「地獄の蓋」 (Jigoku no futa)
“The Lid of Hell”

Oh yeah now we’re getting somewhere. Well ok, maybe not just yet, but almost. We’ve got the evil magical attack, the bait and switch, and the hint that things are going to get ugly for quite a few people—it’s the Friday night fight you’ve all been waiting for. MSTA still may be holding a few cards in reserve, but I think things are just about ready for their grand reveal.

One of things I’ve been harping on about (read: really hoping for) these past few weeks was there being some serious tension between our magical girls, and if events this episode are any indication, it seems that might’ve been slightly too hopeful. While technically possible for the likes of Mia and Tamara to hold underlying grudges against one another (I wanna believe!), what we got was the happy go lucky reunion, helped along in part by a touchy feely Asuka. Delicious interagency catfight and mahou shoujo implosion? Not in this cutie breaking blender it seems, although there may be something tasty to come once Kurumi discovers Tamara’s own love for the protagonist—and you know she will eventually. Hell at this point MSTA is pretty much a battle over who gets the first real swipe Asuka, with Mama General Tabira leading the way. You want a piece of that Kurumi, you best get on level with the competition.

Besides providing plentiful milf memes however, Tabira’s appearance does lead to some further plot developments and some hints as to the Babel Brigade’s ultimate objective. We know for example that Tabira is the creator of magical girls (well, the Magical Five at least) and is mostly responsible for keeping their powers up to date. It’s easy to guess this is the primary reason she is being targeted by the Babel Brigade, for if Tabira can create magical girls out of nothing, it’s not too great a stretch to assume she can also tailor make them to specific purposes. Want a magical girl force wholly devoted to wrecking the world while screaming about despair? You’ve got the right mama for the job. Of course it could also just be as simple as killing Tabira off to prevent any sort of “good girl” mahou shoujo revival after eliminating the protagonists from the picture, but I’m an optimistic lad—I firmly believe there’s more to this little showcase of evil plushy power than simply wrecking face. Just have to think back to the previous mention of Girl of Mass Destruction: you know there’s more than the obvious waiting in the wings.

How long it takes for us to find out (if we even do this season) naturally won’t be known for a bit yet, but I don’t think the wait will be all too long. With Nozomi and Sayako yet again in mortal danger and every girl set to get their piece of the action, MSTA is raring to show us just what this series is all about.

Full-length images: 21.

 

Preview

17 Comments

  1. Nork22
  2. IIRC the last part is anime-original with the friends being in danger again.

    It’s funny that also everyone has a thing for Asuka:
    Sayako admires her;
    Kurumi is deeply/yandere-like in love with her;
    Tamara secretly crushing on her;
    Their former leader probably had a thing for her;
    The villain boss is interested in her;
    The general wants to fondle her;

    75chaosflare
    1. What I find kind of amusing is that we could end up with all these women either destroying the world or saving it, and each of them is just trying to get close to the oblivious Asuka, who is taking everything but that seriously.

      Mockman
  3. Good guys, bad guys and explosions, as far as the eye can see.

    I think Babel Brigade probably intends to capture Tabira alive, and they’ll probably succeed, just so we get a “You are…!!” from Tabira when she sees the enemy leader just for theorycrafting fuel.

    Hanabira.Kage
    1. Wouldn’t surprise me either honestly, I’m fully expecting the Babel Brigade Queen to be revealed before the season ends, and having mother Tabira witness the reveal would be the cherry on top. Well, that or Asuka, but I think Asuka is destined for more suffering first.

  4. Now we know why Francine was so touchy feely, looks like she got it from her “mama”….
    https://randomc.net/image/Mahou%20Shoujo%20Tokushusen%20Asuka/Mahou%20Shoujo%20Tokushusen%20Asuka%20-%2009%20-%2014.jpg
    Those mahou shoujo have it rough.

    https://randomc.net/image/Mahou%20Shoujo%20Tokushusen%20Asuka/Mahou%20Shoujo%20Tokushusen%20Asuka%20-%2009%20-%2020.jpg
    This might be normal for Fairy Land. If you look at what the faeries have been wearing, the outfit of the eight mahou shoujo in Asuka’s team are like full plate mail in comparison. XD

    Anyway, what’s so special about this vehicle?
    https://randomc.net/image/Mahou%20Shoujo%20Tokushusen%20Asuka/Mahou%20Shoujo%20Tokushusen%20Asuka%20-%2009%20-%2034.jpg
    Seemed like they were pretty happy having it.

    theirs
      1. Close but it’s not (B1 Centaro is Italian). This one is a Type 16 Maneuver Combat Vehicle which is pretty much Japan’s rapid response AFV—i.e. provide anti-armour, direct fire support against any initial attack. In this case I imagine they like the thing because a 105mm gun will leave a good-sized hole in any hard object.

  5. This show is stupid! What is even happening anymore? Why are they even fighting anyway? At least in older mahou shojo the viewer knew what was going on? This you don’t know they’re just fighting because every other mahou shojo has it. Not only that no one knows squat about the characters, who they are, and what their relationships are with the people around them. So the author has to distract with fan service to compensate for the fact that nothing is happening. But that’s what happens when you let man children create things instead someone who still sees anime as an art form and not a panphet to promote their sick fetish fantasies on. The girls don’t capture a real genuine friendship between any of them that’s because they all want to hump the main character because plot says so.

  6. I’m kinda weirded out (sort of as someone who studied modern Japanese politics) that the USFJ can’t intervene since BL forces didn’t target Futenma or any other USFJ bases.

    Nothing mentioned in the “Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between the United States and Japan” and the “Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan” forbids USFJ forces from intervening in the attack on Naha.

    Ominae

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