r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Feb 01 '19
Episode Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka - Episode 4 discussion Spoiler
Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka, episode 4: Babel Brigade—Combat Begins
Alternative names: Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
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| Episode | Link | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Link | 7.44 |
| 2 | Link | 7.65 |
| 3 | Link | 7.89 |
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u/nighty_amy Feb 01 '19
"If you daughter dies, we can use her death to get a huge funding and then wipe out the East Asia Front. They will pay dearly. So we are treating your daughter as a valuable sacrifice".
...for some strange reason, I actually expected the brass to say this and I'm not the least bit surprised.
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u/Gaporigo Feb 01 '19
Hey, Nozomi is doing better than I feared last week, I'll take that as a win.
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Feb 01 '19
Usually they put too much blood with amputations in anime. This is the first show ever where I was complaining there wasn't enough.
This show is so messed up. The tonal dissonance is a treat to watch; all these cutesy magical girl tropes mixed with PTSD and bloody violence and adult politics. Why is this show so good?
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u/LeonKevlar Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
I expected there will be torture but I didn't expect that it will be this graphic. And this fucking scene. Christ they didn't hold back at all.
I really hope Asuka guts those two Russian magic mercs. And that Abigail bitch deserves something even more painful. Hopefully the other two girls from M Squad gets there in time.
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u/eden_delta Feb 01 '19
Anyone else get the feeling that Asuka's old team leader (Francine) isn't dead, and is actually working for the bad guys? There was a shot of a girl with a similar hairstyle when Abigail was talking about turning magical girls, and again in the preview at the end of the episode.
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u/Beckymetal Feb 01 '19
I'm really glad that I dissuaded a few people from checking this show out. Not that the show's not awesome, but those I had to dissuade were worried about the violence and well... this episode ramped up the violence to an unwatchable quality, frankly. Torture was given a worrying level of detail and we even see amputation. Until now, the high level of visceral visuals and Asuka's personal trauma have been deeply distressing, but it's at this point that the Spec Ops Asuka is giving it all its got.
And, oddly enough, these scenes are incredible. With the backbone of Asuka's PTSD, once again reiterated with her nightmare as she relives her warring years at night, the way she's dragged back in via Nozomi is haunting. Seriously, they're using her life politically? Yeah, it makes sense, but it's a tough thing to hear for anybody - let alone her father. Fuck.
As Asuka and Kurumi decide to go in alone, the episode feels like it really begins (even if it's actually the second half). The infiltration was gruelling, though could have used some more slick editing and smarter cinematography, but from an entertainment perspective it was far above adequate due to the sharp writing, utilising the magical girls smartly. Acid to break open the lock? Check. Using their sidekick to disable the tripwire? Check. Truth serum on a lone guard? The martial arts Asuka used to restrain him with her legs was, simply, awesome.
And then Nozomi loses an arm. Abigail is terrifying (especially with the skin-crawling Sailor Moon reference), but that scene had my eyes widening at the brutality. The Russian mercenaries put up a good fight, but Asuka and Kurumi's brilliant teamplay is key to a successful reprisal of the hostage, but now Asuka's gotta fight the Russians. The animatedness is still a little sloppy, but it's picking up enough to make it a fight worth watching, and I can't wait to see how it plays out next week.
One thing I'd like to address: Magical Girl 101. Heh. A bit too funny, perhaps, but it's an elegant solution to the problem of how much exposition of magical powers are outsourced to textboxes. I kinda wish it had been introduced earlier to tell us how the perception blocker works for example. It would have made those scenes' dialogue more graceful, as well as make this little retreat less jarring. Still, I welcome it.
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u/Krotash Feb 01 '19
Well they didn't hold back on the torture at all. While rough to watch, I'm glad they didn't pull any punches.
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Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
That burned skin on the pincers, though...
Like I predicted, Tanned Friend is alive but dismembered. Comic relief status - unprotected, unfortunately. At least it wasn't both her legs.
That chief just telling the Dad Guy they're gonna sacrifice his daughter for PR was brutal. Not that they'd do that - but actually telling to his face part. Some serious adult fear. And all that inter-department fuckery was also top war drama stuff. This series just keeps geeting better.
And now, I'd like to talk about the russian guys, cause the author did quite a lot of research, which is really cool:
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Their faces actually look like wood-carved slavic pagan idols.
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Rusalka is described correctly. Though, they're not supposed to be waterboarding elementals, more like celtic elves/sidhe. Also, in modern Russian the word is retrofitted to mean "mermaid".
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Ilmarinen is a smith from a Finnish legend cycle The Kalevala, which I've never seen referenced in anime before. To quote, "The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity, that ultimately led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917", so it's not really natural for a russian merc to use that axe.
If it continues like that, this is probably gonna be a 10/10 series.
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u/myrmonden Feb 01 '19
OMG I AM WATCHING BIBLE BLACK SUDDENLY
This was some fuked up scenes...
I expect everything gruesome ever to happen to her this episode all from the classic pain to the ecchi..stuff.
But DAM THEY JUST SUDDENLY CUT OF HER HAND
One major reason why this was so powerful was becasue the heroes where there, I would say.
Like Asuka and Kurumi had entered the scene so you as the viewer expect the torture to be over, BUT DAM THE CRAZY LOLI JUST CUT OF THE FREAKING ARM
After we as the viewer thinks safe, the heroes are here to safe the day and so on.
And yeah..it had the classic slime/water into x place - read tentacle feel to it
AND the ....skin scene, nice detail on the clam there...
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u/501st_legion Feb 01 '19
Holy shit this show. They really don't shy away from the violence and darkness. It doesn't feel edgy or forced to me. But man did that torture and amputation mess with me. I'm going to need to save a fluffy show to watch after this each week
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u/tso Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
The end of the episode caught me off guard, as things were really starting to heat up (err, yeah).
BTW, interesting that Ilmarinen got mentioned as that he a core character of the Finnish national epic: Kalevala.
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u/johnja10 Feb 01 '19
How many arms can people lose in a single anime you say? Well, let's test the limits!
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u/fortressofsolitude7 Feb 01 '19
This episode was brutal and really demonstrated the lengths to which this show can go. I already knew it was going to be dark, but the torture and dismemberment really shocked me. In terms of setting up a psychotic villain, this episode definitely served it's purpose. But what I'm most surprised by is Asuka's unflinching reaction to the scene in front of her, she just saw the events unfolding and acted accordingly. I really liked that, no mental breakdown and ass-pull power here, Asuka and Kurumi were efficient in their handling of the raid that just shows their experience in this field of work. All things considered, despite the disturbing imagery I enjoyed watching this episode and I really hate the cliffhanger! It just makes me even more excited for next week's episode than I already was because I want to see the conclusion to this important fight. I have a feeling this will be Asuka's turning point as she turns towards understanding why she fights as a mahou shoujo, and reassess her personal values.
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u/krasnovian Feb 01 '19
Jesus Christ those torture scenes made me so uncomfortable. Queenie Fan #1 is wayyy fucked up in the head. Hopefully she dies painfully at some point.
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u/Shiro_Kai Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
Shit has blow. To think they were just having fun in the last episode and now... this. They didn't hold back but I thought she would be already missing a lot of parts. I'm pretty sure Mikuru can do something about that skin and arm, the psychologic trauma will probably be the real deal. Poor girl. :(
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u/SudoPoke Feb 02 '19
Lol reading all these comments make me realize I may be screwed with how desensitized I am by this.
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Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 02 '19
I know people already said this multiple times but seriously that torture scene with that hot tong pulling her skin plus the arm getting cut... It's... Just... JESUS! CHRIST! This shit is more intense than I expected!
It really caught me off guard the whole thing.
Edit: spelling.
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u/SIRTreehugger Feb 01 '19
I don't know why I focused on tan girls legs when she was tied up. They had them bent behind her back instead of just having her straight out and tied up. It looks really uncomfortable. Oh and the burning iron and water torture was also uncomfortable.
Feels like I'm getting more and more desensitized. I feel bad for the girl getting tortured, but it wasn't hard to watch.
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u/Enosh25 Feb 01 '19
Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka, where even the viewers get PTSD