"Encouragement of Mountain" depicts the daily lives of cute girls who love mountain climbing. It's a story about mountain girls unlike anything you've seen before, and watching it might even help you learn a little more about mountains. Here, we'll introduce you to one of the cutest characters from "Encouragement of Mountain," Aoba Kokona.
[Encouragement of Mountain] Aoba Kokona's Basic Character
Kokona is a beautiful girl with long, fluffy hair and red eyes!
Kokona is a beautiful girl with a modern look, featuring long, flowing, light brown hair. Even the wealthy protagonist Aoi, who has many girly hobbies, recognizes Kokona's high level of femininity at first sight.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
In Encouragement of Climb, where many characters have black hair and dark eyes, Kokona's red eyes make her special. She's an expressive and sensitive girl, so she's as cute as an angel.
Kokona's voice and speaking style are incredibly cute!
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Kokona's voice is provided by popular voice actress Yui Ogura, and her voice perfectly matches her adorable voice.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Also, while most of the characters are older, Kokona uses very polite honorific language, which matches Ogura's voice perfectly and is very cute.
Kokona is a very fairytale-like girl
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Kokona is a very fairytale-like girl, prone to dreaming. Her head is always full of dreams, which makes her a little out of sync with those around her.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
When Hinata, Kaede, and I were planning a surprise plan for Aoi: climbing a mountain with a view of Mt. Fuji, we suggested Mt. Kitadake, a mountain for advanced climbers, because of its beautiful flower fields.
Kokona is a good cook!
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
Aoi, Hinata, Kokona, and Kaede went outdoors at the Hanno Riverbank. Kaede was surprisingly clumsy, so Kokona made a tomato risotto for her.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Kokona seems to enjoy making sweets from cookbooks, and everyone loved the sweets she made.
Kokona has stamina and athletic ability!
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Kokona, a 144cm tall second-year junior high school student, may appear unreliable at first glance, but she's physically stronger than Aoi and Hinata, and second only to Kaede in strength, making her a powerful girl.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
He also has excellent athletic ability, and amazed Aoi with his agile movements at the playground.
Kokona is an angelic, all-around girl
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
Kokona is a truly all-around beautiful girl, not only with her adorable appearance and voice, but also with her cooking and athletic ability. She's definitely the type who will make a good wife in the future. I'm sure she'll also be good at studying.
[Encouragement of Climb] Kokona's Encounter with Aoi and the Others
Kokona's First Appearance at Mount Takao
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / "Encouragement of Climb Third Season" Production Committee
Kokona, Aoi, and Hinata first met while descending Mount Takao. Kokona was having trouble because the soles of her shoes had come off, but Hinata fixed them with some wire she had and the two became friends.
Kokona Comes to Mount Takao in Search of Flying Squirrels
Source: Encouragement of Mountain © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Mountain Third Season Production Committee
It's unclear who Kokona heard the rumor, but it seems she came to Mount Takao because she heard a rumor that there are flying squirrels there. It's adorable that she went all the way to Mount Takao just to see them.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
However, Hinata, who is the most knowledgeable about mountains among the three, explained to Kokona that flying squirrels are nocturnal, making them impossible to encounter during the day, and that the birds that inhabit Mount Takao are flying squirrels.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
When Kokona heard this, she turned pale in shock, exclaiming, "Moonflower...isn't there...? No way..." It was hilarious to see Oai see Kokona like that and mutter to herself, "This kid...is such a pain..."
After Mt. Takao, Kokona becomes a regular member.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
Kokona lived in the same city as Aoi and the others, Hanno City, and the three of them became close friends and began to interact frequently.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
After Mt. Takao, Aoi immediately invited Kokona over for a sleepover. At first, Aoi thought, "This girl... she's such a pain..." but she quickly got along with the girly Kokona and they became fast friends.
【Encouragement of Climb】Unexpected! Was Kokona Poor?!
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / "Encouragement of Climb Third Season" Production Committee
Of the three main characters of "Encouragement of Climb," Aoi, Hinata, and Kaede live in splendid mansions resembling those of celebrities, but Kokona lives modestly in an apartment where the rent appears to be only a few tens of thousands of yen.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
This is surprising, considering Kokona's outward appearance makes her seem more like a rich lady than anyone else. However, her mother gave her hiking boots for her birthday, so perhaps their family is more modest than poor.
[Encouragement of Climb] Kokona's Great Hanno Adventure
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Episode 20 of the second season, "Kokona's Great Hanno Adventure," was a Kokona episode where Kokona was the main character.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Season 3 Production Committee
The story is told from Kokona's perspective as she embarks on a great adventure through Hanno City. Kokona is so adorable in this scene that Hanno City even created a "Kokona's Great Hanno Adventure Map" to allow fans to make a pilgrimage to the original locations.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
"Kokona's Great Adventure in Hanno," packed with the charm of the fairytale-like Kokona, was packed with highlights, including an appearance at Akebono Children's Forest Park, familiar to Tove Jansson, the author of "Moomin."
[Encouragement of Climb] Aoba Kokona's Voice Actor
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / "Encouragement of Climb Third Season" Production Committee
As previously announced, the voice actress for "Aoba Kokona" is Yui Ogura, who appeared in "Ro-Kyu-Bu!" Yui Ogura is known for her voice acting for the popular character Hinata Hakamada in "Encouragement of Climax" and the protagonist Alice in "Kamisama no Memochou."
Source: Encouragement of Climax © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / "Encouragement of Climax Season 3" Production Committee
Ogura excels at voicing cute, moe-like characters, and she herself is a popular voice actress who is just as cute as a moe character.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Ogura is still young, has a knack for dancing among voice actors, and possesses idol-like looks, so we can expect even more from her in the future.
[Encouragement of Climb] Aoba Kokona Summary
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Kokona is a cute character that transcends the world of Encouragement of Climb, and she's a beautiful girl that everyone should get to know.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro / Earth Star Entertainment / Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
In the third season, it looks like her relationship with the new character "Kurosaki Honoka" will deepen, so I hope they become good friends as fellow middle school students.
Source: Encouragement of Climb © Shiro/Earth Star Entertainment/Encouragement of Climb Third Season Production Committee
Encouragement of Climb is a work with a subject matter that could continue forever if they wanted to, so I look forward to watching Kokona and Ogura's work in the future.
