Le Portrait de Petit Cossette

Le Portrait de Petit Cossette (コゼットの肖像) is an original video animation produced by Aniplex. It spanned 3 episode OVA series and ran in 2004. It was licensed for North American distribution by Geneon and released as Le Portrait de Petite Cossette. Fuse TV has broadcast the anime as part of their Anime Explosion Weekend on December 15, 2007. The Anime Network currently is streaming the series online and has added it to its video on demand offerings as of May 5, 2010.

The series was adapted into a manga series by Asuka Katsura. It spanned two volumes and was published in 2004. The English-language release is published by Tokyopop.

Plot
The series focuses on Eiri Kurahashi, an art student who works in an antique shop. One day, he sees the image of a girl in an antique glass. To his shock, she appears to be moving and living out her life before his eyes. He becomes infatuated with the girl, and one night at midnight, somehow makes contact with her. He learns her name is Cossette, and that she was an aristocrat's daughter during the 18th century.

She reveals to him that her spirit has been entrapped within the glass because the artist Marcelo Orlando murdered her. She tells Eiri that, in order to set her free, a man must be willing to take upon himself punishment for the sins Marcelo committed. As the series progresses, Eiri is tortured mentally and physically by Cossette, who demands that he prove his professed love for her. It is revealed that Eiri is the reincarnation of Marcelo, and that Cossette is becoming as infatuated with him as he is with her. Also depicted are the efforts of the women in Eiri's life - relatives, friends and mentors, and the obligatory girl-next-door love interest - to free him from what is becoming apparent to them as a self-destructive path.

Characters

 * Cossette d'Auvergne (コゼット・ドーヴェルニュ)
 * Cossette is a beautiful young girl whose spirit haunts a delicate Venetian glass. With delicate eyes, long blond hair and a lithe frame, her beauty is both haunting and enchanting. She was murdered by her lover Marchello Orlando because he became too obsessed with her beauty and wanted her to stay like that forever. She convinced Eiri to enter "a pact of blood" to take revenge out on Marchello. In the end she regrets dragging Eiri in to it and sends herself to slumber waking Marchello's Cossette, Thanks to Eiri she's Reborn in Shoko.
 * Cossette is a beautiful young girl whose spirit haunts a delicate Venetian glass. With delicate eyes, long blond hair and a lithe frame, her beauty is both haunting and enchanting. She was murdered by her lover Marchello Orlando because he became too obsessed with her beauty and wanted her to stay like that forever. She convinced Eiri to enter "a pact of blood" to take revenge out on Marchello. In the end she regrets dragging Eiri in to it and sends herself to slumber waking Marchello's Cossette, Thanks to Eiri she's Reborn in Shoko.


 * Eiri Kurahashi (倉橋 永莉)
 * Eiri, a talented budding artist, works in his family's quaint antique shop. His young world is transformed after he stumbles upon a delicate Venetian glass harboring an enchanting saga.  The glass is but a portal into the tragic world of a young girl named Cossette.  He falls in love with this illusion that is as beautiful as she is cursed. He is told by Cossette he is Marchello reborn, However he is proven to be nothing like him in the final episode when he paints a beautiful portrait of Cossette with his own blood killing Marchello's version.
 * Eiri, a talented budding artist, works in his family's quaint antique shop. His young world is transformed after he stumbles upon a delicate Venetian glass harboring an enchanting saga.  The glass is but a portal into the tragic world of a young girl named Cossette.  He falls in love with this illusion that is as beautiful as she is cursed. He is told by Cossette he is Marchello reborn, However he is proven to be nothing like him in the final episode when he paints a beautiful portrait of Cossette with his own blood killing Marchello's version.


 * Shoko Mataki (真滝 翔子)
 * Shoko is a close friend and confidant of Eiri. Although an extremely sharp young lady, her insecurity is coupled with a neurotic nature that is endearing. As shown in the OVA, she easily gets jealous about things she hears about Eiri's love life. It is shown she cares deeply about him when he changes slightly due to the pact he entered with Cossete. In the end of the third and final episode, After Eiri defeats Marchello's vessel (the painting "fake Cossete"), Cossete is reborn in to Shoko. She wakes up and says :"Eiri will come back to paint some more portraits..." proving Cossette's presence.
 * Shoko is a close friend and confidant of Eiri. Although an extremely sharp young lady, her insecurity is coupled with a neurotic nature that is endearing. As shown in the OVA, she easily gets jealous about things she hears about Eiri's love life. It is shown she cares deeply about him when he changes slightly due to the pact he entered with Cossete. In the end of the third and final episode, After Eiri defeats Marchello's vessel (the painting "fake Cossete"), Cossete is reborn in to Shoko. She wakes up and says :"Eiri will come back to paint some more portraits..." proving Cossette's presence.


 * Yuu Saiga (斎賀 由布)
 * A young girl with undeveloped psychic abilities who works at the local deli. Although she doesn't know exactly what is going on with Eiri, her abilities allow her some insight into the paranormal roots of Eiri's obsession.
 * A young girl with undeveloped psychic abilities who works at the local deli. Although she doesn't know exactly what is going on with Eiri, her abilities allow her some insight into the paranormal roots of Eiri's obsession.


 * Kaoru Nishimoto (西本 香織)


 * Michiru Yajiri (鏃 みちる)
 * Michiru works as the local tarot card reader and shares with Eiri an emotional bond that weaves her into the saga of Cossette's vengeance.
 * Michiru works as the local tarot card reader and shares with Eiri an emotional bond that weaves her into the saga of Cossette's vengeance.


 * Yutaka Enokido (榎戸 豊)


 * Michio Misamoto (久本 道夫)


 * Zenshinni of Shakado (釈迦堂 菩心尼)
 * As the local priestess and psychic, Shakado's talents reveal frightening energies hovering over Eiri like the shadow of death.
 * As the local priestess and psychic, Shakado's talents reveal frightening energies hovering over Eiri like the shadow of death.


 * Hatsumi Mataki (真滝 八海)
 * The local physician and Shoko's aunt, Hatsumi is utterly confounded by Eiri's psychosomatic afflictions.
 * The local physician and Shoko's aunt, Hatsumi is utterly confounded by Eiri's psychosomatic afflictions.


 * Marchello Orlando (マルチェロ・オルランド)
 * An artist that was close with Cossette's family. He murdered her and her family out of obsesession with the Cossette he painted.
 * An artist that was close with Cossette's family. He murdered her and her family out of obsesession with the Cossette he painted.

OVA
Sony Pictures Entertainment released the three Region 2 DVD compilations from May 26, 2004 to December 22, 2004. On December 1, 2004, the soundtrack to the OVA was released by Wint. It contained eighteen tracks by Yuki Kajiura, including the main theme music "Jewel" (宝石). Later released as a single on August 11, 2004, "Hōseki" is sung by Marina Inoue. During the period when Geneon Entertainment held the license, the episodes were aired on Fuse TV The anime has since been relicensed by Sentai Filmworks, with distrbution from Section23 Films. The OVA was released on April 20, 2010 and streamed on the Anime Network a month later.

Petit Cossette is also licensed in New Zealand and Australia by Madman Entertainment, and in German by Tokyopop.

Manga
Le Portrait de Petit Cossette appeared as a serial in Monthly Magazine Z. Kodansha collected the chapters into two tankōbon volume and published them from August 11, 2004, to December 21, 2004.

Tokyopop licensed Le Portrait de Petit Cossette for an English-language release in North America and published the volumes from July 2006 to November 2006. However, both volumes are now out of print. The series is also licensed in France by Asuka Comics.

Reception
Anime News Network ' s Theron Martin described it as "an artsy, stylish supernatural horror story about love and obsession. Its dramatic visuals, exceptional artistry, and sumptuous musical scoring make watching it quite an experience, and the story isn't half bad, either." However, he noted that the storyline of the first two episodes was "fairly predictable" and the secondary characters were "underdeveloped and underused". Reviewers at Mania Entertainment praised it as "a love story that's almost devoid of happiness, with a style and presentation that makes it engrossing, and yet not exactly easy to watch" and "an easy recommendation for those looking for something more mature from their anime."