Kuizame Maniwa the 1st

"*I am a pacifist. That is why, for the sake of peace, for the sake of order—I am willing to put in the work and sacrifice.*"

— **Kuizame Maniwa the 1st**

## Novel Appearances

### Volumes

*Maniwagatari*

**Kuizame Maniwa the 1st** (真庭(まにわ) 喰鮫(くいざめ) １世(いっせい), *Maniwa Kuizame Issei*), also known as **Tearful Kuizame** (涙(なみだ)の喰鮫(くいざめ), *Namida no Kuizame*), is a character from the *Katanagatari Series*. She is a ninja from the Sengoku Period and one of the first bosses of the Maniwa Ninja Corps. Her name would be inherited by Kuizame Maniwa two hundred years later.

## Personality

Kuizame Maniwa was one of the most eccentric members of the Maniwa clan at the time. A self-proclaimed pacifist and saint, her only desire is to transform the world into one free of conflict and war. While everyone else in the village considers her naive and idealistic, she is determined to make her vision a reality. Her conversations with others often devolve into her delivering a sermon about her ideals, not really considering what other people say, which is why most of the Maniwa ninja consider her a nuisance. However, she isn't too uptight or antisocial, demonstrating a humorous side as well. She is said to be one of the most well-suited to normal human society of the Maniwa ninja, though her overly zealous ideals get in the way. She is compared to Koumori Maniwa the 1st in her lack of ambition to become one of the twelve bosses, though it is said that she would find the comparison offensive, due to Koumori's aimless nature compared to her determined path.

According to her, the position of a ninja is the most just of them all, as ninja take on dirty work and fight for the sake of others. While the violent nature of a ninja's job would normally conflict with pacifism, Kuizame believes in the ideology of "killing one to save a thousand", justifying her slaughter by calling it for the sake of a greater purpose. Through convincing herself of this, she can remorselessly and mercilessly take the lives of both enemies and comrades, shown by how she kills both the hostage Maniwa ninja and the Aioi ninja during the hostage rescue mission, as she believes that ninja who get caught will doubtlessly cause conflict in the future as well, and so she should kill them in order to avoid it. While she does shed tears at her slaughter, calling it a very sad thing, she never shows any hesitation in performing the immoral act. This terrifying devotion to her own ideology, combined with her powerful ninja art, makes her a good leader, as she forces those below her to comply through sheer domnance, which is why Houou Maniwa selected her as one of the twelve bosses.

## Appearance

Kuizame is a slender young woman with brown eyes and straight, long white hair with a black streak on the wavy strand of hair covering her right eye. She is shown wearing a black outfit similar to a leotard covered in chains, alongside what appears to be a loin cloth, with the backside reminiscent of a shark tail. She also wears bandages up to her thighs, on the entirety of her right arm and up to the bicep of her left arm. She appears to wear reddish eyeshadow, and has various black marks on her face, neck and left arm, reminiscent of a shark's gills.

## Background

Kuizame was a member of the Maniwa Ninja Corps during the Sengoku Period, right when the organization shifted its command structure to have twelve bosses. She was a candidate for the position of boss, and was selected after fulfilling her mission of rescuing some hostages from the Aioi Ninja Corps. Her name went on to be inherited, eventually being passed down to the identically named member of the Maniwa Clan.

## Abilities and Equipment

* **Maniwa Ninja Art: Dust Devil** (真庭忍法(まにわにんぽう) 渦刀(うずがたな), *Maniwa Ninpō: Uzugatana, lit. "Vortex Blade"*)**:** A ninja art which controls water. It is stated that, by approaching her targets, Kuizame can interfere with the liquids of the human body through the air's moisture, which Kuizame uses to make them literally burst open from the inside. A technique which strikes immense fear into her allies, even those unafraid of death being terrified at the thought of being subjected to it. While the future Kuizame Maniwa shares a ninja art with the same name, its properties appear to be quite different, and it is unknown if they work by the same principle.

## Quotes

* (Kuizame's sermon to the other ninja) *"Have you ever thought about why people are born? They are born to bring about peace and order to this world—there’s no reason aside from that, and there can’t be any reason aside from that. Disputes are so worthless. Worthless, worthless, worthless. The amount of ‘power’ that I have been endowed with is surely what was bestowed upon me by the heavens to turn this world into a paradise. Of course, it’s not just limited to me—I have the conviction that all of your ninjutsu were given to you for the same reason."*
* (Kuizame to Kyouken Maniwa) *"Whether it’s a samurai or a ninja or a mere peasant—no matter who they are, people will always have something they want to protect. It may be their family, it may be their friends, it may be their community, it may be their country. And—it may even be themselves. Regardless, people have something they want to protect, something that they should protect. And in that case, they should go ahead and protect it. If everyone devotes themselves to protecting what they want to protect, conflict will be erased from this world."*
* (Kuizame's determination) *"People like to call me an idealist. But my intention is to fight to make that ideal a reality. I do not know when it will be the case, but someday—the day will come that I will not be called an idealist, but instead, a realist. And that will not be when my heart is broken—but when reality gives in to the ideal."*
* (Kuizame to the Aioi ninja) *"I am a pacifist. That is why, for the sake of peace, for the sake of order—I am willing to put in the work and sacrifice."*

## Trivia

* The Maniwa surname means "garden of truth", partly suggesting the animal motif of the ninja clan.
* Kuizame's first name means "eater shark".
* Kuizame's height is stated to be 5 *shaku*, 3 *bu*, which is roughly equal to 152 cm.
* Kuizame's weight is stated to be 12 *kan*, which is roughly equal to 45 kilograms.
* Kuizame's creed is "kill one to save a thousand" (一殺千生(いっさつせんしょう), *Issatsusenshō*)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 *Maniwagatari*, *Episode Two: First Generation - Kuizame Maniwa*
2. ↑ *Maniwagatari*, *Episode One: First Generation - Koumori Maniwa*
3. ↑ *Katanagatari Chapter Three: Thousand Sword, Saber*, *Chapter Three: Kuizame Maniwa*