Chapter 2 Is Now Available!

[ordnance11]

Mara has always been, if not a particularly nuanced character, at least one that is not particularly evil per se.

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This is
true for many of the "demon" characters, in that the most negative consequences of their actions are mostly unintended, or at
least beside the point. Mara's main goal is to send the goddesses permanently back to heaven, which she does by trying to
break up Keiichi and Belldandy. Welsper's goal was to have Belldandy remember him. Hild's . . . well, who can say what
Hild's goal is.

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Hild's goal is fairly easy to understand.There was a cover picture in one of the chapters when Hild first appeared. Picture the Madonna and Child. Sub a young Hild as the Madonna and a baby Urd as the Child.

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In the original work, Belldandy is characterized as someone who will stand up for her
love, firm in her convictions--both points that were present in DW/OMB. Yet it is also clear that *this* Belldandy is also a
disciplinarian, unlike her original counterpart who suppresses her jealousy until it comes out as destructive lightning
bolts;

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Your comparisons are not clear. Setting and enforcing clear standards between right and wrong actions doesn't mean you have to be terrorize people to do so (though the Judges might disagree with me). Belldandy is that type of person you wouldn't dare disappoint. She can lay down the law, simply by being who she is. A softer type of iron fist, inside the velvet glove. But still iron, none the less.

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It is always Keiichi who insists on their keeping their
natures secret, which the others comply with . . . with varying degrees of success and compliance.

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Keiichi laid down his reasons in the arc where the Goddesses met his parents. His great (and justified) fear is that there are people that would and will seek to gather and use divine power for their own ends. NGE, anyone?

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One final note--though it is said in the concordance that the idea that the temple the cast lives in is not a Shinto temple was introduced late in the series, that is simply not true. The fact that it was a Buddhist temple was clear from its introduction in chapter three of the manga, where the monk who oversaw the temple was humbled by Belldandy's spiritual purity and left on a pilgrimage to better himself, leaving the temple in Belldandy and Keiichi's care.

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Hmmm...I thought Bob said it was a Buddhist temple.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell