Kotomi at the Wishing Shrine: B1
Source: TV
Layers: 1
Sketches: 3
Cel Number: B1
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Added 5/3/2012
Updated 11/9/2014
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Cut 246. The way from Shōko’s apartment back to Hiro and Karada’s leads past the wishing shrine, and when they get there, they find a crowd of people looking at it and grumbling in dissatisfaction. Kotomi, the series dea ex machina, is, as always, there to explain what’s happened. She recognizes the two females and comes up to them with her characteristic tight-lipped smile (like a bug’s smile, Sensei always thinks).
This turns out to be an immensely important moment for a number of reasons, and so this is a cut that I was really overjoyed to snag. It was done with the usual care, with two sets of pre-genga roughs. The variations among these are interesting and significant, and so I’ve sampled these more generously than usual.
Sampled above is Ikuko Itō’s suusei rough, on light green paper and with her characteristic “T⅔” label, which is the first to catch Kotomi’s characteristic smile. Visit the thumbnails for two earlier efforts, the layout (which has her looking in a different direction) and the odd rough by Masahiro Fujii, where she seems to be worried rather than carefree.
It is an odd first draft. Why would the animator have her look worried? Kotomi is almost never worried. What would she possibly have to worry about in this scene?
SENSEI CHECK!
Kotomi always knows a great deal more than her seemingly happy-go-lucky way of acting would lead you to believe. If you screen the cut, you’ll notice that when Kotomi greets the two, she says, “Oh, it’s Iokawa, right?” That’s Hiro and Karada’s family name, and the little-girl Shōko might be using it as an alibi. Anyhow, she’s the one who replies to the carefree teen. But in their preceding meetings, it’s never established that the two have shared their names. So how does she know that Iokawa is the right name? And if you look at the scene carefully, you’ll see that she’s looking at Karada when she says this.
Oh, yes -- she knows.
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