Toshokan Dewa Oshiete Kurenai, Tenshi No Himitsu

  Aru asa totsuzen sekai ga kawattete,

  Kaeri no tochuu de kimi ni KISU sareru no,

  Sonna no aru wake nai ka

 

Sometimes it’s good to listen anime songs which don’t have a karaoke version from time to time. Yeah, Toshokan Dewa Oshiete Kurenai, Tenshi No Himitsu is one of those several anime songs which I really like to sing but unfortunately there isn’t a karaoke or even an instrumental version of it. At first the title of this song seems so long that it was hard for me to remember. Well, It literally means "Can’t Tell Me At The Library, An Angel’s Secret".

 

  Dakara atashi kara ippo fumidasu kedo,

  Suki na TAIPU kiite kata wo otoshita

 

This is the ending theme song taken from the anime series Kamisama Kazoku and is sung by Mai Mizuhashi. Actually, I found out some sites listed the credits of who sang this song to Miraku because it’s a group of 3 comprising of Mai Mizuhashi, Mayu Kudou and Fumika Iwaki. So I’m not sure why some listed Mai Mizuhashi as the main singer. Probably it’s because she does the lead vocals for the song.

 

  Oh kamisama onegai,

  Kiri sugita maegami ni sugu modoshitai,

  Nanto ka shite yo kotaenasai,

  Sore ja nakya ano WANPIISU ga niaeba,

  Subete wa umaku iku yo tabun

 

Because God is part of the the anime theme here (no serious religious controversy whatsoever, mind you), first thing listeners will note that this song resembles somewhat a lively and upbeat church gospel. You’ll know it with the heavy piano pounding and combine it with heavy bass lines, short sharp electric guitar, and a church organ for the solo part (I think that’s what it sounded like), you’ll get a mix of anime pop feel as well. Of course the background vocals won’t sound like those powerful American black gospel but it’s enough and suitable for this song.

 

  Oh kamisama onegai,

  Kare no suki na kyoku wo sugu oshiete yo,

  Uta ni shite nakayoku utau no,

  Sore ja nakya MINI no SUKAATO ga niaeba,

  Atashi mo yuuki deru yo tabun

 

Even if there isn’t any karaoke version for me to sing, it never fails to make me get up and do a little jiggle. This song is quite catchy and addictive and I’m sure it would appeal to any music lover, as they would do the same. Well, singing along with them doesn’t sound so bad after all. No high pitch or long sustaining out-of-breath lines. Even if there was a karaoke version, I’d be singing it without any major glitch. Smooth sailing all the way. Or if you feel like singing along as the background vocals for a change, it’s pretty fine too.

 

  Oh kamisama mitete,

  Ikuji nashi na kimochi sugu naosu kara,

  Nanto ka suru yo kitai shitete,

  Atashi kara aishiteru no KISU ga dekireba

 

As for the lyrics, it’s simple enough for me to remember the words. Basically the lyrics is about the singer praying for divine intervention to help her be strong for a particular guy she loves. Sounds simple? Well, I guess there’s gonna be lots of changes and things the singer has to do just to regain the attention of that love of hers. I’m sure we all hope for that in real life. But until then, let me continue dancing and sing along this nostalgic piece. Even though it’s just a couple of years, since I haven’t heard it for quite a while, it does feel like ages.

 

  Futari wa umaku iku yo tabun…

 

Kamisama Kazoku

Imagine if God had a son. And His son is poised to take over His post when the time comes. Wait a minute. Staunch Christian believers would straightaway rebuke this as there can only be 1 God. The one and only Lord and Father in Heaven. Well, unless you’re in anime land, something like this is possible. And Kamisama Kazoku is one of them. Don’t get your religious beliefs mixed up here. It’s all just for entertainment purposes.

 

Don’t get too upset when you see that God is portrayed as some laid back bearded guy who dons a singlet and pretty looked much like a farmer. Yeah, and He has a name too. He is Osamu Kamiyama. This guy is supposed to be the One Almighty ruler? Like it or not, he is. Don’t get really upset too if you see Him as a joker at times.

 

However, in this 13 episode anime of comedy, drama and romance, this isn’t about Osamu himself. It’s more on his son, Samatarou Kamiyama. In a nutshell, as a son of God who’s gonna take over His job one day, Samatarou is sent to live in the human world as to better understand those funny creatures called humans and their funny customs and habits. What better way to learn things hands on. They even have a house in the human world and lived there along with their family.

 

And probably the whole family is somewhat dysfunctional and reminds you of The Simpsons. Well, not actually an exact replicate of them, but you’ll feel that they’re all just ‘one kind’. Like the hyped up overprotective and wants-to-spoil-and-give-my-son-all-my-love-in-the-world mom and goddess, Venus (doesn’t like it when people calls her aunty or old. You can’t be young forever can’t you? Oh wait, she can. Hehe), your typical cunning and sly teenage girl sister, Misa (she likes to wear those sexy singlet and shorts. Maybe she thinks she has a nice body), and your typical ‘no expression’ little sister, Meme (is that supposed to be cute or what). Both Misa and Meme are candidates to become a goddess just like their mom.

 

But the Kamiyama family has another member in their family. She is Tenko. Born at the same time as Samatarou, she is an angel and is supposed to be Samatarou’s guardian, looking after him while he is on Earth. And because they’ve been together for so long, they’re like your typical childhood friends. From first looks you’ll feel that they both (especially Tenko) have feelings for each other but don’t really admit it maybe because it’s the childhood friend thingy. After watching so many of these kind of animes, of course, I say they do! Plus, Tenko does the house chores like cooking and cleaning. I mean Venus is a goddess, right? She can’t be doing this kind of stuffs, right?

 

As seen in episode 1, Samatarou needs to attend high school for you know what purpose lah. And since Tenko’s in the same class with him and even has her table next to his. In addition, since they’re both ‘arguing’ most of the time, most of their classmates will think that they’re having a lover’s quarrel. Which is true in a way, don’t you think? Tenko’s always pestering Samatarou to do things for the good of himself and others but Samatarou being your typical teenager who doesn’t listen, shrugs off her advice and things like that, much to Tenko’s annoyance.

 

The thing which I find amusing is that, Samatarou and his other Godly family members can have a private chat among themselves. What do I mean? When they do this, a chibi version of them will appear next to their shoulder and they can talk using that chibi version all they want without the outside world knowing. I’ll call and refer to this as PCC (private chibi chat). Hehe. But sometimes this may attract on-lookers. Yeah, from the outsiders point of view, you can see the real them moving weirdly, as though they’re talking but without moving their mouths. Must be the body language.

 

Even in this first episode, it seems that their homeroom teacher is a sicko himself. Yeah, this guy loves bloomers and doesn’t want them to be abolished from school so much so that he stripped off his pants and shows the class the bloomers he’s wearing. Actually, it’s Osamu’s doing. Yeah, he can influence and make people do crazy stuffs. But I’m not really sure why he does that. I mean, being a son of God, I’m sure your family members wants to turn things out the way you like it. Like how everytime the light turns green each time Samatarou reaches a junction or street to cross. Yeah, like a spoilt brat. If life is only that smooth sailing for us all. But Samatarou isn’t too fond of it all.

 

Why, even back at home, Samatarou and Tenko are surprised to find that all of their family members are dressed in bloomers, even Osamu! Now that’s plain disgustingly weird. But funny lah. Is this their way of cheering Samatarou up? And since Samatarou’s going through that teenager period, he spends the rest of the day sulking alone in his bedroom and doesn’t come downstairs to have dinner with his family, the they all tried to persuade him but to no avail. But later that night as his parents stole his blanket (some parents), Samatarou eventually heads downstairs to find Tenko sleeping next to the refrigerator (as she’s waiting for him to come down). Yup, some food she left for him on the table. I guess he felt a little bad about it and had some of the leftovers. After he heads back upstairs, Tenko awakened a little to find herself wrapped in Samatarou’s blanket, which made her a little happy.

 

The next day in school, Tenko seems quite energetic, probably of what happened last night. Then Samatarou’s classmate and friend, Shinichi Kirishima, excitedly tells them that there’ll be a new female exchange student coming. Hmm.. That Shinichi guy seems like a pervert/playboy but more like a loser (okay, maybe not that bad). Tenko thinking that Samatarou has several goddesses around him, would not be interested in a mere female human. Wrong girl. When that girl, Kumiko Komori first arrives in class, seems that Samatarou can’t take his eyes off her and says how beautiful she is! That boy’s in looooove! Oh oh. Tenko’s looking worried there.

 

So in episode 2, we see some steam coming off Tenko’s head. Yeah, another funny thing about this girl is that whenever she’s embarrassed or experiencing some other drastic emotions, she’ll let off some steam above her head. And everybody’s wondering what’s that but not enough to curiously ‘investigate’. And since Samatarou’s in love, Tenko suggests that Samatarou tries to go out with her. Since she’s just his guardian angel, Tenko thought that she has to put aside her feelings all for Samatarou’s happiness. Sort of.

 

What’s left for Samatarou to do is to confront Kumiko and ask her out. For the first time, things didn’t go his way. Yup, Kumiko rejected him and saying that even though she’ll be here for a short while (yeah, she’s leaving again soon and the reason why her school uniform’s different from the rest throughout the show), she just got here and is in the midst of settling down and this seems too sudden. Samatarou must be thinking why didn’t God’s miracle work like before. But then he thought that he should use his own powers to win Kumiko’s love. What’s this?! Back at home, Samatarou’s family seems to be wearing that naked apron to please Samatarou. You guessed it, even Osamu. Maybe it’s because his dad looked really disgusting that Samactarou punched him away.

 

The next day, Samatarou gets a surprise from Kumiko as she said she wants to meet him behind the gym. Tenko who heard about this decides to follow Samatarou there wihout being noticed. Then another surprise for Samatarou as Kumiko confessed that she loves him and takes off her top shirt and hugs him! Wow! What a change in character. Samatarou must be thinking that it’s his own doing. But wait. Suddenly it crossed Samatarou’s mind that it may be his dad’s. As he calls him out in their PCC, we find out that it really is Osamu’s doing. Bummer. And since Samatarou insists that he wants to use his own strengths, Osamu turned Kumiko back to normal.

 

You know what that means. She realized that she’s half naked with Samatarou and slaps him before running away in embarrasement. Do you wish she was all lovey-dovey now? Of course Samatarou’s feeling the pangs of his first love. Yeah, love hurts boy. As Tenko tries to comfort him, Misa barges into his room and gives them both a ticket to a water amusement park. I think this is all part of her scheme for something.

 

So on that day itself, it’s like a double date. They managed to get Kumiko and Shinichi to come along. Because it’s part of the plan to make Samatarou and Kumiko together, Tenko has to pretend to be dating Shinichi. So some chat here and there before the gang heads into the pool. There suddenly, all the other girls seem to call out Samatarou and are starting to fall in love with him as they gather around him. Samatarou and the rest are wondering what’s going on until Samatarou spots his sisters manipulating with the girls’ minds. When Misa and Meme knew they’d been found out, they stop whatever they’re doing. Hmm… Kumiko doesn’t look too fond of it all.

 

Here’s another funny part. As Tenko suggests them to go down the waterslide together, the tube seems to go on and on forever. When will it end? Yeah, looks like Misa and Meme are working their magic again. But once, they’re finally out of the tube, Kumiko noticed her top part is missing and Samatarou’s holding it in his hands! SLAP!!! Oh oh. Just when Kumiko was getting over with that earlier misunderstood perverted situation, here comes another one. This isn’t going down well at all. And on their way home, Kumiko doesn’t seem to make any eye contact with Samatarou and avoids talking to him. Tenko tries to comfort him by holding Samatarou’s hand but the latter refused. Only after when he reminisces about the time he and Tenko were walking hand in hand during their younger days, did Samatarou smiled and held Tenko’s. And Kumiko seems to be watching and noticing it all… Could it be?

 

With Samatarou still not getting over what happened at the amusement park, he and Tenko sort of went out shopping together to get Kumiko a present in episode 3. While window shopping, Tenko saw a musical box she liked and wanted it, but the shop was closed. So they had to go elsewhere. While browsing in another gift shop, Tenko spots a keychain with the words "LOVE" on it and pesters Samatarou to buy it for her, which he reluctantly did. By the end of the day, Samatarou forgot to buy anything for Kumiko.

 

The next day, Samatarou’s afraid to meet Kumiko at school but gets a pleasant surprise when he saw Kumiko waiting at the school gates for him. She apologized for her rude behaviour at the pool and asked if they could be friends. Samatarou and Kumiko even had lunch made by the latter at the school rooftop, with a jealous Tenko watching of course. So is this Samatarou’s dad’s doing? A little check up doesn’t indicate so. I guess it must be for real, huh.

 

Even when the teacher decided to pair up Samatarou and Kumiko together in a three legged race, Samatarou noticed that Kumiko’s obviously going through some extreme mood swings. One minute she’s all lovey-dovey the next she’s a crybaby. Then during a PCC we find out that Meme has created some wheel-of-fortune kind of roulette board which determines the mood swing of Kumiko. Samatarou asked her to stop because of that I-want-to-do-it-on-my-own reason, which Meme did.

 

But during the race, Venus picks it up and plays a little with it before continuing off with her cleaning. And because of that, Kumiko’s volatile emotions caused them both to tumble down into some woods area. Samatarou tries to protect Kumiko but his back crashed into a tree. Kumiko, who’s now back to normal, then realized that Samatarou has been protecting her. Back at Samatarou’s home, we see Meme trying to spin that board which seems to always land at the ‘love’ setting. She thinks it’s spoiled. But of course we know that Kumiko has started to take a liking for Samatarou.

 

The next day, Samatarou has been motivated to get Kumiko a present, buys that same keychain with the words "LOVE" inscribed on it, much to Tenko’s annoyance and anger. He must have lost a little of his memory from yesterday’s incident. And because of that Tenko gets upset and calls him an idiot as she cries, much to Samatarou’s surprise. And later that night, he confronts his whole family and told them how he wants to become a human to do things with his own strength. Shocking! Why would the son of God relinquish his powers to become a mere mortal? Love? Yeah, maybe. Love can make one do crazy things.

 

In fact, Samatarou did turn into a human in episode 4. Before that, Tenko’s wondering what will happen to her when Samatarou’s a human. His reply… she’s free to go wherever she wants. Some answer. Looks like he doesn’t know the magnitude of things to come. Tenko ran away crying. Poor girl. So the morning Samatarou wakes up as a human, he felt great at first. That is, until all the little problems starts creeping in, like how nobody’s there to make him breakfast or wake him up to go to school. Yikes! He’s already late for school. In addition, his other family members and Tenko are nowhere to be found.

 

Even at school, Tenko’s not there. To make matters worse, nobody seems to remember who Tenko is. And when Samatarou had the courage to speak privately with Kumiko, it wasn’t a confession, but rather asking her if Kumiko knew who Tenko was. Kumiko didn’t know what he’s talking about. Samatarou’s feeling pretty strange right now. Kumiko then proceeds to tell him that this is her last day at school and she’ll be leaving by train tomorrow. That’s fast. Two girls in his life are going away. One already gone and the other soon.

 

Later, Samatarou visits the shop where Tenko wanted that musical box so badly, which is open now. There he chats with the storekeeper (which curiously resembles like Tenko except she spots a different hair colour and her hair is covering her eyes most of the time), about love problems and his story like how there’s this girl he’s always been around with is no longer around. Bla bla bla. Then the storekeeper also tells him her story, something which is quite similar like how she regrets not conveying her feelings to her loved one and such.

 

The storekeeper decides to give Samatarou the musical box and when he plays it, it reminded Samatarou of his times with Tenko. She then told him to catch the train before it leaves but Samatarou said there isn’t enough time. With some words of encouragement like where there’s a will, there’s a way, Samatarou gets motivated to do so. Yeah, they’re gonna take her motorbike. Hey, does Samatarou have a licence anyway? Looks like he’s riding it. Kids, do not attempt what this kids is doing. Riding so recklessly. Samatarou also noticed that "LOVE" keychain the storekeeper has, which is similar to Tenko’s.

 

The train had already left when they arrived at the station. So they had to chase it using their bike. How? Samatarou says that they should fly to chase the train. The storekeeper’s in disbelief at first. But when he said that she’s an angel, suddenly a halo and angelic wings sprout out from the storekeeper and the bike begin to fly. What crap is this?! They managed to catch up to the train and Kumiko managed to caught a glimpse of them before the train disappears into the tunnel. Once it’s over, Samatarou tells the storekeeper (now back to normal) that it was a miracle. When she asked who is he, Samatarou replied that he is God. Hahaha. Yeah, that’s what the 2 did, they both laughed anyway. Whether she believes it or not is a different story.

 

When Samatarou has returned to his home, he is happy to find that all his family members and Tenko are there and back to normal. In Tenko’s room, Samatarou decides to give Tenko the musical box she wanted so much. But that’s just the first part. Samatarou then asked Tenko to close her eyes for the second part of the present. When she does, we see a sillhouette of them with Samatarou leaning forward giving Tenko a kiss on her cheek! Shock! Tenko’s blushing as she didn’t really expected this. So was I. I mean, I thought that since Kumiko’s gone, probably he realized his feelings for Tenko.

 

Is everything back to normal in episode 5? Well maybe. Besides Tenko thinking why Samatarou kissed her, Shinichi decides to tell Samatarou about the new cute girl in the next class. Samatarou didn’t want to hear it all, but Shinichi forces him to listen. He even dragged Samatarou to climb up some tree to spy on some girls changing and show him about the girl he was talking about earlier on. That pervert. Tenko, who’s wondering where Samatarou is, gets into PCC, much to Samatarou’s surprise as he tries to shield Tenko from seeing that ‘unholy’ act of theirs.

 

Unfortunately, the branch broke and the 2 guys fell down. Once Tenko realized what Samatarou has been doing, she gives him a kick in the face, in which Samatarou caused Shinichi’s legs to be broken as they were on top of each other when they fell. Looks like Shinichi has to be sent to the hospital. Back home, Venus, along with Misa and Meme are now dressed in nurse outfits and Venus is pretty concern if Samatarou had hurt himself and hugs him until he blacks out. Then Misa had some chat with Tenko which caused the latter to blush a little. Something about if ‘something’ happened between Samatarou and Tenko. So you could see lots of steam coming out from Tenko’s head as she ‘analysed deeply’ her feelings for Samatarou. So much so she became a little sick the next day and locks herself in her room.

 

Samatarou and Misa went to visit Shinichi at the hospital. Probably Shinichi likes it when Misa teases him a little. That flirt. But anyway soon leaves the boys alone together. And as expected, Shinichi blabs to Samatarou about the new girl that he has fallen in love with. Shinichi points outside the window to a girl in a wheelchair under a tree. He says he doesn’t know her name because there’s no tag on her room. Samatarou thinks he has seen that girl somewhere before. If you ask me, she does look like Kumiko. Soon Samatarou heads home to find Tenko still in her room. What’s this? Tenko thinking that the kiss may have made her pregnant and that she and Samatarou are gonna have a baby. Holy… I thought this was an outdated old fashion belief. Looks like it could happen to naive angels too.

 

In episode 6, well, there is some sort of a baby that arrived at their doorstep in a basket and Tenko thinks that it’s theirs. You know, that stork theory. Of course Samatarou doesn’t believe it all first. Maybe he doesn’t want to take on a responsibility as a father so soon. In the basket, there’s a note saying "I wish we could meet again" and a photo of a girl holding a doll. Meanwhile, Meme visits her dad up in Heaven. Looks like a normal office to me. Hmm… Maybe that’s how wishes come true. We see lots of wishes and hopes written on paper and the one Osamu fishes one out he would make it come true. Interesting.

 

Back down on Earth, Samatarou and Tenko decides to keep this baby thing a secret from the rest, especially Venus. But it seems that the baby, Ai, is growing up faster. One minute she’s a toddler the next she’s already an elementary kid, able to walk and talk. It was quite funny to see how Ai bumped into Misa and Meme who then acts as though they didn’t see anything surprising and ignores it all. But the funniest one was when Venus stumbled upon Ai. Yeah, while Misa tried to get some explanation from Tenko and Samatarou, Venus was shocked to see a baby in her house. To make it worse, Ai called her ‘aunty’. Oh, Venus’s freaking out. Looks like the secret’s out too.

 

Another funny bit is where Shinichi decides to make his move on that wheelchair girl. But everytime he appears, she would press the nurse button making Shinichi panic and hopping away as quickly as possible. After several times, Shinichi managed to grab the nurse button and asked her why she’s always looking out her window. She says in her dream there’s this demon, a lady dressed in red, asking her to come to her, but she can’t because she’s waiting for someone. I wonder what is it. I guess this will be something in the later episodes. By the way, doesn’t that demon looked a bit like Kumiko too? Could it be? Nah… Before you know it, the wheelchair girl hits Shinichi with her wheelchair and calls out to the nurses. Looks like he has to come back and try another day.

 

Continuing where we left of, in episode 7, Venus is really gonna blow her top when Tenko suggests that Ai calls her ‘sister’. When doing so, Venus’s mood changed and she becomes very happy and flattered. Perasan betul. Now she accepts Ai into the family. Meanwhile, Samatarou decides to visit Shinichi alone. There, before anything could happen, Shinichi wants Samatarou to go talk to the wheelchair girl so that it will give Shinichi some credit and such. So as Samatarou went to chat with her, that dream thing again. Looks like the 2 are quite friendly with each other. Before she could ask Samatarou’s name, Shinichi hits him with his crutch and calls him a traitor.

 

At the same time, Tenko and Ai arrived at the hospital looking for Samatarou. Shinichi who saw them, views this as an opportunity to get back at Samatarou. Yeah, he’s adding fuel to the fire by telling how Samatarou’s ‘flirting’ with another girl. A furious Tenko stomps over there. Seeing them so friendly, she shouts and calls him an idiot before rushing off with Samatarou no choice but to go after her. Shinichi then tries to take advantage of the situation but the wheelchair girl still said some good things about Samatarou before leaving. Looks like Shinichi will always be a loser.

 

Samatarou managed to catch up with Tenko and a lover’s quarrel ensues. You know, that thing about family and responsibility. Then they realized that Ai isn’t with them and starts to look for her frantically. They finally found her standing on an overhead bridge near the hospital. Looks like she’s grown into a high school girl. Imagine having a daughter who’s old enough to be your classmate! Weird.

 

The next day when Samatarou and Tenko left for school, they should’ve known better than to leave Ai in Misa’s care. Yeah, another scheming look from Misa’s face. While Ai stumbled upon that note and photo in Samatarou’s room, Misa came in and suggests that Ai should bring Samatarou and Tenko their bentos while dressed in a school swimsuit. Would you believe it, Ai totally followed what she said. That’s because if Ai does this, she’ll be rewarded. Imagine the shock and surprise faces of everyone in school when Ai starts calling out papa and mama as she enters the school gate. Oh, the horror for Samatarou and Tenko. So later as they heard things from Ai at the shoe locker area, Samatarou has no choice but to peck Ai on her cheeks as to show his appreciation. Later, Samatarou has revenge on his mind as he confronts Misa. But Misa distracted him by showing him the photo from the basket. Yeah, Samatarou realized that Ai looked like the girl in the photo.

 

So episode 8 starts off with some analyzing about who Ai is. Like how Misa says the reason why Ai grows is probably she remembers something. Then those markings on Ai’s back becomes clearer but Samatarou still can’t make the words out. Then he made some probable connections between the dreams of Ai’s and the wheelchair girl’s. Then he told Ai that Ai isn’t actually Ai and that she’s a different person after seeing the name "Ai" at the bottom of the photo. He continues that she’s here looking for Ai, which is her friend. And tomorrow Samatarou’s gonna take her to see that person. I’m confused but I think I know who it is.

 

The next day, Samatarou and Tenko brought Ai to see the wheelchair girl. Now Ai has grown and really looked like the wheelchair girl. The wheelchair girl identifies Ai as Lulu and the wheelchair girl herself is Ai Tachibana. Yup, so from now on, please make note of the adjustments. Ai seems afraid to meet Lulu. Even though Lulu says how much she loved her, Ai kept rejecting her causing Lulu to cry and run away. Tenko slaps Ai before running off to catch Lulu. So we hear Ai telling Samatarou her story. How Lulu was her only best friend but one day Lulu fell of the overhead bridge, which is the one near the hospital. Though Ai woke up in hospital not knowing what had happened after that, it seems everyone avoids answering her when Ai asked about Lulu.

 

Thus, by staring at it, she hopes that she’ll meet Lulu again. But she didn’t come to expect to meet Lulu like this. See, be careful of what you wish for. After some words from Samatarou (he even told her that he was the son of God and stuff), he told her that Lulu’s waiting for her at that overhead bridge, in which Ai went. As Samatarou’s waiting in the room, Ai’s mom showed up and Samatarou introduced himself as Ai’s friend. Ai’s mom must be either happy or surprise because she told him Ai never had any friends before and that her only friend was her doll. You know what I’m thinking. Yup, to cut things short, Lulu is actually the doll in that photo.

 

Soon, Samatarou rushes out to that overhead bridge. Ai finally reached the bottom of the overhead bridge and hobbles her way up. Some talk here and there like that dream thing and wanting to meet each other. Once Ai reached the top, she saw those words on Lulu’s back ‘Most Important Friend’ which is quite clear now. Ai now believes that this is truly Lulu, her doll. But because of a strong gust of wind, Lulu was blown off the bridge (she must be really light) but Ai jumps down to grab her as they both embraced in mid-air.

 

Fortunately, Samatarou and Shinichi have placed several mats to cushion their fall. As Samatarou and Tenko walked home together, Tenko felt lonely now that Lulu was no longer with them as she felt that Lulu was part of the family. But Samatarou told her that she’s still part of the Kamiyama family. As Samatarou leans to kiss her (again), Tenko suddenly gets embarrassed and lets loose some steam over her head, causing Samatarou to laugh. As an embarrassed Tenko gets up to leave, Samatarou pulls her hand and she accidentally fall back and they both locked lips! Wow! How does your real first time taste and feel like? Anyway, they both got embarrassed by it Samatarou said that it was just an accident. Yeah. I hope Tenko doesn’t think that she’ll have another child after this.

 

Later when Samatarou visits his dad up in Heaven, he accused him for all that has happened. But Osamu said that he only arranged the beginning and everything else was left by chance. And then he shows Samatarou how he just granted that note found in the basket by fishing it out. Then Osamu says he’ll have to punish Samatarou for telling a human that he is God. And it’ll be the worse and most cruel form of punishment ever. That is, he sends Samatarou back in time whereby he fell off the branch with Shinichi. But this time, Shinichi didn’t break his legs and was only sent to the school’s infirmary.

 

In addition, Shinichi gets a visit from a girl because that girl got a love letter from Shinichi. To Samatarou’s surprise, that girl is actually Ai! And she’s got her Lulu doll hanging on her bag. Well, a loser sometimes wins. And from now on Shinichi and Ai are an item. Then Samatarou asked Tenko if she remembred that lips kissing incident but it seems that Tenko had only remembered that peck on the cheek. Then Samatarou realized that this is the cruel punishment that he has received from his dad, everyone’s memories except his are erased.

 

Looks like that lady in red dream still persists as we still see it in the beginning of episode 9. A reminder of things to come? Anyway, Samatarou finds his mom along with Misa and Meme in their usual cosplaying outfit to cheer him, this time, in a cheerleader’s outfit with the initials ‘L’, ‘V’ and ‘E’. If it spells ‘love’, so who’s wearing the ‘O’? It’s Osamu, of course. Besides Samatarou reminiscing about the past with Lulu and that kiss with Tenko, we see Shinichi and Ai really happy together, holding hands. Looks like Samatarou and Tenko are jealous if you look at it in a way. And when the 2 speak out against them holding hands, Shinichi mentions back to them about the same thing. Right back at ya’. Of course the 2 blushingly said that they’re doing it because they’re family and not lovers. Yeah, right.

 

Also Tenko receives a love letter from a guy named Takashi Nakamura in her shoe box. So some uncertainty from Tenko as she’s still not really sure of Samatarou’s feelings towards her and if he still needs her nor not. Thus, she decides not to open the letter just yet. Yeah, Samatarou teased her in front of Shinichi and Ai that she should get a boyfriend. Back in Tenko’s room, she’s hearing a mysterious voice calling out to her and saying that her job’s done and that she should return to Heaven. Who could it be, since it’s not Osamu or anybody she knows. So as the 2 ‘debate’, their conversation only increases Tenko’s uncertainty of her feelings towards Samatarou.

 

So the next day in school, Tenko decides to give back the letter to Takashi. Sorry boy, for a side minor character, it’s right to be ‘dumped’. Just kidding. Of course, back in class Samatarou asked how things went. After she spilled the beans and the usual quarrelling, suddenly someone familiar returns and calls out Samatarou. Who could it be? Why, it’s Kumiko! She’s back! I wouldn’t have least expected it. Oh oh. Those feelings of pain, love and jealousy are back again. Round 2. Later, Kumiko and Samatarou had a private chat on the rooftop. Kumiko tells Samatarou that she came back just to see him. Uh-huh. Looks like she likes him and even asked him to go out with her. Meanwhile, we see Misa eavesdropping nearby and is confused what’s happening and Tenko alone in the classroom is still wondering about Samatarou’s feelings. You know, if you’re so worried, maybe you should go ask him straight in the face.

 

And looks like in episode 10 Samatarou and Kumiko are dating. Yup, instead of Samatarou and Tenko walking home together, the former decides to walk back with Kumiko. Of course it’s so obvious that Tenko’s just putting up a happy face and saying that she’s all happy for him. But deep down in her heart. it isn’t. Why, she rushed home crying and into the arms of Venus. When Tenko tells Venus that Samatarou’s dating, Venus goes into a rage. Yeah, that overprotective mom now is mad because her precious little son has found somebody else he loves rather than his mom.

 

Meanwhile, Samatarou and Kumiko arrived at the latter’s small run-downed apartment. A place where Kumiko lives with her sickly mom. Some chat here and there as Samatarou after seeing Kumiko’s position promised that he’ll help her in any way he can. Once Samatarou reached home, he is confronted by a furious Venus but managed to dodge all her attacks and escaped to his room. To his surprise (and mine) he saw Misa in her sexy lingerine! She’s asking him about what he’s gonna do about Tenko since now he’s got Kumiko. That usual Tenko is my childhood friend answer.

 

While Tenko’s crying on her bed, that mysterious voice again pops up and told her the same thing, that is to return to Heaven. Tenko agreed but told the voice to allow her to stay on for 3 days. The voice also agreed but also told her that she can’t back out of the contract they’ve made. Then, suddenly a piggy bank with wings appeared. To cut things short, that winged piggy back is Suguru, that mysterious voice and is supposedly some archangel. He also wants Tenko to keep his presence a secret. Funny thing about this Suguru is that whenever you put coins into it, he will automatically say the amount inserted and the total amount of money he has, which causes those who insert their coins to laugh and be amused. Hehehe. Funny pig.

 

The next morning, Tenko still has her worries and doubts and also asking about her real family in Heaven but Suguru told her not to think so much. Then a funny part was when Meme spotted Suguru, she just deposited some coins into it rather than being amused of a flying piggy bank. So did Venus and Misa. Looks like it’s a conditional response. Everytime someone sees a piggy bank, they have to put in some money. Maybe I should try that method too. And it looks like Samatarou may be the only to realize something’s wrong with that piggy bank. Nope, he deposited some money too. So close yet so far. Anyway, since Samatarou told Tenko that he’s going out on a morning date with Kumiko, he doesn’t need any breakfast. As expected, Tenko pretends to be happy for him. But you know lah. This prompted her to go and spy on Samatarou on his date and dragging Suguru along too. Jealousy rearing its ugly head.

 

Episode 11 begins with Samatarou and Kumiko dating with a jealous Tenko watching their every move. Later when they arrived at school, they’re surprised to find that nobody’s in class. A teacher then told them that everyone will be a little late because the weren’t feeling well. Soon as the students arrive to class, Shinichi tells them about that lady in red dream. Looks like everyone else had that same dream. And after school, Samatarou and Tenko noticed 2 of their classmates didn’t turn up. Did something happened to them?

 

Anyway, since that Samatarou-Kumiko dating is really getting to Tenko, she’s thinking of paying a visit to Kumiko’s house alone. Once at the door, to her surprise and shock some pyschotic scary young lady kicks open the door and threatens to kill her. But she managed to calm down when Tenko introduced herself as Kumiko’s classmate. That lady introduced herself as Fumiko and to Tenko’s surprise Fumiko knows her name although she didn’t say it. Then Fumiko wanted to invite Tenko in but Tenko refused. This caused her to get mad and starts to chase Tenko with her kitchen knife. Poor Tenko, fleeing away from that psycho woman. Fortunately Tenko managed to reach home safely.

 

Later at night, Tenko urges Samatarou to break up with Kumiko because of her dangerous sister. But Samatarou refutes and says that Kumiko doesn’t have any sister and that she might be jealous. Tenko then apologizes and went back to her room crying. Samatarou must be wondering what’s going on. Then while everybody’s sleeping, Tenko heard some strange noise and went outside to check out. With the moon blood red, Tenko saw Kumiko holding a scythe and asked her what she’s doing at this hour. Kumiko replied that she’s doing her job and she knows Tenko’s an angel. Suguru sensed danger and asked Tenko to run. What’s this?! Kumiko’s a devil?! Can’t be wrong with those devil wings and tail she sprout out. Kumiko explained how she wanted Samatarou’s enormous power and that her moving away was all just a pretend as she had remained in the city during her ‘absence’ and entered people’s dreams and capturing those who’re weak. Since Kumiko’s at her limit as she disappears and the moon turned back to normal.

 

But is that all just a dream? As Tenko wakes up to find herself in bed. Plus, Suguru seems not to remember last night’s events. While Tenko and Samatarou are walking to school, Tenko again pleads to Samatarou to break up with Kumiko because she has a feeling that Kumiko’s the devil. Though Samatarou agreed, he brought Tenko to Kumiko’s place. There, Fumiko isn’t around except Fumiko and her sickly mother sleeping. When Tenko asked Kumiko about her sister, Kumiko told her that she doesn’t have a sister.

 

Then at the school gates, as Kumiko and Tenko are alone together, Kumiko asked about last night’s moon. Tenko then thought that last night maybe wasn’t a dream. Tenko also asked if Kumiko’s a devil. Soon her fears are confirmed when Kumiko’s eyes turned red and said "Didn’t we met last night?". Oh boy.

 

In episode 12, we find out that the 2 classmates who didn’t turn up actually tried to commit suicide. And when Shinichi relates that lady in red dress thingy, this made Samatarou think that Tenko might be telling the truth. He realized that Tenko’s the one most important to him and not Kumiko as he searches for her. But looks like Tenko’s okay. In class, Kumiko tells Samatarou to meet her at the infirmary because she has something important to tell him. He agrees.

 

There, before Kumiko can say a word, Samtarou starts off first by going down on his knees and asking Kumiko to break up with him. Kumiko laughed before agreeing. Then it’s Kumiko’s turn as she wants Samatarou to help her. Yup, Kumiko exposed her identity. She wants the son of God to help the daughter of the devil. Samatarou realized now that Kumiko’s a devil herself. And he’s been dating the devil all this while without realizing it. It seems that her mom, Fumiko, needed to consume human life to stay healthy and young or else she’ll age rapidly and become that sickly old hag. Thus, Kumiko had to help her mom by entering people’s dream and feed the weak souls to her. As time goes by, Kumiko got fed-up of it all and wants to end it all. And her mom suggested to bring her the ultimate and strongest one, which is Samatarou’s. So by consuming from such a powerful source, she doesn’t have to consume human ones anymore.

 

Therefore, their date was all just a setup. The thing is, Kumiko really did fell in love with Samatarou. Hey, even the devil have feelings. Kumiko also explained her encounter with Tenko and that Tenko is going back to Heaven, something which Samatarou isn’t aware of until now. Just then, the infirmary windows exploded and we see Fumiko flying in with a scythe in hand. Looks like she’s going in for the kill. Being a true devil herself, she mocks Kumiko for being weak and tells her that the aging thing was all a lie so as to get Kumiko to do her bidding.

 

Samatarou and Kumiko tried to dodge Fumiko’s attacks when Tenko came in. Fumiko’s gonna slice them in half when she heard Suguru’s voice. Some short chat there before Fumiko decides to back off for now but before that decides to give them a present by slashing Tenko’s arm, injuring her. So Samatarou carried Tenko in his arms and rushed back home to treat her injuries. Some emotional talk here and there as though as Tenko’s dying. Just when Samatarou thought that Tenko’s dead, Venus came in and knocked some sense in him, saying that angels don’t really die. Come to think of it, yeah she’s right. Samatarou leaves his room and went to talk with his sisters and Kumiko as Venus tries to heal Tenko.

 

By the way, I noticed since that sending back Samatarou in time incident, we haven’t seen Osamu lately. I wonder what he’s doing lately, locking himself up in Heaven. It seems nobody could contact him in any way at all. Venus then comes downstairs. Kumiko seems to feel guilty about the whole thing and tries to walk away but was told by Venus to sit down. Also, I find it funny that Venus can’t seem to remember Kumiko’s name, always calling her Choromi and things like that. Venus told Kumiko that even though she doesn’t like girls who get close to Samatarou, they still have to help her when she’s in trouble because this is the house of God. And God will come to help those in need. With that, Kumiko weeps and hugs Venus. A sign of thanks, I guess. Yeah, I suppose it doesn’t really matter if you’re the devil’s daughter or what. No discrimination policy here.

 

Samatarou visits Tenko in her room later that night and the 2 had another of those chat like going back to Heaven thingy and how Samatarou’s being nice because he doesn’t need her anymore. Samatarou closed Tenko’s eyes and asked her to get some sleep. Before Tenko fell asleep, she said that if Samatarou doesn’t like her, at least she wants him to say that he still needs her. Soon, Samatarou walks over to her side and kissed her on her cheeks. Wah, that’s the 3rd time already.

 

So in the final episode 13, Samatarou vows to protect Kumiko as the latter stays at the Kamiyama’s for the night. However, it seems that the party’s just getting started when Fumiko launches her attack that night. Samatarou rushed downstairs only to find Fumiko standing over his mom’s motionless body. In Samatarou’s rage, his eyes suddenly turned red and was going to retaliate when Venus appears in PCC mode and tells him to calm that and that violence isn’t the way. It seems that even God can turn into the devil if he becomes engulfed in violence. Yeah, then it wouldn’t be any different from the devil.

 

The same thing happened to Meme when she arrived downstairs and saw her mom’s condition. But Meme was smacked against the wall unconscious by Fumiko. Misa then barges in and tells Samatarou to take Meme upstairs while she herself tries to take on Fumiko but was shortly taken out. By that time, Samatarou and Kumiko found out that Fumiko is in Tenko’s room and is going to slash her with her scythe as revenge for Kumiko’s betrayal and wants her to come back. Kumiko had no choice but to do so in order to save Tenko, despite Samatarou’s protest. Fumiko’s gonna slash Tenko anyway when she’s stopped by Kumiko. Fumiko then takes Kumiko away and tells Samatarou to meet her at the park or else Kumiko will die. Samatarou seems lost in hope when his mom and sisters came in to comfort him.

 

Later, Samatarou and Suguru waits at the park when Fumiko arrived on some large demonic dog. That dog’s roar was so powerful that it blasted Suguru away. Looks like Samatarou has to settle this one all by himself. Fumiko tells Samatarou that he will die here today and Kumiko’s gonna do it for her. Samatarou tries to persuade Kumiko, so some talk here and there about the times they’ve been together bla bla bla. As Kumiko’s seemingly gonna strike Samatarou with her energy sword, Kumiko actually stabs her mom instead! Yeah, she wants her nice gentle mother back and not that demonic one she is now. Fumiko scoffs at her and said that all that was just an act an a lie before knocking her away. Fumiko asked Samatarou to save her mom.

 

As Fumiko assaults a non-resisting Samatarou, Tenko arrives. Some more talk of reassurance and stuffs like that when Tenko finds herself in the mouth of that demonic dog. Samatarou becomes enraged and his eyes turned red again as he picks up the energy sword. Seeing this, Fumiko felt happy that he was going to do something with it. But Samatarou stabbed his own heart with it! He says that he refused to be swallowed up by the demon in his heart and is going to get rid of it. However, this also caused Fumiko’s heart to throb in pain. As he pushes the sword deeper, some bright light shone out from his body and at the same time Fumiko’s goes up in flames and disappears.

 

Samatarou collapsed once it’s over. Tenko and Kumiko came to and rushed to his side. Tenko suggests to pray for a miracle but Kumiko is a hesitant because she believes that she’s still a devil. Then suddenly, angelic wings sprouted from the back of the both of them. Well, if God can crossover to become a devil, I’m sure the opposite is likewise too. As they prayed, Samatarou’s body glowed with bright lights and soon he opened his eyes. To Tenko’s relief, she tried to hug and kiss him but Samatarou tried to resist, with Kumiko watching and laughing at them.

 

A few days later, the Kamiyama family are fixing their house. Venus tells Samatarou that his room will be halved since Kumiko’s moving in with the rest of the family, much to his dismay. Suguru explains to Tenko about Fumiko’s past. It seems that long ago Fumiko was once an angel and fell in love with a human. They got married and had a daughter. But when the man found out that Fumiko’s an angel, he couldn’t accept it and left, leaving Fumiko heartbroken and since then she wanted revenge on mankind and turned into a devil. So theoretically, Kumiko’s an ex-angel too. Suguru asked Tenko if it’s okay not returning to Heaven. Tenko replied that she’s okay because she has a family here. Soon Suguru heads back up to Heaven and met up with Osamu. By the way, another kissing moment between Samatarou and Tenko when the latter snuggled up close to the former in his room. That’s number 4.

 

Back in Heaven, we see Osamu saying how proud he was about Samatarou, how he has matured. And it seems that the way they say things, seems to indicate that Suguru is Tenko’s father. Though, not sure about Tenko’s mom. Then Osamu told Suguru that he’s gonna work with a companion from now on. And Suguru’s new partner is… another flying female pig named Fu-san. Well, from deduction, she’s Fumiko who has no recollection of her past memories. Convenince to tie things up? Looks like Suguru’s taken an instant liking for her. Hey, what about his wife? Nah, not important. Meanwhile as Samatarou and gang gets ready to go to school, seems that Kumiko’s transferred to his school too, wearing their uniform. Everybody has a group photo taken, a picture which we see in Tenko’s diary.

 

Overall, this is quite a nice anime and I like how the way things ended. Yeah, a happy ending that tie many things up rather than those which leaves a bad taste in your mouth or left hanging to the viewer’s imagination. So it shows that good will triumph over evil and that violence isn’t a tool to solve things. Uh-huh, violence begets violence. Also it’s not your typical deity-who-falls-in-love-with-a-mortal story. Well, as we find out the son of God fell in love with the daughter of the devil who’s an ex-angel. Something a little different there.

 

I find the drawing here a little ‘simple’. Meaning, the characters here look a little cartoonish rather than your typical Japanese bishies. Maybe it’s to attract younger audience as well with bright colours. But there are some scenes which are dark and grim especially towards the end, but it won’t amount to any horror thingy. Unless you find anything that involves the devil to be one. Also, there’re some scenes that shows the girls in their lingerie. Though, nothing extreme.

 

I’m quite pleased with the character developments overall especially between Samatarou and Tenko. Though in the end I’m not sure if Samatarou would choose which girl he wants to be with, Tenko or Kumiko. But since he’s God, he can have both of them! Yeah, sharing is good. Just kidding. I’m still wondering why did Osamu locked himself up in Heaven in those last few episodes. Maybe he wanted to see if his son got what it takes to become God. Possible.

 

I like the ending theme song, Toshokan Dewa Oshiete Kurenai Tenshi No Himitsu (what a long name) sung by Miraku. It gives you that feel like one of those rock ‘n’ roll church songs with lots of soul in it and it makes you want to get up and move your feet. I find it weird in the sense that both the opening and ending singles of the series weren’t released until much later after the series had ended. Usually, when an anime series has been shown, at least the opening and ending singles will soon follow. Yeah, there seems to be no soundtrack release at all too.

 

So if you want to watch some short little comedy and drama about God, you don’t have to be a Christian to watch this one. No sensitive religious matters here, just as long as you believe in God, then anything is possible. I wonder if my wish to enjoy watching animes in comfort and happiness for the rest of my life would come true… I believe in it!