Due to vocalist Sayuri's poor health, Silver Forest is disbanding.
Nitori Kawashiro
Nitori Kawashiro kawaɕiɺo nʲitoɾi Kawasiro Nitori | |
|---|---|
 Nitori Kawashiro in Mountain of Faith Super Youkai WarheadMore Character Titles | |
| Species | Kappa |
| Abilities | Manipulation of water |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Location | Youkai Mountain |
Music Themes | |
| Show Music Themes | |
Appearances | |
| Official Games | |
| Show Official Game appearances | |
| Print Works | |
| Show Print Work appearances | |
Nitori Kawashiro (河城 にとり Kawashiro Nitori) is a very shy Kappa who lives on the Youkai Mountain. She has the power to control water. Along with the other kappa she is very good with technical stuff, as she is an engineer. She first appeared as a stage 3 boss in Mountain of Faith and later became a playable partner with Marisa in Subterranean Animism. According to ZUN, there were also plans to make her a playable character in Touhou Hisoutensoku, but was scrapped due to time constraints.
Contents |
Concept
Name
Her full name is Nitori Kawashiro (河城 にとり). Kawashiro (河城) means "river(河) castle(城)". Nitori is in hiragana. Nitori is a Latin word defined as either "brilliance, brightness, glow; splendor" or "perseverance; reliability", all fitting things to associate with such a brilliant engineer.
Her name might have originated from Ryuunosuke Akutagawa's novel Kappa the second chapter of which begins with the sentence 「そのうちにやっと気がついてみると、僕は仰向けに倒れたまま、大勢の河童にとり囲まれていました。」(Sono uchi ni yatto kigatsuite miru to, boku wa aomuke ni taoreta mama, oozei no kappa ni tori kakomarete imashita., "When at last I came 'round, I found myself lying on my back surrounded by a large number of kappas.") — from the translation by Seiichi Shiojiri.
Appearance
Nitori has blue hair tied into twintails and blue eyes in Mountain of Faith. She wears a blue dress with lots of pockets around the hem of the skirt and her upper arm, and a dark aquamarine backpack with a golden key on the strap in front of her. She also wears a green hat with a white wispy symbol on it, blue wellington boots and carries a cattail.
She is an engineer and carries a lot of tools with her in the pockets.
Personality
She is a very shy kappa, and she runs away when she sees a human, just like when she saw the heroine in Mountain of Faith. But not because she is afraid of the human, because she sees the human as her friends. As she is an engineer she is very interested in products made by the human. She takes the it apart and put it back together.
Story
When she first sees the heroine, she immediately runs away. But later they fight. After the midboss fight she says her "optical camouflage suit" broke. The heroine doesn't know what it is. Nitori then says the heroine beat her up pretty good even with the camouflage. And then, again, runs away with the message that it is dangerous in the mountain.
- Main article: Reimu Arc
When Reimu and Nitori meet again Nitori immediately starts about what she said in earlier, that it is dangerous. But Reimu thought she was in her way and want to go to the mountain to talk with the gods there. Nitori again warns her but Reimu has to go. Then Nitori starts to fight because that could work to make her go away. But she is defeated. Nitori couldn't believe it. Then she wants to tell something about the human and kappa being friends. So, Nitori let her pass to deal with the gods on the mountain.
- Main article: Marisa Arc
Nitori also tells Marisa to not go any further. She says she haven't met a human for ages, and thought she could have a little test with her camouflage suit. She again tells Marisa to go back, but Marisa says that you will get even more curious to go further if someone says stop. And she starts to fight to go further. And Nitori lost. Nitori tells about the human and kappa being friends for a long time. And she wants Marisa to deal with the new gods on the mountain, so she let her pass.
In the end the kappa accepted the new gods of the mountain.
- Subterranean Animism
- Main article: Marisa and Nitori's Scenario
During the events of Subterranean Animism, she is one of the kappa who hears from the God of the sky, Kanako Yasaka about the new power of nuclear fusion in the Underworld. However, they are unwilling to go there due to the oni living underground. Learning that Reimu is going underground to investigate, she convinces Marisa to explore there as well, since she doesn't seem to have anything better to do.
Relationships
Nitori knows Marisa Kirisame. In the story of Subterranean Animism the kappa heard news about nuclear power and Nitori asked Marisa to investigate underground.
Obviously she is in a friendly relationship with the other kappa. With the other kappa they experiment and invent with new items. She is seen with the other kappa in Wild and Horned Hermit.
Humans aren't aware of it, but she states kappa are friends with humans. Howver, Nitori in particular runs away the moment she sees a human. It's unknown if all kappa are startled by humans in such a manner.
Additional Information
Trivia
- The Kappa in the series seem to be inspired by the Kappa in the above mentioned novel, where they have their own civilization as opposed to their bloodthirsty nature in folklore.
- Nitori's "Optical Camouflage" spell cards may refer to another aspect of kappa that Akutagawa writes about: "But what is most remarkable about kappas is that, unlike human beings, they change colors according to their surroundings."
- Her backpack resembles a tortoise shell. Isn't that fitting for a kappa?
- Nitori is the only playable partner in Subterranean Animism who never appeared in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody; all the other partners, including Reimu's, did.
Fanon
- As traditional depictions of kappa show a bald spot at the top of their heads, rumor has it that her hat is concealing that bald spot. However, ZUN discredited this rumor during a discussion on 2ch after Mountain of Faith was released.
- Some fan works depict her carrying a Pepsi Ice Cucumber in place of the reed she normally has. (In Japanese folklore, kappas love cucumbers. This is also referenced by Nitori's "Monster Cucumber" spell card.)
- She's also sometimes depicted wearing a school swimsuit under her dress.
- One of the earliest fan-made vocal arrangements of Nitori's theme music (にとりの唄(萌), Nitori's Song (Moe)) has lyrics that translate as "Kappappa kappappa Nitori, you get more than you pay for with Nitori." The latter part is from the slogan of the Nitori store chain, and several doujinshi have made it into something of an unofficial slogan for her as well. A reference to "kappappa kappappa" subsequently appeared in Subterranean Animism.
- It is speculated that Nitori is one of the kappa who helped Suwako in the construction of Hisoutensoku.
- Aside from Rinnosuke and Yukari, Nitori is considered to be the most technologically advanced in the Touhou universe, often showing her capability to construct modern/futuristic weapons and machinery in fan works.
- Some fans tend to think of her as a girl scout because of her appearence.
Spell Cards
Show spell cardsOfficial Profiles
- Mountain of Faith - Demo - キャラ説明.txt
- Mountain of Faith - キャラ設定.txt
- Subterranean Animism - キャラ設定.txt
