Regenschauer ~ In the falling rain, or how can a girl arrive at such feelings? ( German: Rain Shower / Rainstorm ) is an Original Video Animation (OVA) episode set during the Elfen Lied anime series. It occurs in between episodes ten and eleven, though broadcast sometime after episode thirteen. It was not included on any the DVD releases up to 2012. It is part of the Blu-Ray release in Japan and North America, with a full English language dub to accompany it. Unfortunately, not all of the English voice actors from the original series were able to return for this recording.
Series directed by Mamoru Kanbe; created by Lynn Okamoto; produced by ARMS Corporation.
Plot[]
After moving into Maple House, Nana attempts to help with the chores to some terrible results. First, she nearly ruins a skillet while cooking some food on the stove and also almost causes a fire. Her attempt to chop some vegetables leads to her arm falling off with the chopping blade in hand, almost hitting Mayu in the crotch. Crying over these failures, Nana feels like she can't do anything to earn her keep at Maple House, while Mayu assures her that no one does anything well at first, that they have to learn it, in life as well as at tasks in the kitchen. When Mayu tries to reach for something too high for her, Nana uses her vectors to get it down and says that maybe her job can be to get things down from high places. Mayu reminds her of her own promise to keep these powers quiet, which makes Nana break into tears thinking of the one to whom she made this promise, her 'Papa' Kurama. Kouta, Yuka, and Nyu arrive home for dinner, with Nana feeling progressively more awkward, especially when they can smell the smoke from her failed attempt at cooking. They sit down, with Nana eating quickly and then leaving in a huff. When Mayu informs them why she's that way, Kouta and Yuka don't know enough about her to know what she can do. While Kouta wants to ask her some questions, Yuka suggests Nana help Nyu with the cleaning. Mayu tries to dissuade them from this by saying the two don't get along, but Kouta sees this as a chance to mend their relationship. Yuka reacts oddly to Kouta's stated desire that Nana becomes close friends with all of them, and also gets up in a huff. To Mayu's surprise, Nana agrees to do this but sees it as a competition with Lucy, one she vows not to lose. With the childlike Nyu as her competition, though, Nana faces some misadventures in cleaning. Her attempt to follow Nyu in a floor-polishing 'race' ends with Nana in a painful jumble, struggling to get one arm and one leg back on, the sight of which causes Nyu to run off in panic. Her attempt to clean a smudge on glass pane on a sliding door ends with her falling through it partway, cutting herself and drawing Yuka's concerned attention.
Nana and Nyu go inside with the others to have snacks, delicious cookies that look like birds that delight both horned girls, with Yuka wincing at an awkward observation Kouta makes. When asked how the cleaning is going, Nana responds that she does not want to do the cleaning anymore, and gets into an argument with Kouta over staying there, leaving in a huff despite Mayu and Yuka's best efforts.
On the beach, Nana takes all this as confirmation that she cannot live with others. She then rethinks that, blaming her problems on having to live with Lucy, feeling that if she went away, she and the others at Maple House would get along just fine. She then hears Bando threatening the life of a beach litterbug and goes to sit by him while he complains about his meal. Walking up to ask him something, she says that he was wrong and there is a place for her in this world. Bando chastises her to forget that and instead find Lucy like she agreed to. Sensing that she is keeping something from him, Bando insists that Nana brings Lucy to him. Feeling that events might place Mayu and the others in danger, she agrees to bring him Lucy in the evening, a fact in which Bando exults, having prepared himself and even the ground on the beach for this return battle.
Arriving back at Maple House, Nana finds herself warmly greeted by Nyu, who Mayu says was very concerned about her. Kouta apologizes for his part in the argument, but Nana says she was being too selfish and will do the cleaning as asked, something about which Kouta and Yuka seem leery. Nana even offers to take Nyu for a walk so the two can become friends, meaning instead to turn Nyu over to Bando.
As the two walk along, Nana is fearful of being found out, but Nyu only offers her a cookie, which Nana regards as an effort to apologize for what she did to Nana by cutting off her limbs. This effort only seems to anger Nana all the more.
On the beach, Bando watches the rain fall but does not think it will hurt his chances against Lucy.
Nana rejects the cookie, slips, and falls, which is followed by Nyu slipping and falling as well, hitting her head as she does.
Kurama sits and thinks of the past, and of the clues that first led him to Lucy, including a school photo, the murders in the orphanage, the killings that followed in Kamakura, and the tragic summer festival. With the timeframe confirming the girl in the picture as the original Diclonius, Kurama feels the outbreak will soon be over, while Professor Kakuzawa seems to believe it has all only begun.
In the present, Nana is surprised that she is concerned about Lucy/Nyu, and hesitates about how to deal with her after seeking shelter in the Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine. Unknown to Nana, while Nyu has again become Lucy, she is quite unconscious and thinking about the same time in the past as Kurama.
In the past, young Lucy hides out with her friend in a warehouse while they contemplate whether to go to the police. To calm her friend, Lucy uses her powers to amuse her, claiming that she is a magician. The delighted girl embraces her.
Nana begins to extend her vectors to try and kill Lucy, but finds she cannot do it.
In the past, Kurama and Yu Kakuzawa prepare to capture Lucy based on surveillance tapes, and ready an assault force.
Kouta and the others worry about Nana and Nyu out in the rain and puzzle as to why Nana left in such a hurry with Nyu, someone she typically seems to avoid. Nana prepares to strike, but hears Lucy say 'Friend.'
In the past, Lucy tests the other girl's offer of friendship by removing her cap. The girl stuns her by remaining her friend and saying that she likes her. After a kiss on the cheek, the girl even asks to wear the cap and says that she will treasure it. Lucy realizes suddenly that they've been found out. Kakuzawa thinks that both girls may be Diclonius, while Kurama cautions against this. Lucy's power protects them from a hail of bullets, then attacking the soldiers with thrown objects. Kurama orders a shooter to go round the side of them. The girl sees the shooter and takes the bullet meant for Lucy. Kurama realizes with horror that the other girl is not Diclonius, and offers Lucy a deal to save her if she surrenders quietly. Lucy agrees to surrender. As she stands up, she is forcefully pushed to the ground, having Kurama hold her down by tightly putting his foot on her head. The girl is taken to the hospital as Lucy cries out to wait for her. In the present, Nana feels Lucy's presence fade.
Kurama recalls how he sadly had to tell the, now-captive Lucy, that her friend had died despite his best efforts. She vows not to kill him, but to instead make him experience the same pain she did. Kurama vows that this vendetta will not include Mariko.
Nyu awakes, and the rain stops, with Nana apologizing for what she had planned. Kouta and the others find the pair. Back at Maple House, Nana is presented with all new clothes, at least in part so she will stop wearing Kouta's. While both Kouta and Yuka are pleased that Nyu and Nana seem to be getting along finally, Kouta relents on wanting to ask Nana too many questions, having the odd feeling that hearing the answers would end this happy time in their lives.
In the bath, Nyu lovingly assaults Nana, who gets no sympathy from Mayu, once also the target of Nyu's attention, who now has an idea about what Nana can do around the house. When Nyu slips and falls, Nana wonders what she remembered during the rainstorm.
On the beach, Bando is furious at Nana for breaking her promise, firing his gun wildly into the air. An interested Kurama watches this from a distance. Their alliance seems set to begin.
Back at Maple House, Nana undertakes her new assignment, feeding Wanta. Apparently, she does this all too well; the small dog's stomach grows huge as he sleeps off what must have been quite an overfeeding.
Trivia[]
- Lucy's friend, while not named in the episode, is Aiko Takada. The manga chapter used as the basis for the flashbacks in this episode explains how they met and why they are both fleeing.
- The comedic events of this episode have formed the basis of many YouTube parodies and AMV's.
- The present-day material in this episode has no real basis in the manga, choosing instead to expand on events shown for the most part only in the anime.
- Lucy is inexplicably wearing the knitted cap Kouta gave her as a child during the flashback with Aiko, but the anime never showed her picking it up like the manga did. However, she most likely retrieved it after the panic at the festival grounds died down.
- Lucy never offers to turn herself in and take the blame for the murder, as she does in the manga. This is odd since the anime variant Lucy is normally more kindhearted. However, the OVA never had time to mention Aiko's accidental murder in the first place.
- The ending scene with a severely overfed Wanta sleeping off his meal originally appeared in Manga Chapter 18, although under different circumstances. In the manga, Wanta is eating up, perhaps wondering where his next meal might come from, a primary concern before he and Mayu finally moved into Maple House. In this episode, it comedically conveys Nana's well-meaning ineptitude at even a simple task like feeding a dog.
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