Episode 04 — “Everyone Loves the Tres Magia!”
Hmm.
It was only a matter of time before Utena had a solo love scene with Magia Magenta in Gushing over Magical Girls. I was excited about what specific kink Haruka Hanabishi, the leader of the Tres Magia, would show us. Exhibitionism! Her second fight with Magia Baiser revealed (!) that Haruka is as airheaded as she is charismatic. She can’t be embarrassed because she’s not naked! The anime’s character designers displayed the fruits of their labors on the official Twitter account. There had better be a cast-off figurine for Magia Magenta’s Pastie Version!
Character development was the top priority for this Gushing over Magical Girls episode. We already know that Utena has an obsessive personality because she collects Tres Magia merchandise. So, we shouldn’t have been surprised how her grades suffered after she discovered porno mags. Venalita does not care about secret identities for his magical villainess unit. If it were up to him, Baiser and Leoparde would stay magically transformed and live at the Nacht Base. But the introduction of Vatz, the magical girls’ managing mascot, was the more interesting plot development.
Vatz and Venalita presented tantalizing hints at treason or revolution in the magical mascot world in just a few stray comments. The details made it seem as if Enormita existed before Venalita joined it. Were there other “bad guy” mascots already there? Is Venalita unique? If he is, where did the powers of the higher-ups in Enormita come from? This is good structural world-building and foreshadowing. Imagine! Excellent technical narrative construction as we watch pink pasties flopping around. Gushing over Magical Girls continues to show the anime world how to make fanservice vehicles entertaining, too.
Heh. Geh.
Oh, yes. Gushing over Magical Girls starts us off with a criminally neglected fetish from the first three episodes: slime tentacles. Do they also melt clothes? Whoa. That was quick. Sayo is disappointed!
Kiwi and Utena are besties at school now. Uh oh. Utena bombed her last test because she spent time tormenting magical girls instead of doing homework and studying. Ack! That’s an extreme motivation for Utena — her mom will throw out her magical girl collection unless her grades improve! Venalita doesn’t care about Utena’s grades. Magia Magenta is taunting Baiser for a fight! Venalita calls Utena out for reading porn instead of studying, though. Oh, right. The mascot is the bad guy in Gushing over Magical Girls, so blackmail and extortion trump studying. Magenta acts like a real magical girl: listen to how she told the bigger kids to hold little ones’ hands to evacuate in an emergency.
That’s creative. Baiser manufactured naughty scissors! They look like sharp butterflies. Uh, big kids? Cover the little ones’ eyes! Aha. Magia Magenta owns the public nudity and exhibitionism kink. And done. Time for homework. That doesn’t look like homework to me. Magenta doodles are why Utena’s math test scores are tanking because she has naked magical girls on her mind! At least, Utena admitted it. Ceiling Venalita is watching you fap, Utena. Fair question from Venalita: why worry about Tres Magia collectibles when she constantly sees them in person all the time? Utena’s obsession is about stuff instead of experiences.
Fighting in public again. How did Haruka solve her dress battle damage issue? Oh. Magenta has a question only Baiser can answer. Ohoho! Pink pasties! Magia Magenta could defeat Baiser through blood loss! Embarrassment? Well. Haruka is the leader of Tres Magia for reasons other than her sharp mind. These magical girls know how to go viral. Oh, now she’s embarrassed after members of the public start taking pictures. Neither Magenta nor Baiser are in any condition to fight each other. Baiser lacks self-awareness when she asks about Magenta’s getup. She’s wearing pasties, too! And then Magenta stopped wearing pasties… Her solution against dress battle damage did not work. But the blood loss on Baiser’s part makes a stalemate.
Wow. We keep learning how Tres Magia’s powers work in Gushing over Magical Girls. Does Sulfur’s shield ability heal, too? Sayo has questions. Don’t spare any details about what Baiser did. How horrible was it!? Ah. Haruka wanted to know whether Baiser wanted to defeat Tres Magia in reality. Kaoruko says it doesn’t matter because they fight bad guys. Sounds like propaganda and tautology, as Venalita explained. Also, Utena never studied for her make-up test. Fret not: Kiwi is a perfect student! Just pay her with sushi and kisses on the cheek. Thankfully, Utena’s Tres Magia collection is safe.
Kaoruko is on the other side of Haruka’s frustration about short fights with Baiser. They leave before she can beat them down! Hahaha. Haruka knows Utena eats lunch by herself at the main character’s location. You know. The stairs up to the roof. Kaoruko wonders why she knows that! Uh oh. Jealous Kiwi says Utena’s hers for lunchtime fun. Good to know — Kaoruko has mean-girl energy. Kiwi picked up how she hid it behind a sweet mask. That’s just like how Magia Sulfur fights. She needs to hide those scary fists from the public. Nice. Her friends noticed her frustration. Kaoruko’s frustration could turn into corruption.
It’s about time. Let’s meet the good guys’ mascot. Vatz is white with heart-shaped decorations. She acts more like an idol producer than a Navi character. Tres Magia has to do photoshoots to manage its public image. Good guys need a PR firm. Why? Hoho. There are so many magical girls in Gushing over Magical Girls’ world that it has a devoted weekly magazine. One headline says attacks on them are increasing. Protect those regional franchises. Sulfur bristles at the image-massaging they have to do instead of just fighting “the forces of evil and shit.” Why would they have to maintain a strong media presence If the magical girls are so good?
I like this two-sides-of-the-same-coin narrative developing in Gushing over Magical Girls. Oh, right. Can’t Enormita detect the magical girls? Not when Vatz set up a force field to hide them. Ooh. Vatz has a history with Venalita. There’s unexplored lore here, people.
Oops. Somebody hit a force field generator with her car! Here come the bad guys! Notice the star motif matches Venalita’s. Utena can’t wait until the photoshoot pics come out. Vatz asks Venalita to stop siding with evil. Venalita throws the question back at her! Leoparde wants to get it on with Magia Sulfur. Teamwork! Baiser can use Leoparde’s summoned weapons instead of finding random items nearby. Huh. Vatz did forbid Sulfur from using her big fists because of the sponsors. Uh oh. Leoparde’s explosion gave Sulfur a smokescreen. Now she can go fisting! But Baiser wouldn’t have it any other way. Look at the evil, sadistic grins on Baiser and Sulfur’s faces. Who’s the bad guy now? Har. Sayo ended up in a tentacular spectacle again.
Next time, a third magical villainess debuts. Meet Nero Alice! She likes black cats with potty mouths.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please don't comment on posts more than 4 years old. They will be deleted.