Character Analysis Archive

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Author: u/Genprey

Previous: The Emptiness of Masara

Related reading: The Emptiness of Masara

Where we last left off, we talked about Masara, a cool girl who is seemingly void of emotions. Masara is a girl who appears light and translucent as per the emptiness she feels in her heart, but now we're going to move on to Kokoro, a girl who is simultaneously opposite and similar as Masara.

For the purpose of better understanding this section, I really suggest reading my analysis on Masara, as this will be essentially be part 2 of that section. With that being said, let's talk about feelings.

The Logic of Masara and The Emotion of Kokoro

As we read before, Masara isn't a girl who expresses strong emotions, and through her conversations with Kokoro, Masara thinks very logically. We best see the difference in both girls in the scene after they first met, where Kokoro was scolding Masara for her reckless behavior. Masara, having stated she does not fear death, told Kokoro that her parents would "be okay", as she will have had left a fortune behind for them to use as they grow older. This, of course, misses the point Kokoro was trying to get across.

What we see here is essentially what would happen if we took a person and separated them into two entities, one being a practical thinker, the other being much more emotional in nature. Last time, we talked about the emptiness Masara feels, so now we're going to talk about the bottled up feelings Kokoro has.

When you look at Masara's resolve, you might consider her to be a strong girl to be able to face danger without fear, but then view Kokoro as mentally weak for her showing large amounts of concern and fear of being hurt. However, we can also interpret this another way, where Kokoro is actually a very resilient individual. Think of a time where you felt large amounts of sadness, anger, or fear, but found it in you to hold onto those feelings, perhaps to stay strong for your friends/family. As time goes on and those feelings build up, things start to feel like the World is coming down on you, its gravity weighing on you so much that you can barely make it out of bed. Needless to say, carrying such strong emotions requires a lot of endurance, and speaking from personal experiences, there have been times where I just wanted to "let it all out".

Although her emotions seep out, Kokoro is pretty durable when it comes to her feelings, and even after being yelled at by her father for no real reason and having been upset at Masara's lack of self-preservation, we see her take a step back and regain her composure soon after.

In a way, Masara would be the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz a character who sought a heart so that he may, once again, feel emotions. While Masara is empty in that regard, Kokoro is the exact opposite, being a kettle that is ready to boil over in feelings. The girls' dynamic is best summed up in the Memoria, Perfectly Imbalanced, which reads:

It's strange, but they never notice, no matter how much time has passed. If one girl wants to catch the other's eye, she's looking somewhere else. Even when she's putting all of her effort into it, their thoughts never quite coincide. But that's part of what makes their balance perfect.

This describes the funny relationship between Masara and Kokoro that lead to situations like this one, which is pretty cool, seeing as how the writers decided to have the girls be so desynched, despite their close relationship. Additionally, we can interpret the description metaphorically as Kokoro and Masara "never seeing eye-to-eye", but such differences is what makes them have so much synergy.

In a way, you can view Kokoro as a "kettle" to Masara's "glass", in that Kokoro becomes a primary source of the wonder Masara has been seeking for most of her life. Much like how a cup warms as a result of having tea poured into it, Kokoro's interactions with Masara gradually undoes her cold heart. In the "Reaching a Happier Height" event, for example, Masara now considers the emotional value of hiking to Kokoro by stating that she wasn't sure about joining her, as it was something Kokoro had fond memories of with her family. This is a stark contrast to the girl who believed her death via witch would not matter to her parents, especially if they did not need to pay for such things as her funeral.

A Castle of Sentiment

Here's the thing about Kokoro's appearance: her artist, GAN, has a very particular style, as we see with some of the Suzune Magica girls. Put a bit more specifically, GAN is an "ecchi" artist, and part of that style carried over to Kokoro's design. Putting that aside, Kokoro's outfit looks rather bulky, with her skirt and top layered on her, but most of all, the two pilebunkers she carries on both arms. Combined with her tights, Kokoro always came off as a character from a mecha anime.

In this official and somewhat NSFW (it shows Kokoro without her skirt and outerwear) design layout from GAN, Kokoro's hair is held together by cube-shaped accessories, a shape that evokes feelings of sturdiness and stability. Because the shape is enclosed on all sides, we can be reminded of shelter, with walls, flooring, and a roof that protect us from the elements and other threats. It's four sides also allows it to be stable when placed on ground.

Kokoro's primary colors, yellow and green, are colors that are often associated with safety, while green is also a color of abundance, such as with money and natural growth. Being the color of Kokoro's soul-gem, we can interpret her as a girl who has a plenty of feelings stored inside her.

Much like how Masara's offensive nature is reflected in her stats, Kokoro is very durable, which also happens to match her ability to endure large amounts of damage. Such a power manifested from Kokoro's desire to preserve and protect her family, which is quite the literal interpretation, but hey, makes my job a lot easier for once.

Finally, Kokoro's pilebunkers are a reference to her emotions trying to break free. The way these weapons work, the stake or lance are held steady or pulled back before finally being released and hitting a target at full force. As she demonstrates in several conversations, Kokoro's emotions tend to seep out, particularly when she feels strongly about something or someone. Imagining this as, say, a boiling kettle or a balloon that's been overinflated, we can see Kokoro's feelings as a strong force waiting to burst out of her.

Headed Towards Happiness

To recap a bit, Kokoro is a girl whose emotions have been held inside her, while Masara has no emotions to show. As mentioned earlier, feelings are tough to hold onto, while the absence of them gives us someone like Masara. As Masara gets to know Kokoro and starts becoming more expressive, we see that she tends to get confused as to what she is feeling.

Kokoro, however, fully understands her emotions, but chooses to hold onto them as to not burden those around her. This difference between the two girls ends up actually what makes them so compatible: on one hand, Masara seems to live a comfortable life with a stable family, on the other, Kokoro is faced with changes and challenges on her end, as her mother left her and her father, yet is not able to reconvene, even despite Kokoro's wish. As such, Kokoro is a girl full of experience with emotions, making her the perfect person for Masara to understand them, hence why she often sticks around Kokoro, asking questions related to things that she feels strongly about.

This is where things get a bit more complex, while Masara is associated with fragility and Kokoro fortification, Masara approaches things without much fear, while Kokoro bottles her emotions out of fear of being emotionally hurt. The explanation, however, is actually pretty simple, as someone who has not experienced many strong emotions in her life, Masara has little to fear, be it how Kokoro or her own family would feel if something bad happened to her. Kokoro, however, knows exactly how feelings can be hurtful, and has, thus, become averse when faced with emotional hurt. This is the point where both girls, who are so different from each other, converge, where Masara desires to discover joy and wonder through finding emotion and Kokoro through learning how to cope with her own.

Both girls are also involved in physical activities, competitive swimming for Masara, and hiking for Kokoro. Competitive swimming is a very controlled activity, where participants where the same uniform, follow a set of rules, and swim within a more constrictive area (a pool). By contrast, Kokoro enjoys hiking, which is far more open. Masara finds pleasure in swimming for the quiet comfort it provides her, while hiking carries fond memories of Kokoro's parents.These hobbies allude to each girl's nature, where Masara is reserved and routine, while Kokoro tends to venture out more and try different things, something of hers that really begins to rubs off on Masara, as seen in her swimsuit episode. In return, Masara is the perfect person for Kokoro to express herself with, something that is hinted at in the Memoria, An Unexpected Reaction:

I'd make lunch for you anytime, just to see that rare expression on your face. When we're done eating, it's time to fold the lunchbox and pack it up. My backpack feels lighter now that you're here. Let's keep walking, together!

As Masara warms up to Kokoro, she discovers more and more how important she (Masara) is to her, and although it seems one-sided at times, both girls share a clear bond with each other. At least enough for Mitama to ship them together. In the final line of this Memoria, Kokoro mentions how, with Masara around hiking with her, her bag feels lighter, which is strange when taken literally, as she's packed a bag for two, but metaphorically, this Memoria states how Masara is someone Kokoro can confide herself.

Pamela, the Doppel of Endurance

The master of this emotion perceives her Doppel as something that expresses her pent-up emotions in her stead; however, she understands that this behaviour is merely a placeholder, so she has mixed feelings while looking upon it. This Doppel sprouts sharp thorns in a show of resistance to those who would harm it, and savagely attacks that which it perceives to be dangerous. On rare occasions, it may explode in conjunction with an upswing in its master’s emotions. Its shell– which boasts a powerful strength different from either ceramic or metal– thus breaks, and powerful waves of magic engulf its surroundings.

Such a straightforward description for a very busy Doppel, yeesh. Pamela has quite a few potential references, and after getting a few ideas from u/Sweet_Beanie, I am proud(?) to say that Pamela Anderson doesn't seem to be one of them.

There's a lot to go over, so I'm going to start with the most visually obvious, the "pamela hat", which Pamela, the Doppel, wears ontop her head. The pamela hat was a fashion trend for ladies during the 19th century, worn by women who would add in their own aesthetic touch. These hats covered a small portion of the wearer's head as to show off the woman's styled hair.

Hats, in general, provide protection from the sun, but also hide part of our heads, and with that in mind, I believe this to be a reference to the first lines in the Doppel's description that states Kokoro's realization that Pamela's appearance is only a substitute for her feelings. As mentioned earlier, pamela hats were designed to loudly present the wearer's personality with how they designed it to fit them. As such, Pamela represents Kokoro's desire to express herself. Coincidentally enough, Pamela is also linked to Kokoro by her hair-curl.

Aside from singing about rains in Africa, the band, Toto, has a song titled "Pamela", with lyrics that include:

...

Pamela, don't break this heart of mine

Just remember, it may not heal this time

Pamela, there is no second chance, for the one who leaves it all behind, yeah yeah

...

As per the theme of this song, songwriter, Joseph Williams, writes about the fragility of one's heart. These lines, in particular, relate to Kokoro's emotions as a result of her mother and father divorcing each other, as well as the fact that, despite her wish, there was no second coming of the love she and her family enjoyed in the past.

Pamela appears as a spider-like entity encased in ceramic. Aside from being little crawling horrors, spiders are one of the creatures referred to as a witch's servant and praised for their handicraft when weaving webs. Given how close they are to witches, it becomes clear as to why Pamela has so much magical energy bottled inside of its shell.

Likewise, Pamela is a defense mechanism for Kokoro, showing resistance to things that would be perceived as a threat that can break past her shell. Once at full capacity, the shell on Pamela explodes, releasing all the magical energy (read: emotions) that were trying to break free, much like the feelings that push and seep through Kokoro. As mentioned in the description, Pamela reacts to Kokoro's strong emotions, and during the attack animation, we see her aggressively pound on Pamela's head before pointing her toward her targets.

All-in-all, Kokoro and Masara are about feelings and our reactions to them. On one side, we see the importance of emotions as they are ultimately what gives meaning to our lives, yet bearing these feelings can bring about pain if they are stored within us.

With that all said, Kokoro was actually the first girl I saved up for, mostly because I recognized her from Gan's works before knowing she was a character in Magia Record.

Next up if, for real this time, Umika, followed by the rest of the Another Daze crew.