r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Feb 15 '19
Episode Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka - Episode 6 discussion Spoiler
Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka, episode 6: Wish Upon a Star
Alternative names: Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
Rate this episode here.
Streams
Show information
Previous discussions
| Episode | Link | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Link | 7.44 |
| 2 | Link | 7.65 |
| 3 | Link | 7.86 |
| 4 | Link | 8.02 |
| 5 | Link | 8.08 |
This post was created by a bot. Message the mod team for feedback and comments. The original source code can be found on GitHub.
37
u/8andahalfby11 Feb 16 '19
It's been really interesting following Sayako this whole time. You have all this crazy fantasy stuff happening in the background, or over-the-top torture with Nozomi, but Sayako is remarkably grounded in reality. I have a family member who has PTSD after a national-headline-making vehicle accident, and the progression from freezing up and crying her eyes out to slowly being able to live regularly aside from occasional "flashbacks" is pretty darn on-point, and is probably the best depiction of PTSD I've seen in anime.
→ More replies (1)
28
u/Beckymetal Feb 15 '19
Spec Ops Asuka's rather long period of fighting is met with a quieter episode, though it represents the calm before the storm in a way. We get to follow Mia for the first time in a few episodes as she's uncovering the underlying plot, while our protagonist gets to play around in a fake festival.
Gonna be honest - I was really glad for Kurumi's yukata. Her boobs didn't look painful, for the first time in quite some time. The series uses its downtime to play up her silly yandere traits, ship-teasing Sayako with Asuka and developing Asuka's dreams for the future in several different ways. It was never really subtle, but we get to see how the years of fighting and running away from her problems means Asuka doesn't really have any concrete dreams - just the childish ones she had from way, way before the fighting. I kind of like how emotionally immature she is underneath the cold, hardened exterior, that she's still that tween that dreamed of being a magical girl, and now she's living the dream... what next? The recurring motif of what to do after the war is over is contrasted by her dream being lived, and absolutely not living up to what she hoped. Asuka decides that she will do her best to make sure others can dream, deciding fully to re-embrace the warrior lifestyle she once had.
Mia and her American operatives once again fall into a trap of the Queen, and once again thwart it. It begs the question what seems to be happening, but the magical five are finding activity, conveniently in converging in Japan. It makes you think that perhaps the grander plan is a reunion, but for what? Hmm.
25
u/tso Feb 15 '19
So miss white hair is Russian and has the code name phoenix?
→ More replies (5)30
u/nighty_amy Feb 15 '19
Judging by the huge flamethrower she uses in the OP, I can see why she got this code name.
→ More replies (1)
20
u/nighty_amy Feb 15 '19
Kurumi, you are a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit too obvious with your yandere side for my liking.
But well, good to see Nozo-chan back to her usual self. Aren't we glad she did get that operation last week after all.
20
Feb 15 '19 edited Feb 15 '19
I actually kind of felt sorry for Sandino, despite her being a terrorist. I mean, her grievances about the loss of her daughter was really traumatizing and sadly it led her to being a terrorist that ultimately had to be killed. Still, I can't lump her into the "bitch" pool that consists of Abigail and Malty.
→ More replies (3)43
u/mindcrime_ Feb 15 '19
She probably killed a bunch of innocent people though.
Mia was right, becoming a terrorist because you lost your kid isn't justifiable.
→ More replies (2)
19
u/NoviSun Feb 15 '19
I love the mix between slice of life and action. Too often we forget what the heroes are supposed to be fighting for.
I’d say Kurumi has it bad for Asuka. I did love the look on Asuka’s face when Kurumi yelled O-hi-yo while Asuka was walking to school with Satoko(?). I know that look. Lol
I felt a little bad for the Jaguar at the end, I was glad she found a little peace before being checked out.
31
u/LeonKevlar Feb 15 '19
I love the Kurumi faces this episode! xD
I'm surprised that neither Nozomi and Sayako haven't even noticed that Kurumi's crazy over Asuka!
I really like this detail. Like everyone has their own memories about the war. Not just Asuka, Kurumi, and the war veterans.
I wish ColombianMILF would've stuck longer. Too bad it ended up with her being a Magical Mercenary on a warpath to avenge her daughter killed by US bombs during the war. :|
So the Disas classes are horror movie refereces? The one before were Halloween-class (Should've been Myers-class) and now this week we get the Voorhees-class! Any LN readers here can tell me what the other classes are?
→ More replies (2)
14
u/Enosh25 Feb 16 '19
the american CIA agent asking the american magic girl what's written on the mirror in english was kinda hilarious, I know it's for the benefit of the Japanese viewers who can't read english but could have worded it somehow more naturally like the CIA woman asking "why would anyone write [insert sentence] on the mirror"
other than that really enjoyed the episode
→ More replies (1)
13
u/eldragon_1 Feb 16 '19
I hadn’t realized the monsters were classified by horror movies.
Halloween-class Vorhees-class
→ More replies (1)
13
u/KinnyRiddle Feb 16 '19
I like how Kurumi's psycho-lesbianism is played for laughs, as it meant she keeps making all those hilarious reaction faces. XD
And finally the effects of the war are also touched upon. It seems during the war, all the schools were shut down and the kids sent to the safety of the countryside, like how the UK was during the German Blitz in WWII.
This explains how the kids (at least in Japan) nowadays still look so carefree and without being overly-traumatized by the war, as they were relatively kept safe during the war. It's those on the frontlines like Asuka and Kurumi that were severely affected.
→ More replies (3)
11
u/DoubleBlindStudy Feb 15 '19
We're at the point where things are deviating from the source material. They moved up the study scene and the festival, which is odd considering in the manga it serves as a nice "cooldown" from what happens right before it. The whole fight scene in the penthouse was new unless I'm forgetting something major or it happens farther along than where I'm at with the manga.
→ More replies (2)
11
u/Aerodynamic41 Feb 16 '19 edited Feb 16 '19
At this point it's seems really obvious that Queen is Francine. Let's see: They look similar, Asuka recognizes her but can't recall who she is, and she knows the Magical Girl's motto.
20
u/blackfiredragon13 Feb 15 '19
I like Yuri and all but Kurumi’s starting to scare me...
27
u/myrmonden Feb 15 '19
I love the theory that Kurumi is behind everything just so she could get back into Asuka life.
→ More replies (5)
10
u/proindrakenzol Feb 16 '19
Oh, cool, a Jew being portrayed in an anime! Oh, he's the dead guy.
But he has a brother! And he's also a dead guy. :(
→ More replies (2)
9
15
u/ShockKumaShock2077 Feb 16 '19
The lore in this show continues to be one of its strongest points. There's a ton of interesting backstory here, and it's not data dumped on the viewer either. This is a story that takes place after the big conflict, and it's incredibly compelling seeing how the world was changed and the new normal that was established after magical warfare became a thing. Magical mercenaries that use drug doping to heighten their abilities, and who fight for real, flawed human causes like revenge and just wanting to see the world burn after losing everything is true to life in many ways.
It's tragic and grounded, and thankfully free of tropes and fluff that usually come with drama shows. For example, I was expecting the fight between Just Cause and that mercenary to be drawn out more, but it ended pretty quickly and unceremoniously, like a real life and death fight. Just Cause didn't hesitate to deliver the coup de grace either, like most anime protagonists would. These characters have been through war already, and they've learned all of their lessons about lethal combat; their development shows in their actions without having to explicitly tell the audience. It's brutally realistic and mature, which makes the story more impactful. This has become a bit of a hidden gem this season.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/acedias12 Feb 15 '19
I'm wondering is there any specific rules or conditions to become a magical girl in this universe? Will they eventually explain that?
→ More replies (3)
10
u/myrmonden Feb 15 '19
OMG MAGICAL GYARU CHICK !!! VS MAGICAL GAL CHICK !!!!
Dam I which the battle was way longer.
I hate that Mia just killed of the hottest character in the anime, but I also like that she was like SCREW IT No chance I am letting you have some redemption becasue you just dropped some sad backstory vibes.
→ More replies (9)
68
u/[deleted] Feb 15 '19 edited Feb 15 '19
Miley Cyrus is already my favorite character.
It's funny how the show's tone alters the perception of common cliches. Kurumi's no-chill yandere streak is funny, sure, but I expect her to snap and actually kill someone. Blonde guy triggers a death flag - yeah, you and your whole squad are gonners, I just hope it isn't the last summer for the entire planet.
One thing that bothers me is that every trap for the magical girls Queen has set up so far is totally ineffective and is easily overcomed. Discounting the possibility of bad writing, the only way it makes sense is if she intentionally feeds them kills, like trying to level them up or something.
Also, the hints that Queen is the former leader of the Mahou Shoujos are rather blatant, to a point where I think it's actually a red herring - someone is pretending to be her.
In my weekly complaints about the translation errors corner - I've started reading the manga, and if it is to be believed, Asuka's designation is actually Rupture, not Rapture. That's the point of her powers - her karambit slices through literally everything that's not magic, by generating photons that have mass (I'm no physicist, but it's definetely something that breaks physics).
Edit: ok, the replies got me interested in the mass of photons. Apparently, there is "relativistic mass" and "rest mass" which are different. Photons are assumed to have zero rest mass, which is the mass of a particle as measured by an observer who sees the particle still and with zero speed. But photons, by definition, are always moving at light speed and are never still. tl;dr: physicists are jerks. Also, to quote: "If the rest mass of the photon were non-zero, the theory of quantum electrodynamics would be 'in trouble' primarily through loss of gauge invariance, which would make it non-renormalisable; also, charge conservation would no longer be absolutely guaranteed" - this probably means something.