Ah! My Goddess Manga/Oh My Goddess! Manga
ああっ女神さまっ Chapter 270

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

The little mazoku girl attempts to hand over the key to Keiichi, who is surprised that she’d let them go so easily.  She says it is because she has come to love Keiichi.  Belldandy accepts the key and thanks the girl, telling Keiichi that even if the girl is telling the truth, no one loves Keiichi more than Belldandy.  This pleases Keiichi and as he grins inanely, the little girl asks if it is OK to leave Skuld and Urd behind.  Belldandy isn’t worried since she’s sure that they will find a way out on their own.

Meanwhile, Urd and Skuld are annoyed to see each other but realize they don’t have time to bicker and need to find a way out. since they can use magic, they decide it is time to make a breakout.

Keiichi is about to unlock the exit door when the mazoku girl tells them to wait. Keiichi wonders if the door will explode, but the girl assures him that’s not the case and the door is the proper exit. However, she has a curse upon herself so that if they leave, she will die.  Keiichi doesn’t believe someone would place such a curse on themselves and goes to open the door but is stopped by Belldandy.  The girl smirks because whomever opens the door becomes her killer and Belldandy would never allow it. At the same time, when the girl dies, her doublet on the kami side will die as well.  As such, Belldandy and Keiichi cannot leave.

Keiichi wonders what the purpose is in holding them there. The girl answers this by having a device descend from the ceiling which she activates. It immediately begins taking Belldandy’s power.  The girl calls it a Divine Power Extraction Device and says it is powered by Skuld’s and Urd’s activities.  So, every time Urd casts a spell or Skuld uses an explosive, power is given to the machine which extracts power from Belldandy.  The girl smirks at the notion of Urd and Skuld trying harder and harder to get out and thus draining more and more of Belldandy’s power.

Thoughts/Review:

Last chapter, I was thinking of the little girl mazoku‘s threat to kill Belldandy but she then backed down because of the mission.  I wrote,

Even if Belldandy wasn’t being genuine in her praise of the little girl’s singing, it does seem odd that she’d want to kill Belldandy.  Unless she knows whom Belldandy is attached to on the mazoku side (possible since Hild did curse him and the knowledge might have been told to others), then her killing Belldandy risks her killing on of her own.  Of course, Fujishima-sensei has never been one to hold tight to continuity and so the whole Doublet System may be forgotten or swept aside for the sake of the current story.  In the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter since nothing happened.

I was asked if I had read ahead since the Doublet System was indeed the focus of this sub-arc.  I had not and I found it highly amusing that Fujishima-sensei was bringing the concept back up. One thing I’ve noticed of the last few years, Fujishima-sensei has been more attentive to story elements that have been introduced previously and addressing them again.  My impression has been that Fujishima-sensei is on a wind-down tour and I still think that’s the case.  What do you want to bet this ends with chapter 300?  We’ll see.

Back on topic, my thoughts about the Doublet System were just focused on the mazoku girl’s threat to Belldandy. I didn’t even consider the Doublet System being the basis for keeping Belldandy trapped in the room.  Indeed, I didn’t think it would even be brought up but it has and that’s cool.

Now, what is the purpose of extracting Belldandy’s power?  I’m guessing they could make her powerless without killing her but if the purpose of mazoku was to get Belldandy’s power, then why the elaborate system of contests which does not accomplish this?

As to the girl’s curse, the only solution here would seem to be Urd and Skuld somehow figuring out that since their spells and attacks are being absorbed, then there must be some bad purpose and thus they stop and attempt to find another way out (how, I’ve no clue).  I can’t imagine her having sympathy for Belldandy, especially if the mazoku purpose is to store up Belldandy’s power. I can’t help but wonder if she might offer a choice of having Keiichi kiss her or something else in order to free Skuld and Urd and allow them to pass on.  I say this because of Belldandy’s remark after the girl says she’s come to love Keiichi.  I don’t believe for a minute that the girl is in love with Keiichi but I can see it being used against Belldandy and the others.

The ultimate problem here, as I’ve hinted at earlier, is that we still don’t know what Hagall’s plan is. OK, so she overthrows Hild and she knows Hild is attempting to regain power by using Keiichi, Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld (and I assume she’s still with Peorth and Lind on Earth doing whatever).  However, the purpose of these elaborate encounters whereby Keiichi and company have to figure a way out doesn’t make sense to me.  The more complicated the plan, the more likely it is to fail.

Nevertheless, I still enjoy this arc a great deal and look forward to seeing how the group escapes the girl’s trap.