Summary
The titular team inThe Boysconsists of a great cast of characters. Hughie starts off as the most moralistic, although that has beentested in recent seasons. Butcher is charismatic, but also atextbook anti-hero, just as dangerous as the supes he despises. M.M. is the beleaguered Team Mom and often the voice of reason. Frenchie is a criminal with a mysterious past, a jack of all trades when it comes to criminality.Starlight started off as a naive member of The Seven who eventually joined up with The Boys to take down Vought and Homelander. Among all these great characters,Kimikostill manages to stand out.
Capable of regenerative healing and not afraid to use her super strength to rip people’s faces off, Kimiko Miyashiro is not just the first woman inThe Boys, but the first supe as well. Over the course of the series, she has progressed from being practically feral and distrustful to becoming a full-fledged part of the team. Season 3 showed Kimiko’s interest in music, particularly singing. It even included a fantasy sequence where she imagines herself singing “I Got Rhythm” in a full-fledged musical number, dancing with Frenchie around the hospital.
However, above all else, perhaps one thing has stood out about Kimiko the most: she doesn’t speak. Or at least she didn’t up until theseason 4 finale. Prior to that, she communicated using a specific kind of sign language. This was neither American Sign Language (ASL) nor Japanese Sign Language (JSL); it was unique to her. So what’s the story behind it?
The Origin of Kimiko’s Mutism
In Season 2, Episode 3 “Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men,” Frenchie explains to Kimiko’s brother, Kenji, that he wants to help her. Kenji tells Frenchie tha she can’t speak due to the trauma of seeing their parents murdered by The Shining Light Liberation Army.
However, Kimiko later confesses that she never told Kenji the real reason. In Season 4, Episode 7 “The Insider,” Kimiko tells Frenchie that she can’t speak becauseshe had to kill other young girls to survivein The Shining Light Liberation Army Camp. Karen Fukuhara, who plays Kimiko, has also confirmed thatKimiko’s mutism is non-physical. Guilt was what left her silent.
A Special Kind of Sign Language
In Season 2, when Kimiko and Kenji communicate using sign language, Frenchie notes that it doesn’t look like any sign language he’s seen. This is because Kimiko and Kenji developed this language on their own out of necessity and survival. It makes sense that because they came from a hearing background, they would not have known JSL or any other pre-existing sign language.Behind the scenes, part of this was also because someone onThe Boys, like M.M., might have known ASL, so the language was unique to Kimiko and Kenji.
To prepare for this facet of her character, Fukuhara worked with Amanda Richer, who also coached Sally Hawkins inThe Shape of Water,to create the new sign language.
Language is a Big Part of Kimiko’s Character Arc
At the end of Season 2, Kimiko begins teaching Frenchie her sign language. For Kimiko, who started off very guarded due to her traumatic past, this was a huge step. Frenchie had spent most of the season asking Kimiko to teach him because he wanted to understand her, to get closer to her. When she began teaching him, she was finally letting someone in, using a very special (and previously private) language. In Season 3, when she imagines herself singing with Frenchie, she starts off by beginning to speak to Frenchie. He’s the one person she fantasizes about talking to and singing with. Just imagining speaking and singing is so powerful, she leans in to kiss him, able to accept her feelings for him. Although it doesn’t go well at first, the two eventually discuss their hangups, and they are able to share a proper kiss in Season 4.
In the Season 4 finale, Kimiko finally breaks her silence in anguish when she sees Frenchie taken away afterCate uses her mind control powers on him. At that moment, the pain of seeing the man she loves get caught is stronger than the guilt she feels for her past actions. Although heartbreaking, it illustrates that Kimiko is evolving.
AsThe Boysheads into its final season, fans are eager to see how each of their favorite character’s stories ends. Naturally, a lot of the focus will be on Hughie, Butcher, and Homelander. However, Kimiko has always been a standout addition to the team, certainlyone of the best female characterson the show, and she deserves a satisfying ending. Perhaps she might even get to sing, not just in her imagination, but to Frenchie in person. Who could ask for anything more?
