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Gushing Over Magical Girls (TV).


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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2024 1:14 pm Reply with quote


Gushing Over Magical Girls (TV)

Source: Manga (ongoing @ 11 volumes, by Akihiro Ononaka)

Demographic: Seinen

Animation Studio: Asahi Production

Genres: action, comedy, magic

Themes: BDSM, ecchi, magical girl, satire, yuri

Plot Summary: Hiiragi Utena is a normal magical-girl-loving middle school girl—or at least she was, but then some talking mascot showed up out of the blue and cast a spell on her. Now's her chance to join her beloved magical girls as...a villain. This shy magical-girl fan transforms into a sadistic dominatrix.

Air Date & Platform:
January 3, 2024 (Wednesday)
Available on: HIDIVE

Episode Count / Runtime: 13 episodes


Last edited by Tony K. on Fri Apr 12, 2024 4:58 pm; edited 2 times in total
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 1978
PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2024 1:25 pm Reply with quote
Having seen the first episode, this one is not for me. The concept is unique, yet I have to admit to feeling a bit uncomfortable during certain parts. Some ecchi series like 100 girlfriends I like and some just do not click with me.
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Blood-
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Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2024 1:49 pm Reply with quote
Episode 1

I was really attracted by the deeply intellectual themes and nuanced character work... NOT!!! But having said that, it did make me chuckle with satisfying frequency. The premise just cracks me up: a meek, ordinary gal who loves magical girls being turned into a sadistic villain who secretly gets pleasure from spanking/tickling her "heroes." Comedy gold, Jerry! And her little vampire fangs are adorable! Not sure I'll go the distance but certainly willing to try more.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2024 5:30 pm Reply with quote
I kind of wish they didn't feel so young, but I am actually totally into this as of the first episode. I think my favourite bit was the exclamation that Utena isn't being magically corrupted, and genuinely has sadist tendencies despite her nice and meek personality, and I like the idea of her figuring it out. Not that it makes her evil for being a sadist, but it is part of her sexuality and fetishes and happens to make her a good villain.

Maybe off or not a good comparison for others, but I am reminded of Interspecies Reviewers, and I just kind of love the idea of figuring out sexuality, especially out of norms and not in a way that feels vilifying. Except for maybe the fact that it does seem she is actually assaulting them. Would it be too far to assume she is probably a lesbian?
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2024 5:36 pm Reply with quote
Ha ha, didn't take DP long to whip out their yuri goggles! Although, in all fairness, it seems pretty obvious that Utena digs chicks.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 12:16 am Reply with quote
I would say there is a definite yuri undertone and was going to make the point that a young woman getting physical with others in order to get a primarily emotional reaction, not strictly or overtly negative, seems intriguing.

Also interesting to note that from the standpoint of comic literature, promiscuous women are usually labeled as "bad," and this show definitely embraces that concept. I expect we might see Utena inadvertently "corrupting" one or more of the Tres Magia...
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 6:05 am Reply with quote
Dropped. The BDSM thing just doesn't do anything for me and it's clear the entire show is just going to be about Utena doing that kind of stuff to the girls. Also, to be honest, the premise of a basically nice, meek girl doing something that, yes, she gets a sexual kick out of, but that also makes her feel guilty isn't a super comfortable fit with my emotional matrix.

Late breaking thought: I didn't hang around long enough to meet Utena's two new companions. I wonder if I should? Hmmm....
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 11:30 pm Reply with quote
Well, I'll keep watching. To make up for making you feel "dirty" about what "Peaches" really are, I can fill you in. I'm interested what the other girls are about as well. I got a kick on this Ep after all the back and forth in the other thread about whether Sailor Moon had BDSM or whether GoMG was about BDSM, they just come out and say/show it here. Also laughed at the bit where "evil villains" have to have German or Latin names ala MM's Kriemhild Gretchen among others but I have been told the name Utena came up with Baiser is French.... Also have to say the artwork is not bad at all...
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DuskyPredator



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PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 6:29 am Reply with quote
I will keep watching too.

Does it help that we did get confirmation that one of the girls, Sayo, seems to be implied to be a masochist? Who knows, maybe it could benefit them both.

But also, was Utena getting off on also losing? Maybe it won't be just her assaulting them, but trying to create the structure of having the tables turned. But still to be seen how her allies will play a part.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2024 12:40 am Reply with quote
I think there are two ways to read Utena's reaction, one is happy that she might get beat as she thinks should happen as befitting a villain and maybe if so there is hope she can be "saved". The second is that she "loves a challenge" and she is thinking how it will feel to have her way with Sulfur eventually. As for Sayo, I think she isn't sure how to take the new villain's ministrations but she is noticing the intent of the actions doesn't seem to be to hurt and she might be secretly admitting it didn't, but felt good.

That doesn't really make her a machochist and this brings up something I have been noticing, that Utena isn't really acting as a sadist either. Her actions so far have been to mostly provoke excitement and not so much to cause pain. One could argue the "spanking" Ep1 was painful but it seemed to me Utena was more excited that she could have an "intimate" physical interaction and she changed her tactics afterward away from doing things that actually hurt. A true sadist would do the opposite.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2024 10:50 am Reply with quote
Episode 2

Undropped... at least for the time being. I went back and finished episode 2 because I figure it behooves me to stick around at least until Utena's allies are introduced and then we'll see from there.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2024 12:08 pm Reply with quote
Gushing Over Magical Girls... how descriptive. Yeah, well, the key point to this show aren't the girls, it's the magical mascots.
They look the same, except one's black while the other's white. They're not there to fight evil or good... they're just there to fight each other. Like a game of chess... right, that's suggestive...
Moving on to the girls

Since each Magical has the power, they're all magical girls by the way, since each magical girl has the power of utter anominity, whatever they learn about themselves is just for them.

I have some ideas as to what's really going on, regardless it's not taking over the world. It also depends if there's really two mascots or if it's as I suspect just the one...

The show is more complex that I first though, especially seeing how the White Magicals are neutral, resistant and super receptive to Utena's skills... ok, that's just Pokemon.

As are their mascots.
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DuskyPredator



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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2024 4:54 pm Reply with quote
Hiroki not Takuya wrote:
That doesn't really make her a machochist and this brings up something I have been noticing, that Utena isn't really acting as a sadist either. Her actions so far have been to mostly provoke excitement and not so much to cause pain. One could argue the "spanking" Ep1 was painful but it seemed to me Utena was more excited that she could have an "intimate" physical interaction and she changed her tactics afterward away from doing things that actually hurt. A true sadist would do the opposite.

I am not really an expert, but my understanding is that S&M isn't always about pain, but can be about control. Such as taking away someone's ability to move, speak or see. I believe the implication is that Utena gets excited by these parts, not really pushed into teasing Sayo when she was blinded, as Sayo herself showed interest thinking back of being toyed with.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2024 9:17 pm Reply with quote
I'm not a devotee or practitioner of BDSM either but I hadn't considered and there is likely a continuum implied as B=bondage and D=discipline and Utena is definitely on the "B" end as you describe. So maybe Sayo is a little too. Not sure if Sulfur is somewhere in the middle or if she just likes beating people up. I'd guess the fact that there are Tres Magia and three Villains will not be a coincidence...
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DuskyPredator



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PostPosted: Sat Jan 20, 2024 6:08 am Reply with quote
Episode 3

We are introduced to one of the villain girls, Kiwi. She pretty much tries to show Utena as not as good as her, before Utena turns the tables and somewhat seduces Kiwi with kinky torture. I do think that there might be a bit of a disservice in watching this only subtitled, because if the subtitles are true Kiwi has quite the mouth on her, heavy swearing. Honestly already made me kind of curious what hearing dubbed would be like, just to absorb the whole shock of language.

If there is one thing that really makes me interested to return it will straight up be the shift Utena has when she gets worked up, as people are calling it "rizz", it is fun seeing a show's heroine go into the campy goodness that is generally only available to villains. She has got Kiwi trying to drag her to a love hotel, which to explain further apparently Kiwi is a degenerate teenage girl that was practically ready to send almost nude selfies onto social media so she can get more attention. And Sayo clearly coming into her masochism in quite excited for what new play Utena would have with her.
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