Anime on My Mind’s March Madness Championship
Chidori (Full Metal Panic) versus BELLDANDY.
Vote now! Remember, a vote against the goddess is a vote for the terrorists.
BELLDANDY FOR CYLON TEMPLATE!*
“There are many copies…”
Nooooooo! Adama flashlight justice directed against Belldandy! KOWAI!
*yes, I am referencing AMM’s previous Mai vs. Bell entry
Final episode, here goes…
With a big pile of snakes in the sky (not on a plane, thankfully), looks like things aren’t going quite as well. After all, a giant bunch of snakes flying about and wrecking buildings is pretty dangerous. Belldandy casts a defensive barrier to protect everyone and it appears safe for now. With Urd back to normal, everyone gets her up to speed since she apparently doesn’t remember what happened since she became the Lord of Terror.
Anyway, apparently the Lord of Terror is now existing in the form of Midgard, by transferring itself into this new body. With this ability to reincarnate, it is impossible to defeat. The Lord of Terror then uncovers the gate to the underworld with its seal. If the Lord of Terror breaks the seal, demons can flood the Earth.
Urd is no p issed about what ahs transpired and decides to screw the license suspension and attack, though to no effect as all her power was drained earlier. So instead, Urd yells at Skuld to attack. Urd cackles manically as they go through Skuld’s stash of bombs. Keiichi has a brainstorm and wonders why the Lord of Terror is floating up there when he could break the seal anywhere and why he isn’t attacking. Bell realizes that perhaps he needs them to break the seal for him. While Urd has her fun, Skuld flips through the flute’s manual to see what can be done. Bell flies up to seal Midgard with the flute and Keiichi yells out for her to be careful, causing Bell to blush. Emotional moments at a time like this?
Belldandy begins to seal Midgard with the flute and the weird musical device begins to suck Midgard inside like a vacuum cleaner, but he manages to lunge at Skuld in an attempt to transfer once more, but Keiichi gets in the way with only a bit of a nick. Things look like they’re back to normal… aside from the destruction.
Back at the temple, Keiichi takes the flute from Belldandy and says some various ominous things and transforms into a new variation of the Lord of Terror. Looks like things are getting complicated again. Belldandy screams out in terror as she realized that Keiichi is the new host. Suddenly, the heavens open and Lind (Rind, whatever) descends to attack, but Belldandy blocks her attack. She explains to Bell that the demons cannot win even at the cost of Keiichi’s life. The more combat-capable goddess brings Belldandy to her knees even as she begs for Keiichi’s life. No matter what happens, looks like Bell will protect Keiichi. As Lind tries to strike a killing blow on Bell, Keiichi regains control for a second and covers Bell with his body.
Lind begins to understand the depth of the relationship between the two and gives them some time to deal with the situation. The Lord of Terror laughs at his luck and decides to hurry it up so he can unseal the underworld. He asks Skuld to make a ten-dimensional scythe to break the special seal. After all, only a weapon made by a goddess can break a Heavenly seal. In a particular bit of weirdness, he holds a hammer over his head to threaten Skuld into making the scythe.
Skuld begins having too much fun making the scythe… and is happy about her creation of a new device. That’s engineers for you, I guess… even if they use just an abacus. With the scythe complete, the Lord of Terror is ready to break the seal. He asks the goddesses what he plans to do after he breaks the seal. Apparently it’s not to just bring demons here, it’s to create a new world for demons with no humans. Urd pleads with Belldandy to attack the Lord of Terror despite the loss of Keiichi.
With tears in her eyes, Bell pleads with the Lord of Terror as he begins cutting. She realizes she can’t kill him and Lind rushes to attack, but Belldandy grabs the Lord of Terror and asks for him to infect her instead. The Lord of Terror cackles as he says that was what he wanted from the very beginning.
Telepathically, she pleads for Lind to kill her after she is infected. She cries and apologizes that she couldn’t keep her promise to Keiichi. However, it seems impossible to infect a goddess and the Lord of Terror is repelled. Skuld realizes what has happened and rushes to find a new body for the Lord of Terror. Now desperate for a body, he sees the floppy disk that Skuld tossed into the air and transfers into that.
Belldandy cries some more and says that she’ll never forget Keiichi. Urd flies up and says that Keiichi is fine now since the Lord of Terror has transferred into the floppy. More tears ensue… while Skuld cuts off the disk’s write-protect tab and taunts the Lord of Terror with a magnet. She erases the Lord of Terror with a magnet. Now that’s embarrassing.
Keiichi wakes up and sees Lind talking to Belldandy. Apparently all their transgressions are forgiven since they defeated the Lord of Terror and the Yggdrasil system is still down, so all their penalties are erased, including Urd’s license suspension. With contracts also erased… what will happen to Belldandy? Lind says she’s leaving now, because she doesn’t want to be insensitive to “something.” With that said, Belldandy runs to Keiichi.
Skuld wonders what will happen now, but Urd says that’s obvious.
Bell and Keiichi begin to catch up with the day’s events. He asks about the voided contract and Belldandy says that it has indeed been voided. However, she isn’t returning to Heaven because even though there no longer is a contract, she admits that she didn’t stay on Earth just for that. Keiichi taught her how to live as a human and she has experienced so many new feelings. But above all, she’s going to stay here with Keiichi because she loves him. And she kisses him! Keiichi says that he’s learned a lot too and he’s thankful for that, so he wants her to stay with him too forever… and he finally works up the guts to kiss her. Only took him 24 episodes.
Ending credits roll… with still images of Belldandy blushing, Urd’s mother (oops, spoilers!), Lind going back to Heaven to meet Peorth (different goddess, we’ll probably see “more” of her soon) and company, Skuld pushing apart the two lovers, Urd messing around, the temple is still trashed… but not the TV, which probably distracts Skuld and Urd long enough so we can see that all is well with Bell and K-1’s relationship as they get some quality time alone. And I guess that’s all we hoped for.
Onward to special episodes and SECOND SEASON! Only took me long enough to finish up this series, eh? Shame on me…
With all that said, thus far, I must say that while the first season of the series was certainly enjoyable at points, as a pretty hardcore fan of the franchise since I was a young Token Asian hanging out at the comic store… there’s just this feeling that this series could have been so much more and that the end result here was a bit of a sloppy job. However, you’ll see that the next two episodes makes up for some of that. I bet the second season will be a lot better too.
See you then!
Up in Heaven, the events down below are not unknown as problems with the systems begin appearing. With a lot of the primary systems down, Yggdrasil is vulnerable to attack. Kami-sama realizes that Urd has become the Lord of Terror and dispatches a certain special goddess to take care of things…
Back on Earth, Belldandy releases the seal on her powers. Kami-sama is not unaware of this either… but he appears willing to let it slide. He sends the special fighting goddess known as Lind to wait on standby with a special device.
In Mara’s lair, Urd is pounishing Mara for failing to seal Belldandy and capturing Keiichi instead. Despite any of Keiichi’s pleads, Urd won’t stop what she is doing. He accidentally lets out that there is a such thing as the Ultimate Destruction Program. When she tries to scan his mind, it’s revealed that he doesn’t know much about it. However, the urn does and explains how it’s designed to bring about the end of humanity.
Meanwhile, Sayoko is waiting for a date but instead gets a meteor strike. These meteors strike multiple buildings as part of the urn’s instruction to unlock the program. However, Belldandy detects Urd’s powers being used and rushes to their location on top of a skyscraper.
The stars in the sky disappear as the protections on the program begin to unlock. Belldandy appears and summons Holy Bell, who fires a magical arrow at the urn, penetrating Urd’s counter and destroying the urn. With that, the curse should be gone, right? Heh, not that simple. The urn speaks and says everything has gone according to his plan, since the urn has to be destroyed by a goddess to fully activate the program. Good job, Bell! You unleashed the apocalypse.
And the apocalypse comes in the form of… a really cheesy wolf. Subconsciously, Urd warns Bell of the danger, but the giant wolf knocks her off the edge of the roof. And so, Urd explains that she has summoned Fenrir to destroy the world. In Norse mythology, Fenrir was a creature that destroyed Odin and helped bring about the end of the world. Keiichi begins screaming for Belldandy and Urd complains about his whining. Despite her relations to Belldandy, Urd explains that she no longer cares about Belldandy since only her demon blood matters now.
Down on the road, Skuld is riding along the road trying to find everyone but stops to pick up a mysterious ringing cell phone. Yup, Kami-sama. He’s calling about he situation and has a plan to stop the Lord of Terror and the Ultimate Destruction Program. With Yggdrasil down, only one fighting goddess can be dispatched as a last resort. However, he can send down the vaccine for the Ultimate Destruction Program… in the form of a dorky-looking flute. He orders her to deliver it to Belldandy, who can use it to nullify the program. With the location of Belldandy revealed, Skuld runs off to find her sisters.
Belldandy realizes that the real Urd is still somewhere within the Lord of Terror since she was warned subconsciously of the appearance of Fenrir, With the hope that she can still save Urd, Bell sets off once again. Back with Urd and Mara, they debate feeding Keiichi to Fenrir. I’m pretty sure Keiichi wouldn’t taste that great. Thankfully, Belldandy comes and seals Fenrir with her “Wind Cage.” Urd and Bell begin to do battle but to no great effect to either side. Urd orders Mara to give Fenrir her demon powers to let Fenrir break the seal. When Mara runs, Urd blasts her and powers Fenrir up herself but Fenrir keeps sucking at Urd’s power and Fenrir becomes more powerful than ever before. In her weakend state, she falls off the roof and takes Keiichi with her. Belldandy mangages to catch both of them but injures herself in the process. He asks why she hurt herself for him, she responds that if he dies, she would lose her purpose for existence. Awwww… and he feels the same way! He begs her to not push herself too hard. Urd wakes up and transforms back into her goddess form. With all the demon energy from Urd gome, she’s back to normal.
But now, all the energy is within Fenrir and has become the new Lord of Terror. It’s a vicious cycle. A weakened Belldandy is probably no match for Fenrir, but she will fight to save Keiichi anyway. Skuld appears with Banpei, a few artillery pieces, and Midgard’s flute. Skuld tells Bell to hurry and play the flute and the music produced from the mysterious device summons the Midgard serpents to attack Fenrir to great effect.
Well, Fenrir won’t go down that easily and bites down on the Midgard serpents before he disappears. Belldandy says that the crisis is over and that they should all go home now. Too soon, Bell. The Lord of Terror has infected Midgard and has now taken control of the serpents. Well, this arc is proving to be long and… boring. Bah.
Deep within some mountains, we see Mara lurking around, messing around with some hostile demons, and questing after a… pot. Well, it’s an urn of some sort and apparently it’ll bring about the end of Belldandy. So anyway, this urn has a face on the front and it’s the key to releasing the Lord of Terror. Apparently, thus far all it can do is bring bad luck to everyone… unless it’s eyes open all the way.
Back at the temple, Urd is sitting in the corner all depressed despite anything anyone says. Belldandy explains how the licensing system works and how violations cause license suspensions. Depressed about the situation, Urd runs off in tears. Belldandy tells Keiichi that it will take fifty years for Urd to get her license back. Walking by herself, Urd meets Megumi and asks to borrow her bike… and is asked about if she has a motorcycle license. With no money for a license, Urd is turned away, but suddenly she hears a voice calling out to her, but just what it is is unclear.
With no job, license or cash, Urd broods in the park and accidentally stomps on a child’s sand castle. A voice calls out to her to use his powers and it’s unclear whether Urd uses some sort of magical power from that voice (which is revealed to be the urn) or if it’s Bell messing around in the background to repair the child’s sand creation.
Well, in the next scene, we have Urd working as a waitress in a restaurant, and apparently it’s something along the line of an Anna Miller’s restaurant, complete with bust-enhancing outfits. Think of Hooters and you’re pretty much on the mark. In a dazzling display of good taste, Keiichi walks in with Bell. Heh, you try taking your girlfriend to Hooters and see what happens. Okay, so Urd’s determined to live as a human from now on, though I suppose she didn’t count on the stress of waitressing.
She finally cuts loose and uses her powers and the urn tells her to reveal her evil form and become the Lord of Terror’s successor. It taunts her with the promise of more powers as a demon and that she should accept since she has demon blood within her. She eventually breaks down and transforms into the Lord of Terror… complete with leather S&M outfit. Oh frack, here comes the lame Lord of Terror arc…
Outside, Belldandy relates to Keiichi how Kami-sama once told her about the Lord of Terror, which was a cross between goddesses and demons, thus Urd has a high chance of becoming that evil monstrosity. Apparently while Bell and Urd share the same father, Urd’s mother was a demon. Regardless, Urd is her sister and she’ll try to save her. Keiichi, ever religiously ambiguous, wonders why Kami-sama doesn’t intervene and Bell explains that goddesses with fighting duty assignments will deal with the situation. Heh, Valkyries, but not the mecha type. Anyway, Bell also explains that a catalyst is needed to bring a demon to Earth, but sealing Urd’s catalyst would trap Urd forever.
Back in Mara’s lair, Mara is surprised to find Urd as her new master. As the successor to the Lord of Terror, Urd now plans to destroy the world. Mara mutters that Urd had a demon-like personality from the very beginning… Their first goal? Destroy the goddesses!
Back at the temple, Bell says she’s not going to call Heaven on this one since it’d bring retribution onto Urd for a sin that could never be forgiven. Okay, so Bell’s going to talk Urd out of this. Skuld demands to go with her and face-pwn Urd, but thankfully Keiichi calms her down. Belldandy reveals one last thing… oh, just the “Ultimate Destruction Program” that could bring about the apocalypse. Suddenly from outside, Urd arrives with a giant mecha and wrecks Banpei.
And so the fight is on! Belldandy pleads with Urd and for a moment, Urd returns to normal, but the urn taunts her into continuing. Skuld tries to attack but to no effect, forcing Keiichi to knock her out of the way… though thankfully further wrecking Banpei in the process. Bell returns fire but Urd counterattacks the mecha’s punch. We see Keiichi coming to her aid with another one of Skuld’s mechanical contraptions… made out of his bike parts.
The vibrations from the fight are knocking loose the screws in Keiichi’s machine, but that gives him a plan and he tells Belldandy to remove the screws from the mecha. With her magical powers, they unscrew the bolts off the mecha and finally defeat the mecha. Unfortunately, Bell has used too much of her powers and is weak, prompting Mara to attempt to seal Bell. Keiichi shields Bell and saves her from sealing Belldandy but imprisoning himself in the process. With Bell still weak, Mara runs off with Keiichi. When Bell finds out that Keiichi was taken in her place, she is horrified and decides to unseal her powers to fight the transformed Urd. As the episode ends, she begs Kami-sama to forgive her selfish transgression.
Urgh, I hated the Lord of Terror arc. It wasn’t that interesting in the original manga considering it was a fairly early story arc and that the tone of the franchise doesn’t do well with “epic stories.” The translation of this to television only makes it worse.
Alright, time to suffer through this until episode 24…
With Keiichi still having gender issues, he’s down in the dumps. Despite Belldandy thinking that he looks “beautiful,” Keiichi is still depressed since he can’t go to class. Apparently Belldandy has an idea on how to help him… nope, she just wants to dress him up. Okay, so Urd appears to have a cure and he’s back to normal.
Some time later, we see Belldandy singing with her angel. Urd explains that an angel is not only a support creature but also an extension of a goddess’s feelings and physical status. When asked about her angel, Urd dodges the question and roams off. Anyhoo, Skuld is there admiring Bell’s singing and decides to ask about her desire to have an angel. Bad Skuld! You can’t even make a pudding without making the taster grow mammary glands! Belldandy assumes that Skuld has awakened to her goddess powers… but no, Skuld is just bratty and wants an angel for whatever childish reason.
Well, no such thing as a free lunch, so they begin training Skuld to see if her powers have awakened yet. Heh, no luck for Skuld. Now, if only we had Yoda in town… because for the love of goddess, Skuld is one whiny trainee who can’t even accept the fact that she needs to learn magic to be a goddess in order to possess an angel, because these angel thingies apparently pack a whallop and need certain powers to control. Imagine Anakin Skywalker whining about having to use the Force! Urd says that Skuld’s obviously a century too young to have an angel. But when Skuld asks about Urd’s angel, Urd has no response to that except to taunt Skuld. Suspicious, eh? Pull it out already, Urd!
Seemingly worried, Bell goes to Urd’s room and asks her elder sister to go on a walk with her. Outside, Urd asks Bell about having an angel and if it was scary. Apparently she was scared when she first received her angel. However, Belldandy reveals that her angel is like a mirror angel of herself, something that reflects her heart and she can cherish.
Back in side her room, Urd attempts to summon her angel, but nothing happens. Too bad Skuld is a peeping little pervert and sees Urd fail, so she is now determined to beat her eldest sister by attaining an angel first. Unfortunately, this involves her recruiting Keiichi to help her “train.” She uses his helmet to plant suggestions into his head… and Keiichi goes running off into the street making motorcycle noises. Great.
Urd sits on the roof and watches Skuld wearing the helmet, which apparently provides Skuld with the illusion that her training is effective. Weird. Anyhow, Urd has a flashback to when she was separated from her mother. Yeah, Kami-sama was a pimp, forget Gendo. She also recalls Bell summoning her angel and being excited about wanting to be like her. However, when she first received her angel, Urd was scared of her angel’s appearance and something happened there that the audience doesn’t know about quite yet. Urd keeps thinking about it but knows that there’s nothing she can do about it.
Back with Skuld, she has realized that learning magic virtually has nothing to do with the real world. Desperate to put one over Urd, Skuld is ready to for some desperate measures. Keiichi comes home and finds his television out of commission… and most of his other electronic devices as well. The youngest goddess has been scavenging parts for some diabolical device. Goddess knows what that monstrosity in her room does. Heh, it’s some sort of magical power amplifier. Despite Keiichi’s admonition to listen to Bell’s method of careful training, Skuld powers up the device and all heck breaks loose as she releases some high-level water-based magic… and she’s trapped in the middle of the maelstrom with Keiichi! With Skuld passed out, it’s up to Bell and Urd to save them. Unfortunately, Bell’s magic can’t penetrate the water because air elementals can’t penetrate, but Urd’s fire elemental magic might work. When asked to use her angel, Urd hesitates because of what happened that fateful day…
When she was young, her demon side also manifested itself in her angel, scaring her, so she told her angel to never come out again. Apparently since angels are 100% obedient to their master, her angel took that too literally. The device is sucking at Skuld’s powers, apparently to the degree where she will lose her powers. With the situation clearly in front of her, Bell tells Urd to believe in herself and that she can do it.
Urd finally regains her confidence and realizes that her angel is a mirror of herself, and that her fear is irrational. And so she summons “World of Elegance,” her own very special angel. With her boosted powers, Urd breaks through the turbulent waters and rescues the unlucky Keiichi and his tormenter.
In the closing moments, Urd gives Skuld an angel’s egg in the hope that someday Skuld will also attain the ability to hold an angel. After some banter, Urd goes to answer the phone and cries out in shock. Bell comes to the phone and realizes that it’s a phone call from their Lord. Apparently Urd has a license suspension for abandoning her post the other day. Looks like her angel is going bye-bye for now… such irony.
On a side note, it’s interesting to see World of Elegance introduced before Noble Scarlet, considering that Skuld’s angel appeared first (irony, eh?). While it doesn’t really detract from the story, it was a bit jarring to see that happen. And if you pay attention, you see that Urd’s half-demon side is revealed, hinting at the next few episodes…
So, Urd and Skuld are taking a trip up to Heaven for some maintenance work… but leaving conflicting instructions. Urd says that Keiichi had better make a move while Skuld declares that Keiichi had better not do anything funny while she’s gone. The elder sister hands Keiichi a sex manual of some sort (no doubt) and Skuld turns beet-red… especially when Belldandy looks over her shoulder…
While the two sisters are gone, Keiichi worries about the progression of their relationship, especially that the two of them are alone now. Meanwhile, up in Heaven, Skuld tells Urd that she has made sure Keiichi won’t get close to Belldandy. What’s the slang term? C***-blocker? Oh dear goddess, Keiichi is eating the pudding that Skuld made for him!
Belldandy suddenly exclaims in shock as Keiichi turns into a woman. She (I mean Bell) takes a look at the plate and notes that Skuld left a message that Keiichi will be like this until she returns. Keiichi has a brief fantasy about how he can now accompany women to do all sorts of female things… and that’s just wrong. Anyway, Bell tries to cure Keiichi with some of Urd’s medicines. In another bout of wrongness, Bell decides that there is an ointment that she can use, but it can only be rubbed all over his/her chest.
After Keiichi vetoes the rubbing thing, they work on a potion and as they mix it, Keiichi accidentally sneezes and drops some sort of chemical on Belldandy. Apparently the fluid that was splashed on her contains a virus. While she doesn’t blame him for the accident, there is no Earth cure for the virus and nothing that Keiichi can do will help and that she’ll get better eventually with rest. With all that taken care of, Keiichi decides to go put on some makeup…
The next day, Tamiya, Otaki, Megumi, and Hasegawa come over to the temple to chill out with K-1… apparently at Skuld’s urging. Keiichi comes to the door and introduces himself as Keiko-san, bell’s distant relative. He (she?) makes the excuse that Keiichi is out and that Urd and Skuld are on vacation but Bell is home, so everyone pushes their way inside. And dear goddess, everyone is ogling “Keiko’s” beauty… While the guys try to pick up Keiko, Belldandy passes out again and everyone puts her to bed again. Unfortunately, Keiko still talks like Keiichi and Tamiya and Otaki decide to “test her out” to see if she’s for real. And in a bizarre twist, Megumi takes Keiichi aside and says that his transformation must have something to do with Bell’s sickness, but that this is his big chance. The heck? I’m surprised she took that so well.
Anyway, Keiichi decides to go into Urd’s room to attempt the creation of a cure. With nothing accomplished, he continues to beat himself up over the fact that Belldandy is in a lot of pain and that there’s nothing he can do. Therefore, he begins dialing the phone randomly in an attempt to contact Skuld and Urd. There was a great joke here in the manga about Keiichi calling a “goddess sex line” but I suppose that didn’t make it in here. Regardless, he is unable to make contact and he goes back to Bell’s side. Still, he feels that as long as he can believe in something miraculous happening, it will happen… yet he says to himself that stuff like that doesn’t happen. Belldandy wakes up and says that that isn’t true because believing is where everything begins. Holy Bell rises out of Belldandy and is covered with the crystals you see from the virus in the AMG movie. Looks like things are getting wrose.
Keiichi decides to believe in himself and tries to call Heaven one last time. Anyway, Urd tells Keiichi to collect the “Crystals of the Wind” to produce a cure. She decides to go down and help out, despite Skuld’s warnings that abandoning their work will lead to reprimands, she also realizes that Bell is sick and runs to help.
Down on Earth, Keiichi grabs one of Urd’s tools and heads for the tallest tower in town to find the optimal place to use the device to gather these crystals. Unfortunately, a security guard discovers him and tries to chase him off. Meanwhile, a few floors below, Sayoko is on a date… only to have Skuld pop out of her wine glass. Skuld runs up to where Keiichi is and tells him to trust her and jump off the roof. Okay, to trust the little squirt or not to? Eh, what the heck? The two of them leap off the precipice… falling past Sayoko’s window. What a traumatic date that was… Thankfully, Banpei is in place to catch them and it appears all is well.
Back home, Urd mixes the solution, but Bell is in no condition to drink it herself, therefore… MOUTH TO MOUTH! Urd decides to have Keiichi do it, after all she is impressed that Keiichi was able to contact them, showing that he really cares for Belldandy. Even Skuld says that it’s okay just this once. After the application of the cure is finished, Belldandy is healed and she wakes up. Urd says that it’s all thanks to Keiichi but Skuld gets angry once again but decides forgiveness is better in this case.
The episode ends with Urd comparing “certain things” that Keiichi now possesses with Skuld’s “something unmentionable” (boobs). Heh, typical sister to sister banter? Anyway, Keiichi and Bell look at each other fondly and we now that things are going to be okay from now on… yeah, whatever! Keiichi’s still a woman!
Is it bad I had too much fun taking screencaps for this episode?
Urd checks out the latest lingerie catalog while Bell serves Keiichi some dinner. Skuld and Urd spar over fashion choices as Keiichi thinks back to that night on the beach. It’s clear from across the dinner table that Bell has grown closer to K-1. And this angers Skuld as usual, so Urd decides to take matters into her own hands again.
In her “castle,” Urd starts brewing up a potion but is distracted by the television. As Urd rushes to TiVo the latest episode of “General Hospital,” Skuld peeks around the corner and decides that Urd is up to no good. Noting the suspicious concoction on the lab table, Skuld sabotages the potion. Urd comes back and finishes her work, creating um… gum drops. Well, by gum drops I mean “seeds of love.”
Keiichi’s hard at work in his room. In one of the most chuckle-inducing Urd lines, she imitates Belldandy and asks if Keiichi wants something sweet to eat since he looks tired. Of course, when he sees that it’s Urd, he gets rather suspicious. The real Belldandy comes by and offers everyone some tea. When she inquires about Urd’s “candy,” she decides to try a piece. Bell decides that this candy is extremely tasty, causing Urd to have a beautifully-executed facefault. Urd then wonders why it isn’t working… but as we see later, Bell is beginning to feel the effects of the seed of love. We see her standing at Keiichi’s door…
The next morning, Keiichi wakes up and sees Belldandy with him in his futon. He assumes that he’s still dreaming and lies back down but instantly jumps up with a start as he sees her sleeping with him. She notes that he’s sweating and asks if he’s hot… well, she’s wearing a sexy nightgown, of course he’s hot! He faints from the excitement and Bell rushes to grab a towel or something. When Urd and Skuld see the changed Belldandy, the elder sister remarks that the results are off the chart. Skuld demands to know if she used it on Bell and Urd realizes that Skuld is at fault for changing something in the formula.
Meanwhile, Keiichi is doing his best to fend off Belldandy’s new adventurous side. If a girl was enamored with my smell… goddess help me I probably couldn’t resist. She then tries to ask him a favor but he demands that she put on some clothes first. Meanwhile, Urd realizes that Skuld’s tampering with the potion will make Belldandy “excessively outgoing,” to say the least, and that it’ll wear off before she can make an antidote.
Apparently Bell wants to go shopping, but Keiichi’s taking a cold bath (I assume) first. Of course, she comes in to wash his back… Unable to resist effectively, he runs out of the bath, wearing only a towel. MEIN EYES. Outside, she shows him some more affection, to which Banpei takes offense. Bell fends him off with a kiss, causing the walking trash can to overload. Later on as they walk down the street, Keiichi can’t help but feel nervous… especially when she asks if they look like a couple. When Keiichi says that’s okay, she holds onto his arm as Keiichi gulps.
Inside a department store, they begin looking at clothes and K-1 asks what would Bell like to try on. When she chooses the lingerie department and says she wants to get into his futon with these garments, Keiichi starts freaking out. In response, Bell asks him what he would like her to try on… and in all his brilliance, he accidentally tells her to try on the sexiest piece of lingerie in the store. YOW! Skuld peeks out from behind a lingerie display and whines about how Bell is suddenly interested in degrading herself, while Urd just checks out the store’s wares herself… followed by commentary on Skuld’s lack of maturity.
Outside, Bell asks if she can have some of his drink. I still don’t see the big deal about this as he sees it as some kind of indirect kiss. Anyway, Urd cheers him on while Skuld screams in terror. Later on, we see Bell taking Keiichi inside a movie theater… too bad Skuld and Urd tagged along and are watching from the shadows. Keiichi has started to grow suspicious but just chalks it up to general female weirdness. His fatal mistake is when he busts out a box of Pocky and expects to keep it all to himself. Bell decides she wants some too, and by that, she means chewing on the other end of the one already in his mouth. Sexy… but as usual, Skuld pulls a bomb out and nukes the theater.
While they make their escape from the devastation, Bell claims she got something in her eye and asks him to get the dirt out for her. She pleads with him to hurry up in a very seductive way as pedestrians stare at them awkwardly. Again, they run off and Keiichi decides it’s time to head home, so he mounts his bike… and Bell gets on his seat and holds on to him as they ride off into the sunset… if it were that easy.
As they ride along, she comments that she can feel his kindness as they ride along. Well, at least she’s not out of character… that much. On the way home, they stop at a church with a scenic view. They explore the inside of the church and examine the Catholic architecture… and she grabs him and throws him down on a pew. Oh boy, nobody tell the pope.
She starts to cry and ask him why she can’t grow closer to him since she loves him. He thinks to himself about how he’s afraid to grow closer to her since someday she might have to return to Heaven, but he grows a spine and tells himself that’s just an excuse. So he finally embraces her… on the pew. Meanwhile, Urd and Skuld have caught up and are up to no good outside, Urd trying to prevent intervention and Skuld trying to intervene. And on that little church pew, Belldandy seems in the mood for some… action. Keiichi stops her since it’s clear she’s not herself at the moment. The clock strikes twelve and the seed of love loses its effect, but that doesn’t stop Keiichi from saying that he loves the normal Belldandy, the girl that is honest and kind. She is overwhelmed and cries out that she loves him. Awwwww…
Now, what to do with Skuld? All of this was her fault, and the punishment for touching Urd’s possessions without permission? Urd starts showing Skuld mechanical devices that do nothing but move. I guess that’s terrifying to an engineer? Oh well, Skuld gets her just desserts. At least Keiichi and Belldandy have something to be happy about today. Awww, look at her blush!
Heh, the funniest part of this episode is that Bell is never really out of character. It’s more of a “modified personality” rather than a complete change. Of course, this episode was far more risqué than the original manga chapter. Still tame when compared to most “harem” anime, though perhaps one shouldn’t lump AMG in that category considering that Keiichi and Bell are strictly in a monogamous relationship. Well, we’ll reconsider this if Peorth ever drops in…
Obligatory beach fanservice episode? Excuse to show Urd in a bikini, Bell in the bath, and Skuld jailbait? Not really… well, sort of. AMG isn’t that tasteless, but there’s a bit of fanservice here and there. Anyway, Megumi sets up Keiichi and his goddess pals for a trip to the beach. I figure she wanted to help K-1 make some progress with Bell. It’s pretty clear from Megumi that she wants Keiichi to progress… all the way. Too bad paradise isn’t quite perfect since Urd and Skuld tagged along.
Urd tells Keiichi that the ocean is the perfect place for a man and a woman to explore their love for one another. Unfortunately, Keiichi can’t swim. And oh dear goddess, Skuld brought a long her new jet ski to “help” him with this problem. Well, if by “help” you mean “almost drown.” Belldandy saves him from a watery grave and he wakes up in their room. She offers to do anything that might make him feel better but despite what Urd and Skuld want, he just says that he’s happy being here with her. He loves how she loves the ocean and being here with her is just… and before they can kiss, Skuld busts in, Urd tries to stop Skuld, and the hotel manager tells them about the baths.
Mwahahaha, Bell has the brilliant idea of inviting Keiichi to a co-ed bath. She seems to be okay with the idea, but Keiichi is freaking out. While she strips down inside, Keiichi keeps standing outside and vacillating. Despite his initial courage, K-1 decides to go the men’s bath alone. On the other side of the wooden wall separting the baths, Keiichi can hear Skuld “touching” Belldandy. Urd then drops into the men’s bath and tells him that his lack of courage is hurting Bell’s feelings towards him. She demands that he climb the wall and join Bell. Again, he’s vacillating, so Urd just blows a hole in the wall… to reveal that Bell and Skuld already got out of the bath.
Keiichi mopes around outside and says to himself that he’s just too much of a wimp to go all the way with a girl. Urd comes by again and says that even if a girl knows a guy loves her, she wants to hear it in words. And uh, she has sea cucumbers. Yeah. Aparently they can be used for fortune telling and they are saying that the time is ripe for Keichi to act because a confession under the moon tonight will bind a guy and a girl together forever… at a spot like the three sea cucumbers she has. Unfortunately, Skuld has been spying on the entire conversation. Screw you, Skuld.
While Keiichi decides what he wants to do, Skuld is setting traps of some sort. Urd decides that these hardships are just part of the path to true love… but I suppose she did help by trashing Banpei. In any case, Bell and Keiichi are at dinner and she asks again if it was a bad idea to come and he says no, but she says that there’s been something on his mind. He apologizes and goes outside. The tide is out and he sees a trio of rocks that somewhat resemble sea cucumbers. Well, looks like he found the spot.
And Skuld’s ready for him too… He happens upon a “damsel in distress” and tries to carry her to help but this “girl” is really Skuld’s robot that has a gravity controller, making it especially heavy. This magnetic force also attracts a soda can to the “girl,” revealing Skuld’s plan to slow down Keiichi, so she hits the self-destruct. After the smoke clears, he’s even more determined… though he hits every one of Skuld’s traps on the way back… bad luck?
He manages to get back to Belldandy without dying. While Belldandy wants to treat his wounds, he offers to take her out to see the moon. Unfortuantely, he forgot that he can’t swim to the rocks. Thankfully, Urd stops by with Skuld’s jet ski. Too bad Skuld noticed that it was gone.
Keiichi and Bell are almost there… but Skuld decides to submerge the jet ski despite Keiichi’s newfound determination to make progress with Belldandy. He starts drowning again and Bell saves him once more. Once on the rocks, Keiichi apologizes and says he’s not that great of a guy, but Bell says that even though he was scared of water, he did his hardest to show her the moonlit night. And she says that’s what she loves about him. They embrace and… oh great, Skuld sees the tender moment and goes to interfere.
More tender words are exchanged and he’s about to confess to Belldandy… and he says it! “I love you.” Too bad Skuld came between Bell and K-1. Now Skuld and Keiichi are bound together forever! And Keiichi faints… yup, fell in and drowning again.
Back home, Megumi finds Keiichi crying in a corner and Skuld lying in her futon trembling. Urd mutters that she didn’t honestly think that they’d all believe that superstitious mumbo jumbo. In any case, it’s clear that Belldandy is touched by Keiichi’s… um, interrupted confession. Mission accomplished!
My only real complaint is that the sea cucumbers were an unnecessary addition, considering that the episode pretty much follows the manga line by line with few changes (if there are changes, they’re small and trivial). I think the romantic scene on the rocks was a bit more intense than the manga version, but it was cuuute! If it was more intense, it probably means that the relationship between K-1 and Bell is progressing faster than it did in the original manga.
Will this angsty bunch finally hit American shores? Stay tuned…
Quoted from Anime News Network:
Funimation announced today that they have acquired the license to Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. The series will be released in North America as Rumbling Hearts. Volume 1 will be released in October 2006.
Funimation also announced they will be moving to a monthly schedule (4~5 weeks) for numerous new anime, including Desert Punk (as of volume 2), Negima, Moon Phase and Rumbling Hearts. Speed Grapher, Trinity Blood and Basilisk will be released every 7 weeks. The release schedule will be based on the manner in which Funimation receives the episodes.
About frakking time. I recall Media Blasters tried to license it a while back but I guess they fell short of their goal. I figure Funimation will do a decent job with Kimi ga Nozomu Eien… despite naming it “Rumbling Hearts.” Gotta figure out why they went with that name change…
In any case, this is a series that everyone should watch… if only to understand why one hates angsty romance anime. But I honestly think that Kimi ga Nozomu Eien was a decent anime that deserves some attention. The character development is great but I must say that one doesn’t watch this for laughs.
Forget what the heck the series was about? Check out my past entries on the series.
Edit: No, it’s not a hentai.
We start off with a flashback scene where a young Hasegawa is failing miserably in her home economics class. Flash back to the future, Keiichi and Belldandy are practicing on the racetrack. Sora runs up and shows them the lap times. With that good news, he compliments Hasegawa and she returns it by saying that he’s some sort of genius driver. As she runs off, Keiichi says that she’s a hard worker despite not standing out. Tamiya has bad news, though… he just entered Hasegawa into a race. Keiichi and Bell tell her not to worry, but Sora protests and says that it’s impossible.
Well, I guess it’s a go-kart race. Not very dangerous, but still, they practice and Tamiya sends her down the track. Thankfully, Bell stops the runaway go-kart before Hasegawa kills herself. Sora reveals that she is scared of racing and we see Bell’s worried face. She is now determined to get Sora up to speed (PUN) on driving… so leave it all up to Bell.
Back at the temple, Skuld forgot to turn off Banpei and Hasegawa can’t seem to get into the house. Skuld and Bell apologize for the misunderstanding and Sora says it’s okay and that it’s a great robot. Skuld gets excited about the compliment and “helps out.” By help out, I mean “build a giant race track in the backyard.” I know this is AMG, but I wish it wasn’t… that ridiculous.
Practice sessions begin immediately… ending with Sora crashing into the pond. Urd’s plan isn’t much better since her solution to having weak character is DRUGS. All it does is make her the opposite of hard-working… she’s just lazy now. Apparently the drug makes one’s personality the direct opposite… and now she’s acting like Tamiya. Oh great.
The continuing training still isn’t going well and she blames her lack of talent. Keiichi says that he lacks talent as well and he knows that it’s scary. While Bell bandages Sora’s wounds, she confides to her goddess mentor that she can’t do it. Bell says she knows that Sora can do it, but our bespectacled friend still lacks confidence. At dinner, Keiichi chokes on some of Hasegawa’s cooking. She explains that her nickname used to be the “Chef Murderer” and she always failed cooking class. Bell looks at Hasegawa with sad eyes and listens to her sad story and decides that what Hasegawa needs is one more try.
This time around, Belldandy drives while Sora sits on her lap. She tells Sora to look up at a bird flying across the sky and that if one keeps looking down on oneself, it’s a lot scarier because you can’t see what’s around you. Bell encourages her to look ahead and listen to the go-kart… and then Hasegawa talks to the go-kart… weird, but it seemed to help. The practicing continues and there is definitely some progress made. When she finally makes it around the track on her own… it’s just down to the upcoming race.
That night, Hasegawa sits outside alone, and when Bell comes by, she thanks her new older sister for all the help that she received. Yet, Sora can’t help but feel nervous… When the race is about to begin, Bell finds Hasegawa in her room, complaining about an upset stomach. Bell runs outside and tells everyone to wait while she goes inside to comfort Sora. She tells Belldandy about when she was young she practiced at her cooking and got better, but was too worried about messing up, so she just faked being ill. All of this shame was bottled up over these years… yet she’s still scared to face challenges. Bell simply holds her hand and asks Sora to believe in herself, for everyone is scared at times. Even Keiichi, who is good at racing, is not fearless, but learned to set his fears aside. Wise words from a ditzy goddess… yeah. Keiichi comes in and says the race starts in an hour… and this time, Sora manages to muster enough determination to compete. We never see how she finishes… but I’m sure she did just fine. She had a goddess watching over her.
Initially, I thought this episode was terrible. It didn’t hold up to the original “Lunchbox of Love” manga chapter, which revolved only around Sora’s lack of skills in the cooking field and her crush on Aoshima. I suppose the episode didn’t need romantic tension with everyone’s favorite green-suited pervert… but I just can’t help but feel that sticking closer to the manga (in this case) would have made for a stronger episode.