「激レアアイテムをゲットしよう!」 (Geki-Rea Aitemu o Getto shiyou!)
“Get the Super-Rare Items!”

If there was one definitive point specifying where Mahou Shoujo came into its own, this would be it. The realization of all the teased killing, the hints of something greater lurking in the background, this episode had it all. By far the shocker (for me at least) was La Pucelle’s death—I seriously did not expect him her to perish now. A few anticipated Pucelle’s quick demise, but I thought it would hold off a bit until Koyuki got her feet under her. Guess not. It’s not too surprising either that Cranberry had the executioner’s honours, but it was pretty damn funny (in a morbid way) how a bloodied, beaten Pucelle looked along the walk to the block. On the other side we then got the double kill of Hardgore Alice and Magicaloid which was entirely unexpected. Magicaloid’s nonchalant decapitation (and nihilistic self-reflection) of Alice was particularly humorous, although Alice certainly one upped that with the ubiquitous hand through chest move. Not all too surprised by these additional deaths, but hell, three in one episode has definitely raised the bar going forward. After all only four more girls to go and we still have six episodes remaining.

Beyond the rampant killing this week were some tasty revelations regarding story elements. As fully expected, candy stealing was not the only twist in this competition, with magical items now making an appearance. Five different items, each serving a different function, each limited to one magical girl, and each shaving a piece off your lifespan—what’s not to like? The appearance of these items definitely indicates the competition has now moved away from candies collection towards premeditated murder for survival as a few girls pointed out. What remains up in the air is how these items will factor into future battles, and (given the accounting of four items) who owns that rabbit’s foot.

The big reveal, however, definitely lies in Cranberry and Fav. It was known something was up with both given the actions previously, but Cranberry the master and Fav the servant? I never could have predicted that twist. We also have the adumbration that Cranberry and Fav go back far beyond MGRP, experiencing numerous selection “tests” and providing each other different things on a per contract basis. There’s definitely another layer to this competition, borne from the remark MGRP is only the latest playground for these tests and selected for the ease of riling up its participants. Mahou Shoujo is certainly no Madoka, but Fav and Cranberry are bearing increasingly eerie similarity to Kyuubey’s origins and goals (i.e. him being an alien collecting energy). Cranberry is seemingly seeking out strong magical girls for some unknown reason, while Fav gives her the opportunities to find them. This is a substantial reveal which likely relates back to those grey monsters teased since the beginning. Although this hidden plot currently remains a mystery, we can at least revel in the confirmation that Fav is indeed a sadistic little monster in it for the entertainment.

Next Time: Making Friends?

What happens next is anyone’s guess, but I can hazard one that Hardgore Alice might become La Pucelle’s replacement for Koyuki. We also have that bit about Fav covering up both La Pucelle’s and Ruler’s deaths, indicating someone will likely stumble across the reasons for that soon. Plenty of reveals and magical girl deaths left to go with half the season remaining, and no idea how it all ends. Hard to imagine things could get any more exciting.

Random Tidbits

I never expected Swim Swim to grow into her role this much. Shaving 25 years off her life to spare Tama? Going to have to rethink my initial impressions of her.

There’s enough evidence now to suggest receiving a back story at the episode start guarantees death by episode’s end.

Although the next one to die is unknown, I’m betting Top Speed is near the top of that list. Her death flag is just too obvious.

 

Preview

48 Comments

  1. man is it just me or is this show getting more brutal with the fights? It was obvious La Pucelle was going to die and with that eyecatch revealing Alice’s power, it was obvious Alice was going to survive Magicaloid’s attack and Alice to counter attack

    Swim Swim is starting to earn my respect, really growing into that leader role

    It’s good to know my suspicions of Cranberry working together with Fav turned out to be true

    I wonder how Kyouki is going to survive this?

    Wraith
  2. Given Cranberry’s battle-hungry nature per previous eps, it’s possible she’s seeking stronger magical girls as opponents to fight for her own entertainment – like a twisted martial artist seeking greater highs by fighting and killing opponents stronger than themselves.

    zztop
    1. Just seeking out opponents for fighting though seems lacking to me. It’s certainly possible, but I keep getting the nagging thought that there’s something else missing from this game.

      @HalfDemonInuyasha
      That would be glorious. I think Mary and Swim Swim too are the only ones we haven’t seen fight yet.

  3. death flags were all over the episode. As soon as Magicaloid44 real-world identity and background were revealed, I knew she’s going to die in this episode.

    as for La Pucelle, her (or should I say, his) death was already a given. RIP. It’ll be a Ripple-Snow White tag team after all!

    charrz
  4. So we already got 2 Casualties (or 3) now eh….Man, i wonder who will be next for this!

    I think that Cranberry (and of course the CRITTER) is somehow being connected to some sort of a really shady organization, You know…

    Show Spoiler ▼

    I wonder that is she is some sort of a rebel for that order, or something…Just Saying Anyways!

    Namaewoinai
    1. Namaewoinai
  5. I feel like there must be some backstory in the LN that we’re not seeing in the show, because Magicaloid went from feeding a homeless dude to happily decapitating Emogore Alice in one episode. There really should be some middle ground between those two points.

    Also what happened with La Pucelle was disturbing as hell. I guess for Cranberry it’s not enough to win the fight. Gotta throw the child in front of a bus for good measure.

    blargnobia
    1. forgot to mention this, but I feel just a tiny bit sorry for Magicaloid, (well not really she’s an attempted murderer) because she became a magical girl accidentally while trying to close the game. That’s some tragedy right there.

      blargnobia
    2. From what I’ve read, a side story for Magicaloid 44 was added later because her backstory in the LN was rather lacking too.

      Her death was a lot more violent in the anime too. In the LN she essentially left after “killing” Alice and then was later revealed to have died from an unknown cause (or at least the summary I read didn’t elaborate on it).

      Zannafar
    3. Pretty sure Cranberry threw La Pucelle in front of the bus because Fav asked for it (she looked annoyed about it too :P). Cranberry doesn’t seem the sadistic torturing type, she more or less sticks with crushing her opponents straight up.

    1. Not particularly IMO, Madoka was more psychological horror whereas Mahou Shoujo is emphasizing provocative thrills (think Final Destination). This series is only darker if you consider graphically intense violence stronger than mental descents into madness.

  6. Sometime guessing the outcome right doesn’t make one happy. RIP La Pucelle, I will remember you.
    I don’t foresee see Magicaloid death last episode though.

    Next death is…eh who? I have no idea where this will go lol.

    Anon
  7. Of course, we also have to remember that the goal at the moment is to reduce the number of magical girls by half; sixteen to eight. With the deaths this episode, that now makes four down (Nemurin, Ruler, La Pucelle, Magicaloid 44), four to go. The question is will things stop, if temporarily, once four more die or will things just to get taken to further extremes and the numbers will get whittled beyond four.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    1. I’m definitely expecting more girls to die after the next four are offed, the survivors are obviously meant for something given Cranberry’s remarks. These girls weren’t given their power just to perform good deeds.

  8. For how bloody and battered La Pucelle becomes after facing Cranberry, it’s kind of interesting that she decides to make Pucelle meet his fate at the hands of a mobile car. In a way, it makes me think of Mortal Kombat, where after a violent array of attacks, they choose to do a stage fatality. Dark and surprising they do that with Pucelle this early on. Also, surprised at the lack of head puns going on regarding Alice, but I guess that would have been too expected lol.

    And I have to say, when you put those items into a vacuum, the bag for ten years of your life isn’t the worst deal. Like the cloak is handy, but 25 is way too much of an asking price, and the smaller items are of different personal variance. But an infinite bag, your biggest concerns on that are A. Don’t ever lose the bag and B. Hope you can find what you’re looking for with ease if you have a hundred or even a thousand items in there, and outside of those concerns, it has some potential.

    Fuwa Fuwa
  9. Seems like a REALLY poorly thought out move to spoil Alice’s power halfway through the episode in a freaking eyecatch of all things and then try to shock us with her “death” later on.

    qwert
    1. Not really when you saw the power to “heal any wound” you don’t immediately jump to oh she can survive getting headless instantly. And Alice doesn’t lose her magical girl appearance thus she isn’t dead, its the robot who don’t know this or forgot that part.

      The one who shocked with her “death” was Snow White, not the viewers nor they are trying to, especially if Alice power was already shown in her character info when she was getting announced way before anime aired, the same hold true for the LN apparently.

      Anon
  10. It was depressing to see La Pucelles reaction, as she realized that she probably won’t survive this fight:

    https://randomc.net/image/Mahou%20Shoujo%20Ikusei%20Keikaku/Mahou%20Shoujo%20Ikusei%20Keikaku%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2011.jpg

    I guess Top Speed is next to die, not only is her death flag too obvious, sometime Rippel and Snow White have to team up, meaning that Hardgore Alice won’t last long as well.

    What is the strategic situation now? With the latest development candy productivity became nearly irrelevant. To hide and outproduce your opponents is a working but weak strategy. So Snow White is in a dire spot, of the remaining girls her power is the least combat relevant, making her the prime target for an easy kill (probably that was what Magicaloid was after). Calamity Mary is in a surprising good position her high candy productivity allows her to wait, but she is also strong enough to try a kill if she wants. My prediction is that Swim Swim is the next to try a kill. The low candy productivity of her group forces her to make a move.

    As far as I have understood the decision to make the selection more combat heavy was Cranberry wish. On the other hand the fact that Fav wants Sister Nana dead, means that there is a real change to stop the process.

  11. looks like koyuki will go into a “break the cutie” trope like madoka, but the result would be different. i can see koyuki will become a cold, emotionless mahou shoujo killer seeking revenge to those who killed her friend la pucelle, aka sou-chan. and i can feel it will happen with how, her dream of becoming a mahou shoujo and the fun associated with it, and those other mahou shoujo who maybe she considered already as peers, BETRAYED her.

    i am still wondering though how, her ability to read distress signals from people to be saved would help her in combat situations because we can see that it isnt really, an offensive ability that could kill but kinda like more of a supportive.

    Jeffers
    1. well, assuming she did take the path of being a mahou shoujo killer, you can say that snow white hunting other mahou shoujos probably in a brutal way as form of revenge would inflict some psychological stress (equal to those who needs help in accidents) in some way to other mahou shoujos specially if this death game has already ended and there’s no need to kill each other (since nav said he/she will cut the number of mahou shoujo to 8). we also need to remember that snow white’s ability is evidently, reading people minds and finding their locations, when in distress or some other of stress. which is why she can save lots of victims. but if used in combat or in this case if it did happen, you could say, there’s no escape when snow white is locked on to you

      The Last Idiot
    2. Not sure Koyuki will go psycho here, it doesn’t really mesh with either her personality or ability IMO. She’s too passive and, more than anything, just the vehicle for witnessing the carnage. More likely is someone like Nana, Tama, or hell even the Angel twins. The crazy ferments best when you already possess the weapons for it.

      1. If people start quoting tropes like Dragon or break the cutie or blood knight, you should assume they have full knowledge of the story along with its spoilers from reading TVTropes, in my opinion.
        Looking down the page I could see many of such comments hinting at certain facts. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest about spoilers however, people that don’t want to know anything should avoid clicking the following spoiler at all costs, Show Spoiler ▼

        Giorno Giovanna
      2. i came across the “break the cutie” when i look for it indeed, in tvtrope site… but i beg to disprove what you have said. i dont know that this anime has entry on that site until today when you said it. whatever i said is basically based on comparing, combining plots from other anime and use it to predict what will happen next. in short i never spoiled myself by reading the source.

        Jeffers
  12. Very interesting and I like it, the fact that Fav with Cranberry is trying to hide the kills along with stoping the Sister from organizing means there is another power out there that is a danger to Fav and “the Plan”. I dislike when you have a mystical power doing things and killing people and there is no competitors or counter forces out there along with the Governments totally in the dark. Entertainment seams to be important to Fav is that just for it or a audience. Life force stealing indicates evil demonic type powers is there a power of light out there maybe with real magical girls that must not be clued in? Having fun with last sentence mostly. But I do expect there is other powers good or other wise willing to but in and defiantly a government secret effort to find out what is going on if they smell out something.

    Cranberry your a illogical twisted killer you start losing to physical power so you pull your mind attack that would have won from the start so your basically I want to beat those who are not physically as strong as myself but I will cheat to never lose. She’s not a Blood Knight just a killer who likes to play one.

    Had to kill La Pucelle before he started full exploring his girlish nature 😉

    RedRocket
  13. I think Hardgore Alice got the rabbits foot, her aunt likes rabbits and she has a stuff rabbit…. Either that (her lucky this time was that she didn’t die from her head being lobbed off and her healing powers kicked in) or her character ability is an undead set so…. loosing her head isn’t enough to finish her off. lol

    AniBEE
    1. Alice probably can put her head back on given her powers, nothing in her bio indicates undead behaviour. Wouldn’t be surprised if she had the rabbit foot either, but then there’s Sister Nana to consider–a luck booster item would complement her ability nicely too.

  14. Hmmm does Fav do this as a some sort of gladiatorial games for some twisted audience pay-per-view?
    Cranberry secret power seems to be confirmed to create either auditory hallucinations or mimic true sounds. Not a terribly OP in itself but she is kinda very powerful in brawl by herself.
    Alice is a wildcard, she has some kind of OP resistance, as she seemingly survived a decapitation.
    I would not put it beyond Calamity to start robbing banks with her bag of holding. I would love to see her and the Cranberryto run into each other. Oh god, are WE the sick audience Fav is making the story for? #tomatointhemirror
    Top Speed is far too optimistic. She can’t run forever, and Cranberry is perfectly poised to lure her into mabush with her mimicking voice of any of the girls.
    I have found the story of Ruler’s former subordinates quite interesting. Not only does SwimSwim act in very much different way to the Ruler, sacrificing own lifetime for sake of her subordinates, she does honeour Ruler too by naming her magic weapon after her. Angel twins are quite obnoxious as always, and Tama seems most good-natured of them all, not liking fighting and stealing at all.

    ewok40k
    1. Tama is the kind that either dies badly or she somehow manages to survive until the end thru sheer dumb luck. Clearly she is not even remotely cut out to fight to the death against the others.

      Karmafan
      1. Emotionally your right and Fav was mentioning something about Sanctuary that got interrupted in order to protect her I assume at great cost. So she probably does not have secret power. But there can always be a power assumed non violent that turns out to be nasty. Strongest example Sue Richards fantastic four only limited force shields and invisibility until she learns she can shape the force field any way she wants to, in example ending in a point and ramming them though targets and expanding force fields inside people. Now one of the strongest Marvel Heroes.

        RedRocket
  15. If Hardgore Alice can survive even getting decapitated like this episode shows, I wonder which is the greater amount between people that think she’ll make it to the final 8 or the people that thinks she won’t make it to the end? I mean the magical girl Hardgore Alice has the ability to shrug off any injury after all. Is this enough to be considered a safe bet?

    Giorno Giovanna
    1. I think it will depend on if she is a villian or a hero. If she sides with Kouyaki then she might make it to the end. If she is a loose cannon villian then probably not.Like others have said I think Kouyaki helped her and now that she is a magical girl she wants to help Kouyaki.

      Karmafan

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