You know that guy. In fact you might BE that guy. The person who watches something and then continually points out major and minor errors with everything they watch. They also tend to comment either on how they would have written things if they were in charge or how things would be different if they were in the show. And they do it all the time. If that pistol in a show is actually semi automatic instead of automatic they have to point that out and give you a lecture on how the gun actually fires. If an explosion underwater works differently they will mention it complete with their version of a full Bill Nye the Science Guy episode. If CDC’s procedures during a quarantine are different they will talk over the dialog to explain to you how the show is clearly inaccurate.

We all do it from time to time. Unless your are a silent monk while you watch things with friends you will make such comments on occation. The thing is “that guy” does it all the time. It turns out Miyu Edelfelt is not so secretly “that guy.” Unfortunately for Miyu being an accuracy obsessed nitpicker might make you a good employee (depending on the job) it does not make you a good viewing companion or magical girl.

This is the episode centered around casually attempted homicide. Technically this episode might be about two rival magical girls working together and fight against the powerful Caster card and her ancient magic. That is a deception. It only appears to be about  Illya and Miyu learning how each of them has different strengths and weaknesses and then using that knowledge to be stronger as a team.

But it is really just about Caster nearly killing of the main cast, Luvia almost murdering several people on a whim, and then a surprise guest star comes in at the end to do a bit of slaughtering as well.

The episode itself starts with getting ready to face another class card. But then the episode jumps forward after the credits as we see that they got their little bottoms handed to them by the always unloved daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis. It seems that Caster briefly gets her time to shine.

As she is a magi from an ancient time her spell craft is far beyond that of modern wizards. Much like mages in Mage: The Ascension in the Type-Moon universe spells are more powerful the more people believe in magic. As Caster is from a time of high magic her spells let her do things fly casually fly through the air, teleport, and have an army of homing orbs that can fire enough lasers to make the Strike Freedom feel slightly (but only slightly) inadequate. And since apparently none of the protagonists played many Touhou games they have to run away as they escape but get majorly singed in the process. They did not even have one spell card to back them up.

Oh and Luvia casually said that Miyu should kill Rin. Just worth noting.

I would just like to mention that the show decides to fully live in the realm of magical girl tropes by reusing transformation sequences as we see Illya’s full transformation again to save on time and the budget. It is not up to full Precure level but give them time. Precure has had … quite a bit of time under its belt to get the idea of recycling its transformation sequence to that of an art form.

After a little strategy meeting they decide the only way to win is to get above Caster’s carpet of death satellites and engage her in an aerial battle. If the can get above her doom orbs than it is a fair fight. Or at least something with a change of them winning. The problem is Illya being an air head raised on mahou shoujo shows just assumes all magical girls can fly. Duh. So all it takes is, “Hey. Could you please fly?” for her to start taking off into the wild blue yonder. But since Miyu is a girl of logic, science, practicality she cannot comprehend how anyone could be anything but a soul cruelly bound by gravity.

And so Luvia’s solution is the sink or swim teaching method. Which is to shove her ward out at 10,000 feet form a helicopter and assume peril will kick in her student’s ability to fly. It only makes a Miyu shaped crater in the ground and almost makes a little girl flavored pancake if not for the quick thinking of Magical Sapphire. When Illya sees this all go down she tries to teach her would be rival the secret to flight but see seems just a bad a teacher as Luvia when it comes to results (although far better in not being homicidal.)

This leads Miyu to interrogate her sensei on her stunning technique that allows her to shatter the conventional paradigm that mundane people hold. Illya reluctantly admits it is shows like Magical Bushido that she watches all the time. But Miyu logical mind cannot comprehend how any of it works. The girl in the shows don’t use any accepted theory of aerodynamics, magnetic levitation, or gravitational control to soar through the air. They just do it. Illya basically repeats the MST3K mantra but that does little to help the lady of science.

As I said in the beginning I think we have all watched an anime were someone with us has nitpicked apart the premise because there area of specialties overlaps with something in the show. Well now we know that makes you star student but a mediocre magical girl. It might also make you an annoying conversationalist.

Also am I the only one who when they see the Magical Bushido show in Fate/kaleid they immediately think of Jubei-chan: The Ninja Girl?

But when the next night comes both girls have found a way to get above Caster’s flying wall of death. Illya flies and Miyu makes platforms of mana to bounce off of to keep her airborne. Miyu’s method is not exactly flying but it works well enough. But once they are dog-fighting they see that Caster is more than just Cirno on Lunatic+ mode. She can jump around the battlefield and make shields. So when Miyu almost gets tagged Illya swoops in and saves her proving her worth as more than just a girl with a genki attitude. This prompts them to finally team up so Illya can pin down Caster with a huge spread shot of magical energy after Caster tries bounce around the battlefield so Miyu can blast her when she is stuck defending.

But when Caster comes crashing to the ground Luvia and Rin try to finish her off with some jewel spell blasts. They have apparently never watched a monster movie in their life and assume that Caster is dead without even checking to see where her card is. (Maybe they should use prana containers for offensive spells that are not expensive rare jewels so they can double tap their enemies without breaking the bank accounts.)

So when the desperate sorceress tries using one last Big Bang punch of a spell Miyu is the only one close enough to deliver a killing blow. But at first it seems that she will not make it in time but Illya throws Miyu a huge blast of mana for her new friend to spring off of to give her speed boost letting her make it in time. (As a side note Miyu has been getting more mileage out of her spear than any Lancer ever has.)

So fighting together as a team lets Miyu see that Illya is more than just a ditz in this for the thrills and actually a worthy partner. Now everything is A-OK!

Except for the fact that there was one other class card hiding in the area just waiting for its moment to spring. Saber Alter jumps on the vulnerability of a second calm to take out Luvia and Rin and then turns her attentions to the two tired magical girls. They must now face the Saber card’s Excalibur Morgan alone. This is going to go well.

Man. It is as if they have to throw Saber into EVERYTHING because some people will watch anything just because you throw in some blonde haired and green-eyed King Arthur. I’m not exactly sure who these people are but apparently they are out there.

And write for blogs about detectives, anime, and manga.

And are desperately waiting for Mysterious Heroine X figures despite the fact that she is extremely silly.

Or so I hear.

– Alain