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Koto (小兎 Koto?), which literally translates to "Little Rabbit", is a demon girl that is seen to be acting as the referee/commentator for both the Dark Tournament and the Demon World Tournament. She is later replaced by Juri as referee in both the semi-finals and the finals of the Dark Tournament, switching to mere commentary as she was suspected of miscounting in the match between Jin and Yusuke. She is also something of an idol in both the Human and Demon Worlds.

Appearance[]

Koto fullbody YYH

Koto is a young woman of average height, with a slim build and rounded facial features. She has a peach skin complexion, light emerald green eyes and cinnamon brown hair that is kept short, covering her cheeks and forehead. Her demon features consist of: a pair of triangular ears (akin to those of a fox in the anime and a cat in the manga), a bushy, light brown fur tail (which is thin and long in the manga instead) and two pairs of three whiskers, one for each cheek. Her clothes consist of a cream shirt with a golden collar and a short blue tie, a pair of waist-high pink shorts, red coat tails with teal lining, black tights, red cloth bracelets, a pair of short-heeled red boots, and a small red bow-tie choker.

Personality[]

In the original Japanese, Koto is a bright and cheerful young lady who is admirably professional and devoted to her job, impartially cheering on and encouraging fighters of both sides during her commentaries, and is basically a hard-working good person who just happens to earn her paycheck from bad people. In the English dub, she is portrayed as being significantly more bloodthirsty, often giving her own sadistic commentary on how much she enjoys the pain and death she sees. In both versions, she has some standards as she disapproves of Bakken's attempts to keep Kurama's unconscious body in the ring. She also saved her friend Juri from the black dragon and comforted Chu when he became sick after drinking his ogre-killer booze.

In the English version, Koto often seems overtly amused by the suffering of the fighters at the Dark Tournament, but only when both contestants can have a fair fight fight. In both the Japanese and English versions though, she becomes easily frightened whenever there is a formidable attack such as the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, though not as much as Juri. In fact, she is also something of a masochist as well as a sadist (she seems genuinely confused when the heavily injured Kuwabara doesn't enjoy his pain as he stumbles into the ring to fight Risho and her complaints about Bakken's treatment of Kurama were that he "wasn't even conscious to enjoy" the beating). Her love of destruction is so much that she will stay in her seat even when the stadium is under attack from the competitors' powers (such as when Shishiwakamaru revealed his Banshee's Shriek sword or when Sakyo activated his detonator). In the Demon World Tournament of the English dub, her sadism is toned down a bit, while her Japanese version remains as sweet and positive as ever.

She also has the entire tournament rule book memorized, and points that out to Botan, during Jin's fight with Yusuke, Botan complained that Jin's fighting was an unintentional ring-out. She is very reluctant to let Team Masho win by cheating, showing that she values an honest fight and really is as neutral as she claims to be. Unlike most demons in the Tournament or in the stands, Koto doesn't seem to have any problem with Team Urameshi, praising their successes alongside their enemies.

Koto is briefly the object of affection for Chu, whom she doesn't share feelings for. Ironically, in the Demon World Tournament, she seems upset over the fact that Chu fell for Natsume. She sometimes puts on a cute act, but is very shrewd and manages to get in jabs at Juri for being a former cocktail waitress. Despite this, she views her replacement announcer as a close friend, expressing concern for her and even rescuing her during Hiei’s fight with Bui. As the stadium comes crumbling down around them, Juri’s fear of dying a virgin spurns Koto to abandon her obsessive commitment to the tournament and flee with her friend (also noting that she will help “find Juri a man”).

In the anime, she seems to have a broad and varied taste in men. She called Yoko her "dream hunk" (and was very disappointed when he turned back into a "tailless Kurama"), she was vocally annoyed about Kuro Momotaro's beast armors of the Ape and the Phoenix (she made no comments about his Wolf form), preferring his human-looking form and complaining about the loss of his "waxed, washboard abs [she] loved so much" (she made no comments about the Armor of the Wolf). Similarly, she found Bui's "deep, timbering voice" attractive. However, by the end of the series, she has developed a crush on the very human-looking. slim, and mild-voiced Touya.

Synopsis[]

The Dark Tournament[]

Koto acted as the referee and announcer during the first half of the Dark Tournament, and as such was expected to narrate the fights, all the while having to dodge the insanely deadly attacks of each team, most notably those of teams: Urameshi, Rokuyukai, Toguro and Team Masho.

Team Urameshi vs. Team Rokuyukai[]

The first line-up consisted of Team Urameshi vs Team Rokuyukai. Although the first two matches were for the most part uneventful, a particularly dangerous situation arose during the third between Team Yurameshi's Hiei versus Rokuyukai's Zeru. It was during this match that Koto had to back away from Zeru's bursts of white-hot fire and forced to leave the ring entirely after Hiei unleashes the Dragon of the Darkness Flame on his opponent. With Zeru having been completely vaporized, with only a burnt shadow left as evidence of the demon's quick demise, Koto is obliged to declare Hiei winner and put Team Urameshi two wins in the lead. The fourth match consisted of Team Rouyukai's substitute, and actual leader, Chu versus Team Urameshi's eponymous Yusuke Urameshi. Before the match could even start Chu makes several inebriated advances towards Koto, and is even comforted by her after the drunkard vomits due to having consumed the notoriously strong liquor "Ogre Killer".

Team Urameshi vs. Dr. Ichigaki Team/ vs. Team Masho[]

Koto later returns to announce the matches between the silent and highly calculated Dr. Ichigaki Team versus their respective opposing teams. The cruel doctor's three human combatants had developed a morbid reputation for being nearly entirely silent and for decapitating their opponents in three-on-three bouts. In one particular match Koto is pushed aside so that the last member of one team could avenge his fallen teammates, only to be himself decapitated by all three of Ichigaki's lackeys, thus leaving Koto to announce their humiliating defeat. The doctor's team ends up fighting Urameshi's Yusuke, Kuwabara and the Masked Fighter in yet another three-on-three bout. As the match begins, Koto announces in confusion Team Urameshi's apparent beating, unaware that Yusuke and Kuwabara were hesitant to kill Ichigaki's human team members, who unbeknownst to Koto and the rest of the crowd were being mind controlled by Ichigaki. The match is won only by The Masked Fighter destroying the organic devices that had been controlling the three humans, allowing the team to quit the match. It was during this confrontation that the Masked Fighter's disguise was partially removed, revealing to Koto that the fighter was a teenage woman. With Team Ichigaki having been defeated Koto is about to announce Team Urameshi's retreat, but just then the Dark Tournament's committee overrules this and declares their immediate advancement against Team Masho.

Team Urameshi vs. Team Masho[]

From this point on Koto becomes concerned for Team Urameshi's unfair treatment at the hands of the tournament's corrupt committee. This is first illustrated when Koto tries removing Kurama after he had fallen unconscious after his second fight (against the ice apparition Touya) but is overruled by the committee. As a result, the offish ninja Bakken permitted to savagely pummel Kurama while still being comatose. Without any hesitation Koto steps in to defend Kurama, who at the last moment of the match was left lying on the ground and unable to act. She is easily shoved aside by Bakken, however the brute agrees to simply through Kurama out of the ring after Yusuke threatens to shoot him with the Spirit Gun. After Yusuke defeats Bakken in a brutal display Koto declares Team Urameshi's third win (the first two having been earned by Kurama) and proceeds to narrate the fight between Yusuke and Jin, The Wind Master. This particular match proves to be a rousing event, with Koto herself performing a back-flip out of excitement. But her enthusiasm is cut abruptly short after the tournament's committee declares the fight a draw, explaining that during the fight Koto had miscounted.

Team Urameshi vs. Team Uratogi[]

Koto has been removed from the ring and relegated to the commentator's "booth," (just a microphone set up at the bottom row) implicitly for her refusal to abide by the committee's decisions in the name of fair play. She continues to provide enthusiastic comments about the violence in the ring while also making mixed comments about her replacement, Juri (while also reminding her of the rules). While she does not have many overt complaints about being moved to the sidelines, she makes more complaints about the qualities of the fights (such as Hiei's swift execution of Makintaro or the smoke from Ura Urashima's Idunn Box making it impossible to observe what was happening in the ring). Despite her complaints, she didn't seem too unhappy with her change in circumstances.

Team Urameshi vs. Team Toguro[]

During the match between Team Urameshi and Team Toguro, Koto is still in the commentator's booth. She continues to provide commentary on the action. While still enthusiastic, her patience may be running a bit thin as, during the match between Hiei and Bui, she asks why "the competitors keep attacking the audience," which didn't seem to bother her as much in the semi-finals. She also saves Juri from the effects of Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame. During Kuwabara and Yusuke's matches against the Toguro brothers, Jorge joins her as self-appointed co-commentator. She remains a good sport about it (even answering Jorge's questions), even though he is clearly unhelpful. After Yusuke wins, she and Juri stand in the remains of the ring together to announce the Spirit Detective's victory.

When Sakyo activates his detonator, Koto insists on staying in her booth, determined to ensure the listeners know what is happening. After Juri admits to being a virgin, Koto expresses surprise, but agrees to leave to help help Juri find a lover.

Epilogue[]

In the manga epilogue, Ruka, Juri and herself have begun to really break out into Human World culture. She briefly appears in an ad in the Eizou Hakusho OVA. Koto admits to having a crush on an aloof, serious man, referring to Touya, who sneezes. However, in the anime, she also got infatuated with Yoko (not knowing that it was Kurama in his previous form caused by Ura Urashima's Idunn Box) when she sees him after Shishiwakamaru threw his sword to break Ura Urashima's barrier. She referred to Yoko as her personal fantasy and a love god with sexy ears and a dreamy tail in the English, while referring to him as a fearsome yet beautiful silver-haired yokai in the Japanese version.

Relationships[]

  • Juri: It is implied that Koto and Juri are good friends, and that Koto was the one who found her and got her into referee status - Koto was a star in the makai, after all. During their commentary, she frequently makes remarks seeming like she's guiding Juri on otherwise tough calls. Koto also expressed a large amount of concern when Juri, in fear of her life, cried out at the possibility of dying while still being a virgin.
  • Chu: In both the manga and anime, Chu was initially attracted to Koto because of her beauty, but when he found that out she could speak "drunk", his affection strengthened and persisted. Chu had also helped in saving her life when Toguro had begun draining souls from demons in the audience. By the Demon World Tournament, his feelings had lingered, as indicated by his declaration of love for her. However, he eventually fell for Natsume, indicating that his former feelings for Koto were merely the result of a shallow infatuation. Koto wasn't interested in Chu, but was frustrated when he begged Natsume to be his girlfriend, screaming that, "he turned her bloody tournament into a dating service," possibly hinting at implicit feelings.
  • Jorge: When Jorge decides to be announcer, he makes his way near her, in an unheralded manner, and proceeds to ask her useless questions and make useless calls in both tournaments. Koto seems to not mind this intrusion - only noticeably annoyed when Jorge does something excessively stupid and superfluous. She remembers him as the "rapping ogre" in the English dub.
  • Yusuke: Koto treats Yusuke like everybody else until the call with Jin, where Yusuke mistakenly threatens her, thinking she's involved with tournament committee calls, because although he'd won, they called a draw. Koto lets this go, but when Yusuke defends her against Risho, she seems to gain respect for him. This respect carries all over into the Demon World Tournament, where she addresses him as "Mister".
  • Botan: In the English version, where Koto was turned into a sadist, Botan was secretly disgusted at Koto's sadism. She also thought Koto was too into the fighting action to care about refereeing. When she confronted the demon about her apparent disregard for the rules - in this case, not counting Jin out when he was flying over the ring - Koto proved Botan's ignorance by quoting a section of the official rulebook. Later, against Team Ichigaki, Botan was clearly disgusted at the sadism and called her a "heartless wreck". Although she didn't know it, Botan's insult had a profound effect - despite Koto still being into the violence in fighting, she started to show some standards, and when things got too brutal and unfair, she stood up for the weaker fighter. Naturally, this only happened to Team Urameshi, because the other fodder teams were easily destroyed by the ones who advanced, while Yusuke's team could hold out. And naturally, she got a lot of flak for this.
  • Touya: In the manga, Koto admits to having a crush on Touya, saying "he looks really [?] and hard to approach" and later she said she decided "he's gotta be really sweet on the inside".

After Koto, Juri, and Ruka admit their crushes, without revealing names, the next page reveals Touya, Jin, and Suzuki sneezing in unison, indicating that the female trio were referring to the men as their crushes.

  • Yoko Kurama: In the anime, Koto was instantly smitten with Kurama's transformed state; describing the former fox bandit as a "fearsome yet beautiful silver-haired Yokai" in the Japanese version and her personal dream boyfriend (her "personal fantasy") with "sexy ears and a dreamy tail" as well as describing him as a "god of love" in the English dub. In the Japanese version, she expresses awe at his identity when he turns back into human Kurama; whereas in the English dub, she seemed prepared to ask him out and showed great disappointment when her "silver-haired hunk" turned back into regular Kurama.

Trivia[]

  • The Funimation dub, in which Yusuke refers to Koto as a "fox girl", as her tail and ears resembling a fox cause most to believe Koto is a fox spirit. Some claim she may be a cat demon — she frequently meows in the manga, and in the Funimation dubbed anime she refers to her ears as "little cat ears" and is called a "kitten" by Bakken.
  • Likely furthering the Australian stereotype, Chu calls her Sheila, as he does every other girl, which she seems to take a disliking to.

References[]

Manga chapter: 173; p. 9 and 10.


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