Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka

It’s beautiful…is what I would say if Mahou Shoujo Toushusen Asuka managed to bring in a magical girl show worthy of glory. But beautiful isn’t a good way to express this anime. From what I’ve seen from the first few episodes, it’s a show that takes on a darker, edgier, and grimmer side of the magical girl genre. Adapted by LIDENFILMS and based on the manga, this was a peculiar anime to talk about. For starters, there’s a clear reason why the show airs late at night on the MBS block. Like the manga, this adaptation actually keeps the censoring to a minimal. Here’s an earlywarning: be prepared for body horror in the form of limbs being blown off, emotional torture, and brutal deaths. I’m not joking. Mahou Shoujo Toushusen Asuka isn’t even a bit afraid of showing how dark and dangerous its world can be. Speaking of which, let’s look at the world setting. It takes place 3 years before the mainstream timeline in Japan. According to history, the world was invaded by monsters known as Netherbeasts. A group of magical girls rose up to stop them from annihilating humanity. A girl named Asuka is the leader of this group (known as the Magical Five) as we look at her story. From my first impressions, I actually got hooked by some dark and edgy entertainment. Make no mistake, I believe the creator is fully aware of the series’ style of violence so they are not timid to show it. The first few episodes contains a flashback that opens up the storytelling while introducing the main cast. We meet characters such as Asuka, Kurumi, and among others that we’ll learn more about later. Titular character Asuka gives off a peculiar charisma for being a badass on the frontline but more of a regular normal human being while not fighting. It’s made clear in the beginning as she tries to live a normal life until a faithful event pits her into fighting again. We also see her trauma in the past that resulted in PTSD and to this day, she hasn’t forgotten. But deep down, Asuka is a kind person who is selfless and isn’t afraid to take risks to fight the good fight. Joining her is Kurumi Mugen, a combat nurse and close friend. I should say right off the bat that it’s obvious she has feelings for Asuka. It actually becomes more and more obvious especially in later episodes with even some rather disturbing moments. But don’t mistake this for a shoujo-ai. The bigger picture is that she is part of the Magical Five and serves as an important support in battle. The remaining members includes Tamara, Lau, and Mia. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t dedicate more time for them as compared to either Asuka or Kurumi. We only get to see their actions rather than development. However, the show also makes it known that illegal magical girls exists. Outside of the Magical Five, these illegal magical girls play an antagonistic role. Characters such as Abigail brings in the brutality and darker side of the magical girl genre. She displays psychopathic behavior and even uses scissors to terrorize a hostage for her personal amusement. Be ready for limbs chopped off and even a magical form of waterboarding. Sounds edgy yet? Yet from what I’ve seen in this show, there are still some bright moments in their dark world. For example, Asuka’s friends (Nozomi and Sayako) at school brings in joy and an experience at normal life for her. The show also takes breather time on occasions such as with school activities and even a beach episode. But never forget, there’s no peace in the world of Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka. For its worth, I wish this show had a better budget. Most of the fights all feel the same without strong production or animation quality. It lacks style too without demonstrating any source of uniqueness. I will say that while the violence captures a mature mood, it sometimes relies way too much on it. How many times are going to see blood being spilled until it’s satisfying? On the other hand, I do appreciate the variety of creative weapons that are featured. Asuka’s signature karambit is a set of weapons I don’t see often. A combat nurse like Kurumi also brings in expertise along with Mia, Lau Pei-Pei, and Tamara. These characters shows their transcendence beyond common logic. Furthermore, I should say this show is known for some uncharacteristic designs such as the oversized creatures. Most of them give an otherworldly appearance that I find hard to ignore. And the theme songs on most parts are worthy enough for this mature magical girl adaptation. “Should I watch Mahou Shoujo Toushusen Asuka”? Or rather, the better question would be…”Do I enjoy anime with dark and edgy magical girl content with troubled characters?” The bottom line is, you should judge this anime exactly for what it is but realize that it’s nothing really that special. It’s one of those shows anyone with a livid imagination can write or come up with. There has been a reemergence of dark magical girl anime in recent years. We may be seeing more of these in the future so who knows, maybe the next one will set a higher standard.

Whelp, here we are again. Another attempt at making a darker, more mature magical girl anime for all those who want one. Last year gave us Magical Girl Site. An anime so over the top and ridiculous that it was unironically funny when all things considered. Now this anime throws its hat into the ring at its attempt. Now the question going into this show was how serious was this show going to be or is it more or less going to be a ridiculous spectacle? So you read the synopsis, watch the trailer and then when you see magical girls wielding side armpistols, assault rifles and flamethrowers, then you are probably intrigued as to what the f**k is going on. Sit back, relax and DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY NOW SOLDIER!!! As I present to you the anime review for Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka. Let begin. Story: 5/10 There was a war, a great war. Mysterious, magical beings known as Disas invaded Earth with the intention of wiping humanity out. However, with the help of Spirit Realm who also oppose the Disas, help create the Magical Girls that managed to oppose the Disas and save humanity. Then they go their separate ways. Three years later, one of the girls, Asuka, decides to live like a normal girl and go about her days in high school and abandon the fighting. However, mysterious, random events involving the Disas forces her back into fighting and defeat the Disas once again along with the rest of "The Magical Five" in order to protect humanity once again. So there you go, a pretty standard plot. We get told of this big threat; who defeated them; the big threat returns; the girls must defeat them again. But it ain't that simple. Because you see, the show likes to show the horrors of war and how terrorism affects the lives of everyone who is involved. It likes to address some pretty mature stuff and what this anime shows is true. These things do happen. So it is good to see this anime take these thoughts and rolls with it and not make it over the top with it. Although I do think the more goofy, fun side of the magical girl genre that it presents here clashes with the show's darker themes and military aspects of this show. Making it some kind of mashup between the two that really doesn't work honestly. It's hard to argue when one scene tries to be on the cute side, whereas another scene is so focused on torture that it makes you forget that these are from the same show. And this show REALLY does like to go vigorously into these torture scenes with torture tactics like injections and waterboarding. Didn't turn me away but will probably turn some people away. Another thing I want to knock down the story for is that the pacing is rather slow. It shouldn't take 4-5 episodes of a twelve episode series to complete the prologue of how Asuka gets back into fighting. It tries to distract people with its fight scenes and flashy colours to hide the pacing issues but I saw through that and I can knock it down a peg. While it wasn't awful and bored me to tears, it was noticeable at times that the show was taking its damn time to get where it wanted to go. Characters: 4.5/10 "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" - Michael Corleone, The Godfather: Part 3. That line couldn't be more relateable to describe Asuka. Simply put, she doesn't want to fight again but has no choice as she one of the only few people that can do it. She refuses at first because when you fight in a war, people you care about will most likely die and most of them do. So to avoid seeing more people die in front of their eyes, she refuses. But then realising that people will have a bigger chance to die if she is not there fighting, she agrees. You can understand her decision to do this because she wants to prevent more people from dying by getting involved with her. But my problem is that the show doesn't do that good of a job of making Asuka have her past really affect her. While the show does show scenes and Asuka does react to people dying or people who have died, you would think that it would have a bigger affect on her psyche but it doesn't happen. They're like spur of the moment scenes that remind the viewer of what Asuka has been trhough and not really being fully effective to damage her mind. The rest of the cast is rather bland and are just meh. So much so that I can't remember most of their names on the top of my head. Even the two high school girls that gives a motive for Asuka to fight again are rather uninteresting as they fall into stereotypes with one being a hyped up tomboy and the other being a timid bookworm. They are a nice reminder of what Asuka is fighting for but only if you care about them. In my case, I don't really care about them and they are kind of just there near the end of the show. The only other character that was interesting was Kurumi Mugen, a fellow magical girl. Her backstory is rather depressing since she was treated like trash throughout her school life, only for Asuka to swoop in and give her the confidence she needs. But it is clear that she has a rather unstable mind. She has the kind of damaged psyche that I wished Asuka had. It is much clearer that she has been mentally damaged from what she has seen and how she has been treated. Asuka being her saviour from a life of cruelty causes her to develop Yandere-like qualities and gets a kick out of torturing people. Seeing these things shows how damaged Kurumi and that's good because these things should have some affect on her and it clearly shows throughout the show. Now you could say that's the show trying to make the characters more edgy and you would be right. For me though, I see it as appropriate due to the circumstances. Animation: 3.5/10 This show looked good to begin with and then just kind of flopped. The show constantly uses cheap ways to animate a fight scene like cutaways and and moving camera shots with still images. It gets worse when we get shots of people firing guns as they just stand still with no sense of recoil from firing the guns. Instead, it uses flashy colours to distract the viewer. In fact, this show does love to use a lot of flashy colours in its animation, but really, it is more of a distraction than a core part of its animation. Character designs and art design is fine though, although I do think it tends to lean towards the fan service side a little bit. Some the characters designs as well tend on to lean on the big, kawaii eyes which feels off IMO. Sound: 3.5/10 The show is really heavy on the techno music but honestly, it just doesn't stand out at all. It just blends into one another and is really forgettable. The only soundtrack that stood out for me was the shows main battle music, which is arguably alright as it is the only one that stands out with how it uses the sounds to get you hyped. Of course, its hard to hear the music when explosions, clashing of weapons, swipes and gunfire drown out the music to make it difficult to listen to. The opening as well is alright. It just highlights Asuka's conflict of fighting or not to fight and continues the use of techno as well in its music. It is the only other piece of music that stands out but didn't really get me excited to watch the next episode. The ending however is a big skip as it just didn't interest me at all, it bored me and I lost interest after watching it the first couple of times for being a pretty standard ending sequence. Conclusion: Magical Girl Spe-Ops Asuka just exists as another attempt in making a more mature magical girl anime. The main problem with this show that it just doesn't excel in anything. It does everything either meh or bad so I am left with an "eh" impression of it. This show isn't horrible as it has some moments. Not a lot, but some. But I will just chalk this down as another anime I took an interest in and left me with an "eh" impression. Again, this show just exists in its own way to incorporate magical girls as elite, military agents to stop terrorism. It ain't offensive or just terrible, but it will be one of those anime I will forget in the near future. So you can pretty much skip this one. Also one last thing, since the magical girls are nicknamed "The Magical Five," why did we get only four of the girls? Seriously, where is the Chinese girl that appears in the opening and ending of the show. Anyone? no? ok. My Personal Enjoyment: 4.5/10 Overall score: 4.2/10 Recommendation: Don't Bother

Do you know these kinds of shows, which have relatable protagonists, interesting villains and a strong plotline, but are no fun to watch? Well, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka is the opposite. As anybody can probably guess by the title, this show is another edgy magical girl show trying to jump on the edgy magical girl Anime bandwagon. Premise of the show is that after the successful repulsion of an invasion of killer-plush animals from another dimension our now retired magical girl protagonist Asuka and must deal with PTSD and her new peaceful life. Wait, doesn’t this sound like this could be a potentially interesting story? Unfortunately, withthe introduction of the antagonists by the end of the first episode I realized I will not be able to take this show seriously. Some things that happen over the next episodes include: Antagonists announcing that they are indeed “very bad” magical girls, mascot character explaining obvious things, like what a magical truth serum is, swimsuit episode, terrible pronunciation of foreign names that makes you laugh during supposedly dramatic moments, 2nd swimsuit episode, a reference to Goblin Slayer's rape scene cause I guess that is a thing now, and torture, because what could be more edgy than torture. At one point, even our protagonists torture an enemy character, although with questionable methods. Seriously, how does spanking somebody on the butt in a BDSM manner make them tell you anything... well, I guess it’s ok since they call it “magical spanking”. What the hell were they thinking???. I mean, I get that you are trying to sell the show by displaying some fetish stuff, but there must be a better way than this. Once I threw logic out of the window though, the show became surprisingly enjoyable to watch. It definitely contained enough absurd moments to keep me entertained. Best girl is the mascot character Sacchuu. Not only does she have an awesome voice, but she gets bloodlust when fights start, beats enemies up with her spiked brass knuckles, wears bulletproof vests and uses dual handguns because it’s badass. During one of the end credits she also excitedly suggests “asking [a captured enemy girl’s] body if it knows anything” (aka torture). The animation is decent, not good, but nothing like the abysmal animation we had to witness in some shows during the last seasons. There is a dip in animation quality as the show progresses though, so be aware of that. Character models seem to have been designed while getting wasted at Hooters Japan (yes, they have it too) with chest sizes usually only seen in Hentai. The soundtrack is surprisingly catchy. It got some cool electronic/dance tracks that play during battle scenes and both OP and ED belong to the kind you don’t skip. You might even find yourself looking them up on Youtube. TL;DR: Edgy magical girl show that can be fun to watch if you enjoy trashy Anime.

So what do magical girls do after defeating the big evil? Ofc, fight terrorists, mercenaries, join the army, special forces, etc.... there is no happy ending here. That was the basic idea. The fact that they don't really do this and go again to the big evil is stupid. There isn't any big reason why everything is happening, we're getting scraps about the actual plot and after I finished it I don't really care about it, because the reasons look shallow. Now, for the parts that I liked. Lesbians, 90% of the girls in the show. And big tits. Huge badonkadonkas. Also, magical spanking. Theeyes of the MC were pretty. Honestly the anime looks like someone watched Madoka and said: "I can make a sad magical girl show too, with lesbians, huge tits, guns and pokemon". But they didn't really have anything to make it spark, kinda just did their thing A decent 7, show wasn't bad at all. It was good, but didn't go beyond the "not fucking up" level. Maybe it had an 8 from me if they actually explained more wtf is happening and made some reveals but it is what it is I guess. It's like fast food, you know it's bad but you eat it, enjoy it, then forget it next week. Opening was a banger, and naming the MC support character "Kurumi" - walnut was cute.