I didn’t think Kuon would defeat Suisho. Unless the show pulled something sinister with the other characters, it has to keep Suisho around as she’s the only antagonist left standing. Technically, Shisui’s plan actually works and Kuon lands what ought to be a decisive blow but it turns out that Suisho isn’t exactly human and that shocks Kuon long enough for Suisho to kill her instead. I’ve always had mixed feelings about Kuon getting the axe and getting erased from existence. It felt fitting when that happened to Anna but with Kuon, it feels unnecessarily cruel. I admit that this creates an interesting parallel to what happens to Mangetsu but that’s beneficial for Mangetsu and not Kuon. That said, the show isn’t technically done with Kuon and Shisui’s arc as it has Shisui finally wake up from her coma at the end of the episode. I assume this happens because Kuon retrieves her sister’s soul fragment before trying to kill Suisho and that gets set free after Kuon dies.
Last episode ended with quite the reveal, in which Mangetsu’s hands begin to look a lot less human. You could probably take an educated guess on what this means but in this episode, Suisho confirms what is going on. Mangetsu isn’t human. She is actually a doll created by the Magiaconatus, her purpose being to help Shingetsu in Granbelm. Everyone’s memories of her, including her supposed family’s, are all fake. Much like how the Magiaconatus can make it appear as if a deceased mage never existed at all, it altered reality to make it appear as if Mangetsu has always existed, hence the strong readings Nene found in her research.
As I said in the last post, Mangetsu’s true nature is my favorite twist in the entire show. I really like Mangetsu but I must admit that you couldn’t really tell based on the past nine episodes. There’s a lot of things that’s perplexing about her, be it how her fear of having nothing motivates her so much, her unusually high magical aptitude, and her willingness to fight in Granbelm and help Shingetsu. But after the big twist, everything about Mangetsu suddenly starts to make sense. The reason she’s so afraid of having nothing is because, in a way, she barely is anything herself. She feels participating in Granbelm gives her meaning and she feels compelled to help Shingetsu because the Magiaconatus embedded those feelings into her. As for her powers, it’s all provided by the Magiaconatus, an asset to help her better serve the one purpose she’s programmed to fulfill. It’s all very depressing but because of this twist, I could never look at Mangetsu the same way ever again. I went from being doubtful about this character to becoming fully invested in her arc.
The next day, Shingetsu has a chat of sorts with Suisho. During the conversation, Suisho toys with a doll belonging to Shingetsu. You may have noticed the doll before as it’s made a couple of appearances throughout the show. I never brought it up before as it is a huge hint to Mangetsu’s true nature. But yeah, it does have some significance in the story. From how Shingetsu reacts to Suisho mistreats it, we can tell that the doll is very important to her. And seeing that it is a doll, it’s safe to say that this is where the Magiaconatus got the idea to create Mangetsu.
Suisho reveals a couple of things. The first is that Shingetsu is the contestant most loved by the Magiaconatus. She is the one the Magiaconatus expects to win Granbelm and become the Princeps. Everything that’s happened to Shingetsu so far such as the death of her birth parents and her estrangement with Anna is all the Magiaconatus’ doing. They’re trials for Shingetsu to overcome, in order to prove that she is worthy. It’s a bit ironic that Shingetsu is the favorite, considering that all her misery has convinced her to get rid of magic, but this does explain why her life has been so miserable and why the Magiaconatus created Mangetsu to assist her. One other thing Suisho reveals that she doesn’t believe any human is worthy of becoming the Princeps and she intends on winning Granbelm to prove it. This further raises the question of what Suisho actually is but on flipside, we finally know what her motivation is.
Things get worse for Mangetsu when she discovers that her family no longer recognizes her and others don’t even notice her presence. Even though Mangetsu’s relatives aren’t that prevalent in the show, it is still very bleak seeing them ask she is. It adds to the dread and it hammers in more than Mangetsu isn’t human. Nene and her sisters step in and offer shelter to Mangetsu. I imagine Nene would help no matter what but she probably feels responsible for Mangetsu after discovering the truth about her. It is arguably a plot convenience that Nene and her sisters still recognize Mangetsu but with Shingetsu preoccupied, the show needs someone to help her.
At Nene’s place, she and her sisters explain to Mangetsu that the magic maintaining her is destabilizing. Eventually, she’ll cease to exist and everyone will completely forget about her, much like with Anna and Kuon. The Rin sisters have a talisman that can stabilize Mangetsu but only temporarily. To truly stay alive, Mangetsu will need the Magiaconatus’ power. But since Mangetsu isn’t human, she can’t become the Princeps. In other words, she’d need Shingetsu to win and make the wish for her.
This creates a very compelling dilemma for the show’s endgame. On one hand, Mangetsu doesn’t want to die. On the other however, she doesn’t want to prevent Shingetsu from making her own wish. That could very well be the Magiaconatus’ programming talking but it is peculiar that Mangetsu isn’t fully leaning towards putting Shingetsu’s needs above her own. It’s worth keeping in mind for the next three episodes. It’ll be interesting to see what Shingetsu thinks about this decision. She did set out to erase magic from the world but she does care about Mangetsu and it is because of her that Mangetsu is a doll so she may feel guilty enough to forego her wish.
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