Absolutely Lovely Children #39 — Undercover Angel

December 28th, 2008

 

I never had a dream that made sweet love to me.

Impressions:

A decent wrapup episode, though it pales a bit when compared to last week. I certainly could have done without the three or four minutes of reused Minamoto/Kaoru dream footage, even if they did slightly change Kaoru’s dialogue and reactions in a couple places. It’s interesting to note that in this episode, Minamoto seems to accept that there’s a possibility that in the future he and Kaoru will become lovers. Of course, Kyosuke’s right there to call him a peodphile for even thinking about it, but then Kaoru did lead him into it, and learning that she confessed to loving him right before he shot her probably also helped the emotional moment along. I’m glad that she doesn’t remember the dream though, because that would be creepy as all hell. It’s also probably good that Shiho doesn’t read Minamoto’s mind too much anymore since that would be… uncomfortable to say the least.

It looks like they’re also setting things up for what’ll probably be the final major arc of the show, namely the ‘core’ espers that PANDRA stole a list of from Japan’s premier (or whatever he is, I forget easily). Black Phantom and PANDRA are both interested in them, and I’m sure BABEL wants to keep them out of either group’s hands. We’ve also still got about four more characters in the OP to get through as well, including Minamoto’s mysterious ghost woman. I wouldn’t be too terribly surprised if they tried to polish off the ‘child’ portion of the series and then (Zeus willing) came back after Hayate’s second season to pick it up at the couple year time skip.

I’m not really certain what’s up with next week’s episode. The preview this week was just a massive montage of Hotaru and Natsuko scenes from throughout the series and the episode title is something like "Great Feast! Hotaru and Natsuko’s BABEL News!" I’m assuming some kind of Hotaru and Natsuko hosted recap up to this point. We’re also getting a new ED either next week or the one after. Sorry, manly ED, it’s back to a song by the Children.

Ultra Brief Summary:

Fujiko is being kept in the dream because of Kyosuke’s interferance. The Chief and Aoi fight Kyosuke, but he easily fends them off and gives Kaoru a photo which transports her into Minamoto’s dream as that Kaoru. Even though she struggles against it, she slips into the Kaoru roles until Aoi’s voice snaps her out of it. She grabs Minamoto as he realizes that it’s a dream and tries to escape.

Meanwhile, Kyosuke blackmails the head of Japan into giving up a list of ‘core’ espers. Black Phantom observes PANDRA leaving, but isn’t there to fight yet.

BABEL prepares to assault Kuromaki’s home. Hatsume fails to inform the ground troops about the landmines, effectively forcing them to stay put while Naomi, Shiho, and Aoi go inside. Naomi’s immediately taken down by Kuromaki. Shiho and Aoi soon follow. Kaoru senses them as she waits with Minamoto, but he tells her to keep believing. Shiho gets up and confronts Kuromaki. Undaunted, Kuromaki tries to put her under for real, but Shiho covers her eyes and blindly fires, destroying the camera. She’s a psychometer after all. Kuromaki retreats, setting off the house’s self-destruct in the process. Shiho wakes up Aoi by blowing in her ear. Aoi teleports them to safety and teleports all the landmines around Kuromaki. Shiho moves in to rip the info right out of Kuromaki’s head, but she turns her camera on herself.

In Minamoto’s dream, he and Kaoru talk about the future that he saw. Minamoto tries to reassure her that she’ll forget it when she wakes up, but Kaoru needs an answer. Whether she’ll always just be a child to Minamoto even when she grows up. As he tries to comfort her, he realizes what Kaoru was saying when he shot her in his vision, "I really like you. I love you." He panicks for a moment, but leans down to return her kiss, only to have her pass through him and thank him for believing in her. Minamoto and Kaoru wake up back in the real world with all their friends surrounding them and he reaffirms his vow for all their sakes.

The next day, Shiho and Aoi are bushed from the previous long night. Kaoru’s off hanging out with Tohno and Chisato, but comes upon Kyosuke. She thanks him for helping her rescue Minamoto, but tells her to stop calling her Queen. He tells her to just call him Kyosuke instead of Hyobu-san then. She declines, but changes her mind as he starts to say it was a joke. Minamoto butts in on the moment and holds Kyosuke at gunpoint. It predictably doesn’t work, and Kyosuke teleports a picture of Minamoto puckering up in his dream and calls him a lolicon before teleporting away to pick up the still dreaming Kuromaki from her cell.

   

Posted in Zettai Karen Children | 5 Comments »

5 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • Nemo_N says:

    I think the “kou” is more like a shorthand for “kou reberu/high level” rather than “core”.

    I second the theory about they adapting all the “child” part, and then start the second season (crosses fingers) after the time skip. Let’s hope those toys/cards/whatever sell well, so we can have our second serving.

    And Yuuri looks so weird as a blonde; I always pictured her as dark purple haired.

  • Aroduc says:

    Ah, you’re probably right. I’m not too good when they start mixing Japanese and English haphazardly.

  • Nanaya says:

    You know that anime fans are getting too cynical when their first impulse is to start wishing that a series’ merchandising will do well so there can be more seasons ordered…

  • sage says:

    You know that anime fans are getting too cynical when their first impulse is to start wishing that a series’ merchandising will do well so there can be more seasons ordered…

    This is not like previous years when DVD sales made most of the revenue for anime companies. Nowadays, alternate revenue streams are preferred because they also serve as marketing for the show (it’s what’s commonly heard as “brand engagement”). After all, you can’t download things like toys.

  • Alice says:

    Uuuuummm,,,,,
    I am very like this episode!!
    But, i don’t know it realy different with this manga.