This Ugly and Beautiful World ep.5

May 4, 2004 | 4 Comments

Well, it looks like the series is a bit better this time around. I actually get the feeling that the plot starts to move a little bit. It also has the same amount of philosophical discussion as the last two episodes although it feels a bit preachy this time around. I do think that Hikari has become slightly more interesting now that it is implied that there are two personalities which co-exist together within her body. So it's a bit more complicated than if she's simply an evil entity who puts on an innocent mask. I am also glad to know that the comedy elements have been toned down a little bit. Never the less, I still feel that the remaining comedic elements feel misplaced somehow. It looks like the series tries to be funny and sinister at the same time but failed to pull off the right balance between the two.

The episode begins at Takeru's house where Akari gets to receive her brand new costume. We also find out that Jennifer has done some bureaucracy manoeuvring to make it possible for Hikari to go to school since Hikari has always expressed interest in going to Takeru's school. Hikari seems to think that school is a fun thing to do because Takeru and Mari go to the place almost every single day. Therefore, she's in for a mild shock when the reality doesn't look as interesting as the one in her imagination. Upon arriving at the school, she is scolded by a teacher for her unnatural hair colour and later on she realises that almost everyone in the class, herself included, don't find the lessons to be that interesting.

Upon realising the harsh reality, she begins questioning Takeru and his friends as to why they go to the school to begin with if most of them don't think it's that interesting. And the answer is pretty much the stock standard 'because even though school can be boring, it can also be interesting from time to time'. One of Takeru's friend compares the experience to drinking a (sweetened) coffee. There's a sweet and a bitter taste that one must taste when consuming the product. Hikari doesn't seem to understand it completely but decides to let it go for now. However, there seems to be one positive aspect about going to school for Hikari. She gets to have a new friend in the form of a class representative called Mayu.

During the PE session, Hikari and Mayu end up playing tennis together but it seems Mayu can't keep up with the pace of the game and at one point, ends up falling to the ground and interrupting the game. Just as the girls about to resume their game, however, a siren can be heard throughout the school. Mayu identifies it as an evacuation procedure training session. Therefore, everyone walks away from their PE class and proceeds to go to the main schoolyard. Well, almost everyone. Hikari suddenly gets a flash of Dark Hikari smiling eerily at her, causing Hikari herself to somehow ends up in a state of trance and instinctively goes inside the school. Mayu is surprised to see Hikari going into an entirely different direction from the rest of the students and therefore decides to follow her around.

Once Takeru and the other students have assembled in front of the school, they quickly realise that Hikari is not with them. Takeru's friends quickly makes jokes about the possibility that Takeru's got ditched by Hikari. Speaking of Hikari herself, she ends up walking into an area where one of the pillars that hold the school together is located. She asks Mayu, who's been following her around, if she thinks school is interesting. Mayu, who has a self-confidence problem admits that her clumsiness makes school a rather unpleasant experience. Therefore, she thinks she hates school. Upon hearing this word, Hikari gives out a creepy smirk and tells Mayu that if Mayu feels that way, then the school must be destroyed.

As soon as she said the sentence, Hikari places her hand on the pillar and some sort of blue crystal is suddenly drawn into the area and destroys the pillar. The effect of the destruction is quickly felt throughout the school as the school's building slowly crumbles in front of everyone's eye and eventually turns into nothing but rubbles. Not long after the incident, Takeru is seen looking around for Hikari and quickly find her in a crater-like area unharmed and in a good condition. She, however, is not alone because not only Mayu is with her, a giant robot also accompanies her. Takeru and his friends decide to take the robot back to his apartment and begin questioning both the robot and Hikari. Hikari tells everyone that unfortunately she can't remember what happened.

The robot, however, tells everyone that inside of his body, there's some kind of blue crystal that contains his memory and personality as well as the ability to create the form that he now uses (a giant robot). The robot adds that he was actually in hibernation but ends up awake inside the pillar because he felt that his master was calling him. Because he felt trapped inside the pillar, he decides to destroy to create his new form and destroy it from within. The robot then becomes interested in Kuon, who he thinks share one or two similarity with him. He quickly realises that inside Kuon, there's a similar blue crystal that he has, albeit in a miniature proportion. The next day, Takeru, Hikari, and Mari return to the school to see the reconstruction of the school happening all over the place.

Hikari asks the robot to help out with the constructions and the builders easily accept the robot's help right away, thinking that the robot is simply a new machine that has been sent to help them in the construction. Meanwhile, Hikari and the others get to meet Mayu who seems to be in the area to find her missing belonging. It turns out she was looking for her scrapbook which has details of everything that she encounters at the school. Upon seeing this, Hikari understands the earlier point that everyone made about the good and bad side of going to school and now that she thinks she understands it, she likes the idea of going to school. And since everyone else who ends up arriving at the school wears their normal clothes as opposed to their uniform, Hikari thinks that the school is more colourful now than it used to be.

Her enthusiasm is somewhat neutered not long after that though because the principal announces that since the school can't be used for a while, everyone is getting an earlier summer holiday. Hikari seems a bit disappointed because she just finds school to be quite interesting but Takeru assures her that they'll be back to school in no time. Everyone then gathers around the school for night bonfire and Hikari seems to be even happier to see a colourful flames coming out of the bonfire. However, deep down in her consciousness, Dark Hikari coldly tells her that soon everything will go back to the way it used to be. Everything will be boring and ugly again. Hikari is confused and unsure of the origin of the voice but she decides to keep the knowledge to herself for now.

Overall, I think the episode is a bit interesting despite its preachiness. The episode seems to suggest that Hikari is not completely aware of her darker personality. And I find her interesting especially in regards to her association with the butterfly imageries. I just watch a documentary on caterpillars and their transformation into a beautiful butterflies and it made me wonder if Hikari's previous form is not as 'beautiful' as her current form. Remember how she slides down out of a cocoon? I wonder if her metamorphosis has somehow erased her memory of her previous existence. What I'm trying to say is, I wonder if the real personality of Hikari is actually the dark, pessimistic one and the happy personality of hers is simply a temporary one that emerges due to whatever happened in the forest that day she met Takeru. At any rate, the series starts look a bit more intriguing at the moment.

© memento 2003