Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA wears its main influences on its sleeve extremely proudly. Obviously, it is drawing from the expansive Nasuverse for many of its characters, concepts, and themes. Some of them are ported in wholesale but most undergo a bit of a modification or subversion when they appear in the show. Equally prominent is the tropes of the magical girl genre. That only makes sense. So far most of the concepts borrowed from a conventional magical girl show have been fairly broad and could easily be found in any of a dozen different anime or manga. But this week introduces a very specific expy from Sailor Moon: Chibiusa.

Erika Ainsworth is very clearly a Chibiusa reference. Erika is a smaller and much more annoying version of the main character who is antagonistic to the heroine but also clearly wants her approval. That might just seem a coincidence but Chibiusa full name is Usagi Small Lady Serenity. The name of this episode is “The Little Lady Attacks.” The only thing that would make it more obvious would be having Erika fall in love with a Pegasus.

On that note, I’m thinking that Medusa’s Pegasus might want to watch its back. 

It is worth noting that the English-speaking community has a VERY different opinion of Chibiusa than the Japanese fans. In Japan, Chibiusa is a beloved and popular character that was given extra stories in the anime and has a metric ton of merchandise. The English-speaking fandom basically considers her a plague on the series who wears out her welcome extremely quickly. Just ask any Sailor Moon fan about their experiences with Sailor Moon SuperS and then get ready for a long rant.

Well, Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA 3rei!! has introduced its own Chibiusa. Alea iacta est.

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