Here I am. I’m officially farther in Magical Girl Raising Project than I was before and I’m now in new territory. It took me long enough; almost two years in fact. College and my own personal negligence will do that to the backlog. What matters now is that I am watching and this time around, I’ll (ideally? hopefully?) finish it. I will say this: Episode 5 was quite the stopping point now that I look back. As soon I resume, shit just hits the fan.
Granted, I had always figured that this was the end of Souta/La Pucelle. The writing was simply on the wall with how protective and attracted towards on another he/she and Koyuki were getting. Plus, this death needed to happen anyway and I’ll explain why later in this review. Even when you think he/she got a hit on Cranberry, you just know it’s a falsity. And sure enough, Cranberry’s special ability is an dangerous one — altering people’s senses to manipulate them to her advantage. It’s as deadly as her own brute strength.
While the fight does get pretty bloody, I honestly find that MahouIku is much better at being disturbing at what it implies rather than what it shows. You see Cranberry frame Souta’s death as a car accident but you don’t actually see the car hit the boy nor do you show the body. The dialogue makes you feel glad that the anime spares you the details but also allows your imagination to fill in the blank and it can start to feel unsettling as a result. It’s something some blood drawn on the screen can’t achieve.
I’m willing to admit that Magicaroid 44 also dying in this episode is a little harder to foretell but personally, I did have the sneaking suspicion it was going to happen. Maybe I’m desensitized but I’ve seen enough anime kill characters off shortly after a flashback to take a hint when this episode shows a glimpse at Magicaroid’s backstory. Maybe it’s to balance out killing off one of the magical girls you were actually empathizing with.
That Magicaroid was secretly a listless teenager does contextualize her magical girl career. She likes the easy way out; only willing to do things if there’s a personal benefit and disliking becoming involved in something big. You see that perpetuate with her dealings with Sister Nana, finding herself caught in an obligation she doesn’t want but willing to keep it going so long as the nun provides the cash. In a way, her death is ironic. Her allying with Calamity Mary for protection soon puts her on a test to prove that she’s willing to kill someone. She thinks she can weasel her way out by killing Snow White, an easy target, but in the end, her fatal flaw gets the best of her.
Deaths aside, it’s also worth keeping in mind those in-game items Fav puts up for “sale”. Ruler 2.0 and her gang seemed to have nabbed all the items and one that strikes an ominous chord is the spear the new leader obtains (just like the one in the OP…). That said, why am I not surprised that there’s F2P nonsense in the magical girl app? I’d say this app is just as evil as the F2P games in real life but then again, no company has figured out a way to charge you years of your life…yet. And of course this gang of magical girls got their hands on them. Yes, they’re a clear threat in this story but come on, these are the kind of kids that’d probably use their parents’ credit card on Amazon. Of course, they’d make purchases as absurd as this. Man, imagine if Fav added loot boxes…
All these scenes have one thing common: they all serve to break Snow White. With La Pucelle gone, Snow White is left entirely defenseless and the in-game items proves she knows it and it scares her. I’m still worried about the bad guys getting them but I did breath one big sigh of relief that Snow White didn’t. Had she gotten one, she’d be playing into Fav’s hand and she’d go against what she stands for: being a magical girl because it’s the right and noble thing to do. Of course, this still means she’s an easy target and Magicaroid showing up at the end confirms that truth. Snow White has known that her life could be in danger but the ending is the first time she truly feels it and in bloody fashion no less. She ultimately lucks out but the question still stands. Can someone like her can survive an ordeal such as this?
How fortunate that Hardgore Alice (still love that name) showed up, both as a coincidental meat shield and Magicaroid’s killer. I guess if this girl killed the robot (who apparently bleeds…), then that means she’s on Snow White’s side. That or maybe she wanted to kill Snow White and Magicaroid stole her thunder. Hopefully next episode elaborates what her deal is…and stitches her head back onto her body (okay, that is legitimately creepy).
Overall, I’m noticing that the story of MahouIku can err on the side of predictability. With enough forethought, it’s easy to call on the deaths that happen this episode and who bought Fav’s items didn’t surprise me in the least. In this anime’s defense, however, I think a lot of what it does is done with purpose. Everyone’s actions have made complete sense and even when tragedy is too clearly on the horizon, the fallout that follows makes up for it.
Thanks for reading!
Magical Girl Raising Project is officially available on Crunchyroll.
For all of my Episode Reviews for Magical Girl Raising Project, check out the show’s archive page!
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