Kimi no Kakera

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Kimi no Kakera
Shiro (left) and Icoro (right)
きみのカケラ
Genre	Fantasy, Shōnen
Manga
Author	Shin Takahashi
Publisher	Shogakukan, Inc.
Magazine	Shōnen Sunday
Original run	2002 – ongoing
Volumes	6

Kimi no Kakera (きみのカケラ, Kimi no Kakera^?) is a manga by Shin Takahashi that is focused on a thirteen-year-old girl by the name of Icoro. She is the princess of the "Upper World", a world where snow is always falling and even princesses like her are forced to wake up at 4 a.m. and go to bed at midnight, learning and working the rest of the day. The Upper World is a "country of night", surrounded by four sides of towering walls. This is a country of ice, where the temperature is always below freezing. This is a country of winter, where the snow is always piling up.

[edit] Story

Icoro lives with her "Gramma", or Shah, her servant and her blind young brother Mataku. Her parents have left them for an unknown fate. Apparently, her parents are seeking out the legend of a "sun", a mystical bright heat source that can keep the Upper World from being buried beneath the ever-falling snow. Icoro also has another servant: Kuro, a monkey-like little chibi. Icoro's status, aside from Kuro and Shah, has not been recognized. This is because of Icoro's mystical illness: Hirogata; "...a word that has been used in this world for years and years, the origins long lost in the mists of time."

Hirogata can mean several things. For instance, it can simply be a doll in the form of a human, or an ornament or decoration that is missing a piece of itself. However, it is especially used in secret to disdain a child that is missing one of the core human emotions: joy, anger, pathos and humor." Since birth, Icoro has never once smiled.

Then one day, Icoro's dinner with her brother is interrupted by a strange boy crashing through the ceiling. On further inspection, Icoro finds that the boy is wearing manacles and has white hair, but before she can fully realize what is going on, she hears a scream and rushes upstairs to find the "Warmonger Tribe" demanding the Hirogata.

The story continues, following the boy, who has lost his memory, who is dubbed Shiro, and Icoro and Shiro, rushing towards the "Lower World", decide that the two will find a sun. They are Hirogatas. Icoro, who can never feel joy, and Shiro, who can never feel pain. This is an example of the duality theme presented in the series.

[edit] Characters

Icoro (イコロ, Icoro^?): Princess of the snow country, a 13 year old prodigy who has skipped 6 grades and has only books as her constant companionship. She is constantly ostracized as a result of her inability to smile and the declining position of the royal house. "Icoro" means "treasure" in the language of her country.

Shiro (シロ, Shiro^?): The amnesiac boy who cannot feel pain. Icoro names him "Shiro" based on his white hair, but it also means "missing piece" in the language of her country. His constant question "Are you foe or friend?" is supposedly a teaching from his grandfather, the man who brought him up.

Mataku (マタク, Mataku^?): Icoro's blind younger brother.