ooc ♫ profile
Mun
Name: Jelle
Livejournal Username: ofmarionette
E-mail: queeningsquare[at]gmail[dot]com
AIM/MSN: Lunixhime
Current Characters at Luceti: Ange Ushiromiya (repudiationist), Madoka Kaname (happyends), Usagi Tsukino (lunarities)
Character
Name: Kotomi Ichinose
Fandom: CLANNAD
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Time Period: After episode 14
Wing Color: Purple
History: here.
Personality: To describe Kotomi it's the easiest to start off with the sort of image she gives off to other people. At her school she's known by most people as 'the genius girl', since she's easily the smartest girl in the school (and among the smartest in the country as well). She's in fact so smart that she's allowed to skip all classes and instead sit in the library all day to read on her own. (The first time Tomoya found her like that he actually thought she was skipping class.) Kotomi reads really fast if the scenes in the anime are anything to go by - she's barely shown as doing more than glancing a page over a few times before turning to the next page. She has knowledge of a very wide range of subjects, from recognizing all sorts of flowers to remembering the Latin names of each animal to her knowledge in mathemetics (she actually uses mathemetics to hit a ball during a baseball match) to her ability to speak English and French fluently. Perhaps she's able to do the same for other languages, but that is never stated officially in the series unlike those two. (Of course she speaks Japanese fluently too since she is Japanese.) Sometimes her knowledge really stretches to things that make you wonder why anyone would have to know it, like random trivia; when Fuuko shows Kotomi her wooden starfish Kotomi is perfectly able to give lots of random trivia on starfish. She actually goes to study in America in the second series.
Kotomi's parents were scientists too, which is probably where she got her natural intelligence and love for books from. They specifically researched the concept of parallel worlds, which Kotomi tries to continue to be able to follow in her father and mother's footsteps. But this is not the only reason why she always tries to study so hard; she made a promise to God when she was little that she would do her best to study hard and become a good girl in exchange for God bringing her parents, who died in a plane accident, back to her. But even though she tried her best her parents could, of course, not be returned since they were dead; it was just a young girl's naive belief. Because her parents had a plane accident Kotomi still has a severe trauma over traffic accidents of any kind (even when it concerns trains or cars instead of planes) and will break down whenever she sees one.
But there's more to Kotomi than just her status as 'the genius girl'. She's a very quiet girl, she doesn't speak a whole lot, and even when she does speak her voice is very quiet. She also tends to be slightly slow in her reactions, at times she can just stare at her conversation partner for a few moments before continuing or before noticing something in her surroundings. Kotomi repeats things a lot, even when people have told her that they're wrong. An example is when Tomoya tells her to say hello (implied to someone else) and she just says 'hello, Tomoya-kun' to him instead. Even when he tells her she's supposed to introduce herself to the other person and not to him she just repeats the 'hello, Tomoya-kun' thing all over again with the next person they run across; she's a person who tends to take things very literally which can have quite a comical effect. Another clear example is her violin playing. Kotomi loves playing the violin but she's quite horrible at it; the sound is near eardrum-breaking level. And yet she keeps playing the violin for other people, most likely because she doesn't realise the effects (it might just sound good to her) or because she doesn't realise that these effects are wrong, she actually thinks people like her violin playing. Phrases also fall under things she repeats a lot, she tells every new person she comes across the exact same introduction. ("Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Ichinose Kotomi. A senior in Class A. My hobby is reading books. I would be happy if you would become my friend. When you speak to me, please call me Kotomi-chan.") She also repeats other phrases important to her (for example because her parents once said it) a lot, like 'you spell Kotomi with three hiragana' and 'the day before yesterday, I saw a rabbit. Yesterday, I saw a deer. And today, it was you.'
Kotomi has to suffer for her huge book-knowledge with her near complete lack of street-knowledge or general (social) common sense. This is mostly due to the fact that she has never had a lot of friends. When she was little the other kids didn't like her much because she read things they didn't read and thought things they didn't think, as she puts it, and since her parents died she has been isolating herself in the library. Because of that she usually doesn't know what is considered normal and what is not. For example, when she was little she didn't know what to ask for as a present from her parents, so she asked for a teddy bear because a book said it's something little girls ask as a birthday present. She also seems to be fully fine with cutting things out of school library books because she doesn't realise something like that is wrong and not allowed due to her lack of common sense.
Perhaps because of her promise to 'become a good girl', Kotomi obediently does whatever someone tells her to, for example when Kyou tells her to pull an embarassing prank on Tomoya (covering his eyes and asking 'guess who') she doesn't even hesitate at doing it. Even Kotomi is, however, able to get embarassed at certain things, as right after that prank she's shown backing off when Tomoya tells her that her boobs are pressing against his back. Not to mention that this happens while she has a huge blush on her face and she proclaims that her 'heart is really, really pounding!'
Kotomi easily gets scared in unknown (mostly social) situations, like when she meets new people. She fears that almost everyone she meets is a bully, so she constant seeks confirmation that they're not bullies by asking Tomoya (one of the few people she fully trusts right off the bat since she knew him from when they were young), even when said persons aren't even acting like bullies. One time she actually tries to fend off the 'bullies' by saying 'I'm actually very strong, so I don't want you to bully me' even though she's shaking with tears in her eyes. To be able to differentiate friends from bullies she tells everyone who becomes her friend to call her Kotomi-chan. This is actually very literal as she won't react to anything other than 'Kotomi-chan'. Kotomi, Kotomi-san, Ichinose, Ichinose-san or any other variation won't even be picked up by her and she'll just keep doing what she is doing even if the person calling her is right in front to her. It's not even direct ignoring - she truly just don't even notice people if they call her by any name other than Kotomi-chan.
Although she has been able to get over some of her issues now, Kotomi used to (and still does, although a little less so) rely on Tomoya, since he was her first friend when she was little (even though he forgot about her). When he tries to introduce her to new people she quite literally attempts to hide behind him and keeps asking him whether they are bullies. Kotomi used to be afraid of going further outside than just her own backyard and of meeting new people, but she has been able to get partially over this with Tomoya's help. She still quickly gives up and runs away though, an example of this in the series is when Ryou tells her through fortune telling that she can't make friends well and without saying anything she turns around and attempts to walk away. When Kotomi does make friends though she's a very caring and loyal person. She doesn't hesitate at sharing her things (for example the food she made, the pillow she's sitting on or the book she's reading) with friends. She has also been waiting all the time since she was a little child for her first friend (Tomoya) to remember her and come back. She's that dedicated to her friends, even if it can get to downright clingy in certain situations (like with Tomoya).
A last thing that hasn't been touched upon by the anime since it didn't follow Kotomi's route from the visual novel is that at the end of her path in the visual novel, Kotomi gives a small speech to Tomoya. In this speech it's revealed that she knew all along that no matter how hard she worked her parents would never come back and that she actually didn't want to belong in a world without her parents. She says that she 'wanted to ride the airplane with mom and dad and sink together to the bottom of the sea'. Although she's been able to mostly get over her issues after her arc, it still implies she's been very depressed and lonely before she got Tomoya's help up to a point where it was near-suicidal.
( "I realized, I realized it... Even if I do this, nothing will come back. My clothes are different, there's no violin, my hair ornaments weren't like this... Tomoya-kun and I, are no longer kids. Mom and dad wouldn't come back anymore. No matter how many books I read, I wouldn't become a splendid person. No matter how many pages I cut up, the things I did wouldn't regain anything... This kind of world is wrong. A world without dad and mom is wrong. Why is it that I'm here? Did they just leave only me? I wanted to go as well. I wanted to ride the airplane with mom and dad... and sink together to the bottom of the sea..." )
Strengths: Physically Kotomi is about average for a girl her age, perhaps slightly under average since she isn't used much to physical activities (considering she spends the majority of her days sitting in the library and reading).
Mentally is where Kotomi's strength mainly lies. Kotomi is very intelligent, so much that she's allowed to skip class in school and instead read in the library. In one episode she's even shown calculating the best way to hit the ball during baseball instead of just normally hitting it. She's shown to have knowledge of the most random things; for example she's able to recognize different sorts of flowers and recite the official Latin name for starfish by heart. It should suffice to say that her knowledge is quite extensive. She's shown to be skilled in at the very least English and French (aside from Japanese). She's not known as just a genius girl in the school, but is in general among the smartest teenagers in the country, if not the smartest people in general.
Emotionally there is probably something to be said about Kotomi's near pokerface. This girl doesn't show emotion very often, and aside from some extreme and some comical cases her usually expression is pretty blank, with perhaps tiny changes (slightly towards happiness or confusion or any other emotion). It's really hard to read what this girl is thinking at times, if not partially too since her thinking process tends to be so random. But it seems that at least she's usually able to keep her emotions more or less in check.
Last it should be noted that while she's a regular human without any special powers, some people may insist that her violin playing skills are equal to a letal weapon. (Not entirely literal, but at least partly. Her violin playing is just so bad that it's shown to cause quite the chaos in canon, to a point where it makes glass break and people yell out in pain at the horrible sound.)
Weaknesses: Physically Kotomi is pretty weak. Even though she's about average (or slightly below that) for a girl her age, that still means it would be pretty easy for about anyone stronger or bigger than her to beat her. She doesn't have any kind of combat experience either, so taking her out would be a pretty easy thing to do.
While mentally her book-knowledge, as described in the strengths section, is really great and extensive, up to an unnatural level, her street-knowledge is just bad up to an unnatural level. Kotomi barely knows anything at all about social interaction or what is considered normal in society, hence why she cuts or tears things out of books in stores or libraries without realising it's wrong and she can barely keep up a regular conversation without it descending in her being generally random and saying things that are way out of place, which always made it hard for her to make friends.
Emotionally Kotomi can be capable of completely breaking down out of nowhere when she sees something that reminds her of her parents' deadly accident. In canon she sees a traffic incident during one episode, and considering that reminds of her of her her parents' plane accident she breaks down out of nowhere, to a point where she lies on the ground crying in anguish in a completely public place. So this way her emotions tend to go between two extremes - her usual calm and not very emotional state and then these random overly emotional outbursts.
Samples
First Person: [ There's something slightly awkward about the way Kotomi speaks up - almost as if it's too practised, like something she rehearsed over and over again to say it exactly like this to a point where it nearly sounds mechanical. ]
Good afternoon, everyone. It's very nice to meet you. My name is Ichinose Kotomi, a senior from class A back home. My hobby is reading books and playing the violin. [ apparently this is all very vital to her message. ] But the point is.. ... ah..
[ She seems to space off for a little bit, as if she's not sure what exactly she wanted to say. It takes a few good moments before she continues talking. ]
... That's right.. Everyone was seeming a little bit down lately, so I thought I should at least offer my services to everyone else here. There have been a lot of studies on whether music influences people's mood or behaviour, and it's been proven that uplifting music does in fact manipulate the mind by causing the subjects to be more supportive, and enables them to view matters in a more positive manner. Its effects can be so great that there are even various kinds of musical therapy out there to help people with the beneficial effects of music.
[ Completely lost in her ramble, it takes her another moment to snap out of it again quietly, returning to the more important subject at hand. Not that she can keep track very well of what exactly was important again either way. ]
That's why.. I want to play the violin for everyone. The violin is an instrument very, very dear to me, and that is exactly why I want everyone else to be able to enjoy its soothing sounds as well. I'm sure it could at least lift everyone's spirits a little. And no matter whether it's Bach, Mozart, Beethoven or Monteverdi, I'm sure I will be able to tackle any of them as long as I practice hard.
So.. please give me a chance. [ perhaps there's something slightly more bashful about that, but it's hard to notice in her general very blank expression. ] I will make sure to do my best for everyone's sake.
[ a slight moment of hesitation. ]
... I.. if you're a bully though, please don't ask..
Third Person: It had always been her favourite book.
Kotomi stared down at the book, almost stroking the cover a little as her fingers moved over the title. 'The Dandelion Girl'. Sure, it wasn't a long story, but it was an incredibly beautiful and meaningful story to her all the same. The girl could entertain herself for hours and hours just reading it over and over. Not just because the story was aesthetically pleasing, or that the story was just interesting, but mostly too because it made her think of a very dear friend of hers. Maybe that was why she had been so very glad to find a copy of it in this strange place full of winged people - she found the wings very pretty, actually, and not that strange at all - to remind her of home. To remind her of him.
She couldn't help but think back a little, think back to the table in the library. The table where the two of them had been sitting together back home in what felt like only a little while ago, and he had asked her to read to him and she had felt so very happy, if not just because that way it almost felt like he had remembered their friendship and they were able to continue on the way they had started when they were just little kids.
... But that much had only been deluding herself. Of course he hadn't remembered yet, he was just being nice to her because.. well, because he just was that kind of person, someone who was always friendly to others. Even to someone like her, who had trouble making friends a lot of the time, who wasn't able to just reach out and talk to others. Because she read things other kids never read. Because she thought things other kids never thought about. Because other people were always so strange to her, so confusing at times.
Without thinking, the girl once more moved to the window, to open it the same way she had done that day. The soft breeze floated in, brushing against the wings on her back and making her purple hair fly back with the wind.
"The day before yesterday, I saw a rabbit. Yesterday, it was a deer. And today.. it was you."
She repeated the words which only held meaning to her softly in that breeze as she stared out of the window, at the green trees and the blue sky. Maybe they would be able to reach him, wherever he was right now. Or maybe they would be able to reach anyone at all, allowing her to finally reach out to anyone at all for once--
The pages of the book quickly turned in the wind, landing on one of the final pages. Kotomi's eyes turned back to it, scanning the words she already knew by heart.
She came forward to meet him, and he saw the familiar fear in her eyes- a fear poignant now beyond enduring because he understood its cause. She blurred before his eyes, and he walked toward her blindly. When he came up to her, his eyes cleared, and he reached out across the years and touched her rain-wet cheek. She knew it was all right then, and the fear went away forever, and they walked home hand in hand in the rain.
A soft smile appeared on her usually quite blank face at the sight of it, and she turned her head to look out of the window again, taking a deep breath.
"Meeting more people in this place.. It might be pretty nice, wouldn't it, Tomoya-kun?"
The faces she met in this place, and the familiar friendly faces from back home as well, blended together in her mind as she closed the window and picked up the book to hold it close to her for a moment, the smile not leaving her face for a single moment.