I’m going to try to keep this post as short as possible by trying to just reference all the callbacks to and the foreshadowing seen in previous episodes while keeping the whole summary thing to a minimum. It’s still going to be long, though. This series truly does not have a single wasted moment. As a result, I think we have already seen Hardgore Alice’s real form in an earlier episode.
(Spoilers in this episode)
Well, Koyuki wakes up in her bed. She initially believes her seeing a headless magical girl stab someone through the stomach with her bare hands was all a dream. Was it?
It’s the Rabbit’s Foot! Remember back in episode 1 where Koyuki was only playing the game before she became a magical girl? She picked up the Rabbit’s Foot back then, too.
Turns out Hardgore Alice was the one who originally bought the item. It makes sense since she has a (dark) Alice in Wonderland theme. I’ll talk more about Hardgore Alice later.
Most of the episode largely consists of some Calamity Mary scenes and some Ripple scenes. I have to admit, Calamity Mary’s characterization surprised me. She’s upset that someone who was acting under her orders was killed (she told Magicaloid 44 to kill someone in episode 5). So avenging Magicaloid 44 is more of a matter of pride and image. I thought the episode of the title was talking about friendship!
She’s also the only one (that we’ve seen) who has realized that Fav is playing favorites. As a result, she coaxes Fav into telling her who killed Magicaloid 44 by promising Fav that she’ll give him what he wants. In other words, she’ll kill Hardgore Alice to help reduce the amount of magical girls.
The way I see it, the whole “the magical girl with the least amount of candies dies” thing is just a subtle push for the girls to kill each other. After all, when La Pucelle died, the magical candy elimination round did not take place that week. As such, I believe that the means are not important to Fav; he just wants their numbers to slowly go down at least on a weekly basis.
Anyways, there’s the whole fight between Calamity Mary and Hardgore Alice. Zombie movie buffs can rejoice! Alas, Hardgore Alice’s ability is amazing so she still lives.
The eyecatches for the episode:
The next few minutes lets us see more of Ripple’s family life via a series of flashbacks. Her mom keeps getting with new men, which causes people to bully her. She tries to be reasonable, but the bullies keep pushing and pushing her…
This is definitely in-character with what we’ve seen of Ripple and her explosive temper. Remember back in episode 2, right after her brief scuffle with Calamity Mary?
It also turns out her latest stepdad was a creepy peeping tom and overall scumbag. No wonder why she moved out to live by herself.
The knowledge of how depraved the man is makes the text message Ripple received in episode 2 even more scary.
Then the show switches back to present day. Turns out someone (Top Speed) called Ripple out so they can do some good deeds together.
Then we transition to the meeting between Snow White and Sister Nana (and Winterprison). Of course Snow White joins her cause! Idealism solves everything! Then Hardgore Alice appears, which freaks out Snow White, and also joins the alliance.
Snow White and Hardgore Alice are then left alone because Sister Nana wants to meet with more magical girls. Oh, dear, it must be the four-girl-squad. Snow White tries to make her exit, but Hardgore Alice just chases after her.
Realizing that she can’t escape, Snow White notices this is an opportunity to return the Rabbit’s Foot to HG Alice. However, Hardgore Alice says she wanted to give it to Snow White in the first place. Why?
Really? You gave up 6 years of your life to give Snow White a free present? In case your memory needs some jogging, here’s the shop list of Super-Rare Items from episode 6.
Also from Episode 6 was an eyecatch that told us a bit more about Hardgore Alice. Apparently she likes stuffed bunnies so it makes sense that she would get the Rabbit’s Foot. I guess she’s on Snow White’s side in the end. But what could have Snow White have done for Hardgore Alice to make her like Snow White so much?
At this point, I became convinced that we, the viewers, probably have an idea why Hardgore Alice likes Snow White. After all, this episode was chock full of references to previous episodes. So after some pondering, I think I figured it out.
In episode 1, we got to see Snow White helping a lot of people. However, there was one particular girl who we, the audience, got to see up close and personal. Could it be?
I don’t know. But it could be possible.
Ripple also gets told to meet with Calamity Mary two days from now. She then has a flashback to her first meeting with Calamity Mary (seen in episode 2) and is disgusted. After rewatching the scene in episode 2, I can’t see why Ripple hates CM to that extent. Maybe because she wanted to exert her dominance over Ripple? Because she took a sneak shot at Top Speed before running off?
A showdown between Ripple and CM may or may not happen next week.
The episode ends with Winterprison and Sister Nana walking into the temple to meet the four-girl-group. Swim Swim is ready to ambush the pair, oh no.
Next week’s episode is titled, “Sudden Event in Session!” See you next week!
The Lily Garden 
“However, Hardgore Alice says she wanted to give it to Snow White in the first place. Why?”
I was really hoping the series would drum up at least a slightly intriguing reason for Alice passing the foot along. The whole “I just felt like it” bit just lacks so much passion and energy that I can’t believe someone actually thought that was acceptable writing.
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She has to be hiding her actual reason for doing so. Why are magical girls so bad at communication? But if that isn’t the case then I agree that this is some pretty uninspired writing.
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Dropping by again.
I loved that message to Ripple anime put in episode 2 (I am ashamed that I don’t notice it) , that was a neat touch. Also the short story anime add this time was named “Zombie Western” lol. Of course the story had more about Alice and Marry than just the fight, still it was nice to see it animated.
As for Ripple, she has a one track mind and a very short fuse, if she decided to do something she will do it. If someone pissed her off she will respond it violence because that was the only way she know how to. I believed that translate to her powers as always finishing what she started in physically violent ways.
Also I love how they animated Alice, it’s perfect. If they do it right, next episode will be damn amazing.
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Oh, that text message was another anime original? Damn, the studio has been nailing it with the extra content!
Yeah you’re totally right about the Zombie Western, haha. Did the show suddenly switch genres?! Ohh, they cut out some dialogue, huh? Or maybe some thoughts CM and Alice had while fighting? That’s too bad. Still, it was nicely animated, yeah.
Oh, I read that La Pucelle tumblr post you linked on Alane’s blog. It was very interesting! Especially on how personalities affect a magical girl’s power. I think you’re definitely right about Ripple’s power and her ability to deal with situations.
She looked like an actual zombie / unstoppable force. The music fit the animation, too. We can look forward to more Alice action next episode? That’s great news! I hope they can pull it off.
Thanks for dropping by once again! Your knowledge of the original source material always makes our little conversations very pleasant and educational.
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If Alice can communicate properly she wouldn’t be Alice to begin with.That was just her character, the true reason to give that rabbit foot isn’t even hard to guess or complex, just a bit embarrassing to speak.
The translator on tumblr writes up a Ruler post for this week, in case you missed that one, some of those are probably pulled from peaceful days stories volume I think, sadly I haven’t read that one.
Also He/she finished translating Limited, 5&6th volume or the third arc, along with a missing story (for me) after the first Arc. At the rate translator is going, all the material are going to be translated before the anime is over lol.
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Fair enough. Alice’s mannerisms is similar to a child’s (liking stuffed bunnies, silently listening to Sister Nana’s speech like she was being lectured…) so it makes sense she’s not great at communication.
Ah I see. I’ll happily wait until next episode (or later) to see the reveal. So much to look forward to!
Oh, I’ll check it out. Should be spoiler free by now, right? Thanks once again.
Wow, the translator is moving fast lol. Translators are so precious!
Thanks for dropping by and weighing in again!
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Hey, I really appreciate the amount of thought and backtracking you’ve put into this review, and all the screenshots to back it all up. Really great job!
Characterization was nice this episode. I felt really bad for Ripple.
How did you even catch that Snow White got the Rabbit’s Foot way back when? You also called the Rabbit’s Foot and HG Alice.
I think if that girl got a closeup, then she’s a likely candidate for HG Alice. Speaking of Alice, woah she was kind of scary to watch, ahaha. I wish CM had finished her off (is it possible with lots of burning?) instead of trying to drown her.
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Thank you! It was rather fun writing this post!
Ripple has had it hard, yeah. The poor girl.
Oh, it was like the first thing that happened after Fav introduced to the game, which happened after the OP played for the first time, which happened after the opening bloody scene back in episode 1. I took a picture of her claiming the Rabbit’s Foot doesn’t sound very useful in order to poke fun at Koyuki, but little did we know it would be kind of relevant 5 episodes later.
I guess I did, aha. I’m a little surprised with what I’ve gotten right so far, too. I’m supposed to look stupid by being wrong. But it’s not happening that way!
I think so, too. That’s what I really like about this series so far. I can’t really think of many wasted moments.
Yeah, she was animated wonderfully. The lurching she did while she was talking to Snow White freaked me out hahaha. Maybe fire could have done her in, but I guess we’ll never know.
Thanks for dropping by!
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Lol I guess I AM talking to the guy who can write series reviews after 10 months of finishing an anime. I didn’t get that at allll xD
Nope! You and this series are super in tune. And I’m sure for the other series too; I don’t watch any of the others except for girlish number but you’ve been spot on there as well.
Turhur. Now I’m remembering the Alice lurching. That little girl seemed so sweet! It’s a bit hard to imagine they’re the same person. But then she was nice to Snow White and also only got a bit of screen time. Him.
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There’s nothing in my head but anime, send help ;__;
Haha, thanks. It’s a strange feeling. I admit, it’s a lot harder trying to nail what’s coming up in Girlish Number. I’m also pitifully flailing around for Flip Flappers because it is so different compared to any other anime I’ve seen. Apparently I need a degree in psychology or art history if I want to fully appreciate that one. But thank you! You’ve definitely noticed some fine details, too, though! Like how Sister Nana is naive and how Snow White has become less and less active as the magical girls basically stop acting like magical girls.
The Alice Lurch can be a new dance move! Yeah, I’m finding it hard to imagine, too. Maybe some bad stuff happened to her since the last time we saw her. I guess we will have to wait and see as usual!
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It’s okay! You can be the anime oracle, guru, and person who needs to read up on art history. And thanks!
Mmmm I am so tempted to go to that site and engulf all the light novels. Maybe I’ll brainstorm the post instead. It’s probably going up Monday night since I am still catching up on things. Unless I bust through a lot tomorrow. Tentative title: The Alice Lurch feat. remyfool :p it’ll be the new Caramelldansen
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Haha maybe one day but it’s too unlikely. You’re very welcome!
I am, too, ughhh. But brainstorming sounds like a good idea.
Mmm the busy week lasts all seven days huh? Sorry to hear.
Hahaha oh please all my feet can do is drag my butt to the fridge.
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I’m so scared. I just watched episode 7 and it’s making me cringe. This anime’s chained- the events are all connected to each other, like on Swim Swim’s case with Ruler and Nemurin, right. I can’t wait for ep8- Thanks for the review. 😉
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I know, right? I’m scared for the magical girls, too. It’s actually very interesting that an event is connected to another one with no exceptions. There’s no extraneous stuff, really (but some additional lines or scenes probably could be found in the novels that serve to flesh out specific characters or scenes), which makes for some tight storytelling. The whole thing with Ruler, Nemurin, and Swim Swim definitely counts, yeah.
I’m also looking forward to episode 8. Thank you and thanks for dropping by!
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Do you have a source for the translated version of the light novel? I can’t seem to find one- I even asked on forums, still, none. 😦
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I believe this is one possible source.
http://mahoikutranslationproject.tumblr.com
I am forcing myself to not look at this until the series is over, though.
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I look spoilers to be honest, haha. Thank you so much Remy. 🙂
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