REMEMBER: A Memoir

Kira Yukimura: @JustSav

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REMEMBER: A MEMOIR

FOUR:

I wish I could say that when I first found out a new character, a new love interest for Scott, would appear on the show I was furious. In my head I was thinking why do we need a new character, why does Scott and Allison break up, how will Kira ever be useful in a story line for something as awesome as Teen Wolf?

I'm sure we all thought the same when we realized that with Kira coming into the picture Scott and Allison is over, this time for real. I don't know it just pissed me because this was the first ever onscreen couple I really truly loved and maybe it was because it fed into my fantasy of how a high school relationship is. We all wanted guys like Scott who would look at you as if you're everything and we all wanted an Allison or to be Allison, to feel confident and to feel that no matter how bad your life may be you'll be fine eventually.

I think I was still in middle school when I first found out, and I'm going to be straight up, I was broke and I didn't have cable TV so I was never able to actively watch Teen Wolf until a new episode was posted on the website. And I was preparing myself to hate this character I didn't realize I would love so much later on.

But I couldn't, I simply could not hate Kira Yukimura. And I'm not sure if it was because I loved Arden Cho so much, but maybe it was because she was Asian. Okay in my defense I didn't know Kira was Japanese/Korean, I only heard her first name. But I remember thinking, "she's like me, I can relate to her now." And no I didn't really mean personality wise. Because for the first time in my life I saw a character that went against all stereotypes. Maybe it's because as an Asian American myself that I felt like I could finally relate to a character. I realized right away she wasn't going to be an Asian role I expected with good grades or an accent or someone with a family who mistreated her. I didn't realize how tired I was of that until Kira.

I love Kira so much. Maybe it was how quirky she was or how much innocence she bared. There was one scene where I just adored her and it was when she admitted she wasn't passing a class, that to me sealed the deal. With a whole stereotype pressed against Asians for having to have good grades and stuff like that I felt relieved.

As a character she was always so careful and shy. I couldn't forget how insecure she felt during season 3b, especially when everyone realized that Allison and Scott really were ending. She worried about fitting in, she worried about being compared to others, she worried about being replaced if she wasn't of use. This is a girl who helped a lot of people because she wanted friends and it's awing that she did so much for something as fundamental as friends or having someone around. She developed so much from in her debut season where she has this hatred towards Noshiko for hiding a secret from her. She grew to understand her mother and realize that her mother did everything for her and I cannot express how much I love family relationships and how they grow. Season 4 showed a side of her where she really was ready to lay it all down for her friends. You know here you see this girl who's dealing with school, her parents wanting to move, and the guy she likes grieving over his first love. Kira has always maintained her composure and been patient, but she was always insecure about whether she was an important asset or if she can really be somebody for Scott.

I think a lot of people don't like Kira because of how drastically different she is compared towards Allison. We have this badass hunter who literally held a condom in front of her family members to a girl who gets embarrassed by her dad even speaking to her about crush on Scott. Not many people liked the change, but it was refreshing because we could all relate to that. Not all of us are badasses and we have Kira telling us that it's okay.

I was beyond upset to find out that she wouldn't be in season 6 and I felt angered towards Jeff Davis. I've personally never held such resentment towards a change in character or a story line more than the one for Kira. And it's because she never had closure, she was pushed away, she was thought to be useless and it breaks my heart to know that this girl has done so much for the pack that she never got to have closure. She never got to show her full potential and she has to make yet another sacrifice.

Kira was more than just a character to me as cheesy as it may be, but it's true. She was someone who broke down that wall of media for me. When I saw a male character falling in love with a girl I didn't think, "Oh that can't be me, I can't have that, I look nothing like her." But with all the people of color and lgbtq community in a show like Teen Wolf it gave people like me hope, like, "Oh that is me. I can do that. I can have that too."

I've talked so much about my love for Kira. But I'll end it here. Teen Wolf has been an adventure — an emotional one — for all of us. We've grown with the characters as well, we felt what they did, and we got to experience emotions with them. So let's come and love the histories and memories marked upon us all with the end of Teen Wolf.

And in my mind maybe Kira finally did get that happy ending.

— JustSav

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