Gushing over Magical Girls – 13 (Fin) – Love’s a Game of Give and Take

Vena gives the Enormita girls a much-deserved day off at the beach. Utena rejects the tiny purple micro bikini Kiwi picked out for her, going with a cute lilac one piece instead. Turns out Tres Magia also got the day off, so Haruka, Kaoruko, and Sayo are also there.

Big Sis Haruka builds sand castles with Korisu, Kiwi competes with and shouts at Kaoruko (the two could either be sisters or lovers), and Nemo teach Matama swimming lessons. Sayo ends up with Utena under the umbrella, but perhaps wisely doesn’t bring up last week’s intense massage. Instead, she notices Utena’s Tres Magia bag, and Utena starts to gush about how cool the magical girls are, it gives Sayo a big boost. I can’t help but ship these two.

Unfortunately the peaceful day takes a turn when Kiwi witnesses two drunk girls butting in line ahead of Utena and transforming into Leoparde to threaten them. The Tres girls sense Enormita and transform. Since this is the seaside, Gushing finally has an excuse for Utena to summon a tentacle monster, which not only captures and has its way with Tres Magia, but Kiwi, Matama, and Nemo as well.

Kaoruko, who really hates octopi and tentacles, is almost at the end of her rope when Sayo breaks out her elegant and badass “Maiden of Hoarfrost” new form, much to Utena’s delight. When Utena tosses a couple of her own attacks Sayo’s way, Sayo catches the black bolt in her white shawl, seemingly to deflect it—only to direct the attack back onto herself!

This is the new-and-improved Sayo, who is now able to maintain her dignified façade while embracing her deep-seated love of the punishment Utena is doling out. Utena’s attacks are a form of love, so it’s only right and proper for her to not only take that love, but give some back in return. Haruka is confused, but Kaoruko knows what’s going on: Utena the sadist and Sayo the masochist are having an all-out S&M battle.

Even though Enormita regroups and throws everything they have at Sayo, she’s able to blast them all into the sky, which is just fine with Utena, who has always exhibited switch tendencies. Sayo’s win also allows everyone to transform back into their normal selves, with no one being the wiser about who they just fought (and did … other things too).

It all ends with a (relatively) peaceful night on the beach with fireworks and everyone getting along. Sayo notes how happy Utena looks, and she admits that she is: she has so many lovely friends, and when she’s Baiser she gets to interact up close and personal with the magical girls she loves so much. For all its ecchi raunchiness, Gushing closes out on a sweet note of joy and fellowship.

Chained Soldier – 12 (Fin) – Money on the Table

While Tenka saw her future with Yuuki and Aoba flash before her eyes last week, we get more of Kyouka’s past flashing by here in the finale, as we see the peace and happiness and love in which she grew up turn to ash, and everything she did to become stronger.

She’s fueled by the desire to avenge her hometown and everyone in it, just as Yuuki is fueled by his desire to save his sister, protect his friends, and stand beside Kyouka. Their combined resolve manages to defeat the berserk Unihorn and force an impressed Shikoku to retreat.

With both Coco and Naon being captured by the enemy, Aoba is determined to rescue them. But while she trusts both Tenka and Kyouka to have her and her brother’s best interests at heart, she can’t trust the organization they work for, so she declines their offer to help her.

Kyouka vows to become Supreme Commander, so she can change the policies of the Demon Defense Forces, protect Mato victims like Aoba and her friends, and maybe one day find a cure to their condition. Aoba heads into hiding with a new appreciation of her little brother’s strength, knowing he’ll be just fine until they meet again.

That said, I doubt she’d be okay with Kyouka sharing her bed with Yuuki for a night as his reward while they’re both in their underwear. It’s pretty tame by reward standards, but then again it’s based upon Yuuki’s imagination, so perhaps he can’t quite imagine going all the way with Kyouka (or any girl, for that matter).

The rewards of last few episodes have seemed more of an afterthought; like the show knows this is the system it has set up in order to operate in both the sci-fi action and ecchi spheres, but its heart seemed to be much more in the family dynamics and combat.

That’s evident by how happy lil’ Nei is to see Yuuki when he returned with Kyouka, and how the two go all out to prepare a huge feast for everyone once they recover from their battle injuries. Honestly the sell for Chained Soldier for me is more about these lovable, nicely-designed characters, whether they butt heads, get along, or fight over Yuuki.

Of course, while Tenka can still sneak into Yuuki’s room with her ability and mount him whenever he wants, the fact remains that he’s Kyouka’s “servant” first and foremost. When Nei detects a horde of Shuuki and the 7th squad is mobilized, they’re the ones to deliver the coup-de-grace to the big Shuuki boss.

Since the show kinda just ended with a kind of summing-up of this dynamic, with lots of stuff still to do, either a second season will come along (Update: second season confirmed) to continue the story, or those interested will have to settle for reading the manga. And while I can’t yet commit to a second season, I also won’t deny that I had fun watching this one.

Gushing over Magical Girls – 12 – Playtime is Back

Utena is now Supreme Commander of Enormita by unanimous vote of the other girls, but morphing Lord into a kid took a lot out of her, and she’s worried about Tres Magia and Azure in particular. When she hears from Matama and Nemo that not only are Tres Magia just fine, but Azure has developed a new ability that was able to crush Lord’s goop monsters, she’s over the moon.

The heads into town where Tres Magia are rebuilding, but without her transformation star, so that there’s no chance of her cover being blown. Azure recognizes her classmate, but has to pretend not to. Utena, barely keeping her composure, offers Azure an innocent back rub that soon gets entirely out of hand(s) when she goes below the equator. I have to think Sayo won’t look at Utena the same way next time they cross paths in class!

Since Utena and Kiwi are essentially Korisu’s parents, they take her to a toy store to treat her to some new toys to replace the ones she sacrificed in the battle against Lord & Gigant. While there they encounter Haruka with her adorable triplet sisters, who proceed to play with Korisu. Haruka notes that it would be nice if days were always like this: quiet and peaceful.

Alas, it’s neither Utena nor Kiwi who ruin the peace, but a Neroalice excited to play with her new toys: a Godzilla-like lizard she blows up to the size of a building, and a magic wand that she uses to similarly size up Magenta once she responds to the disturbance. Unable to stop Alice from having her fun, Baiser and Leoparde join in, climbing up into Magenta to mess with her.

Azure and Sulphur head in to help Magenta out, but having four tiny magical girls crawling all up and down her body have the opposite effect. Everyone eventually gets too overheated to keep fighting, and gravity sends them down into Magenta’s panties, which then tear. Having had quite enough of this, Magenta blasts Utena and Kiwi into the sky, then reverts to her normal size.

All’s well that ends well, with Haruka reuniting with her sisters, who report that they saw Magenta’s butt, but she was still really cool. As for Korisu, after having fun with her toys and Tres Magia, she falls into a peaceful, satisfied sleep beside Utena and Kiwi. So begins Utena’s reign as Supreme Commander, whose standing order is to have fun messing with Tres Magia, not eliminating them!

Gushing over Magical Girls – 11 – Asserting Dominance

Having surprised Sister Gigant by revealing her three stars (along with most of the rest of her body), Leoparde proceeds to beat and bomb the shit out of her huge opponent in a rude profanity-laden assault.

The slime hearts are a nice touch

Even when Leoparde starts to cough up blood from overuse of her power, she’s revitalized by her boundless horniness and the promise of a hotel liason with her beloved Magia Baiser. She also uses her brain, creating cracks in the pavement beneath their battle that eventually swallow up Gigant and make her cry real tears of utter defeat.

Korisu has Lord’s slime monsters pent up in her dollhouse, but when she falls asleep, shes transforms out of her Enormita guise Matama and Nemo protect her, they’re soon surrounded. That’s when Tres Magia makes a stylish entrance, and because everyone is in street clothes they don’t recognize them as enemies. Sayo takes on the slime monsters herself and vaporizes them en masse with her nifty new powers.

Meanwhile at Macht Base, Utena is struggling in her battle with Lord Enorme, but due to lack of motivation and boredom with her schtick. Noting that Lord talks about world domination like a kid, she starts to visualize her as a little brat, and suddenly all her accumulated wounds are healed and she reveals a new, even gaudier form, with what looks like eight star tattoos on her face to Lord’s mere four.

By the time Matama and Nemo arrive with a still-tuckered-out Korisu and a heavily bandaged Kiwi, Utena has things well in hand. She turns Lord’s own slime monsters against her, uses them as restraints, then tears off Lord’s clothes starts giving her a spanking. It’s no longer a battle, it’s punishment for Lord’s misdeeds. Lord begs her former allies to help her, but they want no part of what this particularly unhinged version of Baiser is dishing out, thanks!

After sufficient humiliation has been doled out, Utena finally gets a tearful, blubbering apology from Lord Enorme, who seems to have been relieved of three of her four stars. Turns out Venalita let her borrow the other three all along unlike everyone else, who gets their power from within. But her use to Vena has come to an end, so he has Gigant, who was working for him all along, finish Lord off, which presumably means death.

All’s well that ends well. Kiwi is eager to get her hotel date with Utena started as soon as possible, despite being in no condition for any kind of physical exertion. She even looks Matama and Nemo’s way as if inviting them to get a room themselves; they respond by blushing in unison. Korisu clearly looks like she could nap for days.

As for Utena, Venalita makes her the new Supreme Commander of Enormita, and her response is very Utena-y. Apparently Lord Enorme going rogue was all part of Vena’s plan to make the other girls more powerful, and it appears to have succeeded. The question for the final two episodes of this bonkers show is where Utena and her friends go from here.

Chained Soldier – 10 – Caught in the Middle

Naon tells Yuuki the story of how she was just an ordinary human model doing a shoot when she ended up in the middle of a Mato mishap. She tasted a peach, which then went haywire, and the next thing she knew she was a captive research subject of the Onmyou Bureau slowly transforming into a shuuki. It was cruel, inhumane ordeal that makes her desire for revenge valid.

But that validity begins and ends at the Onmyou Bureau, and the people who hurt her directly. It should not extend to the entire human bureaucracy in Mato, including the Demon Defense Force. And yet, despite Yuuki’s protests, Naon, Coco, and his big sis are itching for a fight, alongside their hulking monster familiars.

Kyouka, Tenka, and the others arrive outside Aoba & Co.’s cave, and Yachiho uses Golden Hour to instantly defeat all the small fry. She and Himari take on Naon’s weapon-wielding spider-like familiar, while Shushu and Sahara face off against Coco and her bear-like familiar.

The melee abilities of our wrestler girls are a poor match for Coco’s ability to make herself slimy and slippery, and her familiar’s near-invincibility. Yachiho’s Golden Hour ends up working on the spider monster, but it used itself as a diversion so Naon could ambush Himari with Yachiho too far away to help.

Meanwhile, Kyouka successfully tracks down Yuuki, and I love the way Tenka wordlessly opens a portal, walks through, nabs Yuuki, then walks back and waves to Aoba. Kyouka still owes Yuuki a reward, so she starts sucking and licking his fingers. Tenka joins in despite not under the effects of any contract, because a.) she must feel left out and b.) she really is into Yuuki.

When Aoba finds them and rushes at the girls, Yuuki stands between them and halts her attack. He tells Kyouka and Tenka about Aoba and the other humanoids’ circumstances, and how they’re victims to. Kyouka promises that the Onmyou Bureau will pay for what they did, but Aoba doesn’t trust her. Tempers flare, and Aoba ends up tying Yuuki up with her hair so that he’ll be out of harm’s way while she fights Kyouka and Tenka.

Kyouka ends up taking on Aoba’s Unihorn familiar, making Tenka Aoba’s first opponent. When Tenka introduces herself as Yuuki’s girlfriend, it enrages Aoba (who is a bit of a brocon) that much more, hopefully to throw her off balance.

With Naon and Coco in firm control of their battles against the others and the mysterious Shikoku ready to make a big move, things are really starting to heat up. But don’t get it twisted: the show remains committed to tossing in as much ecchi content as it can.

Gushing over Magical Girls – 10 – Matchmaker Baiser

Even when they were small, Matama always loved to sing, and Nemo hid in the shadows. No one would listen to Matama, and no one would play with Nemo. They essentially became friends because no one else would have them and it worked out for both of them. Now that Matama has decided she’s joining Utena, Nemo ends up following her, because why split up now?

Utena is ready to welcome them with open arms, but they first have to be “purified” of the sin of hunting all those poor magical girls. She traps the pair in a soundproof, shadow-proof dollhouse labeled “The room you can’t leave until you satisfy Magia Baiser.” Utena notes their constant bickering (which they continued here) is a sign of their close friendship, but is certain it goes much deeper than that.

She orders Matama and Nemo to fully explore those depths of their unspoken love, starting with a simple kiss. The girls don’t really put up much of a fight, and not just because they’re trapped. Needless to say, things get quite a bit nuder, hotter, and heavier. It occurs to Nemo that she might’ve always loved Matama like this, as they proceed to go at it with gusto.

Utena watches the whole thing go down and is well and truly satisfied. As a result, the girls are freed from the dollhouse and end up still entangled on the ground, but now fully clothed, before a somewhat confused Kiwi and Korisu. Now that they’ve completed the task Utena set for them, they are now officially allies.

But the fact remains, the four-star Lord Enorme and three-star Sister Gigant are still formidable foes against the two-star Baiser, three-star Neroalice, and zero-star Leoparde. When Lord launches an attack on the town, the girls are overwhelmed by her globular soldiers, who are an extension of Enorme’s power and will only fully disperse if she’s defeated.

Even with Leberblume and Loco Musica on their side, it’s a tough fight, and there’s a point where I was worried Kiwi, tired of being told how weak she is, was going to sacrifice herself for Baiser. Turns out she was hiding the fact that she’s actually a three-star, and thus on equal footing with Gigant.

That leaves Utena free to head to Macht Base to do battle against Lord Enorme, who to this point has been fully clothed, but likely won’t remain so once up against Magia Baiser. And then theres the matter of Sayo continuing to train. Will she finally be a match for Enormita when they return to town?

Chained Soldier – 09 – Is My Big Sister a Baddie?!

After another battle in which Yuuki takes care of the last Shuuki on his own, Kyouka praises him, and it motivates him to keep getting stronger so he can save her. Then his reward acts out the fantasy of saving Kyouka, gathering her in a princess carry so she can kiss him. It’s a rare instance of Kyouka letting her guard down and being a little vulnerable, if only because she’s in reward mode.

Back at base, Tenka is still loitering around, and when talk of Yuuki’s inspiring big sister comes up. Yuuki regales her and the squad of a time one of his classmates and his big brother threatened him, but she came to his rescue, judo-throwing the older brother (who is three times her size). To her surprise, Yuuki also puts the younger bully in a lock, having learned a thing or two from his sis. This pleases her to no end.

Anyone would envy having a tough, cute big sis like Wakura Aoba, and no doubt Yuuki has been missing her every day, and remains both confused and intrigued by the possibility she’s still around, in humanoid Shuuki form. When Nei detects what looks like a kid being chased by Shuuki, Shushu and Himari are dispatched to save her, only for the “kid” to be one of those humanoid Shuuki.

When a second humanoid Shuuki shows up, Shushu and Himari are in big trouble, so despite Kyouka giving Yuuki the rest of the day off to bathe and recharge, they have to head right back out to save their comrades. By the time they arrive, a third humanoid is there: the one who looks like Aoba. When he charges at her, she shouts for him to stop, and he obeys. Kyouka is thrown from his back, and Aoba surrounds her with lesser Shuuki. By the time she’s carved her way through them, the humanoids and Yuuki are gone.

It’s a rare defeat for Uzen Kyouka, but more than that, the fact Yuuki is more than a pet or slave, but a comrade and friend as well, makes it that much harder for her that they’re now separated. He waks up naked, being licked all over by the petite humanoid (her saliva has healing properties). Then Aoba comes in, acts in a way Yuuki immediately clocks as his big sister, and they share a touching embrace.

Aoba, along with her comrades Zanibako Coco (petite) and Yuno Naon (sultry), act pretty much like the humans they used to be … they just look a lot cooler and sexier now. Their chemistry and interactions prove just as charming as the ones among the DDF members. It’s only when Yuuki brings up the DDF that their eyes start to glow and they adopt a more menacing posture, but that soon fades and Aoba returns to the big sister Yuuki knew and loved.

I actually like how much of his time with Aoba the humanoid Shuuki depicts them as less two-dimensional than the heels they make themselves out to be on the battlefield. At the end of the day, they are victims of Mato-related accidents making the best of their new half-monster lives. Like Yuuki, through Aoba I was able to empathize quite a bit with them. These aren’t monsters to be defeated by the DDF, but people with the same souls thery had as humans.

That said, Aoba and her two lieutenants have higher-ups who seemed a lot more one-dimensionally eeeeevil, and it’s clear they have no interest in negotiating or co-existing with the DDF. Suruga and Himari are worried not just about Yuuki, but Kyouka, who holes herself up in her room after they return, but once Yuuki transformed back into a human, Kyouka became a Yuuki detection radar, since she needs to give him his battle reward.

Tenka, Yachiho, and Sahara join forces with Kyouka, Shushu, and Himari for the Rescue-Yuuki mission, but none of them know yet how much more complicated things have gotten. Now that he knows what she is, I doubt Yuuki will allow his big sister to be harmed. It’s your classic case of family-vs-friends divided loyalties, adding a welcome and fascinating wrinkle to what had been a black-and-white fight.

Gushing over Magical Girls – 09 – Out of the Shadows

This week Tres Magia is reduced to bookends, content to train in the wilderness. That said, when she tries to meditate under a waterfall, Sayo only ends up getting turned on by the weight of the water and how wet she’s getting. When the trio bathe together, she covers up her breasts, still remembering what a Dollhouse-influenced Kaoruko did to them. Will these three end up strong enough to take on Enormita? We’ll see!

For now, Enormita is busy fighting the Lord Squad, but first we’re introduced to the sisterly bickering of Loco Musica and Leberblume, who is treating her back wounds from Lord Enorme’s whipping. Loco is eager to get back on stage, partly to lure Enormita girls into a battle, and partly because she truly believes she has the makings of a top idol.

Loco Musica’s next show is Utena’s first opportunity to hear her, and Kiwi isn’t surprised by her reaction. Loco is also playing for a crowd of seeming fans, though something is a bit off. It’s a nice touch that they’re just as out of tune as Loco is, but when Leberblume reveals she has the power to use shadows to control people, it’s clear the crowd is under her influence. Leberblume also features my favorite outfit, showing none of her front and back, but all of her sides.

Utena and Kiwi also end up under her control, but Magia Baiser has a plan. The mortal enemy of shadows being light, she uses Kiwi as bait to lure Leber in, then Kiwi releases a flash grenade. In Leber’s moments of blindness, Neroalice traps her in a darkened dollhouse. Utena threatens to smash the house unless Loco strips and performs naked.

At first, Loco is hesitant and embarrassed, but once she actually starts singing, everyone is shocked to find she can actually carry a tune, as if the discomfort (or comfort?) of being in her birthday suit unlocks the talent she always believed she had, but never demonstrated. She also gets rather hot and bothered by the thrill of performing nude, and when she finishes and Baiser, Leopard, and Neroalice offer their enthusiastic (and genuine) applause, she accepts that his battle is her loss.

With their defeat, both Loco and Leber’s identities are revealed as Akoya Matama and Anemo Nemo. Surprising everyone, including her longtime partner, Matama declares that they’ll be (re-)joining Enormita, and will henceforth be their allies against Lord Enorme and Sister Gigant.

I like the twist because it makes sense: Nemo doesn’t want to be stripped and whipped by Enorme, while Matama is indebted to Baiser & Co. for her true idol awakening. Does this mean next time Tres Magia shows up, it will be five against three … or will Enorme and Gigant team up with the good guys to even the odds?

Chained Soldier – 08 – Getting Personal

This is the second straight week where there’s not a lot of action out in the field, but this episode makes up for it with action elsewhere. Tenka is serious about acquiring Yuuki from Kyouka. At first she says “pet”, but when she meets him in his bedroom via portal, she clarifies that she actually wants more of a normal boyfriend, and he’ll do nicely.

While she really should have knocked, I do appreciate that she asks Yuuki if he’ll miss his shirt before she casts it into a mini-singularity. She tries to convince Yuuki to agree to date her with her body when Shushu pops in. For failing to knock, she’s punished by having to see the boy she likes being glommed on by the 6th Squad’s commander.

While Tenka is caught, her offer to Yuuki remains, and Kyouka won’t interfere in his personal life. He’s free to date whomever he likes as long as it doesn’t disrupt his duties as her slave. Speaking of, she has Nei hop on Yuuki’s back and take the reins in order to determine if he’ll transform into a useful variant.

In this case, he’s not too strong or fast, but he does have extremely keen vision and hearing, the former allowing him to see through his comrades’ clothes. Nei ends up giving him a peck on the cheek as a reward (whew), and makes Shushu eager to hop on Yuuki as well. Unfortunately, while the resulting Yuuki is stronger, he’s also much slower, and can’t scale up along with Shushu.

The testing session in interrupted by an alarm indicating it’s time for Nei to head to school. Yuuki accompanies her, still curious why a relative kid would join the defense force. Like his sister, her parents vanished in what was likely a Maho Mishap, making her an orphan. Her Peach ability’s name, “Sure to Find: Promise”, indicates her stalwart resolve to find them. Her lack of tears and bright smile confirm she’s tougher than she looks.

After having sukiyaki with Tenka, the 6th Squad commander follows her home and immediately starts hitting on Yuuki. Then an alarm sounds, and the three head to the battlefield where Himari and Shushu are already mobilized. There, Kyouka takes it back: she doesn’t want him fawning over Tenka anymore.

Call it jealousy, possessiveness, fear of distractions, or all of the above, Kyouka’s decided she doesn’t want him to date her rival. After giving him a stern talking-to, he’s fired up to give it his all, and they’re able to easily defeat a boss-level Shuuki that was designed by the Snake Lady to toy with them.

Kyouka and Tenka’s boss wants to try talking with the humanoid Shuuki first, but somehow I doubt things will work out so peaceably. As for Tenka, the fact Yuuki is off-limits only makes him more attractive, so I’m sure she’ll keep trying to make him hers.

Gushing over Magical Girls – 08 – The Fault in Our Stars

Sayo owns up, at least partially, to her recent shortcomings as a member of Tres Magia. Without going into the sordid details, she tells Haruka and Kaoruko that she fought Baiser alone and was “totally dominated.” She never wants to feel that defeated again, so she asks them to help her train harder and become stronger.

Meanwhile, Utena, Kiwi, and Korisu are ordered to transform and report to Nacht Base at once, where they’re hastily introduced to the founding members of Enormita: Lord Enorme, Leberblume, Sister Gigant, and Loco Musica. They were just on a “Magical Girl Hunt”, and imagery suggests they are actually murdering girls—not what Utena signed up for … I-I mean, not what Utena was forced to sign up for!

Enorme believes they’re ready to conquer the world, which is at odds with Vena’s commitment to building up their numbers. Enorme decides to turn her back on Vena and Enormita and go it alone with her lieutenants. She then asks Sister Gigant to crush the newbies. She’s able to grow to super-huge size, breaking out of Korisu’s dollhouse.

Before Gigant can crush them between her boobs, Utena tells Kiwi to detonate all the explosives she’s got, then shields Kiwi from the blast at great personal bodily harm. The three and Vena escape the base, and Kiwi is beside herself with worry. But Utena simply starts laughing maniacally, declaring she doesn’t like this “Lord Squad” one bit, and she’ll see to it they’re all put down.

After excusing Kiwi and Korisu at the hospital where she’s healing up, Utena correctly deduces that Vena knew the Lord Squad would betray them. Utena also makes nice and sparkling clear that she won’t be allowing any further hunting of magical girls, which she believes to be treasures. It’s a passionate, fiery rant, beautifully delivered by Izumi Fuuka.

Loco Musica, not content to let the rookies off scot-free, asks Lord Enorme if she can go squash them like the weakling bugs they are. Enorme agrees, but warned Loco she won’t tolerate failure. When she calls the rookies out, Kiwi takes the bait, forcing Korisu to join the battle with her (and bail her out).

Both of them must then endure Loco’s absolutely dreadful singing voice (great work by the seiyu, who can probably sing for real), but with the power of teamwork, they’re able to use flash grenades to stun Loco and slip away. Kiwi and Korisu have a nice moment while hiding in the tree, as Kiwi apologizes for jumping into battle and breaking one of Korisu’s dolls.

Things do not go so nicely for Loco Musica. While she’s a deeply deluded and arrogant young woman who may well have murdered dozens of magical girls, I still don’t think she deserves the harsh punishment doled out by Lady Enorme.

Loco is made to strip, Enorme shoved the end of her crop into her mouth, and then she’s viciously whipped in a scene that frankly feels way too dark and serious for a silly ecchi anime. Maybe that’s on purpose: the kid gloves are coming off.

But the scene does establish one thing: Enorme rules with fear and pain. I wouldn’t be surprised if when she tightens her iron grip, her acolytes may just slip through her fingers, leaving her to contend with a seriously pissed Magia Baiser and her team all by her lonesome.

Chained Soldier – 07 – Housekeeping

Rairen thinks he’s hot shit with his lightning, but 6th Squad Commander Izumo Tenka is able to dogwalk him, thanks to her mastery of portals and singularities. She employs the former to dodge his attacks and teleport where she wishes, and the latter to suck him into oblivion. Tenka has an aloof, ethereal air to her combat style, and like last week the animation and use of color and lighting is very nicely done.

After a debriefing and giving Bizen his autograph (she now respects him a little even though he’s a man), Yuuki is ready for a nice long bath, but forgets that both Kyouka and Himari owe him significant rewards. As expected, they carry them out together, disrobing and assisting with his bath. This scene is also very nice looking; the show doesn’t skimp when it comes to fanservice, making the trashy look classy.

Yuuki travels with Kyouka and Himari to 6th Squad’s barracks, where he’s put to work as a caretaker-for-the-day while Kyouka and Tenka have a meeting. He finds the place very clean, though he still isn’t quite used to doing women’s laundry. Shushu stays at home, her crush for Yuuki still in full flower. She even considers tidying up her room for the first time, since it’s possible he’ll like her more if she’s less of a slob.

This downtime-filled episode is full of great little details that add texture to the new 6th squad characters. We see that for all her harsh words and treatment of Himari, Yachiho is kind of obsessed with her cute little sister, judging from her drom decor, and that Sahara is just as deadly with the wrestling moves when she’s fast asleep and mistakes Yuuki for a pillow trying to flee.

Earlier during the debriefing at the 7th barracks, Himari makes sure to thank Yachiho for saving her life during the Shuuki battle. Yachiho scoffs it off in her tsundere style. At the 6th barracks, Himari watches her sister work out in the gym, and both Yuuki and Sahara encourage her to talk to her.

Sahara believes Yachiho’s Peach ability was borne from her desire to spend more time with Himari, while Himari’s learning ability was borne from her desire to learn from Yachiho. The sisters have a nice little moment when Himari hands Yachiho a towel, Yachiho snatches it without saying thank you, and they start amicably bickering, the way sisters do.

Meanwhile, we get a peek at the humanoid Shuuki’s arena-like headquarters, and learn that Tenka was correct in her uncertainty about Rairen dying. He was rescued at the last second by Shikoku, a snake woman who lounges around looking at relics from the normal world. I also dig Jouryuu, a buff Amazoness with lionine hair and piercing eyes.

Rairen’s plan was to launch a full-scale assault on the Demon Defense Force, but it failed spectacularly. However, it did shoe Shikoku who they’re dealing with commander-wise. She’d previously engaged the 3rd squad without their leader present and defeated them easily, but Kyouka and Tenka are a different story.

As for the two commanders, Tenka ends the meeting with a request that comes as a surprise to Kyouka: she wants “the little slave”, i.e. Yuuki. We saw her teleport into his room while he slept, and watching him in battle has only intensified her desire to possess and use him. The ED visuals in which she plays with a collar suggest she’ll be Yuuki’s master at some point, but I highly doubt Kyouka would part with him permanently.

Gushing over Magical Girls – 07 – Sayo’s Slump

Sayo continues to be the member of Tres Magia who gets captured first. Haruka would never put her down about it, as everyone has slumps, but Kaoruko insists she get her head back in the game. Alas, her kinky interactions with Baiser has her literally slumping, mimicking Utena’s posture. She can’t her comrades what seems to be her real problem: she’s largely come to enjoy what Baiser does to her.

While on a head-clearing walk (after she has to stop herself from playing with her own boobs) she encounters Utena, and we have the odd sight of Baiser and Azure being right next to each other in front of a Tres Magia poster, but neither know their magical alter-egos. While the magical girl exhibition fills Utena with excitement, it only further depresses Sayo. The old TV show is just fiction where everything works out.

That said, Sayo still tries to put up a brave front, just as she did in the incident that got her recruited by Haruka (back when Magenta was the only magical girl in town). When she transforms and is confronted by Baiser (who is alone because Kiwi is on vacation and Korisu is asleep), Azure is the one who takes the initiative, putting up a barrier with the intention of finally beating her nemesis.

It’s going relatively well, and Baiser even praises her revived enthusiasm, but the power gap is still there, and when Baiser escapes Azure’s coup-de-grace, she places Sayo in a playground panda ride-turned-bondage contraption. Despite the worry she went too far with Azure and caused her to lose her fight, Utena can’t help herself form going too far here as well.

As a result, Sayo’s magical girl heart cracks, and so does Sayo. She gives in and calls Utena “Baiser-sama”, and looks ready to literally lick her boot. Her masochistic is bared for her master to see. But this sudden display of unbridled submission doens’t please Utena: quite the opposite. She’s disgusted by the display, channeling Kaoruko’s directness by telling her to cut the bullshit and have some dignity as a magical girl whom little girls look up to.

Later, Utena admits to Venalita that she’s being a bit of a hypocrite here, even though she’s technically a villain and thus not subject to the same “rules of conduct” as Azure. But now she’s found the limit to messing with a magical girl where it becomes Not Fun anymore. As for Sayo, after another devastating loss not just to Baiser but to herself, I’m not sure where she goes from here.

Will she finally open up to her comrades about what’s going on with her? Even though Utena objected, Sayo switching to Enormita kinda makes sense! The timing of all this is interesting, as we’re about to be introduced to the four preposterously dressed OG Badgical Girls of Enormita, who all consider Baiser, Leoparde, and Neroalice to be pathetic wannabes.

Chained Soldier – 06 – Eyes on Me

Having witnessed how “physically demanding” Yuuki can be on his masters, Shushu wants a piece of him too. She wants him to watch while she kicks the sleepy Sahara’s ass. Both hand-to-hand specialists, their first round is a classic wrestling match with some really niftily animated moves.

Just when Shushu has the upper hand, sleepy Sahara demands that they be allowed to use their abilities. Shushu blows up in size, but Sahara basically Super Saiyans into a ball of violent energy. Due to Sahara’s smaller size, she can dodge Shushu’s attacks, while Shushu is a bigger target for her attacks.

After Sahara beats Shushu with her eyes closed (in unconscious berserk mode) and also rips off the front of her shirt, Shushu returns to the barracks to rest and change, tears in her eyes from such a pitiful performance. But Yuki is soon there on the other side of her door to cheer her up. She rewards him with a kiss, but stops short of confessing until she makes him to like her more.

While Nei is partoling the area with her scanning ability, she spots two humanoid Shuuki, and all of a sudden the exhibition venue turns into a battlefield. Rivalries are cast aside, as Shushu returns to the lines and is backed up by Sahara, and the Azuma sisters prepare to take on the towering, haughty Rairen.

When her arm gun won’t work on the foe, Himari asks Kyouka if she can ride Yuuki with her. Yuuki kisses Himari’s hand having already kissed Kyouka, and he transforms into a bigger and much more powerful form, and is able to fire a cannon like his humanoid Shuuki sister, Aoba. This sharing means they’ll surely be giving him his reward together too.

By teaming up with Kyouka, Himari left Yachiho to deal with Rairen herself, but she only has to buy some time (the perfect goal for someone using time as a weapon) for her boss to show up. When Rairen tells her how she got through the army, Tenka calmly asks “What army?”, and the fog parts to reveal she’s already neutralized them all.

The exhibition matches might be cancelled, but make no mistake: Tenka and Kyouka will still be competing to see who can be the most badass squadron commander. Everyone else best sit back and watch them cook.