The day of Belldandy's return draws nearer and nearer, and everybody has work to do. Keiichi needs to work at his part- time jobs so that he can buy Belldandy a ring. Belldandy needs to knit Keiichi a sweater so that he'll have something to remember him by. And meanwhile, Skuld and Urd are doing something awfully suspicious behind Belldandy's back...

Episode Synopsis

The OAV begins with a view of the temple. It's raining outside, and Belldandy's sitting alone in her room. Keiichi goes to open the door, but Skuld stops him. She won't let him see Belldandy because of the Bug exhaust ports forming when they get close to each other. Urd asks him about the Recall Notice, but Keiichi doesn't know anything about it. Urd decides to ask God directly... via telephone. Just like most customer service lines, though, she can't connect. Keiichi goes to Belldandy's room and talks to her through the door. He apologizes for saying what he did to her earlier, saying that he understands that there might be a reason she can't tell him something. He also promises her that he'll wait for her, whether she returns or not.

The next day, Keiichi prepares to go out to his parttime jobs. Meanwhile Skuld and Urd are by the Sealed Tree discussing things. Skuld says that at least she and Belldandy can finally return to Heaven, but Urd points out that if things remain this way Belldandy will just be depressed. She then tells Skuld that they must do something about it. Because the Bugs are being attracted to something sealed in the tree, if they terminate the energy sealed in the tree, they'll fix the system malfunctions, and Belldandy won't have to return home. Skuld protests that it isn't that simple; they'd have to break the seal first. Urd replies that that's not a problem; if they use the same type of energy against the seal they can cancel it. Skuld wonders where she'd get that kind of energy, and then realizes Urd is planning to use an Ultimate Magic Circle. Urd tells her not to speak so loudly, but Skuld continues that using such a circle without permission is a breach of their regulations. Urd tells Skuld not to worry and to hurry up with the calculations anyway.

Meanwhile Keiichi continues with his several part time jobs, trying to earn enough money to buy the ring. At the same time, Belldandy is knitting a sweater for Keiichi. In between two jobs, Keiichi visits a jewelry store. He's browsing around when something catches his eye. For some reason it triggers some kind of reaction about Belldandy within him. Keiichi leaves the store without buying anything yet.

Skuld is working on the calculations on her computer. Urd asks her if she's making any progress, and Skuld says that it'll be tight on time. Belldandy surprises them by asking them what they're doing, and Skuld hits the power switch as Urd nervously explains that they aren't doing anything. Urd then tells Belldandy that if she doesn't hurry, the sweater won't be done on time. She exclaims that Belldandy was awfully perceptive, and is about to continue when Skuld tells her the bad news: she didn't hit the power button for the monitor, she hit the power button for the entire computer. All of their non back-upped data is gone.

Meanwhile, Belldandy receives a phone call. It's from Keiichi; he tells Belldandy that he's working late, so she shouldn't make dinner for him. Keiichi apologizes, saying that he wants to be close to her. Reluctantly, he continues his part time jobs as Belldandy continues making the sweater. Skuld continues working on the calculations, consuming a lot of ice cream in the meantime...

At home, Belldandy is so absorbed in her own thoughts that she doesn't notice the water boiling. Urd tells Belldandy that she should get some rest. Keiichi finally arrives home, and Belldandy rushes to see him before she remembers that she can't. Keiichi is so tired anyway that he fell asleep as soon as he came home. Urd uses some of her special medicines while he's sleeping to give him back some of his energy. Belldandy asks Urd to take some cake and tea to Keiichi, but she tells her that Keiichi fell asleep right away.

As Keiichi is sleeping, he dreams of all the past times he's had with Belldandy. As he delves deeper into his memories, he begins to remember something... Keiichi wakes up in the morning, thinking, when he has a sudden headache. At the same time, the picture frame of him and Belldandy in Belldandy's room cracks without warning. Belldandy exclaims that Keiichi's memory is returning... She prays that it will happen in time, though it's not clear what "it" is.

As Keiichi leaves, he leaves a note for Belldandy, telling her that tomorrow he promises he'll get it (the ring) to her. Urd and Skuld continue their calculations, and Belldandy continues her knitting. Finally, Belldandy completes the sweater. Urd and Skuld complete their calculations, but now they need to make the Circle itself. Skuld asks Urd if they'll get in trouble if Belldandy finds out what they're doing. Urd says not to worry, since they're doing this for Belldandy's sake -- so that she can stay on Earth. Urd says it'd be boring anyway if Belldandy left and Urd was alone on Earth... and Skuld realizes that part of Urd's motivation is that she doesn't want to be the only one left behind (remember, Urd was forbidden from returning at the end of OAV 2). Urd tells her not to mind, and they set off to make the Magic Circle.

Meanwhile Belldandy is removing all traces of her ever existing from her room, including pictures, teacups, documents... Skuld etches the Magic Circle into the yard with a handy blowtorch-like attachment to her Hammer while Urd enchants it. Belldandy looks through her old photo albums with all the times she had with Keiichi. Then, reluctantly, she begins removing herself from all of the photos...

Keiichi is finally down to his last job. He promises he'll get it to Belldandy in time...

The next day, Belldandy leaves the sweater in Keiichi's room, asking for the Lord's forgiveness. Apparently, she's supposed to remove all traces of herself from his life, but she begs him to let her leave that one memento. All Belldandy can do anymore is sit and wait for the gate to open in twenty minutes...

Keiichi arrives at the jewelry store, but they're not open yet. Keiichi forces his way in anyway, and the clerk, seeing that Keiichi is pretty distressed, sells it to him anyway. Keiichi pays for it and runs off, without even waiting for change. The clock hits ten o'clock, and it's time for Belldandy to leave... she begins glowing like she did in OAV #1, reappearing in her own Goddess clothing. Exiting the building, she catches Urd and Skuld making the Magic Circle... Urd tells Belldandy that it's for her and Keiichi's sake, and that using it will allow them to fix the problem. Belldandy tells them that they mustn't; if God finds out about it, they'll be punished as well. She tells them everything will be fine if she returns alone, since it's her sin.

Keiichi returns to the temple just in time. The two go to join each other, but the Gate suddenly opens. Belldandy is being drawn into the air, and Keiichi tries to reach her, but the Gate barrier prevents him from doing so. He's knocked backwards by the force of the barrier, but he keeps trying to reach Belldandy. Belldandy tells him to stop, but Keiichi refuses; he says he must uphold his promise. She realizes that he has recovered his memories...

Belldandy says that she has her promise to keep too, but just as Keiichi tries to give her the ring, she begins being drawn into the air. Desperately, Belldandy begs God to let her stay with Keiichi, saying that she would go so far as to accept being banished from Heaven. At that moment, Skuld completes the Magic Circle, and Urd begins to break the seal. A gigantic explosion takes place...

When everything clears, Urd, Skuld, Belldandy, and Keiichi are all on the ground. The gate has disappeared; Belldandy rushes over to Keiichi, but he doesn't respond. Skuld asks if he's dead, but Urd says he isn't; he's trapped within his own memories, so he might as well be considered dead. Belldandy says she'll go in and retrieve him. Skuld protests that it's too dangerous, but Urd says that this is what Belldandy must do. Belldandy and Keiichi touch foreheads...

We see a beam of light, similar to the Gate, and a young Keiichi rushes into the forest to find it. At the bottom of the Gate, he sees a young Belldandy, who exclaims that normally people shouldn't be able to see such a thing. She introduces herself to Keiichi, and the two become friends. They spent one week together; one night, at a festival, Belldandy exclaims that one of the rings there is very pretty, and Keiichi is about to buy it for her, but he doesn't have enough money. Nevertheless, he tells Belldandy that they should meet there again tomorrow, since he wants to give her something. Belldandy promises that she will. However, apparently it is forbidden for a Goddess to promise such a thing Earth. Her punishment was that she had to return to the Heavens and erase all traces of her presence on Earth, including Keiichi's own memories. Keiichi, overhearing this, tells Belldandy to do it anyway so that she will not be eliminated for violating the regulations. Keiichi promises that despite that, he would still remember her...

Keiichi wakes up, and asks about the Recall Notice. Belldandy says that the Gate has disappeared, but it will probably reappear soon. Another beam of light soon shoots down from the Heavens, but this time it leaves a message, similar to the one in OAV 2. Urd reads it to the others: Since the disturbance causing the System malfunction has been removed, the Recall Notice has been cancelled. However, for using an illegal Magic Circle, Urd has been hit with a thirty-day license suspension, and Skuld has been put on probation until the Bugs are all cleaned up. Keiichi picks up the ring that has fallen onto the ground and puts it on her finger, saying that he needed to keep the promise... when he suddenly asks what promise it was that he made. He can't remember, but Belldandy tells him that it's all right. He's kept his promise.

My Reactions

*Sniff* Don't you just love happy endings? I'm not afraid to admit there were several times during this episode when I just couldn't stop myself from tearing up... critics of A!MS say that it's a bit too sappy, but I don't understand them at all. Calling this episode anything but touching is a far stretch.