Assault Lily: Bouquet Episode 3

Yuyu-sama

I honestly wasn’t expecting my predictions for this series to come true so quickly. But, it was obvious from episode 1 that Misuzu was dead, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it was revealed so quickly. That would have been an extremely unfulfilling reveal if it had come late in the series.

The confirmation of my prediction aside, Assault Lily: Bouquet episode 3 really showcased some of the shortcomings this series has in regards to writing. I don’t know about you, but I felt like it was holding my hand the entire time.

For example, when Yuyu’s ability was explained to put her in a berserker-like state in which she attacks friend and foe alike, it became clear how Misuzu died. And yet, the episode kept reminding us of Yuyu’s ability and Misuzu’s death as if it was really trying to drive home the connection between the two.

Then, after all that, it just showed us exactly how they’re connected — as if there was any doubt left by that point.

This series is also apparently going all-in on Yuyu’s character trope. I get it, she’s the damaged goods girl who can’t get close to anyone else after losing her beloved Misuzu. She’s not entirely out of that phase yet, but she’s almost there. And the fact that she’s “progressing” this quickly should show you that the writers know it’s just a trope.

If Yuyu was going to experience any real character development outside of that which her trope calls for, it wouldn’t be moving at this pace. But, at the end of the day, Yuyu’s character development isn’t what matters. She just needs to develop quickly so that we can shift our focus to Riri’s development.

Unlimited CHARM Works

The only part of the episode that I would say “surprised” me was when it was revealed that the restored Huge had an extremely high body count. Normally, you would expect a single Huge not to be that big of a deal as long as multiple Lilies are working together.

But, the simple fact that there are Huge that are “restored” implies that this isn’t necessarily the case. In order for a Huge to be restored, it must first sustain damage and then be able to retreat in order to be repaired.

Now, if Lilies were able to damage a Huge, you wouldn’t expect them to allow it to retreat and be repaired. They would obviously chase it down and finish it off. That is unless there are no remaining Lilies to do so. The true implication here is that any restored Huge have killed Lilies in the past.

So, since my primary prediction from episode 1 has already been confirmed, it’s time for a new prediction that’s a bit less guaranteed. I’m going to say that the Huge that killed Misuzu wasn’t actually defeated and that it will make a return as a restored Huge later on.

What I’m not really sure about is how that interaction between the restored Huge and Yuyu would go. On one hand, you would expect Yuyu and Riri to defeat it pretty easily as a way to show Yuyu’s growth. However, this could also be a good way for Yuyu to really fulfill her role as the “older sister” of the pair.

From the ED, we already know that there’s going to be a scene in which Riri is holding and crying over Yuyu. I still don’t believe Yuyu is going to die, but I do think it’s likely that she protects Riri by using her body as a shield just like Misuzu did for her.

Destiny

There was a single line in this episode that you may have missed or not paid all that much attention to. After Misuzu is run through by Yuyu, she says “This is our destiny.”

So, what exactly did she mean by that? Well, as I’m sure any fan of dark magical girl series knows, she probably means that an early death is the destiny of all Lilies. Basically, by saying this she’s reassuring Yuyu that her death isn’t Yuyu’s fault — this was destined to happen sooner or later.

Now, you could argue whether or not that’s really a good way to reassure Yuyu of anything at all. But I’m not here to point fingers and say who is or isn’t good at reassuring others.

The important takeaway from this line is that Misuzu appears to be saying that this is the fate of all Lilies and that she’s aware of it. Now, with that information, take a look at some of the previous statements and scenes from this same episode. Suddenly, things begin to make sense.

Remember how the current members of the nine-Lily group known as Alfheim said that the members of the old group were wiped out? And how the restored Huge that showed up had apparently killed a hundred or more Lilies? Lily deaths are clearly more common than we’ve been led to believe so far.

In fact, they seem so common that it’s an inevitability for Lilies to die in action. This is probably the truth about Lilies. But, even so, I don’t think any of the main girls are going to die. They’re going to be the generation of Lilies to break this curse.

Conclusion

What do you think of Assault Lily: Bouquet episode 3? Do you think that Yuyu is an interesting character? Do you have any predictions for the future of the series? And do you think that all Lilies are destined to die in battle? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.