There She Is!! (Korean: 떳다 그녀!!; RR:Tteot-ta geu-nyeo or Tteotta or Ddautta) is a South Korean Flash animated series produced by the three-person team SamBakZa. Originally hosted on the SamBakZa website, the series gained international popularity in the spring of 2004 upon its introduction to American and European audiences. The series originated from the comic strip 'One day' (Korean: 어떤날), which was published from November 2000 to March 2002 in The Newspaper We Read Together (Korean: 함께 읽는 신문), a Braille publication by the Hankook Ilbo. The series is widely recognised for its high-quality animation and classic manhwa stylistic elements. The overwhelming positive reception of the initial short, which included a surge in fan art and community feedback, prompted SamBakZa to expand the project into a multi-episode series.
The narrative centers on the romance between an anthropomorphic rabbit (Doki) and cat (Nabi) in a fictional world where interspecies relationships are a social taboo. At the 2004 Anima Mundi animation festival in Brazil, the series achieved critical acclaim, winning first place in both Professional Jury and Audience divisions for Web Animation, as well as the Special Award Anima Mundi Web.
Distribution rights to the series are licensed to Gyeonggi Digital Contents Agency (GDCA). In 2008, SamBakZa relocated to the Production Support Center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do. The creators have expressed plans to implement a registration system on their official website to provide members with email updates regarding new releases. Since July 2014, all five episodes have consistently ranked within the top 20 of Newground's Best of All Time list, with the original 'There She Is!!' frequently holding the first-place position. To date, the series has accumulated over 13 million views on the Newgrounds platform alone.
Characters
Doki: Doki (도키, cf. Korean word tokki 토끼 "rabbit") is a female rabbit who is madly in love with Nabi and considers everyone to be her friends. Although very loving and cheerful, she is somewhat obsessive and willing to go to extremes to get what she wants. She has a habit of befriending animals and putting green ribbons, similar to that of Nabi's, around their necks or tails.
Nabi: Nabi (나비, cf. Korean word goyang'i 고양이, "kitty") is a male cat as well as Doki's love interest in the story. He is reluctant to return Doki's love at first, finding her antics annoying and fearing the social repercussions, but grows to tolerate and eventually reciprocate it.On the character page if you roll over Nabi the arrow will turn from red to pink. He wears a green scarf and seems to have some skill in martial arts. In Step 3 it is shown that he works as a paperboy. Nabi translates to "butterfly", and is a common name for a pet cat in South Korea.
Jjintta Set: The Jjintta Set (찐따 세트 Jjintta Seteu, translating as "Moron Set") is a gang of three roughneck, shaggy male cabbits. The three are brothers, the children of a female rabbit and a male lion. They appear as minor antagonists in the second episode, but slowly develop a friendship with Nabi. Their members include:
Il-ho (일호, "Number One"), the leader of the group, and also firstborn. He has a rather fierce rivalry with Nabi and is extremely protective of Doki. In episode 2, he misunderstands that Nabi was forcing her into a relationship, but realises otherwise later. In episode 5, he gives Nabi a ticket to "Paradise" albeit reluctantly. In the episodes it is unclear what motivates his behaviour, but in 2016, the creator shared that Il-ho's motivation is his parentage. Yi-ho (이호 Iho, "Number Two"), who wears an eye patch and has a crush on the keyboardist, Pi. The second eldest brother. Sam-ho (삼호, "Number Three"), who wears a medical mask and appears to be less coordinated than the other members of the gang. The youngest brother.
Band: While the website's profile does not give any information about them, they are present in Step 2. The band consists of Pi, a female cat keyboardist, and a male rabbit guitarist named Moon
Red Eyes: A tall male bunny wearing sunglasses, and an artist. He was originally created as an antagonist.
Hana: Hana (하나, translating as "One" or common name in Korea) is a female cat, and the apparent owner of the band. She is shown to be very kind, especially towards Doki and Nabi, and has a loving trust in her bodyguard, Pizza.
Pizza: Pizza (피짜, Pijja) is a large male cat, and Hana's bodyguard. He has a noticeable scar over his right eye, but its origin is unknown.
Gray Rabbit: Gray Rabbit (회색 토끼 Hoisaek Tokki, literally Gray Rabbit) is a large male rabbit who is in love with Hana. He is often depicted holding a bouquet of flowers. Works as an electrical engineer.
Step one: "There She Is!!"
The first animation in the series was released on the SamBakZa website on April 20, 2003. Its soundtrack is the Korean ska song "There she is!!" (떳다! 그녀!!) by Witches (위치스).
The plot revolves around Doki, a female rabbit, meeting, falling in love with, and chasing Nabi, a male cat, in a world where love between the two species is socially unacceptable. The theme of the short is that all love can be accepted and has a chance. Nabi attempts to cure Doki's infatuation for him, but after seeing the extent of her love, he gives in and finds something he can appreciate in her.
A version with English titling was published in 2004 to high acclaim. The characters' names were not disclosed until 2006, in preparation for the last three steps.
"There She Is!!" was nominated for both the Professional Award and the Cyber Jury Award at the Anima Mundi Web Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2004. It won both categories.Bibliografia maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br
Step two: "Cake Dance" The second short in the series, "Cake Dance" (떳다 그녀!! step 2. - 케이크 댄스), was released on the SamBakZa website on February 25, 2005. Its soundtrack is the Korean pop song "Happy Birthday to Me" by Bulldog Mansion.
Like its predecessor, it is carried by classic manhwa style elements, but also includes considerable amounts of full-animation action. Nabi carries Doki's birthday cake across various obstacles including a gang of rabbits, the Jjintta Set, who attack him out of Yi-ho's mistaken belief that Nabi forced Doki into the relationship.
It is also worth noting that near the end of the short, Doki and Nabi (as well as the rest of the party) are ejected from the café, after Doki publicly shows affection for Nabi. The owner of the cafe clearly shows a bias against inter-species relationships, by displaying an "anti-intermarriage" sign on the door. This foreshadows some of the events that occur in step four of the series. In the end, Nabi runs into a younger female rabbit, whom the viewer is led to believe is in the same predicament that Nabi was in when the episode began, and he offers to help her safely navigate the streets with her cake (likely the same little girl who runs past in the very first scene, being teased by a rabbit boy with a fish, probably making fun of her for liking a cat).
Easter eggs
If one clicks on the fish in the moon during the stampede scene, the original comic starring Doki and Nabi (titled "Only You") followed by thanks from the creator will appear. This is only in the English version of the short; the Korean version displays what appears to be a snapshot of an animation panel in Flash, presumably from step two.
The flying fish on the moon is a reference to another SamBakZa animation, Hot Fish, in which Doki and Nabi make an appearance. This is currently officially unavailable due to copyright issues with the soundtrack, "Sera" by Jeo Qu-cheon. However, it is available on YouTube.
The signs on the walls of the subway station read "Bulldog Mansion". Clicking on them will give a link to their (now defunct) site.
Step three: "Doki and Nabi"
Step three begins an in-depth trilogy of sequels to the first two videos. It premiered at SICAF (Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival) on May 21–25, 2008, and was posted online on May 30.Untitled Document Its soundtrack is the Korean pop song "3차성징" (Sam-cha Seong-jing, translating to "tertiary sex characteristic") by T.A.COPY.
This step portrays Doki and Nabi's first date. Nabi begins as an unwilling recipient of Doki's love, but starts to reciprocate as the date goes on. The Jjintta Set and their objections are upset when Doki tackle-hugs Il-ho, then turns the hug into something akin to a nelson. In the end, Nabi asks Doki out on a second date, their relationship blossoms into a mutual romance, and they share their first kiss. The intermarriage theme is more prominent in this episode, as are the consequences of their relationship: the step ends with a rock thrown through Nabi's window.
Easter eggs
Clicking the cloud on the top right of the loading screen triggers an alternate opening that focuses on Doki making her way to Nabi's house. Clicking the black poster during the scene with the neighbors opens T.A.COPY's site in another window.
The scene where Doki befriends the hedgehog is a nod to Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, in which Nausicaä tames Teto the fox-squirrel. Before that in the same scene is a moment where Doki lets Nabi feed her animals with carrots in a nod to another Miyazaki work, Castle in the Sky, in which Pazu gives Sheeta breadcrumbs to feed his doves.
During the scene where Doki is chasing Nabi, after all attempts to capture Nabi fail, Doki throws a Poké Ball at Nabi's head (blurred out in the YouTube rereleases to avoid copyright issues). Also referenced just prior is the Chain Mine, as used by the MS18E Kampfer, in the series Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket.
Step four: "Paradise" The fourth short, "Paradise", was released on August 20, 2008. Its soundtrack is the Korean rock song "A Lunar Eclipse" (월식, Wolsik) by Tabu (타부) from the EP album of the same name.
In this step, the protagonists deal with social revolt over intermarriage as Doki is attacked by an angry mob. She attempts to flee until her pet hedgehog turns to meet her pursuers. Doki goes back to save it, but is hurt and hospitalised. Fearing that intermarriage opponents will injure Doki further, Nabi abruptly ends the relationship, displaying an anti-intermarriage sign on his door. Doki considers asking him to come with her to "Paradise" (implied to be a location that accepts intermarriage), not noticing Il-ho spying on her. Il-ho confronts the detached Nabi to literally knock some sense into him, but his action sparks an attack by intermarriage supporters who assume he is viciously attacking Nabi. Il-ho turns to leave and finds intermarriage opponents in the way. Frustrated, he blindly punches through the crowd, only to hit his brother Yi-ho by mistake. This provokes a riot between intermarriage supporters and opponents.
As the fight fades, we see Doki standing and crying over her hedgehog, which has stopped breathing and presumably died. Doki tries to contact Nabi, who can not answer since he was arrested alongside Il-ho during the riot. Assuming Nabi is not interested in a relationship with her, Doki loses all hope. She drops her cellphone from the roof of her apartment building and decides to leave for "Paradise".
Much darker in character than the previous episodes, this episode is primarily in black and white, with only Nabi's trademark green scarf, Doki's blushing cheeks and trademark pink bow, and the numerous intermarriage protest signs portrayed in color. As the episode progresses, Nabi's scarf gradually fades in color; when he breaks off the relationship with Doki, his scarf has completely faded to grey. In this use of colour imagery, the influence of SamBakZa's new sponsors and the increase in their technical ability can be seen. Towards the end, Doki's trademark pink bow and cheeks also fade to gray as she loses all hope of Nabi ever loving her.