Episode 3

**Idea 3** is the 3rd episode of the Heaven's Design Team anime.

## Synopsis

### Part 1

Down on Trial Island, a storm is raging above. A hooded figure stands in the center of a star edged into the earth, reciting a chant for a summoning ritual. The hooded figure is revealed to be Shimoda, while Kimura and Kanamori watch from a distance. Shimoda then opens a folded blueprint releasing the animal inside, a dragon.

Kimura and Kanamori applaud, while Shimoda gazes in amazement at the creature. Wondering who created it, Shimoda asks the two designers. Kimura and Kanamori explain to him that it was someone who at the time was starting his career. At that moment, a door pops up and opens, revealing the designer to be none other than Mizushima. Furious by what he heard, he demands to know why the three had one of his rejected designs.

Shimoda then explains that a new request from God came in for "an animal that flies without wings." Both Kimura and Kanamori thought that the dragon would be the perfect fit, despite being rejected. The whole summoning ritual was just a setup to show off the dragon. Except for the star edged into the ground, which was a doodle that Kimura made for a new animal he was thinking of making.

Mizushima, however, does not agree with the two designers. He explains how he put too much into the dragon's design, which resulted in it getting rejected. He tells Shimoda to put it away, which the latter obeys. Despite Mizushima's protests, the other two designers still believe that they can make it work. Thus they start brainstorming ideas.

First, they decide to fill the dragon with a type of gas to make it float. They further modify it into a body part attached to another animal to ensure that it doesn't float too far away. The result is a giant rooster with the dragon protruding from its rear end. Both the designers are happy, while Mercury and Shimoda are in shock.

Shimoda asks how the dragon is supposed to fly. Kanamori explains that they made it detachable like a lizard's tail. Kimura notices that Mercury has disappeared, most likely because he couldn't stand that the two designers have turned his old creation into a giant hernia, as well as the rooster's private part. Shimoda tries to take in all the morbid features that the two designers have added.

At that moment, something flies by creating static electricity and causing the dragon to explode. Mercury suddenly reappears telling the two designers to drop the dragon idea. Kimura asks what had just flown by, with Shimoda noting that it was moving strangely. Mercury then shows them his latest creation for God's request, a Flying Snake. He then gives them a demonstration, which astounds the group. Shimoda then receives a message from God giving divine approval for the snake. Mercury then proclaims how that was what innovation should look like, shaming both Kimura and Kanamori.

Later on, God approves another animal designed by Jupiter. Using the star-shaped image he drew earlier, and adding some of the features from the dragon, the result is a Starfish.

### Part 2

Inside the Animal Department, Higuchi walks in with Tsuchiya’s design proposal for the Seahorse that recently got approved. There was a small problem with the sketches for the males and females. Tsuchiya takes a look and notices that someone has doodled on his proposal. The labels for the males and females have been switched. Glancing at the handwriting, Tsuchiya recognizes it.

Later, a little boy makes his introduction as Kenta, Tsuchiya's grandson. He was responsible for the recent doodles. As Kenta sits down to enjoy one of Shimoda’s pastries, Tsuchiya collaborates with Higuchi on the Seahorse design. Due to the love of his grandson and emboldened that the design was already accepted, Tsuchiya decides to incorporate the sudden changes, despite Higushi’s skepticism. The team then heads to another room to brainstorm, while Mizushima and Unabara watch Kenta. After some careful thinking, the team comes up with the idea of having the males hatch the eggs, while the females transfer them to the males.

Suddenly a loud cry comes from the Department and the team rushes back to find Kenta Crying. Mizushima tried to bond with Kenta by offering him some coffee. Kanamori berates Mercury and helps calm Kenta down. Shimoda asks him what his favorite animal is. Kenta responds that hlike his grandpa. He even shows off his toy robot which he constructs with five toy horses. Wanting to make up for his earlier mistake, Mizushima proclaims that the team creates an animal that is a combination of other animals and their functions. In the process, he comes up with the idea for a new jellyfish, the Giant Siphonophore, earning a stamp of approval from God.

So the team gets together and chooses five animals from previous designs and combines them. However, what they come up with is a monstrous demon. Everyone panics, when Ueda comes to the rescue and deletes the creature. As the team gets their bearings together, Kanamori checks on Kenta, who enjoyed the spectacle. Higuchi and Tsuchiya return, having been working on the modifications for the seahorse.

Suddenly Ueda gets a message from God that another animal has been approved. Shimoda thinks it is for the upgraded seahorse, however, its design was already approved long ago. While everyone wonders what animal got approved, Kenta suddenly remembers that he did some doodling in the prototype lab earlier. Suddenly a rumbling noise emanates from the lab, leaving everyone in panic as to what it could be. Without wasting time, Shimoda slowly opens the door. The team finds a massive animal struggling to move within the confined space. Thinking it is another demon, the team quickly closes the door. At that moment, God sends another request, asking the team to do something about the animal.

The team starts brainstorming ideas. Unfortunately, every idea they come up with would only create more problems. Kimura suggests that if they had the animal's blueprints, they could then figure out what to do. Tsuchiya asks his grandson if he remembers what he drew. Scared and feeling responsible, Kenta, unfortunately, doesn't respond, prompting Tsuchiya to reassure him that he isn't to blame.

Seeing that they have no other options, the team decides to use an animal to retrieve the blueprints from the lab. To do this, they use the blueprints of one of their older designs, the Gorilla. The first thing the team does is make the gorilla bigger. But as a result, the gorilla collapsed to the ground due to heatstroke. Thinking quickly, the team makes further modifications to cool it down. To Shimod's surprise, the animal now looks like a bald gorilla sporting a cockscomb, furry underwear, and spiked shoulder pads to look cool.

After a few seconds, the modified gorilla manages to stand up but then falls back down. Aside from the heat stroke, the animal can't support its weight on two legs. So the team modifies it to stand on four legs. Seeing that they are on the right track, the team makes further modifications. Removing the fur, switching out the cockscomb for two cooling panels on each side of the head, and switching out the spikes for tusks. Finally, Tsuchiya makes a suggestion of extending its noise to use as an extension of its body. At last, the team has the perfect animal, an Elephant, which is given divine approval from God.

The elephant retrieves Kenta's blueprints from the lab. Looking at the blueprints, the team still can't determine what kind of animal is in the lab. The only clue is some writing stating that the animal is 30 meters. However, Shimoda notices that the zero looks like a C, meaning it reads 3 cm instead. Despite Kenta's protests, the team all agrees that the animal is 3 cm, which God approves.

The animal is then shrunk down to 3 cm, ending the crisis, and is reapproved with its own name, the Hallucigenia. Kenta is upset that the animal is upside down, which he points out in his drawing. When asked what the part was thought to be the head, Kenta explains that it is excretion.

## Characters

* Shimoda
* Ueda
* Tsuchiya (Mr. Saturn)
* Kanamori (Venus or "Ven")
* Kimura (Jupiter)
* Meido (Pluto)
* Mizushima (Mercury)
* Unabara (Neptune)
* Higuchi (Mars)
* Kenta

## Featured Animals

* Flying Snake (*Chrysopelea* sp.)
* Starfish *(Asteroidea)*
* Seahorse (
* Common Clownfish
* Anglerfish *(Cryptopsaras couesii)*
* Snake
* Secretary Bird
* Ant Eater
* Sea Cucumber
* Squid
* Giant Siphonophorae *(Praya dubia)*
* Gorilla
* Elephant *(Elephantidae)*
* Hallucigenia

## Trivia

* This episode features chapters 7, 8, and 9 of the manga series. However chapter 9 is shown as part 1 of the episode instead of at the end.
* In chapter 7 of the manga series, the scene where Kenta was crying was because Mercury tried to bond with him by showing him a giant whale’s organ. Due to the graphic nature, this scene was edited in the anime version.
* The demon that the team created supposedly resembles Cthulhu, a fictional cosmic entity created by American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu."