Oretachi Ni Tsubasa Wa Nai

After even watching halfway of Oretachi Ni Tsubasa Wa Nai, I still couldn’t understand what is going on. The main synopsis didn’t reveal much. All I could say from it is that the story focuses on 3 different guys in the city of Yanagihara. We have a guy who is working part time in a cafe, another guy doing odd jobs during the night life of the city and a kid with his negligent girlfriend who thinks he is from another world. Another world? Oh? It is going to get more confusing than this. I’m sure all these stories will intertwine somehow as we go along.

Besides, there are lots of minor characters in addition to the main heroes and heroines so keeping track of who is who or even remembering their names (for a dumb guy like me) can be arduous. Yes, at many times especially in the early episodes, I would be trying to figure out who this character is, if I had seen her or him anywhere before, how is she/he related to whom. Heck, they even introduced new characters at the end that don’t really do much either. Oh my. So many questions. No wonder I couldn’t understand. Based on the adult visual of the same name, I guess the reason why I’m watching this apart from the confusing storyline is the fanservice. Hah. That says it all. Even if I don’t get what is going on, probably it’s the fanservice that will make my day for this series. Not to say it is filled with lots of them in every scene but peppered here and there. So while I have my fill of fanservice, let me try and understand what is going on in the big picture again.

Episode 1
The usual quartet of heroines, Asuka Watarai, Kobato Haneda, Naru Ootori and Hiyoko Tamaizumi are in a typical fight (including typical fanservice) over the attention of one of the main protagonists, Takashi Haneda. Ah, this is what a harem should be, right? Yeah, the world is at peace alright. Elsewhere in a cafe called Alexander, the bar master, Karuo Karube talks to usual patrons Shuusuke Chitose and Kakeru Ootori. From what I understand from their empty talk, Karuo is getting married soon they’re supposed to throw a bachelor party (joint party as they call it). Is that a wise decision seeing some guy is going to get hitched and it wouldn’t be a good thing for his future wife, right? Oh, heck. All I know is that boys will be boys. But they will be reserving the place to hold a party for the waitress Kinako Mochizuki who will be leaving soon to concentrate on her studies. Then we’ve got this talkative waitress, Eriko Hino who despises Chitose but loves the cold and sarcastic Kakeru. She is also being invited to Kinako’s farewell party. The more girls the better, right? On a side note, while Kinako is taking orders, a naughty kid flips up her skirt to see her striped panties but is disheartened they are strawberry prints. So upset that he takes it off by force!!!! WTF???!!! Elsewhere, Hayato Narita considers a hard boiled guy while walking through the night streets of Yanagihara. We see him meet a black dude, Martinez selling rings in his roadside stall and a foreigner loli named Alice who is trying to speak better Japanese. I don’t know what Alice’s problem is, she is trying to convince Hayato that she’s appealing as an adult as she is wearing an elegant and stimulating underwear. She even shows it to him as proof. Yeah, she thought every man in this country is a paedophile. To a certain degree, I agree. Hayato walks around and we are introduced to the vast minor characters including a weird group with silly makeup called R-Wing. At the crepe stall run by Harue Kosuda AKA Pal-san, she hands him a handphone of some kid asking him to do a job but he’s not interested and hangs up. He doesn’t like suspicious jobs especially from that Eeji guy because even if that guy really pays, the jobs are really weird (spending a week in a rundown apartment with no electricity) and prefers to do any utility jobs. But Hayato needs a job so Pal-san lets him polish her car. Because he still owes her, he has no choice but to take it. Back to Takashi, he sees his girlfriend Asuka. After she leaves with her friends, he notes he has to hurry up and finish the remaining things he has to do (trying chicken saute and fried prawn meal was one of them?). That is because he is not from this world and has reincarnated from a place beyond the sky: Guretagarudo. He is the candidate to be its next king.

Episode 2
The usual start off with fanservice involving the main heroine quartet in a king game whereby Naru ends up squeezing Hiyoko’s boobs and the latter seems to be enjoying it. Whether Karuo and some other guy are watching them or some porn TV, but eventually they do climax in an ambiguous way. Hayato visits Pal-san and learns she has hand him a customer in the name of Naru. Hayato is being cold to this kid but Pal-san doesn’t want her to give up just yet. Naru is looking for her bicycle that she believes was stolen. Hayato realizes Naru is Kakeru’s little sister. He remembers Kakeru being called the Mad Emperor of the Night because of his wild and crazy attitude. Hayato was involved in a fight with a group called Yanagihara Flame Birds (YFB) a year ago and that’s when he met Kakeru. He wanted Hayato to join them but he refused. Elsewhere, freelance writer Chitose sees Yuu Yoneda as she hands him a book to review by an author named Tama Izumi. While he is reading the book, he thought he spotted the author sitting across. He is convinced by Kakeru to go talk to her, even making a dirty joke as ice breaker. Not working. But she starts loosening up when he calls her sensei. They talk about the article she is writing and he had the cheek to insert another dirty question (the colour of her panties). She actually answered it (though she wasn’t smiling). Chitose realizes he has been had by Kakeru. Back at Alexander, Chitose learns that he slipped up and mixed up Tama Izumi with Hiyoko Tamaizumi. He rushes to inform Yuu about his slip up but accidentally sees Hiyoko changing. She gives him a dead stare. Don’t forget the slap too. That night, the party for Kinako’s farewell is held. Karuo, Chitose and Kakeru are the guys while the ladies are made up of Kinako, Eriko and Hiyoko. Chitose plays host and tries to cheer up the atmosphere especially Hiyoko who isn’t too fond of him. The rest thinks he is hitting on her but Kakeru notes they suit each other. Chitose says he is a fan of Hiyoko’s works and finds her latest work interesting (though he hasn’t read it yet). However Eriko says the latest one was gloomy and should’ve given an honest opinion. Hiyoko sinks into depression so Karuo changes the subject to bloomers. Chitose becomes a joker with bloomer jokes before rushing out to find one. Once outside, he is relieved that the world is at peace.

Episode 3
A pool kibasen event to start things off with yet another fanservice note. Tops are flying off! Chitose begins his part time job at Alexander and is put under Hiyoko’s guidance (she also works here). She is reluctant to do so but since Karuo mention she doesn’t hate him, there shouldn’t be any problem. Chitose admits he hasn’t read her work but she expresses even so, it made her very happy. She then gives him a bloody thick manual of Alexander to memorize! 1051 pages in total. F*ck!!! Hayato walks around with Naru to find her bicycle. She misinterprets he has schoolgirl uniform fetish and admits that she has a fetish for working clothes. They run into several YFB guys: Chickedon, BunnyD, Kazuma Morisato and the rapping LR2001. They let Hayato know that something big is going to happen tonight. Something about R-Wing is going to enforce their religion throughout the neighbourhood and YFB isn’t going to let them do what they like because they are lovers of peace and justice. They even have the logo of their group printed on their shirts underneath! Hayato sees off Naru at the train station. He wonders if she and her brother are on bad terms. She doesn’t know as they don’t live together in the first place. When she leaves, she drops her wallet but he manages to give it back to her. She purposely dropped her wallet so that he could call her first name. She is ready to receive her forehead flicking punishment but he pats her instead. Then she trips on her way, revealing her panties. That wasn’t on purpose, right? Hayato is caught between the fight of YFB and R-Wing led by Archbishop. YFB mocks and teases them and got them with hilarious pranks (fireworks?). Then the real brawl begins. Hayato sees Kuroudo Hariu in the midst just playing his congas and not wanting to stop the fight. Hariu insists he isn’t their leader or anything. Suddenly Kakeru appears and he wants to play with Raven (Hariu). Archbishop pulls out a gun and fires at his arm. Kakeru doesn’t feel any pain and goes crazy instead. Hayato struggles with Archbishop to get the gun off him. The distraction allows Kakeru to slam Archbishop’s head into the wall as he warns the small fry not to lay a finger on him. Kakeru and Hariu prepare to fight but Hayato comes in between to tell them to stop. If they don’t break up, he’ll shoot with the gun. He tells them off with some advice to get some sleep (Hariu) and to go see a doctor about his arm (Kakeru). They both back down and end tonight’s recreation.

Episode 4
What the hell is this 108 sexy chosen teachers trying to impede Asuka sensei to Takashi’s class?! Even if it doesn’t make sense, it must be for fanservice as usual. Hayato meets up with Naru for another round searching for her bicycle. She is not happy he is not wearing his work uniform. As punishment in addition for turning up late, she wants them to hold hands. But they run into Ai Kouda who proclaims herself to be Hayato’s wife. Things get complicated when Martinez and Alice shows up. Now they think he’s gay and into kids too (because Alice said she’ll take in all his desires). Hayato and Naru along with Ai continue the bicycle search and bump into the YFB guys. Hayato wants them to take Ai with her but they’re not interested. They let him know that R-Wings surrendered but Archbishop ran away from hospital so they’re on a hunt for him. Ai got this cool idea to check out R-Wings and rented a cram space at an internet cafe. Hayato can’t do his research in peace because the girls are trying to outdo each other by seducing him. They got kicked out. Once Hayato is done, he is shocked to see the girls undressing outside! They’re swapping clothes? Then they start fighting over him again and this time the cafe owner (a big ugly lady) throws them all out for illicit sexual activities. Elsewhere, Chitose offers to help Hiyoko trying to reach a box on top of the locker. She insists and falls down. Her ass on his face. I guess the impact of her beating up is so great that the box dropped down. Kakeru patrons Alexander as Eriko tries to get friendly with him but was told off not to touch him, especially his shoulder. He was about to hit her but Karuo warns him so he cools himself. Grumpy Kakeru leaves and a guy in a hat and coat soon follow suit. Chitose thinks he has forgotten to pay his bill when he dashes off upon seeing his face. Chitose and Hiyoko go after him. The guy gets violent swinging the chair. Chitose got hit in the head while protecting Hiyoko. Suddenly it’s like Chitose turned into another personality (Hayato?). He easily beats up this guy and says something about telling someone to get back into the cockpit. Hayato returns to his home and sleep. In a different world, he meets up with Chitose in a church to interrogate the latter. Something about not using Scramble for stupid things he did earlier. Chitose mentions he got quite a bit of Scramble from Takashi because of Guretagarudo. He doesn’t know how many times he was thrown into the cockpit. They note Takashi has got the hardest role although they have been evenly split with Takashi in the morning, Chitose getting the afternoon and Hayato the rest of the night. Furthermore, the trio are also known as hawk, eagle and falcon respectively.

Episode 5
Two and a half years ago, Takashi’s friends dared him to ask Asuka out. To everyone’s surprise, Asuka says okay. Outside, shy Takashi dismisses everything as a joke and doesn’t want people to get the wrong idea about them as lovers. Asuka understood what he meant and only helped him out because he looked pitiful and didn’t want others to use her for bullying. Finding out Takashi hasn’t got anyone he likes, she wishes to keep things as they are now. And that’s how their relationship started. In present, Takashi accidentally sees Asuka’s panties because she was standing on a higher ground. A student (probably an Asuka fan) accuses him for being a pervert and liar. Takashi starts coughing but the guy is going to beat him up. Asuka comes down to find out the commotion and even so it doesn’t matter because Takashi is her boyfriend. The jerk is being made to apologize to Takashi before running off in embarrassment. Then Asuka questions Takashi if he did see her panties. She’ll kill him if he did and if he lies, she’ll kill him too. Oh sh*t! In class, Masako Takauchi reminds Takashi about the graduation anthology they’re supposed to do but makes him do it all by himself. Suddenly Takashi is transported to another world. He goes by the name of Sir Hawk Cyan Blue and everyone in the hall gladly awaits his return. He goes up to the only princess in Guretagarudo with royal blood, Princess Asuka who tells him enemies have been closing in since his absence. The great strategist Garuda has been taken hostage while Sir Eagle and Sir Falcon are currently missing. Princess Asuka orders Hawk to head to the northern forest to rescue their troops from enemy hands. She also wants him to return alive so he can return to her side. Takashi returns to Earth and accidentally kicks the water bottle of Hariu who is sleeping nearby. He thought he is Falcon but realizes he is wrong. Realizing he is Asuka’s companion and her remarkable sense of hers laying eyes on him, he cannot speak any further since his lips are sealed. But he warns him he might cut his stomach open to retrieve the jewel he swallowed. I’m not sure if that was a joke either. Though Hariu finds him interesting because Asuka chose him, he doesn’t have any pity for guys like him and seeing him just wants to make him puke. Probably the shock was so great that Takashi starts coughing and transport to the other world again. Hawk rallies all the allies on his side to fight against the enemies. Everyone is praising Hawk and vow to stand by him. With everyone all fired up, they begin their counter attack.

Takashi is back home and didn’t realize his sister Kobato is sleeping in the living room. He turns on the lights to find her only wrapped in blanket. However Kobato doesn’t recognize who he is. He says that there is nobody else living here except them both. As Kobato goes to change, Takashi gets a surprise call from Asuka. At this time? Well, they’re dating right? So it shouldn’t be a problem. She wonders if he has found someone else. This makes him remember that Asuka told him she will gladly step down if he found someone else. Takashi wonders would it be better if they could be together for a little bit longer seeing he is going to vanish from this world. Next day in class, Takashi the class rep has a hard time holding everyone’s attention and cooperation for the graduation anthology. Takauchi takes over and ends the pathetic session to let everyone go. Nobody even gives a sh*t about him. Then another relapse for Takashi. This time Hawk is alone with Nameless Maid (Takauchi in this world and Princess Asuka’s, erm, maid). She wants to let him know her feelings even though she knows he belongs to the princess. She seduces him and the scene turns comical when Hawk notes about her boobs and comparing them to Asuka’s. Takashi doesn’t feel too good about this when Asuka invites him out to go shopping. He agrees and this brings relief to hear that. She notes that he has been avoiding their regular meetings and though he has been her boyfriend for the past 2.5 years, he has never asked her out once! She assumes he is trying to avoid her. Takashi denies and reminds her the time when she told him she generally hates most people and didn’t plan on going out on a date with anyone. But if she kept turning people down, they may start hating her so she thought it would be convenient if their relationship remained like this as a misunderstanding. Asuka realizes that because of this, she has been ignored for no reason for the past 2.5 years! She chides him if she just wants to ask him out then go ahead and that he didn’t even had the guts to ask her. Meanwhile Hayato sees a crowd. His worse fears come true when Martinez is taken away in an ambulance and Alice inconsolable.

Episode 6
Seems Martinez has been shot and from the description, it is by that guy in a hat and coat. Plus, he said he will kill Hayato. Pal-san tells Hayato and Alice that Martinez’s life is in no danger and should be discharge in a few days. Back in the other world, Hayato and Chitose are discussing that dangerous guy with a hat and coat is Archbishop. They have to be careful before Takashi and Kobato gets hurt. Hayato is filled with anger that he should’ve sliced that guy up but Chitose doesn’t want him to act rashly. Chitose returns to work at Alexander. As repayment for his bravery, Hiyoko takes a look at his wound and gives a new dressing. Chitose is caught between heaven and hell because in addition to lying on her lap and having a nice view of her undies, the sharp pain in his head is really painful. But he is happy to receive her ‘warm love’ and will not take it off for the rest of his life so Hiyoko changes her mind and tears it off his head. Naru surprises Hayato by wearing a cat outfit. In view that a mad guy is still lurking around, Hayato grabs her hand and promises to protect her. You can guess how she interprets this. He throws her into the train and advises her not to come to Yanagihara for the time being and that the search for her bicycle is put off for now. Hmm… Naru obediently understands… Hayato goes to see Kakeru in his club. He is here to warn him about Archbishop who is more than prepared to take anyone out. Kakeru feels confident he won’t lose since he has reliable bodyguards. Hayato tries to make him understand that those around them might be harmed, especially Naru. But Kakeru scoffs off that she is now just a stranger. Enraged Hayato grabs his collar but cools off. Hayato runs into Kobato who went out to buy some bread. She wishes for him to come home and eat dinner once in a while. Hayato continues looking for Archbishop and at a tunnel, Naru shows up. Didn’t she listen? Apparently when Hayato was advising her at the train, she misinterpreted all his words as romantic lines. I guess her lip reading is that bad, huh? Anyway she is disheartened that he isn’t in his work uniform. Their lively conversation is cut short when Archbishop finds them. He is going to make Hayato pay for the hell he is being put through. He shoots and the shot destroys the top part of Naru’s clothes. Hayato is filled with anger and a voice in his head telling him to smite the bastard. He regains himself and dashes towards Archbishop. Fast enough to knock a good punch in his face and causing him to miss his shot. Then praying with all his heart for the world to be at peace, the YFB guys come to take Archbishop away and Hayato sees Kakeru doing the same with Naru. So that guy still cares for his sister. In the car, Hayato reverts to another person. He is one of the throne successors of Guretagarudo, Garuda Darkblack or also known as Karura Itami. The admirable king has returned, claims he.

Episode 7
After a short break, I guess it’s back to the usual fanservice opening with the girls being told to add more fanservice to show more skin. Miya Yamashina would gladly do all those stuff in front of TV and even dresses in a scantily dangerous, I’m not sure if that is even proper clothing she’s wearing. Then they tie her up and they proceed to play Twister. Karura trades places with Hayato as the latter is seen plunging into the abyss while Karura rises up. He is bewildered that his country has been invaded by strange culture and buildings. A country now called Japan. He speaks with his vanguard, Phoenix Flare Gold (Kakeru). He notes he has been observing Kakeru and Chitose during his absence. Because Karura looks too much like Hayato, he needs to do something about his appearance. His drawing of his own self is horrible but Kakeru got the goods to make him look much better. I’m not sure what is this all about because Karura, Kakeru and the other YFB guys (including several R-Wing members) are holding a Christmas picnic right in the middle of the walkway! Karura doesn’t seem to know the snowman in this world is just a statue and not the real fearsome Snowman he knows back in his world. Yeah, he got frustrated since it is not listening to him. The YFB guys cool him down as Kakeru tells them he is their new emperor. The other guys aren’t happy this place is swarming with lovey-dovey couples so LR2001 suggests to go rape some b*tches. Karura is interested in that topic and wants to find out more! Reading a book on reproductive organs, he concludes he wants to ejaculate!!! Then this guy called Platinum came by to introduce his 71st girlfriend (WTF?!) but Karura thought he ejaculated and starts throwing a cake in his face. Then everybody starts throwing cake in public and the battle heats up with Hariu joining the fray. I don’t know why but they’re singing a dirty song too!!! Karura sees Kobato in the crowd and remembers her, Princess Dove, the daughter of the late king as the person he must protect. He ends the food fight and wishes to return to his castle.

Well, I guess you can say a man’s home is his castle so back at Kobato’s home, she recognizes him as Karura. The funny part is when Kobato tells him to take off his shoes, he starts stripping everything! Thankfully he didn’t get that far. Kobato doesn’t blame him for anything and Karura gets this warm feeling inside each time she smiles. He remembers the people of this town calls it love. Then he asks her to have sex with him! I guess she’s confused so he continues his harassment by squeezing her boobs! Sick king. Once that is over, she advises him not to touch a woman’s body indiscreetly and staying overnight without telling anyone worries the family. Karura assures her that since he has returned, he has no intention of returning this body to him as it will be his for eternity. The troublesome substitute will never happen again. Kobato is worried about the others so Karura is sure that his other brothers won’t rise again. Kobato gets distraught and that it’s not about Takashi, Chitose or Hayato she’s talking about but her real brother. The one who was there from the very beginning and not the different people who showed up afterwards. Kobato composes herself and mentions about her brother confining himself on his own accord and that no one else is to blame. She thought if she behaved as a good girl, he would come back but I guess she concludes she’s not, the reason for him not appearing. Seeing the tears in her eyes, Karura notes how they parted when she’s still young and she’s still waiting the day they’ll be reunited. A day that will never come. He wanted to help her even though he is only good at nothing and beating up others. Thus he decides to make her wish come true even if it costs him his life. That is because they are existences that were born in order to prevent her from becoming sad. He apologizes he couldn’t keep Phoenix’s promise and hopes Kobato’s world will be at peace. Karura falls back down the abyss and trades back places with Hayato.

Episode 8
This Takashi-look-alike, Youji Haneda is watching reruns of all the fanservice we’ve seen in the beginnings of this series. Karura crashes down and notes him as their great predecessor who disgracefully stepped down and their father. He wants him to return to Guretagarudo but he isn’t budging. Hayato and Chitose talk about how a priest told them when they are about to be swallowed by anger or hate, they should recite a chant to calm their heart, “May the world be at peace”. Chitose also notes another problem in the form of Youji. He is Kobato’s real brother. Up till now they’ve done their best for Takashi and never thought there was someone before them. Kinako patrons Alexander on her time off and along with Eriko, they make some bad puns. Since Karuo keep insisting about the big breast cream girl with star hairpin (Hiyoko), Chitose just tells him off she is out of stock. What he didn’t know was she heard it. Oh sh*t. Hiyoko forgot she had him remember Alexander’s manual (he did it actually!) so he gives her that dead stare. Kakeru comes in and notes how Karura disappeared so fast after having waited for so long. He plans to observe Chitose from now on. Martinez is discharged and he thinks Hayato is giving him his feelings with the ring he tossed him. Actually it’s believed to preserve life. At least that’s what the vendor said. Since he doesn’t want it, Hayato gives the ring to Alice who vows to make him happy but causing Naru to cast jealous stares. Hayato narrates they were born to protect Takashi who got the hardest part. Once Takashi graduates, they’ll send him to a hospital for medical check-up by using all the money and knowledge they have stocked up for this purpose. After that, they will hand over the cockpit to him and disappear. Takashi passes by a stall that Yamashina runs. She apologizes for making him stop since it’s his last day of exams. In the train station, Takashi sees Hariu. The latter is asking to be invited again but he’s telling it to the king, not Takashi. Plus, Hariu doesn’t know who this kid is.

In the other world, Hawk is in the woods and meets witch named Sparrow (Yamashina). He requests her to lend her assistance as he takes on all the winged enemies. At the end of the battle, he has taken too much poison and the only way Sparrow could cure it is to… Have sex???!!! At least that is what it looks like. If not, why the hell they got naked and a big blinding white censor across the scene? Oh yeah, the ‘poison’ did come out alright. Takashi laments being summoned before the test is bad. Asuka thought he did badly. Because Takashi worries about Yamashina being absent in class, Asuka gets jealous that he cares for other girls and not his girlfriend. So to lift her bad mood, he has to ask her out. So for the first time in 2.5 years, he asked her out to the arcade. As Takashi is about to leave class, Takauchi wants him to do a task today. He can’t seeing he has plans but she insists about his selfishness and should think about HER circumstances. She forces him to meet at 1pm but Takashi accidentally trips over her and in an ambiguous position. Asuka comes in but didn’t see what happened. Takauchi uses this to blackmail Takashi. Then she tells Asuka about the messed up boyfriend she has. Since she doesn’t show him her panties he looks at others. Takashi apologizes that he can’t go out with Asuka today. Then he starts coughing and on the verge of transporting to Guretagarudo. He says he will be back since they don’t have wings. Asuka is amazed at what she saw and thinks this guy is the real deal. Chitose now occupies Takashi’s body and plans to play along but Asuka asks where is Takashi’s whereabouts. She wonders if this is what they call multiple personalities.

Episode 9
Asuka can tell this isn’t the Takashi she knew. After all, she has seen this kind of thing for the past few years. She knows Takashi so well that she could say she knows him better than anyone! Chitose is forced to explain things because Asuka wants to help Takashi. But Chitose requests she keeps this a secret from Takashi seeing he doesn’t know there are others apart from him inside this body. When Chitose returns to meet Hayato, the latter isn’t pleased he has divulged their secret. Chitose did so because they themselves do not have much time either. Since Takashi hasn’t come back from Guretagarudo, they do rock-scissors-paper to take turns controlling Takashi’s body. Looks like it’s Chitose again as he has breakfast with Kobato. She is sad that with so many people coming like this, they’ll all disappear eventually. For the next few days, Chitose tries to act like Takashi. So unnatural. Hariu sees Takashi and notes that there are others too. It’s getting interesting for him. Suddenly Yamashina pops up and she’s bloody excited. She’s so scatterbrain that you can’t understand what she’s yelping about. Apparently that steamy thing she did with Takashi. Oh sh*t. Everyone’s listening! Well actually it turns out to be fortune telling which turned out accurate. Disappointed? Asuka is annoyed by the turn of events and calls Chitose with made up names. Asuka wants to speak with the real Takashi but Chitose doesn’t really know when he’ll return so assume him as Takashi. She wants to smack his head. Chitose finally reverts to his original body and continues his work at Alexander. Since it is nearly Christmas Eve, Karuo thinks of using his secret weapon to attract customers: The idol duo called Alex 2 and is made up of Kinako and Eriko. Well, the promo events seem to be a hit with fans. Chitose mentions there is a raw diamond among them he should consider. Hiyoko blushes thinking he is referring to her. But in actual fact, Chitose is referring to himself! He looks hideous cross-dressed as an idol. Boo! As Hiyoko changes clothes, she overhears Chitose, Kinako and Eriko talking about Chitose’s review of her work in a magazine. Chitose is really complimenting it but Eriko gives her honest opinion. She doesn’t like it. It’s a disappointment. Her previous work is better and shouldn’t be overstepping herself and just write about what she does best in the earlier works. Besides, this second volume didn’t sell well. Hiyoko comes out and thanks their thoughts in which she will use it as a reference for future works. Eriko continues to berate her that she has lost her charm. Chitose still feels her work is good though. Kinako thought Eriko was being mean but she insists it’s better to give an honest opinion rather than to lie.

Elsewhere, Hayato, Naru and Ai come rushing to Kazuma. He seems to have found Naru’s bicycle. Apparently it’s the wrong one. Then several R-Wing members pass by and they want to help look for the bicycle as thanks to Hayato because of what he did to put an end to Archbishop’s rampage. Kazuma can’t let this slide and contacts the other YFB guys to see who will find Naru’s bicycle first. Hayato and Naru return to Pal-san and Alice. They learn it is not the bicycle she is particular about but a pocket bell (some sort of pager) she left in its basket. It was a present she received from her mom and due to family circumstances, she leaves away from her. No one except her mom knows the personal details of that pocket bell. Hayato vows to find it so Alice thinks of using her father’s influence and vast resources to conduct and international search! Too much! She thinks an organization is behind it seeing she has seen several people carting off bicycles on their truck. Pal-san notes they are city council workers. Then it hit them. Since Naru has recently returned from overseas, city council may have towed away her bicycle that has been parked there for a long time. Next day, Hayato takes Naru to the bicycle compound where she finds her bicycle. She is so happy upon retrieving her pocket bell that she has a race with Hayato to the city. Bicycle versus feet? The winner is obvious, eh? Meanwhile YFB and R-Wing continue their competition but why the heck are they gathering piles of bicycle?! They’re still at it…

Episode 10
It’s Hayato’s turn to be Takashi and Asuka isn’t happy another fake one pops up. She warns him not to talk casually with her because she feels like smashing his head. She can say that while smiling?! Scary. In class, nobody gives a damn about Takashi (Hayato) who is supposed to assign roles for the graduation anthology. Hayato is a tough guy so he just assigns task to the class. They are not happy but Hayato f*cks them all off to do it! Takauchi is smitten by his fierceness and accepts his decision. She likes this kind of guys? No wonder she hates the real and weak Takashi. Later Asuka confronts Hayato and warns him she expects the real Takashi to pop up tomorrow. Or else. Yeah, disgusted Hayato feels he wants to rape her! Hariu is fascinated there are others more inside this body and thinks it’ll be fun playing with him. Later as Hayato returns to his original body, he is being invited by Naru to a luxurious indoor pool (her father’s company owns this place) as thanks for finding her bicycle. Oh, be careful not to let her bicycle get tow away again. Naru also invites Ai, Pal-san and Alice. Alice steals Ai’s pads so she could seduce Hayato with her eroticism but it just made her boobs uneven. Plus, Ai felt ‘lost’ after realizing she can’t beat Pal-san’s humungous melons. As they part, Hayato is disheartened that Naru and Ai stop by Alexander for desserts. Hayato gives excuses to hide himself so Eriko and Karuo wouldn’t recognize him. Then underneath the table, he forcefully switches to Chitose. While the girls are talking about Kakeru being featured in the magazine, Chitose slips away and hopes no one will spot him. Unfortunately Eriko did and thinks he is here to show off his girlfriend. Karuo also finds out so Chitose pleads to keep this a secret. Too bad they purposely let Hiyoko find out and the kind of reaction she puts up, it’s like as though she’s jealous. They hear Naru and Ai praising her recently released volume and they get excited upon reading the compliments of the magazine review. Chitose purposely makes Hiyoko meet her dedicated fans and both girls become ecstatic eager beavers to meet their admired author. After they leave, Hiyoko though happy to see earnest readers like them, it is exactly that she doesn’t have the courage to publish her third. She is worried it would end up disappointing. Chitose cheers her up by reminding her of her own words that she said she would be happy if only 1 person read her works. He suggests to let those girls read them first. Of course he will too as he is her biggest fan. Chitose walks into Alexander to see Eriko and Kinako still doing that Alex 2 pose. Then Hiyoko comes in. She is brimming with confidence as she confronts Eriko. She gives her a piece of her mind how her words hurt her so much back then that she wasn’t able to publish her third volume that she has finished a long time ago. When she was new here, Eriko was kind to her but now all she does is scold and preach. She wants to be like the old times. She wants to join Alex 2! Is that what it’s all about? The girls have an emotional reconciliation and to celebrate the birth of Alex 3, they put on an idol show. Later Hiyoko thanks Chitose for giving her the courage. Though he says he is her fan, she hopes he could be her fan forever. Asuka spots how happy the duo are and isn’t happy.

Episode 11
Hawk and Princess Asuka combine their powers to ward off enemies till they emerge victorious and earn the praise of their people. Takashi goes to school and to Asuka’s happiness, the real one is back and not some fake persona. As they talk, Takashi learns that Takauchi did and complete the graduation anthology herself. In class, Hariu whisks him away to discuss about imouto moe! WTF?! Apparently Kakeru is a pro in this area and though Hariu didn’t want to compete with him, he felt disgusted if there is an area he is not good at. So as they discuss the various types of imouto moe, chatty Yamashina joins in. However the imouto moe types she listed was a real sister, something that must be avoided for this category. Huh? Anyway, I don’t understand their discussion. Same case with Asuka. Takauchi seems to be friendlier with Takashi and notes he was quite cool yesterday. As Takashi and Asuka walk home together, they pass by Yuu who sees Takashi as Chitose. She is commenting about his school uniform so jealous Asuka takes him away before he develops a fetish for office ladies. To make it up for her, Takashi goes to buy crepe at Pal-san’s stall but she and Alice sees him as Hayato. Never mind the crepe then. Everywhere else they go, other characters in the series see Takashi as either Chitose or Hayato. Doppelgangers? Yeah right. Asuka needs to talk to him and invites her to her home (she lives alone). She asks him what is Guretagarudo. She heard it from the day they made their promise. Looks like his secret is out. Takashi tells her everything so she assures him she hasn’t told anyone. She wants him to quickly finish up this story because all stories end right? But it’s not easy as he is still fighting to retrieve peace for that world. Asuka wants him to choose which world he prefers so he says Guretagarudo. Asuka gets dejected but he continues the people of that world aren’t well off and needs him. Asuka tells him he had an imaginary younger brother called Asumu. Her parents weren’t always home and talking to other kids weren’t fun so she created him. She had fun with him and because of Asumu, she got to do things that she once hated. The point? Asumu is to Asuka just like what Guretagarudo is to Takashi. It is just a fiction of his imagination. Takashi insists that place does exist so Asuka shows him something. Putting in an old RPG video game called Wing Quest, it is about a group of heroes gathered by the holy knight Hawk to bring back peace to Guretagarudo that was destroyed by a group called Hunters. And the player can change the name of the princess so Takashi must have chosen Asuka’s. Takashi couldn’t accept this reality because he still thinks Guretagarudo is real.

So back in Guretagarudo (or at least Takashi’s mind), Hawk is confronting Princess Asuka over her betrayal even though his feelings for her was genuine. She turns into another form and fights him. Takashi faints and Chitose takes his place. He says Takashi may not be coming back. He concludes that the reason why Asuka chose Takashi instead of any other boys is that she sympathizes with someone who was hurt in a similar way. Asuka isn’t going to end it like this because there are many other things she wants to say to him. How to bring him back? Keep punching his face till he returns! Woah! She can’t be serious! Violent woman! Chitose can’t take the pain and switches with Hayato! But even her punches are too much that Hayato switches back! The switching goes back and forth several times till Karura takes over! Hell is about to break loose with the return of this king but Asuka punches him back to the abyss!!! He didn’t even last long! Oh, this girl! Asuka says the reason she talked to him wasn’t to make him forsake his fantasy. If going to another world and getting something good out of it, then it’s fine. Before she had Asumu, she hardly smiled. Now she’s smiling. The point is, it’s the important things that they need to get through life. Takashi/Hawk still remains pessimistic because he doesn’t have wings like her. Punching him again, she tells him even without wings, he can still come back to her because she wants to be with him longer. She envies him for being able to go to another world unlike her. Even if he does go meet Princess Asuka, but at least take care of this Asuka too. With that, Takashi is back. Yeah, his face is totally bruised. So it’s true that you need to punch a guy many times to get him back. Takashi now accepts Guretagarudo does not exist and when he returns to his own room, he sees the bank passbooks left behind by Chitose and Hayato. But Takashi notes he is not fighting anything nor has he saved anyone. Next morning, Takashi and Kobato head off in Kakeru’s van.

Episode 12
Resting at a park bench, Takashi remembers Kobato’s mom was an unstable person. Because of that their father couldn’t live together but mom always beat up Youji for being too close to Kobato as she sees a reflection of him in Youji. Takashi remembers the day he learnt of Guretagarudo’s non-existence, he talked to his other self and found out the reason for his existence. When Youji hid and shut himself in the abyss, the kind and invincible hero Takashi was born. Each time he felt incompetent or couldn’t bear the pain in his heart, he would quickly escape to the world in Wing Quest, a game he often used to play. Chitose and Hayato were 2 people he created to support Takashi. He feels they need to get Youji back for Kobato and that is by making him face his past. At the church, Takashi/Youji starts experiencing pain. Youji wanted to protect Kobato from her crazy mom so he killed her with his own hands. Of course he felt no one would forgive him and deserved to be punished by going to hell. But he doesn’t want to go to hell and wanted to be with everyone. Despite that, he thought it was better for him to stay down here in the abyss and forget everything. Kobato chants “May the world be at peace” to snap him out of it. She tells him about the kind priest who once took care of them and was told to give him a letter once he remembers everything. Inside, a newspaper clipping that states their mom committed suicide by poisoning herself. Takashi thought he killed her but apparently she survived and was hospitalized. Though Takashi feels what he did didn’t make a difference, Kobato notes he protected her that time. Because of that, she was able to grow up as she is now and hopes he would forgive himself. Youji rises from the abyss. Next morning, Youji and Kobato prepare to head to school. They meet Kobato’s friend, Akira Kikawa who seems to take a liking for her brother. Youji goes round to explain what happened to all those involved. This includes the people at Alexander (did Karuo purposely twisted his words?). Kakeru wanted Youji to let him see Karura as thanks but his impersonation sucks. Then visiting Pal-san, he thinks of stopping his handyman job. But Pal-san still makes him clean her car. Yeah, Hayato’s debts won’t vanish just because he changed name. Alice also feels Hayato won’t forget her seductive body and shows him her undies! This girl has no shame. Why, Martinez also wants to do him in!

In the bumpy train ride, Misaki Hayashida accidentally bumps into Youji. She bites her tongue each time she wants to apologize. Because Youji is having cold feet about calling Asuka, she gives him the courage and confident to do so. Youji meets Yamashina (still f*cking chatty is she. STFU!) and Hariu who is no longer interested in imouto moe. He admits Kakeru is of a different level as he desires the forbidden fruit. In short, he is going after his real sister Kobato! Youji calls Yuu about his last manuscript and she’ll be waiting if he feels like doing another one. Then he bumps into Takauchi who teases him about getting hard but wants him to make that call quick. Youji calls Kazuma, supposedly his best friend who has heard everything from Kakeru. I’m not sure about this but Youji is willing to engage in some same sex unrequited love with him?! WTF?! Youji also told him something that has been annoying him all this time: Kazuma’s long hair. Of course he didn’t like that. Ai and YFB guys hijack Youji’s call and are going to teach Kazuma a good lesson. By the way, they are just a flight of stairs away from each other. Start running! Probably the reason why Youji is grateful to Kazuma is because without him, he wasn’t able to meet Ai. Then the biggest demon of all appears: Asuka. She is not happy another fake persona showed up. Youji tries to be cool but Asuka didn’t like him ruining Takashi’s image. So how? She punches him! That should work, right? Life returns to normal for everyone. Youji still does his part time job at Alexander and from time to time dons the work clothes Naru loves so much. He is also moving on with his life and reading a book called clinical psychology to help with his ISH (Inner Self Helper) to help with his multiple personalities. Youji goes to school with Kobato but is ambushed by Asuka. She hugs him in hopes Takashi will come out. While Kobato wouldn’t mind having a big sister like her if she marries her big brother, in that distraction Naru cuts in and thinks of kissing him to bring Hayato out. While Asuka and Kobato restrain her puckering lips, Hiyoko steals the guy and seeks his advice about her fourth publishing and redoing her second work. As she thanks him, she is able to bring out Chitose so the other girls aren’t happy about her success and start fighting over him.

OVA
The motivation to buy the OVA for this kind of genre is the full fanservice, right? Oh yeah! But we have a false start because we see the naked skin of Takashi, Chitose and Hayato in the hotspring! ARGH! MY EYES!!! MY EYES!!! It could even get yaoi at this bloody point?! So back to some real fanservice after that ‘bad joke’. At Alexander, clumsy Hayashida is the part time staff because everybody else has left for the hotspring. Yuu visits and talks to Karuo. I guess his horny hormones is working up because he is making sexual harassment comments and wants girls to apply by sending it to his part ‘down there’. In exchange for letting Kinako and the rest go to the hotspring, they agree to send him back a picture of the hot bath. A picture he soon gets but it is a monkey taking a dip! Haha! However… Karuo believes this is Kinako’s true naked form and is bloody hairy!!! Is he blind?! At the hotspring, the monkey is violating Kinako while Eriko and Hiyoko are licking ice cream like… You go imagine. Nearby, the group of Asuka, Takauchi and Yamashina are also here. It seems due to a rumour on the website, there is a female ghost in this place and if you see her, your love blessings will increase. Likewise, Kobato, Alice and Kikawa are the other group talking about this rumour and it’s the same case for the group of Pal-san, Naru and Ai (why is Pal-san giving the duo some sort of stimulating foot massage?). All this talk about this ghost is probably just a distraction because you’ll feast your eyes on the various fanservice provided while the girls are talking about it. That night when all the groups prepare to take a dip in the hotspring, Kinako gets drunk. Naru and Ai thought they heard the ghost and got their shampoos ready. Naru is assaulted by Kinako who thinks she is Hiyoko (her boobs shrunk? That should be a dead giveaway). Naru and Ai retaliates by shooting shampoo over her. It stings the eyes! Takauchi gets hyped up thinking she has heard the ghost but shampoo got into her eyes so she takes it out on Asuka and Yamashina (boobs squeezing?). Meanwhile back at Alexander, Karuo is starting to see this monkey in Kinako and thinks he needs to see a real body of a woman in order to keep himself a human! I think he’s already a beast. Elsewhere, we see Kakeru as the one responsible for writing up that ghost rumour and he is furiously cooking up more for entertainment. Kazuma tried to peep on the girls but fell of the rocks. At the end when all the girls return to their room, some disappointed, some felt it was nothing much, our main heroines of Asuka, Hiyoko, Naru and Kobato spot somebody familiar outside looking up at the moon. They rush down to go see him. Well, whoever it is, we’ll leave it to your imagination.

Clipped Wings…
So… The entire story was just about a kid who was traumatized by killing his own mom to protect his sister. He couldn’t face the truth and hid in his own world while creating a bunch of split personalities to carry on with his life. Yeah, that should summarize this series in a nutshell. Therefore the confusion of us viewers seeing different faces when actually it was the same face all along adds to the confusion of it all. Because to everyone else, they saw the same face: Youji. At least with this revelation, it clears up the air on certain stuff. I mean, the main trio guys never really meet unless it is in that fantasy land so by putting together all the pieces, I’m sure this split personality thing makes sense. Really, how can you go to the other fantasy world that does not exist by just switching bodies?

Adding more characters into it only serves to confuse and distract everything. I mean take for instance that Hariu guy. The way he talks and everything seems like he knows something about the split personalities. Then I don’t understand what happened to have him talk something on imouto moe and in the end, it didn’t amount to anything much, right? Same case for those YFB guys and the ex-R-Wing members. The former seem like a bunch of dropouts going around and ‘protecting’ the city they love. I don’t even know what the latter’s plans are. After Archbishop’s flop and failure to get his revenge, you’ll never hear of him again. Alice is just a foreigner kid bumming around not afraid to show off her womanly charms. Has she learnt any shame not to show off her pantsu in public? Throughout the series there is this character called DJ Condor which only appears at the beginning (for fanservice mentions) or the next episode preview. I don’t know what his role is unless he is just like the host preparing viewers to tune into this so called channel.

Albeit much of the story and plot is confusing, I have to admit there were a couple of very funny and laugh out loud moments. For instance when Hawk was rallying his allies against the enemy forces. The funniest part was how everybody’s name or title came up onscreen. At first I thought this bugger was going to be somebody major seeing the producer even put up his name on the screen. And when too many popped up and the more ridiculous it sounds, I felt that there was something wrong. Then before I realized it, I started laughing so hard at all the ridiculous titles I see on screen. How could you not laugh to have warriors with names like “Kiss Me Right Now” or even “The Street Corner That Wets Lovers”! How absurd can it get?! Besides, some of the avatars were really funny. Besides cute kitty cats, rock stars (was that Freddie Mercury?) and cross-dressing freaks, we’ve got warriors that have the same face! Truly a funny moment. Another funniest moment is when Karura wrecks havoc in town as he starts his dirty singing and cake throwing in public. Definitely a WTF moment to behold but it was too funny for me to hold back and just let the laughter out.

Of course the major motivation or reason why anybody would want to watch this is the fanservice. So if you don’t get the plot or what is going on, just let your mind enjoy the fanservice. While some fanservice scenes are slipped through, the more dangerous ones are being censored with a yellow streak of line that says “Keep out!”. It’s like a crime scene and you are forbidden to go any further! I’m sure if you buy the Blu-Ray discs, you won’t have any of those annoying lines. But can you really consider this series to be a harem because well, even though it may be the same person’s body but the girls like a different guy.

Seeing that the theme of this series is about split personalities and multiple personality disorders, besides out main hero, some of the other characters too have another side. Take Kakeru for example. Without his make-up as the crazy Mad Emperor of the Night, he is the kind of guy who is cold, unfriendly and keeping his distance. One night falls, he turns totally into a different person, what more the leader of the YFB gang. Maybe that is why he sticks around with Hayato (or Youji, depending on how you view it) but prefers Karura because of his wilder sense. Yamashina also has a different side because on one hand she may look like the quiet girl but when she turns into a talkative scatterbrain, full stop or commas are not in her dictionary. That Takauchi girl may not have a split personality but after knowing how tough Takashi becomes, she treats him better. But this Youji guy must be one heck of an influential guy because of his presence around Yanagihara, he makes contact with lots of people and in a way helps them out. Who knows in addition to the main quartet of heroines, how many other lives he has touched. He may even have more split personalities. For each of the heroines, they see a different side to this Youji kid and probably that’s why they started liking this same guy in their own ways. Hmm… Maybe it isn’t the outer appearance that they fell for but rather the personality. So it’s the inside that counts, right?

On a trivial note, each of the episode title is in the form of a graffiti. Seeing them being laid out as a scribble on the street, wall or post is quite creative. But sometimes the writing can get too scrawl or doodle-like that I can’t make out what it says. Sometimes I may just even miss it because I didn’t even know there was some sort of a writing there. Also another thing about the episode titles is that they tend to be taken from a dialogue line somewhere within that episode. It may not be the exact same words but it will be along that line. So you may feel somewhat familiar if you hear the character saying something which is similar to the episode title. Otherwise, I don’t even understand what the title has got to do with the plot of that episode. It’s just something random, I guess.

I suppose everyone’s mind is like a TV channel in which they can tune into another channel to find the programme they want to see. A deeper meaning is that all of us tend to view the world and things around us with our stereotypic perceptions. A person may look like somebody we would normal think of until we see the other side. Mostly we would be surprise by a behaviour we would never expect to see. There are always 2 sides to a coin. Once you are tired of watching the same ol’ reruns and boring TV programmes, just switch off the channel and go outside to play. That’ll give you a refreshing view. But excuse me while I try to find a channel wave that consists of lots of 2D beauties…