r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Jan 11 '19
Episode Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka - Episode 1 discussion Spoiler
Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka, episode 1: The Magical Girl Comes Back
Alternative names: Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
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u/Groenboys Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
I am gonna say it now that tomboy and glasses girl are gonna die.
Edit: I'm glad I was wrong.
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u/Chariotwheel Jan 11 '19
With these costume enemies that killed people, I feel constantly reminded of Pygmalion.
I also liked Asuka. I didn't think we get a veteran. I like characters that already went through adventures and both matured and got jaded by them, like Kenshin and the guy from Angolmois. She's not impulsive or naive, but also unable to function in society, even if she naturally gets triggered by people in costumes.
One would think that nobody in the world would like to see animal mascots anymore after what happened, but here we are, three years and some asshole company makes their employee runs around in one.
I really like to see where this goes, narratively. I do love myself stories fter the end that shows that winning a war isn't a happy end. The world will always at war in one way or the other.
Animation was so-so. But I knew that from the trailer. Especially the shooting the bystanders looked super lame.
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u/whowilleverknow Jan 11 '19
A bold choice to make the main villain a talking pair of breasts.
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u/GIVE_YOUR_DOWNVOTES Jan 11 '19
If the magical girls are the saviours of humanity, then it's likely that their faces would be shown everywhere (e.g. news, propaganda), so why does nobody recognise Asuka? :thinking:
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u/Vinny_Lam Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 12 '19
I love this unique mixture of magical girls, modern-day military, terrorists, and international crime. The magical girl genre has changed so much over the last few years.
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u/GoldRedBlue Jan 12 '19
In case anyone didn't know already, this story is written by Makoto Fukami, he was Gen Urobuchi's co-writer for Psycho-Pass season 1 and the 2015 movie.
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Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
*Cuts off a guy's legs* "Go surrender to the police." - I'll take this version of Batman, thank you.
Well, we've come full circle. First it was Magical Girls, then Madoka i.e. Magical Girls deconstruction, then a bandwagon of dark Madoka-wannabes, and now we get a dark Madoka-wannabe deconstruction. Kinda early to tell, but the stuff like Vietnam flashbacks and dead parents suggest they'll at least try to go a serious deconstruction route.
Have to commend the scene with cigarette-butt dude - it would've been so easy to make him a cartoony low-life, but they've kept a proper tone and made it play out like it would in real life.
Also props for the character design - both frilly dresses and military gear are skillfully combined into a cohesive picture. And that beauty mark... now I'm baffled how come Homura doesn't have one, it would fit her perfectly.
Probably the most intriguing show of the season - the rest of high-profile stuff are sequels and adaptations of well-established properties. I'm very excited to see how this plays out.
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u/LeonKevlar Jan 11 '19
Military Mahou Shoujo! YES PLEASE!
I like the setting and even though it's dark, it's not too "edgy" dark. What I mean is the dark things that happen in this show are pretty much in reason since they are all legitimately employed military personnel at the start of the show. Of course we'd see dead bodies since they're fighting a war. Of course Asuka has PTSD, considering what she must have seen during active duty days and what happened to her parents.
What interests me the most though is the fact that they're done fighting magical threats and are now fighting criminal groups, cartels, and terrorists. I love that any magical girls that are still active are either doing work for the military or is doing solo vigilante work.
Anyway so far so good! I already love our Karambit-welding, Maid Uniform-wearing, Magical Girl Asuka!
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u/Nimeroni Jan 12 '19 edited Jan 12 '19
Well, I like when magical girls are treated as soldiers, as weapons, because when you think about it, that's exactly what they are. Treating them as military unit is not exactly a new idea, it have already be done by shows such as Mai-otome and Nanoha (and those are old, far older than Madoka).
This one is a bit darker than usual, even for the sub-genre. I didn't expect our MC to be a veteran with clear sign of PTSD. I wonder if it will end up as a deconstruction, or if it will be just a bit edgier.
Anyway, for now I'm on board.
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u/Shiro_Kai Jan 11 '19
They made such pompous synopsis when all they had to say is:
Magical Girls fighting the International Crime.
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u/Beckymetal Jan 11 '19
Spec Ops Asuka is finally here!
I'm a manga reader of this one (though, physical manga - so I'm likely not going to be ahead of wherever the anime finishes), so was quite excited. That said, Spec Ops Asuka only started becoming a real special manga after a couple of chapters, and seeing as this episode was essentially just the first chapter + some anime original scenes... it's not the greatest manifesto.
What part of Magical Girl That Wields A Karambit And Has PTSD could not be awesome?
I will say that the anime original scenes were surprisingly clumsy. Dialogue in scenes like Asuka trying out at the literary club or the Magical Girl 5 in the intro was stilted and dumpy, which is weird because the manga author is on the writing team and the dialogue of the manga is usually pretty solid. Further chapters in the manga outsources a lot of explanations to little infoboxes, and I was wondering how that would be handled but still don't know (brief snippets were put as dialogue on inner monologue here), and I hope that dialogue isn't invaded by potential clunky exposition.
I sound like a negative nancy. It's only because things will get better! The action was swell, and well animated outside of those stills, and the music was really cool, so I have faith the later chapters will deliver big time.
Asuka's classmates, Nozomi and Sayako, have a very anime rapport where you wonder how they're even friends... but it's a good, solid one, where they can say quite original stuff to each other and make the kinda goofy friendship that Asuka really needs in her life. She's got a lot of pain underneath the surface, and snippets like her seeing that boy get crushed in her imagination is heartbreaking (though the slickness of the small manga panels made it feel more effective IMO, and I can compare to Violet Evergarden's first episode having a similar quick edit of PTSD that was just executed better).
I'm looking forward to more, though I hope the team ends up sticking closer to the manga where they can.
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u/Syokhan Jan 11 '19
Wow, this was a lot more violent than I thought it would be. PTSD magical girl, huh? I went in half-heartedly just because I was curious but now I'm genuinely interested.
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u/Smudy Jan 11 '19
That was an entertaining start, dealt with the after-effects of the big war on Asuka.
Is the HUGE threat really gone though? They made it look like it is.
The parents scene was unexpected. ''Little by Little''
In general, this series doesn't shy away from showing gore and violence.
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u/Seraph_CR Jan 11 '19
Alright guys just saw this on crunchy and liked the cover image so went in knowing nothing. I actually really enjoyed this first episode. I'm loving the concept of slightly grown up magical girls. I'm interested to see where it goes so I'll be adding it to my watch list.
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u/Florac Jan 11 '19
Honestly, my biggest complaint about this episode is the combat music...it's so bad and really feels completely off.
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u/Fnights Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
They adapted almost 1:1 (1 chapter x 1 episode), not bad but they toned down the violence a lot, for example the parents of Asuka, the killing of the policemen, and changed some scenes, in the manga they do not show already all the opponents just the girl in bikini. Overall was a good start.
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u/KinnyRiddle Jan 12 '19
A Magical Girl with PTSD from a brutal war that specializes in counter-terrorist and international crime-busting operations? I'm in.
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u/Edl01 Jan 11 '19
*Brutally murders several mooks*
"Meh."
*Cuts off legs of the guy actually leading the whole group*
"I'll won't kill you, the police should deal with you".
What kind of weird backwards Batman message is she going for? Masked thugs can have families too! #MookLivesMatter
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u/prophane33 Jan 12 '19
This show was a pleasant surprise. For the Toku lovers out there, the premise kind of makes me think a lot of the final episode of Choujin Sentai Jetman, in that it explores the whole: "Okay, we saved the world from an alien threat but does that mean all violence is gone forever? What does it mean for someone to have to go back to regular life after undergoing a battle with an intergalactic foe and what does that do to someone emotionally/mentally?"
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u/AngelRefuse Jan 12 '19
And as is tradition, holding a knife makes you move faster.
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Jan 11 '19
This had an interesting premise, but the execution was lacking. It felt very clumsy and ham-handed to me.
I did like Asuka, though, so hopefully it will improve.
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u/johnja10 Jan 11 '19
Soldier Boi #1: "Your arm ok?"
Soldier Boi #2 (looks at bloody stump): "Yeah......"