Is Hikari Kuina Actor Aya Asahina Transgender in Real Life?

Alice In Borderland is home to one of the most popular characters in the series as Hikari Kuina has a lot of different fans due to her very nature as a powerful and brave character that underwent a transition from male to female. Yes, that’s right. Played by Aya Asahina, Kuina is transgender, and this was shown during the latter portion of season 1 of Alice In Borderland when we got to know more about her backstory before the events of the Borderlands. But is Aya Asahina also transgender in real life?

While Kuina may be transgender in Alice In Borderland, her actor, Aya Asahina, is not one in real life. In fact, Aya Asahina was born female and identified herself as one. In fact, Aya Asahina has played a lot of other female roles in the past. She also works as a fashion model on top of her acting career.

The fact that Kuina was always transgender was something that shocked a lot of fans because of the fact that the one portraying her actually looked female. That’s because Aya Asahina herself is actually female despite the fact that she plays a transgender role in Alice In Borderland. Now, let’s get to know more about Kuina and the actress portraying her.

What Is Kuina’s Gender Identity?

Ever since the middle portion of Alice In Borderland, one of the characters that fans loved was Hikari Kuina, who had the sex appeal and coolness factor that allowed her to become quite the intriguing character. Of course, it also helped that she hung out with Chishiya as his partner-in-crime in the Borderlands.

There is also the fact that Kuina was known for being easygoing and cooperative when it came to working with others. The fact that she got along well with people who were friendly to her allowed her to excel in Clubs games, which required the players to work well together. In that regard, she also got along well with Arisu and the other main characters.

However, it was during the fight with one of the members of the Militant Sect that we got to know more about Kuina’s history before the events of the Borderlands. She was actually born a biological male to a dojo master. As such, she was trained to become the master’s successor, and that was why he was made to train in martial arts at a very early age.

But tensions between her parents rose as Kuina had no choice but to train with her father despite the fact that her mother knew that she didn’t want to become his successor. As such, she did her best to perfect her martial arts. Still, she was often scolded by her father because she lacked the killer instinct necessary from a great martial artist.

It was actually Kuina’s softhearted nature that prevented her from dealing decisive blows to her opponents whenever she fought. She started putting on makeup as her mother allowed her to choose her own path in life, and that wasn’t something that her father allowed her to do. Her mother was aware of how she felt about her gender identity, and she allowed her to follow what she wanted to do in life.

Eventually, she had to leave home and receive sex reassignment surgery to finally become a transgender female. She, however, had to rush to her mother’s side in the hospital after she learned that her mother was becoming weaker after the divorce. And that was when Kuina vowed to take care of her mother her entire life.

However, it was also during that time that Kuina was sent to the Borderlands as she was in Shibuya during the meteorite strike that nearly killed her. What allowed her to keep on fighting for her survival in the Borderlands was her desire to return to her mother so that she could take care of her.

While in the Borderlands, Kuina ended up teaming with Chishiya to finish different Number card games and to steal all of the cards from the Beach. That was the reason why they joined the Beach despite the fact that they didn’t necessarily like the ones running the organization. It was actually Kuina who tried to recruit both Arisu and Usagi to team up with her and Chishiya in their attempt to steal the cards from Hatter and the executives of the Beach.

Meanwhile, it was during her fight with the Last Boss, who was one of the members of the Militant Sect, that she finally embraced her past. She used her martial arts prowess to defeat her opponent, as Kuina accepted her male side together with her female side. After that, Kuina became more of a Spades competitor due to the fact that her martial arts training allowed her to gain an advantage in games that required her physical prowess and fighting skills.

In season 2, Kuina showcased her martial arts prowess during the King of Clubs game and in the fight against the King of Spades. After she recovered from her injuries in the real world, her parents were seen waiting for her as it was clear that her father still showed concern for her despite the fact that he didn’t necessarily agree with her decisions in life.

Is Aya Asahina Transgender In Real Life?

The actress playing Kuina in Alice In Borderland is named Aya Asahina. Of course, we said that Kuina is transgender in the events of Alice In Borderland. But while Kuina may be transgender, the thing is that the actress portraying her isn’t. That means that Aya Asahina was born female and identifies herself as female as well.

On top of the fact that Aya Asahina works as an actress in Japan, she is also a known fashion model that has had her fair share of success in the fashion and modeling industry.

However, it is in the acting world that Aya Asahina was able to succeed. She landed a lot of different roles in the past, such as in the TV series Tokyo Alice in 2017. She also appeared in We Are Rockets. Then, in 2020, Asahina starred in the 2020 movie version of Grand Blue.

In an interview with aibnetfix on Instagram, Aya Asahina said that she was actually excited yet a bit nervous about portraying Kuina in Alice In Borderland. 

“When I first received an offer, it was already set that Ms. Tsuchiya Tao and Mr. Yamazaki Kento were the main characters, and a few other characters were also set. I was super thrilled when I received the offer, and if you haven’t seen the show yet, I have a few action scenes that I was very excited about. I had always wanted to try action scenes, so I couldn’t wait to film the action scenes. So when I got the offer, I was very happy and also a bit worried because I knew Kuina would be a difficult role.”

The fact that Aya Asahina portrayed Kuina really well in a manner that was quite convincing is one of the reasons that fans love her character. Of course, while she may not be transgender in real life, it was still neat to see more representation on television today, as Kuina was the character that carried the LGBTQ flag in Alice In Borderland.

Liked this article? Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!