So the phenomenon that was Magical Girl Madoka Magica is finally over. From the start, many had compared it to Neon Genesis Evangelion with its genre subversion and psychological themes, and the ending provided plenty more fodder for this comparison. The final 2 episodes tried very hard to emulate great endings that had come before it, but, lacking the focus and cohesiveness of such works, it ended up merely stumbling its way across the finish line.

I was somewhat disappointed that Shaft didn’t take this opportunity to retool the 2 episode finale into a singular unit, as had been the case with the finale of Code Geass‘s first season. Episode 11 stood on its own with its own story arc, featuring some good action as Homura went all out against Walpurgis Night. And with the cliffhanger end, it was clear that these episodes were meant to be released a week apart.

But that’s not a knock against it. There’s nothing wrong with having the episodes structured like they were originally intended. It was just a missed chance for greatness. And so was the ending. Shaft was obviously swinging for the fences with this one, and though I wouldn’t say they struck out, at best, they managed a weak single.

A wholly unnecessary scene. This was about the point when Shaft's intentions became too transparent.

I have the belief that, for the most part, people are pretty good at telling when they’re being manipulated, and when one senses this, the compulsion is to push back. This is why people have a problem with melodrama – they don’t like it when they’re tricked into feeling things, instead of having the feelings come to them naturally. I know I don’t like it.

Instead of providing an ending that was simple and tightly held together, Shaft provided one that was a hodge podge of scenes clumsily thrown together, trying as best as it could to force its way to greatness. This is exactly what I meant when I wrote that Madoka Magica ran the risk of being crushed by the weight of its own narrative. Greatness comes effortlessly and naturally; it’s only after the fact that the viewer should be aware of how his emotions were toyed with.

A beautiful scene with which to close out the series. Homura's epilogue, I have absolutely no complaints about.

It was so obvious that Shaft was trying to make us feel a certain way, that, ironically, it achieved the exact opposite. This, despite that I liked most of what happened in the ending. Madoka’s wish of breaking the rules and going beyond the impossible (row row fight the power) was pretty cool. Was it a deus ex machina? Even though it literally introduced a god in order to tie things up, I don’t think it was, because it fit in well with the rest of the show. And the end result, with Madoka disappearing from existence, Homura the only one to remember her, still being a magical girl but fighting… things that aren’t witches, with the red ribbon in her hair and a bow as a weapon in remembrance of Madoka? Corny, yes, but also poignant and moving. Corny things became corny for a reason. The fact that the ending was not a perfect one, that magical girls still had to fight in order to save the universe from heat death, was much appreciated. It gave a happy but cynical end, by showing that Madoka couldn’t create a perfect world despite her godly power. She could only take away one specific source of despair in it. Yet destroying that one specific thing was something impossibly noble and beautiful.

But when it’s obvious that the events were there just to enable the Evangelion-esque conversation sequences, to bring back Kyoko and Mami for a final farewell, to bring back Sayaka to converse with Madoka, forgive Kamijou and Hitomi and to give her story closure, to have Madoka and Homura say goodbye half naked in the stars, there was an undeniable feeling of being manipulated. These scenes were supposed to be touching, but the smell of artificiality overwhelmed whatever goodness they had.

What a wonderfully moving scene... it would have been if it didn't seem completely forced. Again, unnecessary.

It certainly stole from the best, like Evangelion, Diebuster, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann had done so before it. But those works managed to take what they stole and seamlessly integrate with their own identities. Madoka Magica‘s ending threw together all the great things it stole, with little in the way of order or sense, forming a messy jumble of would-be great scenes. It was completely transparent in what it was doing, resulting in something that so clearly was meant to be great but wasn’t.

In fact, “thrown together” is an appropriate phrase to describe the entire last 3rd of the show. Whereas everything up to episode 8 had been carefully and lovingly constructed, forming a slow but exciting magical mystery thriller, the rest of the show was messy and cluttered, a collection of nicely done scenes and story elements in search for a common thread to tie them all together.

The ending could have achieved greatness by tying everything together, a pretty standard way for endings to do so. But many things were dropped and introduced at the convenience of the story. Madoka’s mother’s earlier advice about messing up was one of them, with the conversation they had in episode 11 serving no useful purpose (other than to show that’s Madoka’s mother is a really bad mother! You don’t let your kid run out into a supercell!). Same goes for shoehorning famous figures as being Magical Girls, as well as the 2001-esque aliens-made-humans-evolve plot element.

It was messy, it was all over the place, it was manipulative. I don’t want to go as far as to say that it was outright bad; I’ve seen plenty of bad endings, and this wasn’t one of them. Neither was it good, though. It was passable. And that’s alright. But certainly not up to the standard set by the show.

Series End

Now that it’s over, what exactly was Magical Girl Madoka Magica? At its best, it was a mystery/thriller that kept us hooked, pulling us along for an unforgettable, intense ride where every move mattered. At its worst, it was a jumble of great elements that didn’t tie together in a meaningful way. It was a show that peaked at the 2/3 way point and then stumbled the rest of the way, through the climax.

The common criticism that it suffered from underdeveloped characters was very true, and that was the issue that came to define the show’s success and failure. When it really delved into a character, her feelings, and her motivations, as in the case of Sayaka, it was a success, a sublime combination of writing, directing, and pacing into which you simply couldn’t help get sucked. But when it tried to force drama with characters with whom the show had not allowed you to form a connection, as in the case of Homura or the eponymous Madoka, it faltered.

At least the art was great throughout, even though even that weakened a bit in the last third, with the craziness of the witches’ realms not being as prominent or as crazy. The cinematography, though, I have no complaints with. Same goes for the music which, even though it took me a bit to warm up to, was perfect for setting the mood of this dark and somber show. Too bad Claris’s opening theme Connect and Kalafina’s ending theme Magia, along with their respective animation sequences, were just passable.

Now this was a good scene, both emotionally affecting and visually stunning.

Greatness, Manufactured

Perhaps it’s a shame that the end is so much more important than the middle or the start, but that’s simply the nature of the beast when it comes to fiction. And Madoka had a start and middle that was about as good as it comes in the world of TV anime. But it could only do so much in the face of the weight of the disappointing final third.

It will rightfully be remembered as the incredible phenomenon it was, and for the absolutely thrilling ride it provided. But, years from now, will it sit at the same table as the rest of the greats? Well, that sort of greatness must come naturally; it can’t be manufactured.

Though the show ended on a low note, it's hard not to feel emotional seeing this, knowing that it's all over. It certainly did many things very well.

So Magical Girl Madoka Magica has been delayed indefinitely (a Shaft show being delayed near its finish? Say it ain’t so!), or at least until some time in April. But no hard dates as of yet. Which I guess gives us some extra time to step back and reflect upon the ride it has provided us so far.

Below is a chart of my reactions to each episode. Bigger is obviously more positive.

I remember going into the show with cautious optimism, which I guess is the way I go into any show that has so many big names behind it and receives so much hype. As you can see, the first 2 episodes didn’t wow me, but neither did they disappoint me. They just… were. Typical urban fantasy stuff, with a distinctive and compelling art style.

Obviously, then episode 3 happened. Killing off Mami was a move that I greatly respected. As I wrote in my post, it put a serious tone on the rest of the show. And the moment of Mami’s death was wonderfully directed, fully conveying the horror of what had occurred.

I'd buy it. Seriously, someone make this thing so that I can give them my money.

Episodes 4 and 5 were a bit slow, but Kyoko was a welcome and surprising addition to the cast. The reveal at episode 6 was well done, and though it lacked the power of Mami’s death, it made the setting feel even more stark. Getting one’s soul removed and becoming a zombie is no laughing matter.

Episodes 7 and 8 played on that to great effect. Sayaka’s downfall was the most well done part of the show. It was handled in a believable and entertaining manner, with each step in her downward spiral lovingly laid out in front of us to enjoy. The insanity at the end of episode 7 was beautiful, and the double reveal at the end of episode 8 capped off what was the best episode of the show so far.

Then we had episode 9, for which I guess it was just unfair to try to follow up 8. It could have been done much better. Kyoko’s death wasn’t handled poorly, but it did feel forced at times. It was a convenient way to get rid of two of our favorite characters in one shot, but it paled in comparison to Mami’s death 6 episodes back.

At least episode 9 gave us plenty of Sayaka/Kyoko fanart. Hopefully they're together where they are now. ;_;

And speaking of convenience, that’s pretty much exactly what episode 10 was for. Its reveal, the biggest reveal of them all, may have been telegraphed since the 1st episode, but it was handled appropriately, making it pretty impactful. In fact, perhaps it had too much impact. Anime has never been known for being subtle, and this surely wasn’t. It was beating us over the head with how Homura had been beaten over the head by fate.

I do like having Homura as the gun-toting badass magical girl.

To the show’s credit, none of the reveals have been twists. That is, they didn’t achieve their impact mainly through shock value or surprise. Rather, if there’s anything to criticize about them, it’s that they were too obvious. Everything fell too neatly into place. It’s just that the execution has been so top class that it’s been a joy to watch. Even when I think some things should have been done better.

And that’s been the story of Magical Girl Madoka Magica so far. When you dig into the details, things start to break down. Kyubey’s explanation about entropy just falls flat and gives a needlessly physics based explanation to a fantasy story. Kyoko’s death seemed wholly unnecessary, even if it had been telegraphed like crazy in the episodes leading up to it. And the introduction of the Groundhog Day time loop for Homura was jus as unnecessary.

Always read the fine print. Always.

But it all managed to work. It’s a testament to the overall direction of the show. Cinematography and music have been top notch throughout (even if it took me a while to warm up to the music). The radical shifts in art style have been used very well with the story itself, besides just looking pretty. Every scene has felt purposeful and deliberate. It has created a work that has the pacing just right, a mystery story that has kept us hooked step by step, baiting us with little bits here and there, steadily building up to… well, where we are now. Only the climax and ending are to follow.

And so we enter the final sixth of the show, the last 2 episodes. I don’t know how the whole release schedule deal will pan out, but I’m kind of hoping that this delay gives Shaft a chance to retool the episodes to fit as one 2-episode unit that are released quickly back to back. It’s a trick a lot of US TV shows use, and Code Geass‘s first season used it to good effect. Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s final 2 episodes also went together, though they weren’t released back to back. As I’ve said before, Magical Girl Madoka Magica has been a fun, gripping, tight ride so far. It hasn’t been without its missteps, but with the final bits to go, thanks to the strength of its direction and narrative, this is a show that genuinely has the opportunity to be one of the best, as long as it doesn’t get crushed by the weight of its own narrative. And there aren’t enough shows like that.

And I leave you off with a scene much sweeter than we're likely to see in the episodes to come.

After last week’s intense reveals and Sayaka’s quick spiral into despair, we were treated to an episode that was decidedly more relaxed in its pacing. The reveals came calmly this time instead of as big hits, with Kyubey finally explaining his motivations to Madoka and Kyoko rediscovering herself in the face of Sayaka’s transformation. As usual, the pacing was spot on, and the development of Kyoko’s character was handled wonderfully, but the way the climax played out left a bad taste in my mouth, ending an otherwise good episode on such a sour note that this may be the worst episode in the show so far.

It’s not that Kyoko’s sacrifice was too predictable. It was predictable, but that in itself is not a problem, as the show wasn’t playing it as a twist. Nor was her decision to do it unbelievable. The show did a fine job of turning villain into heroine through bits of character development in the past 3 episodes. Her wistful comment this episode about why she became a magical girl to begin with – and how Sayaka reminded her of that – had impact. It was just as clear to her as it was to us, the audience, that she was Sayaka’s foil, and seeing that girl’s downfall made her regret the loss of her innocence. Her desire to find redemption by saving Sayaka felt genuine.

Rather, the trouble was that what should have been a crowning moment of glory turned not to be, due to the poorly directed action of the climax. The necessary sense of danger and urgency just wasn’t there. I was ready to believe that Kyoko would give her life in this battle, but it should have been done under a truly dire situation, when no other option presented itself. Though the battle did a good enough job of showing Sayaka as dominating over Kyoko, there was no immediate sense of danger at her moment of sacrifice. It could have been a dramatic, powerful moment, capping off Kyoko’s journey for redemption with a truly selfless and needed sacrifice. Instead, we got a bit of yuri subtext which (though pretty damn cool) framed her death as one out of romantic love for Sayaka rather than of out of a desire to redeem herself for her crimes by aiding Sayaka. As I mentioned above, the latter was very well developed over the past few episodes. The former was jarring and, more importantly, unnecessary for justifying her sacrifice. There was a perfectly good reason to have Kyoko sacrifice her life! Why not use it!?

First of all, HAWT. Second of all, was that really necessary?

As for Kyubey’s reveal of his origin, I don’t like it, but I’ll allow it. I’m wary of stories using science fiction mumbo jumbo – especially “fancy” things like quantum mechanics, chaos theory, or, in this case, thermodynamics – to explain its fantasy. It’s just magic; by watching this show, we’ve already accepted a certain level of suspense of disbelief, and trying to rationalize it further just takes away from the mystique. And, as was the case here, when the science is wrong, it flat out sounds stupid.

To be fair, the science wasn’t completely wrong. Kyubey was conflating entropy (loss of usable energy) with the actual loss of energy (which is impossible), but perhaps he was simplifying things to explain to a middle schooler. Even so, the time scale he’s talking about – the point at which the universe will be so dominated by entropy that energy might as well not exist – is just too damn long to care about. Even if Kyubey’s race is as old as the universe, the time it would take for this to happen is several orders of magnitude longer than that. It’s a bit ridiculous to accept that his race thinks in that long a time scale.

Looking very predator there, Kyubey.

Of course, Kyubey’s race is supposed to be unfathomable to us. Their inability to have emotion, I thought was good enough to explain his manipulative and disattached personality up to now. I don’t think the show was trying to use it as an excuse to forgive him for his actions, because it doesn’t. He’s still a psychopath. It merely served as an explanation of his reasoning, which will help us understand his moves in the future.

For example, his manipulation of Kyoko to kill her and Sayaka at the same time. His giving Kyoko false hope was a really clever move to set up the situation to force Madoka to become a magical girl. The kind of cold and calculated move fitting for such a villain. Given that he’s the villain, of course, it’s also probably a good idea to take what he says with a grain of salt. He might not state outright lies, but there are ways to lie without doing that.

"Are you human!?" "No. And neither are you." Fucking badass.

So with 3 out of our 5 heroines disposed of, all of the pieces are in place. Walpurgis night looms ahead, which will be a challenge too much for Homura to handle alone, and the only possible source of help being Madoka. This should remind you of Madoka’s dream in the very first episode, in which Homura was shown fighting alone against… something, with Kyubey telling Madoka she could help her by becoming a magical girl. Was that dream indeed a glimpse into her future? I didn’t like that conjecture from the beginning, and I still don’t, but it seems quite likely to come true. But excepting the little misstep at the climax of this episode, this show has proven that it can execute on its story very well, regardless of its contents. After all, 2 very early conjectures came true in the previous episode in a truly awesome way. And when the show finally got around to character development the last few episodes, it has done it incredibly well. We’re entering the final act now. Madoka is still not a magical girl. I wait anxiously to see what comes.

Going out with a smile, that's so typical, Kyoko. You and your sugary voice will be missed ;_;

So, wow. We’re 2/3 done with the show, which means it’s about time some questions start getting answered. And that’s exactly what happened this episode, with a couple of the most major reveals yet in the show. These were part of tightly paced and well directed package, making for one of the most tense and enjoyable episodes of the show yet, despite it having almost no action.

Where to begin? I guess the biggest revelation is that not only are witches former magical girls, in fact, magical girls are precursors to witches. This is an important distinction, as it means that magical girls don’t just fall and become witches, but rather, they have been being formed by Kyubey in order to become witches.

And of Kyubey, “or should I say, Incubator,” he’s been upgraded from simple sociopath to full on psychopath. Who knows if his end goal is good or evil, but he’s made it abundantly clear that, in order to reach his goal, he is willing to fool ordinary girls into becoming magical girls, and then witches. So regardless of his intent, he’s, as people have been shouting all along, “evil.”

So the two biggest conjectures, that witches are fallen magical girls, and that Kyubey is evil, came true this week. But, as any good reveal does, more questions have been raised. What is the meaning of “Incubator?” Is it a reference to Kyubey “incubating” magical girls in order to produce witches? Or does it tie into the grief seeds he was eating – after all, they’re called “seeds.” What did Kyubey mean when he said Homura came “from another time?” We’ve seen her mastery of time and space, but is she someone who traverses the multiverse? Is this the type of thing Madoka would be able to do with her massive potential if she ever became a magical girl?

A fine use of this meme. Shaft's previous work Bakemonogatari featured an in-show use of this meme.

All these conjectures and mysteries are fun to think about, but I’m the kind of person who prefers just to let the story unfold to me. It’s much more fun to see the creators tell the story at their own pace instead of trying to preempt them. The reason Magical Girl Madoka Magica has worked so well is that the execution of its story and reveal of the setting have been so good. The pacing and art are what have really stood out to me so far, and episode 8 hit all the high notes in both.

Pacing is, I think, the single most important thing to get right in telling a story, and though the show has had its issues, it has been, by and large, downright masterful. Has it really been 8 episodes? We’re done with the majority of the show, and Madoka is still not a magical girl. Kamina was introduced, had his triumph, and died in the span of 8 episodes. Yet this is not a criticism that the show has been too slow; on the contrary, every episode has been eventful. The show has been so engrossing on a moment to moment basis, it is only when we actively step back and look at the big picture that we realize that we’re already almost done.

Probably my favorite OH SHI- moment of the show so far. Wonderfully directed scene, showing us just enough to know what's going on.

Episode 8 made use of its time about as well as I’ve seen this show do. If Sayaka’s turning into a witch came as no surprise, what did surprise was just how quickly we saw it happen. Leaving off from her psychotic butchering of the witch from the end of episode 7, continuing with her fight with Madoka in the rain, her jealous stalking of Hitomi and Kyosuke, her encounter with Homura, her first murder on the train and her tearful transformation in front of Kyoko at the end, the show did not waste any time in showing us her descent. Interspersed in between were scenes that were just as important, teaching us more about the world, about Walpurgis Night, about Homura, and about Kyubey.

And the scenery porn certainly didn’t hurt, either. I commented on the background architecture in the first episode, and though it has been present throughout the show, episode 8 showed it off better than any other episode so far. Homura’s rather lonely but super high tech home was quite the sight, as was the sunset-lit waterfall where we got to see Hitomi confess to Kyosuke. That fountain in the scene of Kyubey’s reveal threatened to steal the spotlight. Given the sadness of the events going down, it was hard not to feel a sense of melancholy from these beautiful shots of parts of the city.

Hitomi couldn't have chosen a better place or time to confess.

And the super clean minimalist aesthetic was, of course, contrasted by the messy, busy, and downright dirty art style of the witches. The show has done a good job of establishing this contrast, to the point that it was immediately obvious that Sayaka was becoming a witch when the black spiral art passed over her while she confronted those 2 men on the train. The same could be said about the style of the background when Sayaka’s soul gem began turning into a grief seed at the train station. The show has trained us with its art style shifts, giving us the power of immediate recognition of plot elements merely by how something is shown before we even identify the contents.

The story thus far has been absolutely gripping, and it was somewhat cathartic to finally get some confirmations regarding some of the major mysteries of the characters and mythos. At the same time, this show continues to impress not with its plot but with its sublime pacing in its reveals, along with use of art that is both beautiful and meaningful. With the final third of this show left, I’m eagerly looking forward to more reveals that are sure to come at a steady stream, and how the final act will be set up… and resolved.

One of my favorite shots of Sayaka. Looks dead, empty. If only she had embraced her feelings during her little bouts of emotion throughout the episode...

Very exposition heavy episode this week, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t see some epic shit go down. Kyoko’s back story went into Key territory in its forced drama, but the way it was told was visually entertaining, and it added depth to her character. And we were finally served with some genuine character development in Sayaka as she came to terms with the fact that she’s a “zombie.”

The stars this week? Kyoko, Sayaka, and… Hitomi? You know, the girl who’s hanging around Madoka and Sayaka? Her crush on Kyosuke came out of left field, but still wholly believable given the middle school setting. What was unbelievable was the maturity with which she handled it, telling Sayaka outright that she was willing to give Sayaka the 1st chance. Now, I’ve talked with someone on SCCSAV who thinks maybe this was a ruse by her to play matchmaker for Sayaka and Kyosuke, but I think that’s overthinking it. It’s just a straight up love triangle.

At least, it would be, if Sayaka believed she was capable of being loved. Nameless’s post comparing magical girls to child abuse victims painted the scene in which Sayaka cried in Madoka’s arms in an even darker light than it initially appeared. It’s a painful catch-22, isn’t it? Because she got her wish for Kyosuke granted, she no longer feels that she can have his love.

The pain that a magical girl has to bear... it's too much for one person. Also, I like that Sayaka used the z-word to describe herself.

Meanwhile, Kyubey offers her no consolation. In fact, the cold open showed him to be a sociopath, unable to sympathize with the girls’ horror at getting their souls sucked out. And literally torturing Sayaka to make his point. I feel that this might be Kyubey’s true nature; he’s not malicious, but he just can’t understand humans. His motivation is something that’s still up in the air, and his obsession with Madoka comes off far too strong, but hey, maybe he just wants a really powerful magical girl to take down witches. Still no reason to suspect him of ill intent.

Who does step in as a sort of a mentor to Sayaka is, surprisingly enough, Kyoko. Her explaining her back story was another thing that came out of left field given what we’ve seen of her so far, but it humanized her, letting us see her as more than just a villain but a victim as well. In fact, she’s the girl of whom Kyubey and Mami spoke when referring to a magical girl who wished for someone else only to have the wish backfire. And boy did it backfire! To the point that it had me rolling my eyes a bit, but hey, it wasn’t as overtly trying to manipulate our feelings as some of the shit we saw in Angel Beats! And the presentation really helped.

No fourth wall? In a Shaft show? Say it ain't so!

The paper cutouts during Kyoko’s flashback should remind you of the flashbacks from Bakemonogatari – Mayoi’s and Tsubasa’s back stories used this technique. But this show played with it by showing Kyoko actually holding the cutouts as she spoke, a visual metaphor for her verbal recounting of her past. It’s not a new trick, but it worked well in delivering the feeling of Kyoko telling her story to us. Also, the rundown church in which the scene took place was flat out gorgeous and fit in with the music by Yuki Kajiura better than any other setting in the show so far. The view of the dilapidated beauty served as a metaphor for the magical girls of this show and also reminded of the haunting settings from the Kara no Kyoukai movies.

Speaking of hauntingly beautiful, how about that final fight scene? Shaft is notorious for hiding cheap animation with its artistic style, and the silhouetted fighting did that quite well. We finally got to see Sayaka kick some ass, and the choreography and action direction overall were great! Beyond hiding the money-saving animation, the silhouetted fighting fit with the theme of the fight, which was Sayaka finally accepting her situation as a “zombie” and going mad. I had thought Kyoko was the one who had gone mad from the horrors of being a magical girl, but it looks like it was Sayaka! Then again, Kyoko is clearly Sayaka’s foil, and perhaps Sayaka has simply taken a step toward becoming another Kyoko.

Flat out badass and beautiful. This is the type of action scene I wanted to see Sayaka in.

It seems that each of the girls we’ve seen represents a different stage in the life of the magical girl. At one end of the spectrum, there’s Hitomi, who’s unaware of the existence of magical girls, and our heroine Madoka, who knows, but hasn’t become one yet. Then there’s Mami, who became a magical girl, didn’t know all the details fully and was still fairly idealistic, but got killed before she could progress any further. Sayaka, on the other hand, survived, and discovered the true horrors, and we got to see her go mad. Kyoko seemingly went through that phase as well, and now she’s a cynical, narcissistic, self-serving jerk. And at the end, we arrive at Homura, who has fully accepted her role, completely jaded by what she’s seen, but also fully committed to making sure that others don’t have to go through what she has. It’s a very sad progression, and so far, we’ve gotten to see Sayaka go from start to, well, where she is now.

Will Madoka be the one to break this seemingly inevitable downfall of magical girls? That’s the question in my mind, as we cross the halfway point in the show with our title character still not a magical girl. And showing no signs of wanting to become one, being present to both Mami’s death and Sayaka’s descent into madness. What will finally drive her into becoming one? What is the wish that she will deem so precious that she would be willing to go through what she knows is the hellish life of a magical girl? Part of me hopes that we will enter the final episode with her still not having turned, because the anticipation will have built to epic proportions by then. It’s still far too early to pass judgment on this show, but I haven’t had this much fun watching a TV anime episode to episode since The Tatami Galaxy last year. Which won our best TV Show (traditional) award for that year if you’ll recall.

Speaking of badass, Kyoko was that in this scene. Holding up another girl entirely by her collar? Awesome.

There was plenty that happened in this episode that could be used to fuel speculation. At the same time, I’m not much of one for speculation; I prefer to let the work come to me at its own pace. Guessing and coming up with outlandish theories to fit what we know so far is not the game for me. Still, this episode gave lots of indications and hints that are worth at least mentioning.

As I had figured last week, Sayaka’s route to becoming a magical girl was the next thing to get focus, though it happened much faster than I had expected. I had expected Homura to play Sayaka’s foil as an example of someone who wished for someone else’s wellbeing only to have it backfire. That didn’t happen. In fact, it seems that Homura going to play mentor to Madoka, what with their sunset conversation while walking from Mami’s now abandoned room. If you have yuri goggles on, that scene provided plenty of service, particularly with Homura seeming to care just a bit too much about Madoka’s wellbeing. I’m looking forward to seeing all the fanart that will pop up.

The backdrop, other than being beautiful, reminded me a lot of the city at the start of Diebuster. That was another "magical girl" show with heavy girl-love undertones...

It’s noteworthy that Kyubey showed up exactly as Kyosuke was throwing his tantrum and Sayaka was revealing to him the world of magic. And that during the rooftop scene before, Kyubey only said good bye to Madoka. Shaft sure is laying it thick with hints that there is more to Kyubey than meets the eye. Again, I don’t think it’s going to be the simple bad-guy-all-along twist, but that looks to be at least part of the story. Either that or just a subtle red herring, which I wouldn’t put past this show at this point.

As for how Sayaka’s wish will turn out, the dreary music playing in the background during Kyosuke’s discovery hints that, indeed, not everything will go as planned. The next episode’s title is “I Have No Regrets,” and I’d like to think that it refers to Sayaka, who will see the wish blow up in her face, but still be happy (or maybe it will be a line for someone else entirely). Will Kyosuke abandon her but still have Sayaka be happy that she was able to help him? Maybe he’ll die, but Sayaka won’t regret making the wish for him? Or, perhaps the darkest result of all, Sayaka will have to face her own death, but happily and without regret, because she was at least able to give Kyosuke what he wanted? I think I like the sound of that last one, since it would have an impact on Madoka as well.

Though I hope that doesn’t happen for a few episodes, since I want to see more of Sayaka in action. Her moment of glory was rather short in this episode, certainly not comparable to what Mami displayed the past two episodes. But as a swordswoman, she’s sure to pull off some badass stuff in the future.

This was a pretty good OH SHI- moment, as we didn't find out until after the fact that this was how Madoka was sucked into the witch's realm.

Actually, the action overall was much weaker in this episode compared to the last 2, but the continuing evolution of the trippy other world made up for that. I’ve been impressed at Shaft’s ability to keep these segments fresh. The paper cutout collage art in the 1st couple episodes had clearly been taken right out of their Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei OPs and bits of Bakemonogatari, but since then, the realms have evolved while still keeping that paper cutout aesthetic. The way Madoka was sucked into this one was gruesome and awesome, and the world itself, in which Madoka was falling endlessly while surrounded by TV screens showing Mami was appropriately surreal. The way her rendering changed as she was pulled in all directions before being saved by Sayaka was a nice touch and showed a character changing art style along with the background for the first time. I hope to see more of that.

Of course, I have to mention Kyoko, who made her introduction at the very end. Is she another magical girl, or something else entirely? If the former, why is she so hostile to other magical girls? What’s her relationship with Kyubey? If Homura is one who has become jaded from all the death she’s seen, is Kyoko someone who’s gone mad and power hungry from it? Or maybe she, not Homura, is the girl Mami and Kyubey were talking about who wished for someone else’s benefit only to have it backfire, and she’s absolutely pissed because of it?

I think the most important part of her to keep in mind is that she’s voices by Ai Nonaka (FUCK YEAH)! That came out of left field even moreso than Mami’s death last episode. Her sugary sweet voice is is quite literally a pleasure to hear, and I’ve missed her since she hasn’t taken on any major roles since the 2nd season of Natsu no Arashi. Now, her roles in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and as Ichijou in Pani Poni Dash had been somewhat psychopathic, but in a deceptive way. Kyoko is more blatant about it, and you can tell she’s playing her a lot darker than her other roles, but she can’t hide the cuteness in her voice.

This girl has FIRE IN HER EYES. And is that a melon bread? Wait, wrong show.

I really hope Kyoko will be around for a while, which maybe hoping for too much, since she wasn’t one of the 5 named major characters in the pre-airing promotion material, and the show has established that anyone can die at any time. I’m quite a bit surprised as to how much I’m enjoying this show, as I tend to have an aversion to things that receive a lot of hype beforehand (see: Black Rock Shooter). Then again, there are cases when the hype is justified (see: Evangelion 2.22, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya). In a way, Magical Girl Madoka Magica seems to fit more into a regular fantasy action genre, a la Shakugan no Shana, than the magical girl genre from which it derives its title. Perhaps it’s a reflection of the fact that the latter is merely a subgenre of the former, just sugarified. Is Madoka Magica what you call a deconstruction? I’m not really equipped to throw around that word, since I’ve never seen a magical girl show, but it sure seems to be trying to do something like it. And that’s proving to be very fun to watch.

It’s been a couple weeks, and we’re already about a quarter way into this show. I wrote mainly about the art style and potential for things to get interesting in my post on the first episode, and episode 3 saw this show make good on that potential. Now, this should be assumed for any episodic blog post, but, be warned, there are spoilers ahead.

A couple things about Magical Girl Madoka Magica have been surprises so far. First, Shaft is actually doing action well! Of course, Shaft is notorious for using cost cutting measures wherever possible in order to reduce the number of frames drawn. Not ideal for action, which is why most of its shows are comedies that rely heavily on the writing. Its weakness in action was demonstrated by last year’s middling Dance in the Vampire Bund.

Episode 1 of Madoka Magica didn’t contain any action. The scene with Mami’s multiple single shot guns at the end of episode 2 was quite nice, but even Vampire Bund had had flashes of brilliance, after all. Then the action in episode 3 was even better, with great choreography, timing, and animation while Mami took down those black… things. I think we are seeing a genuine pattern here, not just a flash in the pan. These weren’t crazy over the top high octane scenes you expect from a Gainax or Madhouse production, nor were they particularly long, but they were still among the better action scenes I’ve seen in TV anime.

But you already know that that’s not the most fun surprise from this latest episode.

The theme for the magical world this episode seemed to be sweets + hospital. Maybe that boy has diabetes?

A lot of speculation about the “dark” nature of the story had gone up after episode 2, and I had been deeply skeptical. Ooh, a quotation from Faust in the background, making a blindingly obvious allusion to the nature of the contract magical girls have to make in this world. Give me a break. This is still a magical girl show, after all. Let’s see some bodies before we talk about how “dark” or “subversive” this show is. I point out posts at THAT Anime Blog and 2DTeleidoscope as examples of posts that had me rolling my eyes.

Well, I happily stand corrected. Even throughout most of the episode, I was rolling my eyes at how typical and predictable everything was. Of course Sayaka had someone sickly (who is also clearly extremely rich, based on his hospital room) for whom she wanted a wish. Of course some other magical girl had tried using her wish for someone else, and of course it’ll be Homura, whose current angst will be explained by her wish having gone wrong, most likely due to the object of her affections ending up happy with someone else.

Of course Kyubey was starting to sound like he had ulterior, perhaps selfish, motives when discussing Madoka’s massive potential. Of course Mami’s wish had been made under duress, and her role as a magical girl was a life-long prison sentence, not some glorified triumph. Of course Mami was starting to show a darker side in needlessly tying up Homura, working with Kyubey to pull Madoka into the world of magical girls. *yawn*… yeah, we know, these characters aren’t all they seem, they already shoved that down our throats last episode…

Of course Madoka led such a happy life that she had no wish. Of course she would make Mami happy through the power of FRIENDSHIP and LOVE. Of course they were going to waste the wish on something banal, like a cake, which they would have to celebrate once Mami took care of this episode’s Monster Of the Week. Of course Mami would get her head bitten off at the climax, just when it looked like she was about to win. Of course-

Wait, what?

Yeah, so they killed off one of the primary 4 magical girls from the initial promotional material just 3 episodes in, and it had exactly the intended effect. The particularly gruesome way in which Mami died and Madoka’s and Sayaka’s horrified looks contributed a lot to the impact of the scene.

Yes, this is the kind of scene I was waiting for! The characters need to display a real fear for the consequences!

What was so satisfying about Mami’s death isn’t that she died, but how it was presented. It came suddenly, and it was followed quickly with the episode ending, Mami and Sayaka still in shock and tears from what happened. That’s what makes death scary in fiction, when it happens randomly and without meaning, when it just blindsides a character who you didn’t think had it coming. It establishes that, much like in real life, death is just something that can hit anyone at any time for any reason. The plot armor that we’re so used to seeing protect our protagonists isn’t there any more. It helps to make the rest of the work feel more tense and significant.

Where does the show go from here? I figure Sayaka’s wish will play a prominent role pretty soon. As I mentioned above, it seems to me that they’re setting up Homura as Sayaka’s foil, a magical girl who wished to help someone only to have the wish backfire on her. Homura’s disattached, deadpan face even after knowing that Mami had died reeks of the typical “jaded and cynical because life screwed me” character. This goes along with her constant attempts to stop Madoka from becoming a magical girl presumably to save her from suffering the same fate as herself. Clearly she doesn’t want Sayaka to become a magical girl either, but I wonder if Sayaka will end up learning something from her anyway in order not to mess up at the same place she had.

Analytical and calculating speech just doesn't go well with such an innocent, unchanging happy face.

On Madoka’s own journey to being a magical girl, I already mentioned how creepy Kyubey looked when telling Madoka that she had the most potential of any girl he’d met (that unchanging smile and unmoving lips get a little unsettling when the conversation topic turns heavy). It’s pretty clear that this was purposeful, but why is Shaft doing it? I think they’re setting up for a classic double-twist, where we first learn for sure that Kyubey is indeed not all he seems, but then they turn it around so that he still turns out to be a good guy. It would be too simple if they played it straight and made him be the bad guy. I also think Madoka’s family life will play a major role in her story going forward, what with the shadier part of her mother’s work life rearing its ugly head the last couple of episodes.

What this show needs to do is to keep going in the same direction. One easy way that it could mess up is if it reverses Mami’s death. Now that it’s made its point about magical girls dying, dead needs to mean dead, not briefly inconvenienced. I want to see Madoka and Sayaka be put through the wringer. I want to see them under pressure, I want to see them forced to react to more horrific things, because that’s what’s fun to watch. With Mami’s death, the show has already pushed them down towards a painful journey, and I can’t wait to see it do even more.

With any luck, the worst is yet to come.

That is the one thing I learned from my 10th grade English class. I had written an otherwise excellent (for a 10th grader), well sourced paper about Herbert Hoover’s life and she gives me a B- for no other reason than that the paper had no transitions. Suffice it to say, I’ve never made that mistake again in an academic paper. That’s one of the big issues with Legendary Heroes that has bothered me for some time; there are no transitions. Now, there has been the constant shifting from one story to another, and I’m cool with that. However, putting characters in unexplained situations, like the show did in episode 15, or the weird shift in tone from the last episode to this one are disappointing, to say the least.

Episode recap in four words: Sion goes crazy, finally.

Then there is the problem with the within show transitions. Having comedy intermixed with drama is a fine line to walk, and I pointed this out in my episode one post. LOLH has been doing a fine job with handling this concern of mine, but for some characters to act so out of turn, like Miran did in this episode, is perplexing to say the least. Now you might think that I hated the quick transition from the disconcertingly flirtatious and nice Sion to evil Sion, but that had been hinted at for some time, so while the transition was quick, it was understandable.

Aside from that last revelation, nothing really happened in this episode. It seems like the creators needed some reason to bring all of the characters together before Sion went bonkers, and they went with the birthday idea. Nothing too revolutionary or well imagined with that choice, but hopefully the show’s ending makes up for it. It was nice to see that the show hadn’t forgotten all of its side characters, like Miran and Noa (who was berating Clough for drinking too much in the background of the party scene, which was pretty funny). I really don’t think too much else needs to be said about this episode, so I’ll leave it at that.

I’ll end this post with some pictures of Ferris, but unfortunately there were no good ones of her blushing when it was revealed she was planning on opening her own Dango shop.

Even though it seemed like this episode pulled a whole bunch of things out of thin air, it still added a whole lot of clarity to past events, which is something that the series has done more of the past few weeks. Hopefully, this means we are in for a conclusion that ties up all of the show’s loose ends, though could you blame me if I still have doubts?

To start, I suppose it would be prudent to talk about the parts of this episode that actually made sense, and then gradually shift to the bat sh#t crazy. The flashback featuring Sion meeting Lucile, which expanded a scene from the beginning of the series, gave some insight as to what might have caused Sion to go crazy and lock himself in a poorly lit room for half of the show. It seems to have something to do with a splitting of Sion’s personality, which he had been able to contain up until this episode. But now it seems as though the darker side has now taken over completely, considering Lucile’s smirk and Riphal’s warning to Kiefer.

However, I think it would be a mistake just to assume that Sion just wants Ryner dead, as it would seem that both Sion and Lucile want to use him in some grander scheme. This really depends on how you view the conversation in the previous episode in which Sion made it clear to Miran that Ryner must live. I suppose you could assume that Sion was a different person back then, or you could say that he needs Ryner alive for something bigger (It would also be pretty bad writing if Sion just flip-flopped like that in one episode). Perhaps, those tests on Alpha Stigma users that Milk finally found out about this episode are meant as practice for Ryner. These tests, also lend credence to the theory that Ryner is a part of a larger plan, as Evil Sion must have ordered their continuation some time ago. Also, I know this is probably wrong of me to say, but did anyone else find that monster’s voice hilarious?

On another Roland note, it seems like everyone who used to be a part of Sion’s brain trust is getting tossed aside. I mean even Miran deferred to Sion, Clough doesn’t seem like he is going to be useful anytime soon, and where are the rest of his generals?

Then there was the part of this episode that was just plain crazy. I’ll admit, the scene in which Lucile confronted who I can only assume to be Ryner’s father, as I don’t think it was ever explicitly stated, was pretty awesome, and really showed, without really even showing, how powerful these two were. But then, what was up with that whole heaven/dream/revelation world Ryner was sent to. While this part of the episode did help explain (very poorly, I might add) the links Ryner shares with the past (which really hasn’t been mentioned since episode 2, though I guess implied through the title), what was with that emblem taking the form a monster. Even more messed up is that we were probably introduced to Ryner’s mother, only for her to die in a matter of seconds.

Even though there were plenty of crazy things going down in this episode that made no sense, all is forgiven as we got to see Ferris blush. Focusing on the plot though, it will be interesting to see how that tattoo is going to protect Ryner from Sion, as well as how Ryner will react to seeing Kiefer again in upcoming episode(s). Regardless of what happens, it seems to be inevitable that Ryner and Ferris are going to be stuck in the middle of the conflict between Roland and Gastark, no matter where it occurs.

Also, where in the h@ll is Tiir?

Since school kind of took up most of my time the past week and a half, I decided to combine the past two episodes into one somewhat longer post. While it would seem like a lot of things have happened in these two episodes, and a lot has, it also is clear that for many characters, especially the main ones, change is a slow process.

I guess the biggest surprise from episode 19 was that Tiir wasn’t such a bad guy after all. I mean, sure he has probably killed thousands of people and used the logic that he isn’t human to justify his actions (which I am sure he will reassess at some point), but still not a bad guy. It was also interesting to see that he had run in to and basically been defeated by Lir in the past. So when Lir came back in episode 20, you would have thought that Tiir would have been the one to get revenge, but it seems that he can’t really use his powers to his full effect unless he consumes others, and in episode 20 that would have meant consuming all the children which he refused to do. This kind of puts him in a bind in fights that don’t involve large amounts of humans, so it will be interesting to see what kind of role he can actually have in smaller, one on one type fights, as was the case when he initially fought Lir. (Also, did anyone else get Alien type vibes when he mentioned how he consumed his mother from the womb?)

That brings us back to Gastark, and what better place to start than with what looks to be the death of Sui nii-chan. Frankly, I don’t really care whether he lives or dies anymore since most the characters from this show’s first half, Miran Froaude included, just don’t offer the same level of intrigue and mystery of some of the show’s newer focuses, like Riphal and Luke. In reality, it seems that his character’s only purpose was to fight Ryner a few times, and then mention to Riphal how powerful he was, which would then elicit a response from Kiefer. It will certainly be interesting to see what will happen between Kiefer and Riphal in the upcoming episodes. Since Riphal has been trying to put the moves on Kiefer for the past few episodes, and even going so far as to say he would marry her in episode 19, what will he do now that he knows she is from Roland, his current foe? What will Kiefer do? From the preview, and from the little we know about Riphal, it seems like he is going to do whatever it takes in order to accomplish his dream of creating a peaceful world.

It was also pretty interesting to see that Gastark has a crap load of crystals, which Gastark presumably gained from killing an untold number of magic eye users (which makes you wonder how many magic eye users there really are, but I digress). While I know one of the main themes of this show is supposed to be that there isn’t no good guy, there isn’t no bad guy, there is just two sides who just disagree, it’s hard not think badly of Riphal for ordering his minions to go around the continent and massacre people, but this is something we kind of all ready knew. What we didn’t know was how Gastark was able to crystallize eye users.

Fortunately, episode 20 cleared that up. It appears that Lir’s legendary relic, in the form of a big green ball that allows him to crystallize the powers of magic eye users, which he can then use in the form of a Rule Fragment. While the plot possibilities this relic provides for are interesting, especially if it could take away powers without killing the user, it is in and of itself a pretty powerful weapon. The ease with which Lir was able to kill both Lafra and the Alpha Stigma chick was pretty remarkable. Unfortunately, Luke and Ryner just let Lir kind of walk away after they had him on the run, which was a bit perplexing, as was the large amounts of talking between Ferris and Ryner during the fight scenes in which no action actually took place. Kind of disappointing that episode 20 didn’t handle these timing issues better, but it’s a minor flaw.

However, the real core of this series has been the relationship between Ryner and Ferris, and the last two episodes seem to have finally moved them to the next level, though what that means isn’t exactly clear. That said, the one thing has surprisingly upset me was the limited amount of time Ryner was able to mope around after he decided to leave Ferris and Sion to go with Tiir. I mean is one episode enough time for Ryner to completely change all of his ideals, and did Ferris say anything to Ryner in episode 20, that she didn’t already make clear in episode 10.

I guess that this speaks to a bigger problem that this series has. I really don’t think it was necessary to spend as much time as the series did in having Ryner decide to leave Ferris and Sion, but I do think it should have spent more time in having Ryner coming to the realization that people still care about him even if he is a monster. Ferris’ promise to kill Ryner should he every go berserk again near the end of this episode seems a bit extreme to me, but if this is what it takes for Ryner to feel comfortable around her then so be it. It would be nice to see a bit more comedy put back into this show by having these two together, even if it the series doesn’t really need it anymore.

Speaking of things that have taken this series too long to get to, we finally got a conclusion to the Miran/Luke fight from a few episodes ago. To see Miran just give up on his plan, whatever exactly it was, and release Milk without incident was a little disappointing, but understandable considering he was up against a legendary relic (everyone on this show has a relic it seems, but Ryner and Ferris). It seems like Miran was able to convince Luke to move against Ryner, but given the events in episode 20, Luke now seems convinced that Ryner must live.

Long term, the biggest thing in this series is that Ryner is the solver of all equations. Lir’s mention of this in episode 20 was only the second time in the series (I think) that this has been alluded to. What this means is anyone’s guess, but with Ryner now seemingly capable of holding back the monster inside of him and with the promise he made with Ferris, a bunch of possible pathways have been opened. If Ryner can only access these potentially earth shattering powers while under the control of the Alpha Stigma, it is possible that a situation may arise where his powers are needed to save a large group of people. I guess the real question is whether he would open himself up to possibly being taken over by the monster inside of him (and thus killed by Ferris), if it meant saving others.

One other interesting note was the conversation Claugh had with Calne in episode 19 after they learned about Sion’s use of Ryner. I got the feeling that Claugh was somehow able to understand what Ryner was going through, as a lot of what he said echoed what Ryner had said in previous episodes. While we haven’t much back-story on Claugh up until this point, except for his past with Tiir, it would be interesting to know what he had to do to get the power he had in his right hand. From the previews, it looks as though he is going to somehow get another arm, but if Full Metal Alchemist as taught us anything, it is that something must be lost, for something to be gained. It will be interesting to see if we find out what sacrifices Claugh made in the past, and may make in the future all for the sake of power.

However, with all of these plotlines, I don’t know if the show can adequately wrap up everything that is going on in six episodes without it feeling rushed. At this point, it seems possible that this show will have a sequel. Whether that is the case or not, I hope we get some sort of conclusion to this series, and not a cliffhanger.

Since I am looking down the barrel of two hellish weeks of school before Thanksgiving break, I am going to combine the two shows I am reviewing into one post this week and next. Unfortunately, that means I am not going to be able to go as in depth as I would like to, which really sucks since Legendary Heroes is really starting to heat up again, and Star Driver continues to meet and exceed expectations.

To begin with, you have no idea how happy I am that Ryner finally decided to do something, instead of constantly complaining/moping about his situation. While his decision to join Tiir, and what looks like a group of outcast magical eye users, made sense when you consider the order Sion gave Luke, you have to wonder what the hell he was thinking in leaving behind Ferris. It seemed as though she thought she had gotten through to Ryner after his last outburst in episode 10, as the flashback reminded us, so it is hard to imagine how hard Ryner’s betrayal must have hit her. Though to empathize with Ryner, having what looks like thousands of people in the army shudder in fear from your presence, right before you decide whether to join Tiir would probably have a big impact on your decision.

It seems like Ryner regrets leaving, but has it in his mind he has no other choice

As for Sion, how freaking lucky is this guy? This guy was anointed a hero after the events in episode 3, in which he needed Ryner to save his ass, and now it was only because of Ryner’s s decision that Tiir disappeared. I mean how much does he have his army wrapped around his finger to declare that he sent away the monster, even though pretty much everyone there saw that wasn’t the case. I guess that also begs the question about how stupid his army is, but that’s a question for another day.

Anyway, it seems Ferris is going to go look for Ryner and try to knock some sense into him which is all well and good, but the really important development is that Ferris looks infinitely hotter in her new pink get up. On a side note, I kind of was disappointed that we didn’t get any resolution to the Miran/Luke encounter from the previous episode.

As for Star Driver, things weren’t quite as crazy as last week, but we finally got to learn a few things about Sugata. Apparently, he is the heir to the strongest Cybuddy there is, and also has the strongest First Phase in the form of the King’s Pillar. The only problem is that if he apprivoises, he will fall into a deep coma. There is also some added drama about how he learned of his abilities on his birthday five years ago, and ever since he needs to do some emo scene on said day. On a side note, the show seems to have made a special note about how both Wako and Sugata learned of their abilities, and in both instances it seems like it has filled them with regret and forced them to restraining themselves, with their inability to leave the island likely symbolizing something else.

Glasses, bunny ears, maid outfits, what's next?

With that said, you know Sugata was planning for the long run when he did apprivoise to save Wako. I mean he pretty much sacrificed himself to save her, so you know that when he inevitably wakes up (he is a main character) that Wako is going to want to get into his pants. More seriously, this episode made it more clear that Takuto wasn’t necessarily going to be the one to break Wako’s seal and that there will likely be some sort of love triangle between the three. I’d really like to see Sugata become an enemy to Takuto as that would be a pretty interesting story line.

A little uninteresting, but that may be due to the lack of fan service when compared to other characters

As for the show’s stand alone story, I wasn’t really that impressed with Undine’s character as she seemed to be a little bit too paranoid about Takuto and Wako being together. On the flip side, her first phase was pretty awesome, and was the catalyst for some pretty sweet fights between her Mermiadolls and the maids with the ever growing list of moe elements. Just as interesting was the increasing screen time that was devoted to the mentioning of the First Phases. The scene with Kanako, in which she said she was lucky to have a first phase that didn’t cause that much stress was really interesting, especially in comparison to the trouble Undine seemed to have with hers. If we were going to somehow try and relate this to adolescence, which this show seems to be about, it seems that some characters have a lot easier time adapting to their newfound first phase powers than others. This, in addition, to some other characters who have trouble dealing with finding out about their powers, certainly goes to show that while people may go through the same things in life, more or less, not everyone can handle them as well or as easily as others.

Do they really need to wear their costumes outside?

On a side note, this was the first time I could easily understand the nonsense coming from fish girl’s mouth, as it seemed to predict the events that would occur later in the show, and was the basis for my theory that Sugata and Takuto might become enemies.

After weeks of essentially having no plot movement, this week’s episode threw many things at us and in quick succession. While beggars (and I am) really can’t be choosers when it comes to timely plot development, this episode moved forward in a variety of different ways. Some of these choices were good, while others could have used the “dead air” from previous episodes to be better.

Awesome character. Why he was introduced so late is beyond me.

Though Ryner’s choice to leave Ferris behind was by no means the highlight of the episode, it was the one event in the episode that triggered its characters to act in a way that didn’t feel cheap. Ferris’ reaction to Ryner’s disappearance made sense and was able to elicit some reaction from me; because it seemed like past episodes had led up to this point. Seeing that even Sion’s comment about dango didn’t even register with Ferris, and we all know how much she loves dango, made this moment even more potent. Then you had Sion calling out to Lucile in vain to determine what he said to Ryner, suggesting that Sion might be losing some of Lucile’s favor.

I feel for Ferris

Unfortunately, the rest of the episode was unable to match that level of depth. The revelation that the black-haired, black clothed character had in the past killed Clough’s friends seemed like it was designed for us to care about that fight. Though the fight between the two was the most interesting since episode 3, I couldn’t get over how Clough’s past seemed like it was tacked on at the last-minute. Seventeen episodes are more than enough time for us to learn about some of these character’s pasts, but it seems like all we are getting is Alpha Stigma back story. Perhaps it’s a moot point given that it would seem the black-haired bad ass might be looking to find and defeat Ryner, just like it seems that every other major character in this show is destined to do, rendering Clough useless.

Then there was the scene with Kiefer and Riphal. While I love that Riphal is so direct about his intentions with Kiefer, I can’t help but think where he has been the past four episodes. For someone who seems like he will turn out to be a major character by the show’s end, he gets very little characterization. I have this bad feeling that we will only get his back story right before or after some pivotal event or death, which seems way too much like Bleach’s modus operandi.

Despite my complaints with the backdrop to some of these scenes, there were a lot of interesting things that suggest that the show is getting on the right track. The way the Roland and Estabul forces intermixed over the course of the fight shows that tensions between the two may be dying down, if only to defeat a common enemy. Kiefer learning about the different types of eyes and their respective powers suggests that there may be even more characters that have powers on par with the Alpha Stigma and the Iino Doue (so even if the plot goes to hell, we will at least have some good action scenes), and that Ryner is really unique, though I guess the viewer kind of already knew that. Plus, Miran Froaude finally looks like he has finally met his maker.

Luke finally showing his skills

Three fourths of the way through this episode, I was about ready to give up on this series and drop it. It has been some time since the perversion jokes between Ryner and Ferris were new and interesting, Sion’s inability to do anything of interest had been getting on my nerves, and the revelations regarding Ferris and Lucile’s past, though interesting, were not shocking and did little to move the plot forward. But thankfully, almost as if he had heard my pleas for some sort of plot movement, Luke made one decisive and somewhat risky move, that may have finally made this series interesting again.

I don’t know what it is about characters who keep their eyes closed in this series, but Luke and Lucile finally opened their eyes to the fact that this show wasn’t going anywhere. First, that was one risky move by Luke to pass off Sion’s order as a birthday party invitation when he gave it to Milk. I mean what would have went down if Milk had inadvertently opened the letter and seen that Sion had given the order to eliminate Ryner, should the worst come to pass (though I suppose it’s possible that Luke forged the letter). Obviously, he thought that he had no choice given the apparent importance of Milk and the information found in the book he was given earlier in the episode. Of course, Luke’s actions may prove to be all for naught, given that Miran looks to have his own agenda when it comes to Milk.

As old as the comedy bit is getting, this shot was pretty funny.

What does all this mean for Ryner? Obviously, Sion’s order has drawn the memories from his past that no one can truly get close to him, and that those who do will get hurt, but will this impact whether or not he accompanies Sion to Estabul. Perhaps more importantly is what will Ryner take away from his run in with Lucile? Honestly, there are a lot of things you could take from that conversation in regards to Ryner being a monster and that he shouldn’t lay a hand on Ferris, but at the very least we know Lucile is cut from the same cloth as Ryner. That said, it almost seemed as if Lucile was ordering Ryner to look after Ferris for the time being, so maybe she also holds some unseen importance in the grand scheme of things.

As for Lucile, I get it, he is creepy. However, I do give the guy some props for taking out his even creepier parents.

With only ten episodes left, I hope that this series can take these elements and create a sustainably exciting conclusion, because at this point I am almost past the point of no return in terms of dropping this series. But even if LOLH turns out to be a tour de force from this point on, there was no reason to have the lead up last as long as it did. For example, it was pretty obvious from about episode six that Ferris’ character was changing and that she was fortunate to have found someone to call her friend, even if she didn’t admit it to herself. But we didn’t need another 10 episodes to clarify this point, and then have it beaten over our heads in this episode, when it would have only taken five episodes to do. I suppose there is no crying over spilt milk, so let’s just hope the introduction and development of the main characters ends here…

or not.

You know a show is running on fumes when it employs a nonsensical time skip and uses the old strand our main characters on an island to force character interaction with the hope of moving the story forward routine. Unfortunately, that is where Legend of the Legendary Heroes has found itself after 15 episodes. Despite some new revelations about some characters and few minor plot twists, this episode highlights the glacial pace this series has taken on. To the creator’s credit, I think they know this, and they have tried their best to insert more humor into the series. However, when the best jokes they can muster involve stale Ryner sex fiend quips by Ferris, that increasingly question his sexuality, something needs to happen soon, especially considering the large amount of promising new shows.

This plot line would make the show far more interesting than it currently is.

The one big revelation from this episode is that it appears Milk is destined to marry Sion at some point in the future. There were some hints about her importance in Episode 11, in which I speculated the taboo breakers served no real purpose and that their true objective was to guard Milk, but this revelation seems like it has come a bit out of the blue, and had no real lead up. It also seems like Luke also is quite skilled. While there hasn’t been any hard battle evidence to prove this, he did go toe to toe with Ryner near the beginning of this episode and the first OP did feature him somewhat prominently.

Ferris' facial expressions this episode were a bright spot.

The most confusing aspect of this episode was the relationship between Ryner and Milk’s groups. From what I’ve gathered, it seems like Ryner and Luke are the only ones in the know, given that they didn’t continue fighting each other after they figured out who the other was. Regardless, it seems like all of that doesn’t even matter anymore, since Milk has now seen Ryner and Sion together and now must realize that Ryner isn’t trying to kill Sion, but is instead his (special) friend. While it is nice to see that these misunderstandings are now all cleared up, I have to question what their point was in the first place. For the show to just change this dynamic, without anything of note coming from the old status quo, I really question the need of having Milk in this series at all. Hopefully, the show will eventually prove me wrong.

All those somewhat interesting points aside, this episode also reiterated things we’ve known for weeks, or even months, now. We got more brooding from Sion about how hard leading a nation is and that Gastark poses a real threat, and also confirmation that Miran is going to try and kill Ryner. We were also reminded that consolidating power in Estabul is going to be necessary if Roland is going to have any chance of standing up to Gastark. My episode 13 post was basically about what the ramifications would be for Sion and Roland if he were to invade Estabul again so I won’t get into that again, but they keep delaying this seemingly inevitable conflict.

Ryner, think of Ferris.

Although most of the Sion centric portions of this episode just seemed to rehash old points, it was interesting to note, from Sion’s now weekly musings, that Roland was already collecting Legendary Relics. I say this is interesting because it is my understanding that Miran has not let it be known his ring is a legendary relic, and that he only left the Swordscale on Sion’s desk after reading Ryner’s report. So perhaps some other characters have secretly been gathering legendary relics, because the last time I checked Ryner and Ferris’ grand total is zilch.

For whatever reason, this series seems incapable of putting together two good episodes in a row. Unlike the last episode, which introduced a new character and moved the plot forward significantly, this episode focused on what we already knew and why they are doing what they are doing. With that said, this episode did open a few new interesting doors as Miran finally learned of Ryner’s connection to Sion, and it seems like the Rule Fragment will play some sort of pivotal role in the series.

It seems like everyone in this series loves to hear themselves talk, except for Kuu and that's what I love about her.

One interesting tidbit we got from both the opening scene and the lead up to this fight is that the power of the Alpha Stigma can be harnessed, perhaps in the form of a Rule Fragment. While I suppose you could have inferred this from a previous episode, I believe that this was the first time it was explicitly stated. This information opens the door to a lot of interesting plot twists in the future. While Ryner states that he would like to spare Arua from the life of an Alpha Stigma bearer if he could, there are other possible applications. The most notable possibility is some sort of FMA Brotherhood type of ending where Ryner gives up his powers at the end of the series for some higher purpose, but that would be pretty cheap in my opinion. Another possible scenario is that Miran, who has also witnessed the Rule Fragment’s power, will try to acquire the knowledge needed to use it, should he need to defeat Ryner. These are only guesses, but it is something to keep an eye on given the amount of screen time the concept has received.

One on One training with Ferris. One lucky kid.

As for the fight itself, this episode continued the long running trend of blank spaces, but I suppose this is just something I will have to learn to live with. Perhaps as a result, this “fight’s” focus was not on the action, but an unnecessarily long conversation between Sui and Ryner about their respective kings that didn’t offer anything new. For whatever reason, this series has to make absolutely clear we understand what the moral center/theme of this show is. But honestly, how could you not get it by now?  The actual 5 seconds of the fight with action was pretty good. Ferris using the ice wall as an elevator was actually pretty cool.

Miran interrupting the battle wasn’t that big of a surprise given he was already in Runa, but they way he did so was a bit of a surprise. Perhaps the devil actually has a heart, as I can’t think of any other reason for him to wait until Sui almost killed Kuku to attack, especially considering there were ample chances to catch the pink haired siblings off guard. Looking at the bigger picture though, Miran now knows that Roland and Ferris are working for Sion and vice versa. His reaction to this was a bit perplexing, as I don’t think he understands why Sion has up his sleeve, but to be honest I don’t think Sion actually had any big plan for the legendary relics as he was surprised they actually existed.

One confusing thing for me at least was the timeframe between the beginning of the episode and the fight at the manor. Perhaps the novel draws things out a bit more, but I thought it would take Ferris longer than a millisecond to train Arua to the point he would be able to help them in their fight, even if he was only used as a part of a specially conceived plan. Now that the dynamic duo have saved Kuku, it seems like they want to drop these two kids off ASAP, and I can only saw thank god. Since their introduction, nothing of interest has happened to Ferris and Ryner, which has really hurt the show given that they are its core. Hopefully, they two kids get placed in the care of Milk and her comrades as I can only see hilarity ensuing from that situation.

Leaving two kids with these fools. I smell a spin off.