You can’t control the wild mascots.

 What are we in for this week?! Last time we had some fun in the sun, but the ending of the last episode left us hanging because there are still monsters to battleru! I sure hope the girls don’t have to give up more to save the world…

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 Welcome back, everyone! Well, after the last two episodes of slice of life goodness we are now going deep into serious business….

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The Truth Revealed

Magical girl team! ASSEMBLE!!!

For the viewers out there we already figured out after episodes six and seven that the powerful Mankai form requires a certain sacrifice to use that power, but for the characters themselves they sort of figured that they would recover what they lost after some rest or was it always in the back of their minds that they were not going to return to normal? I think out of all the girls I think that Tougou and Fuu realized things were a bit screwy after that battle; however Yuuki and Tougou met with a strange bedridden girl named Sonoko Nogi who told them the truth about the flaws in system. So let’s wrap our minds around this for a moment! Whenever these magical girls tap into the Mankai power they are provided that power through Shinju-sama, but he requires a sacrifice as payment usually resulting in giving up something much like Fuu’s eye and Itsuki’s voice. Sounds simple enough right? Also apparently these magical girls can’t die and as a reward they become gods? I mean damn that might be the greatest deal ever until you actually see just what Nogi gave up! It seems that she lost one of her eyes, legs and part of her arm which means she must have used her Mankai powers a few too many times before figuring out that she was slowly destroying her body.

Those feels were real…

So is there any way for the girls to break the curse of being a magical girl in this universe? As it stands right now I don’t see how they can because unlike many magical girl shows in the past there is no magical wish reset button in this series right now or will one magically appear out of nowhere? I mean honestly I don’t really want there to be an easy fix band aid wish to make things better or do you actually want a wish system or item to fix things? Personally I am on the fence about this series having super happy everybody wins ending versus an ending where we have an actual character death or in this case of the system currently in place it will probably end with one of the girls sacrificing her whole body in order to save everyone. While we now know that I want to throw out a random theory which might sound CRAZY, but what are the Vertex really? Part of me can’t help but wonder if they are fallen magical girls? Like what if they are magical girls who abused their powers or possibly died before the current system was perfected? Like what if they killed themselves in the real world after figuring out the truth? Sadly I know Nogi said that they can’t die; however that of course was through the Mankai system but what happens if you die without using Mankai? I mean sure if the creative team behind Yuuki Yuuna wanted to add more dispair to this anime they could easily add that in right? Anyway we will have to wait and see if my theory works or falls apart.

Victory or defeat!?

Karin ANGRY! Karin SMASH!

After such huge victory, it’s hard to think that anything could have survived the Mankai onslaught, but one trickery buggery little Vertex made it out functioning, and as Fuu clearly states, it’s overtime. And no sooner than they can come to grips with some mildly mischievous yousei, they are called to action. Then it’s the standard transformation, and onto a wrinkle in the story. Yuuki notices that her Mankai gauge is clear and empty. So it’s safe to assume that she isn’t in any danger as of yet, and safe to assume the same with the rest. That would be one thing, but the other is the possibility of sustaining more negative effects. This has made them, understandably, combat shy. Well, everyone but Karin, who is eager to to charge in. Yuuki, not to be left by the sidelines, leaps in as well, only to take care of the long Vertex pretty much by herself. Ah, nothing like a hot headed hero eager to use her new yousei, Kasha (The Corpse Eating Demon Cat!!!!!) seriously folks read that link, it’s somewhat illuminating, but her price to pay it three of five petals on her Mankai gauge being filled.

Surprise HanaKana appearance!

And then just when it seems like it’s going to turn back to normal…we get a bridge to nowhere. Tougo and Yuuki are separated from the rest; not appearing on the roof of the school (near one Shinju-sama shrine) but at the foot of a destroyed bridge (near another one). And it’s here they meet Nogi, the shadow of a former Hero. I wonder why her friend’s name is can be seen as eagle? Goodness, this was a tense scene, as most of you know. The long and the short of it is, the Hero system sacrifices the well being of these girls so that the world may live on. And bless Nogi, she wanted to let these two know that had she know it was going to be this cruel, she would have wanted to be closer to her friends. Now that does seem blessed indeed, but for a ton of clues given for what’s coming next. One, it looks like they are immortal now. And we know those stories rarely go well, and two, they will never be healed. This system ticks Yuuki off quite a bit, and she aims to change it. But if all the Vertex are gone, is there going to be a need for more Heroes? What exactly is the Taisha and Shinju-sama? I would love to see the shape of this world more, cause that ruined bridge just tugs at my imagination.

FK YA EXTRA MAGICAL GIRLS

Surely nothing can go wrong right?

I mean it! No playing around guys!

Pancake-sama and Fuu are a great pair.

KICK SOME ASS GIRL!!

End thoughts

Holy HanaKana Virus batman! Who knew she could pull off sick moe girl so well? Just kidding I think she has had enough practice voicing characters to hit that range, but the highlight of the episode for me was Nogi revealing the dark truth around using that Mankai power! I mean sure we all figured it out that the girls lost something after that battle right? That said I feel bad that Togou and Yuuki can’t tell the others about their discovery because it is meant to be a secret? Seriously that is really screwed up and it makes me think about the horrible wish system found in WIXOSS! Ah well at least Yuuki Yuuna is doing their own thing without being a clone of a certain other magical girl series.

 I love what this show does each and every week. It has maintained a fine level of charm and enchantment, will give us plenty of good action and surprises. I love this weeks guest VA in Nogi, a bit of HanaKana going back to moe form, and she was a perfect vehicle to deliver this incredibly sad story. With all said and done, I look forward to Yuuki Yuuna continuing to arrive!