Spoiler Alert: This article/section contains details about future plot lines described in the light novels, not covered in the anime. Do not proceed unless you want to be spoiled. |
“ | Now, let our |
” |
—Kotori Itsuka |
Kotori Itsuka | |
---|---|
| |
Profile | |
Kanji | 五河 琴里 |
Romaji | Itsuka Kotori |
Birthday | August 3rd [1] |
Age | 13 14 (After Kotori Birthday) 15 (By Volume 21) |
Status | Alive |
Gender | Female |
Height | 145 cm |
Blood Type | AB |
Species | Human Spirit (Formerly) |
Hair Color | Red |
Eye Color | Red |
Nicknames |
|
Personal Status | |
Relatives |
|
Affiliations |
|
Occupation |
|
Rank | AA-Class Spirit |
Media | |
Novel Debut | Volume 1 |
Anime Debut | Episode 1 |
Portrayal | |
Japanese | Ayana Taketatsu |
English | Bryn Apprill |
Kotori Itsuka (
Summary
Kotori Itsuka is Shido's foster little sister; she is also a middle school student as well as a commander of a secret organization known as <Ratatoskr> that deals with extraordinary beings known as Spirits through peaceful means.
Five years prior to the beginning of "Date A Live", the naïve, young Kotori was tricked by a mysterious being that turned her into a Spirit. Not long afterward, she was told about the method of how to seal her power by the same being that had given her that power. When everything had been carried out successfully, Kotori, whose power had been sealed, and Shido, who unknowingly had the ability to seal Kotori's power, both had their memories of that event suppressed. It was not until the present time, five years later, that Kotori personally used her Spirit powers for the second time in order to save Shido from Kurumi. It was not until Shido resealed Kotori's Spirit powers that they finally remembered that event, and soon afterward they later dub the mysterious “entity” unofficially with the codename "Phantom."
Kotori, being a commander of <Ratatoskr>, is allowed access to certain information that only selective <Ratatoskr> members would know. For instance, Kotori is the only one aware that <Ratatoskr> has prepared a kill satellite for the worst-case scenario if Shido ever lost control of his powers.
Appearance
Kotori is a cute middle school girl with red eyes and very long, light coral-colored hair that is usually tied on both sides with ribbons in a variety of colors called the twintail hairstyle. She also has an Anime antenna hair (アホ毛, ahoge?) that always sticks out on the top of her head. Usually, she can be seen with her favorite Chupa Chups lollipop stick hanging from her mouth. She is 145 cm, and her three sizes are B72/W53/H74.
While wearing white ribbons, Kotori usually wears her school's signature white uniform with a black tie, a short teal-colored skirt, and long black stockings that reach up to half of her thigh. But when she wears black ribbons, her clothes and personality change, as she tends to wear maid-like sleeve clothes, with a black skirt and stockings.
In 'commander mode', Kotori wears black ribbons. To go along with her position as the commander of the Fraxinus, she wears a red coat over a white uniform like a cap, a black tie with red sidelines, a red skirt with white cloth-like sticking out, and a pair of long, black boots that reach halfway up to her thighs. Her uniform comes with a pocket protector that has a pen with a squirrel head on its cap. Her coat is usually draped over her shoulders, but she does wear it properly during formal meetings with Woodman. After the events of Tohka Good End, she begins wearing both her white and black ribbon at the same time.
Kotori's Astral Dress is a white kimono resembling a goddess's robes from Japanese folklore, with a revealing neckline, a translucent sash, and her black ribbons tied around a pair of oni-like horns, leaving her hair to fall freely. The ribbons also gain decorative golden flower patterns.
Personality
Kotori has three different personalities depending on the situation at hand. As a human, her character changes according to the color of the ribbons she's wearing. While wearing white ribbons or not wearing any, she is her "weak self", a delicate little sister who is very dependent upon her big brother; and when wearing black ribbons, she becomes her "strong self", a charismatic and sometimes domineering leader able to successfully command the airship, Fraxinus. The personalities are considered “little sister mode” and “commander mode” respectively. According to Reine, the Kotori with white ribbons is the one who can honestly say how she feels, which would mean that the Kotori with black ribbons is only putting a strong front because the situation requires so.
In her Spirit form, Kotori acts the same as her ribbons' current color indicates. But if she stays in her Spirit form for too long, her third, "Spirit personality," takes over and she becomes an aggressive and merciless killing machine, who only cares about battling enemies to death. It could be said that fighting strong opponents (and utterly destroying them) is her only interest. She is best described as possessing an unrelenting thirst for destruction when in this unhinged state.
In all three cases, Kotori seems to have a sadistic side. Also, her deep feelings for Shido are always present, regardless of her current personality, and help her remember who she truly is. No matter what the situation is, she will always be Shido's little sister.
History
Background
Kotori was born in the Itsuka household as an only child until her parents adopted Shido when she was still very young. One day, Kotori was playing alone at a park crying over how she was alone during her birthday. She was then greeted by a mysterious figure cloaked in mosaics, who seemingly read her mind by telling her that she was scared that her brother would leave her for being a crybaby. The enigmatic entity told her that her brother will surely recognize her if she became stronger than before and offered her a crystal that will give her strength. Upon the moment of contact with the crystal, it instantly dissolved into her body; and suddenly, everything she touched began to ignite on fire.
Shido rushed to the park and tried to approach her, but he was instantly blown back by the intensity of her flames. The mysterious person then told her that she had to kiss him, or her brother would die otherwise. As she did so, the white kimono she was wearing began to disappear. Her flames enveloped Shido’s body and started to heal him slowly. Seeing that her hair was a mess, Shido handed Kotori black ribbons and asked her to promise him that she would always be a strong girl when wearing them. Soon afterward, the mysterious person returned again and congratulated them for bringing about the best-case scenario. The person then proceeded to erase both of their memories of the event for now. Not long after that incident, Kotori was secretly invited to join <Ratatoskr>, which no one in her family knew about at that time. She spent much of the following five years in training, being appointed as the commander of <Fraxinus> shortly before Shido learned of her identity.
Media
- Light Novel
- Appearances:
- Volume 1-22
- Date A Live Encore 1-11
- Date A Live Material 1-2
- Date A Live Another Route
- Mentioned:
- Appearances:
- Manga
- Appearances
- Date A Origami
- Date A Live (2012): Chapters 1-6
- Date A Live (2013-2014): Chapters 1-
- Date A Party
- Appearances
Powers and Abilities
Spirit Form
Kotori Itsuka was born as a human. However, she received the powers of a Spirit during an incident five years before the main story of the novel started. Nevertheless, the nature of Kotori's powers makes her prone to losing control to destructive impulses over the urge to defeat another Spirit and has caused widespread damage during the two times it was unleashed. For this reason, Kotori sees her Spirit powers as a last resort that she only chooses to use during a desperate situation. Origami viewed her Angel's firepower as a top-tier threat during the Spirit battle royal in Tenka's artificial world, where the destructive impulses no longer handicapped her.
Spirit Data
Strength | Consistency | Reiryoku | Agility | Intelligence |
---|---|---|---|---|
150 | 100 | 215 | 130 | 178 |
Camael
Angel: Camael (
Weapon: Halberd
Astral Dress: Elohim Gibor (
Cannon Mode: Megiddo (
Kotori's powers are centered on the manipulation of flames that erupt from her body and can be used in close or ranged combat. She has displayed control fine enough to incinerate one of Kurumi's clones holding Shido hostage without harming Shido himself. Her AA-ranked Angel Camael comes in the form of a large red halberd but can be dismantled into Megiddo, a cannon powered by Kotori's own flames. A single blast completely incinerated several of Kurumi's clones intended to block the attack, the original's left arm despite her Astral Dress, and a portion of <Zafkiel>'s clock. The cannon's intense heat caused Shido to suffer even while standing directly behind Kotori. Origami believes that she would have been badly burned from the residual heat, even after narrowly dodging its direct blast during the battle royal, if she was not wearing her Astral Dress.
Similar to the mythical phoenix able to resurrect itself after burning its body to ashes, Kotori has a powerful regeneration ability that allows her to heal via flames. While all Spirits can use Reiryoku to repair their Astral Dress, Kotori’s specific healing factor extends to her Astral Dress, compensating for its relatively low durability.[3] This ability can protect the user from certain death as long as they have enough Reiryoku. It also reverses all physical damage done to the person as if it never happened. The regeneration is potent enough for her to quickly recover from getting shot multiple times by <Zafkiel>'s bullets, culminating in a point-blank headshot.
Wizard
Due to Spirits being the foundation for the creation of the Realizer, Kotori is compatible with the Realizer Manifestation Device and can use it to create a Territory like the rest of the former Spirits. In battle, Kotori used her Territory to move around a <Yggdra Folium> leaf and form protective barriers to shield Shido from Beast.
Other Abilities
As the Ratatoskr commander, Kotori claims to have undergone basic military training by the organization to teach her self-defense. When asked by Origami if capable of using a gun, she replied that she could but it was only at the level of a hobby.[4] However, due to her being more of a "desktop worker", Kotori herself admits that her physical abilities are far inferior to front-line soldiers like Origami.
Aside from her physical abilities, Kotori also has notable leadership qualities, knowing how to utilize others and keep them in line. Consequently, this causes her to take up a commanding role among the other Spirits on the rare occasions that they work together on the battlefield.
Quotes
- (To Ratatoskr's crew) "Didn't I say so? If Shido dies once or twice, he can immediately start a new game." [5]
- (To Shido Itsuka) "Doing something so stupid………! You should only listen to what I say!..."…………You have to properly, make proper calculations on the recovery limit beforehand……..! And move accordingly to what I say, it will definitely be safer…………" [6]
- (To Kurumi Tokisaki) “──Don’t you know? Spacequakes, as long as you trigger a Spacequake at the same time with the same magnitude, you’ll be able to cancel it.” [7]
- (To Shido Itsuka) "......I can't. The white me, is the weak me. If it wasn't the black, strong me, today would be impossible." [8]
- (To Elliot Baldwin Woodman) "No, there is no choice……....from now on, if the worst case happens. ──I will kill Shido." [9]
- (To Shido Itsuka) "I wish you good luck──Onee-chan." [10]
- (To herself) “………..no way...The inverse……..of Sephira..........!.” [11]
- (To herself) “Let's begin, the Earth’s and the Cosmos’ long-distance relationship.” [12]
- (To Shido Itsuka) “...Keep in mind. The Spirits that you saved by your own hand, at least they can stay here and live a happy life.” [13]
Trivia
- Kotori has the character for the number "Five" in her surname (「五」河), referring to the fifth Sephira on Kabbalah's Tree of Life: "Power and Judgment."
- Kotori's surname, "Itsuka", means "Five Streams/Rivers".
- Her Spirit codename Efreet (or "Ifrit" as it is spelled in the visual novels) refers to a class of Infernal Jinn in Arabic and Islamic folklore.
- Her Angel, Camael, means "The severity of God."
- Kotori's Astral Dress, "Elohim Gibor", means "God is Hero", "God is Almighty", or "God is Brave" in Hebrew.
- Kotori loves Chupa Chups and is weak towards the horror genre. [3]
- Kotori loves bath bombs and finds them difficult to resist even when in her commander mode.
- Her zodiac sign is Leo, which is generally associated with the element of fire.
- Kotori's favorite light novel is Date A Live. [14]
- Kotori's "Megiddo" comes especially under the Greek name "Armageddon" according to the Book of Revelation. Armageddon itself has become a byword for the end of the age.
- The original concept for Kotori as a Spirit was an armored Astral Dress and a spear Angel with a flag. The former was changed to differentiate her from Tohka, who already had an armored Astral Dress.[15]
- Her trademark Chupa Chups was initially a chocolate cigarette.[16]
- As an anthropomorphic disaster, Kotori represents conflagrations. [17]
References
- ↑ Date A Live Encore, Kotori Birthday
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 11.5
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Date A Live Material, Date A Character
- ↑ Date a Live Encore 5, Silver Murderer
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 1, Chapter 5
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 2, Chapter 5
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 3, Chapter 5
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 4, Chapter 9
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 5, Epilogue
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 6, Chapter 2
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 7, Chapter 9
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 14, Chapter 2
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 14, Chapter 3
- ↑ Date A Akihabara
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KoshiTachibana/status/1235135808551567362
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KoshiTachibana/status/1235136625006395393
- ↑ Date A Live Material 2, Date A Interview