To Heart 2: Lucy Maria Misora

Generic disclaimer: Same basic rules apply as in my To Heart 2 project. Please do comment or contact me in case I have mistakes in describing each girl's scenario.

This wasn't as confusing as I thought it would be. Although as usual details may be erratic, the general theme of this story is similar to those of typical alien-goes-to-earth anime or related stuff. A difference though… Lucy is the best of them all!

Yes, Lucy is an alien. One day, Takaki just found her on the ground, as if she fell from the sky. She started talking garbage, seemingly a mix of erratic robot or alien talk. I really thought she was a robot at first. Her seemingly automated voice makes her sarcastic-sounding, and I tell you, she is sarcasm all the way.

When she met Takaki, she was hungry, and so Takaki rushed somewhere to buy her food. She acknowledged. One day, Takaki seems to be in trouble (drowning?), and then she appeared and saved him.

Ruuko Kirei na Sora

First, let's call her Ruuko. Ruuko Kirei na Sora is her actual name. She came from… somewhere. And she has this very unique way of talking. She has a signature phrase: "ruu~". Similar to Misuzu's "gao" or Chii's "chii", she always reacts with a ruu~. She also calls herself "ruu~" when addressing herself. Also, she calls people as "ou~", meaning 'you'.

Castaway

Ruuko introduced herself to Takaki, seemingly right off the bat, that she is an alien. She wants to go home, but she cannot. She calls herself a castaway. Takaki acknowledges but doesn't care much about her at first, and leaves the playground. But Takaki's kindness paved the way afterwards, as he seems to help her in surviving the world. One major thing that he taught Ruuko was how to cook. Seemingly, fish is the preferred dish. Also, a stray cat was around the playground, and Ruuko seemed to like it, so she feeds the cat sometimes.

Foreigner?

Ruuko tried to communicate with her parents, but it seems that for some reason she just has to stay in earth for a while, and so she decided to be together with Takaki more and more. She called Takaki a 'sample'. Whoa, it's not like the usual aliens experimenting with humans. Rather, it's an alien trying to learn about human life. At school, Takaki tried make Yuji believe that he met an alien, but Yuji doesn't believe it. Suddenly, Ruuko is at the school grounds, seemingly stirring up some trouble by making the field a communications device (drawing crop circles… maybe?). A teacher approached, but then Takaki defended Ruuko, saying that she is a foreigner friend. Later, Ruuko decided to also attend school. She sits by Takaki's side… at the same chair. You can say that in other eyes they seem pretty close, but not quite. After school, Ruuko goes back into her new home… the playground. Besides school and Takaki's regular visits, she's still pretty much alone.

Other Characters

Rumors go fast about this weird foreigner girl. She is so mysterious. When there's something strange in the neighborhood, who you gonna call? Karin-chan! Yes, Karin Sasamori is a prominent figure in this scenario! She tries to enlist Takaki's help in discovering who Ruuko really is. Also, Yuji, Konomi, and even Tamaki got to know this girl! Konomi thought that Ruuko is from Ruumania (Romania) because of her "ruu~". Also, Sango Himeyuri makes appearances too, and she rides on with Ruuko's "ruu~" as if they understand each other!

"Be thankful I'm here"

Ruuko seems to be surviving. Because she's kinda cute, local food sellers always give her freebies when shopping. She seems to land a temporary job too, as a maid. Even one day, she notices that Takaki is actually just alone in his house. She kinda understands and feels the same way, having separated from parents and all. Ruuko offers, sarcastically, to sleep over.

I meant sarcasm in a way that Ruuko seems to talk in a rather boastful way, that "Ruuko is needed". Whenever Takaki does something stupid and Ruuko saves him, Takaki should be thankful (be thankful I'm here). Whenever Ruuko does something wonderful, Takaki should praise her (praise me). She also seems direct, for example, she criticizes some of the shops, saying that the food there is good or bad. Such a prankster as well. She agrees to help Konomi and the gang to set Takaki up to an April Fools stint! Ruuko acts as the alien who abducted Konomi, Tamaki, and Yuji. This event (and also a cherry blossom viewing event at night) made Ruuko and Takaki all the more closer to each other.

Nanako

Anyone forgetting she is an alien? Anyway, Ruuko had said that she still has powers left, and she is using it to communicate outside earth. Ruuko warns that she may have to go soon, but then a side event completely changed her fate. One afternoon this little cute girl wanders through school. Her name is Nanako, and she is trying to find a magician. She told her story, and this affected Ruuko very much. You see, Nanako had a fight with her friend Yuuko over not being able to play together during winter break. Actually, the reason is that Yuuko's mother is sick, and Nanako didn't know that. But then Nanako became angry at Yuuko prior to knowing about her mother, and so now she failed to garner the courage to say sorry and make amends with Yuuko. She wants to find Ruuko the magician, but Ruuko is no magician. Ruuko answers that it's Nanako's fault, and it made her cry and run away. Takaki became angry with Ruuko. The next morning though, we find out that Ruuko's opinion is not just that. She actually tries to help Nanako in her problem. Nanako wants to find a four-clover leaf as sort of inspirational item, and so Takaki and Ruuko tries to help her find one. After a whole day of trying, they fail to find one. Ruuko offers to sacrifice her chance of going home, by using her powers for Nanako. Takaki doesn't want that to happen. By chance, Tamaki was there, and by relaying the story, Tamaki actually remembered that she found a four-leaf clover from way back. They rushed into the Kousaka house, and indeed they found one. They have to hurry up though, because it seems that Yuuko's family is moving away that day! Takaki, Nanako and Ruuko tried to run, but faced further problems when it rained. In the end, Ruuko did use her powers after all (teleport? or maybe stop the rain?) for Nanako. At the very least, Nanako is sure to be happy now. But now, Ruuko is really a castaway. She has no chance to go home anymore.

Sacrifice

At this point, Takaki cared for Ruuko more than ever. Takaki offers Ruuko a place to stay at his home. As thanks, Ruuko seems to do the maid work, waking Takaki up, making him food, and preparing the bath. Moreover, Takaki asks both Sango and Karin to help him research and find a UFO. Sango does research through the internet, while Karin and Takaki meet every night to try to communicate with so-called space people. All this work in the hopes of Ruuko finding her way back home. As a result, Takaki goes home late, and wakes up late. Ruuko notices that. This cycle happened for almost a whole week, until one day Takaki gets a bit sick. Actually, he fainted. When he woke up, he was at home with Ruuko. Ruuko discovered all about his actions, and had mixed feelings. She said that Takaki didn't have to push himself too much for her sake. She finally confessed her feelings, and said that what's more important is that Takaki is alive and well. She needs him. They agreed though that this will be their last try. That night, both Takaki and Ruuko went to the school, but then Konomi, Tamaki, and Yuji was there as well. They don't know what's happening but they sure want to help. They already know somehow that Ruuko is really an alien (kinda funny when Konomi still snuck in the Ruumania thing).

"Whether I can go home or not, I still love you"

That night, there was a meteor shower. It did pave the way for communication. Someone is gonna pick Ruuko up on April 25, two days away. Possibly the last time they may be together, Ruuko and Takaki spent the next day at an amusement park. They also visited the stray cat. April 25 came, and there was a farewell party being held at Takaki's house. Konomi, Tamaki, Yuji, Karin, and the Himeyuri twins were also there to party and say their goodbyes to Ruuko. Karin also took a memorabilia picture. Afterwards, Takaki and Ruuko spent one last night together sleeping (not that). Until it's time. They say their goodbyes, kiss, and finally Ruuko disappears within the blinding light.

Epilogue

As expected, Ruuko is back! Preparing the breakfast, Ruuko explains that she and her family seems to have moved to Earth. Nationality being American, and her name Ruuko Kirei na Sora changed to Lucy Maria Misora, she assures Takaki that she is the same Ruuko that he knew.

In my opinion, farewell stories like this are better off left with real farewells instead of just making a comeback at the very end. All the momentum would be lost right? It wouldn't be a good ending though, but at least it would complement all the drama. In any case, Lucy's scenario is a very wonderful ride. Particularly surprising is the interaction between many characters this time. I did complain about how some To Heart 2 characters don't even know each other, but Lucy pulled in not only Konomi and Tamaki, Karin and the Himeyuri twins were also part of the story! All in all, I enjoyed Lucy's story very much. Enjoy it too, "ou~".

This is a Summer of Bishoujo feature