"Oh, and one more thing. That idol in our first-year class... Ms. Kujikawa, was it? In person, she's nothing like she seems on TV, so don't get your hopes up, mmkay? What's so great about an idol anyway, right class? She's just a piece of inexperienced jailbait."
Noriko Kashiwagi is a character from Persona 4. Part of the Yasogami High School faculty, she is one of the homeroom teachers.
Appearances[]
- Persona 4 / Golden: Minor Character
- Persona 4 Manga: Minor Character
- Persona 4 The Animation / Golden Animation: Cameo
- Persona 3 Portable: Cameo
- Persona 3 The Movie: Cameo
Design[]
Kashiwagi has shoulder-length, light brown hair and brown eyes. She wears a slightly unbuttoned, pink collared shirt with a dark purple skirt. In the anime, she wears a lavender collared shirt.
Personality[]
"Goooood mornin'. I'm Noriko Kashiwagi, your new class teacher starting today. You all probably know already, but now that Mr. Morooka has passed away... I'll be taking good care of you instead. *giggle*"
Kashiwagi is an irresponsible teacher, laidback that she actively makes advances towards younger men and likes to take full advantage of her charms. Despite her flirtatious attitude, she has an inferiority complex concerning her age and takes offense to whoever might suggest that she is old, like being called "Grandma." Her personality is similar to that of Hanako's; however, she is more prone to selfish fits of jealousy, especially towards Rise Kujikawa, due to her status as an idol and going as far as to call her "inexperienced jail-bait." She doesn't understand nor acknowledge the responsibility Rise takes in her role as an idol and is simply upset that Rise is more "attractive" than her because she's young or so she thinks.
She has an aggressive and unnatural competitive side, as other students comment on whether she thinks she's "Rise's rival." Even during the beauty pageant, she's condescending and confident she'll win, sneering at other contestants and nip their self-esteem in the bud; Chie Satonaka compares her to "the rival woman on a soap opera."
Although she's not fond of idols like Morooka, she instead really likes mascots, and has remarked that she liked Teddie as a stuffed animal, since she gets "tempted by animals with such unique designs."
Profile[]
Persona 4 / Golden[]
Ms. Kashiwagi plays the part of the homeroom teacher, and is in charge of Classroom 2-2. She replaces Kinshiro Morooka after his murder and is the direct opposite of Mr. Morooka. Ms. Kashiwagi, or Noriko as she'd like to be called, is a voluptuous female who speaks in a sultry voice. Because of her conduct and behavior, the class unanimously hates her, deeming her worse than her predecessor.
She is more relaxed in her interaction with the students, even to the point where she talks about suggestive topics during lectures. Even so, Kashiwagi detests Rise Kujikawa, calling the girl "inexperienced jailbait." She seems to be more enthusiastic when vacation nears, and talks more about holidays than teaching her lectures. Even so, she proves to be just as capable as any other teacher in the school.
For the Class Trip to Tatsumi Port Island, she sought out the cheapest hotel for the students to stay in, which turns out to be the former love hotel in Persona 3 Champs De Fleurs, which was now known as the Seaside Clamshell Hotel. She is proud of her choice, despite the students' wave of agitation.
For the Culture Festival, Kashiwagi was in charge of two beauty pageants at the school, and completely left it to her homeroom class to decide what they were going to do in the two days of festivities. One of the beauty pageants was a cross-dressing contest for males. The winner of the contest was to be a judge for the female beauty pageant, and she was delighted to hear that the winner (Teddie) decided to add a swimsuit competition to it.
Kashiwagi and Hanako embrace each other after their loss in the pageant
Kashiwagi entered the pageant, confident she would win the swimsuit part. To her, the other contestants; Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Rise Kujikawa and Naoto Shirogane were no match for her, and she even mocked Rise. Although, she didn't mock Hanako Ohtani. When the pageant ended, however, everyone lost to Naoto, even though Naoto did not appear for the swimsuit part. This devastated her greatly.
After the festival, she and Ohtani went to the Amagi Inn and wept over their loss. Unknowingly, the Investigation Team and Nanako had also stayed at the inn. Their cries were heard all the way in the room where the protagonist, Yosuke Hanamura, Teddie and Kanji Tatsumi stayed, causing the boys to panic, believing it was the ghost of Mayumi Yamano. They crept into what they thought was the girls' room, until the lights were turned on. Kashiwagi, who had believed that she had no more charm left in her, was delighted and urged the boys to "take her." The boys fled at once screaming in terror.
Persona 4 The Golden Animation[]
During episode 4 when the group helps Marie by finding her missing memories. Chie and Yukiko asks Noriko about the comb.
Persona 3 Portable[]
Kashiwagi has a brief cameo appearance in Persona 3 Portable, as one of the women that Junpei, Akihiko and the protagonist hit on during Operation Babe Hunt. She is referred to as "Woman in Revealing Bikini" and "Woman of Questionable Age." She wears the same bikini from the pageant in Persona 4.
Etymology[]
- The name Noriko means "rule, ceremony" (典) (nori) and "child" (子) (ko).
- Noriko's surname Kashiwagi means "oak" (柏) (kashiwa) and "tree, wood" (木) (ki/gi).
Gallery[]
| Persona 3 The Movie | ||
|---|---|---|
Kashiwagi as she appears in Persona 3 The Movie
|
| Persona 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
Concept art
|
| Persona 4 The Animation | ||
|---|---|---|
Kashiwagi and Hanako pursue the guys
|
Trivia[]
- Conversations imply Kashiwagi is in her late 40s, or more literally, "on the wrong side of 40."
- In Persona 4 Golden, Noriko has a sister who apparently competes with her on who is going to get wed first. She can be met in Okina City, and when the protagonist tries to get her number, she'll instead push him into entering a relationship with him. Unlike Noriko, she has a strict limit for dating men 18 and over, and will reprimand the protagonist if he lies about his age.
- Although Persona 3 Reload takes elements from Portable, Kashiwagi does not appear in Persona 3 Reload during Operation Babe Hunt.