Going....DOWN?! Queen Erisel tells the girls to
"Hurry to the Underworld"...which sounds like an awfully _polite_ way of
telling someone to "Go to Hell!" :P But no, seriously, it turns out that
there are _five_ Crystal Flowers ("Oh...didn't I mention that?") and that the
second one that must be retrieved is in the Underworld. So she calls upon an
"expert" to open the portal this time (since she was the one who caused that
"incident" with Cerberus in the last episode (boy, the Queen is just _off_
lately, isn't she?))--Gaga! And Gaga seemed to have a little TOO much fun
opening the portal up underneath his mistress really suddenly and scaring her
to death... They're gonna need a chiropractor after THIS
adventure (or Cube, at least--see later.) _Ouch_.
Talk about a rough landing! Sure, "any crash you can walk away from", but I
don't think knees are supposed to bend _that_ direction... How tacky! Hell sure doesn't live up to its
reputation... Lousy decorating sense. Grenda explains why Hell
looks this way now, and she's totally ashamed that it's not dark and horrible the
way it should be. Other pictures from her rant: It should be
a cause of fear! and WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON
AROUND HERE?! "You don't know either, do you?" Grenda poses
dramatically and points into the air, saying things like "Yes! Here we go! We're
going to get that Crystal Flower for sure!" several times before Yuushi finally
realises she's _stalling_ for time and calls her on it. (snicker) Kitties!! What was supposed to be a village of "Kobalts"
(Kobolds? Cobalt as in the colour?), which are talking dog-people, is instead full of
_cats_. While a confused and worried Grenda ponders over the problem--and over the fact
that, since coming here, they haven't seen a single other demon or any monsters or
_any_thing other than cats, Yuushi just GLOMPS every cat she sees and pets them. Awww.
Aha, Yuushi's a cat-person! I _knew_ there was a reason I liked her. :) (As for cats in
Hell, that's appropriate. We're always saying our OWN cat is a "fiend from Hell" and calling
him a "demon", etc...If you met him you wouldn't question it. :P) "He came and turned us all into cats!" One of the few remaining
dog-people explains what happened. Leader of the...er, Pride. "Nyago the First"'s grand entrance.
Evidently that's an assumed name/title, because Grenda calls him--get ready for it--Ketoshi.
(blinks) Ket...o...shi...KET SHI?!!! As in, from the _game_?! But he was a _good_ guy in
that...Still, nice to see another direct connection/reference! (thumbs up) Alone in the devastation I like this nice dramatic shot of Grenda and
Yuushi (as a cat) standing in the ruins of what used to be the last remaining dog-people village...
I used it for the "cover picture" of this gallery for a reason. Sure, it's a very silly episode on
one level, what with the goofy-looking cat people, humourous villian, and Evil Fortress of Doom that
breaks every single rule on the Evil Overlord List on PURPOSE...but on the other hand, the
episode has its serious side--we learn about why Grenda is _really_ so keen to become the Platina
Princess, and it's quite sad and touching. So I wanted to point up that serious side,
because it's important. I think she's mad. What worries me is that she never quite got around to
saying WHAT body part, exactly, she would rip off... (eyes bug out) Erk... Daddy dearest! Yes, that's right, as the Princess of Hell, that means that
Grenda is indeed the daughter of _Satan_, himself. (Although "Hell" in this cartoon seems to be a mix
of whatever the writers liked from many _different_ mythologies, in addition to just being "underground",
where basically decent but simply darkness-loving creatures dwell. The dog-people, for example. I'll bet
there are gnomes and dwarves around, too.) I guess this means that he's no longer the _Prince_ of darkness,
but instead the King. He'd have to be, if his daughter is the Princess... Cube the masseur Satan explains that the reason he can't do anything against
Ketoshi is that he (Satan) threw his back out while redecorating Hell...So he invited Cube down here to give
him a "massage" (although a very _rough_ one, as Cube is so freaking TINY, that to have _any_ impact at all on
someone as large as Satan, he has to literally JUMP UP AND DOWN on his back! It's like those tiny little
Japanese women who walk on guys' backs to pop them back into place...only he's _smaller_ than that.) Family secrets (1) But Cube didn't just LEAVE Hell...he was _kicked out_! (As I had
been assuming all along, actually) and Family secrets (2) And even MORE intriguing...here,
Grenda is saying that her mother "abandoned" Cube. Now, as I understand the word "abandon", it means a very _personal_
leaving-behind; you "drop" or "forget" a random object, but you can only really _abandon_ something (or rather, some_one_)
that you're very close to. Like pets, or..._children_?! I'm not entirely certain, but a LOT of evidence--by _this_ point in the series--seems
to be pointing to the idea that Grenda and Cube are, possibly...brother and sister? Well, it would fit a lot of things...including
why they _look_ more like each other than any other two demons we've seen yet... (Grenda looks NOTHING like her dad, and yet they _are_ close relatives.
Compared to that, lavendar vs. dark purple hair and pointy ears vs. round are _tiny_ differences.) "Call me Sailor Anything and DIE, punk". Now THIS is a henshin sequence that actually ends in
something _impressive_-looking. Grenda looks absolutely, totally DANGEROUS here, a complete badarse. I would NOT mess with her.
Truly, the way a demon princess _should_ look. You forgot your kitty! Poor Yuushi is left behind, while Cube, finally free to notice her now that the
other conversation is over, instantly recognises who the cat is. ("How did you know it was me?" "I just know.") Cleared for takeoff Grenda zooms out the window, the bristles on her broom _revving_ beforehand, like it's a
car engine or something (cracks up) Well, at least she doesn't have to _bump-start_ the thing... Yuushi explains why she has to go after Grenda. As a side-note, notice the "crispy-critter" look of Satan
and Cube here? That's because Grenda got totally pissed off earlier and sort of "smited" them both. ("URD BOLT!" Well, okay, not really,
but I swear she _reminds_ me of Urd quite a lot...) Cube begins his Super Saiya-Jin training Nice hair, Cube! (snicker) Actually, he looks like nothing more than a
_troll-doll_, here... :P However... did it ever occur to you, Cube, that maybe a great big heavy cannon might be a bit much for a
little kitty-cat to carry? Ouch... Bumper silliness. A quick break for the commercial bumper, in which Gaga holds up several different
outfits to see how they look on him. Why does this remind me a bit of "Cat" from Red Dwarf and his extensive, foppish wardrobe...? Okay, now we just need some Ancient chick to cast "Holy"... Wow, I had no idea Grenda knew spells THAT powerful!
Yikes! Ya know, she may run off at the mouth about how "great" she is at _every_thing, but magic?--she actually IS good at. "Nyah hah hah!" Unfortunately, Nyago and his Huge Evil Fortress of Doom(tm) were ready for her... Try doing THAT in high heels! GAH!! She's STANDING...on the broomstick...while it's going at high speed
and high altitude...and dodging fast-moving missiles at the same time...and balancing...IN HEELS. Geez Louise, Grenda, you ever consider trying
out for the position of _Seeker_?! I'm totally serious here! ;) Yuushi Neko to the rescue! Er...sort of. What _I_ want to know is how did she get to where Grenda was, or even
_find out_ where she was, while carrying that heavy cannon...so fast? :P "How come it's not working?" You might try pointing the thing IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION, honey... (cracks up) Ah, I see he follows The Code! Like all true Evil Overlords, he _has_ to explain his diabolical plan in great detail
once he's got the heroes at his mercy. In this case, Nyago goes it one better and even shows them a _map_ of his castle (which is CALLED "Huge
Castle". (cracks up)) OUTTA MY WAY!! A typical shot of the mayhem that ensues as the girls fight their way up the castle. (There's a
dampening field, so Grenda can't use magic. Of course! If they could just BEAM off the planet, the episode would be _over_, there's always got
to be some kind of force field or radiation in the atmosphere or something...) Flop. Grenda takes a breather while Yuushi studies the map that Nyago oh-so-helpfully left behind, by accident. ;)
(By the way, I just realised--that outfit Grenda has on reminds me of some of the things Mrs. Peel would wear on the original Avengers...minus
the devil-wings, of course.) Guess who? Yuushi and Grenda share an absolutely _classic_ "EEEEEKK!!" moment. The power source at the top of the fortress--our heroines' goal. Dodge! Just before Nyago fires at the staircase they're standing on, Grenda leaps off..._grabbing Yuushi as she does
so_. See, she _is_ a decent person, whether she wants to admit it or not. A _real_ villianess would have just leapt off herself, and not bothered
with saving anybody else. The REAL reason Grenda explains the _real_ reason why she wants to be the Platina Princess so badly...and it has
nothing to do with "opening shops from Hell all over the world!" but instead is far more personal. Awww...(sniff) One major point of confusion, for
me, though, and this has been bugging me ever since she first showed up...but...er...well, she sort of looks like she is ALREADY an adult! I mean, to
put it bluntly, a little kid wouldn't have _curves_ like that. So _how_ is she supposedly stopped from growing? I just don't get it. (Yes, she's short, but
so is Cube and _he_ appears to be an adult, or at least a teenager...I figured that their particular type of demon is just...LITTLE. They're _supposed_ to be
maybe 4 feet tall at the most, when grown. (shrug)) One last shot! Look what Yuushi found inside that bell Satan gave her...a shell, for the cannon! Hmmm... Boom, baby And, of course, like all classic Huge Fortresses of Doom(tm), Nyago's castle has to instantly fall
apart the moment his power source is gone. Everybody seems to be awfully _calm_ about it, though... Partners. Grenda grudgingly admits that maybe Yuushi was of SOME help, in this really cute shot of the two girls flying
along together on the broomstick. They sort of--almost--become friends that day. (Of course, the peace is short-lived, as the VERY NEXT DAY they
are back in one of their screaming matches again...) HUZZAH! The happy citizens of Hell (boy, does _that_ ever sound like an oxymoron), now all turned back into their normal
forms, cheer their two saviours as they go flying by overhead. That's my girl! Meanwhile, it turns out that Satan was actually watching their progress all this time. He knew
that she could do it all along, but...he figured it couldn't hurt anything to give her just a _leeetle_ help...in a subtle way. ;)
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