Suruga Kanbaru

Overview

Summary

Gallery

"I start chasing all the rabbits I see and end up catching none of them. I desire everything, only to lose it all."

— Suruga Kanbaru

Suruga Kanbaru
Kanji Name	神原 駿河
Kana Name	かんばる するが
Romaji Name	Kanbaru Suruga
Character Information
Alias	Suruga Gaen Godspeed Angel
Age	18
Gender	Female
Personal Status
Classification	Aberration-Infected Human
Status	Alive
Relatives	Tooe Gaen (Mother) Izuko Gaen (Aunt) Uroko Gaen (Cousin) Unnamed Grandmother
Abilities	Devil Arm Spiritual Sensibility
Professional Status
Occupation	Student Basketball Player Medical Student (later)
Affiliation	Naoetsu Private Academy Gaen Family
Media
Work of Origin	Monogatari Series
Novel Debut	Bakemonogatari (Part Two)
Anime Debut	Bakemonogatari Episode 6
Manga Debut	Bakemonogatari Vol. 4, Chapter 22
Voice Actor	Miyuki Sawashiro

Suruga Kanbaru (神原(かんばる) 駿河(するが), Kanbaru Suruga), formerly named Suruga Gaen (臥煙(がえん) 駿河(するが), Gaen Suruga), also known as Godspeed Angel (神速天使(しんそくてんし), Shinsoku Tenshi), is a character from the Monogatari Series. She is student of Naoetsu Private Academy, the daughter of Tooe Gaen and niece of Izuko Gaen, a star basketball player and the junior and friend of Hitagi Senjougahara. After her encounter with Rouka Numachi, Suruga goes on to study medicine in hopes of becoming a sports doctor.

Personality

Suruga is a friendly, sociable and outgoing individual, loved by the student population and considered a kind of celebrity, particularly idolized by younger girls. To her senior, Koyomi Araragi, she is shown to be overly respectful and polite, often praising him for trivial things, to the point where she can sometimes come across as annoying. Unbeknownst to her admirers, however, she is a huge pervert, being able to overwhelm even Araragi, leading to the boy trying to keep his sister Karen Araragi from meeting Kanbaru, worried that she would be seduced. As a lesbian, Suruga is sometimes shown swooning over the younger girls she meets (particularly Shinobu Oshino and Nadeko Sengoku), although the only one she is truly in love with is her senior, Senjougahara. She has a passion for reading BL novels, leading to her room being covered in them. She is a fairly sloppy person, having to call Araragi over to clean her room, as she can never do it herself, although she dilligently keeps up with her exercise.

While she puts up her cheery and outgoing front when interacting with her friends, she is a much more thoughtful and insecure person inside. Even after becoming good friends with Araragi, a part of her can't help but hate him for being together with the object of her affection, and that inner darkness is represented by the Devil's paw, which remains attached to her as a symbol of her regret. She feels immense guilt for her past mistakes of wishing to the Rainy Devil, and she even binds her arm every night when she goes to sleep, afraid of possibly hurting someone else again. She is very loyal to her friends, trying to make herself hate Deishuu Kaiki because her seniors advised her to steer clear of him, even though the man makes a geniuine attempt to make a connection with her. Contrary to her image as a school star, she lacks self-confidence, and is hesitant to uphold her own beliefs, being confused as to how to address the Rouka Numachi situation and needing to hear Araragi's advice to trust her own justice. Kanbaru considers herself stupid, but she shows a great amount of emotional maturity and awareness, being able to call out Shinobu's cowardice in refusing to face her former thrall, Seishirou Shishirui. In addition, both Izuko and Tooe consider Suruga to be an exceptional individual.

Suruga is the one who introduces Ougi Oshino to Araragi, and even after the boy's departure from Naoetsu Academy, she continues to have a friendly relationship with Ougi, though the latter presents herself as a boy following the events of the 'mirror world' incident. Ougi, a sarcastic and rude individual, acts like a foil to Kanbaru, similarly to Ougi's dynamic with Araragi, but ultimately helping the girl along with her objectives. The two stick together for a long time, with an adult Suruga occasionally visiting Ougi, who now dwells in the mysterious classroom. Her love to Senjougahara is very strong, not fading even years after her graduation. However, she did momentarily regret not kissing Rouka while she had the chance, perhaps hinting that she had some slight feelings for her late rival. In regards to her mother, Kanbaru never really understood the woman very well, and didn't really have the chance to, losing her at a young age.

Appearance

Suruga is a fit young woman, due to her constant physical activity. She has red eyes with large eyebrows and dark purple hair, first styled in a short, sporty haircut, but then grown out and worn in a side plait hairstyle, before being left to flow freely as an adult. She is shown in a variety of outfits: such as Naoetsu Academy's purple uniform, with a pair of spats underneath her skirt and a pair of white and red sneakers; a casual outfit consisting of a pair of ripped up black jeans, an open gray shirt over a yellow midriff top and a red cap worn backwards; a white shirt with a red tie, pleated red skirt with spands underneath and black suspenders; a summer outfit consisting of short shorts and a skimpy orange top; a white and red basketball uniform; white shorts with a purple hoodie etc. With every outfit she wears, up until her Devil hand is healed, she wears a white bandage over her left arm. While under the control of the Rainy Devil, she wears a yellow raincoat and red boots and gloves, her face hidden beneath the shadow.

Background

Suruga was born to Tooe Gaen and an unnamed father, who eloped after the father's family opposed their relationship. When Suruga was born, her parents weren't yet married, so her birthname was Suruga Gaen. When Suruga was elementary school-aged, her parents perished in a traffic accident. Her mother, born of the Gaen Clan, left her daughter an Aberration, the arm of the Rainy Devil. The young girl, however, mistakes it for a different aberration, the Monkey's Paw.

In elementary school, Suruga was bullied by her classmates for being weak, and wished upon the aberration to become the fastest, so that she could win at the school race. Unconsciously, however, her true wish was to get revenge on her classmates, and the Rainy Devil fulfilled it by injuring them so much that they were unable to run. The young Suruga, still under the impression it was the work of a Monkey's Paw, believed that the arm would continue to hurt everyone faster than her, so she went on to train so much that she became a gifted athlete. However, still afraid of the possibility, she went on to stay away from the track and field club, and eventually joined the basketball club in her middle school.

As she became somewhat renowned as a good basketball player, she was approached by Hitagi Senjougahara, a popular member of the track and field club. Senjougahara proposed a race, but Suruga had to refuse, despite really wishing to, because of her previous wish. Even so, the two became friends, and Kanbaru fell in love with her senior, although she never confessed. The two athletes went on to be known as the Valhalla Combo (ヴァルハラコンビ, Varuhara Konbi) throughout middle school. During this time, Kanbaru also had a rival in Rouka Numachi, although the two ended up only ever playing against each other in practice matches and never in a serious match.

Later, upon graduating middle school, Kanbaru enrolled in Naoetsu, wishing to go to the same school as her loved one, even though a sports scholarship would have suited her better. While she did manage to enter the school, by then, Hitagi had already undergone her encounter with the Weight Crab, and distanced herself from her former friend. When Kanbaru found out about it, and tried to help Hitagi, she was met with a violent rejection. However, Suruga didn't stop loving Hitagi, and instead distanced herself, believing it was the best she could do to help her friend.

When Kanbaru found out that Araragi had cured Senjougahara of her aberration and saw the newly formed couple's happiness, she was overcome by a hateful jealousy, and impulsively wished upon the Rainy Devil's arm again, the arm taking control of her and trying to accomplish her heart's true desire; eliminating Araragi.

Abilities & Equipment

Rainy Devil (レイニーデビル, Reinī Debiru): The Rainy Devil's left arm is the aberration possessing Kanbaru for most of the series, granting her subconscious wishes in exchange for her soul.

Rainy Devil (レイニーデビル, Reinī Debiru)
	Debut:	Bakemonogatari (Part One), Suruga Monkey
	Type:	Aberration
	Effect:	Wish Granting, Super Strength

After praying to the Rainy Devil's arm, the demon takes control of her left arm in order to fulfill her wish. During the night, she enters an involuntary trance state in which the Rainy Devil controls her actions. While not in control, Kanbaru is still partially aware during this state, and during her fight with Araragi, she attacks the boy not only due to the Devil's control, but also in part due to her own feelings. Due to the wish being proven to be impossible to fulfill, the demon's control over Suruga stops, but her monstrous hand remains. The arm is said to have superhuman strength, though it is not shown much in action. The Devil takes part of the wisher's soul for every consecutive wish, but the lost parts of Kanbaru's soul were eventually returned when her arm was stolen by Rouka.

Spiritual Sensibility: As a woman of the Gaen Clan, she was born with a significant spiritual sensibility, though she doesn't realize it herself. Thus, when in a spiritually disturbed place like North Shirahebi Shrine, her body reacts and she gets a sudden nauseous headache.

Quotes

• (Kanbaru's running joke with Araragi) "I'm Koyomi Araragi's sex slave!"
• (Kanbaru extolling Araragi's virtues) "That isn't like the Araragi-senpai I know, the paragon of virtue."
• (Kanbaru's thoughts of herself) "I start chasing all the rabbits I see and end up catching none of them. I desire everything, only to lose it all."

Appearances

• Monogatari First Season Light Novel Series
• Monogatari Second Season Light Novel Series
• Monogatari Final Season Light Novel Series
• Monogatari Off Season Light Novel Series
• Monogatari Monster Season Light Novel Series
• Monogatari Anime Series
• Bakemonogatari Manga
• Seishun Kijinden! 240 Gakuen
• Okitegami Kyouko no Bibouroku x Monogatari Commercial
• Hyakumonogatari Audio Drama

Trivia

• Kanbaru's first name, Suruga, is written with the kanji for "fast person" and "river", bodies of water being a common naming theme for members of the Gaen Clan. These are also the first two kanji of the word for "Japanese bondage torture" (駿河問(するがど)い, Surugadoi), echoing her perverted nature.
• Kanbaru's last name means "field of the Gods".
• The name Valhalla Combo is a pun on the names of its two members, with the "varu" taken from Kanbaru and the "hara" taken from Senjougahara. Aditionally, the name references both the kanji in their names, as Valhalla is a mythological resting place for heroes who died in combat (echoing the "senjou" in Senjougahara, meaning battlefield), ruled over by the god Odin (echoing the "kan" in Kanbaru, meaning god). According to herself, Kanbaru is the one who came up with the name.
• Artwork for the English cover of Bakemonogatari (Part Two) notably shows naked human fingers on Kanbaru's wrapped arm. This appears to be an error, as past depictions showed the cast covering the entire arm, and the human fingers seem to contradict with monkey's paw she is supposed to be hiding.