Joeschmo's Gears and Grounds: Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete - Episode 1

An evil organization’s mascot chooses Utena Hiiragi as a new villainess to sadistically harass magical girls.

Episode 01 — “A Villain is Born?!”

First Thoughts.

Yes. Yes! We have nudity in episodic streaming television once again! Thank you, Gushing Over Magical Girls! Deep breaths. Whew.

The last time Hidive streamed less censored anime with Mother of the Goddess’ Dormitory, it had three tiers: humorously blocked nipples and crotches in clouds of steam, shadows, and light beams; unfiltered blown-out light levels with atmospheric effects; and the “cultured” clean version. For Gushing Over Magical Girls (魔法少女にあこがれて, Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete), we get one glorious visually uncensored anime. Disclaimers: there is a filtered broadcast version, but I don’t know whether it has hilariously (annoyingly) censorship like Ayakashi Triangle, with bleeped-out anatomically correct vocabulary. The simulstream on Hidive still has the bleeps in the dialog, which might add to the comedy. The Blu-rays will have the god-tier level where you can hear junior high school girls use all their naughty words. The big news is out of the way, so what was the show like?

The first thing I noticed is the superior sound engineering. I’m not kidding. The sound effects for the magical girls’ transformations, the heavy breathing, and even an aluminum can hitting bricks made my ears perk up. I recommend wearing headphones for the stereo effect of slapping butts on one side of the screen and squeals of pain on the other. Utena Hiiragi’s (Fuuka Izumi) reedy voice and near-orgasmic panting might draw the wrong idea from curious ears. Using earbuds or AirPods for Gushing Over Magical Girls has an aspect of self-preservation. Utena puts her town’s magical girl protectors through a beginner’s course of bondage and sadism in their inaugural meeting. Tentacle grape is on the menu, boys!

Hmm.

When I previewed Gushing Over Magical Girls for J-List Blog, I wrote about the resurgence of unironic mahou shoujo anime that didn’t torture little girls. Gushing Over Magical Girls is a sexily twisted take in the same vein as Love After World Domination. However, this is not an innocent love story between two factions. The kink factor is high, and it feels like Kadokawa and Asahi Studios made this mahou shoujo anime just for us cultured men. My body is ready. I only have one question: will we see all the sources of gushing in Gushing Over Magical Girls? All signs point to yes!

Heh. Geh.

Tricolor magical girls flying in the sky is a familiar occurrence in this town. Utena Hiiragi is their number-one fan! Judging from the previews for Gushing Over Magical Girls, her fandom is more like the plot of Misery. I see yellow, magenta, and ao (青 — blue-green). Magenta Spear! And pantsu, confirming fanservice levels! Azure Sword has an ice feature. Does it match that magical girl’s frozen heart? She needs melting! The yellow magical girl claims a “sulfur” motif. Sulfur is yellow, yes, but also stinky. Is that another sign of things to come? The monster they battle has many leather straps wrapped around him. We know where this fight is going. Battle dress damage! Uh oh. Utena likes seeing the magical girls in pain. Shadow sadist!

Tres Magia (the magical girls) fights Enormita, an evil organization. Could Utena Hiiragi ever be like them? A sketchy, black floating animal thinks so! Shock! Gushing Over Magical Girls is a self-aware satire! Venalita, the black mascot, has a star motif that does not match the heart designs of Tres Magia. Utena is the chosen one... to do what? Here it comes! Mahou shoujo transformation! With bare nipples! Devil horns, black leather, and pasties do not a magical girl make. Utena has joined the bad guys! Venalita is quick with compliments. Thanks, but no thanks. As if an evil organization would give up so fast. Do your best, Utena!

Gushing Over Magical Girls But Not Like This!

The opening credits show us Tres Magia, the magical girl group Utena gushes over, facing off against Magia Baiser and her colleagues. I see the thicc thighs of Matama Akoya (Yuuka Aisaka — Muse from Amagi Brilliant Park) as she sings karaoke. Will Utena ever become used to transforming into her dominatrix suit? Ha! Venalita, the black evil mascot, has a white counterpart, Vatz (Kana Asumi — Blanc from Hyperdimension Neptunia), working with the magical girls. Ooh, massive underboob big sister! Does the number of stars tattooed on her face denote her rank in the evil organization? Aw. The opening credits have ribbon censorship. Good to know: Tres Magia’s leader has a heart-shaped wand, while Magia Baiser has a star-tipped riding crop.

Is Utena back to normal? How did she get out of her dominatrix outfit? Venalita has a cute notepad. Mascots have rules they need to follow in Gushing Over Magical Girls. Stalkers! Uh, I mean, constant companions. Venalita’s advice about logic could apply to many, many consumers of anime. Ha! Utena sits at the main character’s desk in the classroom! Of course, The Tres Magia girls are her classmates. Utena doesn’t just love magical girls. She’s obsessed! Is that the “special skill” that Venalita claims she has? Tautology: magical girls only exist because an evil organization exists. She won’t ever see magical girls again if Utena doesn’t join the bad guys! It just makes sense!

Magical Throwdown and Showdown!

Well, there’s always blackmail if that logic doesn’t work. Viral vids on Enormita’s “Snitter” account! Yes. “Aku no soshiki” literally means “evil organization.” And no, there is no social media account on Twitter. Sadness. How messed up it would be to blast Utena’s transformation scene to 200K followers! “Duh, we’re the bad guys.” Hahahaha! Ack! The Tres Magia has arrived! No choice but to fight now. I love Venalita’s deadpan commentary. Har. Venalita calls Utena’s riding crop “Frustino Dominanza.” That’s Italian for Dominance Whip! Here we go! Tentacle grape! Wear headphones, people. Gushing Over Magical Girls conflates yelps of pain with gasps of pleasure. Just saying. Venalita knew how to turn on Utena’s kink switch: she wanted to torment magical girls!

Standing back and watching is not enough. Get in there and slap some magical butts! Do it, or Snitter will blast you! Whip crack! Nice sound effects! How did Sulfur’s patootie get red marks so fast? Utena is in a daze but can’t stop herself. So much spanking! Getting it on and getting off on it. Utena’s fetish switch flipped! Venalita figured her out: she never loved magical girls; she loved watching them suffer! It’s a twisted Gushing Over Magical Girls.

Gushing Magical Aftermath

Nope. Not a dream. Hahaha! Venalita made itself at home with Utena’s other plushies. Don’t underestimate the power of friendship, apparently. Har. Haruka Hanabishi, Magia Magenta, has sore butt cheeks! Gushing Over Magical Girls does not skimp on fanservice scenes. Gym clothes changing in the classroom! Sayo Minakami, Magia Azul, still suffers horrendous rear pain. Also, why is Pop Team Epic making a cameo here? There’s no use trying to discover the whipping girl’s identity because she has the same face-masking magic Tres Magia does.

What does Venalita have planned for Utena next? Creepy mannequins. Oh, yes. Naked transformation sequences in Gushing Over Magical Girls. Oops. The tight magical-girl briefs hurt those tender behinds. I expect to see uninterrupted transformations in future episodes. Venalita overuses “LIME.” No need for crystal communication devices in the age of smartphones. Ha! Both magical girls and the villain transformed at the same spot on the roof.

Magical Suffering Tickles Me So

How will Utena torture Tres Magia this time? Viral blackmail still works. Spider arm dolls! Armpit tickle torture! And feet! Squirming, squealing, and panicked gasping! Utena can barely hold in her glee. Aw. It’s time to leave already. She enjoyed herself, but to what end? What does Enormita aim to do with world domination? Utena uses the wrong dominance play.