![]() ![]() Meaning, “dark magical girls deconstructions” are old news, it’s time to deconstruct or subvert their tropes already: Returning back to the “Magical Girl” part of the title - the series’ genre can be accurately described as post-dark mahou shoujo - by the same merit as the post-cyberpunk subgenre of sci-fi. ![]() It feeds both the sci-fi and over-the-top fun aspects of the series because there is just something magical about watching a mahou shoujo overcharging an assault rifle bullet with energy to a point where it becomes a bunker-buster. Magic memory wipe - a full-on complex neurosurgery that needs the use of a (magic) tomograph. Magic truth serum - a magically altered barbiturate cocktail. Magic shield - it’s actually a magic explosive reactive armor. Magic animal mascot - a synthetic life-form with true AI. The show rightfully brags about having a dedicated military advisor, and it also sciences the shit out of anything magical. The big highlight of the series - it’s an absolute treat to any modern military buff, a hard sci-fi fan, or just anyone who likes authors doing their research. Again, Metal Gear is the most apt comparison. There is plenty of unadulterated brainless B-movie fun that would make for a totally inappropriate tonal clash if it was any less self-aware. That’s not to say this series is completely dramatic. Anyway, don’t watch this if you can’t handle torn-off limbs, just don’t delude yourself into thinking one’s sensibility has anything to do with the objective merits of the work of fiction. Try calling something like Saving Private Ryan “edgy” and you will be laughed at, yet the same shit flies with anime for reasons that are not the topic of this review (*cough*, only children watch Chinese cartoons, *cough*). Like I said, this is a military drama about war and terrorism - if a story like this isn’t dark, then it’s toothless and fails to achieve its purpose. And by “appropriately”, I mean that if you hear someone calling a show like this “edgy” or “gratuitous” - those people are clueless. ![]() The writing is competent, dealing with the brought-up themes in a mature and nuanced way.Ĭonsequently, given the genre and the height of its proverbial brow, this is an appropriately dark show. most accurate portrayals of PTSD in fiction, btw), the effect of a global war on the world order (the classical Mahou Shoujo battle with monsters was won by the MC several years before the series even begins), political fuckery between the competing military branches, battlefield camaraderie and so on - all the genre staples. In fact, Metal Gear is an almost complete thematic match for this show - gut-wrenching military drama plus “twenty minutes into the future and the world has gone to hell” sci-fi plus wacky tongue-in-cheek comedy.Īs a military drama, it touches on the themes of child soldiers (that is, magical girls), terrorism, PTSD of soldiers and civilians (one of the best and Do not be misled by the words “Mahou Shoujo” in the title, this is a military/sci-fi drama about an anti-terrorist unit, it is far more in line with Ghost in the Shell/Metal Gear rather than with any actual mahou shoujo series. ![]()
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