Episode 09: Stolen Melody

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**Stolen Melody** (盗まれた曲 *Nusumareta Merodī*) is the ninth episode of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.

## Plot

Encouraged by how well Lucia's bento went with Kaito, Hanon decides to prepare a bento for Taro as well. They also find out about a tune their teacher wrote for the mermaid he met during a trip in India.

## Summary

It is late at night in the Pearl Piari, and all seemed peaceful...until everyone woke up to the sound of broken dishware. Lucia, Hippo, Nikora, and Madame Taki all gathered in the hallway, where Taki used her crystal ball to report suspicious activity in the kitchen. Suspecting that a thief had snuck in the hotel, they all went downstairs, where Lucia and Nikora immediately sprang into action. They quickly stopped the thief by sitting on top of them, but were surprised to see that the thief was none other than Hanon. It turned out that Hanon, inspired by Lucia's bento in the previous episode, was trying to make a bento box herself so she could give it to Tarō. Hanon even went as far to daydream about how successful the bento box would be. Understanding the situation, Lucia and Nikora offered to help her. They end up spending most of the night preparing the bento box. Rina even arrived later that morning to see Lucia and Hanon covered in a mess. Nonetheless, Lucia and Hanon (with Nikora watching) managed to finish the bento box and clean themselves up. Madam Taki gives it a charm with her crystal ball. As Lucia, Hanon and Rina left the hotel to deliver the bento, Hanon again thinks about the succession of the bento box, which leads to her getting carried away with her imaginations. The trio later bumped into Kaito, and Lucia asked him if he would like to come visit Tarō with them. However, Kaito says he has surfing practice, so he turns the offer down.

Meanwhile, at Gaito's castle, the Dark Lovers promised Gaito that despite their recent failures, they would eventually succeed in capturing the three Mermaid Princesses. Yuri also tried to play some piano for Gaito, but he offended her and left the room.

Meanwhile, at Tarō's house, Tarō was also playing on his piano and had just finished writing (and playing) a new song. Yuri came to the surface and, hearing Tarō's music, deduced that his music seemed to carry a mermaid-like melody. Quickly forming a plan, Yuri decided to use Tarō's music to lure the mermaid princesses into a trap. Yuri barged into the house and demanded Tarō to hand her his song. After Yuri told Tarō to look at her in the eyes, Tarō lost consciousness and fell off the piano chair. Yuri happily picked up Tarō's music sheets for herself and was preparing to leave when the doorbell rang. Lucia, Hanon, and Rina had arrived at Tarō's house, waiting for Tarō to open the door. When they got no response, Hanon ended up barging in instead. The trio opened the door to the piano room and received a shocking surprise: Tarō was lying unconscious on the floor and, unbeknownst to them, Yuri had also escaped. Hanon rushed over, accidentally dropping the bento box and tried to wake Tarō. Rina eventually managed to wake him up, but upon regaining consciousness, Tarō's attention quickly turned to the music sheets, which were now missing. This left him incredibly upset. Tarō had planned to use that music at an upcoming piano contest, and despite trying his best, he's lost all memory of it (thanks to Yuri). Hanon placed him on his sofa to help him calm down, while Lucia and Rina took off to call for a doctor. Back at Tarō's home, Tarō explained to Hanon that he created this specific song for a mermaid he saw in the Indian Ocean while he was traveling in Asia.

Later that evening, Lucia, Hanon, and Rina were discussing the recent incident, with Rina noting how Tarō could not remember even one phrase of his own song. At that moment, Hanon bluntly announced that she would find the thief and get Tarō's music sheets back. Lucia and Rina informed that it would be nearly impossible to find because they have yet to find any evidence of the thief. Hanon replied that she could not bear seeing Tarō in so much pain, and she ultimately takes off by herself, saying that she will search for Tarō's music sheets without their help.

Meanwhile, Yuri began to play Tarō's song on her own piano on a small island nearby, which eventually catches Hanon's attention. Attracted by the beautiful music, Hanon swam towards it. Not too far away, Lucia and Rina were discussing the situation and noticed one odd fact: Tarō's memories of the music were wiped clean. They put two and two together to quickly realize that there was only one possible explanation: the culprit was likely a Dark Lover, which meant that Hanon was heading straight into danger! Sure enough, Hanon had approached the island, and now Yuri was quickly capturing and binding her with ropes. As Hanon tried to wriggle free, she saw the letters "T.M." on the music sheets on Yuri's piano. Instantly realizing the music sheets were Tarō's, Hanon deduced that the music thief was Yuri. Yuri resumed playing Tarō's music to put Hanon to sleep, just as Rina and Lucia arrived at the scene. Seeing Hanon tied up, they cautiously tried to approach, but they too, fell asleep to the music. Delighted at having captured three mermaid princesses, Yuri stopped playing the piano and began to tear apart Tarō's music sheets. Hanon woke up just in time to witness this, and begged Yuri to stop. Yuri paid no attention to her and happily ripped Taro's music sheets into smithereens. Having come so far just to see her goal ripped apart in front of her eyes, Hanon reached her breaking point, and her anger flared out of control. Hanon's shell pendant reacted and began to shine fiercely. The glowing light quickly broke the ropes, allowing Hanon to free herself and simultaneously wake up Rina and Lucia. Hanon, Rina, and Lucia transformed into their idol forms and glared at Yuri, who was now stunned by the sudden turn of events. Determined to make Yuri pay for stealing (and tearing apart) Tarō's music sheets, Hanon punished Yuri by singing her image song, causing Yuri's piano (which was an illusion) to also disappear. Left with no other choice, Yuri retreated for the day. Looking down at the torn music sheets that Yuri left behind, Hanon picked one up and started to cry.

Later that night, Tarō tried once more to remember something from his own song, but failed yet again. However, he suddenly hears a singing voice somewhere outside the window beyond the balcony. Tarō came out and was surprised to see a blue mermaid in the water singing Legend of Mermaid. Seeing this blue mermaid brought back memories of the mermaid he saw in the Indian Ocean, and this helped him to finally remember his song. At the concert the following day, Lucia explained to Kaito why Taro made this song.

## Characters

* Lucia
* Hanon
* Rina
* Taro Mitsuki
* Nikora
* Madame Taki
* Hippo
* Kaito
* Gaito
* Izuru
* Eriru
* Yuri
* Sara (flashback)

### Places

* Pearl Pirari
* Kitchen
* Gaito's/Panthalassan Castle
* Taro Mitsuki's house
* Beach/Sea

## Trivia

* This episode marks the debut of Hanon's image song, Ever Blue.
* When Hanon daydreams about feeding Taro, her eyes are blue for a couple of seconds, but it turns back to brown afterwards. This is an eye coloring error.
* When this episode was broadcast on Japanese television, the animated scene for Ever Blue is different.
* Another animation error is on Lucia's dress when Hanon breaks down still crying.