Idea 5 is the 5th episode of the Heaven's Design Team anime.
Synopsis[]
Part 1[]
Continuing from the previous chapter, God has sent Ueda to Hell for possibly putting a curse on the tsetse flies. The design team is upset at the revelation. Sometime later, the team is sitting in the Animal Department contemplating on what to do. Shimoda tries to cheer everyone up with his homemade cream puffs. As he is getting tea, a giant bug from the Insect Department flies in terrifing everyone. At that moment, Ueda returns and catches the bug. Although happy to see her, the team is stunned when they notice the trench coat Ueda was wearing.
Ueda then explains to the team that Hell is a new start-up affiliated with Heaven. Apparently, the people in charge were fascinated by the multiplying panda fiasco. At that moment, an angel with long white hair, dressed in a straight jacket and an eye patch appears. After poetically describing the panda incident as a stroke of genius, he introduces himself as Yokota. He was an angel that used to work for Ueda and recently transferred to Hell.
Yokota explains that Hell is in the middle of creating a new theme park. His bosses would like to purchase the idea for the panda-starfish design and commission the team to design a new mascot. While the team looks at Yokota's rough draft (doodle), Tsuchiya is concerned that Hell's environment and gravity will affect the design. But Yokota reassures him that it won't be a problem. The team eagerly agrees to take on the job (as it is the first one that isn't a riddle.)
Tsuchiya divides everyone into two teams for a little internal competition. Team A consists of Tsuchiya, Unabara, and Kanamori, and team B consists of Kimura, Mizushima, and Meido. First up, team A starts off by using a wolf design as a base and comes up with a three-headed wolf. Yokota is astounded by the design when suddenly it falls over. Because of the addition of two more heads, the creature got its coordination mixed up. Unabara suggests putting the brain in a different spot and leaving two of the heads for show. But Higuchi advises against it, with Yokota agreeing that he wants each head to function individually.
So the team decides to make the middle head the dominant head. After conducting a test with some food, the team notices that the creature wants more food. Since they don't want to overfeed it, Kanamori suggests giving it a hobby besides eating. The team introduces it to different genres of music. However, it creates a new problem as each head has different tastes and tries to split up.
Team B criticizes on the problems that the other team is having and presents their design, a three-headed crocodile with wings. Amazed, Yokota wonders if the crocodile heads would be able to get along with each other. Mizushima reassures him that crocodiles are very social and can cooperate with each other in the wild. In addition, the team designed their creature to maintain its intimidating appearance by having its mouths open, stating that team A's design has the risk of appearing cute. Plus, the creature is cold-blooded and can fall asleep when the park closes and would stay asleep even when it is time to eat.
Both teams but heads over the advantages and disadvantages of their designs. After seeing both presentations, Tsuchiya asks Yokota which design would be the best fit. Yokota ponders for a moment when he receives a message from his bosses. Hell has decided to take both designs and agrees to pay double the usual fee, which makes the team very happy. With business taken care of, Yokota bids the design team farewell and returns to Hell.
Happy that they did a job well done, the team discusses how Hell is not as frightening as they originally thought. Kanamori was even impressed that there isn't a dress code. Ueda interjects, stating that Hell's employees are required to design their uniforms to showcase their personal interpretation of "edgy and cool." But due to budget constraints, the employees can't change it even after they regret some of their choices. In a way, it really is "hell" down there.
Part2[]
The team decides to break for lunch. Shimoda notices that Unabara has brought two lunches with him. Kimura then unwraps the big lunch basket that he brought which contains a multitude of live seafood. One is a creature that Kimora designed, a lobster. He explains how he came up with the design based on crabs and shrimp. After several brainstorming sessions, he came up with a giant version of the shrimp with some of the creature's features incorporated. Just then, God approves the design, and the spiny lobster is born.
While Kimura celebrates, Unabara brings out the animal he is currently working on, a type of otter. God gave him the task of designing "an animal that is bad at swimming." As Unabara explains about marine animals and their ability to swim, Kimura interrupts by asking what the otter eats. Because it can't swim well, Unabara has it on a diet fit for an omnivore. He then feeds it a sandwich that he prepared for it. The otter however is more interested in Kimura's seafood lunch. Kimura notices and offers it some samples, which makes the otter happy. Unabara tries to get it to stop and scolds Kimura for interfering. However, the otter tosses away the sandwich in favor of the seafood.
Kimura then gives the otter the spiny lobster to cuddle, causing Shimoda to admire how cute it is. Dismayed, Unabara wonders what to do now. Kimura suggests making it an animal that eats constantly to survive the cold waters of the ocean. Seeing that he has no choice, Unabara agrees. The three set up a tank with seawater to simulate the ocean and place the otter inside. As the otter floats, the cold temperature drives it to find ways to stay warm.
First, it sticks its paws in the air, causing Unabara and Shimoda to react to its cuteness. Kimura suggests incorporating a feature into its fur, to which Unabara agrees. Next, the otter puts its paws over its eyes, which causes Unabara and Shimoda to react to its cuteness again. A second otter is later added to the tank. Kimura notes that with all the food the otter needs to eat, it might not have enough time to return to land to sleep. But before anyone can come up with a solution, Shimoda tells Unabara to look at the tank. The otters had managed to wrap their bodies with kelp to act as blankets. As Unabara and Shimoda become allured by the otters, Kimura tries to suggest another feature. But his words go unheard as the otters once again put on another display of cuteness. Succumbed by his animal's genus (or cuteness), Unabara opts not to incorporate any aggressive features to maintain its appearance. He does add a pouch to store food and modifies the kidneys to handle salt intake.
Several days later, the group goes to Trial Island to see how the otters are doing. While it seems that the otters are thriving, Unabara suddenly discovers that the otters have developed gum disease. Heartbroken, Unabara is at a loss over what to do. Suddenly, one of the otters pulls a rock out of its pouch and uses it to break open a clam. Both Shimoda and Unabara become infatuated by the creature's genus. At that moment, God sends a message giving divine approval, and thus the sea otter is born. Unabara is overcome with tears of happiness over the outcome, while Kimura pouts stating how Unabara totally babied it.
Characters[]
- Shimoda
- Ueda
- Tsuchiya (Mr. Saturn)
- Kanamori (Venus or "Ven")
- Kimura (Jupiter)
- Meido (Pluto)
- Mizushima (Mercury)
- Unabara (Neptune)
- Higuchi (Mars)
Featured Animals[]
- Spiny Lobster
- Sea Otter
Trivia[]
- This episode is comprised of chapters 15 and 17 of the manga series.
- The events of chapter 15 original took place before the team went on vacation.
- Several scenes were added to extend the episode...
- The office scene after Ueda was transported to Hell was added to the anime version of the story. In the manga series, Ueda returns immediatly after is sent to Hell.
- Another scene was when Yokota accepts the two design. He asks if he can purchase the skull pattern from the giant moth to use for T-shirts. This did not appear in the manga series.
- Another scene that was added was near the beginning of part 2. THe team is having lunch, and everyone makes compliments about what they brought.