Restoration Plan No. 7 – “The Great Jahy Doesn’t Play!”
Hmm.
The Great Jahy eased off the accelerator this week, concentrating on calmer slice-of-life antics. No magic, existential fear, or coping with alcohol was necessary. Small events like helping a friend lose weight or meeting children in the park do not warrant those things. Jahy did learn an important lesson about helping others: it’s a two-way street. When one aids others, one receives benefits in return.
In the first act of The Great Jahy episode, the Store Manager started a diet and training plan to lose unwanted weight. She traded Jahy’s motivational presence for extra food in return. As a demon, Jahy finds transactional relationships the norm. She became the Dark Realm’s Number Two by extracting more value out of others than they did from her. However, by working out with the Store Manager, Jahy received the extra benefits of strength and fitness without the aid of her mana crystal.
Although, Jahy’s poor caloric intake before her boss bribed her with more food, gaining muscle mass and energy stores would have been difficult. The ironic punchline for The Great Jahy was how the Store Manager ended their workout buddy connection as soon as she achieved her weight goal. Jahy wanted to keep training to extend her “gains,” but the Store Manager treated Jahy’s help as a transaction! The omake shows the Store Manager is still her generous self after she stopped exercising. Too generous!
In the third act of The Great Jahy episode, Jahy learned that accepting help leads to benefits beyond the immediate goal. This anime punches the audience in the nose when it needs to make a point. Jahy’s first age-appropriate friend, for her tiny form, has the name Kokoro. In Japanese, 心 (kokoro – heart, mind, spirit, feelings) has many poetic definitions just as “heart” does in English. The philosophical shorthand is the same: one’s center of being. The pure heart of Kokoro’s helpfulness made Jahy feel the ache of affection in her own heart. Jahy was incapable of producing an unselfish emotion until she had lost most of her demonic power.
Kokoro also gave us the healing anime moment of The Great Jahy episode. Jahy had warned the human Kokoro that holding a mana crystal would give her bad luck. When the pair gave up looking for the day, Kokoro found something else for Jahy instead: a four-leaf clover. Helping Jahy could bring misfortune to Kokoro, but she selflessly gave Jahy a source of fortune to help find Jahy’s lost crystals. Kokoro could have used the four-leaf clover as a personal talisman of protection, but she gave it to her new friend. The Great Jahy’s softening heart reminded me of the “Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day” line from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Of course, Jahy’s “kokoro” grows more than three sizes every day when she transforms.
Meh.
The one time we need quality animation is when hot girls get sweaty together. But The Great Jahy gave us the dreaded late-season quality dip instead. Plus, how could we not see Jahy-sama stretched over an exercise ball? My “kokoro” is pure disappointment right now.
My other meh reaction came from the useless act of Jahy’s noisy neighbor. The punchline was how even the narrator didn’t know what was going on with the empty apartment. I hope there’s a payoff to this scene, like a recurring joke or introducing a new character, because this was a waste of time otherwise.
Heh.
The Store Manager can do squats. The Great Jahy has nice bouncy sound effects! Ah. The Store Manager needs to lose weight. Bribe Jahy with food to be her workout buddy! Will Jahy exercise in her strappy outfit? Oh please, oh please, oh please! Boo! Big T-shirt Jahy is no fun to look at. Jahy’s small form is so weak. Not one pushup. Only one sit-up. I hope Jahy improves because watching her clumsy attempts at exercise is difficult. Watching the Store Manager ride a horsey is easy! Hypnotic, like Jennifer Connelly in Career Opportunities.
Oh, good. Jahy improved! Thirty pushups without stopping are impressive gains. The Store Manager made impressive gains the other way. Oh, no. She doesn’t need Jahy’s motivational services anymore. Jahy’s source of extra food shut down!
Uh, what was The Great Jahy’s point of Jahy’s tub-thumping jam session? Is that apartment haunted by an overdosed rockstar? Well, crappy apartments have crappy neighbors. I’m sure Druj’s wealthy neighbors are much more polite.
We’re back to Jahy looking for red rocks. This boy is such a brat! Not as much as Jahy, though. Transformation scene! I still don’t know how the Great Jahy’s straps connect in the back. Now it’s the Great Pervert Jahy! She is the demon of “lasciviousness.” Shounen, run away! The boy is a rock collector, so Jahy will run into him again.
Ooh, what a cute, friendly girl. She’ll help Jahy! Jahy enjoys bragging to someone. She doesn’t even need to lie as she does with Druj. Of course, the talk about restoring the Dark Realm sounds like childish play-acting. She’ll even call her Great Jahy! Kokoro makes Jahy’s heart swell by acting so kind. She’s like an angel! Ah. It was just the sun behind her.
No, Kokoro just might be an angel. Kokoro couldn’t find a red crystal for Jahy, but she could find something else. A four-leaf clover for luck! Jahy has that in short supply in the human world, and Jahy gained a friend too. The Store Manager noticed the happy mood she was in back at the bar. Aw, what a precious memory and hair accessory.
Omake for The Great Jahy. Too many sweets for the Store Manager! She’ll need those free gym passes now. Next time, Jahy takes a bath.
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