While the TV series only briefly mentions Hotaru's frail condition, it's not until she appears in the manga do we learn of her real predicament. When Hotaru was 4, she was inside her father's lab when a fire broke out from an experiment gone horribly wrong. Pharoah 90 was summoned by the experiment and offered Professor Tomoe, Hotaru's father, a deal - Sacrifice your body as a vessel to their mission and Hotaru will be saved. Professor Tomoe readily agreed, however, while he and Hotaru were the only ones to have survived the fire, Hotaru's physical body was beyond repair. To help sustain Hotaru, her father installed robotic mechanisms in her body to help keep her alive. This also explains why Hotaru always wears dark colors and keeps her entire body covered - To hide the disfiguring scars the fire and her father's operations have caused.

I love how Hotaru is perfectly centered in the cel and how sweet she appears while she's looking back at the viewer. Episode 115 is the episode that highlights Hotaru's kindness. It's one of the best Hotaru cels I've ever seen and from my favorite S episode featuring her. While the background does not match this sequence, it is a Toei background that was used for Hotaru's bedroom.

From Episode 115 -"Chimmoku no Kage?! Awaki Hotaru hino Yurameki"(Shadow of Silence? The Pale Glimmer of a Firefly.)


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