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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 date (battle) begin. | ” |
—Kotori Itsuka | ||
| Kotori Itsuka | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Profile | |
| Kanji | 五河 琴里 |
| Romaji | Itsuka Kotori |
| Age | 13
14 (After Kotori Birthday) |
| Gender | Female |
| Height | 145 cm |
| Blood Type | AB |
| Species | Human (Formerly) Spirit |
| Hair Color | Red |
| Eye Color | Red |
| Nicknames | Efreet |
| Personal Status | |
| Relatives |
|
| Affiliations |
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| Occupation |
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| Rank | AA-Class Spirit |
| Media | |
| Novel Debut | Volume 1 |
| Anime Debut | Episode 01 |
| Portrayal | |
| Japanese | Ayana Taketatsu |
| English | Bryn Apprill |
Kotori Itsuka (
Summary
Kotori Itsuka is Shido's adopted 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 naive 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 seems to have 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 uses 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 “being” unofficially with the codename "Phantom."
Kotori, being a commander of <Ratatoskr>, knows certain information that only selective <Ratatoskr> members would know.
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.
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 up to half her thigh. The most noticeable part of Kotori's appearance falls under how she is continuously occupied with a lollipop in her mouth. Her height is stated to be 145 cm in the anime, and her three sizes are B72/W53/H74.
In her "Spirit form," Kotori wears a white kimono and has a pair of horns sticking out from her ribbons. The ribbons also gain gold flower patterns on them.
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 she is that of 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 cynical leader able to successfully command the airship, Fraxinus. According to Reine, the Kotori with white ribbons is the one that 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 a sadist when in this state.
In all three cases, Kotori seems to have an 'S' 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 became a Spirit 5 years ago
Kotori was born in the Itsuka household as the 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 approached by a mysterious figure cloaked in mosaics, who seemingly reads her mind by telling her that she is scared that her brother will leave her for being a crybaby. The enigma tells her that her brother would surely recognize her if she becomes stronger than before and offers her a crystal that will give her strength. As she touches the crystal, it instantly dissolves into her body; and suddenly, everything she touches starts to ignite on fire.
Shido rushes to the park and tries to approach her, but is instantly blown back by the intensity of her flames. The mysterious person then tells her that she has to kiss him, or her brother would die otherwise. As she does so, the white kimono she was wearing starts to disappear and flames envelop Shido’s body and begin to heal him slowly. Seeing that her hair was a mess, Shido hands Kotori a black ribbon and asks her to promise him that she will always be a strong girl when wearing them. Soon afterward, the mysterious person returns again and congratulates them for bringing about the best case scenario. The person then proceeds to erase both of their memories of the event for now. Not long after that incident, Kotori was invited to join <Ratatoskr>, which no one in her family knew about at that time. Soon after, she was appointed as the commander of <Fraxinus>, despite only being eight years old at the time.
Media
- Light Novel
- Appearances:
- Volume 1-19
- Date A Live Encore 1-7
- Appearances:
- Anime
- Appearances:
- Date A Live: Episode 1-12
- Date A Live OVA
- Date A Live II: Episode 1-2, 4-10
- Date A Live OVA 2
- Appearances:
- Game:
Powers and Abilities
Spirit Form
Angel: Camael (灼爛殲鬼 (カマエル) Shakuran Senki, lit., "Bright Burning Annihilating Demon")
Weapon: Halberd
Astral Dress: Elohim Gibor (神威霊装・五番 (エロヒム・ギボール) , Shin'i Reisou: Goban , "Spirit Dress of God's Authority, Number 5")
Cannon Mode: Megiddo [砲（メギド）]
Kotori Itsuka was born as a human. However, she receives the powers of a Spirit during an incident five years before the main story of the novels started. Her powers are centered on the manipulation of flames that erupt from her body and can be used in close or ranged combat.
In her Spirit form, Kotori's clothes change into her Astral Dress Elohim Gibor, which resembles a goddess's robes from Japanese folklore, with a revealing neckline, a translucent sash, and black ribbons tied around a pair of horns. Her 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. Megiddo fires powerful energy beams that can overwhelm even the defenses of other Spirits. Kotori also has a powerful regeneration ability, which Shido uses/borrows on many occasions when he is trying to make spirits fall for him. Basically, it is an ability that protects the user from certain death as long as the user has enough "mana." It also reverses all physical damage done on the person as if it never happened, but it only covers the recipient's body.
The nature of Kotori's powers makes her prone to losing control over the urge of defeating 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.
Quotes
- (To Ratatoskr's crew) "Didn't I say so? If Shido dies once or twice, he can immediately start a new game." [1]
- (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…………" [2]
- (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.” [3]
- (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." [4]
- (To Elliot Baldwin Woodman) "No, there is no choice……....from now on, if the worst case happens. ——I will kill Shido." [5]
- (To Shido Itsuka) "I wish you good luck——Onee-chan." [6]
- (To herself) “………..no way...The inverse……..of Sephira..........!.” [7]
- (To herself) “Let's begin, the Earth’s and the Cosmos’ long-distance relationship.” [8]
- (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.” [9]
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." This is shown by her position as <Ratatoskr>'s commander and her destructive power.
- Kotori's surname, "Itsuka", means "Five Streams/Rivers".
- Her Spirit codename is Efreet. Efreet (or in several cases, "Ifrit") are a class of Infernal Jinn in Arabic and Islamic folklore.
- Her angel, Camael, means "The severity of God."
- Camael is associated with the planet Mars.
- Camael was claimed to be the leader of the forces that expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden while holding a flaming sword.
- Kotori was the first Spirit that Shido sealed; however, he didn't remember this until after she took back her Spirit powers to fight Kurumi.
- Shido sealed her powers because <Phantom> told Kotori she could save Shido by kissing him. This is how Kotori knew Shido had the power to seal Spirits.
- Kotori's Astral Dress, "Elohim Gibor", means "God is Hero", "God is Almighty" or "God is Brave" in Hebrew.
- Kotori is weak towards the horror genre.
- Sometimes, Kotori may sneak into Shido's school during lunchtime to report recently-gathered information or to keep an eye on him.
- Kotori's favorite candy is the well-known lollipop Chupa Chups.
- She loves bath bombs and finds it difficult to resist them even when in her commander mode.
- Hiroto Tonomachi plays a girl's game which is known as "Fall in Love: My Little Seed" on his mobile phone and has a girlfriend with a striking resemblance to Kotori, with the only difference being that both her hair and eyes are pink in color (anime-only).
- Her birthday is August 3rd, which means her Zodiac sign is Leo, and Leo is generally associated with the element of fire.
- Kotori's favorite light novel is Date A Live, according to the Date A Akihabara short story.
- Kotori's "Megiddo" comes especially under the Greek name "Armageddon" according to the Book of Revelation. Armageddon itself become a byword for the end of the age.
References
- ↑ 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