This Ugly and Beautiful World ep.12

June 22, 2004 | 4 Comments

Well, the final episode didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would be. Never the less, cliche and reuse of Evangelion imageries and themes can be found within every inch of this episode. What is worse is the fact that they were done poorly. The only part of the story that was borderline interesting was Ryo and Kimi's storyline. I find that at the very least, I can finally sympathise with two characters on this show. Well, three if you include Akari in there. Overall, I'm disappointed with this series. It doesn't make me feel as if I've wasted time watching it but at the same time I will always feel that this series missed so many good opportunities to tell a good story. I have no choice but to blame this on the decision of the writers to spend the first half of the series on useless fan service which doesn't get the story anywhere.

Continuing from the previous episode, this episode begins by showing Hikari and Takeru after their kiss. Takeru tells Hikari that he's sorry about what happened beforehand but the truth is he was afraid as well when Hikari went through his heart. And the fact that he likes Hikari a lot makes it even more difficult to accept. Upon hearing this, Hikari's hair and eyes slowly changes colour from pink to both orange and green respectively. She tells Takeru that it is a bit late to wonder about it. Having said that, since Takeru is the one who gave Hikari her heart, he has to do something to help her preventing the world's destruction. Meanwhile, Akari is seen trying to stop Ioneous from continuing resurrecting the big blob that now looks like a giant poo with hands and legs instead of a beautiful creature like Lilith of Evangelion. I guess nothing is sacred for this show.

Ioneous, however, tells Akari that unfortunately he can't do anything apart from performing the task that he's supposed to do. As the hand of the giant poo grabs the robot, he tells Akari that right now, the only way to stop this is through the use of brute strength. Anyway, just as the hand of the blob moves away to take Ioneous with it, Jennifer the idiot jumps from somewhere and lands on top of Ioneous. She thinks that if she has to die, she may as well see things from up close. So now both her and Ioneous are taken away by the giant poo. Anyway, while riding on top of the blob, Jennifer wonders what are the little red butterflies. Ioneous then expositions how those creatures are the temporary forms of things that don't have any shape yet. Cut to Hikari and Takeru, Hikari further explains that elements of life that are yet to be born in this world or one that may be born in the future are given this form so they can be spread out throughout the world.

In other words, those butterflies are things that have discarded their old bodies and require new shells to live on. Takeru is surprised upon finding out that humanity is considered old species and that other species is supposed to replace them. Hikari, however, tells him that in order for new species to flourish, the old one must be getting rid of. Hikari has the task to pick a path and follow her decision regardless of the decision itself. The problem is, now that Hikari has a heart, she finds it hard to destroy this world. She thinks that because Takeru and Ryou finds them, she ends up acquiring a heart, the emotion that people have which makes it possible to turn wishes into reality. Apparently Takeru wishes for a change and Ryou wishes for a stability and therefore the extinction entity split into two. Back to Akari, she bids goodbye to Ryou because she can't possibly leave her 'sister' to deal with her pain on her own.

Ryou, however, tells Akari that if she goes, she may never be able to come back. Akari admits that the truth is, she wants to stay together with Ryou, Kimi, and everyone else but the time to perform her task has arrived. Upon hearing this, Ryou tells Akari that he wants to come with her but Akari declines and tells him that is a lie. She believes that Ryo is too kind to choose her over this world. Ryo realises that if he had done that, he'd be no different from the parents who abandoned him and Kimi. Akari tells Ryo that of all people, she likes him the most because he's the one who named her and tells him that she can't possibly hate the person who named her, reminding Ryo of his own mother. Ryo then tries to give Akari a goodbye kiss on the lips but Akari rejects him, telling Ryo that they are family, prompting Ryo to only kiss her in the forehead. Akari then bids her goodbye while telling Ryo that having a family is nice.

Back to Jennifer, she says that the theory behind extinction is still unexplained so her first theory will have to do, but she wonders how she can explain what is happening now, referring to the absorption of Ioneous body into the giant poo. Jennifer, the answer is simple, it's called ripping off Evangelion's Rei to Lilith transformation. The big honking poo then creates a ground explosion which frees up more red butterflies. Upon seeing this, Hikari explains to Takeru that is the work of Anastatious, the thing that will give birth to the pieces of life that will create the next world. As soon as she explains this, Akari arrives by their side and tells them to leave this to her. Hikari, however, refuses to let her 'sister' do it on her own and asks Akari to lend her power to herself and Takeru. Akari decides that if that's the case, then they should do it together and proceeds to give a kiss to Kuon.

Upon being kissed by Akari, Kuon's body morphs into the Lance of Longinus, or rather, a cheap replica of it. It turns out that this Lance is supposed to be the key to close the world's destruction. The three then throws the key or the lance or whatever you want to call it, into Anastatious' forehead. The key immediately destroys the head into pieces and destroys the giant poo into smithereens. Back on Earth, Mari sees the large explosion and wonders what happened to Takeru. She then sees Hikari's apparitions who ask her to follow her if she wants to see Takeru. She also asks Mari to pray. It soon becomes obvious that Hikari leads her and Takeru's friends and family to a huge crater in the middle of the forest. Ryo apparently already stand nearby looking at the devastation. He is soon joined by Mari, who wonders why she can't see Takeru anywhere. Ryo believes that Takeru is probably still up there in the sky.

Mari tells Ryo that Hikari told her that Takeru is going to be here and asked her to pray but she doesn't understand for what purpose. Ryo tells her that it should be obvious to her by now. Meanwhile, their friends and family eventually arrive on the scene as well. Kimi immediately runs and hugs her brother telling him that she was so scared but thankfully Akari was there to take care of her, much to Ryo's surprise. However, when Kimi looks around, she can't find Akari anywhere even though she was sure that Akari was by her side before. Elsewhere in the outer space, a streak of red is seen trailing a bright star. Inside, Akari tells Hikari that it's time for them to go. Hikari explains to Takeru that they have to go to find a new place for the red butterflies to stay. And since they don't have their physical body anymore, they can't return to Earth. Upon hearing this, Takeru wants to come with them but Hikari stops him.

Takeru tries to convince her that he doesn't have his physical body anymore but Hikari tells her that her heart will give him his physical body back. Upon hearing this, Takeru asks Hikari for a little more time to be with her because he feels he still hasn't given her anything. The two then end up in some kind of imaginary world where the two get to enjoy life together. Takeru tells Hikari that he still doesn't know if this world is good or bad. But he now believes it doesn't matter anymore because just like he likes Hikari's good side, Hikari's other side is still Hikari and he still likes that as well. Hikari then asks Takeru to take her to a place that she likes, which turns out to be Takeru's room. They both then see an apparition of another Hikari and Takeru who are married and have a little kid together. Upon seeing this, Takeru realises that he still hasn't been able to give Hikari anything.

Hikari, however, tells him not to worry about it. The important thing is that they both know that they love each other. Hikari tells Takeru that she maybe comes back to everyone someday and therefore asks Takeru to keep an eye for her. As she says this, suddenly a big explosion happens in space. When he opens his eyes again, Takeru finds himself surrounded by his friends and family who happily greet him back. Nearby, Ryo asks Kimi if she wants to see their father and mother. Kimi wonders why he asks strange question like that especially since she thinks both of them have passed away. Ryo, however, tells her that the truth is, they are still alive. It's just that he has given up hope to look for them. Kimi then starts to cry and give her brother little slaps on his cheeks asking why he hide a secret like this for a long time. She tells her brother that of course, she wants to see them, much to Ryo's relief.

Everyone then wonders if Hikari and Akari really were from outer space after all but they are sure the two are not just two runaway girls. Elsewhere in the forest, Jennifer finds herself awaken in Ioneous' arms. It looks like the robot somehow saved her. She wonders if this is the end of the world but Ioneous tells her that this could be the new beginning for humans. They now have a chance to shape their future without other's intervention, well, until he wakes up in another time. Ioneous and Kuon then bids goodbye to Jennifer, who wonders if the two actually have a heart as well. Ioneous doesn't know the answer but as the two turn into ashes, they leave Jennifer the blue crystal inside their body. Fast forward after the incident, Ryo and Kimi are seen on their way to find their parents. Mari, on the other hand, is as grouchy as usual and refuses Takeru's offer to take her to the school. Anyway, the show ends with Takeru getting pictures of Hikari and Akari from Mayu, the class rep. Takeru then tells Mayu that he believes one day Hikari will return. Well, I hope next time she destroys all of them. :P

Impression:

I'm surprised that the ending didn't leave me twitching with anger. At the same time, it wasn't that impressive either so at the end of the day, my impression was pretty much "oh well, what new anime should I see next?". The episode itself relies too much on Evangelion references to create an ending. The story, visual cues, and resolution of this series ended in an almost similar manner to the famous show. Because of this, I didn't gain any new story by watching this series. On top of things, while I cried at the end of Evangelion, I can't seem to feel any kind of emotion for this series. I think this is mostly because the series feels too generic to inspire any kind of feeling. Oh well, at the very least the character design and the music is good enough to not make this experience a complete waste of time. I really like the opening song that Yoko Takahashi provided even though I feel that it belongs to an entirely different show, one that is darker and more interesting than this one.

© memento 2003