Ah My Goddess TV - 02

I don't know if I can remember seeing the nature (and appeal) of a wish put so plainly before: "If you want to destroy the world, we can do that too."

It's played for laughs, but I think it's fundamental to the scene. Belldandy is offering Keiichi, as a reward for his unselfish nature, a moment of ultimate selfishness. Only she doesn't mean it; watch her backpedal. ("Of course, we wouldn't come to people who would do that.") She doesn't actually expect Keiichi to take the chance, which is why she's so staggered when he does.

That's another new thing. I don't think Belldandy likes the premise of her show anymore. I remember her, last time around, being basically unfazed by Keiichi turning her life upside down; this time, the mask drops for just long enough to make it clear it's a mask.

Not to mention that Keiichi knows exactly what he's doing. This time, that little theory about his buddies playing a joke on him isn't the crux of the scene, it's tossed off just for a moment. At first, I almost thought it was just a little bit of fanservice - an allusion to the earlier series, rather than an actual plot point. Keiichi believes that Belldandy's the real thing, from the very beginning. He decides, right there, to bind Belldandy to himself. (Ultimate selfishness, right? He understood perfectly.)

Not that he's going to admit it, of course. I fully expect that, by the end of the season, he'll have declared at least once that he thought he was just playing along with a prank, and hey - since I'm the only one with footage of the scene, some of the other characters might even believe him.

It's going to be interesting, also, to see how long Gohda keeps Belldandy and Keiichi literally inseparable. He's already suggested it's not permanent - in that scene where Keiichi's helmet catches on Bell's clothes, and it holds them together just until it's not inconvenient anymore. I have a feeling Bell's delighted "Ah! It came off!" is going to get funnier and funnier as I see more of this show. (She's really happy. Do you suppose she saw the symbolism too?)

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