Bellflower, the family Campanulaceae of flowering plants. Any plant of the genus Campanulai, they have showy, bell shaped flowers of white, pink, or blue. Widely distributed in the temperate zones. In the language of flowers, white bellflowers signify gratefulness.
It's funny how things happen sometimes. I just realized something that Mr. Fujishima started doing a while back and its meaning completely breezed by me. In fact, if it wasn't for Mahoromatic, I might not have gotten it yet.
In one of the Maho animes, Maho brings a bouquet of bellflowers on a visit to Suguro's family gravestone on the anniversary of his father's death, which reminds Suguro that the "Bellflower Person" didn't show up that year (you'd think a lesser mind than his would have made the connection). A small story element, but I just recognized the flowers behind Belldandy and Holy Bell as they sing to Peorth in TPB #21 as the same flowers.
I used to think these were day lilys, but apparently in Japan they're known as bellflowers, which makes them ideally suited to be associated with Belldandy. I'm not sure when Mr. Fujishima started using them as backdrops and such around Belldandy, but I'm pretty sure I've seem them before in the story and I've definitely seen them further on. In fact, in the future she's actually going to be using them to work magic with. So I guess we can consider them Belldandy's signature blossom, just like roses are Peorth's.
I wonder if having your own trademark flower is a perk for being a first class, unlimited goddess.
A key element of Belldandy's personality is a reflection of her domain, the present. She is nearly totally focused on now, what's happening around her at that moment. She remembers the past and plans for the future, but she lives in the moment she's in. Thus she can be occasionally blindsided by events and surprised by unexpected consequences. That she can then focus on the situation and deal with it quickly covers up most of these events, but sometimes she's just stunned by things. This also accounts for her occasional over-reactions to things; she's knee-jerk reacting to an unexpected threat (usually to Keiichi) with everything she's got.
This element of her domain shows up primarily in Bell's constant state of childlike wonder at the world around her. Her continuing delight at discovering things old and new makes every moment seem emotionally like the first time its ever happened to her, allowing her to maintain her trust and purity of love and hope as the events of the past that wear others down don't really effect her. This is also why she sometimes seems so to be so terribly naive or simple at times. It's not that she's dumb; it's just that she's only paying attention to the situation directly before her and not concerning herself with side issues or context but only with what she can do about the situation right now.
Part of this is due to the fact that she is actually VERY intelligent. (Remember her stint as student leader in Keiichi's classroom, and the end result of Megumi's game of "Stump Belldandy"? Not to mention all her explaining the multiple dimensional physics and mathematics of events to Keiichi on occasion.) She encounters a situation, assesses what can be done, then concentrates on what she sees as do-able and almost unconsciously ignores the rest without comment. Which unfortunately sometimes makes her look like she's unaware of the bigger picture. (Of course, sometimes she actually is unaware, but its due to not noticing, not naivety.) Also, it's often a situation where she's realized that nothing further can be done about things at that time and that bringing that fact up will just cause the subject more distress and since she can't lie about it she'll just not mention it.
This focus on the present is also the reason she can usually see through illusions and artifices to the reality of things, seemingly without trying. Because of it, she's always so aware of the world around her to such depth and detail that normal distractions and camouflage don't effect her, possibly to the point of being able to see behind the false images magic might use to hide something. Literally, no detail, no matter how small, can escape her notice if she's looking for it. The question is, will she be looking for it and will she realize what it might mean when she sees it? Another aspect of this character trait is her almost psychic ability to walk in on things that are trying to be kept from her (she's so aware of her surroundings its hard to keep her from sensing when something that effects her is going on). And it also helps explain her empathy for animals, they're lives are also lived in the present and thus she can relate strongly to them mentally.
Indeed, this aspect of her personality applies to much of her attitude toward life, she isn't worried about bad things happening in general (she doesn't look for them and will deal with them if they come), doesn't dwell on bad things that happened in the past (it's the past and over with, remember the good stuff), hold grudges, is always willing to give a second chance, and basically is going through life doing what she can to make "now" the best it can be for everyone and trying to not worry about the rest. (She also tries not to think too much about specific bad things if she can help it, like how much hurt she could cause Keiichi someday because she's with him. That's just too painful.)
Belldandy is under a lot of pressure. She's the second child in a situation that expects great things from her (she’s a Norn). As such, just being good isn't good enough. She feels she has to excel at everything, both to please those who might judge her and to compete with her older sister. Fortunately, the goddess of the present's personality has allowed her to totally focus her formidable abilities on each situation as it presents itself, so she's actually been able to nearly achieve this goal of perfection in her goddess duties and social relations and hide her personal demons.
But underneath it all is a scared little girl who wants her parents' love and approval and who both selfishly desires happiness for herself and is jealous of her sisters and those she sees as having more than she does or threatens what she already has. Holding on to her happiness is Bell's primary goal in life, which is why she wants everyone around her to be happy too. If everyone else is happy, than she can be happy without feeling guilty about it, so she works very hard to achieve happiness for others, but for her own selfish reasons.
Belldandy is aware of this "dark side" of her personality and it scares her so much she tries to ignore it. If she's capable of these thoughts, then she's a failure at being what's expected of her as a Norn and goddess first class. (Everyone makes excuses for Urd because she's a half demon, but what could Bell's excuse be?) One reason she cares so much for Keiichi is that he does love her so selflessly and reassures her that these failings of hers are all right. He's a constant source of the approval and reassurance she desires so desperately.
Unfortunately, her need for this approval and reassurance also constantly reminds her of why she needs it, so it in itself makes her unhappy. The girl's got problems, and she cares enough for Keiichi to not want to drag him into her life any further until she gets them under control.
Another aspect of this "dark side" is Belldandy's fear that these hidden desires might be affecting her moral center, and because of that she can't trust herself to judge right and wrong (a.k.a. -she's lacking in virtue). This is a great failing as a goddess and she compensates by making a strong effort to adhere to the rules of conduct as she's been taught them (being perfect at everything she does). But she's always afraid of making mistakes, because she doesn't feel she can count on her inner self to guide her. (That's where her emotional confusion in times of crisis comes in. If it's something clear-cut she can handle it perfectly, but the more it involves making moral judgments that affect her basic principles, the more uncertain she becomes.) So she's always tried to attach herself to a strong role model to help her out.
The first were her parents (but they weren't around much). Then there was Urd (but that didn't work out too well). Next were the caregivers (but they were rather cold in their professional caring, mostly interested in not having problems to deal with, which is where Bell got the idea she had to be Miss Perfect from). And then Celestin, or whoever takes his part in the Manga (as he filled the roles of father, teacher, and love interest in her adolescent life when she was most vulnerable, his ultimate betrayal of her trust really screwed her up). So when she went back to find Keiichi, it was to hopefully find someone she might be able to trust implicitly. That it turned out she can and that he feels the same way about her has been the greatest joy of her life. (And she ain't gonna give him up!)
That's another reason Belldandy says K-1 is such a comfort to her, with him by her side she feels confident she won't make a wrong decision or act improperly. Apparently, Keiichi radiates virtue and goddesses can feel it. That's why they all seem to fall for him. (Interestingly, another possible reason Belldandy is holding back on their relationship is that she doesn't feel SHE's worthy of Keiichi! She doesn't think she'll be ready for the next level of commitment until she can get her own lack of virtue resolved.)
Bell has tried several avenues of thought to resolve her problems, most of which involved escaping from them. One of the strongest and longest lasting of these was the idea of giving up being a goddess and just living with Keiichi like a mortal woman. Without her powers, her faults wouldn't be important and she wouldn't have to worry about being taken away from Keiichi and causing him pain. Plus as an ordinary woman she would be able to concentrate on just keeping Keiichi happy all the time, which would make her happy all the time; a win-win situation for both. But somehow she knew deep down that it wouldn't work.
She finally dropped this tantalizing dream in the Travelers arc when, after a long discussion with the one she trusted most, she admitted to Keiichi that she really wanted to remain a goddess. There's a whole lot that can be inferred from that, including the fact that Mr. Fujishima was working on the movie plot at that time and thinking about the future, but mostly that Belldandy had resolved to face her problems and come to terms with them.
She now knows she can't change how she is, but she can accept it and learn to live with it in ways that are acceptable to her. Which is what she's trying to do now. And as she slowly succeeds, she'll start becoming more open in her relationship to Keiichi.
In this way, it would appear that she and Urd are both involved in very similar struggles.
In spite of her heroic efforts to hide it (because it's not how a goddess is supposed to act), deep down Belldandy still has a mean streak of possessive jealousy. Her jealousy storms have been referred to in the manga and anime, along with her angry eyes and the sudden and aggressive use of excessive magic power when anything seriously threatens Keiichi. Fortunately, she can normally limit this jealously to the things that are absolutely essential to her happiness and shows a great deal of restraint elsewhere.
However, it's not the suppression of her jealousy that is the real cause of Belldandy's concern. Rather it's that when her jealousy swells up it increases her power to the point it starts to overwhelm her personal control and seal. (If you'll pardon me, think of it as the dark side of "the force.";) While she sometimes taps into it for strength, she cannot ever give in to it. If it really took over, Belldandy could lash out in her anger and really hurt or destroy things mindlessly (again, think Anikan and the Sand People), and that's something a First Class goddess cannot allow to happen. Period. (Remember the movie and her defense of Celestin?) So she has good reason to be worried about it. That she feels it happening reflects badly on both her status as a goddess first class and her own personal self image as a perfect goddess.
Perhaps the most important long term plot revelation in the Sora Unchained arc was how a long term running theme that has existed throughout the series was finally made absolutely clear. It wasn't really obvious at first, but a character trait BOTH Belldandy and Keiichi share is that they are gung-ho competitors and nothing makes them happier than squaring off against a new challenge or opponent. In the past, their pleasure in such competitions has been clouded by outside circumstances or unhappy results if they lose, but both Bell and Keiichi love a pure challenge they can devote themselves to totally. (Interestingly, this character trait for Belldandy is first mentioned in the Anime Otoku story...."I never had anything before that I could devote myself to so completely and totally.";)
(Just to make it clear, when Belldandy races with Keiichi, she IS using her goddess abilities, but NOT her powers (except for emergencies). That would be cheating. If she misses a move, they'll tumble and crash like anyone else. So the danger is real, as is the excitement, the adventure, and the accomplishment.)
This wasn't very clearly shown earlier in the manga, and many stories even made it seem as if Belldandy was rather timid about taking risks. (I know I thought that at first, and from the older posts on the subject I wasn't the only one.) That's why her occasional outbursts of excessive force or effort seemed so out of character. Actually, she's an all or nothing sort of competitor, who is just very choosy about what she decides to get involved in. Normally she tries not to upset things or push herself into situations, but when she decides to go for it (or she feels she's forced to), look out! This aspect of Bell's personality becomes more noticeable in the manga stories from this story arc on, and if you go back and review the older stories I think you'll see what I mean.
Other examples of Bell's competitive nature are in What A Miracle and Leader of the Pack. Observe her efforts to win in the races, fight off the sleep demon, and how she can ignore K-1's behavior without embarrassment as long as they get back in the race. And in Leader of the Pack she makes a rather intense speech about competition and winning, basically saying to Keiichi the only acceptable attitude to have when racing is, “To either come back with your shield covered in victory or to be carried back on it.”
13-Feb, 20 view(s)
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