Ah! My Goddess Manga/Oh My Goddess! Manga
ああっ女神さまっ Chapter 264

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Urd’s spell causes only a fizzle at the top of Mokkurkalfi’s mecha unit, causing Skuld to snicker.  Skuld can’t help but admire Mokkurkalfi’s work but thinks something is missing.  Urd tries her spell again with the same reaction, thus causing Belldandy to try a spell as well that also fails.  Mokkurkalfi mocks them in their failure, citing her dislike of things that don’t work as high efficiency is the top of aesthetics, which she loves.  She gives them a chance to surrender before attempting to crush Keiichi in the name of efficiency.  Belldandy and Urd attempt to raise a barrier but fail, leading Keiichi to understand that their spells are being canceled.  Mokkurkalfi is impressed with his knowledge, though knowing this does not really help resolve the issue.

Skuld takes this as her cue to take center stage and she produces her mini Banpei-kun.  Mokkurkalfi finds this amusing and the notion of naming the machine that will be broken an inefficient practice.  This leads Skuld to understand the problem with Mokkurkalfi’s mecha — it has no “soul.”  Thus, Mokkurkalfi’s refusal to name her creations shows that she intends to break them.  She dispatches Banpei-kun, who scurries off.  Mokkurkalfi’s mecha tries to stomp it but fails.  Mokkurkalfi thinks she has the situation in hand when Skuld reveals that Banpei-kun had been bringing her parts that were strewn about the room.  Skuld rapidly constructs a new body for Banpei-kun, large enough to face Mokkurkalfi’s unit.  Skuld names her new creation “SKU-BP/RX Banpei-kun Jumbo Melee Unit.”

Thoughts/Review:

So, I get my Skuld fantasy to come true.  Excellent!  As I remarked last chapter, this story arc is the perfect setup for Skuld.  As I suspected, the loose parts around allowed Skuld to build something, though I wasn’t sure if she would build a new version of Banpei-kun or not.

I know the story has Skuld not using magic to build this new version of Banpei-kun in what appears to be just a few seconds.  However, I would state that Skuld IS using a magic of sorts, just not the kind Urd and Belldandy use, which requires the usage of verbal spells and spirits.  I’ve long suspected that Skuld might be using magic of some sort going back to the Sentaro arc when she was able to perfectly repair his bicycle.  That’s why I think Mokkurkalfi wanted her machine to cancel Skuld’s spells but Skuld isn’t using spells, thus is not canceled.  We’ll see if Fujishima-sensei completely shuts that door down, but I rather hope not.  I’d like Skuld to have the ability to use spells like her older sisters, but her special magic being in the mechanical sciences, which would apparently be a rare gift where they come from.

I certainly have no problem with Belldandy and Urd taking a back seat this sub-arc, I don’t like how stupid they both were.  They’d all been warned in advance of meeting Mokkurkalfi that they wouldn’t be able to use magic for their next encounter.  Yet that was all apparently forgotten as Belldandy and Urd kept trying to cast spells and failing.  In my mind, Belldandy should have remembered those words after their spells failed.  Baring that, I think she should have remembered once Keiichi figured out why their spells were failing.  Oh well.

I’m really looking forward to Skuld vs. Mokkurkalfi via their mecha.  I keenly remember Skuld’s mecha battle with Keiichi’s sister Megumi.  Remember Skuld’s solution to losing there?  *lol*  I’m not saying she’ll blow up Banpei-kun, but a bomb might well be in our near future sometime.  ^_^

Beyond that, not much else to say so nothing to do but wait for the next chapter.