Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
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Sailor Sedna
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I meant that spoiler (which I'm guessing is near the end of the manga?).
Oh, I hope this isn't trying to cram everything into fewer episodes like Saintia Sho is doing... |
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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The manga has a long ways to go yet. The anime will not adapt chapter 39-That's somewhat towards the beginning of the middle of the current arc...Unless this gets a 2nd season. |
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Sailor Sedna
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So it's more than 9 volumes I see...hope it doesn't go on for too long...
That'll depend how it'll be on ratings I guess...I'll be honest, I hate this whole "12/13 episodes per season" most anime are doing now as it doesn't work a lot of times for me, it leaves out development or makes stories look rushed. And considering how I'm fearing the anime version of this will fail and how Saintia Sho may fail, I worry for the future of magical girl anime honestly, a lot of the dark ones are kinda "eh" to me and the light-hearted ones are either just another extra leg to the Precure cash cow that just needs to end or are stupidly pervy...or a lot of modern anime like them have things that make me feel like I'm going to end up on a watch list for watching it (like "Conception" having some bad bestiality vibes in it). |
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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Caught up on ep 4 and WTF did I just watch magical waterboarding?
Add in Abigail stating that her goal is to turn Magical Girls into Girls of Mass Destruction, and I'm wondering if the manga-ka took some inspiration from the controversies around the American invasion of Iraq...
I was expecting that, too, to be honest. Glad Abigail isn't Hannibal Lector and the torture wasn't even worse. But the torture scene was still rough, and I do think there was a sexualized element to it (Nozomi was wearing short shorts and a bra top and the camera wasn't shy about that). Then Abigail casually sliced off Nozomi's arm (oof!), and all I could think during the rescue scene was "Kurumi, grab her arm! You might be able to reattach it!" I couldn't tell if Kurumi took Nozomi's arm. I really like Asuka as a character, and that makes me curious about where the show is going next. But I'm not sure how much torture scenes I can take in a show... |
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Sailor Sedna
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From what I've read of the manga, that's the only one so far. |
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AiddonValentine
 Posts: 2292 |
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Yeah, that whole scene was making me curl into the fetal position. I mean, it's a torture scene so it should be brutal, but YOWZA that was rough. It's definitely a concept that has to be used cautiously. |
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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Two sides- A group of good magical girls,who are hardened combat veterans,the other side is a group of bondage-ish wearing evil magical girls . The author portrays both sides using equally extreme methods in furtherance of their causes.This was but the first torture scene you are going to be presented with. |
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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Next would be chapter 13... And episode 5 alone adapted parts of chapters 7 thru 10.... |
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pharmboy23
Posts: 198 |
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Man, I love Asuka as a character so far, but this series is genuinely hard to watch. I’ve never been a fan of gorier anime but the amount of trauma and torture in this one is pretty close to my limit.
The solution at the end of the episode is a bit of a cop-out, but they don’t sugar coat how much it messes up Asuka to see the results and man do all the adults in this show suck so hard. |
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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@Rebecca Silverman
It's still lazy writing,but there is a time limit on Kurumi's PTSD "treatment"(erasing memories).She developed the treatment long after the war,so no quick fix for Asuka. And the other school friend,Sayako,still suffers from her trauma,as Kurumi is really only motivated to "help" if Asuka is directly involved. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18353 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I'd like to think you're not, and that what you're describing is the series' ultimate theme. It would certainly justify better the almost over-the-top callousness of those in charge. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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I think it's the over-the-top-ness (that *is* a word!) of this series that's the most off-putting for me. I suppose it's also one of the main draws in general, though. The violence, the personalities of most of the characters, the gore, the torture. It's so pervasive that it becomes borderline excessive. It makes it hard to suspend disbelief -- for me, anyway.
I suppose this is the way the author decided to go to make the story stand out. I just hope that the content can keep up with this desire to be edgy and dark -- that is, I hope it doesn't turn into something whose primary thrust is to be edgy and dark, as opposed to telling a compelling story. I guess we'll just have to see. |
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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All goes towards the idea both sides will do whatever it takes to get the results they want. Kurumi(War Nurse) being one of the yandere & yuri types in this manga- just speaks for itself,as far as her motivations. |
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Terrible90sDub
 Posts: 168 |
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The previous episode was a low point, since it's definitely the closest to the trainwreck / typical dark magical girl trope mistakes it has gotten.
For the memory erasure, I agree that it is most likely a cop-out so they can keep her as she was. On the other hand, sometimes people experience trauma and their own brain decides to erase it and/or they'll detach themselves from the situation while it's happening to the point there's little to no memory of it. Whether or not it's better to forget, or if an individual would want to or not, would be an interesting question to explore, but at the moment I think it's more likely we'll get more torture scenes than any exploration of that. Still, I was surprised they even brought up how, even though they may not remember it, long-term people may react instinctively when reminded of a traumatic situation. Again, this anime seems to have knowledge about this topic, but then adds all of these other elements which make it an... interesting mix to say the least. |
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dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1442 |
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I don't think Kurumi can cure Asuka, because Asuka's experiences are burned into her hippocampus --- that's not lazy writing, it's not too far from our current (limited) understanding of how to treat PTSD (start treatment quickly, before the memories become set). And, since the treatment consists of erasing the memories of the trauma, applying the treatment on the battlefield might endanger Asuka and her comrades by also erasing her experience and the martial skills she's gained through it.
However, I'm still uncomfortable with how the government is treating these children as tools. I almost get the feeling that Nozomi's kidnapping was a setup by the government to draw Asuka back into the fray. They're also using Kurumi in the same way: putting her into danger so Asuka's sense of duty to her friends forces her to return to the fight. I think the anime-original scenes in this series are good additions (the scene in the restaurant was deeply disturbing psychological horror, the series gave the main characters good memories to erase along with the trauma) that add depth to the characters. |
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