My oh my, so many plot threads. So little time.
This episode had a lot going on in it, in the last episode we saw the Magical Girl Hunter, Shioi fall into a coma from using too many magical sticks in such a short amount of time. However, Aya and Yatsumura know they need Shioi’s information on Tempest. So they begin looking for a magical girl who has a stick that could help wake Shioi from her coma.
To find other magical girls, they refer to Shioi’s list of potential targets and find a girl they recognize. An idol known as Nijimi Anazawa.
Nijimi Anazawa is a magical girl with the power of Mind Control via her magic stick that takes the form of her panties. I am not entirely sure what to say here, I was mildly concerned about her idol groups whole thing being that they are dogs and the pets of their fans being a little too sexual but magical undies? Really?
I get it, the sexualization of minors, in particular idols that are minors is actually a huge problem not just in Japan, but worldwide. Which might actually be why she was miserable enough to be given a magic stick in the first place. However, I just feel like the site admin had a sick sense of humor with this one.
Aya and Yatsumura think perhaps they can use her to get info out of Shioi while she is still unconscious. Until they see how she reacts at the memory of the magical girl hunter. Who killed her only other magical girl friend and would of killed her without the help of her magic stick.
Previously bright, happy and bubbly. She becomes downright violent and scribbles a picture of Shioi and stabs at it screaming about how she wants to kill her.
So with her no longer an option. The girls start discussing tracking down other magical girls using the book and context clues such as uniforms and backgrounds to track them down. They are discussing this though, right in the middle of the hospital hallway and the girl who was trying to slash Aya with the box cutter in the first episode. Sarina Shizukume overhears them and grows curious about what is going on.
She already strongly suspected something was up with Aya since the incident in the bathroom. She proceeds over to Shioi’s hospital room and slides open the door to see the Site admin with the pigtails standing in the room muttering about trying to find someone to take Shioi’s place. Well it’s easy to assume where this is going to go.
There were also two side plots going on. An obsessive fan of Nijimi’s lurking in the background of the episode, he didn’t really do anything in this episode and i am entirely unsure of what his purpose is going to be. Then there is Aya’s brother, who is upset with the recent changes in his sisters behavior. Still stuck in his mindset that she only exists to be his punching bag. He tries investigating what is going on and finds the Magical Girl Site in her browser history on her computer.
Of course, the page comes up as not found. It’s still rather uncomfortable for him to find this.
Honestly, a lot happened this episode. Yatsumura remains my favorite character, however Aya is growing on me as she grows more cheerful and happy to be alive and partnered with Yatsumura. Nijimi was interesting, though I am a little bit cautious of her power and her mood swings. Also the visuals seemed clearer this episode to me, maybe it was just me but I thought everything looked more crisp. Maybe it was to show a happier tone since compared to the first two episodes this episode was a little more uplifting. Overall this episode was fairly entertaining. I like seeing all these plot threads pop up and I am rather curious as to where some of them will lead.