Episode 32

**Magic Mirror Arc: Shion's Sad Secret** (魔鏡編 詞音の悲しき秘密, *Makyōhen Shion no Kanashiki Himitsu*) is the 32nd episode of the Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Anime and first aired in Japan on November 16, 2003. This episode is entirely filler and is not based off any chapters from the Konjiki no Gash!! Manga.

## Overview

Shion faces a crisis when she realizes she has to risk her friendship with Kiyomaro and Gash for the sake of obtaining their piece of the magic mirror by any means necessary. She and Nyarurato try just about everything to convince Gash to give them the piece of the mirror but when it all fails, they find themselves with no choice but to take it by force.

## Plot

As Shion gets ready for the day, she thinks about the fact Gash had refused to give her his mirror fragment the previous day and comes to the painful realization that she has no choice but to take it from him. Meanwhile, Kiyomarostruggles to hold Gash back from trying to head to school from him. Shion and Nyarurato end up arriving at their house just as Gash ends up accidentally flinging himself towards the front door and collides into them. In addition to being surprised at what had just happened, Kiyomaro finds himself also surprised at the fact Shion came over just to walk with them to school.

As they all walk together, Shion overhears Kiyomaro and Gash refer to something significant in their conversation as "it" and speculates that the item in question must be the mirror fragment that's potentially stored inside of Kiyomaro's school bag. Thinking about the mirror again causes Shion to appear troubled as she tries to convince herself that what she has to do can't be helped. After taking a moment, Shion would then tell Gash and Kiyomaro how glad she is to have been able to become friends with them then goes on to mention that even if they start to dislike her later, how she feels about them now is the honest truth. This takes both Gash and Kiyomaro by surprise as they wonder why Shion is saying such things all of a sudden, but Shion forces herself to smile through her sadness and reassure the two of them that everything is fine. Their moment ends up being cut short by Suzume who seems to be visibly distressed seeing how close both Shion and Kiyomaro are. She would become progressively panicked the more she hears from them that they seem to be enjoying each others company.

Once the group arrived at school, they would soon find a chaotic scene of students and animals in class. This pandemonium would only  get worse as soon as the students notice Shion who they would then all try to ask if she'd be willing to walk home with them from school instead of Kiyomaro. Things however would settle down once the homeroom teacher arrives to restore order. Once class officially begins, Shion tries to come up with a plan to allow her to get a hold of Kiyomaro's bag which is placed by the side of his desk. While pretending as if she dropped her eraser on accident, Shion would grab Kiyomaro's bag, toss it in the air, then retrieve what she initially thought would be the mirror fragment only to soon realize that "it" was actually Gash's lunch. The real location of the mirror fragment would turn out to be inside of Gash's **Vulcan 300** which he had been carrying with him all this time. After learning this, Shion and Nyarurato would make multiple attempts throughout the school day to follow Gash and take his piece of the mirror only to fail each and every time. At the end of the school day, Shion clings to Kiyomaro as she tells him she's ready to walk home with him from school. Looking for a way to remove himself from this position, Kiyomaro quickly comes up with an excuse saying he has to head back to get Gash's lunch from the classroom but tells Shion, Nyarurato, and Gash that they can go on without him. Shion and Nyraruato would quickly head off on their own with Gash as they realize this is the perfect opportunity to finally seize Gash's mirror fragment.

Shion ends up taking Gash to a nearby park where she tries one last time to ask Gash for his mirror fragment while telling him it's very important to them that they have it. Despite this, Gash still finds himself reluctant to give it to them as he still values it as his own personal treasure. Seeing as they have no other choice, Shion reveals to Gash that Nyarurato is a demon and pulls out a pink spell book from her bag. Shion then quickly casts their first spell, *Paperuto*, which causes Gash to be temporarily stunned by a red beam of light that Nyarurato had emitted. Just as Shion explains the effects of *Paperuto* to Gash, Nyarurato would become distracted by a dragonfly that had landed on the edge of their spell book and frantically tries to paw at it. As a result, Gash's body mimics all of Nyarurato's erratic movements which then causes him to drop the mirror fragment that he was holding in his hand. Shion then tries to make a dash towards the fallen mirror piece only for *Paperuto* to suddenly wear off just then which gives Gash enough time to retrieve his mirror before Shion takes it. Despite how exhausted Nyarurato appeared to be, Shion reminds Nyarurato that this is their only chance to get the mirror fragment and Nyarurato readies themselves to continue fighting. Shion then picks herself off the ground to prepare herself to cast their strongest spell, *Peruku*. Casting this spell causes Nyarurato to temporarily shapeshift into a monstrous cat-like form and the hairs on their back would turn needle sharp. Just as soon as Nyarurato launches these needle-like hairs towards Gash, Kiyomaro ends up arriving just in time to cast *Zakeru* to protect Gash from the incoming attack.

Kiyomaro then demands answers from Shion as to what's going on and Shion at first replies saying that they're enemies and that they have to fight eventually. Gash and Kiyomaro would immediately argue back saying that there truly is no reason that they have to fight as given the fact that they're friends. As the sun sets, Shion would disappear from view from them and tries to tell them that they tricked them this whole time into thinking they're friends. This still fails to convince Kiyomaro who then demands to know why earlier that day she had just told them that she was glad that they became friends. Struggling to answer this at first, Shion resorts to casting *Peruku* once again towards them but then tells them that this battle can't be helped. When Kiyomaro and Gash plead for an answer for this once again, Shion finally gives in and explains to them her situation and the day she had first met Nyarurato. Shion explains that her parents had died in an accident six months prior and she had fallen into a deep depression as she constantly cried and realized how alone she was without them. Nyarurato would one day wander into her house and the companionship she had received from them would rescue her from the sadness she had been going through all that time. Despite the newfound happiness she had discovered with Nyarurato, she would end up learning about the battle to decide king through various close encounters with other enemy demons and realize that Nyarurato would disappear if their book were to be destroyed.

Shion continues her story by then mentioning that she and Nyarurato would soon come to meet someone who had promised that there was a way for the two of them to be together forever. In a flashback, Shion and Nyarurato would meet with Grisa and Hakase, who tell them about the magic mirror that had split into three pieces and explain that if they're able to collect the remaining pieces, then their wish to be together forever will come true. Shion would reiterate again to Gash and Kiyomaro about their wish and their desire to not have to participate in the demon battle. But despite this, she points out that since they still have the remaining mirror fragment and they have no choice but to fight them for it. As Shion and Nyarurato retreat deeper into the park, Gash reflects on their story and feels sympathetic towards their struggle. When Shion casts *Peruku* again, Kiyomaro warns Gash about the impending attack only to hear from Gash that he refuses to fight anymore. As the needle-like projectiles get closer to Gash, Gash calls out to Shion telling them that not only is it pointless for them to fight, but asks why they can't just trust each other and still be friends. Believing in Gash's words, Shion ends up cancelling Nyarurato's spell and the glow from her spell book fades away.

Shion and Nyarurato would come out of hiding to meet with Gash and Kiyomaro back out in the open. Seeing that they understood what he was trying to tell them, Gash gladly gives Shion and Nyarurato his mirror fragment which brings them both to tears being overwhelmed with gratitude to him. From a distance, Hakase and Grisa observe this and Hakase notes that the gathering of all three mirror fragments has been completed and the next step  is to combine these pieces. Grisa would add to this saying that once that happens, he'll become the next demon king.

 Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Cut N' Paste (Flashback)
* Gash Bell
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Nyarurato
* Shion Hibiki
* Suzume Mizuno
* Mamoru Iwashima
* Hiroshi Yamanaka
* Takeshi Kaneyama
* Kaneko
* Umagon
* Naomi
* Hidetoshi Nakata
* Wife
* Grisa
* Hakase

### Locations

* Mochinoki City
	+ Takamine Residence
	+ Mochinoki Middle School

### Spells by Appearance

* Paperuto (Debut)
* Peruku (Debut)
* Zakeru

## VIZ Censorship & Other Localization Differences

* A scene featuring Naomi repeatedly punching Kaneyama in the face was removed in the VIZ localization of the episode.
* When Shion and Nyarurato follow Gash into the men's restroom of the school, a scene that originally showed the inside of the restroom was removed entirely in the VIZ localization of the episode.