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| This article is about Mira Kanō, otherwise known as the Queen of Hearts. If you are looking for the Queen of Hearts game, click here for the one played in the current immigration period or here for the one played in the previous immigration period. |
—Mira in the manga Chapter 31
Mira Kano (加納 未来 Kanō Mira?) was the Queen of Hearts in the Borderlands.
Appearance[]
Mira is a young to middle-aged woman. Her defining features are her long, straight, dark hair with bangs, and large eyes. In fact, Mira is usually seen with her signature intense wide-eyed gaze. She is often depicted wearing dark-coloured clothes, and holding a pink parasol during her stay as a Player.
Personality[]
Mira is a deeply enigmatic and mysterious woman. Her backstory is not shared in detail other than that she was a psychiatrist and neuroscientist in the real world. She is highly apathetic, but is intrigued at happenings that reveal some insight about human nature, such as when Suguru Niragi incites The Beach players into starting the witch hunt during the Ten of Hearts game, or when Yuzuha Usagi slashes her wrist during the Queen of Hearts game to bring Ryohei Arisu back to his senses. Essentially, Mira simply holds a deep curiosity about the workings of a human’s mind and nature, which pointed out by Keiichi Kuzuryu, could leave many feeling perturbed.
Mira appears to be nonchalant at the death that takes place in the borderland games and often reiterates that they are simply games. However, her overall portrayal suggests that it isn’t that she is cruel or sadistic at heart, but merely finds the games illuminating about human nature.
Story[]
Player— First Stage[]
On Mira’s ?th day of Sojourn, she alongside Kuzuryū oversees Ginji Kyuma and Isao Shirabi doing radio exercises. She observes curiously from a distance whilst holding her pink parasol. On her ?th day of Sojourn, she begins to talk to the group for the first time, approaching Shīrabi as he was burying someone. She asks why he was burying someone he didn’t even know, and he responds that humans don’t want to die stop some asphalt— it breaks the cycle of life. Intrigued, Mrs declares that she’ll plant some seeds on top of the graves, and water it everyday until it grows. Eventually, they all start sprouting buds. On her ?th day of Sojourn, she and Kuzuryū plays a game of chess while he discusses his old company. He apologizes for boring her, but she says that hearing about these things— the sport between the rich and the poor— never tires her. He admits that sometimes, her simplistic, endless curiosity scares him. The 4 don’t participate in games together, but gather in the park every morning to chat. Over the months, they grow to become quite good friends. On her ?th day of Sojourn, she is seen proudly showing off the massive fish she caught to Kyūma.
Player— Second Stage[]
Citizen— The Beach[]
At some point after she became a citizen of the Borderlands, Keiichi Kuzuryu informed Mira of The Beach settlement, and they both decide to infiltrate it, posing as players, curious to see where it would lead. Mira first appears in Chapter 18 as one of the executives of The Beach. She is ranked No. 7 with Hearts as her specialty. Compared to the other Beach executives, she almost never talks, and almost completely fades into the background. Mira is present at the meeting when Takeru Danma (Boshiya/Hatter) announces that he, Kuzuryū, and Rizuna An will personally participate in games for that night. Following the death of Danma and the disappearance of Kuzuryū, Mira is promoted to No. 5 amongst The Beach executives. She is present at the meeting when Morizono Aguni breaks the seal on the black envelope.
Citizen— Ten of Hearts[]
Mira is also present when the Ten of Hearts game begins at The Beach. At the beginning of the game, she remarks to Yuji Mahiru that Niragi was skillful in triggering everyone's bloodlust. Mira's whereabouts for the bulk of the game are not depicted, but she is next seen approaching Shuntaro Chishiya on the rooftop after his fight with Niragi. Mira asks if he was going to pick them all up, and states that he intended to escape after stealing the cards from Hatter’s safe. Chishiya confirms this and replies that he will leave the game to Arisu to complete.
In a flashback sequence after the death of Kuzuryū, Mira is revealed to have been conversing with him when the Ten of Hearts game was completed. She asks him why he chose to stay on as a Borderland citizen and tells Kuzuryū that his vision of the Borderlands united under a fairer law and order was only an illusion.
Citizen— Interval[]
When the Second Stage of the Borderlands begins, Mira is revealed to be the Queen of Hearts and addresses the players in an emergency teleconference together with three other representatives of the Borderland Citizens, which include the 3 Kings of the other suits. During her segment, Mira advises the players to treat the games simply as games and asks if they are having fun. With this, she has already begun her mind games.
Citizen— Queen of Hearts[]
When Arisu and Usagi win the rock-paper-scissors game to decide who would play the Queen of Hearts game amongst the remaining survivors, Mira greets them in the game's venue, an indoor rose garden. Usagi recognizes Mira as one of the beach executives and expresses surprise. Arisu asks Mira what the borderlands are, but Mira evades his question and instead explains the rules of the game. Arisu and Usagi are surprised that the only conditions for a game clear are to complete a croquet game, but Mira assures them completion is the only "game clear" requirement, and the winner of the croquet match does not matter.
Mira invites Arisu and Usagi to break for tea after she wins the first set. Despite her reluctance to address the question, Arisu presses her for the meaning behind the borderlands and the games. Mira finally appears to relent but proceeds to tell Arisu several different stories behind the borderland's existence, including it being the result of a virtual reality simulation, alien invasion, hallucinogenic pandemic, or black hole. She joyfully admits to toying with him and Usagi, which stuns Arisu.
During the second set of croquet, Arisu realizes that Mira is trying to destabilize his mental state and resolves to stop overthinking. Nevertheless, during the tea break following the second set, Mira taunts him over his friends' deaths in the Seven of Hearts game, revealing that she was the one who set up the game, fully knowing that the close group would get involved in it. This angers Arisu into threatening to kill Mira with his shotgun, but he stops himself when he realizes that killing Mira would result in the deaths of all remaining players when their visas expire, as nobody would be able to clear the Queen of Hearts game. Mira, impressed, appears to acknowledge defeat, but Arisu continues to press her for an answer on the meaning of the borderlands. This time around, Mira tells him that she is his psychiatrist giving him treatment, and he has hallucinated the entire series of events in the borderlands. Arisu begins to dissociate, and Mira admits to Usagi that she drugged his tea with hallucinogens.
In a bid to bring Arisu back to reality, Usagi slashes her wrists, which surprises Mira. This triggers Arisu's protective instincts of her, bringing him back to his senses, and motivates him to complete the final set of croquet. In their last conversations, Mira admits that she did not know what the borderlands were herself but confirms that she was a psychiatrist in the real world. Mira also implies that she chose to stay on in the borderlands as a citizen as she was tired of the dilemma of always being left behind by recovered patients as a psychiatrist. She concludes by beaming, and telling Arisu that life is a game, and he should enjoy it. They complete the last set of croquet with minimal conversation. As the laser readies, she closes her and braces herself, and dies smiling after Arisu and Usagi clear the game. She appeared to be very content.
Alice on Border Road[]
In the subsequent manga Alice on Border Road, Gamon Kano confirms that he had a neuroscientist sister who perished in the meteor strike that took place in the events of Alice in Borderland. Although Gamon does not name her specifically, it is implied through their shared family name and the illustration that Mira is indeed his sister.
Games Played[]
as a Citizen in the Current Immigration Period
Trivia[]
- The name Mira means "future" (未来).
- Mira's surname Kanō means "add, increase" (加) (ka) and "settlement, obtain, reap, pay/payment, supply, store" (納) (nō).
- Mira's game was the last to be cleared.
- Considering how in the original Alice in Wonderland the King of Hearts was just a timid figurehead, it is likely that Mira was the most powerful person in the Borderlands, or at least under the Hearts suit.
- In addition, while Mira is the Queen of Hearts, she likely wasn't based off the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland considering the 2 characters couldn’t possibly be any more different from each other.