| Yukio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gallery | Quotes | Relationship | ||
| ||
| Kana | ||
| Romaji | Yukio | |
| Physical Appearance | ||
| Monster Species | Yuki-onna | |
| Gender |  Female
| |
| Hair | pall white | |
| Eye | ice-blue | |
| Height | 170 cm (5'7")[1] | |
| Weight | 58 kg (128 lbs)[1] | |
| B-W-H | B89(F)-W57-H96[1] | |
| Monster Profile | ||
| Occupation | Arctic Inn Hostess | |
| Media Debut | ||
| Manga | Chapter 31 | |
Yukio is a Yuki-onna (雪女, lit. "Snow Woman") who works as the Okami (proprieter) of the Sno Ball Hot Spring Resort, an onsen resort catering to various Liminals. She makes her debut in Chapter 31.
Appearance[]
Yukio, as befitting for her name and race, is a tall, slender, elegant woman with pale white skin and long, pale white hair reaching her knees. Her ice-blue eyes distinctively lack pupils, adding to her icy design. Her body temperature runs around 0°C[1].
Her hair is done up using a hairclip created from her own ice, resembling a snowflake that changes everyday due to her cold aura, and wears a kimono adorned with snowflakes. The obi sash has a hexagon pattern, which also harkens to the hexagon shape of snowflakes. She tends to wear it somewhat loose, exposing her large breasts slightly. In order to tolerate the high temperatures of the hot springs she sometimes also wears a special environmental suit.
Personality[]
Yukio, as expected of a race associated with the cold, is very emotionally distant, thus making it difficult for her to express herself openly and easy for others to find her intimidating. While polite, she can come off as standoffish and sullen. When talking about the young heir to the hot springs she runs she shows genuine affection and unconsciously grins. But it's also shown if her emotions run wild she has a tendency to lose control of her ability to control ice.[2]
Yukio is a friendly person, but also a very strict and assertive bussinessswoman, to the point that she is one of the few people who can intimidate the almost always smug Mr President. On the other hand, as seen in Volume 16, Yukio is also very flexible, whereby she not only remains often calm and deliberate in unexpected/chaotic situations, but also almost always has a very creative idea for solving said situations, for example when she asks Suu's mother and the Salamander woman for help, so that the two of them are used their combined elemental powers to temporarily transform the entire Inn into a huge sauna as a special service.
As Yukio tells Kimihito in Chapter 66, she has learned from experience that unexpected things have their own way of working out for the best.
Skills and Traits[]
Physical Traits[]
- Yuki-onna Physiology:
Yukio loses control of her powers.
- Cryokinesis: Yukio is able to drastically lower the temperature of her surroundings by choice, though she can lose control of this power if she gets emotional or if she doesn't pay attention of her surroundings. When this happens, she can instantly freeze a bath filled with hot water.[2]
- Low Body Temperature: As a Yuki-Onna, Yukio's body temperature is much lower than that of a human. It is low enough to freeze the ground beneath her feet, which is part of the reason the resort needs heated floors. Due to this, Yukio cannot handle higher temperatures that are considered comfortable for humans and most Liminals. Nonetheless, she is training herself to better tolerate these temperatures.[2]
- Weather Manipulation: Yukio seems to cause the weather to become snowy wherever she goes, though she does not seem to realize that she is the cause.[2] It's because of this that the inn is always covered in snow, despite the surrounding climate being quite temperate.[3]
Possessions[]
- Environmental Suit: Yukio possesses a bulky environmental suit specially made by the young master[1] (an old diving suit that he converted by insulating the inside), dressed in a similar if not identical kimono. Due to her lower body temperature, she needs this suit to handle the higher temperatures that humans can be comfortable at, though she is training herself to be less reliant upon the suit. Surprisingly enough, the helmet has a strong resemblance to a Zaku II from Mobile Suit Gundam.[2]
History[]
At some point, Yukio wanted to join the exchange program. While she was waiting in line for an interview, a Killer Bee got impatient and tried to fly to the front of the line. This eventually led to a brief commotion when Killa started an argument with Rachnera, who was also on site for an interview at the time, although the intervention of the officers quickly defused the situation.[4]
As a participant in the Cultural Exchange, Yukio moved to Japan to the onsen town to her host family at the Sno Ball Hot Spring Resort. Yukio was pleasantly impressed by the hospitality of her host family, although in the onsen there was the problem that Yukio as Yuki-onna could not used the hot baths. The son of the host family then built Yukio a special cold bath that she could use for her needs. Impressed by his care for her, Yukio fell in love with the young man, but at the same time she also came up with the idea that the Arctic Inn could be used as an onsen for the special needs of all Liminals. Her host family agreed to the idea and the Arctic Inn was rebuilt with different water tanks to be suitable for all liminal species.
While the son of the host family was on a business trip, Yukio tried to attract more guests to the Arctic Inn. However, this was more difficult than expected: since the Arctic Inn was a mixed onsen, hardly any female guests came and in regards to the male guests, mostly only middle-aged men came with inappropriate fantasies, who might not have followed the rules of decency in a mixed bath with women. But another problem was that Yukio, due to her difficulty smiling warmly, often seemed cold and creepy to others, so that over time even male guests stayed away from the Arctic Inn.
Plot[]
Yukio is the proprietor of a hot springs resort constructed around attracting Liminal patrons. However, due to her cold demeanor and the lack of Liminal visitors she has had few customers thus Ms Smith sends Kurusu and his homestay girls to her Inn in order to test the facilities.
After the group partakes in the facilities (the hot springs actually being mixed bathing) Kurusu goes into the outdoor bath, or rotenburo, to relax on his own while the others have dinner. However, he already finds Yukio there, explaining that she's been building a resistance to high temperatures so she can run the inn better. She laments her lack of guests, explaining that she started her homestay at the hot springs and became extremely close to the young heir who she's clearly wanting to marry. The young man having built a special bath for her due to her physiology. She thus came upon the idea of refurbishing the resort so it could cater to Liminals. She partly blames herself, saying she can't smile like he does, though Kurusu notes she was grinning unconsciously when thinking of her beloved young master.
However, this caused Yukio to lose control of her composure and nearly freeze Kurusu. Embarrassed beyond belief at her actions, she claims she'll shut her doors but she is convinced to keep her inn open, the resort hosting special events where Liminal guests and prospective homestay hosts can meet. She also learned how to actively smile, making a huge difference in how she comes across to others.[2]
Afterwards, she forced the guests to write a report about their experiences in the inn.[3]
Sometime later, Yukio employed Kimihito and the girls living in his home to disengage any sexual behavior by any monster girls during mix-bathing dating events as some of them got hanky panky when they found a male human they were interested in which was violating the rules of the resort.
Zoological Classification[]
- Main article: Yokai
A Yuki-onna (雪女) is a psudeohuman that appears in Japanese folklore as a snow spirit of inhuman beauty that appears before travelers trapped in snowstorms with the purpose of killing them.
While the Yuki-onna race is not inherently malevolent, their stoic demeanor and their natural environment being hazardous to humans, may have given rise to myths that they intentionally cause deaths.
While possessing elemental control over ice and snow, Yuki-onna can not live in high temperate environments without assistance.
Trivia[]
- Yukio first appeared not in the manga series proper, but in a four panel manga on Okayado's Twitter feed.
- She is dating the son of the owners of the resort. In a later bonus comic it is revealed that the two had become engaged.
- Like most characters, her name is a pun on the name of her species, in this case Yuki-Onna.
- Similar to Yuki from Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls Online, Yukio's name is also a reference in Japanese for "Snow" (雪 Yuki?).
- The okami not only bears the greatest responsibility for waiting on and taking care of guests but also acts as the chief service manager on behalf of the ryokan. The okami's role corresponds to that of a general manager in a Western hotel. In many cases, the okami is the owner of the ryokan or the wife of the owner, which means that the okami, as the representative of the ryokan, attends to all external affairs such as business matters and cooperation with the local community. Among the numerous ryokans which have developed as family businesses, the okami has constantly supervised guest service in general and continues to play the central role. For this reason, many of the ryokans have been handed down through successive generations within the same family. The traditions of ryokans are often preserved by three generations together, namely the oo-okami (grand okami), the okami, and the waka-okami (young okami). In the majority of ryokans, the role of the okami is handed down from mother to daughter or to daughter-in-law. In either case, the younger generation studies under the older generation, and devotes herself to mastering the responsibilities and principles of the position of okami.
References[]