Week 3 Summary
Episode 3 Summary (“Alien and Radio Noise Bath”):
It’s another incredibly early morning for poor Mayu: she wakes up in front of her schoolwork at 4:30, gets ready to deliver her papers, and walks out the front door to find an Indian-looking fellow with an enormous turban leering at her. “Namaste!” says this odd apparition. Mayuki quivers, closes the door, and screams.
Mayuki awakens NieA and the two go to view the odd man again. It turns out that his name is Chada, and he’s actually an alien and an acquaitance of NieA’s. However, this does not keep Mayu from being severely creeped out every time chuckles and leeeeaaaannnsss over her. Chada is there (at four thirty in the morning!) both to remind NieA that there’s an Aliens’ Meeting coming up (at which the area’s aliens meet and discuss means of raising their nonexistent social status), and to advertise the fact that he has a new convenience store opening in the area: AM 11, PM 7. This is how Chada advertises:
He says that he will try his curry bento on all the aliens that come to the meeting—so of course NieA’s in. Meanwhile, back in the semi-real work, Mayuki is late for work. As she delivers her papers, she sees Chada’s new store and is rather impressed with its foreigny feel.
Back at the bath-house, something strange happens: as NieA slumbers on the roof, the sleepy music on her radio fades out and is replaced by a strange buzzing, in which voices can almost be made out. As the buzzing sounds, NieA rises and stares at the mothership in the distance. Something is happening…
Also admiring the view is a mysterious, handsome, and obviously upper-class alien just coming into the town by bus. Geronimo Hongo is a big star now, but he got his start as an Under in Enohana—so Chada has asked him to come to give an inspirational speech at the meeting.
Meanwhile (this is a very random episode; that’s why I like the show) Mayuki runs into Chiaki at cram school. Chiaki has not changed a bit, and a nice little montage of life around Enohana shows us that despite the poverty, people largely know how to enjoy their quiet days.
Except for Karna, of course. The Aliens’ Meeting has started, and at the forefront of the discussion (OK, there’s not a lot: only five aliens are there, including Karna and Chada; and as for the remaining three, if you looked up the definition of “worthless” in the dictionary you would find their pictures) is Karna, a wannabe-Chinese alien absolutely freakin’ obsessed with “raising the social status of aliens in Enohana.” She HATES Chada’s gross curry, she HATES the pathetic people she has to work with (“the Hawaiian fetish guy! The Pig! The ‘Last of the Mohicans’ shaman! And the fake Indian!”), she HATES her low-class position, and she HATES it when her high-powered antenna gets twisted and she starts receiving take-out orders and falling over. It turns out that she really HATES NieA, and when the little troublemaker herself shows up and consumes a massive amount of disgusting curry bento, Karna looses it. The two get into a shouting match that ends only when NieA mocks Karna’s antenna. How dare she!? Karna hefts an enormous pot of curry and heaves it at NieA—who lightly leaps aside and allows the pot to hit Geronimo Hongo, who has just walked through the door. Ah… another successful meeting.
The group has to rent out the entire Enohana Bath-house just to get the curry smell off them, and although NieA and Karna fight in the bath, the episode concludes pleasantly enough as Mayu reflects in her diary on NieA’s amazing ability to enjoy herself even at an event as disastrous as the Alien Meeting. NieA’s an annoying little snot—but at least she has fun being one…