but in the fandom world. some of us would like to hate her, love her., make her evil, sad, good, nice. even dead!! it all really depends. I personally am a Tsuzuki Muraki fan so ofcourse to me she is just the other thing in Muraki's life^^

Umm, interesting. I realize that she was not mentioned in the anime. A lot of text regarding the series mentions that she is his fiancée, yet I am unsure of where in the manga people draw that conclusion -- not saying it is not a valid one since I have yet to read most of the volumes.

Their relationship seems a little strange to me. I mean, she only knows a little bit about Muraki (and he probably tries to keep it that way). That's why I think there's a stronger bond between Muraki and Oriya, because Oriya knows everything about Muraki, and he still stays by his side (but I'm terribly biased that way). I wonder what would happen if Ukyo discovered Muraki's hobbies... that happens in my fic, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol".

I change my mind a lot about her. Problem: she's 'competition' and I have this nightmare of M going good for her and saving her and all that and then boom, end of series. Shudder.

M and O do have a lot of history but I think they're more friends than anything else. Overall, Ukyou is an odd one out, though she does reveal a bit of M's human side.

ehhh...i never read the manga, b/c i couldn't get into it. i dont really know who this Ukyou character is, but judging by what everyone else is saying...i'm guessing Ukyou's some chick who was involved with Muraki at one point of his life?

anyway, i can't really say anything about this pairing, b/c i should read the manga and find out first before i say anything against it. but me, being the obsessive Muraki and yaoi fangirl, i think that any chick involved with Muraki is just a hindrance to Muraki X Tsuzuki. ^w^ that pairing is just...zomgyaoinesh!! X3

I'm quite fond of this pairing, though I like Muraki/Ukyou/Oriya even better. She's quite clearly very, very important to him. It's her he thinks of as he "dies" in volume 8, and unless I'm mistaken, she's the only person he ever apologizes to (though not to her face). It would make sense that Muraki would keep some distance between them, in the interest of protecting her both from what he really is and from whatever dark forces might come after her. However, they obviously do see each other. Muraki only invited Tsuzuki to the Noh play in volume 7 because Ukyou canceled. (Poor Tsuzuki, having to play sloppy seconds.)

I cannot STAND that pairing!

Besides, it was quite insignificant as no one has ever written a fic about those two. It will always be Muraki/Tsuzuki as those two have chemistry in spades! Muraki's feelings toward what's-her-name are quite minimal and he was more annoyed than anything with her. He was glad to be rid of her to pursue his true obsession...that's right, Tsuzuki!

No fic written about them? I must beg to differ. There's Because the Dead so Soon Grow Cold (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1761578/1/Because_the_Dead_so_Soon_Grow_Cold) by Falstaff, a story by nekokatechan (http://community.livejournal.com/yami_no_matsuei/208791.html#cutid11), and she plays an important role in Evil Asian Genius' The First Death (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1247857/1/The_First_Death).

As for the rest, I must ask where in canon you're getting it from. He never "got rid of her." She canceled their date, not him. In the fire he doesn't think of Tsuzuki or Oriya, but apologizes to her, and thinks that he wishes he could have saved her.

From the Sakura Crisis scanlations of volume 7:

Oriya: Hey Muraki, it's for you.

Muraki: What is it? Oriya, I am in the middle of a meal. Tell whoever it is I am presently in the middle of my boiled rice with tea.

Oriya: Oh really? You really want me to say that? It's a call from precious Ukyou-chan.

Muraki: (he stops eating and looks up) Ukyou?

Then later:

Muraki: By the way, Tsuzuki-san? Are you free tonight?

Tsuzuki: Eh?

Muraki: I have tickets for Takigi Nou. Would you like to with me? (I assume that Sakura Crisis made a mistake and left out the "come.")

Tsuzuki: Wha...!? Why me!!!

Muraki: Actually, I had plans to go with some one else. But circumstances have interfered. (He smiles, pulls out a rose, and puts his hand to forehead dramatically.) The woman with the crime of jilting me, Ukyou. (Remember that he's smiling as he says this, and it's not an evil, creepy smile.) Even though we hardly get to see each other.

(Matsushita's text reads, "In his own world." Even in a room alone with Tsuzuki, he's in his own world when he thinks about Ukyou.)

And the Sakura Crisis scanlations from volume 8:

Muraki: Ukyou... Please forgive me... I... In the end I couldn't help you... I couldn't do anything... for you. I no longer have any place to return to... Goodbye... Ukyou... Please... Please stay well... For leaving you behind, please forgive me...

Can you honestly try and tell me that he found her nothing but an annoyance? Really?

I'm not saying that you can't ship Muraki/Tsuzuki. I'm not even denying that they have sexual tension. I'm just saying that it's factually incorrect to claim that Muraki doesn't care about Ukyou. It's not as as if you can't ship Muraki/Tsuzuki anyway. Muraki's a big evil s*lut. And if you really hate her so much, it's easy to ignore her if you stick to anime canon.

As for me, I rather like the idea of Oriya and Tsuzuki getting together to gripe.

Oriya: I cover up his murders, I give him a place to stay, I fight dead people for him. But does he ever apologize to me? Does he give me a passing thought while he "dies?" No of course not! Just darling Ukyou-chan!

Tsuzuki: I can't believe that I was his second choice! He talks about my perfect body and about being captivated by me, but he only asks me out if his girlfriend can't make it! And he spaces out and thinks of her when I'm right in the room!

Oriya: That bastard!

AND THEN THEY HAD SEX. Or not; I don't know. I just like typing AND THEN THEY HAD SEX.

I'll just drop in here...

Like Jollyolly, I do hate this pairing with all my heart, soul, and flames, but I agree that there is validity to it, if left somewhat ambiguous in the manga and entirely nonexistent in the anime.

Actually, what I found most interesting about the Kyoto arc and Ukyou was not just the scene where Muraki apologizes to Ukyou, but the fact that it doesn't look like he warned her before going off. He went all the way to that shrine and says good-bye to Oriya, and doesn't say anything to the woman he was thinking of? And following that into the side-stories, their relationship seems a little...strange. M actually does reappear eventually (the manga was very confusing at this point, I think some sort of demon brought him back. He was wearing a very nice kimono-thingy), yet Ukyou's behavior...well, it was certainly devoted.

And then there's the question, does she know about Muraki's double-life? Probably not. And if he does go to hide it from her, what does that say about the pairing? 'Protecting her from his freaky evil-ness' and the hundreds he's probably p.o'ed at some point during his career MIGHT be a legitimate reason, particularly since she seems unhealthy/frail, but it's a little weird how Oriya knows Muraki a lot better than she does. If she doesn't know about his crimes, that implies that she doesn't know about whatever events in his past might have led up to that, and if she doesn't know any of that, then...there a lot of conclusions to be drawn here...

Long story short, I don't like her much. Especially since we only see her in the later stories where the art's all weird, so we're denied even the chance to make fun of her looks. Ah, well.

Wasn't it 'go-to-hell soup'? That's what is said in my #8.

Wasn't it 'go-to-hell soup'? That's what is said in my #8.

That's the Viz translation. I trust them less. They screw things up and censor things.

I doubt that Muraki has told Ukyou anything about his... other activities. The most common interpretation, and one that I agree with, is that Ukyou represents something "pure" to him. If he got her involved in the raping, murdering, and organ harvesting like he has Oriya, he would sully her. It's very easy to read Muraki as being a misogynist, so Ukyou could be the other half of some "Virgin/W*hore" mentality

I think you're exactly right in noting that Oriya knows much more about Muraki than Ukyou does. Muraki love's Ukyou, is obsessed and infatuated with Tsuzuki, but Oriya is his only friend, the only person he's close to.

True true...an argument over Ukyou eventually brings up the whole 'he wants to keep her pure' argument. At first glance it's sound: in order to maintain her 'innocence', he does not allow her to witness all his freakishness. Of course, I can't help but think that this relates more to HIS innocence, b/c the thought that she might somehow be tainted by seeing something like that seems a little murky. Tainted how? Literally? Figuratively? What what what?

But whenever I've asked about the logic behind this argument, all I get is the premise repeated back at me. Why does he bother to keep her protected? Is it because he loves her? But then, why does he keep her 'pure'? Loving someone and 'keeping them pure' don't automatically equate. He says in the 7th book (of course, this could just be my crappy Viz version) that he believes that he can always redeem himself after every crime, no matter what it is. And incidences in the anime seem to support this; i.e., his constant association with Christian churches. Then why does he bother protecting her, if this doesn't really suit the rest of his beliefs?

Yes, M can seem like a misogynist, given the possibility of him having killed his mother and his cruel treatment of any and all female victims: Maria, Tsubaki, Oriya's actual whores, etc...so then, M might be protecting her from...himself? The foundation for this is running a little thin, and this one doesn't really explain the why behind it.

Yes, there may be a couple written about them...but none that I would want to acknowledge. It's the same for the Tsu/His ones out there...they just don't exist. Hisoka who?

And of course he found her annoying! Just from his reply to her alone you can tell she meant nothing to him. And it's quite easy to ignore her. Factually doesn't really count here as there's been many fics written that go beyond the anime AND manga and people have simply ignored Ukyou for good reason. Tsuzuki's been paired with so many, but the stories written about him and Muraki have come up more often.

But others share that opinion of her and of those three or four stories written...well, it was something different.

Tsu/His fics are rare? Maybe I misunderstood that, it always seemed to me that they were a staple...that's an interesting question, though. Just what pairing is the most common? Whatever it is, it'll definitely have Tsu in it.

About Muraki's reply, was this when she called him to cancel the Noh play thing? I don't think his reaction was really annoyance, though he didn't seem terribly disappointed when he decided to force Tsu to go with him instead...hmm, so inconsistent.

But that's definitely true: she is easy to ignore. Technically she was established back in book 3, yet we never really come into direct contact with her until the side-stories, which are pretty difficult to find and then read easily. So all fics of here are pretty speculative, which would explain why there are so few. After all, to explain the pairing would require a major study of Muraki's character, particularly his good-bye's in the Kyoto Arc, so I'm not surprised not many people try it. Also, it's less fun (in my opinion, anyway...I don't know anybody who likes her).

She is obviously a cliché character by name only towards Muraki‘s good side. She was probably thrown in there to make for some story idea or to show that Muraki did have a heart and was not just a serial homicidal manic on a rampage of revenge and hate. As many have said her name was not even mentioned in the anime so her character itself was not irrelevant to begin with.

Mastsushita to me seemed to add to the characters as she went from story to story. Tsuzuki was not even suppose to be the main character at first. But I am glad she did make him the leading role :)

I agree! She's a cipher, put in as an afterthought to explain a softer side to Muraki. She may have been a minor character in the manga but by no means was she a popular figure. She pretty much got in the way of things. I'm glad she was taken out in the anime.

Hmmm...it's probably about time to let this argument rest, but...

I definitely agree that Ukyou is not very well-developed in the manga, which explains why she isn't included in the anime (to avoid loose ends), and when we do see her all we see is a slightly paler version of Tsubaki in the Camelia storyline before she goes all Eileen on us.

However, the argument that she's only there to show off Muraki's good side actually supports her. That means she has a purpose and thus is very important to the canon. Plus, you could extend that idea and say that Tsu and His are only around to show off Muraki's bad side, or Muraki only exists to develop Tsuzuki's guilt. Basically, even if the author put in a character for a stupid reason, once they're in the canon/fandom, they take on a life of their own.

Muraki himself was intended as a one-time villain, but he caught on, being her best formula. Absent writer is quite correct. Matsushita can't write women, so I was personally hoping that Ukyou would never appear, anywhere, because she would be pathetic if Matsushita wrote her. (I was actually rooting for her to be the hugely evil force that pulled Muraki out of the flames in volume eight...sadly, no, my feminism will have to go wilt in the corner.) She was a very interesting idea right up until someone summarized the extras in which she appears.

You know what? Bah! I'll make up whatever Ukyou I want.

She gets in the way of true love between Muraki and Tsuzuki, check, but Muraki has always done that perfectly well on his own. Here's a theory for why he doesn't see her too often, though: he knows himself well enough to know that he is hopeless at relationships, that he always hurts people, intentionally, both for pleasure and out of his own fear, that if he came too close he would hurt her at least as much as he does Oriya, and perhaps more beyond that if he began to feel powerless. So for Ukyou's sake he keeps away. Not for her purity, or any abstract romantic ideas like that (though I don't put that past him, either) but simply because, alone out of all the world, he doesn't want to hurt her.

...this puts a much better face on Muraki than anything I'd considered hitherto. Ukyou's actually a headache for me, because up until volume eight I had thought he fairly peripheral myself, and had a half-finished manychapter fic predicated on issues involving his mother, and then I finally purchased volume eight and Ukyou turned out to be a central pillar of his psyche. I've been trying to rework the piece for months.

Yes, I know I just posted on a forum that's been dead since May. Maybe someone will read it anyway. :D

Like it was said earlier, I think Ukyo was only added to the story to show Muraki's human side. To show that he is capable in love. I don't really think she gets in between the relationship between Muraki and Tsuzuki because they are both different kinds of relationships. The MurakiXUkyo relationship is a relationship that only deals with love while the MurakiXTsuzuki relationship is mostly a one sided relationship because Tsuzuki shows no love to Muraki. I do agree though that Muraki keeps a distance from her to prevent him from hurting her. Plus, a taken Muraki wouldn't be to good to the plot.

Er...I think the plot goes fine with Muraki 'taken,' since his actually falling in love and/or establishing any kind of vaguely healthy relationship with any of our known characters is not on the schedule. Plots of fanfics that wish to have him do so become better fics if they deal with the issue of his love for Ukyou instead of ignoring her, because that would make for some actual interesting writing, but I've never seen anyone do so, myself. Muraki's feelings for Tsuzuki are an obvious mess, like the rest of his head, but at last clocking he was planning to behead him, which I don't find terribly romantic, or even sexual. Definitely different than the way he looks at Ukyou, anyway.

Ukyou, along with Oriya, and and Oriya's 'in his way, Muraki's fighting for the same things you are,' and Oriya's flashbacks about sad-eyed teenage Muraki saying things like 'even if you didn't mean it, would you shed one tear for me?' and further disembodied flashbacks to him looking exactly like a little Hisoka, terrified of his awful mother, and the bits where he was narrating almost unintelligibly, etc.; all meant to humanize Muraki. Very true. Awfully boring if he wasn't human, right?

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