Kugie Kizuchi

木津池(キヅチ) クギエ, *Kizuchi Kugie*?

**Kugie Kizuchi** (木津池(キヅチ) クギエ, *Kizuchi Kugie*?) was Kanna Kizuchi's older sister and one of the first participants to die in the Death Game. She died during the First Trial.

## Appearance

Kugie is a high school girl with short, neck-length black hair, brown eyes, and a unique yellow-gold screw headband kept in her hair.

She wore a green blazer with yellow-gold buttons, a gray shirt of an unknown length with a hot pink ribbon tied at the collar, a hot pink skirt, a pair of brown socks that reach above knee-length, and a pair of brown shoes.

Being a participant of the Death Game, She wears a collar as do all Participants, Dummies, and Floor Masters, however it isn't shown in her sprite.

## Personality

When Kanna was adopted by her parents, Kugie made her dislike for her very clear, leading for Kanna to run away from the household at one point. After Kugie found Kanna with a boy, who she presumed was teasing or picking on her, they began to fix their relationship.

It's implied through Kanna's self-introduction that they became closer over time and spoke to each other more. It's also implied that she trusted Kanna highly enough to save her in their first trial, though this later showed to fail through Kanna's panicking.

It is also implied that Kugie is very similar to Sara, so much so that Kanna almost calls Sara "Sister" on multiple instances. Based on this knowledge, it can be inferred that she is dependable, kind, and trustworthy; although she may also seem a bit rude at times, evident of when she met Kanna for the first time. However, this is all based on speculation.

## History

### Background

Kugie is the biological daughter of the Kizuchi family. At some point, her mother and father adopted a young girl, Kanna Kizuchi, whom Kugie had constantly made her disliking of Kanna clear.

One day Kanna couldn't take her sister's bullying any longer and ran away from home, sitting in a park with a bucket on her head. Kugie had began looking for Kanna and found her with a boy who she misunderstood to be teasing her. When Kugie took Kanna back home, they began to fix their relationship and started to get along.

At some point Kanna and Kugie went to an ice cream shop they frequently visited where Sou Hiyori, posing as the cashier, offered Kanna the consent form, saying it granted wishes. Kanna signed the form and wished for her sister's wish to come true. Kugie told Kanna she wished she would meet her biological family.

### The Death Game

Kanna and Kugie were walking home one day, eating ice cream and talking about what to have for dinner, when people had jumped out from a black car parked across the road.

When they both woke up, they began their first trial, "The Two Person Vote," where both her and Kanna were strapped down to beds and given a time limit of five minutes to escape. Kugie gave Kanna the key, allowing her to set herself free, but became panicked when she didn't know what to do. Kugie tried to guide her on what to do, but Kanna could not understand, leading to the time limit running out and resulting in Kugie's bed folding and thus crushing her to death.

In the manga, Kugie's death is witnessed by high schooler Sara Chidouin from behind a window. Her crushed corpse is also seen by Sara's trial partner and classmate, Joe Tazuna.

After her death, her skirt was salvaged and worn by Rio Ranger.

A phone is later found in Kanna's and Kugie's first trial room with a vitriolic message on it, which Sara believed to have been written by Kugie. However, Shin Tsukimi logically deduces it was a trap to further corner Kanna psychologically.

Should Kanna survive to the Murderer Game, she is shown to be having benevolent hallucinations of both Kugie and Shin. Despite her acknowledging that she shouldn't be looking at them, she nevertheless turns to them for comfort.

## Relationships

### Kanna Kizuchi

At first, Kugie had a strong dislike for Kanna. She thought Kanna was creepy, and her other reasons for hating Kanna are unknown. Kugie's constant bullying of her sister caused Kanna to run away from home. Kugie went after her and found her in a park with a bucket on her head. She mistook the kid talking to her as the one who put it on her head and accused him of teasing Kanna. The kid defended himself, but Kugie defended Kanna and called Kanna her little sister for the first time. She then realized that Kanna cried too and apologized to her. After that, the two got along extremely well. In Chapter 3, Kanna is shown to be having "kind hallucinations" of both her and Shin, guiding and encouraging her.

## Appellations

* Participants A
* Participants B
* Other

 Sara | • Kanna's sister
 Kanna | • Sister

 **Kugie** (self)

 Kugie's mom

## Trivia

* Kugie was originally named "Kanna" and was supposed to be one of the surviving Participants of the First Trial in the earlier version of the game. In other words, she was the beta version of Kanna.
* In the spin-off game Your Time To Shine, it is revealed through one of the events between Kanna and Mishima that a "mature woman" professed her love to Kugie and that they were thinking of dating, but Kugie decided to leave the decision up to Kanna. This confirms that Kugie is attracted to women, making her the only named character confirmed to experience same-sex attraction.
* Her pose and clothing are similar to Sara's.
* Kugie is one of the characters to share the same occupation, the others being Ranmaru Kageyama, Sara Chidouin, Joe Tazuna, and Anzu Kinashi.
* Contrary to the previous belief that Kugie once went to the same school at the same time as Kanna, making her 15-16, this is not true, as such a claim was made on a misunderstanding. In Kanna's character profile, released with the Steam edition of Your Turn To Die, it is stated that "she is fond of [her uniform], since there was a time she went home with her sister wearing the same uniform." Kannas occupation is listed as "Middle-School Girl", yet she is wearing the uniform of "her local high school." this would imply that it was given to Kanna by Kugie, after she started wearing a different uniform.
* Additionally, in Anzu's mini episode, Kugie is shown to have bought the entire ice cream shop. When Anzu's friend is recounting this story, she describes Kugie as "a girl about our age". This would likely place Kugie at about 16-17, as Anzu was 17 at the time of her death.
* The kanji that makes up Kugie’s surname is 木, *ki*?, lit. "tree", 津, *zu*?, lit. "ferry", and 池, *chi*?, lit. "pond".
* As shown in the updated artbook, alongside the steam release, Kugie was firstly thought of wearing a ponytail, As well she is wearing shoulder bag, And instead of a Ribbon with her Uniform its a Necktie.

## References

Nankidai. Tokyo: Dwango. 2021. Print. *Kimi ga Shine Character Settei Materials: Survivor Roster* p.8, Kanna's page: The uniform notes say, "There was also a time when she would wear the same uniform as her sister and go to school together." meaning Kanna and Kugie are close enough in age-range to attend middle school together for at least a year.
2. ↑ 6th Broadcast of “Kimigashine” × “The Other World's Leading Role is Us!"