This Ugly and Beautiful World ep.10

June 9, 2004 | 9 Comments

Sometimes I get the impression that this series aspires to be Evangelion and now it looks like the writers have finally crossed the obsessive line. There are at least 5 Evangelion references in this episode, beginning with Jennifer similarity to Ritsuko/Misato, Ritsuko's "Liar" line which is now delivered by Hikari, the monster of the week, the psychology talk about the ability of a person to love another, and Hikari's Rei Ayanami-like rejection of the person who supposedly 'love' her. The problem is, these references end up drawing comparison to the famous show and make it hard for this series to stand up on its own merit. Oh well, at the very least these references make for one interesting episode. And I have to admit that the events that happened in this episode are very exciting. Plus, I get to see the look on Mari's face when she realises that she indirectly responsible for causing the end of the world. That in itself makes this episode worth a lot. :P

The episode begins with everyone at Takeru's house having breakfast together. Mari, however, seems to be in a hurry to finish her food because she is about to go shopping with Amika and Sakurako. The episode then shows Mari trying to decide which jewellery she should purchase while Amika and Sakurako make a comment about how Mari finally becomes a real girl. Later on that day, the episode shows Akari and Ryo having a picnic near the lake of the forest. Ryo explains to Akari that summer will end soon and replaced by winter. This peaks Akari curiosity who wonders why winter can't exist in summer. Ryo smiles and answers that he supposed in order for other things to begin, something has to end. Back at the shopping mall, Mari finally makes her purchase and it looks like he's about to get Takeru two girly-looking jewellery. Mari then tries to convince herself that today will be day. I assume she's about to confess to her cousin about her feelings for him.

Meanwhile, Takeru himself is seen fixing his motorbike inside the garage while Hikari sits quietly in the corner watching him. While doing so, Hikari's mind wanders around and thinks that this world is beautiful and yet she wonders why she has come here many times beforehand to destroy it. Takeru, who seems to be able to sense Hikari's restlessness, decides to ask her if something bothers her. Instead of answering his question, however, Hikari ends up crying while asking for his forgiveness. Takeru is, of course, confused and wonders if there is something wrong. Meanwhile, Mari and the others finally return from their shopping trip and Mari is encouraged by Amika and Sakurako to do her best, much to Mari's annoyance. At the same time, Takeru tries to console Hikari and tells her that even though he doesn't know when the bike will be completed, he promises that he'll take her to go on a trip once the bike is done.

Takeru's word, however, only makes Hikari cries harder. Upon seeing this, Takeru wonders if he can do something to stop Hikari from being so miserable. He then remembers Ryo's words about how human emotions often move on its own and decides that he'll take an initiative of giving her a kiss. Before they can kiss, however, they realise that someone is standing in front of the garage door. The person is none other than Mari who looks very upset to see Takeru about to kiss Hikari again. Did I say that I love this episode? If not, then here it is: I love this episode! Anyway, Mari then burst into tears, calls Takeru an idiot, and then proceeds to run out of the garage. Hikari tries to stop her and wonders why Mari is so upset. Hikari then tells her that if she wants, she can come with her and Takeru on the trip. Mari, however, decides to slap Hikari and tells her that she doesn't need her pity.

Hikari is surprised by Mari's action and wonders why Mari hits her. Being the self-righteous person that she is, Mari decides to tell Hikari it's because even though Hikari shows friendly face to everyone, she actually is the sort who betrays her friend. She then proceeds to call Hikari a coward and a liar. I think it's about time someone show Mari a mirror. She doesn't realise the irony that she's the one who's been a coward and a liar. At the same time, a bunch of birds fly away from the forest and Akari for some reason looks afraid and calls after her 'sister'. Back to Hikari and Takeru, Hikari actually believes Mari's words and starts to think that she has actually hurt Mari when the truth is, in fact, quite the opposite. All of a sudden, another big honking monster similar to a tyrannosaurus appear out of the forest. Takeru tries to protect Hikari but he got knocked out to the side by the monster.

Takeru then can only watch as the monster wrapped Hikari inside its body, trying to crush her. However, the monster suddenly explodes from inside out, leaving Hikari unharmed. Ioneous who witness the whole situation from afar laughs in a typical bad guy manner saying that everyone has just witness Hikari's power. Takeru, however, still doesn't understand why Hikari is capable of destroying the monster and why he can't transform to his Devilman form. Ioneous explains that the reason Takeru can't transform into his Devilman form is because he has a lot of unnecessary things inside of him. Takeru, who doesn't understand what the robot means immediately get an explanation from Jennifer that Ioneous was talking about Takeru's heart. She then tells Takeru everything about ED and how it was originally found in fossil form.

Jennifer believes that ED is quite similar to an AT-Field, uh, I mean extended field, a power that appears when a creature decides to extend the power within itself. She also adds that extinction had happened to many creatures on this planet and once the process is complete, the young species replace the old ones. Eventually, the young will become old and when that happens, the process needs to be restarted. ED is a natural defence that is intended to reject the upcoming periodic extinction. When Takeru wonders what these whole things have to do with him and Hikari, Jennifer tells him that he should have known by now that the monsters have been targeting her. This means that Hikari was responsible for previous large extinction. Jennifer believes that they have never been able to determine what initiate an extinction process but they maybe able to find out now.

Takeru doesn't believe her explanation and tells her that is all just her hypothesis. Ioneous, however, tells Takeru that Jennifer's theory is far more accurate than what Takeru may think. He explains that the Hikari that Takeru knows now is a mere distortion created from her contact with Takeru. Still refusing to accept the reality, Takeru decides to approach Hikari and asks her to tell him that what the others have said is not true. Hikari, however, tells Takeru that it is okay for her. She now realises that she can never be anything to anyone. She's not someone's friend not even someone who is dear for Takeru. Hikari also tells Takeru that it is not about real or fake nor light or dark. She realises now that she has both sides exist inside of her. But the truth is, her dark side wants her to fight, to fulfil her role as the destroyer of the world. Takeru tries to tell Hikari that that is not true and proceeds to let her know that he loves her.

Upon hearing Takeru's confession, Hikari seems to become calm and the cloud becomes clear. But not long after this, Mari, Amika, and Sakurako start to see some crimson butterflies appearing in the sky. Back to Hikari, he tells Takeru that he's a liar. The truth is, he doesn't really love her. He just feels guilty when he can't comfort others. He embraced her then because her crying bothers him. She tells him that everything that he does is only for himself and proceeds to touch Takeru's forehead. Meanwhile, Ryo and Akari races off to stop her but they're too late because when Hikari's hand touches Takeru's forehead, Takeru immediately sees his own suppressed memory. Hikari explains that she probably already aware of this right from the start. She knew his loneliness, his pain. The episode then shows a flashback of Takeru being left alone by his mother. Hikari tells Takeru that someone who never felt love could never truly love anyone.

Takeru tells Hikari to stop accessing his heart. Hikari, however, tells Takeru that he was always frightened like this. Takeru finally can't stop his own emotion and transformed into Devilman Takeru in his anger. He then tries to crush Hikari's shoulders while inquiring Hikari's identity. Hikari calmly smiles and tells Takeru that she is Hikari. The Hikari who lies and isn't loved by anyone. Upon saying this, Hikari's eyes slowly morphed into Evil Hikari's eyes. However, this time there doesn't seem to be malice reflected in the eyes, only sadness. Meanwhile, all of their friends are watching from afar including Mari, who now looks shell-shocked and Akari and Ryo who looks helpless and unable to do anything. At the same time, the sky is now filled with more and more crimson butterflies, making the sky looks as if it's bleeding. The episode then ends with a shot of Hikari and Takeru facing each other looking as if they're ready to rip each other to shreds.

Impression:

This was a very interesting episode thanks mostly to many revelations that are scattered throughout the episode. Having said that, I'm still not entirely clear as to why Hikari wants to destroy the world. At first I thought it was because she feels betrayed by Mari and Takeru, both of whom she probably think of as liars at the moment. However, after hearing her explanation, I get the impression that her reason is far more closer to Rei Ayanami's (of Evangelion) reason, which is because she is nothing and she feels nothing. She has no one and nothing to lose. She's the void that wants to make herself complete by devouring the world. A teacher once told me that the most dangerous people in the world are those who have nothing else to lose. I agree with his assessment because people who have nothing to lose then have nothing to fear and are therefore don't have any regard for their own lives, or for that matter, the lives of others. Hikari is a good representation of this kind of people.

It's interesting how at the end of the day, both Hikari and Takeru are revealed as living their lives for no one but themselves. Takeru decides to protect Hikari and to 'love' her not because he genuinely wants to protect her or love her but rather because it makes him feel better. Abandoned as a child, Takeru wants nothing more but being able to do the reverse of what his parents have done to him. This means to not abandon others who need him. In the process, however, this becomes an instinctive nature as opposed to something that is motivated by his own feelings. Did Takeru ever loved Hikari or did he simply want someone so that he can make himself feel better? He probably likes to think that unlike his parents, he actually protects and cares about someone. By doing this, Takeru can conveniently repress the painful memory of his childhood because he feels that he already proved himself to the world that he is nothing like his parents.

As bad as Takeru and Hikari might look, I feel that Mari aces both of them in terms of having a repulsive personality. She is the very prototype of people who hurt others because of their own frailty. I'm sure that the writers intended her self-righteous speech to Hikari as some kind of ironic look at her own personality. Here we find someone who is unable to confess her feeling to the person that she likes. And yet, when she sees the object of her affection becomes closer to another girl, she pretends to be friendly with the girl but then lashes out at that girl when things don't go her way. One of the reasons why I strongly dislike Mari is because she's the sort of person who blames another person for her failures in life. This kind of people then tends to hurt those who are kind to them because they are jealous of the others' success. I personally think people should take action and responsibility over their own success and failure and therefore I can't stand to see those who choose to blame their failure on others.

Thematic-wise, the episode once again presents another bug-related metaphor. The crimson butterflies that have been seen in the opening have finally shown themselves in this episode. Having said that, so far there doesn't seem to be any explanation as to why red butterfly is associated with extinction. Is this because Hikari's true form is a butterfly? Or is it something more metaphorical and sinister similar to the Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly explanation? In that game, crimson butterfly represents a strangling movement that a person's hands make when choking a person to death. With this in mind, I supposed one can say that the crimson butterflies that appear in this episode is about to strangle the life of those who live on this Earth and initiate the process of extinction. At any rate, I hope that the writers can at least maintain the tension of the storyline for the last 2 episodes of the series even if they can't explain many of the plot holes that are probably as big as Takeru's lies at the moment.

© memento 2003