That is pretty good, actually. A shot of
Kokoru's self-portrait sketch, in art class. Notice that you can see those
"guidelines" that art teachers tell you to do--the lines through the head, that
tell you where to position the features to keep things in the right place and
in proportion, etc. I _like_ that...that's a nice touch, because it's REAL. It's
what art teachers really _do_ tell you do to (and shows that the artists of this
show have had the proper training, too. ;)) Wait, who said that? Kokoru looks quite
alarmed at a voice from nowhere, proclaiming something hitherto unknown... "I couldn't STAND it any more!" Turns out the
voice was Chow, Kokoru's little ghost servant/sidekick, who, it appears, has
been with her all this time, and we didn't know it--he (?) usually hides in her
shadow. "Of course, he'll want ME, the elegant and fantasically
magical Princess of Hell." says Grenda as she poses in front of the great
artist Nicole, confident that he'll pick her for his model. Nope. (Note: You
may be wondering: "Nicole? HE?!!" As was I. They pronounce it "Nee-co-rray"
(with a slightly rolled "r") in Japanese, which, oddly, also makes it sound
almost _French_. (I keep imagining it with a silent "t" on the end. Well, add the "t" and then change
ONE other letter and you'd have the name _Picolet_, which was the name of a Ranma 1/2
character who _was_ French.) Still, pronounciations aside, "Nicole" was an
INCREDIBLY stupid choice for a _guy's_ name, in my not so humble opinion. :P) DUDE! The HECK?! She just ran through the
wall! I guess this proves that Kokoru _is_ "the Spirit girl" (there has to be one
candidate of each race/world, doesn't there, to match the Tiara?--and one of the
worlds _is_ the Spirit or Ghost one...) but I don't get _how_ she's a spirit or ghost.
She _seems_ alive enough to me. She eats, drinks, needs to sleep, can get hurt, is
(usually) solid...colour me confused. You can place this in the official I Just
Don't Get It file, along with "How can Grenda think of herself as a child, when she looks
like THAT?" (shakes head) I like this show, but there are a couple things that just plain
don't make sense... Doppleganger! Knock it off, Chow, I _know_ that's not
Kagome--er, Kokoru, I can see the fluffy orange _tail_ sticking out the back. ;) Seriously,
you're only seeing double because Chow thought he'd pretend to be Kokoru and get her to be the
model for Nicole, while Kokoru's back was turned. (Why? Chow thinks that if Kokoru becomes a
model she'll stop being a Platina Princess candidate, and will have a safer life.) "Pleased to meet you." Nicole greets Kokoru--the real one--outside
his studio. Nicole makes his choice. Looks like spirit-girl IS going to be a model
after all... ME?! And Kokoru handles the news with her usual dignity and
aplomb. :P (By the way, she actually SAID "Eh?"...it didn't really need translation...) "I AM relaxed!" Oh, yeah, Kokoru, that smile looks REAL convincing. Yeah.
(More like a nervous _twitch_ than a smile...) This is what she does when Nicole tells her to "try to look
more relaxed". (giggle) "ACK!" Chow has a way to make Kokoru relax...he TICKLES her! It "relaxes" her
straight onto the floor...(read: she got startled, jumped, and tipped the chair over.) Not even Warp 10 has anything on the speed of scuttlebutt! The rumours about who
Nicole-san's new model could possibly be spread throughout the school (and the whole town) like wildfire...
reaching silliness of THIS proportion (and further!) within seconds. I also took this picture because it shows
some of the _other_ girls of the school, besides the main characters, and I realise they don't get much screen-time
in my gallery. "There must be some error..." Poor Kokoru, suffering from low self-esteem, as always.
(Her Pride stat must be quite low. ;)) Seriously, though, I liked this shot because of the lighting, and the "lonely",
isolated quality. It's kind of sad, but pretty at the same time. "Bleh...boojie-boo!...whee!" Yuushi makes various very silly faces, in an attempt to
make Kokoru smile. (It doesn't work, at least not right then, unfortunately.) "It's the inner you. Maybe it's the REAL you." Nicole's new painting is finally
revealed, in front of the entire kingdom...and now everybody knows who the model is! Instead of the shy, serious, rather
sad Kokoru we all usually know, the one in the painting is smiling, happy and free. Awww... "Yuushi...I'M a Platina Princess candidate too, just like you!!" The painting gave Kokoru
enough confidence to finally speak her mind...to reveal what she's been hiding all this time. (Which means--since
she was in the show _before_ Grenda--that Kokoru is actually the _second_ Platina Princess candidate we meet, and Grenda
is the _third_. Only two more to go, now.) "WHAAAAATTTTT??!!!!!!" The shocked simultaneous shout of EVERY girl in the entire freaking
room, in response to Kokoru's statement, is SO loud that it even knocks down some plaster off the ceiling in the Principal's
Office, where Queen Erisel was trying to have a quiet cup of tea. :P (The blur? That's the falling plaster.) "So, are you challenging me?!" Grenda reacts to the news that she now has TWO rivals for the
Eternal Tiara in _her_ usual way... "Allow me to introduce myself." Chow formally introduces himself to Yuushi (and the audience)
in this shot. I still don't know if Chow is a boy or a girl (it's an actrESS playing the voice, but to me it sounds more like
a "little boy's" voice, not an actual _girl_ character) but I'm going to call Chow a boy until I'm actually told otherwise, by
someone who knows official stuff about the show. (shrug).
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