#AAAA I can't wait for Kotoko's VD!

[blueepink07]

Kotoko door analysis

(slight mentions of murder and violence)

In this post, I'll try my best to analyse Kotoko's door art! It will have 4 sections! Feel free to skip to which one you want, but I can't guarantee that there aren't parts in which I correlate what I say with an earlier phrase!

1. Colours

2. Door

3. Door elements

4. Kotoko - body language and item

Colours

The predominant colour for her door is deep pink. It's interesting, because it is very similar with her song title!

This shade of pink is often associated with boldness, exitement and something alarming.

Kotoko is excited to work with us, as stated in her voice lines for the second trial. She promises to use her strength for Es in order to punish the evildoers, happy that there is someone who she thinks understands her views.

"Kotoko: To be honest, I don't know your true intentions. And I don't know whether you are a similar person with similar thoughts. Who knows, maybe it's just my delusion of wishful thinking."

Kotoko is working alone most of the time during her MV. Her desires to change the world and punish the evil, are aspects that even she knows that are very hard to achieve alone. Despite the "lone wolf" saying and association with many characters, wolves are animals that work better together, as a pack. They are loyal and care about eachother, they hunt better and protect, having a common objective of self-preservation.

Kotoko's frustration and desperation in this voice line, illustrates that people, in general, aren't very fond of her actions and wishes. She yells at them, because she's tired of having to explain her desires. On top of that, the fact that she has to work alone, means that she is hardly achieving what she wants.

"From the beginning I've never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing earth closer to peace. Useless Weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!"

When she sees Es, she can't shake the oportunity of not working with them. She is hoping for a change, and thinks that maybe, just maybe, she finally found the right person, the right partner.

"Kotoko: Let's shake hands. We will be companions."

Boldness is really self-explanatory considering Kotoko's character. She is not afraid to put herself in danger, because she is confident in her skills. In order to protect people, she is overworking herself and fights untill exhaustion. By calling herself a "fang", it indicates how she has the tendecy to consider herself a weapon, an intem used to deliver justice, showing how little concern she has for her well-being.

"Good morning, Es. I’m Yuzuriha Kotoko. I’m your fangs."

Deep pink is a colour that cathes people attention. It is composed from red and white, the darker the pink, the more red used. This colour is associated with something alarming, basically danger. It is a nice parallel, considering that Kotoko attacked the guilty prisoners, and is a dangerous person in the eyes of the evildoers.

Moreover, intense pinks often creates a sense of urgency. In the MV, Kotoko is seen running almost constantly, never taking a break, and trying her hardest to find clues and take action. She is determinated to deliver justice and to pursue her work. Along with her desperate and strong singing, the urgency can be felt and seen.

Next, we have a shade of teal, which is used for the text!

Teal symbolises individuality, renewal, morality, practicality, welcoming, logical, private.

Individuality -> Kotoko is seen as an unique person due to her unusual wishes. She is not understood by many, she gave up on asking people to understand her, although she craves for support and help.

Morality -> she has a strong sense of justice and such learned to distinguish what's bad or good, right or wrong. Moreover, being a law student, means that she wants to pursue a career based on these principles.

Practicality, renewal -> Kotoko is trying her hardest to give her best, even more now that she has Es as a partner. Practicality can also mean "usefulness" or "utility". Combined with Kotoko's views about herself, in which she considers as a weapon to be used, it makes a lot of sense with her character.

"(laughs) Just as I hoped. So you want to work together with me, right? I’ll live up to your expectations and use up all of my power for you."

Welcoming -> Kotoko offered Es to work together, basically welcoming them to team up. Even now, this most likely represents her willingness to continue the deal, looking at Es with a pround grin, in a way that express her happiness that she has a partner.

Logical, private -> Kotoko, despite offering to work with Es, didn't reveal much information about herself, other than her beliefs. Although she wants to work with us, for logical reasons, she keeps details in the unfortunate event that she might be betrayed. Also, in her MV, she is shown carefully finding information, analysing it and, then, going into action. She carefully plans, and keeps her identity anonymous, the best example being Kotoko hurting the man from the alley with men boots, for the police to not suspect her.

Door

Now that we covered the colours, let's proceed to the door.

Due to medieval style that it has, and because the material used it's most likely iron, I think it looks very similar with a dungeon door.

"A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with  medieval castles, though their association with tortue probably belongs more to the Renaissance period."

Considering the definition, I think it fits a lot with Kotoko. She sees herself as Es's companion, above the other prisoners, whom she beats up based on our judgement. The torture part isn't far fetched either, seeing the state Mahiru and Fuuta are during this trial and, who knows, maybe even in the next.

However, the appearance of the dungeons can have a bigger correlation with Kokoko's character. Dungeons are places of torture and imprisonment, therefore they correlate with deeply hidden, unconscious thoughts and fears.

It's no wonder that her VD will be pretty much Kotoko and Es discussing her current actions and the deal. Even in the song preview, she is asking why do we want to stop her? Isn't it what justice is about?

Kotoko might feel a litte betrayed by Es, who doesn't want to continue this vigilante justice in the prison. As I stated before, Kotoko is very happy, having Es as a companion, with whom her work is easier, feeling more closer to ending her mission of eradicating the evildoers. Kotoko is a logical person, so I think that deep down she will realize easily that her and Es don't have the same ideals and principales. She was alone for a long time, her wishes not being seen with good eyes by others. I don't think Kotoko doesn't fear deep down that Es will betray her, if she'll be voted guilty, although these things will surely be hidden by her tough front. She is scared of not having a purpose, a way to prove herself, and without Es, all these things will dissapear.

Moreover, the fact that this door is the most "open" in the sense that, due to the iron bars, we can see the darkness, her subconscious, it indicates that she'll probably be the most open to share her views, new details about the crime. After all, even in the first voice drama, she has no fear in letting Es see her "heart", and now, she has the same attitude.

"Kotoko: After all, Es, you can touch (access) my heart (inner world), right? Through songs and videos..

Es: That is correct.

Kotoko: Then there's no problem. People who understand will automatically do so."

Kotoko, in reality, didn't change much, but she become more confident, because now she has a reason to give justice, a new purpose. In a way, it's like an addiction for Kotoko, this feeling of being right and punishing evil. And it was even more pronounced, because of our vote and deal. An addiction it's not something that you can get rid off easily: the more you do, the more you want it and need it.

"Don't stop/ I need a good reason to give justice/ Give me my next purpose"

Now, this will be just a speculation on my part, but based on the fact that dungeons can symbolise (the deepest fears and thoughts), and that the door is the "most open", I think we will dig much deeper in Kotoko's subconscious, maybe finding more elements of her relationship with her own desires and the lack of self care, maybe even more information about why she made this decision of dedicating herself for justice. Even if these things will not happen, what I'm sure of is that Kotoko's MV will be a banger!

Door elements

Because we covered the door itself, we will continue analysing the elements from it: the wolf claw marks, the eye and the weighing scale.

The claw marks

"The imagery of the claw has long been associated with the idea of the hunter, the protector, and the warrior. The sharp edges of the claw symbolises our ability to defend ourselves and our loved ones and represents the primal force that stirs within us. Whether carved from stone or crafted from metal, the claw symbolises the strength and perseverance that lies within us all."

No wonder, claw marks symbolise Kotoko's strenght and ability to protect others, as well as her ferocity when she is giving punishments to evildoers. It's not the first time when she feels connected to the wolves, seeing herself as a part of the pack. She is determinated to achieve her goals of eradicating evil from the world.

Claw marks can symbolise passion and intense emotions. The intoxicating feeling that Kotoko has every time she manages to find a bad person, when she has a new purpose, a new utility. Also, it can illustrate Kotoko's lack of sympaty for these kind of people and how she doesn't feel any remorse, being pround of her actions.

I would also want to point out the rust:

Although ruin, most of the time, symbolises neglect and decay, further accentuating Kotoko's murder and the beatings in the prison, which resulted in Mahiru being on the brink of death, it can also represent endurance and impermanence.

"Rust is also a reminder of impermanence. It serves as a symbol of the fact that everything in life is temporary and has an expiration date. It can serve as a reminder to cherish the present moment and not take anything for granted."

In this case, Kotoko will most probably lose her power and authority that it was granted to her by Es, when accepting the deal. She exploited this new power, by punishing the guilty prisoners without Es's knowledge, being convinced that their ideals are totaly aligned. In the end, this deal will turn out to be nothing but temporary, depending on her future verdict.

Also, isn't it interesting how every claw mark has three scratch marks (Fuuta's number), and together they are six (Mahiru's number)?

Weighing scale

"The scales (specifically, a two-pan, beam balance) are one of the traditional symbols of justice, as wielded by statues of Lady Justice. This corresponds to the use in a metaphor of matters being "held in the balance"."

This one is a pretty known fact, that scales represent justice, fairness and equal treatment.

Justice is pretty much the main part of Kotoko's character, so no wonder that we have an association with the lady of justice. However, it's important to remember that we are the ones that are voting the characters, Kotoko is just following our decisions. So not only it serves as a reminder for the deal established, but also at our own hypocrisy. Our judgements are nothing but impure, they are not fair, because our biases come to play. So seeing this weighing scale, which is supposed to represent fairness, it's quite funny. To further highlight my point, the eye on the door is not covered, not even closed.

So in the end, it's an interesting way to show our hypocrisy and Kotoko's, because, she's following our judgement without bothering to find more information about their specific crimes, blindly trusting Es, in the process.

Eye

Considering that we talked about the eye, let's continue with it.

The way is shaped, and because of the big emphasis of showing more Kotoko's right eye (here, in the door art, but also, in the thumbnail), this more likely represents the eye of Ra.

What is the eye of Ra?

"The Egyptian eye is found in various amulets. The idea here is that it can help push the negative energy away while bringing harmony back into your life. It's interesting because a lot of pharaohs were using it as a way to protect themselves while also destabilizing the government. That said, you need to be careful if you choose to invoke this energy. It can sometimes become violent and out of control."

This eye represents very well the situation that we have with Kotoko. If we consider her the eye of Ra, it can easily illustrate how we "invoked" her by making this deal, in order to protect us and give us information about the life in prison, but she became too violent and went out of control, punishing the guilty prisoners without Es's acord.

What's even more interesting is that eye of Ra amulets were most of the time coloured in a dark crimson colour to ward against evil spirits. Kotoko has dark crimson eyes, the similarities between this eye and her are fascinating!

Moreover, there is a legend in which the human Ra become old and weak, so people started to disregard his laws and rules. Annoyed, he punished the people, sending his daughter Ra's lion eye, which anihilated almost all humanity!

A summary of the legend: feel free to skip!

"According to legend, the human Ra was old and frail, and because of this, his people began to disregard his laws and directives. To punish his people, he dispatched his daughter, Ra’s lion’s eye. The eye grew enraged and annihilated humanity. The gods were worried that the eye would kill everyone. Ra got his eyes drunk on red beer and passed out. The eye then calmed down and returned to Ra."

There are other myths too. For example, one of them, which is very similar with what Kotoko is doing this trial, states that the Eye of Ra is designed to acquire information. Then justice is brought based on the info accumulated by the eye.

"Kotoko: Using you, in the position of a prison guard, with information you received from the interrogations. Paired with me, in the position of a prisoner, with information I receive from my life in prison… us sharing it. What do you think?"

Anyway, I think we talked enough about this eye, let's proceed to next section, which is the last!

Kotoko - body language and item

Kotoko's shown grinning at us with a confident attitude, quite proundly, having one of her hands on her hips, and in the other holding a baton.

Grin

"Grin is defined as a facial expression that expresses the feeling of pleasure, amusement, or insincere. The body language carried out for this expression is that the person smiles in the manner that his mouth is open and the teeth are visible."

Feeling of pleasure of having found her "awaited hero" and punishing the people who have sinned.

Hand on hip

"The hand on hip pose usually means you're feeling confident and ready to take action."

Kotoko is demonstrating us that she is ready to do whatever "next purpose" or task we are giving her. She is looking at us like we are her partner, and she can't wait to take again action!

Also:" just like how the pose can make you feel more confident, placing your hands on your hips can assure you that you’re capable and know what you’re doing."

At the same time, she is also reassuring herself and her actions, probably thinking that the task ahead or "the dirty work" as she calls it in VD, will be difficult, but, at the same time, will bring her the satisfaction of knowing that she contributed more in punishing the bad people.

An interesting fact!

"Police officers often place their hands on their hips to show that they’re ready to take charge. This pose is so common in police officers that you might be able to tell that someone is a cop when they’re not in uniform!"

Further implying the new authority that it was granted to Kotoko after the deal!

Considering that we talked about police officers, let's get to the item, more precisely the baton! (btw, kind of upset, because I can't really find something else to talk about her pose, as for other characters! But her door is still one of the prettiest!)

Baton

The first time I've seen the art, I genually thought for a moment that she is holding a sword, realizing shortly after that is just the baton from her second sprite! But, because I made this correlation, I immediately thought, again, at the Lady of Justice, but this time, at her weapon!

"In ancient times, a guilty verdict was executed with a literal swing of the sword on the neck of the accused. The symbolism is thus used to convey the idea that justice, when enforced, should be swift and with finality.

Swords likewise symbolize authority and respect, denoting that justice stands by its every ruling and decision. However, notice that Lady Justice’s sword is unsheathed, meaning justice is always transparent and is never just an implement of fear."

The baton, in this case, is like the sword for the Lady of Justice! (so many associations with her!). Kotoko is using it to showcase her authority and to command respect. Es is the one that "rules" and makes the decisions. Kotoko is the one who is swinging her "sword" and punishes, basically doing the dirty work.

"You're too kind. You can't bear to see the prison changing due to your choices, can you? You need allies. I'll do the dirty work."

This is very long! I am tired, but also excited to see Kotoko's MV! The symbolism, the elements on the door are so fascinating... It actually makes you wonder if Kotoko sees herself as a Lady of Justice in her own way!

Thank you for reading! ~🐺