I’m noticing that there’s a pattern in MahouIku where we do set-up or characterization for a couple of scenes before the anime lets loose and gives the axe to someone. Kind of like how we got to know more of Ruler’s gang after Nemu died, this episode branches the spotlight out to a handful of others after Swim Swim betrayed her superior. It’s not a bad formula since this means that the anime does plan on making everyone relevant in some way. And oddly enough, when there is one less character alive, there is now time to better flesh out everyone else.

Sister Nana (Saori Hayami) gets quite a lot of screentime this episode and she proves to be one of the more rounded characters in this story. By far, her biggest flaw is, well, I’d hate to say but she’s kind of dumb. It really says something about her level of intelligence if she fell so easily for Magicaroid’s con, handing out tons of money for gimmicky items under the assumption that it’ll make her lover become a magical girl. Honestly, I’m with Magicaroid, that it actually worked out in the end is astounding. The best part is that she’s still falling for the trick! Evidently, her magical and romantic partner, Weiss Winterprison (Yu Kobayashi) is there as a conscience; cautioning her about putting trust in the sketchiest people and heading out into danger.

Still, Sister Nana’s heart is in the right place as she is currently the only magical girl taking a stand against this whole candy competition. Sadly, this campaign isn’t rallying enough allies as she’d hope but clearly, it’s making enough of a stink if Fav tasks Cranberry to kill her.

I had always figured that there was something suspicious about Cranberry. When I first watched MahouIku before putting it on hold, I noticed that she looked a lot like that survivor you see in the first episode’s cold opening. The dialogue in this episode also provide a lot of hints, suggesting the Cranberry is one of the oldest magical girls in the district and has fought other magical girls in the past. This character is definitely worth keeping an eye on though what can be assumed is that she is running an agenda separate from Fav’s. Winterprison is lucky that Cranberry has decided to save killing Sister Nana for later and shift the death flag over to La Pucelle instead.

Actually, that might not even be the only death flag for the dragon knight. That one time where Koyuki couldn’t get her mind off of Souta and another scene where those two hold hands strongly imply something romantic happening between those two characters. In a story such as this, that probably means one of them is going to die at some point and since Snow White has protagonist status, the death flag naturally has to go to La Pucelle. This could very well be the end for him/her and after putting this anime on hold for almost two years, I’ll find out soon enough.

Finally introduced in MahouIku is the sixteenth and final magical girl, Hardgore Alice (Rina Hidaka). I don’t know why but I really love that name for some reason. About time she showed up too. With all the commotion going on, I kept forgetting that there was one more magical girl to meet. Alice’s introduction is a pretty brief scene though her presence is still awkward given its timing and the deaths that have recently happened. Curiously, she seems really insistent to meet Snow White, even abandoning her magical girl orientation provided by Sister Nana. It’s hard to say why right now. Maybe she wants to steal some candies and kill Snow White in the process. Maybe she’s actually a really big fan who wants that stuffed animal signed. Whatever the case, she’s a wild card to keep an eye on. With La Pucelle facing Cranberry, maybe Alice will show up to help Snow White if things go south.

English Dub Comments

Tia Ballard and Berry Morgan are extremely well-casted as Sister Nana and Weiss Winterprison respectively. I’d dare say they match well with the original Japanese performances in terms of how they sound.

I did originally say that Anatasia Munoz as Cranberry was going to take some getting used to but now that the character received some prominent screentime, I’m enjoying the performance a lot more now. Munoz captures the character’s ennui and thirst for battle pretty darn well.

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Thanks for reading!

Magical Girl Raising Project is officially available on Crunchyroll.

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