Kotoe Amano

Kotoe Amano
Continuity	Magical Project S Magical girl Pretty Sammy (OVAs) Magical girl Pretty Sammy (Novels)
Voice Actors	Miki Itō (伊藤 美紀)
Age	Unknown
Gender	Female
Species	Human
Occupation	-“Famous essayist” (Pretty Sammy) - Unknown( Magical project S) - Editorial job for a magazine (novel universe)
Relatives	Shigeki Amano (Husband) Misao Amano (Daughter)
Anime Debut	Test! Test! Test!

Kotoe Amano (天野 琴恵) is a supporting character in Magical Project S. As Misao's mother, her work often keeps her away from home and from her daughter.

In all versions while she does care and love Misao, and she does provide for her material needs, she is also overtly neglectful. She sometimes ignores her daughter and she often outright, fails to show up at home at all, leaving Misao completely alone for several days. . Kotoe’s absence from Misao’s life is also notable in both the OVA and the novel continuity given her daughter suffers from debilitating illnesses, and medical emergencies, in those versions, without her being around.

In the Magical girl Pretty Sammy OVA continuity she is stated to be a “famous essayist”. In the Pretty Sammy novel continuity she has an editorial job in a magazine. In Magical Project S her job is unknown, but she dresses formally implying she has some kind of office job.

Kotoe is a foil to both Chihiro Kawai and Honoka Kawai, who are Sasami's mothers in Pretty Sammy and Magical Project S, respectively. Both versions of Sasami's mom can afford to stay at home as they manage a CD store, but they are also lazy and irresponsible. Honoka spends most of her time playing video games, while Chihiro is usually doing karaoke. However, both Chihiro and Honoka are very affectionate, playful and warm towards their families . In contrast, Kotoe is hardworking and serious, but she is also very distant and cold towards Misao, as well as, very strict with her.

In Magical Project S, she parted on good terms with her husband, Shigeki Amano. This is evident in the fact that she was shown to deeply miss him and was both happy and nervous about seeing him again. In contrast, in both Pretty Sammy OVAs, and the novel universe, she is shown to have separated from him in bad terms with Misao having painful memories of the two fighting.

Magical Project S

Kotoe has raised Misao largely by herself ever since her husband Shigeki chose to leave and pursue his career in music. However, much like Shigeki, Kotoe's work often keeps her busy and away from home, sometimes leaving Misao alone for the entire day. Even when Kotoe does return home, she often has to return right back to work, and this lends her to often ignore Misao's attempts at getting her attention, such as as when she ignored her when she tried showing her perfect score on a recent test at school and instead told her that she's late for prep school. This isolation and unhappiness instilled within Misao is a major contributor to the creation of Pixy Misa.

Despite this, however, Kotoe genuinely cares about her daughter and tries to support her. On the day Shigeki finally returned to Japan, she bought a load of ingredients to prepare dinner before he got home, knowing how much the occasion would mean for both him and Misao. When Misao was transformed into Pixy Misa and battled Pretty Sammy, Kotoe ran outside into the chaos in order to find her daughter, running into Shigeki in the process. Later, when Misao played the piano as part of her class' musical number for the school festival, Kotoe made time to visit Misao, much to her happiness.

Pretty Sammy Novel Universe

While similar to her OVA incarnation, her novel variant is shown as being very strict with Misao, who often mentions being scared of making her angry.

Kotoe is also shown to be physically abusive towards Misao. For example, one time Misao missed cram school because she was transformed into Pixy Misa against her will. Kotoe became furious and slapped Misao across the face, causing her to stagger and cover her cheeks. It seemed like Kotoe was about to continue hitting Misao, but she stopped when she got a call from work. Kotoe completely ignored Misao's attempt to give her affection, let alone Misao’s concerns about her constant blackouts, and the fact she had found blood in her clothes. Instead, Kotoe immediately ignored her daughter and went to answer the phone, to head back to work.

Misao also said her mother would be furious if she bought a console to play video games only allowing her to watch TV as a leisure activity at home. Given she separated in bad terms with Shigeki, she also doesn’t allow Misao to play the piano, thus forcing Misao to play it in secret from her.

Sasami: Magical Girls Club

Mrs. Shinohara talking with Ms. Mihoshi (Background).

Kotoe Amano has a counterpart in the Sasami: Magical Girls Club universe.

She is also a mature japanese woman, and the mother of her version of Misao. Although she was only credited as “Misao’s mom” in her only speaking role , considering the naming convention of only changing the surnames of returning characters from Tenchi Muyo, and Pretty Sammy, such as Misao now having the surname “Shinohara” instead of “Amano”, it’s possible she might also be named “‘Kotoe”.

Mrs. Shinohara has a strong physical resemblance with her Magical Project S counterpart, including the fact that both have the same short hairstyle. Although Mrs. Shinohara has a very minor role in the story, her impact in the story is considerable given her version of Misao, Misao Shinohara, didn’t suffer from parental neglect, therefore changing Misao’s backstory. Instead, Misao’s suffering stems from bullying, loneliness, and her insecurities rather than from a dysfunctional family.

Unlike both of her animated Pretty Sammy counterparts, Mrs Shinohara, is a full time mother that takes active care of her daughter. It’s implied, but not confirmed, that Mrs. Shinohara is aware of her daughter Misao's magic abilities. The witches had to brainwash her in order to obtain her permission for Misao to attend a magic camp. (In contrast, in Pretty Sammy, Ramia was able to “use” Misao for hours or even days without her mother noticing.) Mrs. Shinohara was last seen speaking to Ms. Mihoshi to arrange for her daughter, Misao, return to school, after Misao’s long absence due to her time as a villain in the world of witches. Washu also seems to keep their parents informed regarding their secret club magical activities.

Trivia

• While not part of the Tenchi Franchise, her Battle Programmer Shirase incarnation is a stay at home mother that is enthusiastic about raising her daughter Misao. Kotoe warmly welcomes Misao at home, and she happily enrolls Misao in activities like ballet. Her only job is being a part time patchwork teacher. And she is still married with a version of Shigeki Amano who works in a trade related job abroad, instead of being a “talented musician” in a world tour, Thus this is reflected with BPS’ Misao who, while still shy, is much happier than she was in both versions of Pretty Sammy given she is not neglected by her mother.
• Also, in the BPS continuity, Kotoe’s mother, is named Mitsuko Shirase, and she debuted in episode 10 of that show. Mitsuko Shirase is the head of the prestigious Shirase family, and the half sister of Akira Shirase, the main character, and the eponymous “Battle Programmer Shirase”. Thus Kotoe Amano would be the niece, and her daughter Misao Amano the great niece, of Akira Shirase. Naturally, Mitsuko Shirase is also Misao’s grandmother. Therefore, following, Japanese naming conventions, it’s possible, assuming Mitsuko still has the surname of her husband, that Kotoe’s maiden name might be “Kotoe Shirase”.

Gallery

Kotoe comforting a young Misao.