天下制覇

Maybe we’ll meet again.

That’s right. Europe. I went there.

Impressions:

It was probably the fact that a flashback took up about half of this episode, but I wasn’t really feeling it here. It could also be that they took Carrie out of her pony tail and fashionable skirt/jeans combo and dropped her into a sort of ugly sundress that looks like it was meant for 12 year old girls down on the ranch while they churn butter. There was just a whole ton of exposition while comparitively, very little actually happened, although there was certainly a ton of setup. Every major faction except Black Phantom is interested in her and I highly doubt that the Children are out of this little chase yet, even if they barely appeared in the next episode preview.

I’m pretty sure Minamoto just thinks of himself as her protector/older brother after essentially raising her anyway. In a lot of ways, it was pretty much just an accelerated relationship like the one he has with the girls now… albeit probablywith less psychic manipulation needed to make him physically uncomfortable around her. Minamoto’s too nice a guy to take advantage of a girl who’s had her brain completely erased anyway.

As a female astronaut prepares for launch, she has a vision telling her that she needs Kouichi.

Over at BABEL, the Children are practicing their space maneuvers. Kaoru’s being slightly misogynstic on a box, and none of them are really taking it particularly seriously.

As they hit the showers, the TV program comes on about the launch. Minamoto recognizes the woman as Caroline, sending the girls into a rage when he refuses to tell them who she is and says that kids aren’t involved.

An explosion rocks BABEL. Doubleface puts out the call that an esper is invading them. Another explosion hits the examination room where Minamoto and the Children are, and a woman steps out. She happily calls out to Minamoto and hugs him. Minamoto calls her Caroline, but then corrects himself… Carrie. He drops the Children’s limiter.

The Children are livid, but when they make a hostile move towards Carrie, she glares at them and her eyes light up. She lets out a psychic scream that forces them down. It’s at least level 7 in power and eventually knocks them out. Another explosion hits BABEL as Carrie leaves with Minamoto. The Conmericans watch from a nearby building.

Kaoru’s the first awake. BABEL is still trying to figure out what happened and who she was.

When Kaoru says that Minamoto called her Caroline and Carrie, he thinks to himself "It was her after all," which Shiho then relays to everybody else. They’re all called to the Chief’s office so that Sakaki can tell the full story.

Right after Minamoto and Sakaki’s fistfight, Sakaki decided to bond with Minamoto to change the image of the Japanese at their school via hitting on lots of women. Just then, a girl runs into Minamoto, bowling him over.

After yelling at him for being in the way, Sakaki introduces the two to each other. Caroline’s already wise to Sakaki’s ways, but Minamoto is gracious. It comes up in the conversation that she’s a level 2 psychokineticist and she’s participating in ESP research at the school. Her dream has always been to go to space and she’s doing her hardest to accomplish that.

Some evening later, a huge explosion tears apart the ESP research building. Minamoto and Sakaki rush to the scene and find Caroline hovering outisde of the carnage.

She rushes at them with a huge wave of psychic energy, but just wants to pet Minamoto’s head.

The researchers explain that  they were doing experiments to augment ESP. Something went wrong and Caroline’s mind has been completely wiped and is back to infantile. She can’t even speak correctly any more. Since Minamoto seems to have established a rapport with her, they ask for his help in taking care of her. Whenever any of them try to get close, she psychic crushes them into the nearest wall.

When her constant nuzzling starts to annoy him, Minamoto tries to get her to say her name, but Caroline is too hard for her to pronounce, so they settle on Carrie. Minamoto’s condition for helping them with her is that they cease their experimenting, to which the scientists agree.

Some time later, Sakaki is hitting on co-eds again. Minamoto smacks him with a copy of Snow White for his lecherous ways. The two head to Carrie’s room, where she’s happily playing. She glomps Minamoto as soon as he comes in and demands to play.

Her control over her powers has been growing, which she happily demonstrates by ‘playing’ with a bowling ball. Minamoto wants her to read Snow White, but she knocks it out of his hands and demands to play again. Minamoto settles her down and reminds her that she’s forgotten a lot. She yells at him that she’s Carrie now.

Carrie asks him if he liked Caroline… and if he hates Carrie. Minamoto’s at a loss for words. Sakaki steps in to soothe things over. Carrie asks Minamoto if she’ll marry him. Carrie says that she’ll do her best to live up to Caroline so that Minamoto will like her and make her his bride.

The girls are… displeased. Fujiko’s got newfound respect for Minamoto the player.

Minamoto wakes up on a helipad with Carrie. She hugs him and the flashback continues.

Carrie’s outside and reading a book when Minamoto comes up to her. The two start talking, and Carrie tells him that (edit: Yeah DHiro’s right on second watch) she’s started to remember Caroline’s memories and has decided to follow her dream to go into space. She hopes that Minamoto will remember her, even though Caroline probably won’t feel the same, and she can at least fulfill her dreams, and so… this is good bye.

Carrie kisses Minamoto and the two part.

Back in the present, she’s glomping him again while Kyosuke watches. Doubleface helicopter’s in, but the Conmericans are there already and demand Minamoto release the girl to them. She’s one of ‘their’ top-level espers. The Children teleport in to stop them.

…Although… they aren’t pleased that Carrie’s still all over Minamoto. As the fight is about to break out, Carrie lets out another psychic scream, taking all six of the espers to their knees before teleporting away. The Conmericans prepare to follow. Kaoru tries to stop them, but their limiters engage. Fujiko teleports in and tells the Conmericans to do their job. They teleport away.

The Children demand that Fujiko tell them what’s going on, but Fujiko tells them to stay out of it an telekinetically binds them.

Preview:

Om nom nom…