Magia Record Episode 2

Magia Record Episode 2

It’s Proof of the End of a Friendship

Although I enjoyed episode 1 of Magia Record, this second episode was much closer to how I hoped this series would be. And by that, I mean it introduced horror elements similar to those found in the original Madoka Magica series.

We’re also introduced to three new magical girls, some of which may seem a bit familiar. There’s Kaede Akino, Rena Minami, and Momoko Togame. These three magical girls attend the same school in Kamihama city and work as a team to defeat powerful witches.

Kaede is probably the most unique magical girl we’ve been introduced to across all Madoka anime so far. And the reason for this is because her aesthetic and weapon are based of a mage, or witch. Now, she’s not based on the kind of witches we see in this series, but she has the staff and stereotypical big witch hat.

Rena Minami and Momoko Togame from the anime series Madoka Magica: Magia Record
Rena Minami and Momoko Togame

However, Kaede seems to be fairly weak, or at least is someone who’s always scared — not exactly the best magical girl candidate. And that’s where her friends Rena and Momoko come in. They seem to be much stronger than Kaede and work to protect her.

Rena is my favorite magical girl of this side story so fair, mainly because of her appearance. Also I just have a thing for the mean girls. Interestingly, she has a music note accessory on her waistband and uses a trident as a weapon.

Can you think of another magical girl who has a blue color palette, wears a music accessory, and is associated with water? That’s right, Sayaka Miki.

And lastly we have Momoko who looks and acts like Mami Tomoe, but she uses a giant sword instead of matchlock rifles.

The Little Kyubey

While we didn’t get much new information about the little Kyubey, there was one thing which could be fairly important. The Kyubey who tags along with Iroha states that it shouldn’t be possible for there to be a child-like Kyubey. And to back this up, we know that Kyubey are artificial creatures — they don’t grow up.

So, what’s the deal with this little Kyubey? Is it even real in the first place? Nobody else has seen it other than Iroha.

Now, in the first episode review I mentioned that Kuroe may be linked to Iroha’s sister Ui, and I still think that could be the case. After all, I didn’t notice Kuroe featured in the OP at all. Maybe she’s just not going to be an important character, but I think it’s more likely she’s not entirely real.

And this ties in to the little Kyubey because I believe they’re actually connected. In theory, they could both be Ui. Kuroe’s color palette is black, while the little Kyubey’s is white — they could be two halves of the same whole.

Additionally, as you may recall from last week, I pointed out that erasing Ui from existence would take a pretty powerful magical girl. Kyubey actually confirmed that for us this week (1 point for DoubleSama).

This is important because if Ui was split into both Kuroe and the little Kyubey, that could explain how she disappeared without the need for a powerful magical girl. Perhaps when Iroha wished for Ui’s illness to be cured, she wasn’t strong enough, and some external force had to pitch in energy to make it happen, but with this side effect.

Wishes and Magic

But we really know nothing about how Ui, Kuroe, and the little Kyubey are related — or even if they’re related at all. So let’s move on and discuss something we do (sort of) know about: wishes and magic.

I talked a little bit about this topic last week, but at that point we really didn’t have any new information to go on. That all changes this week when we learn about both Kaede’s wish and Rena’s magic. Unfortunately, we didn’t also learn about Rena’s wish and Kaede’s magic just yet.

But remember, wishes and magic generally go hand in hand.

From Rena, we learn that Kaede’s wish had to do with saving her family’s garden. Rena feels that this was a stupid thing to spend a wish on, but from Kaede’s response it’s clear that she doesn’t feel the same. To her, this garden is a precious part of her family and may be her only meaningful way to interact with them.

As for her magic, I thought she was going to have some basic fire magic or something based on her appearance, but now I’m not so sure. Her magic could have something to do with plants, although you’d think that would be associated with a green magical girl.

Rena’s magic, on the other hand, is revealed to be some sort of shape shifting. She can physically transform into other people, most notably Momoko. However, we do see her transform into a variety of other people as well. What isn’t quite clear yet is whether or not there’s some trigger for her transformations. Can she transform into anyone?

But this gives us a pretty good idea about who Rena is. She probably doesn’t like being herself, and her wish will have reflected this.

The Chain Monster

The chain monster (and maybe the chain witch too) is what really reminded me that this is a side story of Madoka Magica. This is the kind of dark plot line I wanted from this series, and I’m glad it’s delivering on that so soon.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the chain monster and chain witch are linked (pun intended) in some way even if they aren’t the same thing. My guess is that the chain witch is the one who controls the chain monster(s) which drag people into her labyrinth.

But what’s interesting about the chain witch is that it doesn’t seem to function like other witches we’ve seen thus far — unless you’re counting Homura. That’s to say, the chain witch is targeting very specific people and bringing them into her labyrinth.

Kaede Akino and the "chain monster(s)" from the anime series Madoka Magica: Magia Record
Kaede Akino and the “chain monster(s)”

How these victims are chosen is also quite interesting. There’s a school mystery (it’s a Japanese thing) that states if you write your name on the sixth step of a certain staircase and the name of the person you no longer want to be friends with on the seventh, your friendship will be severed.

Normally that’s where the story would end, but in this case there’s a second, more sinister part. If either party of the severed friendship attempts to reconcile, they will be taken away by the chain monster and never heard from again.

Out of frustration, Rena writes her and Kaede’s names on this staircase — probably thinking nothing would come of it. But once Kaede apologizes to Rena, Rena realizes just how true the rumors are. She can see the chain monsters surrounding Kaede, but Kaede doesn’t even seem to notice them.

Conclusion

What did you think of Magia Record episode 2? Do you think the little Kyubey and Kuroe are related to each other? And are they related to what happened to Ui? Also, what do you think Kaede’s magic and Rena’s wish are? Lastly, are you as excited for the future of this series as I am after seeing the chain monster(s)? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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