#finally watched the new episode and i’m literally here like kicking my legs twirling my hair

[stillcominback]

rick grimes is never beating the lover boy allegations 😌💖

[littlepurinsesu]

V Watches MagiReco - Episode 4 Review

*Spoilers for Magia Record Anime Episode 4*

Tsuruno is finally here!!!!! (♥ω♥) MagiReco just doesn’t feel like MagiReco without the mightiest magical girl, so her appearance this week was definitely a long awaited one! (๑>ᴗ<๑)

This episode felt significantly slower than the previous one, with a lot more “downtime” and much less action. I did feel a tiny bit bored during some parts, but I do think this was a much-needed breath of air after the fast-paced episode last week :) And anyway, Tsuruno’s mere presence brings plenty of energy already, so perhaps a relatively more “calm” episode would have complemented her introduction the best way!

In short: I loved Tsuruno’s debut. Changing her debut to being at Banbanzai instead of the train station was a very good decision, in my opinion: it allows her to be introduced with the restaurant that makes up such a large part of her character. She’s exactly as I imagined in the game: overflowing with energy, filled with sunshine, and just so, so, so cute!!! The way she literally twirls around all over the place and leans in so close to Iroha with her leg kicking behind her so that she’s almost falling onto the table... it’s like she legitimately cannot stay still even for just one second xD And they even had her say a few of her “battle lines” from the game, which was a really nice touch!

Also, just that gigantic bowl of ramen is already terrifying enough. That PLUS all the other stuff she served Iroha? Did Iroha really manage to finish all of that? O___O And the 50-points joke made a very early and timely debut haha it’s even more hilarious to see in action, and Tsuruno’s reaction was priceless as expected xD

I also appreciate the nice little detail that Mitama really is like a bridge between magical girls in Kamihama. She knows everyone and is happy to introduce magical girls to other magical girls that can help them out. Her signature on the Banbanzai flyer is so cute, too! And it’s nice to see Team Momoko still hanging around Iroha and being a part of the picture even if they’re no longer the focus (unlike whatever the heck happened to Kuroe LOL). Kaede first offering Rena some food and then putting food into her mouth to shut her up was also adorable. Really goes to show how much of a good grip she has on Rena despite being the more meek and timid one in personality heh heh.

By the way, Mitama, tomato sauce does NOT go on cake like that!!! A tiny detail I missed at first, but another good clue as to just how terrible of a cook Mitama is xD (I think this is a really good example of how the MagiReco anime has so many tiny details that seem unimportant but speak a lot about the characters, whether it’s interesting quirks or unusual habits and mannerisms etc.)

Tsuruno’s meeting with Yachiyo was perfect. I mean, just this face alone pretty much sealed the deal for me lmao:

They do a really good job at highlighting the contrast between these two characters, both in regards to how they treat Iroha and how they associate with each other. You can see how happy Tsuruno is at being with Yachiyo again and how hard she’s trying to reignite their old friendship, while Yachiyo reacts coldly and distantly (ouch). I can’t really remember if they included this in the game, but it’s a nice way to foreshadow the reveal that they used to be on a team before Yachiyo broke them all up, so I’m really looking forward to that revelation later on.

The cameo of Ria and Manaka seemed... random? xD I guess they really are going through with the pattern of having at least one cameo of a minor character each episode, but this particular one just didn’t make much sense to me ^^;; I don’t really know what Ria was getting all worked up about? Were she and Manaka also doing the stamp game and were therefore getting competitive? Or was it just because of her competitive spirit whenever she bumps into Yachiyo? It’s most likely the latter, but in that case, that really would make it an “inside joke” that only game players who know about this running gag will understand. Which I... personally don’t think is a very wise thing to do, honestly? >_< They’re nice little easter eggs for players, but they need to make sense to people who are going into the anime blind as well. The Ren and Mayu cameos worked perfectly well and made sense even for non-gamers. But this week’s one? Not so much. But yeah, I’m rambling for a whole paragraph about literally just a few seconds of footage, so maybe it really isn’t that big of a deal haha. Also, I don’t wanna be one of those people who nitpick and complain at every tiny difference, but I really do think Ria looks prettier with the slightly more orange-tinged blonde rather than the straw yellow shade they chose for the anime ^^;;

That legend about the princess and her lover was animated very nicely. The style is almost reminiscent of Kyoko’s backstory, and there’s so much symbolism in every frame and shot (which I won’t even attempt to dissect; I’m sure someone else will do it better than me! ;D). I also really liked that dark twist at the end of the story, too, and the way the mysterious characters surround Iroha and Yachiyo as they walked together adds a nice touch of that “what is reality” vibe that PMMM does so well.

As for the witch fight, I think this is probably the most critical I’m going to sound ever since I started writing these anime episode reviews. Too fast, too easy, too insignificant. To be honest, I didn’t even think that battle was necessary, apart from allowing them to show Tsuruno in her magical girl form. Almost all the witches so far haven’t put up much of a fight, and have been one-shotted really quickly: Zenobia by Yachiyo in Episode 1, Rebecca by Momoko in Episode 2, and now Candy by Tsuruno in Episode 4. They go on about how strong the witches in Kamihama are, but apart from the first episode, I’m not really feeling it with the last two fights. Yes, I get that the magical girls are also stronger because of Mitama’s adjusting, but even then the fights are just over way too quickly. It was like this with the Friendship Ending Staircase last week as well. While I could let it slide with these minor and unimportant witch battles, I hope this trend won’t keep extending to future battles with Rumours as well, since those are such a huge part of MagiReco and a new introduction to the PMMM world that non-players are meeting for the first time.

And this isn’t so much of a complaint as it is a personal preference thing, but I also miss seeing the characters enter the labyrinth layer by layer and really feeling the dangerous, foreboding atmosphere of doom before they finally encounter the witch. The battles so far have all just dumped the girls right into the centre of the labyrinth, with the witches appearing immediately. It does present a nice forceful and alarming feel--which is not necessarily bad, just different--but I do miss the haunting and mysterious atmosphere of the witch labyrinths before the witches themselves emerged.

But onto some positive aspects of the battle scene: I really like the way they presented Iroha. How she mindlessly just dashes forward to attack, almost like a desperate attempt to prove herself to Yachiyo. Obviously that doesn’t work, and the way she meekly asks to Connect but only to get instantly turned down... poor Iroha >_< And again, it was nice to see how they juxtaposed Tsuruno’s and Yachiyo’s responses to Iroha’s weakness: Yachiyo pushes her away and tells her to get back, while Tsuruno welcomes her attempts and brushes it off with a smile when it doesn’t go according to plan. (But last episode implied that Iroha was already adjusted? She can Connect now, so I’m guessing she did? Why is she still so much weaker, though? Is it just inexperience? I really wish they made these things much more explicitly clear...)

As for finally finding the Rumour, I’m really hoping that we’ll finally learn something about Yachiyo’s past next week! I liked how this episode told us more about Iroha’s lack of friends and her dependence on Ui to define her existence, so hopefully we’ll get something about Yachiyo soon, too. They already had some nice foreshadowing this week with some of the things that Tsuruno said and the way she acted around Yachiyo, so getting at least some answers in the next episode would be a nice follow-up. That and the obvious fact that I’m super excited to finally meet Mifuyu! Iroha’s Soul Gem is also darkening, so maybe we’ll even get to see our first animated Doppel next week!

But yeah. A much slower episode this week that, while not perfect, still had plenty of positive aspects! Tsuruno got an awesome introduction, which is basically the most important part of the episode, and they’ve done a nice job at paving the way for plenty of action and revelation in the next episode! (* >ω<)