「復讐と決意」 (Fukushuu to ketsui)
“Revenge and Resolve”

At this point I think MSS has finally hit its stride. The show may remain obscenely over the top and ridiculous in a way unlikely to sway many opinions, but I’ll be damned if the (ultra)violence and sharp, pointy drama liberally sprinkled throughout hasn’t become wickedly enjoyable to watch—at least for my admittedly warped mindset. MSS might not be breaking any cutie breaking boundaries anytime soon (unless we’re talking about the cuties themselves), but with the way this story is moving, there’s a lot of tasty bloodshed developments yet to come. Oh yeah, you know where this one is going.

Probably the most surprising bit this week wasn’t so much the Sarina-good girls showdown as much as its timing and result. This fight was always going to happen sooner or later given Sarina’s newfound (and arguably legitimate) thirst for revenge, but I imagined the girl would set the situation up a little more for guaranteed slicing success. Guess that wasn’t meant to be. The battle and its outcome does make for some interesting developments though, particularly for all the girls currently known. Aya for one has seemingly found her inner strength at last, giving Sarina as good as she got and finally letting loose her pent up fear and frustration from a lifetime of bullying. It may not have swayed Sarina much (even with Aya’s help she’s too stuck in her prideful hypocrisy at this point), but it’s a critical moment for Aya as it means she won’t be the timid damsel in distress any longer—the chronic curse of any weak main character. Make no mistake, Aya won’t be going full Terminator anytime soon, but considering Tsuyuno looks permanently down for the count, Aya needs that resolve to get through the pint-sized horror coming up next. Well, unless Sarina sees the light and repays kindness with kindness. Don’t deny, you know it’s possible; she has the fang and the fang never lies.

Fending off a thoroughly enraged (and equally hilarious) Nijimin though is likely to be the least of good girl concerns before too long. From the presence of a new magical girl it seems someone is determined to keep Tempest information buried for the time being. Whoever is behind this latest move is unknown, but at minimum it’s definitely is someone involved with magical girl recruitment. Considering Rina’s knowledge is apparently that dangerous to have this implies the big, calamitous, world ending event exclusive can be stopped, and likely by only a handful of magical girls alone. The question of course is how, but considering Sarina seemingly knows the answer and is firmly committed to her mission of stick collecting, you can bet it involves a power up in some fashion. We now have ample evidence of each girl being able to use the sticks of others without restriction for example, with the only handicap being the health-imposed limit on their use. Considering Aya’s blood loss from a short burst of use this limit will probably be the key hurdle going forward, for if no girl can reasonably live beyond a few battles, it’s unlikely they could deal with the Tempest. How or if a magical girl can stave off the senescence is anyone’s guess at this stage, but you can bet we’ll get an answer on it before too long.

With everyone old and new raring to duke it out again over stick ownership, friendship, and punching bag rights, it won’t take long for one of the real baddies to make their debut. Someone has to keep this cutie breaking on track after all.

 

Preview

4 Comments

  1. It may be random and I may be pulling at strings, but I find it amusing that where some of the girls bleed symbolizes them. Sarina’s ears because she doesn’t listen to reason. Aya’s eyes because of how pitiful and sorrowful she usually is. Tsuyuno because of her way of words (that one is me pulling), and Nijimi with her “secret” spot she won’t reveal to anyone, basically showing that she has a secret side of her she doesn’t want others to know about (her being a psycho/short-temper).

    SDFGS
  2. At the very least, it seems that Sarina might now be more focused on surviving the Tempest over exacting revenge on Aya due to Aya’s words and actions.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  3. this and mahou shojo ore are the worst attention seeker I’ve ever seen. these shows are trying soooo hard to not be a traditional mahou shojo that they are collapsing onto themselves with their rules on how the magic works. I felt more hopelessness and despair from sailor moon than I ever did from this show because sailor moon build up that hopelessness and despair instead of throwing it in the auidence’s faces all the time and OF COURSE aya’s first real friend has to be another girl after all a guy couldn’t sympathize with her plight and become her friend nope it has to another girl just because.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *