ベラミス - her epic journey of her soul

Chapter 19 A fruitless romantic love and yearning

Medora was in love with Belamis. She approached Assistant Professor Dodge, and used sign language to say, "I want to have a set of pencils and a sketchbook..."

Assistant Professor Dodge replied, "You want to draw ? Amazing! Well here you are!" As he grab a few pencils, and a sketchbook, and handed to Medora.

"What do you want to draw?" Asked Assistant Professor Dodge, as he wondered how Medora could draw in blindness. Medora smiled. She reached her hands out and touched a tea cup, that's Assistant Professor Dodge cup of tea. Medora quickly felt the tea cup, then used the pencils and draw the tea cup accurately, and Assistant Professor Dodge was amazed.

Medora then blushed, as she hold the sketchbook and pencils. She walked back to her room, holding the sketchbook tight.

Belamis and Medora were very close, and sometimes Belamis would even slept in the same bed as Medora.

In Belamis thought, she was merely thinking of keeping Medora company, especially in the lonely nights. A few times she saw Medora was crying in a nightmare, so Belamis would sometimes went over to sleep with her.

As Belamis was asleep, Medora rested her head on Belamis torso, gently feeling Belamis body.

This day Belamis was not in the facilities, she was at the Galaxy Union armed force quarters.

Medora took the sketchbook out and began drawing. The first was Belamis' face, which was a handsome face, and greatly resembled Belamis.
Medora's sense of touch was acute, she pictured accurately in her head how Belamis looked like just by touching Belamis face a few times.

Then on the second page she proceeded to draw Belamis - in the form of a man in total nudity. For she remembered Belamis was naked in giantess form, and she touched Belamis' body a few times.

As Medora drew the upper body of Belamis, she blushed. The drawing resembled Belamis in giantess form, except the breasts were not there, as Medora never touched Belamis' breasts, and Medora imagined that to be a man's strong chest, with a masculine pair of pectorals.

Then Dr. Kitty knocked, "Medora, are you in ?"

Medora tugged her sketchbook under her blanket, and stood up, opening the door.

"I came to see if you are OK." Smiled Dr. Kitty.

Medora nodded.

Dr. Kitty then noticed under the blanket the corner of the sketchbook.

At night, before Belamis was back, Medora drew another picture, one that showing her and Belamis along side, like lovers.

Belamis was back from the quarters and entered Medora's room. Medora hid her sketchbook, and she said to Belamis in telepathy, "You are back!"

Belamis said, "Yes...". Medora stood up and went to hug Belamis. Belamis stroke her hair gently, and hugged her. Medora's felt her heart was beating quickly, and she smelled Belamis' body scent.

Belamis looked and found it awkward, and she asked, "What is it ?"

Medora raised her head, and blushed, then she told Belamis in telepathy, "Nothing... I just feel very happy when you are around.."

Belamis looked at her, and said, "Let's take a walk outside, it would be better than staying indoors all the time." Belamis then took her out, Medora hold Belamis hand tightly.

When they were outside, Dr. Kitty entered Medora's room, and found the sketchbook.

Dr. Kitty looked at the pictures, and frowned, "Goodness.....".
Before her eyes was a picture of Belamis, whole body, naked, even with man's genitals.

Dr. Kitty thought, "It's easy for this kind of misunderstanding.... Belamis was tough like a man, she was very handsome, chivalrous, brave and strong...all qualities of a man where a woman will admire..."

Belamis and Medora were back, and Medora slept.

Dr. Kitty approached Belamis, and said, "Belamis.... we need to talk."

"What ?" Belamis exclaimed as she heard Dr. Kitty spoke about Medora's sketchbook.

"Yes. I think she is in love with you... she thought you were a handsome young man..." Dr. Kitty replied.

Belamis signed.

She remembered the first time she encountered Kugo, Kugo also thought she was a man. Only Princess Aurora could tell otherwise. Now Belamis body grew much more stronger, without her breasts her very muscular body was almost indistinguishable from a man's body, except she was a bit more slender and did not have the external genitals like a man.

"The body of you changed to such a form because you are now the defender of Galaxy Energy - in the records we found, Gariusu giantess were all like that, with muscular body." Dr. Kitty said.

"Medora developed a deep affection to you.... she loved you like she loved a man." Dr. Kitty continued.

Belamis folded her arms, and looked at the window, and said, "No wonder .... I noticed her awkward behaviors, she clung to my arm, lean onto me, and she blushed at me too. I thought she was attached to me like a sister.... but... how should I tell her ?"

Dr. Kitty, "In time, she will find out.... but that should not change the way you cared about her, and her caring about you...except you are not her love interest..."

Belamis looked out the window, and remembered the anguish of such kind of one way love, as she recalled her feelings to Kugo, before Kugo responded to her, and they finally found each other.

"To be in love, and not knowing how the other one feels, is bitter sweet..." Belamis remarked, "I cannot bring myself to hurt Medora's feelings now by telling her directly, but one day she must know that she cannot love me as she loved a man..."

Belamis walked to Medora's room, and entered. There Medora was sleeping, and her sketchbook was on the floor. It fell out of the blanket. Belamis picked it up and turned the pages, and the drawings were fine, each portraying Belamis' face in great detail, showing her hair, her large blue eyes, the long eye lashes, her dark distinct eyebrows, her nose, lips and her body. Belamis blushed as she saw Medora depicted her as a man with man's genitals.

"Good grief..." Belamis blushed, but she secretly thought of how it was like to have sex. Belamis was still a virgin.

Belamis put the sketchbook back to the floor, and gently stroke Medora's hair, and could not find words to say.

"Eventually you will find out..." Belamis thought to herself.

It was daytime, Medora was up early, out in the open, breathing the fresh air. She felt her way in the green meadows, and picked flowers. As she strolled along, she hummed a tune happily.

Belamis saw her from afar, and knew she was in love, and Belamis signed.

"Belamis, you are here ?" That was Medora's telepathy.

Belamis replied, "Yes." Belamis thought, "Yes...she could read my mind if I let her...but..." Belamis again hesitated.

Then suddenly there was a alarm from the research facilities.

"Monster attack!" Belamis thought. She ran to Medora and said, "It's dangerous out here, let's go back." Belamis carried Medora in her arms, and ran back to the facilities, entered the main control room, and put Medora down.

"Stay here with Dr. Kitty..." Belamis gently said.

Medora nodded, and in her heart the caring voice of Belamis made her grew even fonder.

Belamis went out, and before she exit the room, she turned and looked at Medora, and thought to herself, "If I was a man... I probably would love her too...".

Belamis was 21 years old, just 6 or 7 years older than Medora. Medora was a blossoming young girl, and like any young girl, would yearn for the love of a man, especially she was now all alone, with no family, she satisfied her emotional needs by yearning for a man.

Belamis knew how Medora felt as she felt the same when she found she was in love with Kugo. Belamis signed and headed to her space fighter. She boarded her space fighter and headed out to face the monsters.

There were two flying monsters, which resembled flying dragons. The monsters were heading to the city.

Belamis fired shots from her space fighter to deter them. The monsters turned to her.

"Come on! Monster!" Belamis said, and she accelerated her space fighter and charged to them.

Belamis fired her energy beams from her space fighter, but the monsters were slightly injured only, and started to attack Belamis with their hot energy blasts. Belamis space fighter dodged the blasts, and climbed to a high altitude, and Belamis leaped out into her space bike and drew her electromagnetic sword.

"EM-thunder!!!" Shouted Belamis, as she charged at full speed to the monsters. EM-Thunder hit one of them, and the monster hit back with fire from their mouth.

Belamis dodged the flames and hold up her sword: "EM sword - cut!" She welded her sword and sliced the monster's left wing.

The other monster came from Belamis back and spit out high energy flames at Belamis. The flames hit Belamis and Belamis groaned in pain. She steered away, and was shocked to find the monster which she sliced of the wing re-grow new wings.

"Damn..." Belamis thought. The monsters had regenerating capability, and Belamis knew she could not use the same attack.

"Either I subdue them and change them back...or I have to destroy them completely...".

The monsters went alternatively to attack Belamis, and Belamis was finding it hard to cope. Then one of them spit out a large blob of mucus, hitting Belamis. The mucus was sticky and like glue, and Belamis fell to the ground, completely trapped.

"Arrh..." Belamis tried to pull, but the substance was like molten rubber, but much tougher, and she could not break free.

The two monsters headed to the research facilities, and began attacking it fiercely.

"Go to the shelters!" Dr. Kitty yelled. The people, including Medora began to run, Dr. Kitty hold Medora's hand, and they went with the people down the underground shelter.

The monsters' attack was intense, and the facilities shook as multiple explosions occurred. Dr. Kitty and Medora ran down the stairs but they fell to the ground as the ground shook. Then a big explosion blew open the walls, exposing a big part of the shelter.

Belamis witnessed the facilities was under attack, and Dr. Kitty and Medora was in danger.

Medora cried for help in telepathy, "Belamis!!!!"

Belamis let out a loud cry, and her forehead glowed. She turned into the giantess form and broke free from the sticky blob that trapped her.

Belamis flexed her muscles, and then ran over, just in time to shield the people, including Dr. Kitty and Medora. The monsters' blasts of energy ray hit Belamis back and injured her. Belamis turned and roared, she leaped up high and grabbed one of them, throwing it to the ground.

The other turned and spit a large sticky blob onto Belamis, it hit Belamis chest, binding her arms and and upper body.

Belamis struggled, and the monsters attacked her by spitting more flames at her.

Belamis groaned in pain.

Dr. Kitty saw Belamis was in pain, Medora heard Belamis' cries, and both were worried.

Belamis roared and pulled hard to break free from the sticky blog of mucus, and she grabbed hold of one of the monsters, and maimed its wings. The other was in the air, Belamis picked up a piece of rock and threw it to the monster, hitting it and it fell to the ground. Belamis immediately subdue both of them with her strength, and emitted her energy to change them back to normal beasts.

Belamis turned, and looked at Dr. Kitty and Medora. In an instant, Belamis returned to human form. Belamis approached Medora, and said, "Come over, Medora...". Belamis reached out her arms, and hold Medora's hands. Medora reached her hands out and began feeling her way.

Belamis knelt down, and at that moment, Medora's hands touched Belamis' breasts. Belamis hold Medora's hand, and kept Medora's hands on her breasts. Medora felt Belamis' breasts, she gently pressed with her finger tips, and then felt the shape of Belamis' breasts, touched Belamis' nipples, and felt her entire pectorals and breasts... Medora rested her head on Belamis chest, and realized something.

Medora gasped. Belamis gently hugged Medora, and said, "I will be like your big sister...to care about you..."

As Medora heard these words, she shed silent tears, and cried as she laid her head on Belamis' strong chest.

Belamis let her cry, and she hold back her tears, then she hugged Medora, and stroked her hair.

Starzinger II - the sequel that never fly

Episode 64 of Starzinger ended with Belamis death, and the company landed at the Great Planet, where Princess Aurora restored the Galaxy Energy. It was supposed to be the end.

The producers went on to make the sequel dubbed Starzinger II, where the story line returned to the old formula - the three cyborgs and the Princess' adventure in space.

The sequel could only sustain 9 episodes, with no spark at all. I recently came across the introduction to this sequel:
「ＳＦ西遊記」として好評を博した同題作品の第二弾。前作最終回の翌週から放映された、完全な後日談である。宇宙を救う愛の王女オーロラ姫を目的の星に送 り、その使命を終えた戦士ジャン・クーゴ、サー・ジョーゴ、ドン・ハッカたち３人。だがまだ宇宙の辺境では、邪悪なスペースモンスターが暴れていた。その 事実を知ったオーロラ姫はふたたび３人の戦士を呼集。現在、最凶のモンスターが住むというゴルゴア星系に向かい、そこを浄化する決意を固めた。４人の新た なる旅が始まる。前作で主人公ジャン・クーゴのライバル役だった男装の麗人ベラミスが退場した以外は、ほぼ従来と同じ方向で描かれる宇宙冒険もの。ただし 今回は新趣向として、クーゴは巨大化能力「アストロ変身」、縮小能力「ミクロ変身」を獲得。活劇演出に新味が加えられた。

Using Google translate, I sort of deduced the meaning. The producers created the sequel because the series got very positive ratings. It was aired right after the last episode of the first series. Interesting the introduction mentioned the 退場 (end of the role) of Kugo's arch-rival Belamis, and described Belamis as 男裝麗人 (a beautiful woman dressed like a man).

In Japanese manga and anime, 男裝麗人 is a kind of character that attracts audience. The classic examples are Lady Oscar and Prince Sapphire.

These 男裝麗人 is like the Prince Charming, often female audiences adored these 男裝麗人, and such roles appeared again and again in Japanese anime series.

For Starzinger II, the sequel lost an interesting character, one sharply contrasted with Princess Aurora, and one with a distinct personality. Even though the producers gave Kugo new powers, dressed the Princess up to look more tough, they could not get the series to sustain.

My thought was confirmed when I came across discussion threads saying that the ratings of Starzinger II dropped significantly. Belamis was the most talked about person from the "enemy side", overwhelmingly popular and got a lot of sympathy.

If Belamis lived, her presence would have created a tension in the show, like a wildcard that surprised viewers. Her love to Kugo could also creat a suspense among viewers - who would Kugo choose ? The gentle, soft spoken and beautiful and Princess Aurora or the strong, tough-talking warrior Belamis ? Belamis change of heart after she decided to fight Prince Guyma would also create suspense on what kind of person Belamis would become eventually, and what would be her relationships with Kugo et al in the subsequent adventures -- or would Belamis eclipse Kugo ? In a lot of the case where such 男裝麗人 appeared, 男裝麗人 would eclipse the leading male and female character. This happened for the manga Rose of Versailles, where the author originally created Oscar Francois de Jarjayes as the supporting role to the main character Marie Antoinette, but Oscar's popularity among the readers quickly caused the author to change direction and Oscar eclipsed all other characters.

It did not happen exactly the same way in Starzinger. Firstly Kugo was the protagonist, the good guy, and Belamis was in an opposing trajectory to Kuguo. . Yet the producers gave Belamis the fine chivalrous character, emotions already earned her enough sympathy to draw a lot of fans, even as the "rival" of Kugo.

Imagine if she became the "good guy" and started to fight the evil ones with her charm, wits and chivalry - I would think her charm, personality and cool look would really make Kugo and the Princess looked like supporting roles. It would be natural for the producers to have intended that Kugo and the Princess to remain the leading characters, not to be eclipse by a character, originally intended to be a passing role. I don't think they anticipated how successful Belamis became then.

In the manga, Belamis appeared only a few pages, less than 10% in the 3 volume set. In the manga Belamis looked a lot more feminine, emotional and less tough (though in the manga Belamis actually injured Kugo!). The character in the manga was short-lived and would not impress many people.

However, the producers for Starzinger made a lot of changes to Belamis in the anime. First she became the 男裝麗人, much more handsome and cool than the manga depicted, her fighting powers were more impressive (though she did not injure Kugo in the series, we could see her powers and Kugo were very close match).

Moreover, in the anime the producers expanded a lot on her character, and went to great length to give Belamis more role and let her feature in nearly a third of Starzinger I. The anime spent a lot of time depicting Belamis' tragic past, inner feelings, compassionate character, bravery, ambition, chivalrous act and her love to Kugo. Belamis interacted more with other characters, showing her inner conflicts, toughness and her willingness to show compassion. As a result, Belamis stood out as a very vivid and interesting female character, one that contrasted with Princess Aurora, and with more inner emotions the viewers could experience. I can imagine viewers started out disliking her in the first place, but gradually become more sympathy of her as they learned of her tragic past, and later on as her more positive side were revealed, people began to admire her, and hoped she would recant her service to Queen Lacets and became a warrior of justice. Eventually Belamis did recant her loyalty to the evil empire and fought alongside with Kugo, and to the dismay of many, the character expanded to the point that she became the courageous warrior to make the ultimate sacrifice for people who lost their home planets.

I think a lot of people missed dearly Belamis like I do, and wondered how would the show became if Belamis lived.

I recently found this online vote for the most popular 男裝麗人 in anime series, The vote excluded Lady Oscar and Prince Sapphire who would be the obvious winners all time winners. I was delighted to find that Belamis came in third place (i.e. number five if we include the two obvious winners). Given that Belamis was not the main character, and only appeared in part of the show, she ranked the highest among "non-main characters". The top two, Tenoh Haruka from Sailor Moon and Amari (Three Musketeers in Japanese Anime) were main characters and appeared throughout their respective series, Belamis' position meant that she impressed a lot of viewers even till this day.

Informal it may be, it showed that among Japanese anime fans, there were a lot of people who remembered Belamis and regarded her as a fine heroine.

The vote for the 男裝麗人 in 2008.