Steel Angel Kurumi 2 is an anime series produced by OLM, Inc. and directed by Naohito Takahashi. It aired from April 12 to June 28, 2001.
75 years after the events of the original Steel Angel Kurumi, Nako Kagura, a 14-year-old girl who is in the last year of middle school, is both a shrine maiden at the temple where she lives with her mother, Misaki, and an aspiring cellist.
Her best friend is Uruka Sumeragi, a rich girl who lives in the Big Fancy House next door. She is 15 years old and a high school student. Their relationship is complicated: although they have been friends since they were toddlers, Uruka has recently taken to inflicting casual minor cruelties on Nako. However, this is a smokescreen because Uruka is secretly in love with Nako.
Before Uruka can even figure out how to express her feelings, though, Nako discovers and accidentally activates Kurumi Mark II, a new Steel Angel modeled after the original Kurumi. Kurumi II, like her predecessor, is uninhibitedly affectionate with her new master. This upsets Uruka, who sees Kurumi as usurping her rightful place at Nako's side.
The series is available in North America via ADV Films.
This series provides examples of:
- A-Cup Angst: While Uruka isn't entirely flat-chested, she seems to show hostility toward both Saki and Kurumi for their more impressive busts.
- Accidental Kiss:
- Nako does to to Kurumi when the latter first appears.
- Uruka does to Saki when the former is daydreaming about kissing Nako.
- All Love Is Unrequited:
- Kurumi, Uruka and Karinka all love Nako, who isn't interested in any of them.
- Saki loves both Uruka and Kurumi, neither of whom reciprocate.
- Beach Episode: "Kurumi Becomes a Fish."
- Bespectacled Cutie: Nako wears a pair of glasses.
- Big Fancy House: Uruka lives in one next door to Nako's temple.
- Brother–Sister Incest: On top of having a blatant crush on Uruka, Saki also has a crush on Kurumi.
- Catchphrase: Nako saying "This sucks" in assorted variations.
- Chekhov's Gun: The conspicuous statue in Uruka's father's office. It's actually Saki.
- Childhood Friend Romance: This is secretly what Uruka wants between herself and Nako.
- Cipher Scything: The usual male lead character is outright replaced by a more marketable shy nerd girl in glasses, but otherwise Kurumi does her usual fawning and cuddling.
- Clingy Jealous Girl All three of Nako's Unwanted Harem, Uruka and Kurumi especially.
- Coincidental Broadcast: Happens twice. The first time, Uruka watches a TV show about a teacher seducing one of his students and believes that Mr. Kizuki is trying to seduce Nako at school. The second time is when Uruka watches a news broadcast about the winner of the cello contest will study abroad to Vienna. Nako won the contest, but it turns out that she wasn't eligible for that particular prize because it was only for high school students.
- Cross-Popping Veins:
- Uruka is prone to have these whenever Kurumi does something that really makes her mad. She also has one when she finds out that her father was (unknowingly) responsible for Kurumi being in the same class as Nako.
- Kurumi has one when a second humongous mecha appears while she is talking to Nako at school.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Nako, who is clumsy.
- Dead Pet Sketch: When Nako's cello is broken.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Nako's mom is cooking and listening to the theme song on her Walkman while Nako is screaming for help outside.
- The Ditz: Kurumi is this most of the time.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Kurumi and Nako are very popular among Uruka, Saki, Karinka, and their female classmates.
- Eyes Always Shut: Mr. Kizuki's eyes never open.
- Face Fault: Uruka occasionally does this whenever Kurumi says or does something stupid.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Uruka's plans end up as this.
- Fanservice: This series has plenty of this.
- First Kiss:
- Nako has her first kiss when Kurumi first appeared.
- Saki accidentally ends up being Uruka's first kiss when the latter daydreams about kissing Nako.
- Furo Scene: There are several in the series.
- Godiva Hair: Briefly played straight with Kurumi's hair covering her nipples, then subverted.
- Hard-Work Montage: When both Kurumi and Karinka gets a job at a construction site in order to earn enough money to buy a new cello for Nako.
- Honorifics: Nako refers to Uruka as "Uu-chan."
- Humongous Mecha: Kurumi fights a couple that Uruka's father sends out on the behalf of his daughter. Kurumi ultimately defeats them.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Kurumi feels this way when she fights both Uruka and Karinka in order to ensure that Nako is allowed to follow her dream. Uruka comes to the same conclusion at the very last moment when she realize how selfish she was.
- Knight Templar Parent: Uruka's father. He'll do anything to make her happy.
- Last-Name Basis: Mr. Kizuki. According to numerous sources, his first name is Yutaka.
- Love Dodecahedron: In one scene representing Saki's thoughts, a Love Chart is displayed with super deformed versions of the involved characters and arrows indicating who likes whom. It shows that Kurumi and Uruka are in love with Nako, while Saki is in love with Kurumi and Uruka. Later in the series, Karinka falls in love with Nako as well.
- Love Makes You Crazy: In the Grand Finale, Uruka ventures into murderous territory with her approach to keep Nako in Japan. The cello competition's winner gets to spend a summer in Vienna, and Uruka wants no part of being away from Nako. She gets better at the very last moment, just as she's about to attack a fully upgraded Kurumi.
- Magical Girlfriend:
- Kurumi is this for Nako.
- Saki is this for Uruka, much to the latter's chagrin.
- Marshmallow Hell: Kurumi does this to Nako a few times.
- Oneesama In the first episode, Uruka demands Nako that she call her this.
- Orbital Shot: Nako at the cello competition.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Nako is this as she is a clumsy, but kindhearted middle school student and shrine maiden.
- The Power of Love: This allows Kurumi to defeat Karinka in episode 9, and Uruka in the Grand Finale.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Nako.
- Rich Bitch: Uruka is a rich girl.
- Robot Girl: Kurumi, Saki, and Karinka are Steel Angels.
- Roofhopping: Kurumi does this with Nako on their way to school.
- Shout-Out: To Project A-Ko; also Karinka's hair style makes her a dead ringer for Cindy from The Brady Bunch.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Kurumi and Uruka are flagrant Nako-sexuals.
- Stalker with a Crush: Uruka's love for Nako plays out more like this as the series goes on. This gets to the point where Uruka was willing to kill Nako rather than let her study abroad and leave her behind.
- Tsundere: Uruka. Hostile and taunting toward Nako in public, longing and wistful in private. She softens on Nako in the second half of the series.
- Undead Tax Exemption: Kurumi has no problem becoming a student at Nako's school.
- Unwanted Harem: Uruka, Kurumi and Karinka for Nako.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Karinka calls this into question during her fight with Kurumi in episodes 8 and 9. She relents, however, when she sees The Power of Love in action, resulting in her defeat. She immediately joins the harem in the next episode.
