Yūki Yūna wa Yūsha de Aru

Episode 4

Following the battle scenes of the first three episodes, episode 4 scales things back quite a bit to tell a narrower and more personal tale, this time focusing on Itsuki, who is the most junior member of the Hero Club in terms of grade and age. Previous episodes have shown that she can be somewhat timid on her own, though she unflaggingly gathers her courage whenever she has her elder sister Fu's lead to follow. This manifests most importantly in her inability to sing well in front of others even though she can sing just fine in private, which is a big deal since she has to take a singing test soon and her Tarot cards are consistently predicting trouble. The other Hero Club members all offer their advice – even newcomer health nut Karin – but it still ultimately comes down to both a confidence and an identity issue; so far she has been just following Fu, but what does she actually want herself? As Itsuki starts to find herself, Fu is burdened by far graimmer concerns about the upcoming dangers they face, dangers which only Karin seems to fully appreciate. Before she can set her mind at ease, the Vertex appear again.

So most of the episode is really just fairly bland slice-of-life fare, the kind of minor-league soul-searching one could find in just about any low-key series. By the standards of such fare, though, the execution is still well above average. The Hero Club's efforts to help Itsuki often lead to some gently funny moments, such as Mimori's emphasis on “alpha waves” or Karin's demonstration that one can most definitely overdo health supplements (complete with on-screen disclaimers about how this isn't a good idea to try at home), but there's also a pleasing level of sincerity to all of it, too. These aren't raucous jokes or outlandish behaviors but rather more mellow displays, which make it much easier for the series to maintain a consistent tone. Smoothly filtered in are a number of other meaningful bits, too, such as an economized flashback which succinctly show Fu and Itsuki's family situation and how Fu has basically had to be the mother as well as big sister. It also smoothly fits in a couple of clips about the concerns that Fu has, such as a side conversation she and Karin have in the bathroom or the moments leading up to the episode's final scene, without bogging anything down. Some other production teams this season could learn from this one about how to put a series together with a proper flow. (Trinity Seven, I am specifically looking at you.)

But this is a post-Madoka Magica magical girl series which skews a little older, so the peacefulness isn't going to last. The last scenes carry a lot of ominous weight, and worrisome hints are dropped right before that. While the series does not seem to be exactly aping Magica, heavy influence is clear, and that raises concerns about how far the story is willing to go when it does inevitably turn dark. There's also the name of the series to consider as well. In Magica, events still firmly swirled around the titular character even though she was not, for most of the series, one of the magical girls. That hasn't happened here so far; in fact, Yuna is still decidedly part of the ensemble, with Fu most often taking the lead. Presumably a change is coming which will eventually force her more to the forefront, and not a lot of inference is required to make some reasonable guesses as to what that impending change might entail. I certainly hope that I am reading this wrong, or that writing is using some more sly misdirection here, as the series has a good thing going as is.

Rating: B+

Yūki Yūna wa Yūsha de Aru is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.