Episode 9

**Idea 9** is the 9th episode of the Heaven's Design Team anime.

## Synopsis

### Part 1

A new order comes into the department from God for "an animal that inspires maternal instinct." Shimoda tries to find a designer to take on the job. But the team is busy with other projects, especially Kimura, who is working on a new tasty sea critter. However, he can't get the flavor just right. At that moment, Meido raises her hand and volunteers.

Shimoda is worried as Meido seems to be the least suited. Kimura even notes that it is a little out of her area of expertise, to which Meido agrees. She asks him for some advice, to which he agrees. This causes Shimoda, Kanamori, and Unabara to worry. They comment that neither one is an expert on topics like love.

As Meido tries to think of an idea, she looks over at Kimura's Japanese spider crabs and asks what they are doing. Kimura explains how the male crabs use their long legs to imprison the females to prevent any rivals from coming anywhere near. With that in mind, Meido theorizes that love is like a prison, shocking the rest of the team observing from a distance. Worried that Meido might be getting the wrong idea, Kanamori and Unabara decide to help.

Rather than imprisonment, they suggest to Meido something nicer, like cuddling against a belly, like Unabara's bear cubs. Meido looks over at the cubs and specifies that one is going to be abandoned. Shimoda is shocked by her comment, but she explains that Unabara designed that feature into the giant panda. If the mother has two cubs, she picks the bigger cub to raise, leaving the smallest to fend for itself. Unabara claims that he only did that as an adaptation to help improve the panda's chances of survival. Otherwise, the panda can raise two cubs if the conditions are not so rough.

Just then, Kimura points out that the two cubs could have different fathers. Because of the adaption, the female could mate with several males at different times and give birth all at once. Unabara unfortunately agrees with Kimura's statement, which Meido finds very useful. This causes Kanamori and Unabara to panic, and the two try to get her to focus on familial love. Kanamori explains how familial love isn't just between a mother and a child. She then demonstrates with one of her bird species, the house sparrow. Not only do the fathers help raise the chicks, but the house sparrow also shares food with others by calling them over.

Kimura interrupts and asks whether they are really trying to help each other out. He goes on to explain that if there was only enough food for one bird, it wouldn't call out to the others. After a quick demonstration, Kanamori embarrassingly admits that the real reason is to make it easier to escape from predators if there was a whole group instead of one. Kimura quotes that there is no fooling the "foodie detective." Meido thanks the two team members for the helpful information. Despite Kanamori's protest, Meido gets down to work on the project.

Several hours later, Meido finishes her design and gets ready to present it to the others. Kimura and Unabara had gone to Trial Island to do more testing with their animals, leaving Shimoda and Kanamori to stay and listen. Meido begins with a visual aid, which resembles a round fluffy cloud. Surprised by her approach, the two have her continue. She explains how the ball of fluff is cradled against the belly of the father. Curious, Kanamori asks what it is, only for Meido to proclaim that it is a pouch of parasitic eggs. When the female attaches to the male host species, it infects the host's nervous system causing a chemical imbalance, making the host care for the eggs as if they were it's own.

Both Shimoda and Kanamori are left appalled by what Meido had just presented. But at that moment, Shimoda gets a message from God giving divine approval for Meido's animal, the rhizocephalan. Kanamori is amazed at how quickly God approved without finding a host animal. Realizing that she forgot, Meido offers to have Kanamori's bird be the host. Kanamori panics and suggests that she wasn't the only one who helped out. Later on Trial Island, Kanamori, Kimura, and Unabara are all lined up with their animals. At Kanamori's suggestion, Meidopicks which animal to be the host. To both Kanamori and Unabara's relief, she picks Kimura's Japanese spider crab.

### Part 2

A new day begins but with a twist. Due to the recent request from God making things tense around the office, Shimoda has an idea to lighten the mood by having a friendly competition. Acting as a game show host, Shimoda announces the battle for “a bird that lives on an island of ice.” Kanamori acts as the commentator, eager to see what the others come up with. She explains that since the cold temperatures will affect the bird’s survival, the final result will likely be a bird that can’t fly.

Shimoda then turns the attention to the two designers who will be competing, Kimura and Unabara. Unabara is eager to make something round and adorable, while Kimura is determined not to let it happen. Apparently, he is still ticked off at Unabara for ignoring his suggestions when he helped with the sea otter’s design.

Round one begins with the design of the bird’s body for living on land and in the sea. Both designers come up with similar designs. But Kimura’s design has long legs, whereas Unabara’s are short and stubby. Kanamori is pleased with the color design, using both black and white to blend in the water from above and below. Shimoda then contacts the on-site judge Higuchi who has set up Trial Island in the Galapagos to mirror arctic conditions. Although puzzled by Shimoda’s enthusiasm, Higuchi initiates the first field test to see which bird can catch a fish first.

Both birds make their way to the water, with Kimura’s having a slight lead thanks to its legs. After a few minutes of swimming, both birds return and the winner is Unabara’s bird. Suddenly Kimura’s bird starts to sway and later collapses to the ground. Higuchi diagnoses the problem as hypothermia due to its long legs. Kimura interjects stating he gave it long legs to circulate warm and cold blood to regulate body temperature. He then goes on to state that Unabara’s bird wouldn’t stand a chance with its short legs. However, Unabara corrects him by stating that his bird also has long legs. They are just in a squatting position to help keep the body warm. With this new information, Unabara’s design is declared the winner for round one.

Round two begins with ideas to prevent the bird's prey from escaping. Unabara’s design features a large serrated beak, whereas Kimura’s design features a large barbed tongue. After examining the two, Higuchi believes Kimura’s design would work better but with a smaller tongue. Kimura is declared the winner of round two.

Round three begins with figuring out how the bird will filter salt from the water and expel it with bodily fluids. Unabara’s idea is to mix the salt with its tears, while Kimura’s idea is to mix the salt with its snot. Higuchi picks Kimura’s idea as tears would more likely crystallize. Kimura is declared the winner again. For round four both designers come up with looks for the babies. However, Unabara wins with his fluffy coat idea over Kimura‘s spiny coat.

Round five determines how the bird will hold its breath for long periods of time. Kimura wins by suggesting giving the bird the ability to thermoregulate and decrease the temperature of its organs to reduce heat loss. Round six determines how the babies will recognize their parents. Unabara wins by suggesting the parents talk to their babies. Both designers are tied. Kimura is pleased that more of his ideas were picked than he expected. Even Unabara acknowledges that he may have met his match.

The final round begins with determining how the species will survive in the cold environment. Unabara declares the parent will fast, while Kimura declares that the chick will fast. Higuchi has a tough time deciding between the two as both ideas have potential. Ultimately, God gives the final say and approves both designs. Thus the king penguin and the emperor penguin are born.

Both designers are declared winners. In addition, God gives both designers the ability to add an extra element of their choice. Unabara decides to change the variation of the check design. As for Kimura, he gives his design square pupils instead of round ones.

## Characters

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

## Featured Animals

* Rhizocephalan
* King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)
* Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)

## Trivia

* This episode consists of chapters 20 and 26 of the manga series.