Magia Record Episode 4

Magia Record Episode 4

This Isn’t the Past

It’s unfortunate to say, but Madoka Magica: Magia Record episode 4 doesn’t really have all that much to discuss. Or, at least, there isn’t too much meaningful content to discuss. Sure, there’s Tsuruno and the hunt for the Seance Shrine, but they seem fairly straightforward.

The real mystery of this episode doesn’t come until the very end when Yachiyo and Iroha actually enter the Seance Shrine, and that’s nothing more than a closing scene. However, since this episode was basically all setup, I’m hoping that the next episode gives this mini arc a good conclusion unlike what we got from the chain monster arc.

I’m also beginning to get a feel for how this series is likely going to be set up, and I hope I’m wrong. It seems like this 12 episode series is going to have an introduction, four or five mini arcs, and then a conclusion. And those mini arcs are each going to focus on a rumor which could be (but ultimately isn’t) connected to Ui’s disappearance.

This is probably because they’re trying to compress a mobile game into such a short series, but I just don’t see this anime having a very compelling story in the end. At least, that’s the impression I have so far. Like I said, I hope I’m not correct.

Tsuruno Yui

The only new magical girl we’re introduced to in this episode is Tsuruno Yui. We actually do see two other random girls later on in the episode for a second or two, but I think that was just a cameo of more characters from the game, and not anyone important to this anime.

Tsuruno is a strange magical girl who Yachiyo warns Iroha not to get too close to. It’s not entirely clear why Yachiyo is so wary of Tsuruno, but it probably just has to do with the fact that the two basically have opposite personalities. After all, the two of them are friends to an extent, with Tsuruno referring to Yachiyo as her master.

Tsuruno Yui from the anime series Madoka Magica: Magia Record
Tsuruno Yui

Tsuruno’s family owns a restaurant which is known around town for being completely average — not really something to be proud of. And this is probably why she’s a fire-based magical girl. She cooks with fire in the kitchen, so that’s a major part of who she is.

What we don’t yet know, however, is what her wish was, if she has any other special magic besides fire, and if her use of fans signifies anything in particular. In the end, it could just turn out that she solely knows fire magic and uses her fans to, well, fan the flames.

The Seance Shrine

The Seance Shrine is another popular rumor which involves people disappearing just like that of the friendship ending staircase. However, this rumor targets a different demographic.

The friendship ending staircase required there to be two friends, with one of them wanting to break off the friendship. Then, once the friendship was broken, if either of the former friends attempted to reconcile, they would be taken by the chain monster. So the setup of that disappearance involved someone who was mad at someone else.

This time around, rather than targeting someone who’s mad at their friend, the rumor targets someone who misses someone else. Perhaps it could even be targeting the remaining friend after the other one was taken away by the chain monster.

As the rumor goes, all you have to do is locate the Seance Shrine, write down the name of the person you want to see again, and then you’ll get to see them. Except there’s one small caveat, which is that the people who go through with this rumor are never seen again themselves.

And one interesting thing to keep in mind about the Seance Shrine is that, like the friendship ending staircase, it’s not a witch’s labyrinth. There are little witch minion things involved, but as far as we can tell it’s not directly related to a witch. So, could the same witch be the cause of both these rumors?

Mifuyu and Ui

The final thing I want to discuss today is also what I think is the most interesting, though it’s also the thing we have the least information about. Once inside the Seance Shrine, Yachiyo and Iroha are reunited with the people they wanted to meet again.

For Yachiyo this was a girl named Mifuyu, and for Iroha this was obviously her sister Ui.

Yachiyo's missing friend Mifuyu from the anime series Madoka Magica: Magia Record
Yachiyo’s missing friend Mifuyu

From the start I’ve assumed that Ui was once a real person. I’ve never entertained the idea that Ui never existed in the first place, though, sure, that could end up being the case I guess. But I’m also going to assume that since Ui was seen in the Seance Shrine that does in fact mean she existed at some point.

There’s no guarantee that the Seance Shrine can only show people who actually exist, but it just feels like that’s the case. So from my perspective, and probably Iroha’s as well, this is a confirmation that Ui is, or was, a real person.

Additionally, we have Mifuyu. We don’t know anything about Mifuyu other than that both Yachiyo and Tsuruno knew her. Based on that information, and the fact that Yachiyo and Tsuruno are friends, yet seem to keep their distance, I’m going to say Mifuyu was the third member of their group who was killed by a witch.

I’m also going to assume that Yachiyo blames herself for Mifuyu’s death because she wasn’t strong enough to protect her. This is probably why Yachiyo is mainly a loner now. She doesn’t hang out with Tsuruno, or anyone else, because she doesn’t want to lose them too.

Conclusion

What did you think of Magia Record episode 4? Is the series going to continue on with these mini arcs until Iroha finds Ui in the end? Is there a single, powerful witch behind all these rumors? And, what do you think the significance of Mifuyu is? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

2 Replies to “Magia Record Episode 4”

  1. I think this episode is a result of the weird place magia record is. I hate bringing it up but in the game these scenes not only where longer but served a different purpose. The only reason they where awkwardly put in was because they became one of the biggest memes in community. So much so that 10 point sale was turned into a whole musical number in the magia record musical. Even then the comedic timing and wording is really really off.

    Tbh I have a lot more to say about episode 5 depending on how much they’ll focus on the rumor this time.

    My crack head theory on how they’ll adapt it would be: it’s not 13 episodes. The game has a campaign that releases limited gatchas per episode the event end in June way after 13 episodes would pass.

    It’s really interesting going though these impressions and seeing what everyone got right /wrong.

    1. The problem with these anime based on gacha games is that they’re basically fan service for the people playing those games. Fate is pretty notorious for this, and the Azur Lane anime makes no sense to me (but I still enjoy it), so I get why Magia Record is the way it is.

      And to your point about this anime possibly being more than 13 episodes long, Aniplex has it listed as 13, but it could always actually be split into two parts like other series have done recently. Attack on Titan S3 was split into two single cours rather than a double cour season, and the latest SAO season was supposed to be 4 cours, but so far has been a 2 cour part and a 1 cour part. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Magia Record is going to have a second half since it’s based on a gacha game, but if that’s the case I’d think it would air during the Summer season.

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