Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 12 (Fin)

Whoops, miscounted: here I was thinking for some reason there’d be two episodes left, but this turns out to be the finale. And you know what? I’m fine with that, even if the epilogue was a little rushed.

The epic final battle between Ripple and Swim Swim goes on while Fav continues to verbally torture Koyuki, who doesn’t want to be a magical girl anymore. The damn cyber-bird-thingy finally broke her spirit.

But then, when she finally hears the truth she probably should have known for some time now — that this was nothing but a deathmatch for Fav and Cranberry’s shared entertainment — she transforms once again, hoping not to be too late before Ripple and Swim Swim kill each other.

This is Koyuki finally focusing her grief over the patently unfair, grisly ordeal she’s been through into action. It’s very satisfying watching her smash her terminal in rage, even if we know it’s not yet the end of Fav.

The battle between Ripple and Swim Swim, pockmarked as it is by cuts to Snow and Fav, at least shows Ripple has learned a thing or two, both from her own first fight with Swim and from others who didn’t quite get her.

Ripple uses light and sound to disable Swim Swim, pulling her out of her magical girl form. This is when what had been a satisfying battle between a super-strong kunoichi and a super-powerful magic-user stops being fun.

That’s because Swim’s transformation back to normal shows us that Swim Swim was only a small child, and a deeply troubled one at that. She was doing what she thought she needed to do to become her idol, Ruler, and Ripple takes no joy in finishing the tyke off.

That being said, things got satisfying again when Ripple puts Swim Swim’s magic spear through the Master terminal, which takes Fav off line for good (cue grumpy cat GOOD pic). I also liked the cleverness of Koyuki being able to hear that Fav was in trouble, and that the spear would indeed do him in.

Snow was too late to save Swim Swim (not that she would have listened to reason if she were still alive when she arrived), but she does end up saving Ripple by inspiring her. With Top Speed avenged, Ripple wants to go back to being a magical girl in the vein of Snow White; that is, someone pure and righteous, not someone who ends up having to stab children.

In the aforementioned speedy epilogue, Koyuki abandons her normal life, and for six months, toughens her mind and body — with Ripple’s help — and pulls off increasingly big, flashy feats — having come a long way from doing little kind deeds here and there.

Going big picture as she does, and rejecting the selection process and the raising project, is likely Koyuki’s way of making up for all the other girls whose lives were lost so that she could, as Fav put it, rise to the top without “dirtying her hands.” Now she’s a little less bright-eyed and naive and more world-weary and wise. And she’s determined to do everything she can to make the world a better place.

Other than Fune wo Amu, which was handed off to me by Zane, MGRP was the last show standing on my Fall ’16 watchlist. A big part of that was that it was an elimination show that kept me involved right to the end, despite almost never properly developing characters in the right way or at the right time. (A notable exception being Alice).

Anyway, I’m glad I stuck with it, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Madoka. It wasn’t nearly as good, but it was a fun ride.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 11

Well, Cranberry didn’t think Swim Swim would be able to kill her, and she was right…but she didn’t account for Tama and her hole-making ability at a crucial moment, leading to the unfortunate state of affairs above, one of the most surprising (not to mention awesomely gruesome) sudden deaths of the show. Cranberry was supposed to be above all this; she was the last girl standing once before, after all. But she wanted to fight strong enemies, and got her wish – and dug her grave in the process. R.I.P. Cranberry.

For her, well, dog-like loyalty (and complete and utter lack of guile), Tama is swiftly dispatched by Swim Swim, ever looking out for Number One. Tama saw Swim Swim’s true form, after all, and one of the edicts the late Ruler instilled in Swim Swim — in real life a small, impressionable, dedicated young girl — was to never let anyone learn your true identity. Swim Swim decided that even meant her last and most loyal ally. R.I.P. Tama.

(Incidentally, we got Tama’s backstory as she bleeds out, confirming her guilelessness and indicating she, like Alice, simply wanted to be useful to people. Pretty rote stuff.)

With the shocking exit of Cranberry (and the far less shocking exit of Tama), the last three magical girls remaining are Swimmy, Ripple, and Snow White. Ripple asks Snow to meet, but Ripple just wants any and all intel Snow might have on Swim Swim, nothing more. Snow argues killing Swimmy now will only make Ripple a murderer, but Ripple don’t care. If Snow won’t help her, she’ll go it alone.

Ripple seems to live only to avenge her friend and mentor Top Speed, the aftermath of whose death has been hard on her. Snow lost a friend last week in Alice, but it was essentially a friend she didn’t know she had. Swim Swim, showing a tinge of the innocence of her real self, sheds a tear at the loss of Tama, but Tama wasn’t really her friend, either, more of a sidekick.

No, Ripple and Top Speed were the best-realized duo on the show — more even than Snow and Pucelle — and it was something Ripple didn’t know how badly she needed until it was gone. Top Speed could see a side to Ripple — to Sazanami Kano — no one else could, either because they were too busy looking her up and down, or because she wore her mask so well.

Interestingly, Ripple gets a full-on Sailor Moon-style transformation sequence prior to heading to the dam to duel Swim Swim. The fact it’s a dam means there’ll be plenty of water there (good for Swimmy), but Ripple at least has the hint from Fav (who seems kinda miffed by Swimmy’s apathy with her new role as master) that light and sound are her weaknesses.

I don’t know who will prevail in that duel: judging from past battles, Swim Swim always seems to get the upper hand in the end, but she’s out of allies and now occupies the same seemingly invincible space Cranberry once stood. I can’t rule out a Ripple victory.

Heck, maybe they kill each other, leaving Snow White as the last girl standing by default. That’s the least satisfying outcome: Snow is still clinging to her ideals of what a Magical Girl should be. It stands to reason a show that loves taking things away would take that away from her before all’s said and done.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 10

What do we have here? The first magical girl backstory that actually made me feel something, and elicit something other than an indifferent shrug. Like all the other backstories, it still comes too late to be as impactful as it could have been, but it still connected. And what do you know, it’s Hardgore Alice’s alter ego: Hatoda Ako.

One reason Alice looks so dark is because Ako comes from such a dark place. Her father murdered her mother, making her a pariah at school. While her auntie seems nice enough, Ako knows she’s not needed by anyone; she’s just a burden. Then she heard about Snow White, and thought they would make a pretty sweet black-and-white duo.

Of course, this is MagiPro, so that turned to shit pretty fast. Mina disguised herself as Alice’s stuffed rabbit in order to learn Ako’s home address. Once Swim Swim knew that, all she had to do was ambush Ako when she wasn’t in her invincible form.

There’s a special twist of the knife in play here, what with Alice trying to reach out to Snow White as a friend, but simply being unable to say the right words at the right time.

That time is when Koyuki is simply freaking out about all the horrible things happening (which is justifiable), but that doesn’t make it any easier when Snow White is holding a bloody, dying Ako in her arms and learns it’s her would-be only friend in the world.

That leaves Snow White, Ripple, Swim Swim, Mina, Tama…and Cranberry. And in case you haven’t been paying attention in the last few Cranberry scenes, Cranberry isn’t like the other magical girls. In fact, she seems to be some kind of facilitator from the magical world, overseeing what is in fact a super-bloody selection process that is nearing its end as the ranks dwindle.

For the record, Cranberry would have preferred to simply kill off all the weak ones right away, but has seemingly left the administration of the game to Fav (and whoever is controlling/speaking as Fav).

Swim Swim has proven to be a one-girl wrecking crew, and when she comes to Cranberry’s forest to take her down, Cranberry uses is as an opportunity to get to know Swimmy a little better. She’s impressed by her, if not her sidekicks (she kills Mina with ease, in one of the show’s more unceremonious killings), but she still doesn’t think Swim Swim can beat her.

As for Ripple, who is out there on her own with only revenge on her mind, I’m not sure how she’s going to be able to actually exact any on Swim Swim. The first time they fought, Swim seemed to have her number, and that was with Top Speed’s help. And then there’s the possibility Cranberry will kill Swim Swim before Ripple can get to her. In any case, it’s never a dull moment in MagiPro Land.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 09

Ripple has had it with Calamity Mary, and we finally get a good look at what Ripple can do when she’s seriously cheesed off. Unfortunately for her, like Mary with Alice, she underestimates just how formidable her opponent is. Mary is able to hold her own in close quarters, deflect Ripple’s can’t-miss shuriken, attack from range, and set traps.

Ripple can’t beat Mary on her own. It takes help from Top Speed, who saves Ripple from a land mine and grenade trap, but then turns around at Ripple’s insistence.

After some failed dive-bombings, Top Speed hovers high over Mary while Ripple rains down thousands of tiny shards of glass, which distract Mary enough for her not to dodge when a shuriken hits her in the forehead, killing her. A violent death for a violent (and not particularly compelling) bad gal.

Ripple and Top Speed get to celebrate for all of five seconds when Swim Swim shows up, kills Top Speed, and hassles Ripple until turning to water and slinking away, having greatly weakened her enemy by killing her ally. Swim Swim may be dull and monotone, but she’s also proven to be an stone-cold killah, always thinking steps ahead and trying to be a better Ruler to Ruler.

R.I.P. Top Speed: I should have known the recent cut to your real life, and all the mentions of the six months you needed, meant you weren’t long for this world.

This whole time, Snow White and Alice are helping care for the innocent people Mary attacked, and even in peaceful duty like this, Alice’s immense strength and durability comes in handy. She comes in even handier when Snow White is ambushed by a vengeful Minael, who turns into a throwing axe that Alice catches in the same spot Mary took Ripple’s shuriken.

Naturally, since her body regenerates, it’s no biggie for Alice, but the message has been sent: Minael is gunning (or axing) for Snow White, so she’d better watch her righteous back.

Oh and Fav announces (to the surprise of no one) since there’s now fewer than eight magical girls left (seven to be exact), they might as well keep going until there are only four. The gears immediately start turning for Swim Swim, who wants to attack Cranberry next using the magic energy potion. That should be some fight.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 08

It’s sad to say, but Habutae Nana was definitively the worst thing to ever happen to Ashuu Shizuku. Sure, it’s not entirely Nana’s fault—how could she know the game she was getting her lover involved in would lead to that lover’s death?

But the bottom line is, Nana did get Shizuku involved…then kept helping her enemies by leading Winterprison into ambush after ambush. You’d think Nana would have gotten the memo by now: there will be no peace until there’s one magical girl remaining.

Winterprison manages to slip away from Calamity Mary, but when Nana insists they meet with Swim Swim’s crew, the numbers and tactics prove too challenging to escape with her life. Swim Swim is cold, calculating, and obsessed with surpassing Ruler, whom she still admires despite having betrayed and killed her.

Winterprison does not go quietly, taking Yuna down before succumbing to Swim Swim’s blade. Forgive me for not shedding any tears for Yuna, but she and her twin sister Mina have been nothing but amoral, devious little pills for the entire run of the show, and we didn’t even get a glimpse of their human lives.

We do get a little snippet of Top Speed AKA Murota Tsubame’s life as a pregnant housewife that makes her husband worry when she runs after him with his lunch. She’s trying to keep Ripple close to increase her chances of staying alive long enough to give birth to her kid, and Ripple seems totally okay with this for now.

The episode ends with nine magical girls still alive: Snow White, Hardgore Alice, Calamity Mary, Cranberry, Swim Swim, Mina, Tama, Top Speed and Ripple. One more death and the group will be halved as Fav decreed…but next week’s episode title about a “rule change” probably portends another halving, then another, until there’s only one girl left.

With Hardgore Alice apparently by Snow White’s side, it’s looking more likely than ever that Koyuki will be the one to survive this ordeal. Whether her soul survives is another issue entirely.

Speaking of souls, we learn that in real life Calamity Mary’s husband left her because she’s a drunk who abused their daughter. So naturally Fav thought it would be a great idea to give her more power. But we saw how ineffective that power was against Alice, and Alice seems to be protecting Snow White. We’ll see where this goes.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 07

After the ordeal with Magicaloid and Hardgore Alice, Koyuki wakes up in her bed, shaken but none the worse for wear, and in possession of a rabbit’s foot, a rare item Fav says belongs to Alice. Koyuki wants to return it, but wants nothing else to do with Alice, who freaks her out royally.

When Calamity Mary gets wind of Magicaloid’s death, she seeks out Alice, but no matter how hard she tries, she just can’t kill the bitch. Riddling her with bullet holes? Nothing. Blowing her to a bloody pulp with a shotgun, machine gun, and grenade? Nada. Chopping her gooey remains to pieces, setting them aflame, pouring acid over them, burying them in a drum full of cement and tossing it into the ocean? Absolutely no effect.

Calamity Mary has finally found an implacable adversary, and it’s uncertain whether she’s excited or simply going insane from that prospect. It is interesting, however, that by trying to take out Alice, she’s showing a kind of loyalty to her former business associate. Honor among thieves and all that.

Sazanami Kano AKA Ripple is billed as a main character alongside Koyuki, and we’ve seen a bunch of her, but didn’t know quite where she was coming from until this week. Her life is presented as a series of incidents where she can’t take it anymore, lashes out physically, and ends up alone.

Granted, people say and do awful things to her that warrant a good punching, but it’s clear she’s not exactly what you’d call fulfilled. Maybe she sticks with Top Speed out of a desire to connect with someone that still endures despite all the awful experiences she’s had with people…as enduring as Hardgore Alice’s invincible Terminator body.

As for Alice, she confronts Koyuki, and won’t leave her alone even when she tries to run away, but while doing this makes her threatening, Alice takes no violent action against her. In fact, she’s adamant that she merely gave Koyuki her rabbit’s foot because “she felt like it.”

Maybe despite appearances she’s not someone Koyuki needs to be worried about. Swim Swim is another story, as the episode ends with her setting up an ambush for Nana and Winterprison, who are seeking unity in these troubling times.

As for Calamity Mary wanting to meet with Ripple, I’m not sure what that’s about, but surely someone has to bite the dust at some point, as there are currently more girls left than episodes.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 06

La Pucelle never had a chance. Cranberry played her like a fiddle till the end, first by rejecting his call for a “fair fight” (she’s clearly more powerful than her, able to block her sword with her bare hand), then getting him to launch one more last-ditch assault to “rid the world” of such an objectionable magical girl, only for Souta to get knocked out, tossed in the street, and run over moments after coming to.

It’s a strong statement from Magical Girl Raising Project that really ups the stakes for Snow White/Koyuki. Her friend and protector is lost. She’s all alone and all-too-tempting a target, both for more aggressive girls and for Fav to try to tease some years out of her life in exchange for rare trinkets.

Koyuki’s fear of death finally leads her to hit “buy”, only for everything to be sold out; she waited too long. Now she’s in even more trouble: no more ready to fight, but without a defense against those items. The show is really piling on with Koyuki’s misfortune, further convincing me she’s the one Fav either is trying to build her up into the Ultimate Girl—or kill her trying.

As for the items, they seem to have been snatched up by Swim Swim’s crew, with her taking on the most lifespan reduction. She wants to protect herself and the gang at all costs, even going so far as to name her weapon after the old ruler who failed them and led Swim to pick up the ball and run with it.

Ripple is disappointed she couldn’t acquire anything and nervous about the consequences, but Top Speed assures her they’ll be fine and that neither of them will die, based on…well, nothing but blind optimism, really. Despite her titular speed, I’m wondering how long Top Speed thinks she can stay above the fray, and how long she can keep Ripple as an ally. It seems she only needs six months.

The final act of the episode is the goriest and most chaotic, with Hardgore Alice (groan) finding Koyuki and seemingly preparing to kill her, only to be beheaded by Magicaloid 44 (who was ordered by Mary to kill someone that night). For a moment, Alice seems like she was never anything more than a MacGuffin.

Then, before Magicaloid can kill Koyuki too, she is killed by a headless Alice, whose power is quick regeneration, making the quick look back to pre-magical girl Andou Makoto at the beginning of the episode seem like a too-late attempt to humanize her. As for Koyuki, she’s starting to lose it fast.

Raising A Better Magical Girl

The following is some rambling preliminary analysis/speculation of Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku. Feel free to add your thoughts/theories in the comments. If you’ve read the source LN and already know the answers, no spoilers or hints, please. Thanks!

Five episodes in (and two girls down), I’ve begun to ponder the answer to the question, “What is the Magical Girl Raising Project?” Sure, it appears on the surface to be a cruel, zero-sum death match among sixteen girls, who must either knock out the other girls or die. And it might be as simple as that! Last girl standing wins, The End. Fav has said the field of girls must be reduced by half to eight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Fav decides to half it again to four, then two, and finally one.

That’s key, because that’s the raising in the Raising Project. With each magical girl destroyed, her power (expressed as candies) is distributed among the survivors. That means the last girl standing will be an extremely powerful Magical Girl. And that seems to be Fav’s goal. The field of sixteen might not even be fully-formed magical girls; only “potentials”, and “raising” the single ultimate girl requires the sacrifice of the other fifteen.

Obviously, I don’t have much proof for this beyond what I feel to be logical sense – and while there’s no reason Fav has to be a logical entity, I can’t think of any other reason Fav (or the person behind Fav’s avatar) would do this, other than for sport, and there are far less time and resource-intensive ways to hold death matches.

I think it’s reasonable to assume Himekawa Koyuki will be the last girl standing. She’s certainly the favorite so far, despite her reticence to participate. I like to think it’s hinted at in the ending sequence above (if YouTube hasn’t removed it due to a copyright claim): One by one, the magical girls float by with their eyes closed, while Koyuki holds a growing plant in her hand. The plant is her, the Ultimate Magical Girl, being raised, nurtured and strengthened by the magic of her fallen peers.

The question, beyond whether I’m right or if the show will have more curveballs, and possibly drop Koyuki early (unlikely), is what Fav plans to do with this ultimate magical girl once she’s been fully raised. Is this a process normal people aren’t aware of, where such a girl must be raised in order to defeat some kind of Ultimate Evil, thus saving the world, only for the cycle to be repeated? Maybe!

If that’s the case, Fav is currently keeping the girls in the dark, perhaps so they stay focused on whittling themselves down. But it might behoove someone like Koyuki to know why she’s trapped in a fight she doesn’t think is right, fair, or just.

She’d still have a choice, but instead of a nebulous goal of “winning”, she’d know the stakes were far higher. Then again, while most would agree that fifteen lives is a small price to pay to save the world, Koyuki might think even one life is too costly.

In any case, we’ll see how this plays out. Also, I really dig the ending theme. The vocals remind me of Evanescence…in a good way!

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 05

Surprisingly, no one dies this week, despite plenty of palls being cast over various magical girls, and none darker than those upon Sister Nana and/or Weiss Winterprison, AKA Habutae Nana and Ashuu Shizuku, a couple in real life.

What we get instead of a death is the full laying-out of what I’ll call the “Spectrum of Light and Dark”. We now know more or less where everyone stands, and the makeup is such that Fav will likely get what he wants: the field of sixteen is already fourteen, and it’s gonna get smaller.

Mind you, this is a spectrum, not a black and white situation. Way over on the Light End end are goody-two-shoes like Snow, Pucelle, Nana and Weiss who want to end the conflict. Then we have those way over on the Bad Side like Calamity Mary and Cranberry, who just want chaos and good fights, but also want to win. They like Fav’s new strategy.

Other than these extremes, a whole bunch of people are various distances from the middle of the spectrum. You have opportunists like Swim Swim and her gang, who might be less unscrupulous if circumstances were different. You have Magicaloid-44, who is after a buck first, but seems at least aware of how much she screwed the person who became Weiss Winterprison. Others, like Top Speed and Ripple, are on the fence.

Now that we know more about where people are coming from—both in their real lives, in Nana and Weiss’ case, or where they stand on the spectrum, like everyone else—I’m starting to become more invested in the supporting characters of this show. Nemurin’s fate moved me, and I even felt bad for Ruler even though she was a haughty piece of work.

Now, as Cranberry descends upon Nana and Weiss, I feel bad for them too. Weiss depends on Nana’s buffing power, and Cran would rather fight a strong Weiss than a weak one, but someone has to die eventually, and it’s more likely to be those who would rather not fight than those who love to fight. Nana loves peace, and she loves Shizuku. The baddies will exploit those things to ruin her.

The only chance the good-to-near-good guys who don’t what to fight is if they stick together and look out for each other. It’s not enough for Nana to rely on Weiss, or Snow on Pucelle: they’ve got to join forces. The baddies aren’t going to make that easy.

Newcomer Hardgore Alice seems singularly fixated on Snow White (as she’s kinda the opposite with the Goth look), Swim Swim’s crew has yet to come up with a solid plan but will shit on Snow White and Pucelle on social media for now, and Cranberry wants Pucelle.

There are magical girls on the board who are in this for themselves, and those who are in it for or because of others, and the ones they love. This isn’t just a last-girl-standing battle, but a struggle to determine what a magical girl should be. Classically, it’s the ones who want to protect the weak, but they’re the ones looking weak in a game rigged to favor those with poorly adjusted—or nonexistent—moral compasses.

Then again, we’re currently being led to believe the likes of Nana and Koyuki will simply crumble if they lose their respective knights. But is that really the case? If that happens, it will be interesting to see if these “light” girls will embrace the darkness and, having nothing more to live for, commence personal quests for vengeance.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 04

In Magipro, Ruler is what Mokuou Sanae can’t be in the real world: in control. She always ranked at the top of her class, but speaking out of turn at the office where she worked got her reassigned by a boss who wanted her to learn her place. She always saw everybody in the world as idiots to be brought to heel. It’s how she ruled as Ruler, and it was her downfall.

Getting Ruler’s backstory was a sure sign that she’d be the next victim, despite having come up with a devious scheme to steal Snow White’s Magical Candies. As it happens, her desire to keep distance from her subjects by insulting them at every opportunity became her fatal flaw when she relied on Swim Swim to transfer Snow White’s candies while she held her pose to keep Koyuki from moving (the flipside of her magical power to control).

As such, Swim Swim took it upon herself to doublecross Ruler, only taking half of Snow White’s 50,000+ candies and distributing them evenly to all but Snow White herself, La Pucelle…and Ruler. That puts Ruler in last place at the time of the rankings, and it kills her.

Tama seems torn up by the coup, but the twin “angels” are fine with it, and acknowledge Swim Swim as their new leader. In a nice twist, Swim Swim was the young girl who Nemurin said could be a princess if she tried hard enough. But Swim Swim couldn’t be the true Ruler until the old one was eliminated. And so it comes to be.

The entire situation disgusts Koyuki, who was ready to die rather than let anyone else die in her place before she learned Swim Swim only took half of her candies. But Souta isn’t so dedicated to Koyuki’s ideals, especially if it means Koyuki’s death. So La Pucelle re-vows to be Snow White’s knight, doing whatever is necessary to keep her alive and safe – whether Snow White wants such treatment or not.

With the sixteenth magical girl entering the field, Koyuki will no doubt continue to need protection, not just from those who would eliminate her, but from her own stubborn refusal to defend herself at the cost of others.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 03

Once Sister Nana and Winterprison find a recording of Fav telling Cranberry retired Magical Girls die in real life as well, it isn’t long before they make the connection to the sudden real-world death of Sanjou Nemu, and start to worry about their own lives. It’s no longer a fun game. The lives they have as magical girls are the only lives they’ve got..and they’ll have to fight for them.

We spend a fair amount of time with Ruler’s gang: twins Yuna and Mina, the doglike Tama, and the quiet but equally loyal Swim Swim. Ruler keeps emotional distance from her “subjects” by calling them idiots and useless, but she clearly cares about them and has taken it upon herself to make sure no one drops out.

Yuna and Mina initially try to depose Snow White with a PV, and get close, finishing second in popularity polls. But once the truth of their plight is out, that petty jealousy is twisted into a competition for their very lives.

Koyuki reacts to the news exactly how you’d expect someone with as much purity and empathy as she has: lamenting her situation and even feeling guilty about always taking the top spot.

Souta tells her it’s good and right to feel that way, but for now all they can do is keep surviving for the day they can perhaps find a hole in Fav’s oppressive “that’s the way it is” system. I doubt that will actually happen before most of the girls die, but still! Until then, Souta vows to be Koyuki’s sword.

She’ll need it. Ruler wastes no time plotting to exploit the “update” to the game that allows girls to exchange candies. She believes it’s a move by the game’s admins to egg the girls on into taking candies from one another, now that they’re exchangeable. And there’s no more tempting target than Snow White, sitting on hundreds if not thousands of candies, and with no personal desire to hurt her fellow magical girls.

Ruler doesn’t plan to eventually take all of Snow White’s candy. As far as she’s concerned, it’s written in stone that Snow White will die, tonight. She is not messing around, and while her subjects aren’t the most reliable, they are still magical girls with unique powers.

Whether Koyuki survives depends on how capable Souta is of protecting her, as well as how far she’s willing to forsake her cherished ideals of purity, righteousness, and beauty. Because shit’s about to get ugly fast.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 02

This week we get to learn a bit more about the other magical girls and their various affiliations, the method by which Fav will determing which magical girls will be culled, and most importantly, the consequences of being one of those girls.

Calamity Mary is a loose cannon, in this for herself. Top Speed looks after Ripple, to whom trouble seems to always come. Ruler leads the largest alliance of girls, and won’t let anyone in her group drop out.

While some of the girls’ abilities leave me wondering how they collect “Magical Candies” to determine who survives, with Snow White and La Pucelle there isn’t really any wonder. Koyuki is a good-deed-doing machine, and just being with her keeps Souta out of the points basement.

Unfortunately, someone has to “go” every week for the next eight weeks, and this week is no exception. And while Nemurin’s “deeds” include saving the world and space multiple times, because she’s only doing it in people’s dreams, her candies are only dream candies.

She doesn’t seem to mind, since she’s having fun helping people in dreams. And in the real world, she’s getting ready to end her NEET status and move forward in her life, so if she’s the first to lose, it’s not that big a deal.

Of course, things aren’t that simple. It was disquieting enough to see Nemurin’s avatar get rubbed out, followed by the curt message that she’s been “deleted.” It’s quite another matter when, after the stroke of midnight on her last night as a magical girl, Sanjou Nemu “says goodbye to everything”, and her mother finds her lying dead in her bead.

Now we know this isn’t just a competition to remain being a magical girl. These girls are fighting for their lives. Most, including Koyuki, aren’t aware of this yet. Fortunately for her, she’s at the top of the points. But that makes her a target; Ruler in particular sees her as an eyesore. We’ve got a tough, bloody, slightly frilly battle ahead of us.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku – 01 (First Impressions)

What is it: The story of Himekawa Koyuki, who has loved magical girls since she was a little kid, suddenly being selected to become a real magical girl by the mobile game MagiPro. She immediately set to work helping townsfolk, and the first fellow magical girl she meets in person is her childhood friend Souta, a boy. One day, MagiPro’s mascot Fav announces the number of magical girls in the region will be halved from sixteen to eight.

Why You Should Watch: It’s above-average in terms of general looks and production values, once you get used to its character design, which tends towards the cute. Sure, Koyuki’s almost painfully earnest and naive, but the show seems fully aware of this, and unlike Gakkou Gurashi, doesn’t wait until the end of the episode to drop the hammer down.

It’s right there in the cold open: one magical girl standing over the bloodied corpses of her rivals. Even so, it’s nice to ease into this suddenly miraculous world along with Koyuki, and even though we know she’s doomed, we can still enjoy the little bit of good times she has early on. Her friend Souta’s situation is also an interesting wrinkle.

Why You Shouldn’t Watch: The presence of over sixteen characters, most of which billed as mains, can be intimidating, and also allows for an almost overwhelming helping of moe (each magical girl has their own specific…very specific look). The show owes much to Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Koyuki owes much to Madoka herself, while the format suggests a marathon/tournament on the scale of Akuma no Riddle or another Lerche series, Danganronpa.

The Verdict: Unlike Touken Ranbu, MagiPro had a hook to it that made me invested in the protagonist and look forward to the next episode. There’s a lot of exposition in both shows, but for some reason it felt more natural and less drawn out here, and the concept was a lot simpler and, more importantly, actually executed well.

Koyuki’s transition is quick, but we feel the same wonder she feels, and the same dread when she sees the ominous word “halved” in the chat room. She’s committed to be a “pure, righteous, and beautiful” magical girl, but she may have to rethink that strategy if she doesn’t want to be a dead one.