Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
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Replica_Rabbit
 Posts: 354 Location: Portland |
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I like the first episode, but the Queen lady kind of taking me out of it. She and her group way to over the top, I was hoping for a more grounded villain
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HandofBobb
Posts: 81 |
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In EP 1, Nozomi says she just transferred in at the beginning of Freshman year- so not 18ish unless that was a joke, or she's overaged (wouldn't be a surprise with the whole "fighting evil aliens" bit, but most anime high-schoolers seem intensely concious of such unusual circumstances) |
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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Nozomi?You've confused her for Asuka 
Asuka is 17...She missed out on going to High School,what with the war and all
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HandofBobb
Posts: 81 |
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No, I meant Nozomi- when the two girls are talking about Asuka during gym class. Like I said, it's understandable that her schooling would fall behind during the war, but usually Anime High-Schoolers would be aghast at the idea of a 17-year old Freshman, theyd have to be some sort of delinquent who you wouldn't want to hang out with. -and also, the flashbacks to her 'younger' self still show her with the same prodigious proportions, just in a 'middle school' uniform. In the first episode, I wasn't even entirely sure the part with her parents was supposed to be a flashback until she was talking with her handler later. |
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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I'm on the fence about this one. On the one hand, I love stories about people coping with PTSD, and I like how this show has so many grounded details to expound on that theme---Asuka escaping through books (was the book Sayaka quoted in literature club a real book? It was a great quote!), Asuka talking Sayaka through a panic attack, Asuka;s guarded flat affect. That's all very well done.
On the other hand, I'm nor a fan of evil plushies (after the war, why are there still kugurumi suits and plushes? You'd think society would try to get rid of them because of their negative associations with biological weapons and monsters), the dated character designs (I'm not sure what era they're from, maybe circa the original Full Metal Panic?), the campy evil magical girls, or the lack of animation (Asuka looks badass while fighting-...when she's actually moving!) When Kurumi (who's obvs a reference to Nurse Angel Kurumi, right?) transferred into Asuka's school, I rolled my eyes. Kurumi's on thin ice with me for selfishly trying to guilt Asuka to re-join JSDF. The best detail of the show, besides the psychological underpinnings of the main character, is Nozomi's dad being set up as an antagonist for Asuka and the JSDF. If they had stuck to terrorists vs. Secret Intelligence Service of Torture vs. The JSDF vs. Asuka's mental health, they would have had plenty to work with without needing campy evil mahou shojo wielding biological weapon plushies. |
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Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
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Welp, caught up with the show now and finished episode 3 tonight. The show's mixture of quiet, sincere portrayal of the effects of trauma and PTSD on folks and violence, boobs, and over the top villains makes for an odd juxtaposition, and it can definitely be jarring at times. But it's executed well enough where I'm definitely hooked on the show now. Hopefully it won't all go to crap later, I'm still concerned it may go the route of going too far into dark and edgy misery porn, which some dark magical girl shows have done.
My favorite moment from episode 3 spoiler[was during the school lunch when the crackers or whatever they were went off. Seeing the different reactions of the four girls to the noise, how each of them (aside from Nozomi, who hasn't experienced any trauma- though it looks like that may soon change) are still clearly dealing with their past in their own ways, was a nice touch. And I like that they aren't just glossing over Sayako experienced in episode 1, and are addressing it.] The show's managed to get me invested in the characters. Even Asuka's non magical friends, who you might expect to be just extras in some shows, feel like a real part of the cast. |
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Yuvelir
 Posts: 1595 |
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I don't quite see Kurumi in the same way. She does have yandere-ish tendencies and is completely self-centered, but even though she still doesn't meet eye to eye with other characters by the episode's end, I also think that her hostility towards the normal girls was greatly reduced and was starting to understand (but again, not completely) both them and Asuka.
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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The students only know the girls are new transfer students,that's it. (Government secrets,magic & such) "prodigious proportions"-The manga does take every opportunity to showcase those various "prodigious proportions"... |
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Mad_Scientist
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 3011 |
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So Rebecca's review is out, and it's interesting seeing our different interpretations regarding Kurumi's motivations. I have a bit of a more kinder view of her I think.
It is still very clear that yes, she is very clingy towards Asuka, and is also jealous of any of Asuka's friends, one of the things that clearly bothered her the most was when Sayako answered spoiler["kind of"] to the question of whether she was friends with Asuka. Given what we saw of her past in the flashback this episode,spoiler[ I got the impression that maybe she had "kind of" friends in the past that abandoned her when she was being bullied. And if you think about it, in a way Asuka abandoned her too from Kurumi's perspective at least, though she doesn't seem too upset about it for Asuka. But it seemed like it was the hesitancy and uncertainty in Sayako's answer that annoyed Kurumi the most, which was interesting. I suppose there also was probably an element of "well if you're only 'kind of' her friend then you don't deserve to be around her at all, unlike me her best friend!" to it.] Regarding the lunch scene, I didn't really get the idea that Kurumi lacked empathy. spoiler[She wasn't as startled by the gunshot like noise as Asuka, but was still a bit disturbed, and I think that fact, that Kurumi has also gone through some trauma, gives a potentially different view to her distress when the comment about "if it gets really bad magical girls will always be there to save us". Because magical girls aren't just an abstract force, they're people, people like Kurumi and Asuka, who struggle and hurt and suffer loss every time they show up to save people. So a light hearted "magical girls will save the day" was actually insensitive to just what it means for the actual people who are magical girls to do that.] At least that's my view. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in future episodes. |
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Chaos Wings
 Posts: 277 Location: Your guess is as good as mine?! |
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Grizzled veteran Magical Girl suffering PTSD, not gonna lie I really liked the premise of this one right off the bat. Correct me if I'm wrong but it's a kind of angle that feels pretty unique, at least I can't think of anything similar off the top of my head. Taking a fantastical element and then grounding it in more real world scenarios seems like it would make for a very interesting twist.
I'm a bit of a sucker for dark and edgy nowadays so given the structure the opening episodes have employed, MGSOA hasn't disappointed. Sincere character building with real emotional depth, ultra violence (gotta scratch that Killing Bites itch) and fan service (coz anime always has some boob). Looks like weird mishmash but I think it comes together to form a great piece of entertainment. Quite enjoying the idea that Kurumi is gonna provide some yandere yuri as well, providing she lives long enough though (got DF written all over her at the moment). Only negatives so far for me are some sloppy artwork and Asuka's two school friends being pretty throwaway. Also agree that Queen and her moronically obsessed minion are the kind of crap you scrape out of the bottom of a barrel, in terms of villains. Definitely looking forward to seeing where this goes. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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Are we sure about this? I have not read the source material; but this kind of escalation is non trivial, yeah, there have been irl DEA operatives working WITH mexican authorities for decades, but an army commando going gun-ho killing civilians in another country is even beyond judge dredd levels of authoritarianism and is the kind of scenario that starts a conventional war. It makes to me more sense that they are in fact a rogue operation, non sanctioned nor supported by the US government. I am surprised the pool scene even merits a mention as fanservice, after titles like To-Love-Ru and last season Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san, that kind of scene barely registers IMO. If any mention about it is going to be made, then that Kurumi's proportions differ quite a bit from her War Nurse persona, it is lazy animation or is she "upgraded" when she transforms? I suppose we will find out later on. As for the Asuka & co. proportions, let me be the first one to say hooray, one of my pet peeves about anime in general and magical girls in particular is having what is tantamount to an apology to anorexia with girls looking thinner than barbie dolls flippantly doing all kind of strenuous activities (instead of having a heart attack). They even show them both doing some real exercise at a gym that does not feel cringy like in the last Nanoha tv series I saw, where I could only see mostly scrawny girls (Rinne Berlinetta was somewhat ok) lifting superheavy weights. |
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Mad_Scientist
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 3011 |
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Regarding proportions, I'm guessing Rebecca was probably specifically referring to the rather large breasts the characters all have, which was especially jarring in the flashback scenes in earlier episodes where they were several years younger.
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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The anime's fanservice is right from the manga. |
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Mad_Scientist
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 3011 |
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Side note, I realize now actually Rebecca didn't mention the proportions of the characters. I thought she mentioned it in the preview guide, but that was Theron, and then another poster brought them up also here.
Anyways, it is true that they're from the manga, and in fact, if the bit of the manga art I've seen is any indication, the fanservice and boobyness has actually been toned down a bit. But that doesn't change the fact that they are, especially in the middle school flashbacks, a bit much. I do appreciate though that at least the characters aren't absurdly thin (as mangamuscle mentioned) and that helps make their designs work for me better. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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Do the female breast proportions in this series are skewed towards the bigger cup sizes? I think we all agree on that. But generating an skewered perception in itself is nothing new in media. If extraterrestrials watched only TV series and movies (produced in Hollywood and similar) they will come to the conclusion that most human beings are gorgeous and those with more homely physiques (or even ugly) have charisma in spades. They would also come to the conclusion that most automobiles in earth are loaded with heavy explosives that explode quite easily. But the thing is, IMO that is blessing in disguise in this series. We have come to associate in anime the most buxom ladies with hentai or fanservice heavy series (of variable plot quality), but having heroines of this kinds might help the self esteem of real human girls (with bigger cup sizes) that have no real model they can identify with in anime (which is filled with extra thin/pettanko girls or buxom but not cool or heroic female leads) or live action. |
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