Kotoko Utsugi

Kotoko Utsugi (空木 言子 Utsugi Kotoko) is a character featured in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls.

Kotoko is one of the five members of the Warriors of Hope, in charge of the "Fighter" class. She has the title of Li'l Ultimate Drama (超小学生級の「学芸会の時間」chō shōgakusei kyū no “gakugeikai no jikan” lit. Super Elementary School Level Arts Festival Period).

Kotoko has a robot called "Fighter Robot Highlander the Great", with special attacks such as Mega Piston and Mega Splash. She also has a strange gun called Denture Launcher, which can completely paralyze an adult.

Kotoko was nearly executed by Monokuma Kids in chapter 3, after she lost her fight against Komaru Naegi and Toko Fukawa, but she was rescued by Genocide Jack. She survived the riots with the other Warriors of Hope's members at the end of the game.

Kotoko is also the main antagonist along with Masaru Daimon in Ultra Despair Hagakure.

Kotoko returns in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Future Arc with the other former members of Warriors of Hope.

Kotoko appears as a cameo in the 30-minutes long OVA, Super Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World as a part of Nagito Komaeda's imagination world.

Appearance
Kotoko is most likely an 11-12 year old girl.undefined

She has very long pink hair tied into pigtails and matching pink eyes with speech bubbles acting as the irises. She wears a pink hairband with horns, which is branded with the emblem of the "Fighter" class.

She wears a frilled white shirt with a matching black jacket and skirt which both have pink accents. The jacket has the silver Warriors of Hope badge. She also wears mismatched pink thigh-high socks, and boots.

The creators have mentioned that she has unusual proportions and quite long limbs, which makes her more adult-like.

Personality
Kotoko is a hot-headed girl who loves "adorbs" things. She collects them and seems even slightly obsessed with the concept.

Kotoko also has an odd speech pattern as she often starts to list off-topic facts she finds interesting in the middle of conversation. Sometimes they're vaguely related to the topic (for example, if the topic is too long speeches, she starts to talk about how things like elephant's nose and giraffe necks are also too long). Even still, her speech is clear and focused, unlike in the case of Jataro Kemuri.

Kotoko acts cheerful, polite and happy. However, she is mentioned to have a bullying nature and she can be very mean and cruel. She is very mean to Jataro, even more than the others are, and she likes to tease Nagisa Shingetsu. However, she constantly tries to stay on Monaca's good side and praises her a lot.

Kotoko seemingly loved her stage life, but she doesn't like to talk about it and considers it a thing far in the past. She was pampered a lot and now has quite strict, demanding personality. She also has a habit of curtsying and being rather dramatic, which also hints at her past as an actress. It's actually heavily implied that a lot of Kotoko's behavior is just an act and, being the former Li'l Ultimate Drama, she is very skilled at acting. The official artbook implies that her "cutesy" personality might be a front created as a coping mechanism and she herself mentions that she has to keep acting or else she becomes miserable.

Kotoko is one of the more intelligent members of the group, capable of acting cunning and understanding things a bit faster than some other kids. She was able to trick Monaca with her acting and began to act more independently after Monaca was revealed to be a traitor. Still, even though she never really liked Monaca, she was manipulated by Junko to the point that she truly believed she cared about her and the others.

Due to her trauma caused by sexual abuse, Kotoko has a trigger for the word "gentle" (優しい yasashii), as the men who abused her had said they would be "gentle". When she hears this word, she becomes neurotic, and begins crying and screaming in fear, unable to calm herself down except when somebody tells her that they will not be gentle with her. Supposedly because of Junko's teachings, she wants to make other "adorbs" girls suffer what she went through, exclusively the older ones she considers Demons. She is bitter because nobody helped her in the past and thus very paranoid of adults, believing they're all pedophiles.

Li'l Ultimate Drama
Kotoko was an extremely talented child actress who was very popular due to her cuteness. She also performed in plays as well. During her introduction, she is shown to perform as a lead character in a play.

Kotoko has very good acting skills, as she was able to deceive Monaca into thinking that she liked her, when in reality Kotoko hated Monaca.

In other languages
Kotoko's talent as it appears in official translations of Danganronpa: Another Episode.

Prior to the Tragedy
Kotoko was born and raised in Towa City. She was a child prodigy and a famous child actor whose father was a dentist.

When she was about 10 years old, her parents prostituted her to producers where she was repeatedly raped by them. Her mother did it out of a twisted form of parental love and prostituted herself alongside Kotoko as a "mother and daughter set", believing that this was in her daughter's best interests and that it would help further Kotoko's career, make her "sparkle forever" and have the spotlight. Kotoko's mother saw youth as a great, horrifying power, a one that should be used in your advantage when you still could. She didn't care if Kotoko and the society would hate her, as she believed that her actions were completely right. As a result of the trauma, she ended up developing a breakdown trigger to the word "gentle", a euphemism the producers had used to describe their rape.

Kotoko wanted to be a normal child and didn't want to "sparkle", but she endured it all and didn't complain for the sake of her mother, because making her mother cry would've hurt Kotoko the most. Kotoko's father, on the other hand, used the money they gained for his own benefit, was cheating on his wife with his dental hygienist and overall didn't seem to care about his family at all.

Kotoko was also part of Hope's Peak Elementary School and she was put on the class of troublemakers along with Monaca Towa, Nagisa Shingetsu, Jataro Kemuri and Masaru Daimon.

Although Kotoko was on the verge of committing suicide along with the others, Junko Enoshima appeared and convinced the children that the adults were wrong and that they should create a paradise for children. Shortly afterward, she murdered her parents. She tells Komaru that she does not regret it, and that they should have died more times.

Prologue - The Warriors of Hope
Kotoko was first seen in the news reporting room, where she messes around with the dead newscaster's corpse along with Jataro and Masaru. She pretended to be scared by running around screaming. Monaca, one of the Warriors of Hope, appeared and makes a speech to the cameras while Kotoko watches from the side.

Kotoko is later seen with the other Warriors of Hope in the main hall, explaining her status as "Li'l Ultimate Drama." When Monaca arrives, she moved out of the way for her to greet Komaru. Not long after Servant arrives and set the Monokuma Bracelet to Komaru, Kotoko and the other Warriors of Hope opens a trap door, resulting in Komaru falling through and back down into Towa City. She expresses her interest in winning the Demon Hunting game, and insults Jataro when he expresses wanting to win as well.

Chapter 2 - Legend of the Revolution
Along with Monaca and Jataro, they made a shrine for him and mourned Masaru's death. When Monaca begins to cry, Kotoko mimics her. When Nagisa begins to question Monaca, Kotoko shows her unwavering support by challenging him alongside her and Jataro. She then teases him alongside Jataro when he reveals his feelings to Monaca.

Chapter 3 - Cute Girl's Battlefield
Kotoko is seen with Monaca in Kurokuma's hall. She wonders if they should hold another funeral, but without Jataro to build a shrine and neither of them liking Jataro, they decide not to. Possibly influenced by Nagisa's previous outburst, she wonders aloud if Jataro really had died, because there is no body to confirm. Rather than manipulate Kotoko like Monaka had done with Nagisa, she knowingly triggers Kotoko into a panic attack using her "NG word" against her. She then psyches her up again, refueling her rage for adults.

Kotoko goes to the adult's resistance base and breaks Komaru out of her cell, tricking her into thinking that she would be let go. She kidnaps Komaru and plans to "exploit" her in the same way that she had been, but Genocide Jack appears shortly after to save her. Kotoko then challenges the two girls in an arena, a battle in which she loses, but before the Monokuma Kids take her away, Jack saves her.

Chapter 5 - Absolute Despair Girl
Later, Kotoko is seen being stranded hanging on a pole while Beast Monokumas surround her below. After Komaru and Toko save her, she thanks them and runs away. She then appears when Komaru is making the decision to break the Monokuma controller, saying that she should not. When Toko stops Komaru from breaking the controller and Haiji Towa attacks Toko, Kotoko steps in to save her savior. After the building collapses, Kotoko walks past an injured Monaca, whom she leaves after chiding.

Aftermath
An image during the credits called "Children After The Story" shows that Kotoko, Nagisa, Masaru and Jataro are all alive and together.

Chapter 3
Kotoko found Yasuhiro Hagakure and Kanon Nakajima near the destroyed bridge with her Fighter robot, who attempts to attack them. However, Kanon is very strong and immediately subjugates Kotoko, throws away her controller and ties her hands with her knee-socks. She tries to get information out of Kotoko and she tells them that Towa Group is responsible for kidnapping the Captives, but the Group also betrayed Junko at the worst possible time. Suddenly, Masaru comes to help Kotoko with his Hero robot. Hiro would like to run, but Kanon decides to fight as she wants more answers. Unfortunately, Kanon is out of ammo, so the two escape by running.

Chapter 5
Kotoko appears with her robot inside the tunnel and she knocks Kanon off of Hiro. Kanon avoids the robot's hits at first, but her right leg gets badly injured. Hiro is very afraid, but his conscience tells him to help Kanon before she ends up killed. He tells his own fortune again and sees himself, fallen into despair as he stands over Kanon's body. Soon, Kanon appears to be unable to move, and Kotoko steps off of her robot to taunt her. She calls Kanon adorbs and starts to molest her with her "portable motivation machine". Meanwhile, Hiro starts up an electric train and it moves towards Kanon and Kotoko at great speed. Kotoko flattens herself up against the wall and tries to stop the train with her robot. Hiro picks Kanon up and starts to carry her to safety. Kanon wonders why he's helping her and he answers that he's a member of Future Foundation and he can't be the helpless student forever. Kanon tears up and feels guilt about what she did.

Kotoko's robot throws the train off the tracks and she chases after Hiro and Kanon. Hiro starts to regret his attempt at being a hero and he is prepared to die. His crystal ball falls, and Kanon picks it up and throws it at Kotoko with all her strength. For the first time, she managed to throw just how she wanted. The ball hits Kotoko's face, making her drop her controller and stop the robot. Hiro tries to get to the controller before Kotoko does, but Masaru shows up again with his robot. Hiro is forced to run back to Kanon, pick her up and keep escaping. Kotoko and Masaru argue at first, but then decide to work together and chase after the two. Kanon tells Hiro to drop her so he can escape, but he tells her that it's going to be all right. Suddenly, part of the tunnel collapses just as Hiro predicted and prevents the children from following them.

Episode 01 - Third Time's the Charm
Kotoko and the other Warriors of Hope members excluding Monaca were briefly shown at the beginning of the episode in the scene where the Servant surrendered himself to the Warriors of Hope.

Episode 07 - Ultra Despair Girls
Kotoko and the other Warriors of Hope are seen hiding in a hotel. Nagisa is on the phone, telling Toko and Komaru how to find Monaca while Kotoko and the others watch in silence.

Super Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World
Kotoko appears as a cameo in the OVA, was shown having fun with members of Warriors of Hope.

Execution

 * Main Article: Punishment of the Fighter

Relationships

 *  Warriors of Hope: 

Kurokuma
Kurokuma was Kotoko's advisor. However, she disliked him for his constant talking and suggested that the Warriors of Hope should get rid of him. Kurokuma appears to be humored by her, as in the artbook he states his chest feels like it's going to burst.

Monaca
At first, Kotoko seemed to have a special attachment to Monaca - often stating things such as 'Monaca's favorite things, I also love!', praising her quite often and calling her "adorbs". Kotoko also states that she likes Monaca's cookies. It's eventually implied that she's actually afraid of Monaca and just tries to stay on her good side. In the end, it's revealed that she hates Monaca and was just acting the whole time.

Jataro Kemuri
Kotoko is arguably the most cruel to Jataro, insulting him at every chance she gets and having a lot of fun while doing it, while the other Warriors mostly just ignore him.

After Jataro's supposed death, Kotoko and Monaca both admit that neither cared for his death, and that they mutually hated him.

Masaru Daimon
After Masaru's supposed death, Kotoko mentioned that he always acted all big and was "a perverted idiot, but a pretty good person". It's heavily implied that she's just acting sad and she attempts to fake cry along with Monaca.

Kotoko portrayed the role of Cinderella in a school play, Masaru played her prince.

Nagisa Shingetsu
Kotoko seemed to have some admiration for Nagisa, who is "so pure" and thinks about others. However, she was a bit frustrated by his strictness.

She is very aware of Nagisa's shy crush on Monaca and often teases him for it.

Later in the game, Nagisa personally steps in to intervene when he sees Komaru and Toko "ganging up on her". When Kotoko attempts to follow him on his mission to escort the two girls, he stops her - ultimately trying to protect her from Monaca's wrath.

One line in the official artbook implies that Nagisa thought Kotoko and Monaca were like best friends, clearly not aware of the true nature of their relationship, and he respected her for giving Monaca company.


 * Ultimate Despair Members:

Junko Enoshima
Kotoko, like the other four, have a special respect and love for Junko. She stopped their joint-suicide by means of jumping off the elementary school's roof and convinced them to not only kill the source of their despair, their parents, but to create a paradise for children by murdering all adults.


 * Allies:

Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jack
Genocide Jack/Toko saved Kotoko from the hands of the Monokuma kids, because she wanted information from her. Because of this, Kotoko appears to like both Toko and Genocide Jack, as seen when she saves Toko by leaping onto Haiji who was hitting Toko.


 * Towa City Resident:

Kanon Nakajima
Kanon is Kotoko's Demon target. Kotoko constantly tries to find and kill Kanon with her robot. Her first attempt at doing so ends in failure, with Kanon easily subjugating Kotoko and tying her up with her own knee socks. This led Kotoko to develop a grudge against Kanon, and she tries to kill Kanon again in the subway. She managed to injure Kanon, and uses a similar device to the one she used on Komaru to grope her. However, her attempt at murdering Kanon ends in failure.

Trivia

 * Her given name is composed of the kanji 言, meaning “word” or “say”, and 子 - “child”.
 * Kotoko's last name, “Utsugi” (空木), literally means “empty tree”, and is actually the Japanese name for a genus of shrub scientifically known as Deutzia.
 * She likes sweets and dislikes salty things.
 * She appears to like strawberries, as both her underwear and bed sheets have a strawberry pattern.
 * Kotoko's blood type is A.
 * Kotoko robot's name is a direct reference a famous real-life figure, Alexander the Great.
 * In the English dub, when Kotoko was inferred to be naked, she said "I mean, I'm actually 18, but, this is really too much!". This is a lie, as her real age is around 11-12.
 * This statement is actually a humorous reference to Japanese "adult video games", which usually begin with a disclaimer saying something along the lines of "all characters in this work are 18 and older", especially when they feature petite female characters involved in adult situations.

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