Suzume Iwato

## **Suzume Iwato**in *Suzume*

**Suzume Iwato** (岩戸 鈴芽, *Iwato Suzume*) is the titular main protagonist of *Suzume*.

## Background

Suzume is a 17-year-old girl who lives in Kyushu. She was born to Tsubame Iwato in Miyako, Iwate. On May 24, 2010, her mother crafted for her a wooden chair as a present for her fourth birthday.

## In *Suzume*

### Childhood

In 2011, Suzume's mother died in the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, and Suzume got lost in the Ever-After after passing a door looking for her mother. She encountered a mysterious person who gave her a three-legged chair similar to the one her mother created and guided her back to the door. Outside, she was found by her aunt and had since become adopted by her. They relocated to Tonami, a town in Miyazaki. Before leaving, Suzume blacked out her diary's pages of the disaster days, but left the page about the encounter intact, before putting the diary in a time capsule and burying it.

### On a strange journey

On September 25, 2023, Suzume had a dream of the encounter in the Ever-After, seemingly a dream she had before. On the same day, she met Souta Munakata, who was searching for a ruin. Intrigued by him, Suzume decided to head to the ruin herself, where she found a door open to the same world in her dream, although she could not enter it. She then picked up a strange stone nearby, which turned into a cat and ran away. Suzume then went back to her class. While talking to her friends, she saw in the distance a red column raising from the ruin, although nobody else could see it. The girl returned to that place and found Souta trying to close the door. He got injured after saving her from a piece of debris. Together, they managed to close and seal off the door. As Souta refused to go to the doctor, Suzume brought him back to her room to give him first aid. Souta explained to her that he belonged to a family with a duty to travel Japan and seal off mysterious doors connected to the Ever-After, from which dangerous, Eartquake-causing beings called the Worms were trying to escape through. While they were talking, a white cat appeared at the window. The cat said thanks to Suzume, much to their surprise, but cursed Souta and turned him into the three-legged chair. Souta realized that it was a Keystone, an important artifact to keep the Worms at bay. Suzume and Souta in his chair form chased the cat and they accidentally boarded a ferry to Ehime as the cat escaped to another ship.

When the ferry arrived in Ehime, Souta told Suzume to go back, but she insisted to accompany him. She also discovered that the white cat, now dubbed Daijin, had become a social media phenomenon and its whereabouts were frequently updated on Twitter. In Saijo City, Ehime, Suzume helped Souta close another door in a junior high school, which had been abandoned because of a landslide. They spent the night at an inn belonged to the family of Chika Amabe, a girl Suzume befriended on the way. On the next day, after learning that Daijin was spotted in Kobe, Suzume said farewell to Chika and continued her journey with Souta. They initially tried to get to Kobe by bus, but were given a ride by Rumi Ninomiya, a mother of two toddlers. In exchange for her kindness, Suzume helped Rumi babysit the kids and then gave her a hand at her night bar on a shopping street, where she also befriended Miki, a fellow worker. During her work, Suzume discovered Daijin and chased after it along with Souta. They discovered a Worm emerging from a Ferris wheel's pod in an abandoned amusement park. Suzume was tasked to close the door while Souta chased the cat. Although he managed to apprehended it, their chase activated the power system of the wheel, putting Suzume in danger. Souta let the cat go and came to her rescue, before they closed off the door together. Suzume then returned to the bar and apologized to Rumi for her sudden disappearance. She and Souta then spent the night at the bar after having a late meal with Rumi and Miki.

On the next morning, they took a train from Shin-Kobe Station to Tokyo after learning that Daijin had appeared there. Souta told Suzume to stop by his apartment, where she made acquainted with Tomoya Serizawa, a friend of Souta. A giant Worm emerged in Tokyo and Suzume could not approach the door in time. Suzume, Souta and Daijin climbed on top of the Worm, which was now hovering above Tokyo and was about to collapse onto it. Daijin revealed that it had passed the Keystone role to Souta, and Suzume must use him to protect Tokyo. Souta accepted his fate and said farewell to Suzume before losing his consciousness and getting completely frozen. Suzume hesitantly used his chair body to stab and exorcise the Worm. She fell from the sky but Daijin grabbed and covered her before they hit a river.

### Back to Miyako

After having a dream of her forth birthday, Suzume woke up on the next day in an underground ruin located under the the Imperial Palace where she discovered the giant gate of Tokyo. Through the gate, she saw Souta as a chair sealed in the Ever-After, although she could not pass through it. Daijin approached Suzume to play with her, but the girl cursed and shooed it away. She got back to the surface and made a visit to Souta's grandfather in a hospital. She informed him about Souta's fate and declared that she would find a way to save him. Amused by the girl's resolve, the old man told her to find the special door that could allow mortals to enter the Ever-After. Suzume returned to Souta's department to have a shower, bandage her wounds and put back on her uniform, before starting her odyssey. She was soon joined by Tomoya, who gave her a ride on his car, and her aunt Tamaki, who just arrived in Tokyo. Daijin also came along although it refused to talk to her.

Their destination is Suzume's original hometown in Miyako, which was over 7 hours of driving from Tokyo. After having a quick nap, Suzume got out of the car when it made a stop to check around the surroundings, although she saw no Worms. Tamaki helped her see the beauty in the scenery, something she did not notice before. At another stop, Suzume got into a heated argument with her aunt as a result of the brief influence of black cat named Sadaijin, the second Keystone that chose to join them. The car crashed when it was 20 kilometers away from the intended destination, forcing Tamaki to use a found bicycle to carry Suzume and the two cats. At the place where their house used to be, Suzume dug up the time capsule, containing her old diary. It confirmed that she once visited the Ever-After and helped her deduce where the door's location was. With the help of Daijin, Suzume managed to find the door and realized that Daijin had guided them to the doors all along. She and the two cats jumped into the Ever-After and found that it was covered in inferno and ravaged by the Worms, reflecting the disaster Japan suffered 12 years before. As Sadaijin transformed into a giant god-cat to battle them, Daijin helped Suzume land safely, although it got injured in the process. The two then rushed to Souta and tried to remove the chair from the sealing, with Suzume vowing to take his place as the Keystone. By seeing his memories, Suzume became more resolute and eventually pulled him out. After Souta was free, Suzume picked up an injured Daijin, who said farewell to her and turned back into a Keystone. Channeling the feelings of the townspeople before the disaster, Suzume and Souta used the Keystones of Daijin and Sadaijin to pierce through the Worms and seal them off for good, turning the Ever-After back to the grassy land it once was.

After the crisis was averted, Suzume and Souta saw an younger version of Suzume wandering the land looking for her mother. Realizing that she herself was the mysterious person she saw before, Suzume gave her kid self the three-legged chair and words of encouragement, and then guided her back to her timeline. The duo also left the Ever-After subsequently and reunited with Tamaki and Tomoya waiting outside. After parting with Souta and Tomoya, Suzume and her aunt traveled back to their town, seeing the people the girl previously met on her journey. They were welcome by Tamaki's co-worker Minoru Okabe.

Months later, Suzume reunited with Souta on the same road they first met.

## Behind the Scenes

### Portrayal

Suzume is voiced by actress Nanoka Hara, who was selected from an audition of more than 1,700 people. Her role was announced on July 5, 2022. In the English dub, she is voiced by Nichole Sakura. As a child, Suzume is voiced by Akari Miura in Japanese and Bennet Hetrick in English.

## Etymology

* The name **Suzume** (鈴芽) means "bell" (鈴) (**suzu**) and "bud, sprout" (芽) (**me**).
* Suzume's surname **Iwato** (岩戸) means "a cave entrance".
	+ Iwato could be a refer to Amano-Iwato, a legendary cave in Japanese mythology.

## Trivia

There seems to be an error where she stated to be in middle school despite being of high school age.