Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime Gyu! 16
Preparations for the play are just about finished up. Miruro's helping out paint -- "Thank you, Kyukyu and Pyupyu". She got a line! It's about time ;) Meanwhile, practice is going on, lead by choukantoku Pumo. Toma's a great actor, and so is Shade. Toma doesn't really have to try as hard since the play's story is his own. One of his friends, Dario, betrayed him and he was forced to flee the castle. Toma gets into it a bit too much and does an adlib, saying he'll come back and triumph over Dario, instead of you're my friend forever and such.
Practice gets back underway with Toma going to a village, where Fine and Rein make their appearance.... it's so bad even Toma can't find anything to say (^^;;) The choukantoku isn't satisfied at all with the flat delivery of their lines and those hideous "smiles", showing them how to do it the right away. Fine and Rein go to Toma for advice -- he says just to smile as you usually do, but they still can't quite do it right. Elizabert, inside the monument, is tired of waiting for her chance to shine onstage. She doesn't like being the monument anyways. Pumo and Chiffon put on an act, saying Elizabert's got the last line so it's an important role, and Fine and Rein join in saying they wish they had gotten that role.. Elizabert falls for it (^^;;) Practice starts up again with Sophie's debut, and she's quite a good actress, and then they finally end after Toma makes up with his friends, with Elizabert getting the last medetashi, medetashi. Fine and Rein screw it up as usual, though... after having a laugh at the rather dispirited Pumo, Fine and Rein realize they should smile just like they did, thanks to what Toma told them with his warm smile.
Toma talks to the painting again.. he's going to show them that neither friends nor smiles are necessary once the play starts...
The play gets underway, and Miruro gets yet another line! :) Fine and Rein change into their costumes, leaving everything else in the dressing room. Toma's bats emerge from a mirror and take their Bell Charms... Back at the play, Lemon's got the stage to herself doing her usual comedy routine. Pyupyu and Kyukyu are messing with the lights, messing things up that much more until Leonne finally gets the lighting fixed. When Fine and Rein make it backstage, a large amount of those bats suddenly appear, blocking their way onstage....
Toma emerges from the bats with Fine and Rein's Bell Charms, showing himself to be the one behind the monsters. Now they know what it's like to be betrayed by a friend. It's their fault for believing him... Toma goes onstange and does a monologue -- no one's coming to help him, he won't believe in friends anymore.. and here it comes -- friends aren't needed in this world... Fine and Rein can't believe that Toma, who seemed to be having so much fun and who taught them how to smile, could say something like that... They join hands and decide to try and get onstage -- they know Toma doesn't really believe that friends aren't necessary. With Shade's help Fine and Rein make it onstage.
Fine and Rein want to help Toma out, but Toma says they can't understand the pain he's been through. Of course they can't understand, but they want to help him feel better... Toma remembers a couple of girls who look very much like Fine and Rein saying that to him when he was in that village. Toma didn't believe any of what they said since he thought they'd betray him just like Dario and his other friends did.... So Fine and Rein are doing this for him? There's got to be some ulterior motive to it.. Bright and Altessa cut through the bats on their side of the stage, and Sophie and Lemon come onstage as well. Bright, as one who once was on the dark side, knows what it's like, but Fine and Rein along with his other friends saved him... There wasn't anybody that would help Toma out, though... but there was -- those two village girls.. He was scared of being betrayed, but he really did want friends... The bats disappear and the audience gives a round of applause.
But as Toma extends a hand to Fine and Rein, the evil darkness that was controlling him comes out, saying Toma's been worthless and his work with him is done, then the darkness spreads through the aisles. Toma gives Fine and Rein their Bell Charms and they do the usual, getting rid of the darkness rather quickly (no song this time).
Toma didn't know exactly what was going on, but he was being ordered by someone.. Fine and Rein are glad he's okay and do the yokatta dance, then Elizabert makes her appearance with medetashi, medetashi (cue the insert song).
Fine and Rein and the rest see off Toma at the train station. He's going back to that village to start things over from scratch and do it right this time, and after that he'll come back. Toma tells Fine and Rein that he was being ordered to control those monsters by something, but he can't remember much of what went on. Something is hiding in the school, though, so they need to take care.
In the hidden room behind a mirror in the school, the voice of the painting speaks -- he's not going to let the Universal Princesses end things like this....
And so the real enemy has finally shown itself, though we still don't know much about it. Like Bright in the first season, Toma was simply being controlled since he let that darkness from his feelings of being betrayed by his friends get into his heart (he made a much, much better evil character than Bright, though). But as usual, Fine and Rein were able to rescue him from that darkness as they did Bright and many others. It's too bad Toma's leaving now since he had just gotten to be an interesting and rather amusing character, but hopefully it won't be too long before he comes back. We won't be hearing anymore of those recently hilarious "hitsuyou nai" lines from him, though, but oh well ;)
Satou Jun'ichi, the chief director, did the storyboard this time, and it shows since this was the best episode so far hands down. Toma's feelings were shown very well, overlapping his story with the play, and many of the characters that have been ignored recently got a chance to show off, be it Lemon's comedy act in the middle of the play, and even Miruro getting a couple of lines for the first time in quite a while. GJ!
Now, what could be in store for us next? Will that evil start possessing other characters like it did Toma? I know since I read the summaries ;) For those worried that you wouldn't see the Fushigiboshi again this season, I'll go ahead and say that summer break is coming up soon, so Fine and Rein will be going back home. There's also this poster promoting new developments that will be starting in the 3rd quarter of the show. There's a couple of new characters (Ah, so that's what that is...) and also new dresses for Fine and Rein:
Next time, looks like everybody's going to have to run an obstacle course. Fine should be... fine, but I don't know about Rein.
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