Tasogare Otome

Yuuko Kanoe (庚 夕子, Kanoe Yuuko) is the spirit of a girl who died inside the oldest building of Seikyou Academy. She lost her memories and eventually became a wandering spirit until she was discovered by accident by Teiichi Niiya.

With Teiichi’s help, they begin a search for Yuuko’s memories while the two stumble upon the many mysteries and ghost stories in Seikyou Academy.

Yuuko is a tall and beautiful teenage girl with long hime-cut purple-black hair, walnut-brown pupils and a slender figure.

She initially owned the old uniform of Seikyou School before it changed and she has been wearing the new uniform since, but she later changed back into the old uniform after being discovered by Teiichi Niiya.

Although Yuuko’s looks give off a sinister aura, she is actually a cheerful person. She sometimes teases Teiichi Niiya through sexual suggestions and, if Teiichi is not around, is seen roaming the school complex (often creating ghost stories as an effect). It is later revealed that Yuuko is starting to become attached to Teiichi, as he was the first person to interact with her after dying a long time ago. Worthy of note is that she does not mind to have her attractive body seen by Teiichi, but becomes increasingly embarrassed if he does as much as pay a sight to her. While she seems to be quite proud of her body, often using it to tease Teiichi, she does have a fixation on her weight, and will try to hide it, even though she’s very light, and, going on with the episodes Yuuko seem’s to start becoming jealous if anyone show signs of love towards Teiichi.

Sixty years ago, the village where Yuuko and her family lived was suffering through a terrible plague. Yuuko and her sister, Yukariko, soon began overhearing whispers in the village that it was their family’s fault that the illness had come. For hundreds of years, the Kanoe family was responsible for a shrine to a Mountain God; to prevent the god from cursing people, an offering of one’s “most precious thing” to Akahito-sama, the god’s messenger, was required - that is, a human sacrifice. In recent years, the shrine was lost and fell into disrepair.

When her mother died, Yuuko noticed a change in her sister’s mood, who was starting to believe the curse was real. The villagers were in a panic, which caused her father to decide to take his daughters away from the area; unfortunately, Yukariko was missing. Yuuko frantically searched the village before arriving at the school. Horrified, she discovered that her sister was playing the role of the god’s messenger …. and that she had decided that Yuuko would be the sacrifice. Before Yuuko could escape, she was pushed down by a group of village men, who broke her legs and threw her into a shed to die. Yuuko dies with betrayal in her heart; the plague continues and her father commits suicide at the loss of his daughter. Several days later, Yukariko, who now realizes the terrible mistake she made, returns to the shed in an attempt to rescue her sister. Unfortunately, she is too late……and lives with the guilt every day of her life.

Official records claim that Yuuko died of the plaque and that her body was disposed of soon after.

The series depicts Yuuko as a ghost with traits that remain similar to a normal human. Unlike the stereotypical ghost that can fly or pass through walls, floors and ceilings, Yuuko needs to walk to her desired situation. Also, Yuuko can get hungry or be ill like a normal human would. Among those traits that Yuuko shares with ghosts is her lack of presence towards most people.

how Yuuko can be seen depends on the person who perceives her. Although Yuuko is normally a girl with pale complexion, red eyes and long jet-black hair like in the eyes of Teiichi, she can take a less clear and more sinister form: a shadowy figure that resembles a silhouette. This can change depending on the person seeing Yuuko, and in Kirie’s case, she saw Yuuko as a girl with gray skin, disheveled hair and a sinister look in her eyes, Kirie had also seen herself once. Another example is when the students trying to sacrifice Yuuko Kirishima see Yuuko as Akahito.

Befitting the English title of the series, the name Yuuko means “evening” (夕) (yuu) and “child” (子) (ko).

Yuuko’s surname Kanoe is derived from the 7th sign of the Chinese calendar, which originally meant “evening star”.

It can also mean “a person’s age”.

Yuuko claims to weigh only 500 g (about 1 lb).[1] However, her official weight is in fact 56.2 kg. Her height is 168 cm. Her chest measurement is 88 cm. Also, Yuuko’s eyesight is 20/10 (decimal value = 2.00), and she doesn’t have any hearing problems.

There is an empty chair in class 3-B which Yuuko apparently uses when “assisting to classes”. [2]

In the anime series, Yuuko is attributed to autumn leaves and the sky during sunset, which both share the same fiery hues.

Yuuko and Kirie Kanoe (Yuuko’s relative) look very much alike, but with key differences:

Yuuko has long hair and she is busty compared to Kirie’s athletic frame.

The two are very different in personalities as Yuuko is not nearly so serious as Kirie.