Anime Kaitou Saint Tail Episode 1 Title Toujou! Cute na Oodorobou!?
Anatano Heart NusumimasuOpening Toki wo Koete Ending Junshin Version watched Fansubbed by VKLL Summary by Joan Lee (E-mail / Website)
July 12, 2001
As the clock tower is striking, a slim, shadowy figure leaps across a rooftop. Suddenly, a window in a large mansion shatters, and several cops outside, including one smoking a cigarette, jump into action, bursting through the front door as the alarm sounds. Inside, a man wearing glasses and a robe is sitting on the floor and staring at an empty space on his wall in shock, saying his treasured painting has been stolen.
A brief glimpse is of a running girl (face hidden) with an auburn ponytail and a pink skirt, carrying something. The man with the cigarette (who is not dressed like the other cops in a uniform, just in a suit), hears her footsteps, and turns and shouts, "Kaitou Saint Tail!" [ Kaitou means "mysterious thief," and seems to act as part of her official title. ] The girl (we get to see her face close-up now) laughs softly as she runs and leaps above them somewhere. She has the painting tucked underneath her arm and is smiling. Meanwhile, the cops build a human pyramid and the one on top turns to the man with the cigarette and says, "Inspector Asuka!" Detective Asuka jumps to the top, and makes a grab for Kaitou Saint Tail, but naturally she is just a few inches out of his grasp and he, and the pyramid of cops, all tumble to the floor.
Outside of the mansion a young boy, dressed in a suit, leaps and climbs up a tree. As he climbs the tree, he says to himself, "I'll get the evidence I need today, Saint Tail."
Inside, the fallen inspector overhears the owner of the painting lament about how he lost the painting he swindled others for. Nearby, an officer asks the inspector to come over and look at a painting - which turns out to have been stolen last week from the city museum. Another cop finds another stolen painting while the owner fumbles for an explanation to an angry Detective Asuka.
Back to Saint Tail, who's at an attic window and smiles as she opens it and jumps out onto the roof. The boy in the tree, with his camera, catches sight of her as she's leaping across the roofs (hey, it's possible :P) and says "Chance!" Unfortunately, he falls out of the tree and lands painfully. And of course, Saint Tail is now gone.
[ Title screen : Entrance! A cute thief!? She'll steal your heart. ]
Two girls wearing school uniforms, one with shoulder-length brown hair and the other with long light-brown hair, run and wave good morning to "Meimi-chan." Meimi, a girl with long auburn hair down her back, dressed in the same uniform, turns and says good morning back.
In classroom 2-A, the same two girls from the morning gossip with another about "her" and what happened last night. They try to bring Meimi into the conversation. A girl with short cropped brown hair walks up, guessing that they're talking about Kaitou Saint Tail. "The pony-tailed thief that steals from criminals," she says, giving a little summary of the unknown thief called Kaitou Saint Tail. The other girls talk about how great she is, while Meimi is at a loss and the cropped brown hair girl smiles.
An annoyed male voice interrupts, wondering what's so great about her - they don't really know what the 'saint' and 'tail' really stand for. And a thief is a thief, he lectures. Of course, this is the boy from last night who took a thud last night from the tree. He's clearly contemptuous, and Meimi stands up, irritated, and asks him, "Aren't you chasing after Saint Tail, Asuka Jr?"
The other girls interrupt, saying Asuka Jr has no chance whatsoever. Asuka Jr tells them to shut up, and then makes an ugly/weird face, saying that he bets Saint Tail looks like that. Meimi gets even more ticked off, and faces Asuka Jr directly.
He asks if she knows what kind of person Saint Tail is, and then starts off listing everything he figures Saint Tail has stolen recently, mostly gems. [At this point, the cropped brown-hair girl is holding Meimi back. ^_^;]
Meimi murmurs to herself, "Strange, I don't remember taking any gems." [Oops. :P] The cropped brown-hair girl sweatdrops while Asuka Jr asks Meimi about what she just said. Now it's Meimi's turn to sweatdrop, and she changes the subject by saying that even though Asuka Jr is Inspector Asuka's son, he isn't given any authority.
Asuka Jr says not to mix him up with his dad, because he's going to be the one to catch Saint Tail. [Feet nearby run away.] Meimi retorts that he's never going to catch Saint Tail. Both are getting really ticked, but a hand lands on Meimi's shoulder, and Meimi says without turning, for Seira (the girl with the cropped brown hair) not to interrupt.
Of course, it's not Seira, but a peeved schoolteacher nun dressed in white. Meimi whispers, "Seira..." as the real Seira, sitting in her seat, winks and smile at Meimi. Asuka Jr tries to escape. The nun says for "Haneoka-san" and "Asuka-san" to get out in the hall, where Meimi has to hold a bucket of water in her hands and Asuka has one on his head. But hey, at least they're together, which Seira apparently planned.
After school is over, Meimi makes her way to a chapel nearby. On her way inside, she smiles at a little girl who is just leaving. Inside, Seira, dressed in a white nun's gown, is praying. Meimi interrupts politely and asks if she's free.
Outside, "Sister Seira" and Meimi pray as they stand beside a pond. Meimi talks about the "Future Sister Seira" and her pure spirit, and Seira responds that she just follows God's guidance, and then asks Meimi if she saw that girl.
Seira relates the girl's story to Meimi [while Seira narrates, the animation follows the story/characters she's describing]: The girl, Saori, came to the chapel for help from God. Her uncle is a gem cutter, and one day a customer brought two sapphires, one called the Blue Meteorite, while the other was an exact imitation made for its safekeeping. But no one could distinguish between the two. Meimi interrupts, not understanding where God fits in, and Seira says it's the gem cutter who needs help. The girl's uncle appraised the gems, and he gave the fake to Kaidou (the owner, also a gem seller), and he kept the real one himself, fascinated by its beauty, while his niece saw him behind a door.
Meimi says it's wrong, while Seira excuses him, as he's realized his mistake - they should help him. While Kaidou has agreed to sell the gem to someone else, Seira says they need to "close the circle." Meimi says that they have to switch the real gem with the fake one, but she flips when Seira agrees and opens a dark cloth to reveal a shining blue gem. Seira smiles ever so pleasantly and says she has the real gem for Kaitou Saint Tail.
Meimi runs into a house and says she's home. Inside, a middle-aged man with a long, brown ponytail wearing spectacles and carrying a frying pan and spatula, welcomes her home. A woman on the couch, with long hair exactly the same color as Meimi's, also welcomes her home.
When Meimi greets her father, he makes a small explosion of confetti appear - his new magic trick. Meimi smiles happily, saying how she loves it when her papa does magic. Behind her though, her mom flips out, saying how those two should cut it out. Papa smiles and says it's okay, Meimi's going to take after him. Mama hugs Meimi and says, "She's going to take after me, right Meimi?" with a smile. Meimi's looking a little uncomfortable there. Now it's Papa's turn to flip at the idea of Meimi taking after Mama's job. Mama faces him, hands on hip while Meimi flees upstairs, asking who was it that fell in love with her. Papa sweatdrops.
In her room, Meimi tells herself that it's time to get to work, and she picks up a locket with a cross on it hanging on a chain. She opens her window, throws a rope out and shimmies down.
Back at the chapel, although it's night now, Seira prays. Meimi walks in, clasps her hand in prayer, closes her eyes and says "Forgive me, for I am without tricks and deception." Then she transforms, with a "One! Two! Three!" (one of her phrases for triggering magic) into Kaitou Saint Tail. She and Seira pray together for God's protection.
Saint Tail leaps out into action across the rooftops. Saint Tail sneaks into the house of the old woman who is in possession of the fake gem. Hand on the fancy doorknob of a room, she wonders at why it's unlocked. When she opens the door, the alarm goes off in the house and a masked man is running away. Saint Tail realizes the gem has already been stolen, and hearing voices, she leaps out. A car is already driving off, carrying two men, one of whom is the masked man. Saint Tail recognizes one - Kaidou, the gem seller?
Saint Tail follows the men to their own mansion, and listens outside as they discuss their own brilliant plan of stealing back their gems after they sold it. Saint Tail vows not to let them get away with it.
[ Eyecatch ]
The next day, Meimi has told Seira (in her nun's outfit) about the men and their plans, but Seira is worried about the dangers involved. Meimi dismisses that lightly.
Elsewhere in town, Asuka Jr is hard at work on a computer in his room, analyzing last month's unsolved robberies. And he somehow (:P?) manages to find the next target for the robbery, vowing that Saint Tail won't get away this time.
Police cars pull up to a mansion where an alarm is going off, and Inspector Asuka goes to the front door and is met by the resident, Kaidou. It turns out that a "kid" got caught in his security system. Inspector Asuka grumbles, wondering whose stupid kid would do such a thing, but then a side door opens and a struggling Asuka Jr is brought in. Father and son are pretty much at a loss for words.
Asuka Jr is unceremoniously dropped by his captor, and he defends himself to his father by saying he's figured out this house must be Saint Tail's next target (it's the only unrobbed house with gems). Asuka Jr is determined to catch Saint Tail, while his dad says he can't devote all his time to catching her. While they continue to talk with the owner, Asuka Jr hears Saint Tail.
Elsewhere, Saint Tail says "It's showtime!" and has a short magical girl power sequence with her wand. Chaos ensues when dozens of Saint Tail (kind of like blow-up doll versions of her) jump through the window into the hall where all the cops are. Saint Tail taps her magician's top hat with her wand and causes more fake Saint Tail figures to form and go through the window.
Saint Tail herself runs through and into a room, pushes aside a secret door in front of safe. After opening it, inside is a jewelry box and she places the real sapphire in exchange for the fake one. But then Kaidou and his cohert burst in and so she throws her magic wand, which bounces off different angles of the room before coming back to her. It leaves a web of sorts behind, and the thieves trip and fall. Kaitou Saint Tail takes the jewelry box and leaves it on top of one of the thieves, saying, "May God grant you his protection," before leaping away again at hearing someone else come.
Asuka Jr runs in, and finds the jewelry box laying on top of one of the thieves. He opens it and discovers what they've been doing. Saint Tail, watching from a corner above, whispers his name quietly.
Asuka Jr confronts the thieves with the stolen gems and what he's figured out, adding that whenever Saint Tail steals, she has a noble reason - she's not a real criminal. Saint Tail is watching above. When Kaidou attacks Asuka Jr, Saint Tail intervenes and flings some playing cards at them, which Asuka Jr uses to his advantage.
Saint Tail runs away, but Asuka Jr won't allow that to happen. He flings a thin rope at her and manages to loop around one of her legs. When he pulls it, she falls down - and ends up landing on top of him. Saint Tail cries, "Don't see my face!" [She has no magical/mysterious protection for her identity, and so she needs to make sure no one sees her face up close.]
They both land on the floor with a thud, Asuka Jr on the bottom. It's a somewhat compromising position. [^_^;] Asuka Jr is slowly gaining his senses when Saint Tail uses a handful of cards to separate their faces, then leaps up to the windowsill.
As Saint Tail is about to leave, opening the windows, Asuka Jr yells for her to wait. He has a challenge for her! Next time she shows up to steal something, she has to be sure to tell him. She smiles back, thinking that it was fun, while he wants her promise to do so. She leaps out, and Asuka Jr manages to grab a picture of her leaping away. Asuka Jr quietly walks away while the cops and his father run in and discover the stolen gems and fallen crooks.
Outside, Asuka Jr is thinking to himself. 'Kaitou Saint Tail...she's about the same age as me," he realizes. Looking at his hand, he says "I touched her," and blushes a bit.
In another part of the town, Saori, the niece of the gem cutter is in her bedroom. Outisde her window, a basket tied to a balloon floats to her. Inside is the (fake) blue sapphire and a note from Saint Tail, tellilng her to take care of her uncle.
The next day, the mayor is looking at the picture that Asuka Jr took of Kaitou Saint Tail last night in the newspaper. He gives the Asuka jr a certificate of appreciation for his efforts, and requests for Asuka Jr to officially help catch Kaitou Saint Tail. In addition, he gives him a detective's badge ("pendant") to use in the investigation.
Seira tells Meimi as they're walking home that Saori, came back to the chapel thank God. Meimi notes that they were lucky since all the gems were returned to their original owners. Suddenly Seira has to go and runs off, and Meimi waves back. Going the other way, Meimi runs into Asuka Jr. Meimi comments on the award from the mayor, which he shows off and says he will definitely catch Saint Tail next time. She wishes him good luck, and he says, "Yeah, you watch me," with a pleased grin. Then they walk past each other...