Self-acceptance is a term that has garnered quite a positive connotation as of late. But, like with most things in life, it doesn’t favor any end of the spectrum. With self-acceptance, there’s no difference between someone who embraces a superficial defect/bodily issue and someone who embraces inner deviant behavior. At the end of the day, both those people accepted a part of themselves. And once more, Gushing Over Magical Girls’ episode 2 perfectly delivers in the depiction of this with its second episode.
Regardless of your belief on whether art exists independently of reality or maintains a direct correlation with it, one must admit that this show is not for the hoi polloi. That’s a fact made abundantly clear when the second episode begins with our protagonist, Utena Hiiragi, fantasizing about wanting to once again dominate magical girls. She’s so distracted by the racy thoughts in her head that she has to be snapped back into reality by her teacher, who comments on her apparent daze. As Utena heads home, Sayo Minakami (Tres Magia’s Magia Azure) comes up to her and comments on her lamentable-looking state. On her walk home, Utena contemplates the misgivings of her deeds and her apparent state.
She visits a shrine to pray away her worldly thoughts but instead ends up finding a bait S&M adult mag on the shrine grounds. As she half-heartedly tries to stop herself from indulging in the lewd tome before her, a strong gust of wind blows it open, revealing its titillating content. Without a fight, she gives in to her desires and reads the magazine. A depressing tidbit of pertinent information is how Utena’s state of mind leads her down the path she’s trying to avoid. Someone who has self-esteem issues is less likely to put up a fight against temptation. Low self-esteem also leads to riskier sexual behavior. Both of these things are present in Utena.
As she looks over the magazine, she ruminates on the fact that not only does she seem to enjoy this behavior, but she has been inflicting it on Tres Magia. Her excitement, lust, and exasperation trigger a magical transformation. To her misfortune, Magia Azure, a member of Tres Magia, is a Miko at the temple she’s in. When she picks up on Utena’s aura, she quickly heads towards her for a sortie. Whether by coincidence or due to her already sexually excited state, when Utena attempts to transform a fox mask into a monster, it instead ends up turning into a blindfold-like contraption on Magia Azure.
Using this to her advantage, Utena tries to escape. However, she realizes that Magia Azure cannot fight back, so she returns to torment her. This may be seen as a cowardly move. It is easy to typecast Gushing Over Magical Girls as a show that glories underhandedness but a quick look at the natural world shows that very few predators fight on, even ground with their prey. Big cats and sharks use ambushes, while head-on hunters usually use numbers of sizable height and weight advantages.
From there, Utena descends on the defenseless Magia Azure. Utena’s dive into her own fetishes is always a sight to behold. While small, little expression details are less fawned over than flashy, well-executed animation. Seeing the little twitches, the euphoric smile, and the widening of her pupils all eloquently convey her excitement. Likewise, you can hear the joy and disbelief in her crackling voice as she torments Magia Azure. Her attack is only called off when Utena realizes that the rest of Tres Magia is on their way, and then, with ragged breath and nervous perspiration, she retreats. But not before she lets Magia Azure know that she’s looking forward to continuing their one-sided tryst.
As Gushing Over Magical Girls’ episode 2 progresses, we skip to Venalita and Utena talking about her battle name, and Venalita further manipulates her by telling her a fictional story about how he’s forced to be evil because of an unjust prosecution by magical girls of her kind. In another part of town, Tres Magia is seen discussing how to deal with the threat posed by Utena. Reflecting on the state that their previous battles left her comrades in, Magia Sulfur attempts to bait Utena into an altercation.
When Utena arrives, she expresses her willingness to resolve the upcoming fight through dialogue. Venalita says that dialogue would not give any favorable results. He then hands Utena a candle, which she transforms into a monster. From there, it turns into a sexually charged assault, with Utena delving into wax play. Utena tries to coax Magia Sulfur into admitting defeat and even summons another monster to help subjugate her. However, Magia Sulfur’s perceived weakness was nothing more than a feint. When she’s further pushed, she shows her battle form, causing Utena to flee.
Utena’s fighting tactics are pretty in line with her psychological state. Someone like her, who would likely try their hardest to avoid being the center of attention or who thinks they’re not supposed to be, would always favor defense and diversion tactics. She is seemingly strong enough to best Tres Magia as a whole if she employs a guerrilla method. But, when faced with a head-on melee against Magia Sulfur, she uses wax substitutes to avoid any damage. There is another reason for Utena’s inclination to avoid confrontation, even though she may delve into sexually explicit actions. She deeply cares for Tres Magia and wishes to prevent any life-threatening bodily harm from coming their way. Thus, she intentionally keeps her distance. Sensing that Utena will withdraw before engaging in physical combat, Magic Sulfur inquires about her name. Utena responds with ‘Magia Baiser.’ As Utena exits her transformation portal in another part of town, Venalita asks her if she’s okay, as she’s audibly exasperated. But the look on Utena’s face is far from painful. It’s the face of someone who’s losing herself to pleasure. She’s so far gone into the adrenaline of her sexual proclivities and the fight she was just in that she fails to notice that she’s being watched from the roof of a building — setting up next week’s episode and ending on a cliffhanger.
Assuming that you watched Gushing Over Magical Girls’ episode 2, you’re either a hardcore fan of magical girls or you can overlook the more jarring parts of the show’s content and enjoy the rest. The show has a certain MOE aspect to the artwork, but like last week, there are a few notable discrepancies — be the expressions that are frozen for too long or just uneven facial proportions. The fights won’t go viral for their fluidity, but the demand for perfection literally kills people, so just being okay is more than good enough at times.
The OST and insert songs fit the anime well, with erotic scenes featuring a Spanish-esque background song that’s slightly reminiscent of tango music to add an even greater sultry ambiance to it. It’s easy to convey emotion in loud speech; doing so in subdued speech is another thing altogether, but Utena’s VA (Fuuka Izumi) does a stellar job at this with her pants and breaks, mimicking those of someone in Utena’s position perfectly.
Screenshots via HIDIVE
© Akihiro Ononaka/ Takeshobo/ Gushing Over Magical Girls Production Committee