Ah! My Goddess Manga/Oh My Goddess! Manga
ああっ女神さまっVolume 38 Chapter 242
Ah! My Goddess Ch. 242

Summary/Synopsis:

The demon guards see their captain apparently frozen. Hagall explains that the commander is in a state similar to death, having had an illusion planted in his mind so that he thought he’d been attacked and destroyed. Hearing how Hagall’s power works, the other troops figure they can attack her. Hagall explains that even knowing her secret, it won’t matter because her illusions always work. With that, she quickly dispatches the entire guard force. Hagall’s co-conspirators report that Hild-sama is not found in all of Niflheim (Hell).

On Earth, chibi-Hild’s arrival is a cause for alarm by Keiichi, who then gets whacked by Chihiro for yelling at a child. Chibi-Hild is not amused by Chihiro but spying a small mazoku (#25) porting in, she yells for Belldandy to immediately raise a defensive barrier. She does just as the Whirlwind building explodes.

Elsewhere Sayoko (Gah! These character designs stink because I’m not sure if it is her or not. For sake of this summary, I’ll assume it is until shown otherwise.) is daydreaming of being taken away by a rich prince to someplace beautiful and fun. Mazoku #18 emerges and grants her wish. Immediately, a Maybach luxury sedan pulls up and an ugly but richly dressed man emerges, announcing himself as the Third Prince of Talpitti. Sayoko can’t believe what is happening, especially when the Prince says she’ll become his 15th wife. With that, he and his chauffeur take her into his car.

Back at Whirlwind, the building is destroyed with Belldandy and Hild having protected Keiichi, Megumi, and Chihiro with the barrier. Chihiro is in shock and wants someone to call the fire department. Hild decides she has no choice and so undoes the damage, restoring Whirlwind to its former condition just before the fire department arrive. Inside, they find a shocked Megumi and Chihiro claiming ignorance and deciding they need to drink. After that, Chihiro gets Megumi to go ahead and by the KV bike (from chapter 240).

Outside, chibi-Hild explains about the rebellion in Niflheim and that the rebel leader is the cause of what happened to Whirlwind. Further, chibi-Hild notes an increase in demonic contracts around the area.

Elsewhere, another number mazoku sees Sora exit from her car.

Thoughts/Review: Well, things certainly became a bit more interesting here. One of Hagall’s power is based on planting illusions in people’s mind. I expect we’ll see her use that again, especially if she comes to Earth and encounters Keiichi or the like (and I figure that she will, especially since Fujishima-sensei went out of his way to try to draw her as beautiful and sexy).

With the ease that chibi-Hild continues to be found and attacked, I figure it won’t be long until another attack happens, forcing Belldandy to fight. Question is, where the smeg did Urd go? After all, she left Skuld because she sensed the demonic energy.

You know, I really hope that Chihiro and Megumi not only remember the events that happened to them but accept it. I doubt that it happens, especially since Megumi has seen and experienced a lot of crap and every time just shoves it aside and acts like nothing happened. That’s one aspect of Fujishima-sensei’s writing that I can’t stand.

Another thing that bothers me is the current character designs. I’ve already mentioned this earlier and I’ve mentioned it lots of other times too, but I just don’t care for them as it goes for the established characters. For the new ones where one has no previous reference, they are fine. However, when I’m not sure if the one female is Sayoko or simply someone else, I’d say that’s because the character designs have changed way too much. Just my opinion though.

As an aside, I chuckled at the Star Trek Coffee place shown in the city. I know that Fujishima-sensei is a Star Trek fan and he’s done Star Trek tributes in the past. Nice to see one here.

I look forward to seeing where things go from here.