With Touka regaining her memories, I figured Magia Record was setting her up for a redemption arc. I don’t think she deserves one but that seemed to be the route the show is taking with the character. At least for now, this is actually not the case. Touka does feel bad for what she’s done, especially the harm she’s caused to Iroha, and she does get upset at Nemu for not restoring her memories until now. But as the episode continues and Touka and Nemu talk it out, the former realizes that she still wants to accomplish their goal of fulfilling Ui’s wish, perfecting the Doppel system, and saving all magical girls in the world. So yeah, Touka is still evil.
As for Nemu, she’s been enabling Touka this entire time. She could’ve restored Touka’s memories of Ui, Iroha, and their original goal as magical girls but she chose not to do that because she wanted Touka to lead the Magius and fulfill their plan. Even with Touka’s memories restored, Nemu manages to convince her friend to continue their work. Before this episode, Touka seemed to be the one calling the shots but it’s clear now that Nemu was pulling some strings and the latter is just as bad as the former.
Since they’re still in agreement, Touka and Nemu hop onto Embryo Eve and direct it towards Mitakihara, where it can absorb Walpursginacht and obtain enough power to spread the Doppel system throughout the world. I still think this is an absurd and ill-defined plan but at least I now fully understand what these two girls are trying to do and where they’re coming from. It’s a bit frustrating how Touka and Nemu brush off Iroha’s objections. If their surrogate big sister completely disagrees with what they’re doing, they automatically fail at giving her an ideal future. Then again, they’re too off the rails to realize they’re wrong. I am curious as to what Alina is up to. She’s noticeably absent in her comrades’ big evil moment. Admittedly, she stepped out of all the action in Hotel Faint Hope by her own volition but the point still stands. Maybe Magia Record is making her the real final big bad but I don’t know if I’d prefer her over Touka and Nemu since this show has barely given her stuff to do.
For whatever reason, Embryo Eve’s awakening causes an adverse effect to all the magical girls in the area, making them go haywire with their Doppels. The only ones who are unaffected are Yachiyo (Sora Amamiya), Momoko (Mikato Komatsu), Mifuyu (Mai Nakahara), and Mitama (Yui Horie). I’m guessing these four are fine because they’re veterans who have already handled the despair that comes with their job. Either that or plot armor. Mifuyu urges Yachiyo to catch up with Embryo Eve while she and Momoko stay behind to cure all the berserk magical girls, sacrificing themselves in the process.
Mifuyu and Momoko appear to be using Connect to diffuse everyone from their Doppels but I’m honestly not sure. We saw Yachiyo and Sayaka use the ability to cure Tsuruno (Shina Natsukawa) and Mami but that was for Uwasa and not Doppels. Did Mifuyu and Moko just go on a whim or something? I also don’t recall Connect working on such a wide scale but to be fair, the show didn’t explicit say it’s limited to two or three people. Not having Mitama help is a little odd given her abilities but I think her friends make the right call in having her sit this out. The others will need her in the future.
Not counting anyone who died in a flashback, this episode marks the first time Magia Record has killed off any of its characters. It’s kind of surprising to see as Magia Record has never gone that far before. I wish Mifuyu’s and Momoko’s deaths got a reaction out of me, I really do, but it honestly doesn’t. The spotlight is spread so thin so I could never feel attached to either character. It doesn’t help that the show barely explored their relationship with any of the characters they’re saving. About the only moment that works is Momoko helping Rena (Kaori Ishihara) save Kaede (Ayaka Ohashi) because the show at least spent two episodes featuring that trio. Also, it’s very funny how Season 2 established a last minute ship between Momoko and Mitama and that gets completely throw out of the window. So much for that.
I don’t want to say this scene completely fails, however. By sacrificing herself, Mifuyu gets to make up for the bad stuff she did. Momoko is the big sister figure in her group so it’s also fitting for her to go out like this. It is also sad to think that with Mifuyu and Momoko gone, Yachiyo and Tsuruno are the two remaining members of Mikazuki Villa’s previous group of magical girls. Their reaction to their friends’ deaths is going to be very interesting.
Is Kuroe really going to be the key to saving the world? That’s the impression I’m getting as we see the small Kyubey (which I guess is either Iroha or Ui) follow Kuroe to wherever the hell the latter is going. I’m not entirely opposed to Kuroe turning things around and she certainly needs to do something but she would be a random choice to me.
Watch Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season -Dawn of a Shallow Dream- on Crunchyroll and Funimation
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