This Ugly and Beautiful World ep.9

June 7, 2004 | 0 Comments

If I ask nicely, will someone please restrain me? :) I just had this sudden urge to strangle Mari, despite knowing the fact that she's a fictional character. I think it's bad enough that her character is completely pathetic throughout the series. But she reaches a new low this time when she interrupts an interesting discussion between two of the more interesting characters in the show with her whiny, annoying voice. I know that I probably have an intense dislike for the character more than what is considered healthy. Having said that, there's nothing that I'd like to see more than the expression on her face when she realises that she has single-handedly become the cause for the world's destruction. Well, some death tolls will also be nice in addition to this. Because when things are said and done, I really don't care for any of the characters on this show. Therefore, their possibly small survival chance will not bother me in the slightest.

The episode starts by showing everyone, except Takeru and Ryo, looking around for useful items in a car junkyard. Hikari looks a bit depressed, presumably because of what she learned the previous day. The scene then shifts to Ryo who tells Takeru that he also has some kind of power, much to Takeru's surprise. At the same time, Hikari is then seen in the middle of a quiet area in the junkyard, having a mild standoff with Akari. Akari tells Hikari that she should know the answer as well. The episode then rewinds the story a little bit to show how everything leads up to this point. It starts with Takeru's uncle taking Takeru, Hikari and Ionious to a second hand bike shop. As the three enter the shop, the camera moves its focus from them to a shot of dragonflies flying away from the area. So once again the series shows another bug metaphor which they can't bother to explain thus far. Anyway, back to Takeru and the others, it turns out they have come there to buy a second hand motorbike.

Takeru, however, has to fix the motorbike in other to get it to a rather good condition and Mari thinks that Takeru has wasted a lot of money for a junk. Well, what a swell way to flatter a guy, Mari. Takeru's other friends also have the same opinion about the second-hand motorbike until they realised that Takeru has always wanted one for himself. They also decide to make fun of him when they find out that Takeru plans on using that said motorbike to give Hikari a ride. Mari is then seen complaining how Takeru is so slow. However, Jennifer, who suddenly appears next to her, tells her that despite that, Takeru will look sexy riding on it. Anyway, Jennifer then decides to turn on her flirty, bouncy personality and approaches the excited boys much to Mari's chagrin. Later on, Mari once again whinge to her father about how Takeru's been wasting his money on the bike.

Her father, however, thinks that Takeru buying a bike for himself is a good sign that he tries to like parts of himself that he doesn't like. He also adds that Takeru must have felt that his mother hated him for leaving him the way she did when he was a kid. Upon hearing this explanation, Mari decides to help Takeru to gather some second hand spare-parts that can be used for the motorbike. So she gathers everyone except Takeru and Ryo and take them to a car junkyard. Meanwhile, Takeru and Ryo are seen inside the garage fixing Takeru's motorbike. Takeru tells Ryo that he believes that little by little he can fix the motorbike. Takeru believes that he'll be happy if he can successfully fixed the bike because then he can believe that he may not be so bad after all. Meanwhile, Jennifer is seen inside the bathroom talking about how even though Takeru is already awakened, his feeling and his instinct are rather different.

At the same time in the car junkyard, everyone seems to be having the time of their life looking for spare parts. Hikari seems to be the only one who looks moody throughout the day. It doesn't help that Mari arrives to ask her if something happened between her and Takeru because the two haven't been talking much lately. When Hikari tells Mari that nothing happened between her and Takeru, Mari pathetically tells Hikari that she feels that the two have been distant lately. She also lamely tells Hikari that of course she wasn't thinking of this as a chance for her or anything. Mari should really learn how to stop talking one of these days. Just when I think this character can't go any lower, she exceeds my expectation. Anyway when Mari finally leaves Hikari, Hikari immediately looks over to the other side and finds Akari standing not too far from her. Back at the garage, Ryo and Takeru continue their conversation.

Takeru asks what Ryo thinks about Akari but Ryo seems to think of her as a sister much to Takeru's confusion. Takeru then tells his friend that for him, Hikari makes him want to do important things. Ryo then correctly guess that Takeru bought the bike partly because of Hikari. Takeru and Ryo then bonds over the fact that both are orphans who try to struggle for themselves. Ryo thanks her sister for giving him the strength to do his best while Takeru feels that Hikari is the one that makes him feel that way. Upon saying this, Takeru wonders if Hikari is the one who's been giving him his strength to beat the monsters. Meanwhile, Jennifer is typing away at her computer explaining how the awakening human body for some reason loves the sign of large extinction. She also wonders if Ryo himself has awakened or not. Cuts back to Takeru and Ryo, Takeru suddenly asks if Ryo actually has some kind of power as well.

So now the episode is back to the first starting point with Hikari asking Akari if her 'sister' knows what they really are and the reason that the two came to Earth to begin with. Cut back to Ryo telling Takeru that he indeed possesses some power as well. At the same time, Akari tells Hikari that she should know the answer herself by now as she expositions how she and Hikari used to be one entity. Elsewhere, Jennifer is typing her hypothesis which pretty more or less says that she's unable to determine the creator of the large extinction program. However, she believes that the interference could be a way to realign the planet towards the proper evolutionary path. Back to Akari, she asks Hikari if she had a dream and Hikari then starts to remember her desolate Earth nightmare. However, before the two can continue their talk, Mari interrupts them, asking why they are not doing any work. Oh yeah, Mari is officially now on my death wish list.

Back to Ryo and Takeru, Ryo explains that his power pretty much allows him to obtain his wish. Takeru is puzzled by this, especially when he finds out that Ryo's power seem to only benefit the owner in the most trivial ways like getting collectable toys, or obtaining winning ice cream stick. Before they can talk further, however, their friends have returned with spare parts. Much to Mari's disappointment, however, Takeru finds the majority of the used spare parts to be quite useless. God, I love it when Mari looks disappointed. Anyway, later on all of the guys have BBQ party inside the house and Ryo tells Takeru that he actually kind of wish that Kimi will be able to experience something like this before and as it happens, Kimi now experiences the party as well. He, however, tells Takeru that he'll not wish for something that is impossible. The episode then shows a flashback of Hikari and Akari having a conversation in the bathtub prior to the dinner party. Akari can tell that Hikari hasn't talked to Takeru lately much to Hikari's surprise. She also tells her 'sister' that the reason she woke up in the forest was because she felt Ryou's heart and wonders if her sister also felt Takeru's heart.

Fast-forward to after dinner, Hikari and Akari are seen walking along the road with Ioneous. Akari tells Hikari that they've been to this place a long time ago and she feels that the last time they went to Earth, the wrecked the place. Cuts back to a drunk Jennifer who explains that because humans have hearts, when the extinction program reaches the Earth, it splits into two, each assuming the personality of the two people that the extinction program encountered. Back to Akari and Hikari, Akari explains that their duty is to determine if they should destroy this planet. Hikari has the task to destroy it and Akari has the task to ask Hikari not to do it. Akari then asks Hikari not to proceed with the task because she believes that the people and the places that they've seen are all good. Akari tells Hikari that Ryo at first worried a lot but when she met him, he changed into someone who is considerate. Because of this, she concludes that people can change for good. Hikari cries and tells her 'sister' that she doesn't want to do it either and that she wants to trust Takeru's heart, ending the episode.

Well, the series finally confirms that Akari really is an extinction catalyst just like Hikari. The only difference is, Akari doesn't want to do it again this time. Hikari, however, looks doubtful despite that she may not have the desire to do it at the moment. Having said that, I think that Hikari is due to experience her first disappointment in humanity in the next episode. All thanks must go to Mari. This episode also reveals that Ryo's power is none other than the ability to grant his desire. I find this to be rather disappointing because the ability has a rather Deus ex Machina feel to it. I personally will be pissed off if the series ends with Ryo wishing for a peace and easily gets it. I'd much rather that they find a less obvious way to deal with Hikari's wrath, which I'm sure will happen in the next episode. If they can't find a good way to resolve it, then I'll say let Hikari do her things and take things from there. I'm also a bit annoyed with the sudden re-insertion of Takeru's past which hasn't been touched ever since episode two. It gives me the impression that the writers and the director of this series didn't have a good idea of where they want to go and just throw things in at the last minute to create something that resembles a plot.

© memento 2003