天下制覇

Far better than the real Death Note.

Impressions:

Oh lord, this was priceless. A magical notebook falls into the general hands of BABEL that can control the future. Of course, the future that’s written isn’t always the one that they picture, so it’s not quite the same as Death Note, but they wasted absolutely no chance to parody it at every turn, from Kyosuke saying "Just as planned" to the girls slipping into the art style, to Sakaki as L. Minamoto was off in his own Full Metal Jacket parody training the whole time. The only real development was Bullet and Tim Toy bonding over their inner otaku fandom thanks to the notebook at the very end, but I was laughing through most of it, so no complaints from me on that front.

I will complain that they used the VA sung version of the OP for the episode. Ouch. Stop assaulting my ears, Hirano. Speaking of that, I’m actually a bit surprised that they didn’t make a single VA joke about Kaoru and Misa both being voiced by her.

Brief Summary:

The girls are in a bad mood because Minamoto’s off in basic training. Meanwhile, Fujiko checks in on how Tim and Bullet are doing in rehab with Hanai. They’re okay, but having issues making friends. Fujiko shrugs it off and leaves. Hanai goes to a patient, who tells her about his magical wish granting notebook, Serendipity. A duplicate of it drops onto Kaoru’s head. Shiho reads the wish-making instructions inside it.

The girls take the notebook to L Sakaki. He’s not sure what to think, so Shiho offers to test it. She uses it to bring Minamoto back early, and to their shock, he walks through the door. They realize that it must be real. Meanwhile, Hanai gets told that Kyosuke visited the old man as well.

Minamoto takes the notebook to his superiors, and demonstrates its powers. Sakaki snatches it and attempts to abuse it, and Minamoto smacks him down. They decide to leave it to Minamoto, who looks into it and sees that a page has been ripped out. It’s in the hands of the girls, who are all plotting in their own ways. Kaoru touches the other two’s spirits and they all write down happy things… except every one of them is a fake and they each use the real ones to knock the other two out of the picture, resulting in a triple KO.

Meanwhile, the old man reveals that there’s another book, buried beneath a nearby tree.

Sakaki stops Minamoto and holds him at gunpoint, demanding the book. He then faints and falls asleep because Minamoto planned ahead. Just as planned… says Kyosuke, and he continues deeper into BABEL. On his way out, the girls pounce on him and try to use the real page to make Minamoto say which one he likes the most. Since he’s not Minamoto, there’s no compulsion. They’re interrupted anyway by reports that Black Phantom is on the loose.

Bullet finds the box hidden under the tree, but Tim steals it from him. Unfortunately, it’s empty and the girls quickly apprehend them. Once back at the hospital, they admit that they just wanted to use it to be a little happier, but they don’t even know how. Minakysouke hands over the notebook to them, but when they come up empty, Kaoru writes a simple wish for them to find friends. An old woman walks in with an anime figure on her keychain. Bullet and Tim fanboy over it and find their friend in each other.

Afterwards, the girls try to make Minakyosuke answer, and he decides to not screw things up for Minamoto. He charms all three, but when Kaoru glomps him, Momo falls out of his shirt, exposing him.

Back at BABEL, Minamoto’s home early because he’s covered in injuries. Thanks, girls.

Preview:

I’m selling these fine illegal growth hormones.