death doesn't discriminate

yanyan

vinea

If she had to be described in two words, they would be "hauntingly beautiful". Yuuko hasn't aged a day since her death. Her features are youthful and rather sharp, giving her a seemingly sinister aura until she speaks. She has red eyes, long black hair and pale clear skin. She is tall for her age and has a slender frame. Her large bust and curves make her seem older than she actually is. She is often found in her black sailor uniform wearing stockings or tights underneath depending on the season. Although her right leg is broken on her real body, she has no scars from that incident.

Ghosts are thought to be vengeful spirits that remain in this world to carry out their grudges by cursing others out of malice and spite. Knowing this, when most see Seikyou Academy's beautiful ghost Yuuko Kanoe give them an enigmatic, almost sinister smile, they get an uneasy feeling in their stomach that tells them to run. Nine times out of ten, it's a shame they do—once one gets to know the girl they call Yuuko-san, they'll find that she isn't quite the spooky specter they'd expect.

Contrary to her name, which means child of the evening, Yuuko is a bubbly person, eager to play and fool around. Never does she seem to run out of energy as she drags the protagonist Teiichi along to fulfill her every whim. Often a playful and carefree individual, she's fond of teasing others and playing pranks on others for a good laugh. Her flirty side especially comes out when she's around the opposite sex. In several instances in canon, she tells Teiichi that it's alright for him to touch her since "touching a girl is what he secretly desires", but this might stem from her belief that there's nothing for her to be embarrassed about since her current form isn't made of flesh and blood. In short, the star of Seikyou Academy's ghost stories is actually a fun-loving girl who's a joy to be around!

Of course, every pretty girl who suddenly appears in your life is not without flaws. The thing about having no one to police you for sixty years is that at some point, you stop caring about self-discipline. Yuuko can be lazy and would sooner shirk her responsibilities than take them seriously and focus. She speaks her mind and doesn't sugarcoat her thoughts unless necessary. Due to her somewhat devil-may-care attitude, her actions around the school are often the source of its popular ghost stories. Yuuko carrying boxes of things she stole from the classrooms? Poltergeist. Yuuko taking the dumbwaiter instead of the stairs? An elevator to the underworld. She also has no sense of personal space when she starts getting attached to someone, becoming clingy at worst.

The calm, chipper and elegant lady she appears to be doesn't always hold true, either. Despite her confidence, she can be shy around those with intense personalities such as the passionate and quirky Sahara Sasaha. She gets embarrassed when other people act embarrassed around her, and she can be a dork who clumsily trips while running in hallways and sneezes in the middle of dramatic reunions. She's also easy to provoke with jabs at her appearance ("How heavy are you?" "500 grams.") and prone to bouts of jealousy, to which she responds to with scary looks if not sudden physical affection or violence. In fact, when she gets annoyed, she often takes her anger out on something regardless of the consequences. For example, after Momoe says something about her grave, Yuuko kicks the gravestone right in front of her, making it topple over. Momoe is naturally shocked that it moved on its own, but Yuuko didn't seem to care. Why should she if no one is there to judge?

Despite her youthful appearance and demeanor, Yuuko is the mature and nurturing half of the Kanoe sisters. Before her death, she was a caring girl who was kind to everyone and protective and affectionate toward her younger sister Yukariko. She was the type who always seemed to be right no matter what. Her time among the living has also made her wiser and more worldly than your average teenager. It shows in the way she observes the world around her, attentive to every detail as she interacts with people and smart enough to piece things together when solving mysteries. She calmly analyzes situations rather than jumping headfirst into them without a clue, immediately rejecting quick conclusions such as "It was a ghost!" and approaching problems at a more rational angle. Her strong will is something everyone in her village can attest to. She also isn't as impressionable as her peers since she would rather do whatever she pleases and believe whatever she thinks is right—almost arrogantly so. She is often the one who takes initiative in their club, working as their "absentee" president and preferring to work alone, yet she is willing to take suggestions and follow others as well. However, she's independent to a fault; despite her tendency to cling to Teiichi, she prefers to keep her problems to herself and try to fix them on her own.

As someone who is already dead, she can be rather cold and detached in dealing with those who can't see her. She doesn't bat an eyelash at things kids in rural Japan would find strange like homosexual relationships, simply saying "You do get those types once in a while." She also claims that she doesn't want to get involved with the lives of others as much as possible, especially those whom she isn't close to. When Teiichi asked her to help someone with their supernatural problems, she is always reluctant as pretty much tells him "What do you want me to do about it?" every time. Before meeting Teiichi, she was apparently so detached from the world that her sense of time had become so warped that she often forgot what day it was. Nevertheless, she can be considerate. Although Kirie is initially cold toward Yuuko, not even wanting to touch her, Yuuko still offers her hand. She also does her best to prevent Teiichi from meddling with a certain mystery in case it ended in death, since she doesn't want him to witness anything as gruesome as that.

Who is this Teiichi, anyway? In the story, Teiichi Niiya is the most important person to Yuuko because he is the first person to have ever seen and talked to her since her memory loss. He is also the only person who has ever touched her since her death, so she is very attached to him. Later on, her attachment turns into deep and genuine love, and because of this, she would do anything for him—even accept the memories she once threw away. Yuuko devotes herself to him because she is primarily driven by her desire for company and acceptance. She has been wandering the school halls for decades, so the mere hint that someone—even a cat—might be able to see her excites her like a child. Ever since she forgot everything about herself, she was forced to merely exist in the school alone. She craved for another reason to live, which she found in loving Teiichi.

Meeting Teiichi gave her as many fears as well as joys. Although it is more productive to face her problems head on, Yuuko is the type who avoids rather than solves them. When she grows tired of her negative feelings, she chooses to forget them rather than forgive Yukariko and the villagers who killed her. She is ashamed of this, especially when Teiichi calls someone else out about doing the same thing. She slowly changes this habit of hers after meeting Teiichi during the course of the story.

However, she has fears that prevent her from reaching her goals. The first of her fears is bringing Teiichi unhappiness. Naturally, she doesn't want to be a burden to the only person who cares about her, so it distresses her greatly whenever Kirie brings it up. Second, she is scared of being hurt, alone and forgotten, so if things between them have to change, she would rather end it all now. Third, she is afraid that he—or anybody—won't accept her for who she is: a vengeful spirit with a grudge who pushed her problems onto others. In fact, she can't even accept herself, whom she sees as ugly the more she learns about her past. Thus, she is afraid to let people know her, hiding her past from even the person she loves. Throughout the course of the story, Yuuko blames herself for the suffering people go through because of her and the ghost stories created by her existence. She is hurt whenever people think of her as a fearsome demon, and deep down, she feels that she doesn't belong in the realm of the living. She even makes herself forget Teiichi once after she sees her ugly reflection in his eyes. Nevertheless, there is one more fear that goes from holding her back to pushing her forward and facing her past: the fear of not being able to be by Teiichi's side.

Shortly before her death, the strong-willed Yuuko detested the weakness of the human heart and the lies it told itself, but as the story progresses, she soon learns the beauty of strongly believing in something real or otherwise to overcome one's fear. When Yuuko wakes up in Inugami, she will be from Chapter 1, after she fails to carry out her grudge and meets Teiichi decades later, but before she begins her adventures and grows with him. At this point, she is a ghost without memories and any attachments to the material plane, but still lonely and in search for acceptance and meaning.

• Unlike ghosts in most stories, Yuuko cannot fly or go through walls. She is only capable of what a human can do. Thus, she needs to walk to wherever she needs to go.
  
• Her limits and senses are also like that of a human; she is able to get hot, cold, hungry, tired and ill. However, she doesn't sleep.
  
• Yuuko cannot be seen by most humans unless a) they can sense the supernatural, b) they are in a situation where they expect "something" to be there, c) their awareness is dulled, (i.e. they are sleepy or tired) or d) god knows what because it is never stated if Teiichi or Kirie actually have supernatural powers. She can't be seen unless people believe in ghosts.
  
• Despite being a ghost, to Teichi, she is warm to the touch and can be physically felt. However, this might be because Teichi expects her to be so.
  
• Yuuko's appearance depends on how a person perceives her. For example, while Teichi sees Yuuko as a normal girl, Kirie sees her as a sinister spirit with gray skin and messy hair. Kirie sees Yuuko this way because of the image she had of Yuuko in her head after researching about her. Kirie also convinces Teiichi to see Yuuko this way for a while. In the manga, Yuuko usually uses this ability to pretend to be other spirits, evil or otherwise.
  
• Yuuko is capable of separating herself from her memories, effectively giving herself amnesia. However, by doing this, she creates Shadow Yuuko, a manifestation of her memories, negative feelings and hatred. She is capable of speech and deceiving others with illusions the way Yuuko can.
  
• Ghost powers aside, Yuuko is completely ordinary! She's only smarter than your average third year middle school student and above average at sports and other physical activities.