Let’s Piece Together The History Of Kimiko’s Brother & Shining Light On The Boys

There’s a whole lot of stuff going on during season 2 of Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys — and only a few episodes have dropped. The series, based on The Boys comics, wastes no time diving right into the action, and also no time wrapping up one small storyline for the season, though you might not even fully realize it’s completely come and gone. After spending some time searching for him, Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) is finally reunited with her brother, Kenji (Abraham Lim) but no sooner does this happen things go horribly awry. It’s time to talk about Kimiko, her brother, and the Shining Light Liberation Army. 

In the blink of an eye, Kenji and his impressive powers are introduced, and then he’s killed. His death sets off a chain reaction emotionally for Kimiko, as she watches Stormfront (Aya Cash) kill him and that’s not really something she’s going to forget anytime soon — and that's before we watch Stormfront blame Kenji for the deaths she actually caused in her pursuit of Kenji. All of this happens very fast, and once again is all over and done by the end of the third episode, "Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men,” which means you might have some lingering questions about what the heck is going on. 

As Kenji explains to Kimiko in what is undoubtedly a huge exposition dump (but hey, we need them sometimes!) he was experimented on with Compound V, just like she was. As children, their parents were killed and they were taken by Shining Light Liberation Army and forced to work as soldiers. Kimiko was then sent to the United States to work for them, but escaped, and is still upset over the fact that she didn’t go back to try and save her brother. 

After Compound V was successfully used on Kimiko, the last dose of it was used on Kenji by Shining Light. Like all the other super-powered people on the series, it’s more than likely he’s got a myriad of them at his disposal, but the one we see him use the most is his telekinetic ability. He can move, throw, push, and pull objects but he needs to use his hands to do so — this isn’t any form of mind control necessarily. 

From what little we know about Shining Light, we know they’re bad, right? Right! They’ve basically destroyed Kimiko's and Kenji’s lives since they were little, and have now turned the latter into “The Super Terrorist” who the titular Boys are hunting. But, Kenji doesn’t actually think Shining Light is bad and should be seen as the bad guys. As he angrily tells Kimiko, the group is “fighting injustice” and “stand up for people without a voice,” which should ring true for her, considering she’s been mute for the better part of her life. Since his time with Shining Light, Kenji has started to agree with their ideology. 

Kimiko desperately tries to get her brother to go with her and the rest of The Boys, while Kenji suggests that instead, they both go with Shining Light. Neither one actually gets their way, as The Boys show up and subdue Kenji, forcefully taking him. The Boys, namely Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), are instructed to hand him over to the FBI, in exchange for info on Butcher’s wife.

Though Shining Light is discussed many, many times on the series, there are still no clear-cut explanations about who they are, and what they do. Instead, they just appear to work in opposition to everyone on The Boys, Vought sympathizers and rebels alike. Kenji also implies that when pockets of the Shining Light have popped up (and demonstrated their powers and potential), Vought International has sent in the Seven to stop them. 

As for other members of Shining Light, that’s anyone’s guess. No other remembers, or even associates, are mentioned or discussed aside from Kenji. 

The tough part of talking about the Shining Light Liberation Army is that they’ve been created solely for the TV show. Kimiko’s backstory in the comics does not have her being kidnapped by Shining Light, and then consequently killing her family. Instead — and this is really how it’s laid out in the comics — baby Kimiko falls into a vat of Compound V after she’s gone with her mother to work. Her mother, in this version, works at an overseas counterpart to Vought International. Additionally, Kenji doesn’t even exist in the comics, as Kimiko is portrayed as an only child. 

By the end of episode 3 of The Boys, it certainly feels like Kimiko’s time on the fringes of Shining Light have come to an end, considering that her biggest connection to them was her brother. But, don’t rule them out from a return just yet. While The Boys is closely following the comics that it’s based on, the writers have taken many creative liberties ranging from huge plots to tiny details.

Considering that Kimiko’s backstory was completely rewritten, and Shining Light was created for the show, there’s no telling where they might come into play next.