Episode 2 is a lot easier to stomach then episode one in terms of content. Though it does serve as a lot of exposition. Yatsumura takes Aya away from where they slit the throat of her abuser and asks to go over her house so they can talk. At the house, they discuss what Yatsumura knows about the site and that’s unfortunately not a lot.
What she does know is that every time they use their magic, it’s slowly killing them, they have symbols on their wrist that deplete a bit as they use their magic and when the symbol vanishes, they die. It seems very similar to me in concept to the Grief Seed from Madoka Magica. She also informs Aya that they aren’t the only two magical girls out there and that there are dangers even from other magical girls. In particular, from one that has been killing other magical girls and stealing their magic sticks. A magical girl that she and another girl she’d been working with named the Magical Hunter.
This makes Aya nervous, so she has Yatsumura stay with her through the night to protect her. This irritates Aya’s brother, because it means another night he has to hold in his urges to beat his little sister senseless.
I got a generally good laugh out of Yatsumura calling Aya’s brother the ‘fakest’ person she’d ever seen. Which is entirely accurate to the good natured show he tries to put on in front of everyone but his sister. It may be kind of bad of me to say, but I am sort of looking forward to seeing him get what’s coming to him at some point during this series.
The next day after school, Aya figures that she’ll be fine since she’d seen a picture of the Magical Hunter and be able to defend herself. Too bad for her, the Magical Hunter had a way to change her appearance and she gets caught in a bubble that prevents outside attack.
So now Aya, convinced that her power can only kill is forced to act with no outside help and naturally, she’s scared. However, Yatsumura tells Aya to trust in her and use her Magic Stick. So she pulls it out and aims it at the Magical Hunter.
Doing this provides two bits of information. Just how good of a combination their powers are. Even if the person Aya transports is moved somewhere dangerous, if Yatsumura has frozen time, it will not end in their death. We also learn that she has a measure of control over where the magical stick sends people when it transports them depending on her feelings towards them and where she intends to send them. So they capture the Magical Hunter.
The hunter, was Rina Shioi the magical girl that Yatsumura was working with to try to figure out the secrets of Magical Girl Site. A super predictable twist to be sure, I saw it coming a mile away. However, the information that she had and why she began killing magical girls and stealing their magic sticks is far more interesting then a predictable twist.
The end of days, Tempest is coming. August 11th, and she thought she needed a lot of magical sticks to live and make it through the end. Tempest, seeming to be the end of this world and the beginning of a new one.
I hate to keep coming back to the Madoka comparisons, but this reminds me a lot of Walpurgisnacht. I suppose since the two series are in the same vein of the magical girl genre the comparisons are only to be expected.
Thought before Rina can spill too much information, she begins coughing up blood. Leaving Aya and Yatsumura to call an ambulance for her. I could only look at that and shake my head and say “God damn it plot sickness.” but considering how much she’d been using her magical power and how many peoples magical sticks she was using it’s no wonder her body was breaking down.
Generally, I think episode two was the stronger episode of the two. While episode one seemed like it was dark for the purpose of being dark, episode 2 had a lot more sense of purpose behind it. The girl shown at the end of the episode is interesting, why is she muttering that she wants to kill? Since we’ve caught the Magical Girl Hunter does she not mean killing magical girls but perhaps killing like in the sense that Yatsumura keeps telling Aya that it’s okay to ‘Take out the trash’ of society?
I can only craft theories, but I think i’m starting to see where the ‘survival game’ aspect of this show comes in.
Yatsu gives me Light Yagami vibes. I have to wonder if the Magical Hunter case wasn’t the only thing distracting her from taking out the trash of society herself.