After the last episode’s pure awesomeness, we come to the conclusion of this great show. Will the final episode live up to the expectations that the last one created? Read on.

第52話 「ガールズ、最後の戦い！」
Girlz, Final Battle

Episode Summary:

This episode starts off, unsurprisingly, with a montage and a narration by the Professor recapping the events of the last two episodes. Then comes the titles screen with the sinister organ music.

Him then appears with his spiel, explaining his plans to turn Tokyo City into a lake of fire and acting much stranger than ever, while the girls, the professor, and others watch from the lab. The mayor also gets a good view of the action and asks Miss Bellum what he should do. She suggests deploying their defense forces, to which the mayor replies that he was just thinking about that…right… Anyway, he orders his secretary to send out the troops, but it appears that she’s had enough and tell him to call them out himself, which he does.

Back at the lab, the Professor explains the course of action. They are to use the elekiter to draw out the black light from Him, then seal him with the white light. In order to do that, they would also need the white light from Peach and the girls. There’s obviously a state of shock, and no one wants to believe it. The girls come to the conclusion that if the white light is removed, they’ll return to being normal girls. Peach would also return to his former state. With tears in their eyes and our first glimpse into a possible future, the girls all state that even when they grow up and fulfill their desires; which include finding the right man (OMG, she found someone and it’s not me!?), becoming a fashion designer (she let her hair down!?), and becoming a pro wrestler (man vs. woman!?); they would still want to be the Powerpuff Girls Z. Then, a scene far too much into the future…




Peach decides to act the part of Mister Cool and assured them that he’d be fine with what’s to come if it’s to protect the peace of Tokyo City. However, he breaks down and runs off, now disagreeing with the plan. On the monitors, they see that Him is growing in size and obviously enjoying the festivities. The special forces arrive and try to take Him down, but he easily dodges the attack and sends his own fiery projectiles on them, destroying their fleet. However, like most other shows, all personnel inside were able to eject themselves and get to safety, while the city is being destroyed. The mayor declared this the end and tries to finally fulfill his dream of a smooch with this secretary. I hope he’s single…

At the lab, Bubbles asks what kind of dog Peach was before the incident, to which Ken replies he was just a toy that can bark and that they couldn’t be friends like they are now. The Professor then gives his son the task of removing Peach’s white light. In the most heart-wrenching scene of the entire series, Peach comes up to have the light removed. This scene was so sad that I can’t possibly summarize. Instead, I’ll give you a transcript:

Peach: I want Ken to take my white light.
Ken: Peach!
Peach: Even if I can’t talk, we’ll still be friends! Do it quickly!
Ken: Peach!
Girls: Ken…
Peach: I’m not afraid of going back to being a digital dog if it means protecting the peace in Tokyo City. What are you waiting for, Ken?
[At this point, Ken breaks down into tears.]
Ken: I can’t do it!
Peach: Be courageous!
Ken: I don’t want to be courageous!
Peach: Stop being a crybaby!
[Peach gives Ken a tail slap, which stops the weeping.]
Peach: Even if I return to being just a digital dog, I’ll never forget about you, Ken.
[Ken goes back to crying.]
Peach: If you cry that much, you won’t be able to see me.
[All eyes turn to a joyful Him on the monitor.]
Peach: Good bye, Ken.
Ken: Good bye, Peach.

Peach receives the shock from the elekiter and faints, while the light floats out and is caught by the frowning Professor. At this point, Ken loses it completely and bawls while clutching the limp body of Peach. The girls fly off in despair.

As they weep, they just narrowly miss being hit by some flyling lava, which ends up hurtling toward unsuspecting groups of people making their way out of the city. With no time to lose, they fly down and put themselves between the people and danger, literally. The group finally realize why they were “chosen” to become superheroines: the pure feelings of wanting to save people. They declare that they shall protect the city, to which the Professor responds with a weepy “You’ve grown so much.” A small round of applause ensues, which is interrupted by Him deciding to direct the lava flow along the highway, the quickest way for it to arrive at the city.

End of first half.

 

All of a sudden, the volcano stops erupting, and the girls head back to the lab for the elekiter. Him decides to put on a show, showing off how he can control the eruptions of the volcano with fans… Anyway, the girls arrive, battle cry and all, but Him sends the eruption their way, saying that “Mount Fuji says he hates you.” Such a cool line. The girls dodge the fire but realize that they can’t use the elekiter in this situation. At the lab, Ken does a bit of calculations and finds that the rise in temperature due to the eruption is increasing Him’s powers. The only way to stop him is to find a way to lower the temperature. They remember when the girls were kids and how they returned to normal after eating ice cream. The conclusion is that Him is weak against cold, which is why he’s causing this trouble with Mount Fuji. The girls find that they are becoming exhausted because of the heat. This allows Him to send out a full-on attack against them. As they are hit, the three look out into the ocean where a lone iceberg rests. It turns out that the rise in temperature has lead for the weather around the world to be affected, including raining fish in New York City, snow in Egypt, a UFO crash in Paris, and a panda invasion…somewhere. Very similar to how this whole thing began.

The girls obviously see the solution in the iceberg and immediately go to fetch it. While Him basks in the warmth of the volcano, the girls break the ice apart and send the pieces down Him’s back. It takes effect immediately, and Him returns to his normal size. Without his power, the volcano stops its activity and the lava begins to cool. The elekiter is then used, and the black light is removed. It heads to the top of the volcano to stay warm. At the lab, Ken latches the white light onto the gun used back at the beginning and fires the four white lights. The girls look on as they arrive and say good bye to their alter egos. Once the lights are removed, the girls start plumetting back to Earth. The lights surround the black light and carry it off to space.

As everything clears out, the girls find out that they are all okay. After a bit of celebration, their compacts start glowing, and we are treated to one last transformation sequence. The girls are obviously happy that they still have their powers. At the lab, the Professor can’t understand what’s going on, but one thing that is sure is that if the girls are the same, then Peach is as well, and he and Ken are happily reunited. The Professor concludes that there must be something outside of science within them and needs more research.

At the tower, the villains wake up thinking that they now have more power than before and decide to try it out…on each other. The girls appear to crash the party and send all the villains flying, except the Rowdyruff Boys, who get tossed around for fun. The icebergs and other strange phenomena disappear, and everything returns to normal as the world cheers on. At Tokyo City Hall, the mayor wants a kiss to celebrate the salvation of the city, but ends up almost falling off the edge. I’m sure he’ll just take having been saved from certain death.

We then see the black light being carried farther into the depths of space and Mojo messing around with Him’s now miniscule shell of a body. At the lab, almost every character that has appeared is gathered to celebrate. We then end with a montage of the villains and the girls all to the tune of “Touch Me!” and a typical “See ya!” from the main heroines.


End of episode, season, and series (for now?)

Comments:

Boy, there is plenty I want to say here. Obviously with episode 51′s great acclaim, we would expect it to end with a bang. What we got…was a mixed bag. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half. Seeing the destruction that can befall a city by the strongest of enemies was somewhat satisfying, as it showed what terror is. The bit with the mayor calling out the troops was also good, as it is somewhat reminiscent to the incompetence of the original mayor, but this one takes more action than his counterpart. The very emotional scene with Ken and Peach has to be the saddest moment of the entire series. Even though some people expected the girls to keep their powers, this scene alone convinced me that we may see it just end with them in their normal states. I’ve seen this scene multiple times, and it still gets to me. The emotion from the voice actors was very rich. The flash-forwards with the girls’ future was also neat to see. Of course, not much difference was seen between them now and then, with the biggest change being in Miyako’s hairstyle. So…yeah. The first half might have been lacking action, but it made up for that in spades by the emotion put into it. I also finally realized the point of them rescuing the people from danger with their own bodies, but then again, this is the first time I’m reading the transcript and actually understanding what they were saying. Just like their pure hearts and want to help people protected the young kids from the “danger” of the white light in episode 1, they wish to do the same to everyone, no matter what the danger. Upon reading that, episode 1 goes up a notch in coolness…but only slightly.

The second half, however, was a bit of a disappointment. All we got was a bit of fancy fireworks from Him and a chase or two, even got a recycled scene from the same half. Not much action or direct attacks here, and it didn’t feel like the girls were ever in grave danger. Even though I kind of understand the reason for the appearance of the iceberg, it just seems so weird. This episode was sadly a victim of the deus ex machina, and the solution was not only rather sudden but also seemingly childish. I’m sure the fans were expecting some kind of epic battle to solve the problem, but ice down the back from an iceberg that appeared out of nowhere? Not the best choice. With the return of the girls’ powers, the official slogan of the show, “It’s not magic. It’s science.”, makes sense. All along, the girls were believed to have their powers from an unfortunate scientific accident. Now that the cause of that was resolved without any effect, the statement can now read, “It’s not science. It’s magic.” A rather clever way to end it.

I would give this a perfect score, since it was one of the best episodes, but the way the confrontation was concluded just doesn’t sit right with me, and the exceptional first half is not enough for me to change my mind.

And so thus concludes one of the neatest and most overlooked anime series I know of. We can only wait for the imminent U.S. dub and a possibility of any sort of continuation. Stay tuned to this site as later me and other fans discuss the second half of the series and the series as a whole. As a treat, it will be in podcast form with an extensive written part, as well.

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