Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku Episode 2 Review: Collect Magical Candies!

Have you been wondering about the fate of your favorite Magical Girl? Have you spent your nights sleepless on whether Koyuki will be the ultimate Magical Girl and bring the end of humanity as we know it? Is FAV really a tampon possessed by the dark Lord Baphomet? Well, wait no more.

【今晩24時から！】TOKYO MXとBS11にて、このあと24時から第2話「マジカルキャンディーを集めよう！」がスタート！1話だとチャットルーム仕様のチビキャラだけだった魔法少女たちも続々と登場しますよ！ https://t.co/qiyJRzFRdw #mahoiku pic.twitter.com/uUHPnr1P6H

— TVアニメ「魔法少女育成計画」 (@mahoiku_anime) October 10, 2016

Plot

Judgement Day has come for the Magical Girls of Nabuka City. The one who collects the least Magical Candies will be having her powers stripped from her, because apparently the city’s mana will be drained by the presence of so many of them. Our group of sexy underage witches has to work hard to get rewarded and avoid that horrible fate. Koyuki, dedicated to her cause, is obviously leading the competition and that causes the admiration and envy of her peers. TopSpeed and Ripple have a sentimental flashback, and FAV decides which Magical Girl will be sent home.

【間も無くMX＆BS11にて第2話！】24時から『魔法少女育成計画』第2話がTOKYO MXとBS11にて放送です！増えすぎた魔法少女を半分にするとの通達を受けてのお話です！お見逃しなく！ https://t.co/qiyJRzFRdw #mahoiku pic.twitter.com/MgC2WO315G

— TVアニメ「魔法少女育成計画」 (@mahoiku_anime) October 10, 2016

Episode Highlights

All the Magical Girls gather up to find out about the cuts that are about to take place. FAV is being unbelievably annoying and the girls are asking him uncomfortable questions. It all reminds me of the staff meetings in my old job. A deep-voiced Magical Girl asks the million dollar question: on what criteria will they be halved? On performance, of course. Work it girls, or you else you get the boot.

Ripple is sulking on top of a building as usual, talking to FAV and reading the news. She says ‘tch’ seven times, and then TopSpeed comes along and says the word ‘tsundere’ three times. They remember the time they first met and how Ripple’s outfit does not accurately represent her fashion choices (in case you were thinking her outfit was too skimpy for her tsundere personality). While in the flashback, TopSpeed makes fun of Ripple’s weight, and Calamity Mary shows up trying to shoot them. Naturally, her boobs are showing. Her deep voice is a pleasant oasis in this high-pitched hellhole. After a short fight we get a close-up of Ripples breasts right next to her lightly scratched arm. Quality stuff. TopSpeed mentions their wounds heal when they transform back to teenage schoolgirls and Ripple realizes Magical Girls actually get hurt and die. Apparently, she has a god complex, but not as efficient as Haruhi Suzumiya’s. At least her shuriken always hit when thrown, and her tsundere game is strong. Upon her arrival at home and her transformation, the change in the way her character is drawn is spectacular and very refreshing. Her mom is texting her but she doesn’t seem to care.

In the meantime, Koyuki and her bff are rescuing an elderly couple from a fire and casually abandon them on the street. Their Magical Candy count goes crazy. Snow White is unbeatable anyway, because she’s a workaholic. Can we take a minute here to appreciate the fact that ‘La Pucelle’ is actually a guy and his special power is that he can change the size of his sword at will? Thank you.

A very uninteresting scene takes place where a number of secondary characters are trying to be important. I feel sorry for the girl called Tama, not only because she’s insecure, she’s being bullied, and she didn’t earn a single Magical Candy, but mostly because she has to wear a dog costume. Now that’s just low.

When she’s not being Nabuka City’s local Batman, she’s chatting online with Nemurin, a dream visitor, who even though she is quite nice, she doesn’t seem to be earning any Magical Candy. By the end of the episode she gets deleted from the app, loses her powers and after a mysterious last visit into a young girl’s dream, she is found dead on her bed by her mom.

Themes & Trivia

Koyuki is Cardcaptor Sakura: I was struggling to remember who she reminded me of. Come on, you know it’s true. Cerberus was a million times better than FAV though; god, I really hate FAV.

The Western Stereotype: Calamity Mary is blonde and dressed in a cowboy bikini skirt. If you’ve played some eye-candy video games in your life, you might remember Tina, the all-out American character from DOA who is basically her adult version and the most annoying female fighting game character EVER.

Make Inu: Literally translates as ‘loser dog’, and is basically how poor little Tama is being portrayed. The slur mostly describes childless unmarried Japanese women in their thirties, but can also be used in a more generic way. Still, the whole reference made me want to eat my own puke.

NEET: Although a UK term, ‘Not in Education, Employment, or Training’ is used a lot around Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. In Japan, it is a pretty big issue, to the point where there are entire books and studies referring to it. There are also government schemes to prevent the country’s youths from becoming NEETs.

Comments

I have to admit, Nemurin’s death was a slap in the face. She was too damn cute to die. She had her own problems to deal with. Other than that, the episode was a bit boring and uneventful, with lots of secondary characters taking up space. Snow White is being awesome and the show is overall advancing as expected.

Less interesting than the previous episode, yet with a more shocking finale. For a moment I was worried nothing was going to happen. But out of everyone, Nemurin had to get it. She deserved better.

Leave a comment on how much you miss her and how her death was an unfair blow from an unfair society. One comment = one prayer. I hope you get this joke, because if not, I might as well die of embarrassment.

NEXT TIME: “Update Notice!” “Bājon Appu no Oshirase!”
(バージョンアップのお知らせ！).