Aya Tademaru is a female half-kemono character from Kemono Jihen, an eight-year-old girl who inherits the spider powers of her arachne mother and is the younger half-sister of Shiki Tademaru.
Name: Aya Tademaru
Gender: Female
Age: 8
Birthday: November 22
Height: 121 cm
Weight: 19 kg
Species: Half-kemono
Family: Younger half-sister of Shiki Tademaru
Mother: Kumi
Voice Actor: Kaede Hondo
Favorite fashion: Cool, sporty clothing
Disliked fashion: Frilly or childish clothing
First thing she did after coming to Tokyo: Went to a bargain sale
Aya first appears before Kohachi Inugami and the others when they visit Kinshigo in Gunma Prefecture to search for Shiki’s parents.
At first, she is introduced as a mysterious girl who knows about kemono and even teaches Inugami how to neutralize poison.
She has long pink hair that reaches her waist, giving her a striking and memorable appearance.
For a while after her debut, she is referred to simply as “Aya.”
Her true identity is Aya Tademaru, the younger half-sister of Shiki Tademaru.
Aya was born as part of Akio Tademaru’s experiments to create the legendary Golden Thread, a power said to heal any damage done to living beings.
Akio learned of the legend and exploited the weaknesses of Shiki’s mother, Kumi, who is a spider-type kemono known as an arachne.
He forced her to mate with various kemono in pursuit of his goal.
Among the beings born from those experiments, Aya was the only one who took a human form.
Because she possessed the Golden Thread’s healing power, Akio treated her as an object for his twisted desire for fame.
Aya spent many years being used rather than loved, making her past especially painful.
Like Shiki, Aya inherited spider-related powers from her arachne mother.
However, unlike her brother, she is not good at combat.
Shiki uses spider thread in battle, while Aya’s ability is specialized for healing, regeneration, and physical repair.
Her power allows her to mend damaged bodies, making her an extremely valuable healer among kemono.
After the incident involving Akio is resolved, Aya decides to use her healing ability to become a doctor-like figure for kemono.
She often visits Kabane Kusaka and the others while continuing her work as a healer.
Aya is strong-willed, much like her brother Shiki.
She is also compassionate and has the courage to hold firm to her beliefs, even in difficult situations.
Because she is still young, she can become emotionally cornered when pressure and anxiety build up.
Even so, after surviving many harsh experiences while treating kemono, she grows noticeably bolder in critical moments.
Her toughness is one of her most charming traits.
Aya initially has complicated feelings toward Shiki.
She admires the older brother she had never met, but she also feels guilty for believing that her existence separated Shiki from their mother.
Shiki does not blame her at all and accepts her as family.
Because of this, Aya begins calling him “big brother.”
In later appearances, she sometimes treats Shiki a little carelessly.
Even then, small moments show that she genuinely cares about him as family.
Aya develops affection for Kabane Kusaka, who worked hard to save her and her family.
She actively tries to get closer to him and makes her feelings fairly obvious.
Unfortunately for Aya, Kabane does not really understand romance, so her attempts often fail to reach him in the intended way.
This makes their interactions both sweet and funny.
When Aya first appears before Shiki and the others, she is wearing girly clothing prepared by Akio.
However, that style does not match her personal taste.
After the incident, she stops wearing those clothes and switches to sporty outfits.
Her later fashion is more active-looking, though it can also be rather revealing and bold for her age.
Aya and Shiki are both spider siblings, and their names are connected to weaving.
“Shiki” and “Aya” are both associated with woven patterns or textiles.
There is also a folk tale in Tochigi Prefecture called “The Spider’s Aya Weaving,” which resembles a spider version of the tale of the crane’s return of favor.
This may have inspired the naming of the two siblings.
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