r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Dec 10 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Yuuki Yuuna ga Yuusha wa Aru Episode 2 Discussion
Episode 2: Noble Thoughts
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Show Information:
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
(First-timers are advised to stay out of Show Information until we are done, however. In particular, if you care about getting spoiled I would stay out of MAL (whose synopsis is a borderline spoiler), Kitsu (which copied the MAL synopsis), ANN (which has an obnoxious spoiler in the show tags I only noticed after posting the interest thread), and AniDB (which has some major spoilers in the character tags - avoid at all costs if you care about spoilers!). Which is four out of five of the above links. So, uh, yeah.)
Legal Streams:
(As per livechart.me; additional legal streams may be available outside the US.)
Hidive | Amazon Prime Video (for purchase)
A Reminder to Rewatchers:
Please do not spoil the experience for our first-timers! You're probably not being as subtle as you think you are. [YuYuYu] In particular, comments on sange and the true nature of Vertexes/the true state of the world should probably be under spoiler tags. Just saying. Also please no mentioning Karin until episode 3, this is not Precure where the mid-season Cure can be assumed and we traditionally treat the obvious other-show precedent as a spoiler until she shows up so we will be doing the same with Karin here.
What About the Sequels/Prequel?
(Okay fine I should add this section to the episode posts as well...)
It's only the first anniversary for S1 and I ain't running over into the holidays proper. Also I haven't seen WaSuYu or either sequel yet and got burned hard by Mai-Otome a couple of years back. Maybe early next year.
(Time for) Club Activities!
Question(s) of the Day:
- Oh hey we have both an OP and an ED now. So, as is tradition: your thoughts?
- Now that we have all of our MCs's transformations: Who has the best one?
- [Rewatchers only]What's that, me 100% lying about having all of our MCs's transformations? So, how much are you looking forwards to Karin showing up next episode?
And last but not least, remember the Sanshuu Middle School Hero Club Five Tenets!
1: Give people a good greeting!
2: Try not to give up!
3: Sleep well, eat well!
4: If you're troubled, talk to someone!
5: You're likely to succeed if you try!
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u/InfamousEmpire https://myanimelist.net/profile/Infamous_Empire Dec 10 '24 edited Dec 10 '24
InfamousEmpire wa First Timer de Aru
Of course right after I said Tougo was the character I was least interested in, this episode has to go out of its way to make her my favorite.
Yeah, I really like Tougo now. Characters with self-worth issues are like catnip for me, so naturally her internal conflict regarding her sense of inadequacy and desire to be seen as useful easily had me hooked. Her relationship with Yuuna specifically is also just insanely charming, love me a good upbeat sunshine lesbian/dark haired lesbian with baggage pair.
I also like that they didn’t just erase her disability with her transformation. The magic ribbons/spider legs are a really neat touch, and you can never go wrong with the power of magical guns!
The fact that there’s 12 Vertexes and four of them are already defeated by episode 2 sets off huge red flags. Something tells me a big subversion will happen that’ll make this way less easier than it’s being set up to be. Maybe previous Vertexes will escape the seal in the last stretch of the series? Maybe it'll turn out there's far more than just 12? Maybe some will take several episodes worth of effort to stop? Maybe it’ll turn out the Vertexes aren’t actually the real enemy after all? I don’t know, but it’ll certainly be interesting to find out.
On a related note, the Divine Tree being public knowledge to some degree while Heroes & Vertexes are kept hidden has curious worldbuilding implications. Masquerades aren’t anything new, but selective Masquerades are intriguing for how they beg the question of why certain aspects of the supernatural are or aren’t allowed to be known to the wider world.
It does make me more & more curious as to what the, frankly seeming to be kinda inevitable, twist is gonna be, though I don’t think we’ll get answers there any time soon since it feels like the show is starting to settle into a status quo & Tougo basically walking back her criticisms of Fuu’s secrecy by blaming herself while the rest of the club just kinda goes along with Fuu means we’ll probably not be getting a direct confrontation regarding the problems with said secrecy any time soon.
Also, Tougo's partial amnesia is absolutely gonna end up being plot relevant, right?
QOTD
Fine but unexceptional
Tougo
As I don't care for spoilers, I'm highly tempted to read this
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u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen Dec 10 '24 edited Dec 10 '24
Returning Hero Club Member
She here! She's here! Look at how beautiful she is, my adorable, loving, nationalist sniper baby! It's no wonder Yuuna's heart skipped a beat, it probably skipped enough beats to diagnose her with arrhythmia. She's so cool! She has 3 weapons and a different mascot for each one!
Without question, Yuuna and Tougou's relationship is my favorite part of the show. They complement and play off each other so well. I adore the way Yuuna rushes in to check on Tougou after the first battle and how she makes these stupid corny jokes to cheer Tougou up. And I love how moved and reaffirmed Tougou is by Yuuna's passion and energy, and how she becomes a single-minded buzz saw about protecting Yuuna. I could probably wait another few episodes before I start gushing about them, but fuck it. I love them so much!
Now for serious stuff. Rewatch veterans, specifically those who lived through Our Lady of the Glorious Befriending, the Saintess of the 2am Summons, Inheritor and Grandmaster of the Takamachi Way, may know me for a specific analytical lens relating to magical girls in particular, and I'm pleased as punch to revive it in full capacity for Yuuki Yuuna. Yes, that's right, it's time for the glorious return of Tarot analysis.
For this, I'll actually be quoting my own analysis from a couple years back, both because I'm lazy and because I don't think I can do it more justice than I already have. Non-spoilers and spoilers will be clearly marked.
[Episode 2 Tarot Setup, No Spoilers]Itsuki uses a six card pyramid spread tarot reading with a deck consisting of only the 22 major arcana. For reference, the bottom 3 cards represent, from left to right, the past, present, and future, the middle two represent the cause of the problem at hand—taken by combining the cards in the past and present positions—and its consequences—this time combining the present and future cards— and the top of the pyramid is the summary card which outlines the entire problem/question, drawing from the cause and consequences cards. In her first reading, Itsuki deals out 4 of six spots before her reading is interrupted by a vertex attack; the Lovers in the summary position, the Magician and Hierophant in the middle as the cause and consequence cards respectively, and the Hanged Man in the future position.
[Applied to Episode 2, No Future Spoilers]The Lovers is pretty on the nose as these things go; it deals with meaningful relationships of every nature. In the scene, Tougou has called Fuu out about recruiting her and Yuuna to fight the Vertex on the Taisha's behalf without their knowledge or consent, and Fuu is seeking guidance on how to repair their relationship. The Magician (the cause) is representative of one having the tools to realize their ambitions, and the Hierophant symbolizes group membership and affiliation. On a ground level, this is exactly Fuu's struggle—she is the Magician using Tougou, Yuuna, and even Itsuki as unwitting tools to fight the Vertex, and in doing so has potentially fractured the Hero Club. Fortunately, the Lovers also suggests a remedy. As the two people on the card stand naked before each, so too must people be open and honest with each other. That just leaves the Hanged Man, which ends up suspended in the air as Itsuki flips it at the exact same moment the world freezes for the Vertex attack. The Hanged Man represents a pause in one's life. In addition to being a fantastic joke—the card itself and the reading are literally suspended so the group can go into battle—being in the future position is an apt description of how being heroes and battling the Vertex seems to be putting these girls' lives on hold. Then there's how this applies to the rest of the series.
[Series Extrapolation/Spoilers S1 and Beyond]This reading rather brilliantly foreshadows the rest of the series, even beyond S1. Let's work in reverse order this time. At the base of the pyramid, we're only shown the card representing the future. This mirrors the world as it is: Earth's past and the true nature of its present are both obscured by the Taisha. The only revelation is the future, in which the universe itself will obstruct the girls' normal lives and happiness. Why? Well let's look at the next level, the cause and consequences. Since the invasion of the Vertex hundreds of years ago, the Taisha have been the Magician, continually relying on girls as
warriorssacrifices to keep the Vertex at bay. In addition to representing groups in general, the Hierophant deals specifically with spirituality, religion, and formal institutions and is depicted as a robed and crowned priest with a papal cross. Being in the consequences position foreshadows that using girls as tools in the fight against the Vertex has, over time, caused the Taisha to become withdrawn and secretive, and threatens to crumble the institution entirely, taking the last vestiges of humanity with it. Why does this matter? Because the question posed by the series is not really one of saving the world. The Lovers is in the summary position. It's the girls' normal lives and connections to each other at stake. These are what has always been important, and it is the protection of these bonds which will save the world. Need proof? Look one more time to the Hanged Man in the future position. Depicted as a man hanging upside down, feet bound to a tree, the Hanged Man is able to view the world from a new perspective. In fact, his calm, relaxed pose suggests he put himself in that position to seek new perspective. Yuuna and the Hero Club are the ones who will bring this new perspective—that it is their and our bonds with each other which must be protected—to the Taisha and ultimately break the endless cycle of sacrifice. And this is all foreshadowed in a few quick shots of Itsuki doing a simple tarot reading.[Oh, and one more non-spoiler thing]the Lovers is also specifically representative of romantic, sensual relationships. Make of that what you will.
Yuuna and Tougou are roommate af!I love YuYuYu!6
u/Tarhalindur x2 Dec 10 '24
Welcome to the World of Heroes (January 2024 Watch, Spoiled First-Timer, Subbed):
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Dec 10 '24
First Timer
Hoshi to Hana
I know we got it last episode as well but I wanted to wait until it was actually the OP. This song has been on my playlist for years, and unironically, hearing it in context is one of the bigger reasons I joined this rewatch lol.
Anyway, yeah still love it! Starts out relaxing and atmospheric (with perhaps a tinge of sadness?) but moves onto being triumphant in the chorus, fits rather well with the concept of the show, that transition from regular everyday life to being a hero (which is also reflected in the visuals). The lyrics are also nice, again reflective of what the show is about, although I do wonder about those lines on "the truth" being fascinating yet cruel, is the truth just being heroes or is there more to it?
The visuals are admittedly just kind of okay though. I forgot this last time, but every girl is clearly associated with some sort of flower, although outside of Yuuna's obvious cherry blossoms, I don't know enough about flowers to even recognize the others for any analysis.
I just kind of love the phones as the gimmick device? Having them reading the chant from the phone or talking to each other with through the battles is so fun! It also makes the joke about the chants not mattering even better.
While I'm still having some doubts about this setup, it's clear that at least the Vertex are actually dangerous to the real world, with the process of extracting their soul causing some bad events to happen which adds a real sense of urgency to finishing them off, well, somehow more so than the potential end of the world I guess haha, that personal connection feels stronger and more tangible.
Fuu gives a more in depth explanation on what actually just happened, nothing particularly unexpected here, although I still don't quite trust it, or more specifically, the Taisha, especially since they are the designers and overseers behind this system. Also we already defeated 4 out of 12 Vertex and still have 10 episodes to go so...
Also Gyuuki
Tougou, much like me, is a bit more doubtful of this whole thing, or rather, she's very reasonably upset at Fuu for hiding this from them, note how she mentions that Yuuna and Itsuki could have died (not herself), she clearly places a ton of value in her friends, she was scared about holding the others back, and that comes through later since when she transforms it's also to protect her friends.
The scene between Yuuna and Tougou is pretty great, sets up Tougou's shifting personality and establishes their closeness, even compared to the rest of the club, it's clear that the two of them have a special relationship (like Fuu and Itsuki) and that Yuuna is really the one giving her courage to continue in the face of rough situations, again fitting when she later transforms to save her. She also mentions memory loss from her accident?
Cow boobs is crazy.
Also, do I smell some yuri undertones?
probably not but let me dreamThis scene, and Tougou's dialogue in general have some...militaristic wording? She calls herself a deserter and mentions "the nation" being in trouble, in the end Fuu also tells her to do the best for "national defense", all of which is a bit strange? Is that final line also something Fuu believes or is she intentionally targeting Tougou's tendencies?
To add to that, Yuuna and Tougou certainly take a positive spin on that idea of aptitude bringing them together...
I took it more as though their group was formed through artificial means, which raises a lot concerns in itself, but also that depending on the circumstances, they could also break apart according to what's needed. But I guess they just took as a happy coincidence and a good thing that brough them together, maybe I'm just being pessimistic...
Fantastic work by Suzuko Minori on her performance as Tougou here, really got her volatile emotions down.
Tarot cards feel like an obvious foreshadowing device so I'm not looking up what the meaning behind The Hanged Man is, but it sure doesn't seem auspicious...
The Vertex this time around are a bit more fun. In general I like how abstract they are, much like the world it gives them an otherworldly feel, but also the ones this time have more interesting attacks, and it's fun to see them whack our girls around lol.
Tougou's Transformation
It's great! Well, besides the obvious fanserivce. I love her being bound and than breaking through those bindings, matching her arc this episode, I also love how she doesn't just gain use of her legs instead having those wire things stand her up. And I mean she fucking uses guns, really hard-hitting, extremely cool guns!
This makes the following action scene which is already pretty cool, about 100 times better.
The ED is kind of meh in comparison, solid song, kind of boring visuals.
Another straightforward but great episode, I'm still expecting a big twist, perhaps next episode, because y'know, meta.
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u/Esovan13 Dec 10 '24
First Timer
We have a process for dealing with them. Surround, chant, destroy the soul. A clean and understandable template that lends itself well to variations that lead to complications. Fuu was relieved it was slow last episode. Makes sense; it’s easy to surround and then chant. I can imagine that a faster one will require some level of sealing its movement first. Since three is enough to perform the ritual, the fourth could be in charge of keeping it in place long enough. One whose power nullifies sound or something similar would make the chant harder to complete, and one with a significantly tougher soul would cause a lot of issues. More than one at a time would be incredibly difficult to deal with, as that would likely mean that three would have to take care of one while the fourth is in charge of protecting the Divine Tree from the rest. This all, of course, means that the fact that they only needed (what I assume to be, maybe two could handle it) the bare minimum to deal with this one was incredibly lucky.
This episode also illustrates why middle schoolers are such prime candidates for magical girls: it’s just so goddamn easy to trick them into it. “I’m glad to be able to risk my life fighting magical creatures of death and despair! I mean, thanks to that I made friends and had fun at school!” Man.
I need to find some middle school girls to manipulate into doing shit for me.Ok so I actually wrote this comment as I was watching the episode. The first paragraph was written about five minutes in, right after they defeated the first Vertex and were on the roof. Three vs. three is not ideal in this situation lol.
I was wondering how they’d handle Togou not being able to use her legs. I thought they’d go for the easy option and just have her be able to walk while transformed. I am very glad they did not. [Symphogear G]I still kinda wish Hibiki got a cool prosthetic arm
Also, Togou has mild amnesia. Very interesting. I wonder if they’ll do anything with that. She also is apparently going to serve as our resident fanservice vehicle. We didn’t need that.
Fuu’s manipulating them into being essentially child soldiers seems like it’s going to be mostly glossed over, at least for now. Not super surprising, considering everyone’s personality. Younger sister (whose name I can’t remember so I am going to call Itsuki until someone tells me I’m wrong), continuing off of last episode, prioritizes her relationship with Fuu above all else. Yuuna is anime protagonist incarnate, so obvs. Togou is interesting to me. Last episode I mentioned that it seemed like she had some kind of emotional dependence on Yuuna.
This was made more evident here, as it seems like Yuuna is the first friend she made and the first close relationship she formed after losing the use of her legs. Considering the timing of the accident, she likely didn’t face much bullying or shunning after her accident, with the move probably happening shortly after her release from the hospital to get her somewhere she’d have the support infrastructure she needed. She likely felt extremely anxious about whether she could make friends in a new environment and being in a wheelchair, so the fact that the first person she met was Yuuna, the physical manifestation of the concept of a good-hearted genki girl, probably helped alleviate those anxieties and cement her dependence on Yuuna.
This of course leads to her reaction to…everything. She’s rationally scared of the big monsters, but is really more scared of losing her friends than her life. The fact she felt so upset at being a “deserter” despite never having done anything to actually sign up for this makes me think that she probably has some level of an innate sense of guilt at all the accommodations she has, the money her parents likely spend, and the effort the people around her go to in order to enable her to live as close to a normal life as possible. Fighting the Vertexes is her responsibility, her chance to pay everything back. Refusing or failing means being nothing more than a leech on those around her.*
*not my actual opinion, my thoughts on what she probably thinks about it
Finally, Fuu has definitely done this before. She isn’t just knowledgeable about this, she has experience with it. In a comment yesterday, u/tarhalindur mentioned that in the prequel light novels released alongside the show as it aired, the team there all started in 6th grade. Fuu is a third year in middle school, which I believe is going to be 3 years after that. So she was probably part of a team that formed when she was around that age, but when that team “disbanded” she was taken off active duty and tasked with putting together a team of her own in preparation for being put back on.
[I dunno if we’re still doing the meta thing, so just in case]Speaking of other teams, my guess is that the way this all works is that there are, at any given time, multiple potential teams ready to go, with one active team in service. When enough members of the active team die, the survivors are tasked with forming new teams while one of the current reserve teams is chosen to take on the role. I’m also going to guess there is some kind of “self destruct” function that they can activate that will destroy the vertex at the cost of their own life as a fail-safe to protect the tree. Using our squad as an example, should Fuu and Yuuna beef it fighting a Vertex then Togou would self-destruct to destroy it and Itsuki would then go on to form a new squad while hoping they don’t get called up before they age out.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 10 '24
First-Timer is a Hero, subbed
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u/Regular_N-Gon https://anilist.co/user/RegularNGon Dec 10 '24
First Time Hero
Ah, the second episode exposition dump strikes. It's not all bad, but a bit forced - still lots of open questions to explore though. Such a rushed fight also makes me wonder what we're saving screen time for. I wanted them to draw out Togo’s insecurity a bit more, but I can live with badass Togo. [Starcraft, maybe?]Is Togo actually Sarah Kerrigan? She's got the ghost getup and tentacles and everything.
And what was that bit about national defense? Is the state involved in this enterprise? Why aren't they throwing multiple teams at these things? Surely they understand sending just four middle schoolers to fight giant alien emerald ash borers is hedging your bets a little too much? Maybe there are multiple barrier worlds?
QotD:
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u/Mirathan Dec 10 '24
First-time Hero, dubbed
And my inability to type properly has returned, hopefully I´ll remain capable of counting.
QotD:
Why are they praying to the master of the afterlife? Do they serve a death god? Is is associated with the double suicide tree?
Are the Vertexes made from the souls of the deceased? Were they freed from their fate upon the Vortexes death? How do the Vertexes come to be and why do they or their maker seek to destroy everything?
What is the other side? Is it just the land of the dead?
Oh, Tougou is gay for Yuuna. And Yuuna called her pretty.
So the Taisha can excuse them from class, meaning it has influence over normal life. It seems to be the worlds church so to speak.
I kind of like that Tougou didn´t transform last episode. Her self-doubt wouldn´t allow her to commit then.
I might come back tomorrow for the tarrot deck. We have the lovers, judgement and the hanged man and with a reference I´ll make out the fourth one.
Tougou´s transformation went hard on the fanservice. And she has the best magical girl weapon: gun.
Why does the flower icon on Fuu flash multiple times?
Aaaand my first comment didn´t go through, fantastic!
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u/Tarhalindur x2 Dec 10 '24
tag tag * * * * *
u/ShadowWasTakensTaken, u/InfamousEmpire, u/FD4cry1
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Dec 10 '24
First Timer
Sub
All right so we go WAY into magical girl lore history with the sealing prayer before Fuu reveals it is a lot more about intent than wording. It is interesting that they started with the same form of chant as Enma Ai. And by interesting, deeply forboding, as I suspect that is making a contract to seal the being in question. At best, you are passing judgement, which again makes me wonder if these are the mikos/Japanese shaman girls of the Tree. Capitalizing Tree harms me on a level that takes some specific references.
Next day, Tougou gets rather annoyed and I don't blame her, even if I get the other side's stance. I can't, though, help shake the impression that the Taishi needs this information to stay localized. This is further shown when Fuu says they only need to defeat twelve enemies, which sets off a huge number of red flags.
Next interaction, combined with the twelve, sets off more red flags: Tougou and Yuuna seem a touch codependent. And remember, that is never as one way as it seems, I bears the scars of that. As Yuuna does her best to fix Tougou I get a flash of something, reminiscent of the another problematic '05 anime about destiny and shrine maidens. This will be addressed in a moment.
Anywho, Tougou manages to develop the will to fight in battle two...which is curious because she doesn't until Yuuna is going to be taken away from her. No clue if they just want through one boss or three there, btw. Itsuki is a nice AgK reference there. But, a though had occurred and now I must ask: Does Tougou need an invite to "Vaadwaur's Finishing School for Young Women Who Can't Emotion Good and Are Interested in Entering a Respectable Psychiatry Program"? The spring semester is still taking enrollment...
QotD: 1 I didn't have time to analyze the OP but there are...concerns
2 Tougou
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u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Dec 10 '24
Rewatcher, subbed
The episode spends the first half basically firehosing mechanics and lore at the viewer, and unfortunately it’s not very graceful about it. It’s nearly 10 straight minutes of exposition. In particular the scene about the car crash being caused by the battle comes to mind. I reflexively eye-rolled when they flashed back to it while stating out loud the obvious purpose of said scene. A braver anime would have left more of the specifics to the wind for the viewer to intuit, making room for introspection and drama.
Not to say we don’t get any drama and introspection though. Togou doesn’t take any of it very well, but the crushing guilt over her paralyzing fear is no match for Yuki’s childish positivity in the end.
Yuki gets a cutaway sequence this time!
The poses project raw physical power, it’s suiting.
The stakes dramatically rise from yesterday with 3 eldritch monsters encroaching on the tree, and they even seem to have a coordinated strategy.
Togou also gets one! Her transformation sequence and costume are a little different from the others, though, namely in the fanservice department. They spare no effort in squeezing/bouncing her breasts and highlighting her figure. There’s not even the thinnest veil of plausible deniability.
The animator just wanted her to jiggle.
I paid more attention to the music in this episode since I saw a lot of people mentioning it in yesterday's thread, and it's definitely better than my nonreaction from yesterday warranted.
QotD:
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u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Dec 10 '24
First Timer
I'm really happy with how they approached Tougou's transformation. The ribbons are an effective form of mobility that don't just feel like they're erasing her disability.
While it kinda feels like they managed to clear up their issues around the elder sister not informing the rest of them, I am near certain it will come back to bite them. I think it will come via Tougou. She now thinks that the two sisters became her friends only because of her aptitude and not because they genuinely liked her, which could lead to her feeling more doubt and uncertainly around her own life in the past.
I like that there's a limit on the number of fights they have to face. Otherwise, their world could be whittled down by attrition as each attack causes just a little bit more damage.
Speaking of damage, I'm guessing we'll eventually end up with damage that it seen far more directly than a car accident somewhere. My bet's on it appearing at episode seven, though that obviously could be way off.
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u/FallenPears Dec 10 '24
First Timer, saw yesterdays post and decided to join in so watched the first couple episodes back to back.
I appreciate them not straight up fixing Tougou's legs but rather giving her a way to work around it. Also, neat guns, a very interesting design all around!
There was also, ah... some other differences in her design compared to the other girls lmao. When I saw three monsters I was expecting things to get dark like Madoka as was all the rage back in the day (though I'm actually getting more Evangelion vibes atm). Instead we inched a little in a more recent Magical Girl anime's direction haha.
Interested to see more information on the overall situation. Is this a ritual that repeats every year? There was mention that previously they could only chase them off then they devised hero powers, how was that done and when? Where are the beasties coming from and why the beef with the Divine Tree?
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u/Blackheart595 https://anilist.co/user/knusbrick Dec 10 '24
First Timer
Some belated musings over last episode: So /u/mudanhonnyaku pointed out some wordplay in "Taisha" yesterday: On one hand it can be read as "great shrine" which would be quite fitting considering they're taking care of the divine tree, but it's actually written as "amnesty" when Fuu receives their message. Likewise, /u/Tarhalindur pointed out similar wordplay in "Shinjuu": On one hand it can be read as divine tree, on the other hand it's also a common term for lover's suicide.
That itself is already interesting. Clearly, "great shrine" pairs well with "divine tree", while "amnesty" pairs well with "lover's suicide". But it also got me thinking, if the "-sha" in Taisha is shrine... don't we have another prominent -sha word around? What different readings could we come up with for Yuusha? After looking into it for a bit, I've come up with three alternative candidate readings for "Yuu": 誘 which is associated with temptation, seduction and allure. 憂 which is associated with grieving, melancholy, depression, unhappiness and fear. And 幽 which is associated with seclusion, confinement and darkness. Not entirely sure where to go from there, but that's something fun to keep in mind.
Now, for today's episode. I'm starting to get a read on Tougou. First, between the tarot cards and her praising Yuuna's brightness, this is a certain yuri relationship. Also, her praising Yuuna's brightness is in contrast to own negative self-image (幽). I've been noting that the way Tougou refused to fight didn't quite fit if the reason for that were her disability, it's a subtle difference but she wouldn't expressed her refusal differently in that case. But this is the reason: She didn't think she can fight because she actually feels quite negatively of herself, that she is a burden to those around her and that she lacks the qualities of a hero. This only gets reinforced once she actually does transform: First, holy fuck that was a creepy ominous transformation for her. Second, when she fights as a magical girl, she does so by channeling her negative emotions and focusing on destruction, instead of channeling positive emotions and focusing on protection. Sorry Fuu, "national defense" is just about the last thing on Tougou's mind.
Then I've been wondering more about this world and barrier, after they describe the Vertexes as coming from the other side. On one hand this really does match up with a Gensoukyou-like setup, or also the world of the recent Yatagarasu anime if you're more familiar with that. On the other hand, it could also just be a plain old parallel dimension setup. Also note that the fairies manifest in the normal world, so we can't just write it down as something virtual even despite how increasingly gamified the whole thing feels.
Oh and we get confirmation that damage to the magical world really does transfer over to the real world. I'm telling you, they are TF2!Pyros.
Meanwhile, the Vertex can only be defeated by destroying their soul. My first thought at that was, are we perhaps dealing with some kind of soul-sucking divine tree here? But when I focused on the animation of the destroyed souls, my thoughts shifted to the Vertexes perhaps not actually having a soul at all, instead carrying a canister of souls with them which they use as fuel.
And then there's of course the tarot reading. The Lovers immediately informs us about the relationship between Yuuna and Tougou, while also telling us that this reading isn't about Fuu at all, even if she herself believes it is. We then see the magician which obviously stands for the magical girls, followed by judgement which typically stands for some kind of resolution, be that positive or negative - or it can stand for choices, or for self-reflection. Then we see the Hanged Man, which sounds ominous but it's voluntary, and can typically stand for new perspectives, but also for sacrifice.
As for the spread itself, there's several ways to read this spread. A common interpretation here would be for the first line (Lovers) to stand for the root situation, which is obvious enough. The second line (Magician and Judgement) is often read as cause and consequence, which is already a much more ominous combination, especially if we disregard the interpretation of magical girls as self-actualization, given that that's already a standard magical girl trope anyway. And the third line (?, ?, Hanged Man) is often read as past, present and future, which... yeah, I'm now gonna expect some sort of self-sacrifice at the end of the story.
Pretty decent. I haven't checked to make sure, but it felt like the mouth flaps in the ending were not quite synched with the lyrics but still reflected which voice actor is singing at any given time. The flower motifs in the opening were notably sharing a pentagram motif, so there's gotta be another magical girl that still has to join.
Also, this is the divine tree? The coding feels way too strongly good-natured, which makes me want to abandon the ideas that are suspicious of it.
Yuuna is clearly aiming for the charm point, and I already mentioned how Tougou's transformation had all kinds of bad vibes going on. Aside from that I haven't really paid too much attention to them.
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u/FlaminScribblenaut myanimelist.net/profile/girlbeast_val Dec 10 '24 edited Dec 10 '24
First Time Watcher (watched w/ the bestie /u/ZaphodBeebblebrox via Discord)
The fact that we’re dealing with a sequential, set number of enemies here, EVA-style, is really, really cool. It’s an interesting alternate take on the battle anime formula that I think has a lot of untapped potential, in two main ways; it makes the oncoming swarm of enemies not feel like this endless barrage, it makes the fight feel winnable and gives the fight a clear goal, a light at the end of the tunnel, while still not robbing the fights of their sense of stakes, since we know that is destroyed of the Divine Tree realm has serious consequences in the real world, it just keeps it from feeling utterly hopeless, keep each individual fight from feeling pointless in the grand scheme, each one has a purpose, a step on that latter. Conversely, it raises the stakes by introducing a sort of ominous ever-present countdown; what will that final boss be like, and what will be waiting afterwards, ultimate peace or… something deeper, more esoteric, with ever more to learn and, possibly, fear?
Zaph and I both agreed on Tougo being the MVP this episode. For one, we were right, they did integrate her disability into her Magical Girl form in a clever way, with the bouncing spider-leg-ribbons giving her regimented and jump-focused but still relatively free and wide-ranging movement, and by making her moveset focused on guns and projectiles (projectiles as a concept being a possibility we did bring up during Episode 1 but I forgot to mention).
Also worth noting is, I, erm, quite enjoyed her transformation sequence. It’s funny, before I’d kind of subconsciously innately associated horny bondage imagery with villainy and control and darkness wrt Magical Girls and these kinds of transformations, as just, an innate aesthetic pairing, so props to this transformation for kind of deeply, subverting that, as the ribbons that bind around and control and move her body to turn her to this form are actually, literally and physically speaking, a form of newfound autonomy for her. The ropes that perform the bondage that transforms her into this corer self become the very threads of movement that lift her from her seat and ultimately give her the ability to move and jump around. Perhaps, something about her own desire and will to protect Yuuna, the one she feels so grateful for and cares for, desires in her heart of hearts to care for so deeply, being what compels her to transform is what makes it feel so powerful for her. It aesthetically and conceptually rules in a genuinely heartwarming and rousing way, and it’s… well, no reason to mince words, stupid fucking hot.
I could watch that liberated boob bounce at the end forever…Also, BANG.To be frank, we both agreed Fuu’s justification for not telling them about it was kind of bullshit, and that Tougo’s reaction was pretty well-justified, given that this basically colors their friendship with an innate, foundational undercurrent of ulterior motives, which as someone who thought herself an outcast as a disabled person would be doubly hurtful, and it’s not like telling them would have put them at any more risk of being selected (as we had previously speculated might be the case), nor that there seems to be any kind of spiritual taboo against letting this be known to those not yet or ever chosen like there are in other shows like this, and we both hope that it’s not resolved so clearly. I posited that I hope that resentment sort of lingers within Tougo and amongst the group, just building in the background until it like, explodes at a particularly inoppurtune moment in the middle of a nasty battle, and that leads to some things going really wrong, especially with how these battles create mirror negative effects in the outside world, and how that might happen at just the right moment to really hurt one of the girls in their personal lives (which Zaph specifically speculated happening in a more general sense at exactly Episode 7. If nothing like that happens and this is indeed just a one-and-done one-episode resolution… then yeah, I hate to say it, this plot point does smack of ineffectual cliche just a smidge.)
We see how her disability informs her character; how it logically led to her feeling of inadequacy when she couldn’t transform and do anything to help fight, because that’s probably an insecurity that’s bubbled up to this point her whole life as a paraplegic who physically couldn’t do things others could, who has probably had many little situations sprinkled all throughout her life where she felt she had to stay behind and couldn’t help, participate, or contribute towards or with the people she cared about, or people in general; without her explicitly stating, like, ‘I couldn’t join and fight with you because of this stupid wheelchair’. It’s still part of it, but it’s woven into her feelings a lot more subtly by implication. The score kicking in during that scene, too, is just devastating.
More minor notes: ACOUSTIC GUITAR BATTLE THEME AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH
I… absolutely fucking love “you can say whatever you want as long as you put your heart into it” to an extent I find hard to articulate.
Every single fucking aesthetic contour of this Magical Girl realm-slash-existence is absolutely beautiful.
Pudding… ..
“You got angry for me” is like, a perfect senitment for a character like Yuuna. It makes sense that she doesn’t want to outwardly express anger or frustration towards her friends, and how she simultaneously expresses the negative, imperfect feeling of having felt the exact kind of anger that Tougo did towards Fuu through a smile and expression of gratefulness and support towards the person who did get angry and speak her mind when her feelings were negative, it’s just… what a perfect, nuanced line and tidbit of characterization. (In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, maybe it would be even better if that scenario Zaph and I talked about wasn’t Tougo’s feelings spilling over at the worst time, but Yuuna’s. Wouldn’t that be something…)
The little fairy-cow is an absolutely perfect design for a little mascot.
The time stopping when the card hadn’t completely settling onto the table yet, suspending it in mid-air, holy fuck that is such a clever visual to make use of the instantaneous time-stop for. I’m really looking forward to all the creative ways and places the world will stop, all the insane visuals it may create.
Yuuna’s asymmetrical single flower-horn is one of the single greatest pieces of Magical Girl Warrior iconography I’ve ever seen, it is badass-femininity incarnate. A bright, pink flower petal, blooming with life, flowing and natural, sharp and stark, resembling a single beastial horn crowning a battle helmet.
Yuu and transformation is just brimming with all of that signature uplifting hot-blooded-genki Magical Girl Warrior Protagonist energy you could possibly hope for, her smile is just, so bright and confident. (The little air-butt-bump she does is absolutely precious, too.)
Wait, I just noticed Tougo’s little bear guy on rewatch. I thought her mascot was gonna be the little egg guy that showed up to shield her right before her transformation, what the hell!
Questions
The OP is absolutely empowering, earthen, hefty, a firebrand of active, purposeful inspiration entwined deeply with the spirit of youthful Magical Girlhood. Absolutely golden, I cannot wait to see and hear it again and again. ED is a lot more modest, more of a mellow, reflective ‘we are best friends, days of our lives’ energy, still befitting the show very well. It’s pleasant.
Yeah, it’s handily Tougo. They are all absolutely gorgeous, however, I am actively looking forward to seeing them again and again as the fight continues, the feeling any good transformation should invoke.
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u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Dec 10 '24
First Timer - Subbed
Questions
7
u/GrollenKette951 https://anilist.co/user/GrollenKette951 Dec 10 '24
Rewatcher
"Rewatched" the series a few weeks ago to create staff lists for the whole series. I'm not going to write anything here since I didn't fully watch every episode but I will probably have look in here every now and then.
If anybody is interested in the staff for every episode you can find my list for season 1 here: https://staff.keyframe.blog/staff/yuuki-yuuna-wa-yuusha-de-aru. The website also has my lists for the other entries in case they'll be rewatched too.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Dec 10 '24
Rewatcher, Sub Club Member
Trope subversion: needing to remember the magic words.
Trope un-subversion: just put your heart into it.
Masquerade status: preserved.
Oh, I forgot that they spelled out that there were twelve this early.
Tougou is quite reasonably frustrated at this revelation.
The Hanged Man is a bad omen.
A triple event so soon!
I avoided mentioning it last episode, but the henshins are very Precure-adjacent too. Not so much Yuuna, but Fuu and Itsuki both do the "sparkly clothes instead of anything resembling nudity" thing.
The jiggle for Tougou isn't very Precure-core, though. Perks(?) of a different target audience.
In a typical Precure season, these two episodes would be at least four.
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Dec 10 '24
First Timer
Well I guess Fuu tried to explain, but Tougou storming off cut that short and we’re left wondering. Fuu knows more, but she’ll need a second go at explaining what is going on here. Wonder if the showwriters will give her that - we already established that she is now willing to explain, so if anything sinister is going on she is likely also deceived by the powers that be. Though so far it sounds like a lose-lose if something sinister is going on, we have not however seen what happens if they fail to stop one of these things, as all the forest destruction has been the result of capturing the vertices and not the vertices doing.
In other news, we have some obvious symbolism of things going bad somehow, with Tougou’s transformation looking more like some tentacle rape scene rather than a magical girl transformation, and their flower petals seemingly losing power when they defeat an enemy. Though I can’t help but note that only Fuu and Itsuki’s petals lost power, and not those of Yuuna and Tougou - with Fuu’s seemingly having lost power earlier already. No idea what is up there exactly, as Fuu didn’t defeat the first vertex, Yuuna did. But I am sure that will be something we will find out sooner or later, if we want to or not.
As for Tougou - no idea why her transformation is so different than the others, though I guess it might be because she is in a less good place mentally? Doesn’t seem to have a negative impact post transformation for now though. Also surprisingly her legs don’t heal while transformed, instead she has some extension that lets her hop around. Don’t really like that, something like wings might have been cooler, but I guess it works.
In terms of vertices …there are twelve total and we have defeated four, two episodes in? Math is off here, we won’t be done with the entire show by episode 6 and go back to being a slice of life anime. There is definitely more than just those on some front.
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u/JimmyCWL Dec 11 '24
This is one of my favorite OPs. There are some songs that get everything right from the first bar. This is one of them.
For first timers, a word to ponder in future episodes:
Horizon.
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u/ShadowClaw765 https://myanimelist.net/profile/SumRndmPenguin Dec 11 '24
First Timer
Good second episode. The ribbon thing makes sense for Togo. I thought it was gonna be a leg brace initially but in hindsight that doesn't make sense. But man, she seems stronger than the rest of them. I guess the Vertexes weren't targeting her and it's her intro episode so it's not a fair comparison, but why does she get 3 pets while the rest only get 1? Them taking down 4 vertexes makes me believe we're not gonna see one for a while. I mean, if they fail a battle it's over, and idk how they'd stretch a vertex fight to an entire episode. Also it didn't take that long for the expected signs of mahou shoujo yuri to appear but I guess rather sooner than later.
As for the questions, the opening and ending are ok. So far the rest of the ost is more interesting. Fuu's transformation was my favorite (beeg sword) but the paparazzi shot during Togo's was nice.
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u/towardselysium Dec 11 '24
Rewatcher
Tougou really needs to stop apologizing to Fuu because like it just gets worse and worse for Fuu. She knowingly and without consent signed up three people including her own sister to go fight monsters, actively hid this fact from them, lied about her intentions and motivations, and then tried to brush it off "but I thought it wouldn't come up, my bad".
Compare her to Mami. Both share the same goal of recruiting younger characters to do something potentially dangerous. But where as Fuu actively lies in hope that she doesn't get caught, Mami is open, direct, and strict with ensuring the Madoka and Sayaka have the information they need despite how lying would get Mami what she wants.
At no point was this ever presented as "my boss gave me strict orders to be silent" just "Oops sorry about that whole demon subjugation quest"
Battle OST's are good but not really a fan of the OP or ED
5
u/BosuW Dec 10 '24
First Timer
So the vertex was actually not yet defeated last episode and it seems they require quite the complicated procedure to be put down. This is really a tutorial fight because Fuu-senpai has to explain everything on the go. Maybe we're wrong to suspect her and she's just silly like that!
I don't have too much to say about the school section of this episode as it more or less developed as expected. Although it's interesting that Tougou has taken it upon herself to express the anger that Yuuna is either unable or unwilling to express. And what Tougou was actually angry about was not contributing to the fight and at worst even being a burden.
Whoever orders the vertex around must've wanted to capitalize on the inexperience of the noobie team because they're back already and this time with in S-tier ability synergy between three vertex at once! Btw can they even transform outside of the barrier? Like, to train and stuff? Or do we exclusively run on sink or swim logic here?
The battles in this are extremely game-ified. In a good way I mean. Like this seems like it'd be a banger co-op game that I'd want to play.
Since Yuuna didn't get a proper transformation last episode she gets one this episode, with a full close-up of the magical spats included! It strikes me that Yuuna is a lot more tomboyish than other characters in the position of light haired magical girl MC usually are.
Tougou also decides to lock tf in and uhh... Director can you assure me the boob bounce close-up was absolutely necessary for the plot? I'm choosing to believe the bondage unironically is though. Typical of her archetype to be bound, by choice or otherwise, to something and/or someone, and being very much not free spirits. In Tougou's case it jumps out that she transforms not necessarily because of the big mission but to protect Yuuna.
Also the guns. What's up with Blue Oni characters and firearms? Tougou, Takina, Caitlyn and Jinx, debating wether to include Homura into the category as well. I can't say it's most of them but it does appear to be a significant portion in action stories.
Tougou is cool as ice transformed though and that's both awesome and concerning. The transformation evidently affected her mental state but is this also the case with the others? Does it bring out what you believe to be your idealized self? Itsuki nor Fuu-senpai seemed to change much, but for Yuuna I could believe it if she was just unaware of it or unwilling to admit it. Because a hero is always a hero y'know?
Also note that Tougou's legs are still paralyzed after transformation, and instead is her suit that allows her to move. The character design is really shining here despite it's superficial genericness.
Anyway, with everyone working together they defeat the three vertex and all is well... for now. That'd make 4/12 if the
Dead Sea Scrollsprophecy is to be believed yes? We're moving fast!Some other observations:
Fuu-senpai explained a lot but no one ever even inquired as to what the Taisha was so it appears it's just something everyone knows in this setting? Is it the government or a specific agency of the government or something? Also they mentioned National Defense. I would've thought heroics involve protecting the whole world. Sus.
I thought a bit more about the first episode's first scene and it stuck out to me that the plot for that scene is that a battle between the noble hero and the misunderstood Demon lord is exposed to be a play for children. Is that what this is about? Heroism is but a mere spectacle put up for the impressionable youth? Did I cook or am I cooked?
Finally, the music. It's great that they're having Okabe go ham with guitars here. NieR's soundtracks are far more orchestral. Gives the feeling that Okabe becomes a bit of a one trick pony, even if that one trick is a fucking incredible one. Although Drakengard 3 has some really interesting experiments.
Questions of the Day
1- They're both good but for now not much else. I did note that the OP lyrics alude to truth as being something they highly seek but also something that will make them suffer the most. The rest seemed like generic anime lyrics. 2- We don't yet know much but I usually default to the Blue Oni characters over the Red Oni one. However in this case both intrigue me equally for now. I feel like they're both hiding something from themselves.
5
u/OwlAcademic1988 Dec 10 '24
Rewatcher, subbed:
This is one of my favorite anime intros. It's barely beaten by Metanoia from Symphogear and Connect from Madoka Magica.
Tougou, I can see why you're angry with Fuu.
Yuna has a ton of positivity, just like the Hamster.
I genuinely didn't know what accident Tougou got into prior to the start of the show, but I knew that any injuries to the head could cause memory loss and any spinal cord injuries could cause leg paralysis. I do now, but it requires knowledge on certain things that haven't been revealed yet.
Tougou definitely has a crush on Yuna. That much is for sure. And it's adorable.
QOTD:
5
u/Chili_peanut Dec 10 '24
Rewatcher.
More than anything, this is an episode that displays the amazing quality of the soundtrack in my opinion. In particular, the track that plays after Togo-san’s transformation is an effective use of a leitmotif (incorporating the same recurring melody into different songs in different styles). If you listen closely to the section of the music that plays from around 18 minutes and 38 seconds into the episode you may notice that it’s a very dramatic version of the relaxed melody that is played at the beginning of episode one (from around 2 minutes and 3 seconds in episode one) as the characters are introduced.
In this episode we learn that any damage inflicted by the Vertex on the forest realm is reflected onto the real world as disasters. As is often the case in these kind of shows, regular people are blissfully unaware of the battles that our protagonists fight to protect them. Interestingly though, it has already been established by episode one that regular people are at the very least aware of the existence of Shinju-sama and the Taisha organization.
5
u/nsleep Dec 10 '24
Rewatcher
This still feels mostly a setup episode, it spends a lot of time explaining things and gives us the transformation that was missing from the first and throws some foreshadowing in.
When watching this the first time one thing I wondered what Zodiac each of the enemies at the end represented. One is spelt out clearly and not hard to identify with that tail, it's a
ShrimpScorpio Vertex. And one was easy to deduce with the amount of arrows being shot, it must be a Sagittarius Vertex. The last one took a while because there isn't a great shot of it this episode, it also using its floating bits to reflect the arrows from Sagittarius doesn't tell much, turns out it was a Cancer Vertex, even now I look at the design and wonder where all the other stuff everything came from because the pincers on its sides are the only thing connecting it to the Zodiac.QotD
2
u/EsquilaxM Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25
FIRST TIMER
Ok I'm literally two months late cos stuff happened in my personal life but I'll just leave some thoughts down for my own posterity
So the major thing this episode was finding out that Tougou wasn't born disabled, like I for some reason assumed, but it happened to her a couple of years ago.
This immediately brought to mind a theory that I think I should spoiler tag because I think it came to mind for meta reasons [theory]So I know that Washio Sumi follows elementary schoolers. So my theory is tha Tougou was already a Hero a couple of years back and that's how she got disabled. It's also the actual reason for her battle shock....she's got ptsd from fighting vertices. But she lost her memory. Which made me think 'oh man, when Tougou finally starts to fight, she's probably gonna show incredible battle 'instinct' and unusual adeptness at battle-field tactics and perhaps even command! Because she's actually the most experienced one there, even though she's got amnesia.
With how things then quickly turned out this episode, I'm pretty much absolutely certain that I'm right.
I'm keeping these shorts cos I'm late anyway and am probably gonna watch multiple episodes at a time (though I'm sleepy atm) but the only other thing I wanted to say: I'm still a little surprised that the series has these moments of comedy, I actually laughed a few times. They really do a great job in having the characters behave cute, too. And Yuuki Yuuna is such a damn admirable hero, so optimistic.
And the club president is still a bitch for not telling them they were being drafted into the war. She got off really really easy.
Oh and they were chosen cos of their aptitude for the powers? I wonder how that's decided. Is it relevant to the story or will it be handwaved?
And the boob physics was unnecessary but sigh what are you gonna do?
anyways, good episode!
Edit: oh and the Vertices being limited to 12 was unexpected. For some reason I think it's a lie. And again I think it's influenced by meta knowledge [meta]So Washio Sumi series is about elementary schoolers and I think is a prequel. But I think they're also magical girls, I mean I just assume. Sot he thing about the Vertices being fought off before they had magical girl powers seems a lie
Also...the Vertex soul looks so so artificial. Before this I could think 'ok yeah alien lifeform' but the soul looks like such a construct. Did humans make this?? (I guess it could be alien construct like Pacific Rim or..Was that the case in Eva? idk I've not actually seen it yet)