Mirai

Mirai
Character Data
Also known as: Park Guide, Guide-san Japanese Name: ミライ Romanised Name: Mirai First Featured in: Kemono Friends (2015 Game) Voiced By: Aya Uchida Gender: Female Occupation: Park Guide Status: Unknown

Mirai (Japanese: ミライ Hepburn: Mirai), often referred to as her occupation Park Guide or simply Guide-san, is a recurring human character in the Kemono Friends multimedia franchise. She has appeared in most media of the series to date and is one of the series' most recognizable faces. She is a Park Guide of Japari Park.

Appearance

Mirai's bright blue eyes sit behind the rectangular frames of her high-tech glasses, which double as a scouter used for measuring Ceruleans' power levels. Her long, bright mint green hair is tied together with a faded pink bow. Atop her head sits Mirai's signature white sun hat, adorned with two feather accessories -- one blue, and one red.

Ever-equipped for her job as a Park Guide, Mirai is usually seen in uniform, comprised of a white khaki jacket and matching shorts, with blue camouflage cuffs to both her sleeves and pant legs. She wears a scarf matching the camouflage pattern of the rest of her outfit as well, and a black undershirt that covers all of the skin from her elbows to her white gloves. Her uniform features a multitude of pockets, which her black-and-camouflage fanny pack only serves to further augment. Mirai wears black, knee-high socks and navy blue sneaker boots that are appropriate for extensive outdoor work.

Personality

Mirai is a cheerful, natural caretaker with a warm personality and an abundance of love for animals and Friends alike. These traits have remained consistent in all media in which she has appeared thus far, and she seems to have no trouble connecting with Friends and humans of all varieties of backgrounds. She is patient and forgiving, demonstrating compsure and maturity, although she is not without moments where she becomes flustered or stressed. She is also prone to gushing over cute animals and Friends, and this personality quirk is often played for comedic effect.

As a Park Guide, she is effective and competent, maintaining her cool during the many battles between Friends and Ceruleans during the original Kemono Friends mobile game. She provides detailed information on Friends and enemies alike, and even under pressure she puts the safety of Japari Park and its denizens above all else.

Role in the Plot

Backstory

Several years before the beginning of Kemono Friends, a young Mirai met the slightly older Kako at a zoo, and the two girls quickly hit it off. They would develop a close relationship in the coming years. Although Mirai already had a long-standing love for animals, her new friend and mentor would teach her a great many things about them. It was because of this friendship that Mirai would dream of following in Kako's footsteps to work at Japari Park. At some point before the events of the manga, she would actualize this dream.

Relationships

Kako

Mirai and Kako met at the zoo when they were young. Although Mirai was already interested in animals, she learnt a great deal about them from Kako, who was slightly older than her. From here, the two girls developed a mentor and pupil relationship of sorts, and it has been stated that much of Mirai's motivation to become a Park Guide was because of that influence.

Although Kako herself has yet to comment on the matter (owing to her extremely limited number of appearances in canon), it would appear that Mirai thinks very highly of her, asserting that no one cares for Japari Park more than she.