Kotori Iida [Sweetness and Lightning]

IN-DEPTH: Bare-bones wiki page.

Kotori is a normal high school girl in modern Japan, and the daughter of a fairly prominent chef and restaurateur. Unfortunately, despite her passion for food and voracious appetite, Kotori starts the series unable to cook much herself. An accident cutting her finger when she was younger left her with a strong phobia of kitchen knives. At the start of the series, Kotori’s mother Megumi has started doing appearances on TV to repay a favor to a friend, leaving the restaurant closed and Kotori alone most of the time. One day, she runs into her recently widowed teacher Kouhei Inuzuka and his preschool daughter Tsumugi. After explaining that her mother skipped out on Flower Viewing with her, she gives them a business card for the restaurant. They come in the next night and she awkwardly but successfully makes them clay pot rice. She then asks Sensei and Tsumugi if they’d like to come to the restaurant for dinner more often; the place is empty nowadays, and she can help teach them to cook with her practical knowledge (since the two had been living on frozen dinners since Kouhei’s wife died) and he can handle the cutting. Over the next few years, the trio of cooks lots of delicious food, improve their skills, grow closer as found family.

IN-DEPTH: While Kotori is usually reserved and quiet at first glance, she lights up when talking about food and cooking. She’s nigh-constantly snacking during school, always wanting to investigate new ingredients, and (once she gains enough confidence) is extremely excited at the prospect of tackling a new recipe. She’s also kind and extremely earnest (to the point of bluntness or being a ridiculously transparent liar at times), quickly taking Tsumugi under her wing as a little sister. She can also be very easy to fluster, though, sometimes to the point of comically serious dramatics, and anything romantic either goes right over her head or makes her turn red and stammer and squawk for a subject change.

QUIRK IN-DEPTH: None. The enormous appetite and constantly thinking about food? One hundred percent Kotori, no essence required.

WEAPONS: Magical Donabe (clay cooking pot); Magic Staff; teenage appetite and metabolism

STYLE: Practical, but pacifist (and glitchy)

SKILLS: While Kotori has no magic or physical abilities of her own, she does have an extensive theoretical and growing practical knowledge of cooking, and she's been gifted with a magical cooking pot that can produce limitless porridge and other recipes on command. See below for the donabe's specs and Recipes for what it can make.

In addition, whenever the pot overflows, Kotori's appetite and metabolism increase to be able to consume the spillover.

MAGIC POT SPECS:

• Looks like a dark brown donabe pot, about 2 quarts, birds and rice stalks painted onto the lid
• Only takes commands from Kotori
• Follows Kotori around if she goes more than thirty feet away from it, unless she specifically tells it to stay
• Can create food if told “cook, Nabe-chan, cook!”, and stops with “stop, Nabe-chan!” (Kotori likes to thank it afterwards, even if it’s not required)
• Starts out making just sweet rice porridge by default
• Can make more dishes, but a. the recipe has to have at least one grain-based ingredient (grain, flour, breadcrumbs or panko, miso, grain-based spirits, etc.), b. she has to have made it herself at least once before, and c. she has to have shared that finished product with at least two other people (rule of three symbolism AND echoes her friendship with Inuzuka-sensei and Tsumugi)
• Not self-cleaning!
• If anyone else tries to use the pot, it’ll “glitch,” refusing to stop and overflowing the area with food until Kotori turns it off
• (Sometimes it’ll glitch for Kotori anyway, because it amuses me)

  As of The Legend of Princess Kaguya:

• Food produced by the pot now has mild healing properties (enough to heal superficial injuries, or to settle an upset stomach, or accelerate healing from a cold). Slightly stronger as of The Little Mermaid.
• Pot can now "learn" any recipe Kotori makes as long as it meets the above requirements, even if pot isn't used when first making it

  As of The Little Mermaid:

• Pot can transform into different cooking equipment on command, starting with three extra forms: frying pan, ramekin, and tempura pot

STRENGTHS: Talented and knowledgeable cook, kind, protective, sincere, great teacher, good actress once she connects with a role

WEAKNESSES: Phobia of knives and other sharp objects (nearly conquered), athletically average, timid, easily anxious or flustered, adverse to pain (either self or others), prone to stage fright and wooden acting at the start of a scene

ELEMENTS: N/A

DEFAULT
Rice Porridge

RECIPES FROM HOME

• Savory Bread Porridge
• Sweet Bread Porridge
• Kamatama Udon
• Kake Udon
• Donabe Rice
• Kombu Rice
• Wakame Rice
• Hamaguri Clam Rice
• Pork Miso Soup
• Green Onion and Tofu Miso Soup
• Chinese Cabbage and Fried Tofu Miso Soup
• Asari Clam Miso Soup
• Hamburg Steak with Tomato Sauce and Sunny-Side Up Egg (Requires frying pan form)
• Hamburg Steak with Mushroom Sauce (Requires frying pan form)
• Sweet and Spicy Karaage (Requires tempura pot form)
• Chawanmushi (Requires ramekin form)
• Nyuumen
• Sōmen
• Chicken and Vegetable Gratin (Requires ramekin form)
• Yeast Doughnuts (Plain, Honey Glazed, and Chocolate Glazed; requires tempura pot form)
• Squid and Taro Stew
• Pan-Fried Pork Gyoza (Requires frying pan form)
• Pork Sui-Gyoza
• Inuzuka Dry Curry with Rice
• Aji Namerou
• Aji Sangayaki (Requires frying pan form)
• Hiyashi Chūka with Steamed Chicken and Quail Eggs
• Pork Shougayaki (Requires frying pan form)
• Sweet Potato and Cream Crêpes (Requires frying pan form)
• Chocolate Banana Crêpes (Requires frying pan form)
• Kinpira Gobou (Requires frying pan form)
• Pork and Squid Okonomiyaki (Requires frying pan form)
• Beef Stew with Puff Pastry Shapes
• Boiled Mochi Squares
• Ankoro Mochi
• Zenzai
• Buri Daikon
• Cucumber and Scallop Sunomono
• Sushi Cake (Requires ramekin form)
• Spaghetti Carbonara (Requires pot or frying pan form)
• Pot-au-feu Ramen
• Salt, Butter, and Cabbage Ramen
• Corn Soup
• Sanma Kabayaki (Requires frying pan form)
• Sanma Tomato Stew (Requires frying pan form)
• Chicken Fricassee (Requires frying pan form)
• Kuri Kinton
• Beef Hachiman Maki (Requires frying pan form)
• Oyako-Don
• Tonkatsu (Requires frying pan or tempura pot form)
• Tonkatsu Sauce
• Mapo Tofu (Requires pot or frying pan form)

  Handmade

• Gohei-mochi (Rice and walnut miso sauce can be made with pot separately)
• Kombu Onigiri (Kombu rice can be made with pot)
• Sakura Shrimp and Corn Onigiri (Rice mixture can be made with pot)
• Umeboshi Onigiri (Rice can be made with pot)
• Salmon Onigiri (Rice can be made with pot)
• Topped Boiled Mochi Squares (Walnut Miso, Meat and Miso, and Crushed Natto; boiled mochi, walnut miso sauce, and meat miso sauce can be made with pot)
• Namagashi (Jam Wagashi) (Components can be made with pot)

GAME RECIPES

• Butternut Squash, Apple, Cranberry, and Pecan Porridge
• Kaguya Forest Porridge (Wild boar shougayaki, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms sauteed in boar belly fat)
• Bouillabaisse Porridge (Rice porridge cooked in bouillabaisse stock with langoustines, mussels, cod, and conger eel)
• Sick Day Porridge (Shredded chicken, garlic, ginger, and green onions)
• Sukiyaki-Don (Beef sukiyaki served over rice)
• Rouille
• Coquille St. Jacques (Requires ramekin form)
• Salmon Namerou
• Sole Meunière (Requires frying pan form)
• Maté-Don (Eel matelote served over rice)
• Hiyashi Niçoise (Salad Niçoise with tuna tataki and sesame lemon vinaigrette served over chilled ramen noodles)
• Crêpes Suzette (Requires frying pan form)
• Lemon Soufflé (Requires ramekin form)
• Apple Charlotte (Requires ramekin form)
• Gefülte Noodles
• Candied Sweet Potato Fries (Requires frying pan or tempura pot form)
• Oroshi Soba with Kombu Dashi
• Kenchinjiru
• Macaroni, Chicken, and Shrimp Gratin (Requires ramekin form)
• Kabocha and Mushroom Gratin (Requires ramekin form)
• Sea Salt Mochi Ice Cream (Requires ramekin form)
• Sekihan
• Potage de Crécy
• Wild Mushroom and Barley Soup
• Heather Honey Glazed Apple Roses (Requires ramekin form)
• Linzer Torte (Requires ramekin form)

ALMOST READY TO ADD

• Miniature Trifle (Handmade)
• Baked Mochi Squares (Walnut Miso, Meat and Miso, Seaweed, and Crushed Natto)
• S'Mores (Handmade)
• Campfire Bread
• Yule Log Cake
• Pork and Takenoko Shumai
• Pork, Shrimp, and Shiitake Shumai
• Sawara Saikyo-Yaki
• Nikujaga
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Linzer Cookies (Redcurrant, Raspberry, and Apricot)
• Shougayu (Ginger Tea)
• Honey White Bread
• Crusty Wheat Bread
• Baked Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Redcurrants, Chopped Almonds, and Honey
• Leek, Spinach, Mushroom, and Caramenlized Onion Raised Pie
• Lavender and Rose Petal Shortbread Cookies
• Peach, Plum, and Rose Hip Galette

LOCATION: On the far end of the commercial district.

APPEARANCE: A cauldron-shaped pub with the second floor serving as a decently-sized apartment.

MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS: Kotori currently lives in the remains of the Thunder, Lightning, and Rain, a pub run by three witch sisters who vanished years ago. Some say the owners left due to a curse left by a disgruntled customer. Others that they had a very bitter falling out and split ways, or they were on the run for skirting business fees. One or two people say they just retired and moved to a villa in Greek Mythology, but nobody believes them. In any case, when Kotori's key led her here, it was deplorable. Rickety furniture and floors, spirit and potion bottles caked in dust and cobwebs, years' worth of dirty dishes in the sink. It took a lot of time and work, but Kotori's managed to make it look livable, even comfortable after some more time. Who knows if it'll be open for business again someday...

Due to a few incidents in her second autumn here, the pub now has a brand new door, featuring a cute set of bells to chime when it opens. There's a similar bell system above a much smaller hole in the root cellar, in case any Fraggles decide to visit. There's also a handwritten sign in one of the windows, decorated with a few doodles of songbirds around the border: "Private Residence, Please Knock! Thank You!"

As of The Legend of Princess Kaguya: The property now features a back yard, just large enough to hold a small, mooncake-generating bamboo grove.

As of The Little Mermaid: The old medieval kitchen has received a cozy Victorian makeover.

As of A Midsummer Rose: The backyard has expanded in size and now features two raised garden beds. Thanks to a Catalogue purchase, the bar and dining area of the restaurant have received an extensive makeover.