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In the episode where Keima is pursuing Shiori Shiomiya (the bookworm), there's a discussion about how Keima can't read her heart, because she doesn't talk much. He then concludes that instead of reading her heart, he will read her liver.

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Perhaps this is something that was lost in translation, but what is meant by observing someone's liver?

Toshinou Kyouko
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    I think this is related to Keima trying to make the Shiori angry and make her express her thoughts and feelings. There is an phrase (?) in Japanese "腹を立てる", which means "(I am) angry", and literally means "My stomach is churning up". Maybe there is some sort of relation here? – nhahtdh Jul 05 '13 at 05:32
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    Probably also related to the practice of [Haruspex](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruspex), often performed by an [Augur](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augur). Note that this was really only practiced on animals... but contemporary audiences (and scholars) would understand the references. – Clockwork-Muse Jul 15 '13 at 17:50

1 Answers1

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Keima is using the liver as a metaphor. In that scene, you can see a diseased liver on the screen. That shows that the liver has to be operated on. That operation will lead to a change so that she can live. The liver, being an internal organ, is a metaphor for her inside voice. Keima is using it to illustrate how though Shiori is quiet on the outside there is a lot more going on the inside and significant changes could be taking place with out people realizing it. Keima needs to perform an "operation" so that Shiori will be able to express herself and "live".

Why they chose to use the liver is uncertain and never explained. Please look at nhahtdh's comment as it does provide some insight into this.

Tyhja
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Raxon
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