#kazunari kyogoku

[imberlae]

[maleyanderecafe]

Kimi no Koe (Manga)

Created by: Miku Morinaga

Genre: Historical/Romance

This is one of those ones where I read it before I knew there was a yandere in it and then Cherry comes to boop me over the head to tell me there is one. The story itself is very cute on its on and the yandere is the second male lead, though I wouldn't read it specifically for the yandere in this case, however, it is interesting to see how the story will go. Currently, there are 16 chapters out.

The story starts in the Taisho Era, with the main character Kyogoku Kazunari working for a trading company. He's incredibly good at selling because of his ability to read people's minds. He is accepted to marrying into the Suwabe family to a lady who can't speak, and wants to use this position to steal the family's assets, believing that he can rely on his ability to read minds to be able to woo her over. However, upon meeting her, he realizes that he's unable to read her mind. As the story goes on, we see that the Nana is treated horribly in her household, even finding she was never taught how to read and that her name literally means "no name". Feeling pity for her, he promises to each her how to read and slowly goes closer to her. Nana is also, as we find out, a mind reader, however, because she doesn't know how to read, she doesn't find any of the words to have any meaning. We also find out the cause of her muteness is because of trauma that her father gave her, telling her not to speak, because she had the same ability that her mother had. As the story goes on the two get closer and closer together, though because of Kyogoku's distrust of people (thanks to experiences in his past), he decides that if he can't hear her true thoughts after he's properly wed, he will leave her for good. Kyoguku's past is rather quite troubling too, as his mind reading powers were initially used to make his mother happy, turning the entire town first into worshippers of him, only to turn on him later, making him out to be the devil. His mother abandons him soon after, as her only reason for having him was to get her husband back. As a result, Kyoguku develops trust issues and becomes the more selfish person he is today.

While these two are cutely falling in love, in the background of the Suwabe family, more sinister things are going on. The family ends up selling Nana to a rich man named Claude, who seems to be overseeing what is going on with Nana and Kyoguku, and wishes to watch the family fall into ruins. He meets Nana once before while two are engaged, though she doesn't seem to remember him. He finally does force Nana to get married to him while Kyoguku is gone, attempting to sail off on a ship. He has a rather tragic backstory as well, with his mother remarrying, dying and his stepfather selling him off. He's ended up sold as a servant and runs away trying to survive, with everyone around him simply using him because he's a foreigner. While he doesn't understand what they're saying, he has a similar ability to Nana and Kyoguku where he can understand people's auras/intentions very well. Claude eventually meets Nana, and Nana gives him a small act of kindness before seeing her abused and promising to save her. He is found by his stepdad again and raised as a nobleman, using whatever method he can to gain power and to finally save her. The last chapters currently has Claude threatening to hurt Nana if Kyoguku (who runs out to find her) gets too close.

Like I said, I didn't initially read this one expecting a yandere in it, but it is a surprise indeed. The story itself mostly focuses on the growing relationship with Nana and Kyoguku, with Kyoguku being a bit more tsundere with his actions while caring about Nana. It's heartbreaking at some points as Nana continues to learn how to read and by proximity learn to read minds, she's able to read Kyoguku's thoughts. When Kyoguku decides that he will leave Nana, Nana is only able to read her name, causing her happiness as she knows that Kyoguku is thinking about her, but not what he's about to do. Historical Japanese stories for yanderes seem to be more rare as well, overshadowed by isekais which are closer to Eurpean based history, so it is nice to be able to read something that is different.

However, I will say that this is probably not one you would read for the yandere since Claude isn't really in there. Since the story focuses more on the relationship with Kyoguku and Nana, Claude is in the background, pulling the strings with the Suwabe famaily, but doesn't really show up all that much in the manga itself until he eventually kidnaps Nana as an intent to wed. He seems to be a purity yandere, since he saw Nana as pure and is marrying her to take her away from her abusive family to somewhere she belongs. He goes out of his way to do whatever he needs to do to be able to be with her, including essentially destroying the family that hurt her in the first place. Nana seems pretty reluctant to be with him, and doesn't seem to remember him when they meet as adults. Still, as a villain he seems to be used as a way to show that Nana has more agency than other people seem to let on, and that the time with Kyoguku and Nana is stronger than what he and Nana have with each other. Still, while Claude will likely lose, it is still a good story, though I wish he were in it a bit more.

Overall, I would recommend reading this if you enjoy cute romance stories. I like how the main couple are able to build up their relationship together and adding a yandere in there is also a very nice touch. Thanks to Cherry for recommending it to me again!

[imberlae]

[imberlae]

[imberlae]

[imberlae]

[imberlae]

[imberlae]