Were we just given an episode where magical girls pilot mechas?
(Spoilers in this review)
Well, yes, that’s what happened and I’m finding it hard to complain because I’ve always been a lowkey mecha fan. It’s just something about the passion and energy that comes with the genre. More about that later.
Cocona and Papika (along with Yayaka, Toto, and Yuyu) end up entering Pure Illusion during swim class. As a result, everyones struts around in swimsuits for the entirety of the episode. Pure Illusion happens to be a futuristic city this time. If you’ve ever watched anything from the Tron franchise, you should have a decent general idea of the setting.
As I said, I enjoyed the episode since I do like mecha shows. Since the fragment was in a giant monster, the episode was kind of like a mecha v. monster thing, which is fine by me. But I have to admit I found how the sequence events unfolded in this episode to be silly.
Whenever something went wrong against the monster, they always had an answer which involved the man who resides in this particular Pure Illusion (they called him Pops) reveal yet another countermeasure while saying, “If it’s you girls, you can do it.” Maybe it was a parody of how the main characters in mecha shows always seem to overcome improbable odds in order to save the day? At any rate, it became a bit repetitive.
I guess Ossan is supposed to be Hidaka in Pure Illusion. You don’t remember Dr. Hidaka? The loud, obnoxious scientist? Yeah, him. Ossan sure is a lot cooler than Hidaka, though…
Ossan had one moment where he says he can’t leave behind the city he created. “What’s the point of surviving if I lose something precious in the process,” he screams. It’s at that point Cocona decided that she shouldn’t overthink things and worry about changing things in real life through her conduct in Pure Illusion. If something’s precious, she’ll protect it. Well, that was easy. Why didn’t she listen to a stubborn mad scientist rant earlier an episode or two ago? Sarcasm aside, it just seemed to have been resolved way too abruptly. Well, that’s just my opinion.
Yayaka got a lot of focus this episode. Contrary to what she’s been claiming, she’s rather soft on Cocona and Papika as she tries to help them while claiming it’s in order to claim the fragment. I’d like to say she’s acting like a typical tsundere, but the fact that the twins seem to be judging her for helping out Cocona and Papika, their enemies, makes manners rather complicated.
And in the end she claims that they should leave the fragment behind for Cocona and Papika while boasting that they can steal it back at any time. Yayaka is really sending mixed signals and the twins have picked up on it. Hopefully the organization lets this slide.
As it turns out, she can also scream, “FLIP FLAPPING” and syncronize with Cocona and Papika, too. She might even be able to transform. However, Yayaka is hesitant to do so since she finds passionate yelling to be embarassing. But she did it in the end and looked like she was enjoying the battle. I guess there’s some sort of aesop about not trying to look like you’re an adult that’s too cool for childish things, but that’s me just digging real deep.
The episode ends with Papika calling Cocona Mimi. This series sure likes giving the viewers the slowest of developments and ending each episode on a sort of cliffhanger. Or they bombard us with some important information at the very end. Studio 3Hz the tease.
Next week’s episode is titled, “Pure Mute.” Who is that magical girl?? Guess we’ll have to wait and see. See you next week!
The Lily Garden 
Totally random, but I just noticed how the broken horn starting the 2nd transformation sequences looks like Gurren Lagann. 😮
LikeLiked by 1 person
It really did haha. Probably not just a coincidence? Hmm.
LikeLike
Probably not. Director Kiyotaka Oshiyama was one of the animation directors involved in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Must be a tribute.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Makes sense. It must be. I do love tributes and homages.
LikeLike
Nice catch on how Yayaka’s refusal to shout “Flip Flappers” is connected with an underlying sense of shame. Her character always HAS been presented as seemingly condescending, and she DOES appear to be “acting like an adult” with her patronizing language towards Cocona and Papika. Her “tsundere” attitude towards the two of them thus appears to be a denial of the growth of the two towards realizing who they are as adolescents, and thus, are able to unlock the power within themselves. In short, it’s Yayaka’s dishonesty and insecurity that bars her from becoming more of who she is. Instead, she forces herself to play the role of an adult — something divorced from who she really is — such that when she is stripped of her authority by the same establishment that employs her to collect the amorphous, her response is to work even harder as an “adult” to the point she forces herself to deny Cocona if only to “reinforce” her allegiance to the establishment.
I never really though much about Yayaka’s character traits until you mentioned it, so thanks for the catch! That really makes me look at this episode quite differently.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, I might have brought it to your attention with my flailing around, but you’ve really described what’s going on with Yayaka well! She’s a rather interesting character in her own right, I have to say. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say Flip Flappers is a coming-of-age story for all three girls.
You give me too much credit, but thank you!
LikeLike
I found it interesting that Yayaka combined with Papika and Cocona in this episode. It adds another question around the connection between the characters though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
More questions and more half-answers, yeah. The kind of answers that might earn partial credit on an exam. It was neat seeing her working together with Papika and Cocona, I agree. Now, what could it mean for the three of them?
Thanks for dropping by!
LikeLiked by 1 person