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* ShoutOut: The characters attend operas and plays pretty regularly, with one chapter focusing on William and Eleanor going to a performance of ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville''. A later chapter shows Vivi reading ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', of which she's become a big fan.

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* ShoutOut: ShoutOut:
**
The characters attend operas and plays pretty regularly, with one chapter focusing on William and Eleanor going to a performance of ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville''. ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville''.
**
A later chapter shows Vivi reading ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', of which she's become a big fan.

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Spell My Name With An S is now a disambiguation page. Also, while Wilhelm and Dorothea do frequently have sex, they still sleep in separate rooms and Dorothea says she'd prefer to keep it that way.


* IsThatCuteKidYours: Vivian and Colin are sometimes mistaken to be Grace's children. While they ''are'' related, Grace is actually their older sister, and she doesn't appreciate it when people assume otherwise.



* IWasQuiteALooker: Johanna, the Mölders' head cook, claims to have been a head-turning beauty when she was younger, but, aside from a small sketch by Mori in one of the afterwards, we only have her word for it. Her daughter being drop-dead gorgeous might back up this claim, though.

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* IWasQuiteALooker: Johanna, the Mölders' head cook, claims to have been a head-turning beauty when she was younger, but, aside from a small sketch by Mori in one of the afterwards, we only have her word for it. Her daughter being drop-dead gorgeous might back up this up.
* IsThatCuteKidYours: Vivian and Colin are sometimes mistaken to be Grace's children. While they ''are'' related, Grace is actually their older sister, and she doesn't appreciate it when people assume otherwise.
this claim, though.though.
* InconsistentSpelling: The vast differences between the Japanese and English languages has led to some confusion as to how some of the character's first or last names (or even both) should be spelled. The differences in translation between the CMX printing of the manga, the Yen Press printing, and the anime just make it harder (though everyone agrees CMX's version, the oldest of the three, is the least correct).
** Is Kelly's married name "Stown'''e'''r" or "Stown'''a'''r"?
** Is Wilhelm's family name "Mölders", "Malders", or "Maulders"?
** Is Hakim's last name "Atawari", "Atawaly", or [[TakeAThirdOption some combination]] of the two?
** Does Emma take the train to Haworth or Harworth?[[note]] Not only do villages of both names exist in England, they're within sixty miles of each other! Haworth is the more likely candidate – it's in West Yorkshire, has a railway station, and is known for having once been home to the Brontë sisters, something an Anglophile like Mori is likely to know of.[[/note]]



* SleepingSingle: Most of the aristocratic couples have separate bedrooms, as was common in the era depicted. This is partly because many upper-class marriages were arranged, but even for HappilyMarried couples it was considered "proper behavior" not to sleep together all the time. Also, a husband wasn't supposed to witness his wife putting on makeup or other WomensMysteries. The exception to this are Wilhelm and Dorothea who share a bed.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The vast differences between the Japanese and English languages has led to some confusion as to how some of the character's first or last names (or even both) should be spelled. The differences in translation between the CMX printing of the manga, the Yen Press printing, and the anime just make it harder (though everyone agrees CMX's version, the oldest of the three, is the least correct).
** Is Kelly's married name "Stown'''e'''r" or "Stown'''a'''r"?
** Is Wilhelm's family name "Mölders", "Malders", or "Maulders"?
** Is Hakim's last name "Atawari", "Atawaly", or [[TakeAThirdOption some combination]] of the two?
** Does Emma take the train to Haworth or Harworth?[[note]] Not only do villages of both names exist in England, they're within sixty miles of each other! Haworth is the more likely candidate – it's in West Yorkshire, has a railway station, and is known for having once been home to the Brontë sisters, something an Anglophile like Mori is likely to know of.[[/note]]

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* SleepingSingle: Most of the aristocratic couples have separate bedrooms, as was common in the era depicted. This is partly because many upper-class marriages were arranged, but even for HappilyMarried couples it was considered "proper behavior" not to sleep together all the time. Also, a husband wasn't supposed to witness his wife putting on makeup or other WomensMysteries. The exception to this are Wilhelm and Dorothea who share a bed.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The vast differences between the Japanese and English languages has led to some confusion as to how some of the character's first or last names (or even both) should be spelled. The differences
discuss this trope in translation between the CMX printing of the manga, the Yen Press printing, and the anime just make it harder (though everyone agrees CMX's version, the oldest of the three, is the least correct).
** Is Kelly's married name "Stown'''e'''r" or "Stown'''a'''r"?
** Is Wilhelm's family name "Mölders", "Malders", or "Maulders"?
** Is Hakim's last name "Atawari", "Atawaly", or [[TakeAThirdOption some combination]] of the two?
** Does Emma take the train to Haworth or Harworth?[[note]] Not only do villages of both names exist in England,
a side story; they're within sixty miles of each other! Haworth is the more likely candidate – it's in West Yorkshire, has a railway station, and is known for having once been home loving couple with an active sex life, but when Wilhelm suggests they start sharing a room, Dorothea says she'd rather not since she doesn't want him to the Brontë sisters, something an Anglophile like Mori is likely to know of.[[/note]]see her putting on makeup.

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general cleanup


An anime adaptation under the name ''Emma: A Victorian Romance'' was made between two studios. Pierrot handled the first season which aired in 2005, and Creator/AjiaDo produced the second which aired in 2007, adding the subtitle of "Second Act". The home release was handled by Creator/NozomiEntertainment in 2008. In 2018, Nozomi launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to fund an English dub for season one, with a dub for season two being a stretch goal. The Kickstarter was a success, earning enough money to fund a dub for both seasons.

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An anime adaptation under the name ''Emma: A Victorian Romance'' was made between two studios. Pierrot handled the first season which aired in 2005, and Creator/AjiaDo produced the second which aired in 2007, adding the subtitle of "Second Act". The home release was handled by Both seasons use the same director, Tsuneo Kobayashi. Creator/NozomiEntertainment released it on DVD in 2008. In North America in 2008 using a then-unusual "pledge" program to cover the cost of extras like an artbox and artbook. Ten years later, in 2018, Nozomi launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to fund an a Blu-Ray release for the series and English dub for season one, Season One, with Season Two as a dub for season two being a primary stretch goal. The Kickstarter campaign was a success, earning enough money almost twice its asking price, allowing both seasons to fund a be dubbed.[[note]] By the time the Kickstarter finished, Emma had blown past all but two stretch goals, and those were just cosmetic upgrades to the artbook like gilded edges. A dub for Season Two and 5.1 mixes for both seasons. seasons were long since assured.[[/note]]



* AdaptationExpansion: The manga originally ended [[spoiler:without a wedding or a distant finale]], so Kobayashi and Ikeda added one for the anime's second season.
%%* AnimationAnatomyAging: Compare Dorothea and Aurelia in flashbacks to their older versions.

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* AdaptationExpansion: The manga originally ended [[spoiler:without a wedding or a distant finale]], so Kobayashi and Ikeda added one for the anime's second season.
%%*
season. The manga itself would show the former in its final chapter.
*
AnimationAnatomyAging: Compare Dorothea and During her younger years, Aurelia in flashbacks had much larger eyes compared to their older versions.the present day of the story. This is even more obvious with Kelly, whose face changes completely between 18 and 60.



%%* ApronMatron: Mrs. Kelly Stowner.



%%* BigFancyHouse: This series shows just how much work goes into keeping one of these running. We are shown some of the inner workings of the Jones estate outside London and a ''lot'' of the nuts and bolts of the Mölders' estate near Haworth.

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%%* * BigFancyHouse: This Much of the series takes place at two of these – the Jones Estate in Hampstead and the Mölders Estate in Haworth. Emma, who started the series living with Kelly in a standard townhouse, is overwhelmed the first time she sees the former and soon works in the latter. Unusually, this series shows just how much work goes into keeping one of these running. We are shown some of the inner workings of the Jones estate outside London and a ''lot'' of the nuts and bolts of the Mölders' estate near Haworth.both.



%%* CheerfulChild: Erich Mölders
%%* CoolOldLady: Mrs. Kelly Stowner .



%%* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Especially for Western readers. Curiously enough, the Victorian sense of romance is similar to Japanese ones.



* TheEdwardianEra: The manga's DistantFinale takes place sometime around 1904-1905, as the narration notes that the Victorian Era ended with Queen Victoria's death.
* EternalSexualFreedom: In the manga, Dorothea has a very frank attitude toward sex, though this may be partly to emphasize her "foreignness". In real life, differing attitudes between the British Isles and Continental Europe were openly discussed at the time. (''Standing naked in front of a window'' is probably going over the line, though.) Then there's the scene where Maria bathes with Adele and waxes about how she could never have just one man. While Adele isn't amused, she doesn't tell her off for her blasé attitude, instead simply warning her to not let her love life interfere with her work.

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* TheEdwardianEra: The manga's DistantFinale takes place sometime around 1904-1905, as the narration notes that the Victorian Era ended with makes note of Queen Victoria's death.
death (which occurred in January 1901). The anime's is later still.
* EternalSexualFreedom: In the manga, Dorothea has a very frank attitude toward sex, though this may be partly to emphasize her "foreignness". In real life, differing attitudes between the British Isles and Continental Europe were openly discussed at the time. (''Standing [[note]] ''Standing naked in front of a window'' is probably going over the line, though.) [[/note]] Then there's the scene where Maria bathes with Adele and waxes about how she could never have just one man. While Adele isn't amused, she doesn't tell her off for her blasé attitude, instead simply warning her to not let her love life interfere with her work.



* FunnyForeigner: Prince Hakim is an Indian prince who is a friend of the British William. Hakim's foreignness provides some of the comedy in the earlier parts of the series, mainly from his harem of silent girls and the fact that he brings an elephant to ride on.
* TheGayNineties: While the exact year is never specified, the series cannot start earlier than 1895 due to the Tower Bridge's existence. The epilogue takes place some time after 1901; it's mentioned that Queen Victoria has died and motorcars are rapidly replacing horse-drawn carriages in London.

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* FunnyForeigner: Prince Hakim Atawari is an Indian prince who is a friend of the British William. Hakim's foreignness provides some of the comedy in the earlier parts of the series, mainly from his harem of silent girls and the fact that he brings an elephant to ride on.
* TheGayNineties: While the exact year is never specified, the series cannot start earlier than 1895 due to the Tower Bridge's existence. The epilogue takes place some time after 1901; 1901 as it's mentioned that Queen Victoria has died and motorcars are rapidly replacing horse-drawn carriages in London.



* GorgeousPeriodDress: Absurd attention to clothing detail is kind of Mori's thing, which leads to mutiple panels featuring stunning, period accurate dresses.
* GossipyHens: Eleanor's friends often engage in gossip whenever they appear.
%%* GreatDetective: ''Very'' noteworthy '''{{aversion}}''' (this being a ''Victorian London'' tale, after all) in the manga when [[spoiler:Emma]] gets abducted.

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* GorgeousPeriodDress: Absurd attention to clothing detail is kind of Mori's thing, which leads to mutiple multiple panels featuring stunning, period accurate period-accurate dresses.
* GossipyHens: Eleanor's friends often engage in gossip whenever they appear.
%%* GreatDetective: ''Very'' noteworthy '''{{aversion}}''' (this being a ''Victorian London'' tale, after all) in the manga when [[spoiler:Emma]] gets abducted.
appear. This also happened with Society women around Aurelia but that was PlayedForDrama and directly contributed to her issues.



%%* HighClassGlass: The Viscount Campbell and Wilhelm.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: Behind all their efforts to keep up appearances befitting their rank of Viscount, the Campbell family is in serious financial distress. It is for this reason and ''only'' this reason that Viscount Campbell tolerates the engagement between his daughter, Eleanor, and William, who he despises as being an upstart.

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%%* HighClassGlass: The Viscount Campbell and Wilhelm.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: Behind all their efforts to keep up appearances befitting their rank of Viscount, the Campbell family is in serious financial distress. It is for this reason and ''only'' this reason that Viscount Campbell tolerates the engagement between his daughter, daughter Eleanor, and William, who whom he despises as being an upstart.



* IWasQuiteALooker: Johanna, the Mölders' head cook, claims to have been a head-turning beauty when she was younger, but, aside from a small sketch by Mori in one of the afterwards, we only have her word for it. (Her daughter being drop-dead gorgeous might back up this claim, though.) %%Kelly Stownar, first and foremost. One of the first side stories involves her (aged 18/19) and her husband Doug trying to save enough money to visit the Great Exhibition at Hyde Park in 1851.

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* IWasQuiteALooker: Johanna, the Mölders' head cook, claims to have been a head-turning beauty when she was younger, but, aside from a small sketch by Mori in one of the afterwards, we only have her word for it. (Her Her daughter being drop-dead gorgeous might back up this claim, though.) %%Kelly Stownar, first and foremost. One of the first side stories involves her (aged 18/19) and her husband Doug trying to save enough money to visit the Great Exhibition at Hyde Park in 1851.



%%* LargeHam: Monica.



%%* OldRetainer: Stephens to the Joneses. Martha to Aurelia.

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%%* * OldRetainer: Stephens to the Joneses. Discussed regarding Aurelia's longtime ladies'-maid Martha. Aurelia is well aware Martha, who has been with her since she was a child, is getting on in years and deserves a dignified retirement. Kaoru Mori showed in one ''omake'' with an age-chart that Martha to Aurelia.along with Stephens, the Joneses butler, are the oldest characters in the series.



** The Jones kids' mother was sent to the Yorkshire countryside by their father in order to save face after she unintentionally humiliated him in front of the elite. She visits from time to time, but mostly stays in Yorkshire.

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** The Jones kids' mother was sent to the Yorkshire countryside by their father in order to save face after she unintentionally humiliated him in front of the elite. She visits from time to time, but mostly stays in Yorkshire. Worth noting this is perfectly fine with her except the not-being-with-her-kids part.



* PornStache: Dorothea agreed to marry Wilhelm on the condition that he grow a mustache, claiming that his face looks scary without one. In her defense, it does make him appear more paternal.
* PromotionToParent: Grace has to take care of her younger siblings, Vivian and Colin, in the absence of her ill mother and busy father.
%%* SceneryPorn: A little bit in the manga, and a lot in the anime. What do you expect from the guy who directed ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms''?
* SelfMadeMan: William's father, Richard Jones, grew up outside the traditional aristocracy and thus has no title. He made his fortune by building upon the trading business started by his own father. Although he rigidly conducts himself by the standards of a proper British Gentleman, the Jones family is still seen as NouveauRiche by some of the titled peerage. It was worse before he married Aurelia (who ''does'' come from a noble family but was considered something of a social pariah).

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* PornStache: Dorothea agreed to marry Wilhelm on the condition that he grow a mustache, moustache, claiming that his face looks scary without one. In her defense, it does make him appear more paternal.
* PromotionToParent: Grace has to take care of her younger youngest siblings, Vivian and Colin, in the absence of her ill mother and busy father.
%%* SceneryPorn: A little bit in the manga, and a lot in the anime. What do you expect from the guy who directed ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms''?
father.
* SelfMadeMan: William's father, Richard Jones, grew up outside the traditional aristocracy and thus has no title. He made his fortune by building upon the trading business started by his own father. Although he rigidly conducts himself by the standards of a proper British Gentleman, the Jones family is still seen as NouveauRiche by some of the titled peerage. It was worse before he married Aurelia (who Aurelia, who ''does'' come from a noble family but was considered something of a social pariah).pariah.



* ShipperOnDeck: Kelly Stowner is obviously aware of Emma and William's connections.

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* ShipperOnDeck: Kelly Stowner is obviously aware of Emma and William's connections.mutual attraction and supports it. Dorothea does as well to an extent even though by doing so she stands to lose one of her best employees. Aurelia zigzags it by refusing to stop her son when given the chance yet admitting to Richard in private she finds it foolish.



%%* ShrinkingViolet: Emma is a girl with [[{{Understatement}} humble]] beginnings, a fact she keenly aware of. She never imagined becoming a lady's maid, which was fairly high-class for a poor girl during that time. Emma recognizes her absurd luck at having been taken in and educated by Kelly Stowner. She is thus reluctant to do anything forward enough to jeopardize her career or hurt William's standing, even if it means turning down the man she loves. During her time at the Mölders estate, after her return from London [[spoiler:where she encounters William again]], she is much more bright and talkative. All the other staff [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness wonder just what the hell happened]].



* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The vast differences between the Japanese and English languages has led to some confusion as to how some of the character's first or last names (or even both) should be spelled.

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* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The vast differences between the Japanese and English languages has led to some confusion as to how some of the character's first or last names (or even both) should be spelled. The differences in translation between the CMX printing of the manga, the Yen Press printing, and the anime just make it harder (though everyone agrees CMX's version, the oldest of the three, is the least correct).



** Does Emma take the train to Haworth or Harworth?[[note]]Not only do villages of both names exist in England, they're within sixty miles of each other. Haworth is the more likely candidate: it's in West Yorkshire, has a railway station, and is known for having once been home to the Brontë sisters, something an Anglophile like Mori is likely to know of.[[/note]]
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Invoked and obliquely discussed with Emma. She does ''not'' like it when anyone says she's attractive. This is because her above-average looks led directly to her being kidnapped from her native village as a child and brought to London where she barely escaped being sold into prostitution.

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** Does Emma take the train to Haworth or Harworth?[[note]]Not Harworth?[[note]] Not only do villages of both names exist in England, they're within sixty miles of each other. other! Haworth is the more likely candidate: candidate – it's in West Yorkshire, has a railway station, and is known for having once been home to the Brontë sisters, something an Anglophile like Mori is likely to know of.[[/note]]
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Invoked and obliquely discussed with Emma. She does ''not'' like it when anyone says she's attractive. This is because her above-average looks led directly to her [[ForcedFromTheirHome being kidnapped from her native village as a child child]] and brought to London where she barely escaped being sold into prostitution.



* StreetUrchin: Emma lived on the streets as a child for many years before Kelly took her in and gave her an education. Emma considers it one of her darkest secrets, and is ill at ease even telling sympathetic people like Dorothea about it, to say nothing of the man she falls in love with.

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* StreetUrchin: Emma lived on the streets as a child for many years before Kelly took her in and gave her an education. Emma considers it one of her darkest secrets, and is ill at ease even telling sympathetic people like Dorothea about it, to say nothing of the man she falls in love with.with (she ''does'' eventually tell him).



** Vivian is an energetic girl who isn't afraid to speak her mind, and her eyes are also drawn in the tsurime style.

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** Vivian is an energetic girl who isn't afraid to speak her mind, and her eyes are also drawn in the tsurime style. Mori joked in an early ''omake'' how Eleanor and Vivi have such similar eyes.



* VictorianLondon: The series largely takes place in Victorian-era London, complete with a classic Creator/JaneAusten-style romance between the main character and her love interest.
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Chapters 30 and 31 are devoted to the story of how William's parents met and what led Amelia to living separately from her husband and children.

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* VictorianLondon: The series largely takes place in Victorian-era London, complete with a classic Creator/JaneAusten-style romance between the main character and her love interest.
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Chapters 30
interest.[[note]] Despite her work being so heavily associated with the period, Austen actually died in 1817, two years before Victoria was born and 31 twenty years before Ol' Vicky assumed the Throne. Her works are devoted to written and set in the story Regency Era, a time of how William's parents met relative liberalism between the stuffier Georgian and what led Amelia to living separately from her husband and children.Victorian Eras.[[/note]]


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* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Chapters 30 and 31 are devoted to the story of how William's parents met and what led Aurelia to living separately from her husband and children. In the anime, this is Episode 18.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: In an anime-only scene, Emma briefly returns to the fishing village in East Yorkshire where she was born, only to find it completely abandoned save for a few ruined houses. She thought earlier this might be the case when she recounted the village was desperately poor and had no clue if it still existed.
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* ShipperOnDeck: Kelly Stowner is obviously aware of Emma and William's connections.
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* StarcrossedLovers: William is a [[BlueBlooded nobleman]] and Emma is only a housemaid. Their love has been tested so many times. [[spoiler:Until they eventually married and have four children]].

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* StarcrossedLovers: William is a [[BlueBlooded [[BlueBlood nobleman]] and Emma is only a housemaid. Their love has been tested so many times.times due to the classism at the time. [[spoiler:Until they eventually married and have four children]].
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* StarcrossedLovers: William is a noble and Emma is only a housemaid. Their love has been tested so many times. [[spoiler:Until they eventually married and have four children]].

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* StarcrossedLovers: William is a noble [[BlueBlooded nobleman]] and Emma is only a housemaid. Their love has been tested so many times. [[spoiler:Until they eventually married and have four children]].

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* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:After going through so much in their effort to stay together, Emma and William are eventually married and have four children]].



* StarcrossedLovers: William is a noble and Emma is only a housemaid. Their love has been tested so many times. [[spoiler:Until they eventually married and have four children]].



* UptownBoy: William is a wealthy gentleman who falls in love with a maid of unknown background. This is the plot's biggest conflict, as Victorian society considers the idea of a romance between class barriers completely unacceptable.

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* UptownBoy: UptownGuy: William is a wealthy gentleman who falls in love with a maid of unknown background. This is the plot's biggest conflict, as Victorian society considers the idea of a romance between class barriers completely unacceptable.

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