Tsumugi Shiraui (白羽衣 つむぎ Shiraui Tsumugi) was a Gauna-Human hybrid, a Chimera, created by Ochiai and Kunato Developments for fighting against the Gauna. Though secretly she was made from the placenta of Gauna 491 in the form of Shizuka Hoshijiro by impregnating 'her' with a human embryo. At the end of last Gauna War, she married Nagate Tanikaze and settled in Lem VII, where they had a daughter named Nodoka.
Tsumugi was created to be a bio-weapon of mass destruction by Ochiai (possessing the body of Norio Kunato) using the resources of Kunato Industries. By combining Gauna 491 with a human embryo, Ochiai perfected the Gauna-human experiments that he failed nearly 100 years ago. The end-product was a chimera with enough destructive power to destroy a Mass Union Ship, but one that serves the interests of Sidonia.
Despite being a stunningly powerful monster, Tsumugi has the heart of a young girl. She's playful and kind-hearted, fascinated even by the most mundane things, and enjoys exploring the world of Sidonia. It is hinted that her personality is actually the remnants of Hoshijiro's own personality through her mother. Tsumugi even sounds like Hoshijiro when she talks, although it is not confirmed whether she is in some way a reincarnation of Hoshijiro. Even though Tsumugi is aware that she's part Gauna, she chooses to defend Sidonia for her father and for the friends she made in the Sidonia. After surviving an attack by a swarm of Gauna, she swore that she wouldn't allow such things to happen to any of her comrades, solidifying her resolve to defeat them all.
When not in combat she can be rather playful, especially with Nagate, Izana and Yuhata, whom she spends the most time with. Due to her being about the size of a Guardian, she often interacts with people by extending her probe worm-like body through the pipes of Sidonia to have a life beyond the hangar. Her probe body can mimic human bodies, analyze the composition of objects, and can even probe the minds of people when they're unconscious.
During the brief sortie with Tsuruuchi, she knew of his personality and played with him. After a comment on her and Nagate's relationship, she accepted the offer to fly with him at the end of the work shift. She proceeded to take off at a blinding speed through the Construction site with him in tow, taking an incredibly convoluted flight path. Afterwards, she was noted to grin at the shell-shocked Tsuruuchi, who could not keep up with the rapid maneuvers or acceleration.
Skills & Abilities[]
Tsumugi destroying a Gauna
As a Chimera she possess the numerous abilities the Gauna are known for, including hyper-fast growth and adjusting her placenta to form weapons such as tendrils to attack her enemies, though against the Gauna she mainly uses artificial Kabi claws, allowing her to cut through multiple Gauna easily, being able to destroy their true bodies as well.
In combat, Tsumugi has enough power to take on the might of a Mass Union Ship. Although her hands are gentle enough to handle a human, she can transform them to unveil Kabi-claws that allow her to destroy Gauna faster and more effectively than Guardian pilots. She can also manipulate her placenta to toughen her defenses and deflect powerful attacks. On several occasions where she had taken critical damage, she has accelerated regeneration capabilities and has proven to be able to regrow her body in a matter of days.
Like the Guardians and Gauna, the source of her powers are based on Heigus Particles. She can use those particles, along with her ability to change the placenta of her body into new configurations, to create beam weapons to blow away enemy targets. However, she relies on the particles to sustain herself in addition to using them for ammunition and fuel, and therefore is vulnerable should she run out or be drained.
She can detect any Gauna nearby and greatly magnify her sight, making her almost completely aware of her surroundings to a distance comparable to the range of the Sidonia's long range sensors. In terms of speed, she is much faster than most of the initial Guardians, being able to catch up to them even without a clasp formation.
When in probe form, she is capable of transforming herself into any shape she desires, imitating Hoshijiro's form on one occasion, though she never does so again due to Nagate scolding her for it.
Tsumugi mimicing Hoshijiro's appearance.
Appearance[]
Tsumugi in her probe form
Befitting her hybrid nature, she looks like a humanoid Gauna. She is about as big as a Guardian and looks like a woman in a gown of some sort. Though her face is mostly covered by a layer of placenta resembling a mask, she has teeth and eyes beneath it, with one eye being covered by the placenta. Despite this, however, she is capable of showing facial emotions, noted by Nagate, much to her embarrassment.
When not in battle, she utilizes a probe of herself connected by a long tentacle of Placenta to her main body to move around Sidonia through the pipes. This version of herself has a single eye in the middle with two tentacles or more if necessary, that act as 'arms'.
History[]
Ochiai's Return & Tsumugi's Creation[]
Ochiai, premier scientist of his time and former Immortal Ship Committee member, betrayed Sidonia nearly a century prior to the main series and was responsible for the near complete destruction of the ship. Ochiai's first experimental chimera hybrid was met with disastrous results, nearly ruining Sidonia. Although detained, his genius couldn't be denied and the surviving leadership of Sidonia decided to preserve his mind in a giant storage device and destroyed his body, though they would occasionally return to the storage device in hopes of uncovering more of Ochiai's secrets. However, he anticipated such an outcome could come and made a backup personality through his Blood Nematodes. It would be 100 years until he would return.
The Kunato Family was associated with Ochiai and they sealed away his laboratory for a century until Norio Kunato decided to investigate. Norio unsealed the forgotten laboratory, though this would be Norio's undoing as his body was quickly neutralized by a doll-like drone. A Blood Nematode containing Ochiai's personality then took over Norio and took control of Kunato Developments. He would quietly consolidate his resources to make big changes to Sidonia.
At the time, Nagate managed to capture a placental clone of Hoshijiro. Sidonia's scientists put the Gauna specimen in observation, but Ochiai (As Kunato) managed to convince his unsuspecting former friend and commander of Sidonia, Kobayashi, to allow him to test and experiment on Placental Hoshijiro. Utilizing his past experience, he impregnated the clone with human DNA and it didn't take long for it to give birth to Tsumugi. However, Tsumugi remained incomplete.
Tsumugi wasn't physically conditioned for combat yet, but he made enough of her to prove to Yure Shinatose his success in perfecting the process where Ochiai failed in the past. Yure later reached out to Kobayashi to gain approval to continue his experiments. With Sidonia desperate for weapons capable of turning the tide of the conflict, the chimera experiment was approved and Ochiai would bring himself greater power, influence, and scientific data.
First Sortie & Public Debut[]
Life with Nagate & War with Gauna[]
A Date with Nagate & Love Confession[]
Before the major operation to take out a mass union ship within LEM-VII, Nagate asked Tsumugi to spend the whole day with him. Never once able to venture within the confines of Sidonia with her actual body, Nagate got permission for the two to fly within Sidonia; he intended to tour the insides of Sidonia with his Tsugumori Custom 2 unit with Tsumugi. Nervous and excited, Tsumugi was able to have a up-close and personal view of Sidonia's residential area and experienced going to the beach for the first time. It was there at the beach that Nagate made his declaration of love for Tsumugi.
Nagate told Tsumugi that he hopeed to have more experiences with her and it tearfully touched her. Surprised, she would start to cry, admitting that she always wanted to be seen by him as a normal-sized girl. However, Nagate didn't mind the fact that she wasn't human and the 15 meter difference in their sizes. He told her that he wanted to live as long as possible to be with her and confessed that "I like you Tsumugi!"
Shocked by Nagate's confession, Tsumugi fainted, falling into the artificial sea. So overwhelmed that she heated up, her contact with the sea actually evaporated some of the water, the steam burning Nagate. They sealed their relationship with Nagate kissing her and the two spent their remaining time floating, taking a blissful nap together. Unfortunately, Ochiai inconveniently disrupted their time as he finally revealed himself back to Sidonia.
Kanata's Escape & Ochiai's 2nd Insurrection[]
Kanata was Tsumugi's younger chimera brother. However, his existence up until that point was kept secret and known to only a few within Sidonia. Ochiai, within Norio's body, utilized his experience in creating Tsumugi to create Kanata, but the chimera proved to be a challenge and nearly caused a major incident earlier; whereafter he was deemed uncontrollable and too dangerous. Kanata's higher functions were stopped with a control stake and Sidonia command had planned for his dismantling until Ochiai intervened.
Secretly, Ochiai learned where he went wrong with Kanata and already had the solution to correct Kanata; he chose to use this as his opportunity to escape instead. Although Ochiai enjoyed taking advantage of Norio's body and utilizing Kunato Developments, he felt it was time to depart as he has everything he needs to survive on his own. Having planned his departure ahead of Sidona's security, he had the enslaved Mozuku Kunato help him escape by sabotaging Tsugumori Custom 2 and killing whoever was in their way for his escape. Just as Sidonia Command was about to dismantle Kanata, Ochiai made his re-appearance and escaped with Kanata, not once including nor informing Tsumugi of his situation. Both Nagate and Tsumugi launched to prevent Ochiai's calamity.
The Battle for Lem-VII[]
An operation was started by Captain Kobayashi to attack the large Mass Union ship orbiting Lem-VII with the use of three fleets of Mizuki-type ships, two of them carrying experimental gravitational beam emitters. Izana was placed in the recon fleet, Yuhata in the first assault fleet, Nagate remained behind until his new type 20 Yukimori was complete, and Tsumugi was placed with the second assault fleet. As the operation proceeded, the second assault fleet was intercepted by a mass union ship that overshadowed the fleet, the guardians and Tsumugi being deployed to defend the Gravitational beam emitter.
During the battle, a huge Higgs Particle beam fired from the mass union ship hit the emitter, causing an explosion that took out the whole fleet, the mass union ship and everyone in it. It was hinted that there were no survivors, and the end of chapter 68 showed that all that was left of Tsumugi was her mangled tail. However, in chapter 72 it is revealed that Tsumugi was alive along with one ship from the second assault fleet, though in a critical state. After his arrival in his new Type 20, Nagate resolved to fly her himself to the first assault fleet where she could be submerged in a vat for more intensive healing.
Saving Nagate & Death[]
After Nagate left her with the first assault fleet to recover, he raced towards the Lem Star to face Ochiai and reclaim the converter. The battle would be difficult due to the fact Ochiai intentionally held a controlled distance near the Lem Star, making it difficult for anyone to reach him as not many could resist the intensity of the heat. Ochiai also covered Kanata entirely in Megastructure, making himself practically invulnerable to all weapons save the Gravitational Beam Emitters.
Nagate gave chase through the inferno of the star, Kanata attacked and exposed parts of itself that Nagate can effectively damaged Kanata through its armored plating. Although not defeated, Ochiai was exposed to the elements of the sun and couldn't heal Kanata fast enough to make a difference in combat. Egotistically defiant to the end, Ochiai still believed he was critical to humanity's survival, even at the price of Sidonia. Nagate finished off Ochiai by destroying Kanata, vaporizing what was left of the chimera and taking Ochiai with it.
Although victorious, Negate's victory was only temporary. Yukimori's environmental control systems were compromised during the battle; the unit unable to properly seal away the intense heat, Nagate slowly being roasted alive inside his cockpit. Nagate's regenerative immortality allowed him to tolerate the extreme temperatures to a degree, but his skin was quite literally boiling from the extreme heat. He recovered the converter and attempted to fly through the harshest layer of heat, but even he knew there was a possibility he won't survive. Nagate placed Yukimori on autopilot, knowing that although his body might not make it, the unit could survive the extreme heat and still deliver the converter to the first assault fleet to complete the mission. Nagate would survive, but at the price of Tsumugi.
While healing inside the tank, Tsumugi was aware of the situation and decided to save the man she loved. She had only partially recovered from her battle and wasn't physically fit to sortie, but she defied commands and blew a hole through the ship to escape and immediately rushed to Nagate's aid. Using her own body, Tsumugi covered the Yukimori, giving the unit a chance to cool down. Nagate was vehemently against Tsumugi's actions and tried to convince her to turn back, but she stayed with him as the star slowly vaporized her. In her final moments, Nagate held onto Tsumugi as she said her last words; "Tanikaze, I was happy to be born into this world. Thank you." Tsumugi was completely vaporized, but Sidonia still took priority. He made it back to the assault fleet and delivered the converter to fire the gravitational beam and take out the mass union ship at Lem-VII. Sidonia had won, but at a terrible price.
Miraculous Return[]
While all believed that Tsumugi furrered a final death attempting to save Nagate from the Lem Star, a barely-alive wormlike fragment of her survived within the inner gap of Yukimori's armor. Yure Shinatose managed to reverse engineer the personality transfer technique from the deceased Ochiai and decided to fuse the Benisuzume-created Placental Hoshijiro with what was left of Tsumugi. The process worked and it successfully brought Tsumugi and Hoshijiro back to Nagate.
The Benisuzume Hoshijiro still retained memories and experiences of the original Hoshijiro, though after transferring Tsumugi's personality and memories into the same body a new person was created, making Tsumugi and Hoshijiro into a single entity. Although still technically part Gauna, Tsumugi's new body wass more human than Gauna; she can never regain her former body for anti-Gauna combat.
Although she had just recently gotten her new body, Tsumugi was eager to see Nagate. Still new and adapting to her human body, she managed her way to the rooftop to where Nagate was still overwhelmed with grief over her "passing." She tripped into Nagate, identified herself, and the two were happily reunited.
10 Years Later & Bidding Sidonia Farewell[]
A decade had passed and half of the Sidonians had now settled upon Lem-VII. The original reason why Sidonia fought so hard for the Lem System was to establish a permanent colony to ensure the survival of humanity. After the last great battle, Sidonia had successfully vaporized the giant Mass Union Ship that orbited Lem-VII, though the Gauna particles contaminated the entire planet, raising concerns that all their hard work and sacrifice was for nothing. However, Tsumugi simply said it was okay to settle and half the surviving Sidonians trusted her word to settle regardless of the potential fears.
Their faith in Tsumugi was rewarded as the Gauna particles somehow encouraged the planet to become more Earth-like, making the planet even more human-friendly. Tsumugi had by that point married Nagate and the two had a daughter together, Nodoka. Although originally looking like Benisuzume Hoshijiro, her body changed in appearance after the fusion process, giving her a unique look amongst her peers. Tsumugi herself has lived on the planet with Nagate, where she helps him on his environmental development projects. However, upon this day, Sidonia leaves once more.
That day marked the time when the remaining half of humanity will settle upon Lem-VII, while a smaller group will remain with Sidonia to discover new worlds and systems to help spread humanity across the stars. Both Nagate and Tsumugi came to bid their friends farewell, as Izana and Norio will be part of the new expedition team. As the family stood together over the stars, they watched Sidonia depart to new adventures.
Despite never having met prior to her debut, Tsumugi expresses a lot of concern and care for Nagate after meeting him for the first time and seeing him injured, even recognizing him. Among all the pilots, she appears to be very attached to Nagate, him being one of her earliest friends along with Izana. Throughout the series it is shown that they grew closer, even developing somewhat of a crush on him, appearing to be jealous when Nagate is alone with Izana. She expresses deep care for him even when he is feeling down, even once turning her probe form into Hoshijiro to help cheer him up, though this backfired, resulting in him scolding her. Their relatinship wasn't negatively impacted by the event.
Among all the pilots, she works best with Nagate, being able to destroy Gauna effectively with him as a team, to the point that some of the other pilots are amazed by their ability to work together. Later, Nagate invites her on a date and gets special clearance to allow her into the residential area. At the end of the date at the sea, Nagate confesses his love for her and his desire to spend the rest of his life with her, the shock of the revelation making her faint. From that moment they had a romantic relationship, both becoming very emotionally attached to the other, even to the point that when they were away from each other, they were impatient and eager to reunite.
They also seemed to sense when the other was in a life-threatening situation. In the end, similarly to Hoshijiro, Tsumugi was willing to sacrifice her life for Nagate, and in her final moments, she thanked him for everything he did for her.
Like Nagate, Tsumugi cares greatly for Izana, immediately becoming the best of friends after meeting each other personally in her probe form. She enjoys hanging out with Izana and her pet cat, which she enjoys playing with. When Izana was ambushed in a recon mission, she became frustrated and agitated when she wasn't allowed to go help, though this was remedied after some convincing from Kunato to Sasaki to allow her to go help, lest she lose control. Despite getting jealous when seeing her alone with Nagate, she still cares greatly for her.
Though initially Yuhata wasn't too keen on her living with Nagate and Izana, she eventually allowed it and soon they became close friends. Though there are times when they are a little on edge, like when Tsumugi tried to surprise Yuhata which made Yuhata break a leg of a model Guardian she was working on, they are still rather close. They are usually seen together in disgust or jealousy whenever Izana or Nagate spend some time alone together, going so far to spy on their 'date' from afar and making a point that their lies are easy to see through together.
It is shown that Tsumugi is rather close towards her 'father', obeying him and carrying out his wishes. Though it is unclear whether she knows of Kunato's true identity as Ochiai, she seems to care for him. This is most likely only one-sided, as Kunato appears to only care about using her to fulfill his own goals, and seemingly allows her to do what she wishes to avoid upsetting her, which would destroy any chance of him reaching his goals.
Image Gallery[]
Taking measurements.
Tsumugi's room.
Grumpy much.
Tsumugi meeting Izana probe-to-face for the first time.
Tsumugi meeting Nagate probe-to-face for the first time.
Tsumugi revealing herself to the broader Sidonian public for the first time
Tsumugi in her probe form in manga
illustrated by Yuki Moriyama
Tsumugi attempting to pose as Hoshijiro in the anime.
tsumugi and nagate's first kiss
tsumugi in her new body
tsumugi and nagate looking up into the stars with their daughter
Notes & Trivia[]
On the cover of Chapter 63, Nagate appears holding the hand of a girl. Given her clothes, this could be Tsumugi in human form.
