Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya / First Impressions

「勝利と逃走」 (Shouri to Tousou)
“Victory and Flight”

Only very rarely do you see mood whiplash used as effectively as this. After meido Miyu and S Illya, I was getting ready to call this the funniest episode I had seen in a while…and then True Assassin arrived. The feeling I’m left with: stunned.

Meido Miyu Meets Sadistic Illya!

S! Illya-chan is an S because she likes to tease meido Miyu! I don’t think it’s an understatement to say the first part of this episode contained some of the funniest material I’ve seen all season, though maybe that’s just my bias towards embarrassed meido Miyu talking, fuuuuuu!! Geh, I need to slow down. I think I might pass out just from remembering it.

Really though, it was just back-to-back gags for the entire bit, with the best being: 1) Illya going into full pervert mode over Miyu in her meido outfit (we know what you mean, Illya-chan! I’ve got one of thoseswitches too), 2) Ruby and Sapphire’s gattai (c’mon Sapphire-chan, play along, HAH!) and 3) Illya’s friends walking in when she was naked glomp-assaulting Miyu on her bed (No means no, Illya-chaaaan!). It’s not often that jealous meido Sella falls to the bottom of the gag list, but there it is. And Miyu calling Illya goshujin-sama? *massive, crippling, life-threatening nosebleed* Dreams! Dreams are coming true right now!

Power at a Point

And then True Assassin arrived. All of them. The poisoning of Illya reminded me of an old strategic doctrine I call “power at a point”. IT goes roughly like this: no matter the absolute power of opposing forces, what matters is how much they can bring to bear on a singular point. The leader of a great nation might have more absolute power, but next to the point of a sword held to their neck, all that power is worth nothing. Therein lies the power of the assassin; they might not have much absolute power, but they apply it to where it hurts – right to the neck.

Basically, it’s an incautious person who doesn’t consider all opponents dangerous, because no matter how weak they are, what little strength they have can hurt if focused properly. That wasn’t Illya & co’s mistake this time, though. That was…

Bringing a Newbie to a Magic Fight

Illya has always lacked the resolve to fight in the world that the others so readily inhabit. She’s a normal girl – in personality if not in other things – and without the resolve to fight and possibly die, she’s liable to freak out and panic. She’s not a warrior, and she never has been. Funny thing is, that makes her a perfect magical girl – at least as Ruby thinks of them – even while it makes her a liability in a fight.

I’m once again impressed by how well this was foreshadowed. They brought it up in past fights – especially in the last fight against Saber, but Miyu has serious misgivings about Illya during Caster and before – and now it has come to a head in a mistake that could have killed them all. This, after such a fun-filled first half where the two girls finally became friends?! But of course. I don’t need to have read the manga to know why Miyu did what she did. Illya is not a warrior, and now she’s officially Miyu’s friend. She will protect her from this dangerous world, even if it means taking on more danger herself.

Looking Ahead – One More Card

There’s only one card left, and you all know who it is. The final battle is a doozie, but we’ve got to get there first. Prisma Illya has slid gracefully from purely lighthearted to dealing with heftier affairs, all while not losing its comedic edge. The climax is coming up though, so expect a rough ride from here on out.

This series is ten episodes long, so there’s three more to go. Let’s finish this off strong!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – An absolutely HILARIOUS first half gives way to a battle that left me stunned. Mood whiplash at its finest #prismaillya 07

Random thoughts:

  • Really, just check out my twitter for all my reactions. I could have blogged the entire first half of the episode via excited, fangirlish tweets. SO I DID.
  • I’ve probably mentioned this before, but Ruby and Sapphire really are the two most expressive “inanimate” objects I’ve ever seen. They show one of the strengths of illustrated art to do what other mediums could never do nearly as well.
  • Meido Miyu never leeeave meeeee!! *glomps*

For more from yours truly, check out my blog on writing, art, and the book I’m working on at stiltsoutloud.com.

Full-length images: 16, 21, 22, 40, 41.

 

Preview

End Card

71 Comments

  1. You are moving a little too fast, Illya. You should ask Miyu out on a date first. ^^

    That being said, this episode had a lot more adaptation flaws than before. I thought the lighthearted post-battle recovery chapter would take up the whole episode, and it certainly had enough material to work with. But they cut out quite a bit of the chapter, including all the parts with Shirou and a few other comedic moments. More importantly, they did not show the part where Sella and Leysritt discussed what was happening with Illya, which is very plot relevant.

    In the second half of the episode, although they included pretty much the whole next chapter, they messed up the ending. After Illya unintentionally unleashed her power again, she freaked out at the thought of hurting Miyu and fled on her own, before the others could say anything. Miyu most certainly did not berate Illya for this, which is completely against her character and the friendship development from earlier this episode.

    Lastly, one nitpicky thing. At the very beginning of this episode, the thermometer showed 37.2 degrees, which is normal body temperature, but Sella still said Illya is having a fever. In the manga, it was 38.2 degrees, which is more accurate for fever temperature.

    Overall, they tried to squeeze too much into one episode. They left out parts that were important and added parts that were not needed. While it was entertaining, this was definitely one of the weaker episodes.

    MasterDragonKnight
    Reply

    1. I have been thinking that Shirou was absent more than he shoulda been. I couldn’t remember if he didn’t show up a lot until 2wei though.

      Honestly, I forgot most of what happened with Assassin from the manga, so I was pretty much coming at this from haven’t-read-the-source. Miyu chasing Illya off for her own good is as much in line with her character as Illya running off – after all, Miyu is very self-sacrificing, and she tried to do this before.

      In the end I thought it worked well, though I would like to see a little more of Shirou. He always amused me in the Prisma Illya world…or more correctly, Illya amuses me when she interacts with him, ufufu~

      Stilts
      Reply

      1. Perhaps you are right about Miyu. It just felt different for me after reading the manga.

        After three intense battle episodes, I would have liked it if they had an entire lighthearted episode to catch our breath. I was looking forward to all the comedic moments too. If nothing else, more time with maid Miyu!

        Oh, I forgot to mention, there was a little Nanoha homage this episode too. Ruby suggested that they flush out the Assassin with a barrage of flashy mana blasts, and their new finisher move Lyrical Radical Genocide.

        MasterDragonKnight
        Reply

      2. I am curious as to how Shirou would even get involved in Ilya’s life. Does he know magic? By logic he should since that Archer card is supposed to represent a certain someone. It would be nice if he saves Ilya while saying “Unlimited Blade Works.”

        L002
        Reply

      5. i think even up to the 3rd manga, Shirou isn’t really relevant to the story. there are tidbits here and there for fans of fate/stay night, but really, this is Illya’s story.

        Nitro
        Reply

      6. I’m a little shocked at how little Shirou is in this. I would think, being the guy Illya has a massive crush on, that he’d have at least a little involvement in the plot but he hasn’t been seen since episode 1!

        I’m still half-expecting him to show up and have a good mentor/big brother moment with Ilya before a climactic fight.

        Frontier
        Reply

    2. Miyu most certainly did not berate Illya for this, which is completely against her character and the friendship development from earlier this episode

      This. Absolutely this. I can forgive leaving Liz and Sella’s discussion out (leave that to Iris), and Shirou doesn’t matter all that much, but there was no need for Miyu to be berating Illya like that. There was absolutely no reason for them to diverge from the manga like they did.

      Shiden
      Reply

      1. Sure there was (maybe) – time. I imagine that they didn’t feel the Assassin chapter (was it a full chapter? I read the manga a long time ago and already forgot all of this) could support an entire episode, and they were probably right since they encapsulated all of that inside of this episode pretty comfortably. It’s like I said in a previous post – manga and anime have different “speeds”, where manga is more suited to going through dialogue quickly and anime is more suited to going through action quickly. Maybe an action-heavy chapter couldn’t support an entire episode, so they combined them.

        Or maybe it could of and the suits didn’t give them enough episodes to do it that way. I don’t know, I’m not a doctor!

        Stilts
        Reply

  2. Well that left me depressed. After all the awesome last episode and all the funnies in the first half that was a surprising ending. I am a bit confused at Miyu’s reaction considering all the dere in the first half but that’ll probably be answered later.
    Now I guess Illya is going into Spiderman mode next episode.

    xephx
    Reply

  3. Yeah, it’s been so long since I read the manga I pretty much have had no idea what exactly is going to happen each episode.

    The Illya all over Meido Miyu stuff completely floored me. That was just hilarious awesomeness. Illya just proves that a cute loli can get away with anything. Molesting her friend in a maid costume? Perfectly ok! But who can blame her? When the switch is flipped you can’t help the consequences.

    Miyu’s actions at the end seemed pretty obvious to me. Her friend is starting to lose it and did nearly die here. If Illya hadn’t blown everything away she would have died and the others probably would have died trying to come to her aid. I don’t think she blames Illya for what happened here. She rather called out in a concerned tone before Illya really started to seem freaked out.

    Illya is a normal girl who is being thrown into these life or death battles. Miyu just used the facts in a way that would push Illya to back away from these battles. Just protecting her friend using cruel worlds. A self-sacrificing girl who appears to have no family so probably feels that risking her life is better than having Illya risk hers. Completely understandable, better to hurt Illya a bit with words than see her friend possibly die. Or maybe worse Illya’s power leads to someone there dying and Illya has to live with the guilt.

    FlareKnight
    Reply

      1. I almost get the feeling that Miyu would rather never have that forgiveness than see her friend torture herself anymore. Hard to know exactly what Miyu thinks since her background is shrouded in mystery right now. But overall probably thinks it’s better to get Illya to forgive her later (by wearing a maid outfit XD) than have her go into another fight and get even more damaged emotionally from the experience.

        FlareKnight
        Reply

    2. Lol~ I had an image of when Illya had her switched flipped. Instead of saying “Trace On”, she goes “Switch On!” XD

      But I can totally understand…. Miyu in that meido outfit…. and her embarrassed expressions…. HNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! I’d totally have the same reaction as Illya!

      Euzio
      Reply

  7. My list:
    ☑ Maid X Mahou shoujo (Miyu)
    ☑ Loli X Mahou shoujo
    ☑ Neko X Mahou shoujo
    ☑ Miko X Mahou shoujo (Touhou)
    ☑ Death X Mahou shoujo (Madoka)
    ☑ God X Mahou Shoujo (Madoka)
    ☑ Sci-fi like X Mahou Shoujo (Nanoha)
    ☑ Witch X Mahou Shoujo
    ☐ TRAP X Mahou Shoujo? – I have yet to see this in anime.(Already seen one in VN. Available in English caption)

    †Croos†
    Reply

      1. Nanoha Takamachi a magical girl and mother to Vivio. She is basically a Gundam in a schoolgirl outfit, with enough beam spam to level a small country. And later in StrikerS, Caro is shown to be able to summon two dragons, including the dragon god Voltaire.

        So all the bases are covered for that one.

        MasterDragonKnight
        Reply

  8. Wait I don’t get it:

    The Einzbern Family obviously exist here, but does that mean they’re like the Einzbern in the original series: a rich, powerful family/clan of mages?

    TheMoondoggie
    Reply

    1. *Fate/stay night. True Assassin predates Fate/Zero (production-wise…of course Fate/Zero came before Fate/stay night chronologically), and in that one their level of usefulness was…well, I won’t spoil anything in case ufotable gives us that proper reboot : )

      Stilts
      Reply

      3. Ahhh, I guess you’re right, since it manifested with there-are-a-bunch-of-the-bastards ability. The one in Heaven’s Feel is still Hassan though, since all Assassins are Hassan unless someone hacks the system

        Stilts
        Reply

    1. 1. The label “True Assassin” refers to the Assassin in Heaven’s Feel since the Assassin of Fate and UBW, Sasaki Kojirou, is summoned by Caster by different means, hence being referred as a fake.
      2. True Assassin in HF wasn’t a pushover there. He was quite formidable. And he didn’t die like a punk there and put up quite a fight against Show Spoiler ▼

      But yes, being Assassin is suffering. There’s an episode in the Einzbern Soudanshitsu special in F/Z that touched upon the 4th HGW Assassin’s bad luck in the war.

      belatkuro
      Reply

  13. Assassin might be one of the weakest, most of the time they are fighting in situations that are not beneficial for them. A fight from the shadows, like Kiritsugu Emiya preferred would not only fit them better, but would probably increase their chances at winning a battle.
    But even then, it is a bit of a shame that they defeated assassin seemingly easier than caster, while caster is seen as even weaker than assassin.

    damrod
    Reply

    2. not for them tho… Caster -> Better magic attacks and defense than a single kaleido-stick .. they won they were 2 on 1 and they worked as a team

      they had a similar issue with Saber .. because of her HAX magic resistance

      Their attacks are magic (they are mages) …so they gonna have issues with any high magic resistance or with a more experienced/powerful caster than themselves .. Assassin was neither .. the issue is that they need’d a huge circular aoe (their “shot barrage” are cone shaped)

      Also the explosion wasnt that powerful either .. the ground was consumed only like 1/2 meter … and Miyu actually survived unharmed while shielding other 2 targets)

      PS: next one is likely Berserker … gonna be interesting since his “God Hand” more than makes up for magic resistance (IIRC only Rank A attacks/spells even affect him)… nvm the boost hes gonna get from being “corrupted”

      inanis
      Reply

  19. I knew it! I knew there was going to be some yuri fan service eventually! sigh why did they have to put it in? the first couple of episodes with them acting like how two girls would act at that age was fine. but nooooooooooo they had to go down that route for the first hlf

    Bonnie
    Reply

  20. Emotional roller coaster man…these kinda of episodes don’t agree with the heart and mind, at first it’s all fun and laughs and suddenly when it ends you say: “Man I am really sad right now…” That was too mean even for Miyu…

    gawrshness
    Reply

    1. Yeah, it’s things like this that I hate in anime. I watch Prisma for the generally good writing, humor and good action scenes. I don’t watch it so I can see two ten year-old girls in a suggestive pose and it’s things like this that mean I can’t defend it as a good story that happens to be animated to anyone who doesn’t watch anime (same problem with the Monogatari series).

      Grant
      Reply

  23. It wasn’t in the manga and the reason it wasn’t it that it’s pretty dumb. Even if we view it as “Miyu was trying to convince Ilya to stop” the timing and how Miyu speaks undercut that argument completely.
    Additionally Miyu herself showed just as much tactical foolishness when she utterly failed to pick up on the fact that Ilya was in trouble, leading to Ilya being left behind when they ran and Ilya forced to use her powers to save herself. In other words Miyu’s got no room to criticize anyone else for doing something that endangered other people.

    Grant
    Reply

  24. I have a kind of bad feeling they might not animate 2wei and 3rei…..they completely cut out one of the most important scenes in this entire manga, which is to be the basis of 2wei’s plot in the first half.

    Ashkem
    Reply

  25. I am not sure what made my heart skip a bit more, meido Miyu or fangirling Ilya…
    “Being both meido and mahou-shoujo is a rare character type!” /facekeyboard
    Synchronizing wands via USB…
    Ilya with rapeface holding down Miyu…
    First name base, established!
    Ilya getting naked, “to wipe the sweat”…
    And friends yuriblocking her!
    And then, oh god, the mood whiplash (T)
    First, a veritable army of Assassins (Hah! like they know what army is! – Iskander). Poisoned weapon, an assassins staple. And that uncontrollable mana explosion. And heroic BSOD (T).

    ewok40k
    Reply

  28. The whole situation with the fight left me conflicted. It was obvious that they weren’t going to be able to save IIlya in time. If it wasn’t an issue they wouldn’t have looked as desperate as they did. IIlya did what any sensible person would do and tried to save herself and her friends. She had NO idea that the energy she released could potentially kill her friends. Had she known the scale of the attack she released it might be a different story but it was out of pure desperation.

    I had almost liked Miyu again after this episode but the fact that she talks down to IIlya as if she was a perfect warrior or something pisses me off. Yes i can understand why she was mad that they almost died but considering that they had JUST became friends and IIlya saved them all from being killed by saber you’d think she would find it in her heart to forgive her.

    Miyu already knows that IIlya isn’t fit for fighting and should be much more considerate if you ask me. At this point i’m having a hard time feeling anything but hatred for Miyu. Even if we see her sob backstory very soon (which would be horribly misplaced imo) i wouldn’t really care. The series has pretty much made her into a unlikeable character for me.

    leatherhead333
    Reply

Leave a Reply

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