Yūki Yūna wa Yūsha de Aru

Episode 10

So what was Mimori off doing while Fu was having her meltdown in episode 9? An awful lot, it seems, including learning the The Truth of This World. While one big piece of it was anticipated by many based on clues dropped the last two episodes, the other part goes far beyond expectations.

The part that was becoming commonly-suspected is that the “Wasshi” that Sonoko referred to back in episode 8 is, in fact, Mimori from the two year time period where her memories are lost, as Mimori discovers herself on a second visit to Sonoko. That, of course, means that her loss of memories and the use of her legs are both associated with going through the Sange to achieve Mankai state as one of Sonoko's fellow Heroes, and the fact that she had four faeries to start is a sign that she underwent the Sange twice before. (Sonoko did it an awful lot more, apparently.) That and learning that she was adopted by a strong Taisha family for those two years (hence the name change), that the good food and accommodations she has experienced lately is a sort of worship by the Taisha, and that her moving in next door to Yuna – who is one of the most promising Hero candidates ever – wasn't a coincidence is upsetting enough, but what really blows her mind is learning from her the truth about what lies beyond the curtain of their world. That truth was far less anticipated: an insane, apocalyptic spectacle whose which is at least as trippy as the trippiest thing that Madoka Magica ever showed. In other words, the world of the Shinju is a protected haven against world-cleansing creatures sent by the heavens, or some such thing, and those world-cleansers are what the Vertex apparently are. And they can be reconstructed, too! Mimori can hardly be blamed for going off the deep end and deciding that the whole system has to be destroyed after what she learns.

Well. That's quite a load to dump out, especially given that the episode started in humbler terms by going back and filling in some gaps in Mimori's story, including a more detailed look at her first meeting with Yuna, their recruitment into the Hero Club, and Itsuki's introduction to the club. It not only sets up the play at the beginning and its aftermath but also fills us in on the specifics of the suicide attempts Mimori mentioned last episode. The one they show in detail, her attempt at seppuku, is harrowing to watch, much more so than it was unnerving to hear her talk about matter-of-factly last episode. It does, however, lay a firmer foundation for the extremes to which Mimori goes later in the episode.

Though the weightiness of the later revelations is a lot to digest, by starting with the more light-hearted flashbacks and gradually building into the revelations (and prefacing them with the previous two episodes) this episode avoids the sensation of experiencing a dramatic tonal shift. In fact, the only thing that really doesn't work smoothly is the in media res opening scene – a rare misstep for the series. The story also mostly avoids the sensation of dogpiling on the heroines, primarily because it has been so careful to establish the powerful strength of the connections between the girls, the depths of their sentiments and good natures, and how that can be used by the girls to cope with their crises; in the hands of any lesser writing, this could easily devolve into tragedy porn. For all that Yuki Yuna is a Hero emulates Madoka Magica, that is where the cleanest break is: the narrative no longer seems to be pushing in the direction of sacrificing its characters' lives in order to make its points. (Emphasizing the progression from hero to sacrifice to worship also puts an interesting philosophical twist on the content that was not present in Magica, as the character in that who became godlike was never worshiped.) There is a sense that even though this upcoming crisis looks pretty awful, the girls will pull through and will find a way. After all, they saved Fu from herself last episode, so I have to believe that we will see something similar forthcoming with Mimori.

Despite that one flaw at the beginning, this series is powering along. If it can finish out properly what it has set up here then you are looking at a prime candidate for one of the year's best series.

Rating: A-

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