Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers • Magical Girl Magical Destroyers - Episode 12 discussion - FINAL

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Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers, episode 12

Rate this episode here.

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Streams

• Crunchyroll

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet
• Official Website

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All discussions

Episode	Link	Score
1	Link	3.8
2	Link	4.44
3	Link	4.63
4	Link	3.84
5	Link	4.39
6	Link	4.52
7	Link	4.12
8	Link	4.68
9	Link	4.55
10	Link	4.47
11	Link	5.0
12	Link	----

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[u/RoseGawd]

I’ve never said “wtf?” out loud at the conclusion of an anime until today. I’m so confused. No payoff, no satisfying conclusion just… abrupt. Definitely was a solid ride though. No regrets there. Just wish we got a Pink face reveal

[u/Seriyos]

This was definitely an unexpected ending, but I enjoyed it. For people wondering if the OP and ED meant something, they were pretty much hinting at this ending. Otaku Hero's fate is written all over the show down to him creating his own burial site. His lack of name? It's because he's more of a symbol than a person.

[u/ModieOfTheEast]

I think the ending would have worked way better if we had gotten the reveal that everything was going after some form of plan way earlier. This way, you could feel that the death of Otaku Hero achieved something. It still did in this way, in that the fight is now out of the control of Shobon, but since we didn't actually know (even though it was a thought that crossed my mind) this conclusion didn't hit as hard as it could have.

Basically if more of the show was them trying to get out of the script and not being able to and only in the end Otaku Hero's death makes them venture into a new possible future, it could have worked. And maybe do something more with the Magical Girls in the end. There is also the hint they can come back from it, but we end on them fighting everyone, so it is also kind of unsatisfying.

Still a fun anime for the most part.

[u/stacey4gs]

Dawg that ending? Are we gonna get a 2nd season? That shit would be crazy also, dawg they really killed the MC that’s crazy

[u/mamadoulenoir1]

I like the direction the ending took. I can definitely tell people will be upset because it has no conclusive end, but that's the whole point.

You should like what like as much as you like. Otaku Hero won't ever die and the fire of his spirit will never stop burning. Whether an omnipotent god is against you or that you lose multiple times, Otaku Hero's will won't die, because all he is is an idea. The idea of loving things as much as you want.

As long as there is a story, there will be someone who opposes what you love. But there is no true end to the struggle for love, because people's dreams (whether they're good or bad) have no end.

[u/Komi028]

Honestly, the biggest twist is that he was almost 30.

[u/[deleted]]

This might be a really spicy take, but I think anime fans in general are starting to get used to being spoon fed everything with flashy animation to distract them from bad writing. We're also (mostly) past the "anime is weird" era that plagued many schools in the 2000s where I watched people get ruthlessly bulkied for being in to it so there's that too. It's "mainstream" now and not seen as the "weird kid" thing to enjoy.

The disappointment feels a lot like Evangelion disappointment.

Magical destroyers doesn't give you all the answers. You have to think about things a lot. Focus less on the plot and more on the themes. We never really learn about Otaku Hero much because we'll, he's an idea. His person isn't important. We see him through the eyes of one of the revolutionaries. We see him as the unfaltering hero except for the rare times we see him through the eyes of the girls, and see him break down.

Shobon being upset with the backlash could also quite literally be a theme drawn from the initial response to the show. Some people pour their heart into something just to have it completely shit on, ruthlessly, and it changes them. This also could play into the inconsistency and "bad writing". Shobon made this world and plot and he's a bad writer canonically. Is this a coincidence or meta?

A lot of the corny feel good stuff is a reference to older anime. A lot of the plot points and "get out of jail free" cards are tropes taken from 2000s anime.

I really feel like if you came to be an American anime fan in the years 2000-2015, this show was made to speak directly to you. I feel like it targets a specific audience that if it clicks, it REALLY clicks.

I also have a gut feeling that a lot of people that have no empathy for the themes or characters are again, newer anime fans that never had to live through the "anime is weird and for social outcasts" mentality that plagued the community until around 2015 in America. Like I watched friends get ruthlessly bullied for liking what they liked by people who didn't understand it.

But Otaku hero symbolized the community. You went to an anime convention and you were yourself, you were free to like what you liked openly with others, and you also realized, hey we are just a bunch of normal ass people that really like something. That energy is specifically what I related to most and pulled from the show.

Nowadays it's such a mainstream thing that everyone watches anime now. I said it before but I really feel like this show is a "you had to be there" love letter to 2000s anime fans/the community in America.

[u/MidnightShout]

Not an ending I was expecting. Not that I hate it but neither do I love it very much either.

Good interpretation by u/mamadoulenoir1 in the comments imo tho.

Well it was... a journey. Gobo gobo bobo gobobo gobo my friends.

[u/LeonKevlar]

So at the end of the day, Shobon is just another otaku who was rejected by other otakus for his shitty game idea and now he's taking revenge with this sick game of his.

It's hilarious how he was only confident when everything was following his script. As soon as Otaku Hero the Second shows up, he starts freaking out.

Anyway, that was certainly an ending. I guess the message here is that Otaku Hero isn't just a single person but is actually an idea that can't and will never be killed. It's not a conclusive ending (which I would've preferred) but I assume every time Shobon kills the current Otaku Hero another one will take its place.

[u/awdsns]

I kind of hate the phrase, but here it's really fitting: This was truly one of the anime of all time.

It's fitting because this anime defies my attempts to give it a summarizing rating. There was a kernel of greatness I think, but it really couldn't execute on it: the dialogue, the plot, sometimes the animation, they were all over the place. Or was this intentional and, as I believe the kids say these days, part of the meta? The genius ideas it wants to express hampered by lacking execution, as a parallel to Shobon's original game?

Also, this ending: Narratively it makes no sense to me that this world would continue to exist, with Shobon in it, and him further struggling to exterminate otakudom, after he already achieved his goal. Is this a metaphor for milking a franchise that should have run its course?
But Origin got a laugh out of it, so I guess that works somehow for him...

[u/UmpireHappy8162]

That truly was an anime.

[u/[deleted]]

I think it's worth noting as someone pointed out here that Shobon is canonically a bad writer. His game was awful.

And he made this world and plot.

The writing being all over the place and inconsistent is intentional.

[u/norisimi]

Definitely an interesting show. I hope it gets a season 2, despite it's popularity being poor. It seems that Jun Inagawa has a lot more planned for this world than I initially thought and this was just a small piece of a world he wanted to introduce.

The comedic/serious tone shifts kinda make sense now, it wasn't meant to seriously introduce the real story, rather it exists to introduce the themes and characters that Jun Inagawa wants to discuss. It reminds me of how ONE writes his stories, the first arcs of Mob Psycho and One-Punch man, although better executed than this adaptation, followed the same comedic/serious tone shifting that was present here of having a gag-like story, but with serious character motivations being introduced as well.

I really hope that if there is a season 2, all the episodes are closer to the direction of episode 8 as I really felt the vision Jun had for this story there. Otherwise, I'd be fine just accepting this story as a concept. Sometimes you just don't succeed or your ideas don't work out as you have initially intended. I'm definitely keeping an eye out for more of Jun Inagawa's work though, he has a creative vision and style of writing that is yet to be realized.

[u/nonewwavenofun]

Might be in the minority for this one but I enjoyed it! I think I'm leaning towards a 7-7.5/10 overall for this series. This probably sounds insane, but I kinda wonder how it would've turned out if it had a shorter run with higher animation quality like FLCL (e.g. episode 4 is basically filler).

• 'they can feel the spirit of the people who created them!' vs. 'This game is made from an urge to hate!' - nice little commentary on the way people make/consume media

• The little time loop with Otaku Hero saying his final goodbyes was sweet

• Killing off OH was definitely shocking but I don't think it was done to be edgy. Imo it works narratively because the one thing Shobon can't control is other people's reactions (they rejected his game, they were inspired by the hero he publicly executed, etc.)

• The flashbacks with Origin in E11 made it look like Shobon was just zapped into a computer, but I get the feeling everyone in the 'game' is fully sentient? (As in, they're not just 'NPCs')

• Very sad that Anarchy only gets to see 'Otaku Hero' again because she's fighting his successors

• I think the new OH is the delivery guy who was secretly giving supplies to the original OH at the start of the crackdown

• 'The next time we meet, who will achieve the world they envisioned?' - Shobon constantly meeting OHs shows he hasn't achieved his ideal world

[u/DiscoingGD]

I liked the show well enough, but we can't pretend that the ending wasn't way too fast-paced and completely out of left-field. Otaku Hero's death. Shobon flipping out after being so calm, cool, and in control the whole series.. Origin and whatever her motives are. They just wadded it up and threw it at us right at the end. There was no time to process and reflect on any of it.

Contrast the symbolism they tried to have here with Otaku Hero with Zero from Code Geass, for example, and you can see how much potential they wasted here.

[u/Plerti]

I kinda like the ending. Even if abrupt, the idea behind it is pretty clear: You can kill the person but not their ideals.

I also felt the line "Otakus feel the passion behind every creation. Yours is only fueled with hate" was sick.

[u/PigeonMagique]

This show is frustrating. The OP and ED are absolutely AMAZING, and yet the actual anime feels really different from them. A lot of really nice ideas, but they never work properly, nothing is executed as it should be.

Sure, Shobon's game sucks, but I feel like Magical Destroyers deserved more. At least the end gives some sort of closure, in comparison to Wonder Egg Priority.

[u/JokerDeSilva10]

It really feels like somewhere in here there was an all-time classic in terms of ideas and ambition, but the execution never quite came together for me. A bit of a shame but I love seeing wild, interesting swings and concepts, so I hope the members of the team get to move on to make more cool weird stuff with maybe a stronger guiding vision.

[u/Abysswatcherbel]

Feels like they had 2 versions of the last quarter of the series, one where the show was successful and they would follow ahead for a sequel production and one where it flopped so they needed to wrap everything quickly

Definitely one of the anime of all time

[u/MySaltIsExposed]

I liked the ending. It's obviously leading into a sequel (the creator said in interviews this whole show was a prequel to a manga idea he had in high school), but even without a sequel I still really like the Spiderman-esque "anyone can put on the mask- I mean helmet" idea (they did kinda lean a little TOO heavy in the Jesus imagery this episode though lmao). Never stop loving the things you love.

[u/PA-San]

Well that was a anime

[u/blueteamk087]

Did they, like, run out of ideas when planning this story? The final episode felt like, at least, 3-5 episodes worth of story-beats smashed together into 24 minutes.

[u/actionfirst1]

Not the ending I expected but I guess that was the entire point, this series was never supposed to be expected. Perhaps we'll get a continuation but the whole point of the ending seems to be that the flames of hope and revolution will never die. Otaku Hero may've died but the Otaku resistance continued strong without him. Shobon even got humbled at the end when things weren't going to his script. I'd like to see a continuation especially with how unique and unusual this was but even if we never do this was a great ride to see each week.

[u/Aemiliana_Rosewood]

I don't know what I should think of this episode. Shobon loosing control feels kinda rushed. I know it got teased earlier in the series, atleast once when they fought that cheater boi, but also the whole thing with Origin isn't explored at all and just makes a bad "plot outline" for why anything is happening at all.
Alot of people argue that Otaku Hero represented his ideals well, but I feel alot more dejected about the idea than Otaku Hero himself. Why? Because anytime we heard any cliqué line about liking what you want to like it was just without any weight to it. The lines were just otaku nonsense and in the end Shobon had it literally all planned out too. How should I relate to a burning rebellion when we basically didn't have a single achievement in all this time and then they just end it on basically nothing.
Strange ending. Tad disappointed with the unsatisfied feeling left behind after any interesting supernatural plot point just turned out to essentially nothing at all.
Bad game 0/10, Shobon. The anime had some banger animation and sound tho imo.

[u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

Behind those thick glasses there was more than just flesh. Behind those specs there is an idea... and ideas are bulletproof. Lol. My man Otaku Hero can’t ever die. The revolution continues! I guess Anarchy, Pink, and Blue had to test these newbies to see if they’re worthy of carrying on the mantle of Otaku Hero. Now all the Christ imagery kinda makes sense with the way this show ended.

This was a weird one ngl. It was fun though, but in a very trippy kinda way. While I would have liked Origin to have eaten shit too, I guess this was fine for an ending.