyomaru, who first wanted peace. Taigokumaru claimed that his son was a fool for wanting to live peacefully with humans. He later revealed that he murdered his own son. Shizu fainted upon hearing this. Shiori soon thrusted Taigokumaru out of the protective barrier after learning that her killed her father. She fell from the sky after the barrier around her disappeared. Shizu tried to catch her, but Taigokumaru attempted to intervene with his sonic blast. He was then destroyed by Inuyasha's Bakuryūha.[3]
Shizu was happily reunited with Shiori. Inuyasha decided it was time for him and his friends to leave. Myōga tried to stop him by saying that the point of their trip was to slay the current guardian of the bat yōkai cave to strengthen Tessaiga. Shizu was shocked and asked Inuyasha if he came to slay her daughter. Inuyasha stated that was his plan at first, but assured her that he would never slay a little girl. As he and his friends were about to leave, Shiori stopped them and told Inuyasha to destroy the Blood Coral Crystal in order for Tessaiga to absorb its power. Just as Inuyasha was prepared to destroy it, the crystal suddenly emanated a demonic aura that affected Shiori. Shizu took the crystal away from her, but its evil aura caused her to burn her hands. The spirit of Taigokumaru emerged from the crystal with the intention of killing Shiori and her mother. They were protected by the spirit of Tsukuyomaru by placing a barrier around them during Taigokumaru's attack. it caught him off guard long enough for Inuyasha to destroy him once and for all.
Inuyasha thought that Shiori was the one who placed that barrier around herself, but she claimed that someone had put their arms around her to protect her. Shizu claimed that it was Tsukuyomaru that protected them. With the bat yōkai no longer plaguing the village, Shizu and her daughter could live in peace, knowing that Tsukuyomaru was watching over them.[3]
Some time later, but in the anime only, it is revealed that she passed away due to an illness.[1]
Personality[]
Shizu is a very kind but understandably wary person. She loved her husband, Tsukuyomaru, very much and is incredibly caring and protective of their daughter, Shiori. Due to being the wife of a demon and the mother of a hanyō, she has been mistrusted, hated and abused by the people of her village, and as such is very sympathetic towards Inuyasha who developed an empathetic relationship with her and Shiori. Shizu is a very honorable woman, holding her murderous father-in-law, Taigokumaru, to his word and displaying anger and rage towards him for breaking their deal not to attack the villagers in exchange for Shiori. She has a somewhat cynical view of humanity due to the abuse and violence she has experienced at the hands of the people of her village since becoming the wife of demon. But what really defines her is the lengths she is willing to go to to ensure her daughter's happiness and safety.
Physical description[]
Shizu has long shiny black hair that is loosely tied by a white ribbon, deep brown eyes, fair skin and a round face.
Outfit[]
Shizu wears a green and gray patterned kosode that reaches down to her ankles, covered by a blue mo-bakama. She is also barefoot.
Manga vs. anime[]
- Shizu is not named in the manga.
- The flashback of Shizu, Tsukuyomaru, and Shiori as a baby is not in the manga.
- The flashback of Shizu comforting Shiori after her daughter is bullied by the village children is not in the manga.
- The scene of Hachiemon retrieving Shiori for Shizu after she falls from the sky is not in the manga.
- The scene when Shizu and Shiori look off into the horizon as the sun begins to rise is not present in the manga.
- She is still alive in the manga, just like the manga adaptation of Yashahime, where it is thanks to her that Shiori grew up well and became a demon slayer herself, and Shiori's subordinate loved her.
Media appearances[]
Manga
- Chapter 214 (First appearance)
- Chapter 215
- Chapter 216
- Chapter 217
- Chapter 218
Anime
- Episode 73 (First appearance)
- Episode 74
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Episode 20 (Hanyō no Yashahime)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 InuYasha anime; Episode 73
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 InuYasha anime; Episode 74