| Kana Shinō | |
|---|---|
| |
| Gender | Female |
| Race | Human |
| Relatives | Shizuma Shinō (father, deceased) Mother (deceased) Aunt |
| Professional Status | |
| Former Team | Hei, Mao |
| Behind The Scenes | |
| First Seen | First Night |
Kana Shinō (師能 香奈 Shinō Kana) is the main protagonist of the Darker than Black manga.
Background[]
A year prior to the manga's beginning, Kana's father, Shizuma Shinō, became a Contractor and committed a mass murder for his new employer, Wiegenlied. To cover up his tracks, he had Kana's memory altered so that she would think that he was killed in the murder, rather than the one that committed it.[1]
Appearance[]
Kana appears to be an average teenage girl with long blond hair and large grayish-purple eyes. She often wears a yellow jacket, with a dark-colored scarf around her neck, and a matching dark skirt. She also wears nice shoes, and long black socks.
Personality[]
Kana is a troubled girl, who often spaces out and thinks about her troubled past.[2] Around her friends, she puts up a facade of happiness, when in reality, she is really very troubled. Kana has shown herself to be very caring towards her mother, who also suffers severe mental trauma from the past.
Upon seeing her father in the street one day, she becomes strongly convicted to prove to her friends and her mother that he is still alive. She is so convicted, that she is willing to risk involvement with Contractors, whom she greatly fears, even putting her life on the line.
Abilities[]
Enhanced Endurance: Kana has shown that she has above average endurance, being able to resist her father's attempt to drown her with his Contract, while at the same time fighting back with him.[3]
Part in the Story[]
Wiegenlied arc[]
Kana first appears after having zoned out in a diner during a meal with her friends. She admits to thinking about her father again, adding that it has been a full year since he died, but that it still didn't feel real. One of her friends suggests they go shopping, and Kana quickly accepts.
Later that day, while walking down the street with her friends, Kana bumps into a man speaking on his cellphone, who bears a great resemblance to her dad. She calls out to him, but the man continues walking, as if he'd never heard her. Over the next few days, she contacts the police, but they refuse to look for someone who has been reported deceased.[4] Even her mother won't listen to her. Even so, she visits all the places in her father's organizer, but he doesn't turn up at any of the locations.
As Kana continues to walk down the street, she enters an alley and accidentally stumbles upon a fight between two Contractors. As the fight nears its conclusion, one of the Contractors mentions the organization "Wiegenlied", something she heard her "father" mention on his phone several days prior. She also discovers that the man who said it was named Klang, another word her father had mentioned when she saw him.
After the fight concluded, Kana began her walk home, but again ran into one of the two Contractors she'd seen fighting only moments earlier. The Contractor had followed her after he realized she had witnessed their fight earlier. After confirming his suspicion, he used his powers to erase her memory. He approaches her later on dressed in normal street clothes to see if her memory was really wiped, which is confirmed when Kana says that they have never met before.
Recalling the two strange words her father mentioned, she asks her friend Akino if she had heard of either words. Akino said she has not, and the two go to the library to research the terms, only coming up with limited results on "wiegenlied", which they learn is a German word meaning "lullaby".
Kana is later approached by Dale, an old acquaintance of her father's. Kana had gone to see Dale two days prior in search of information on her father. Dale tells Kana that he now has information on her father, and once he lures her in, Klang approaches the two of them. Recognizing Klang, she flees when he approaches her with his hand stretched out.
Etymology[]
- The name Kana means "fragrance, fragrant" (香) (ka) and "apple tree" (奈) (na).
- Kana's surname Shinō means "master" (師) (shi) and "ability, talent, skill, capacity" (能) (nō).