Assault Lily: Bouquet Episode 6

Assault Lily: Bouquet Episode 6

The Hitotsuyanagi Squad

I’m not sure how to say this, but I made some incorrect predictions regarding Assault Lily: Bouquet. I know, it’s shocking that I could ever be wrong about anything. But in my defense, I was trying to give this series the benefit of the doubt and I assumed it wouldn’t go down that path.

What path am I referring to? I guess you’ll just have to keep reading to find out because I’ll discuss it more in-depth later on in this review. For now, let’s just go over the newly formed Hitotsuyanagi Squad, starting with the actual formation itself.

The legion founded by Riri ended up being named the Hitotsuyanagi Squad after her since Hitotsuyanagi is her family name. If you’re wondering what Hitotsuyanagi (一柳) means, it translates to “One Willow.” And, for your Japanese lesson today, hitotsu is the word for “one” used when counting objects while ichi is the word when referring to the number one.

Thi Mai Yoshimura from the anime series Assault Lily: Bouquet
Thi Mai Yoshimura

While I don’t think Hitotsuyanagi is a terrible legion name, I was hoping for something a bit more exciting than Riri’s family name. After all, the only other legion that’s been named in the series is Alfheim, obviously named after the worst part of Sword Art Online and totally not the Norse world of the Elves.

But, what I thought was the strangest thing about the Hitotsuyanagi Squad is that it was registered as an official legion before it even had a name. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but usually, when you go to register something like an organization, you need to provide the name of the said organization for it to be registered.

Anyway, the Hitotsuyanagi legion now exists, and it didn’t have to wait long to see its first battle.

The Neunwelt Tactic

The Neunwelt Tactic is a legion formation that was first introduced in episode 3 if I’m remembering correctly. It’s considered the ultimate legion formation, and in this episode, it was revealed that if performed correctly, it has a 100% chance of defeating a HUGE in one shot.

Or, at least that’s what we were told. Directly after that guaranteed kill was mentioned, Alfheim performed the Neunwelt Tactic and it was blocked by the HUGE they were fighting. Talk about some good timing.

Do you know what else is good timing? Because Alfheim failed their attack on the HUGE and the only other legion nearby was Hitotsuyanagi, their first opportunity to fight a HUGE as a legion came just after they formed. And what’s more, they even successfully used the Neunwelt Tactic on their first attempt.

Shenlin Kuo from the anime series Assault Lily: Bouquet
Shenlin Kuo

I’ve mentioned the idea of events happening for plot convenience in regards to other series. But since this battle against the HUGE was a prime example of it, I guess I should explain exactly what I mean when I say “plot convenience,” because it might not be clear to some of you.

Obviously, the events of a series from start to end are there in order to further the plot, with some exceptions. However, if an event is “plot-convenient” it means that there’s no other explanation for the event to have happened other than because it was necessary to move the plot along.

So, for example, the fact that Alfheim’s Neunwelt Tactic failed was almost entirely plot-convenient. It does set up something else for the future of the series which I’ll touch on in the next section. But it was primarily included for the sole purpose of having Hitotsuyanagi successfully pull off the formation.

Lunatic Trancer

In an episode with some not-so-good use of CGI animation, at least Yuyu’s activation of her Rare Skill Lunatic Trancer looked nice. But what I really want to talk about in this section is why her Rare Skill activated and what the cause of its activation means for the future of the series.

So to start, Yuyu’s Rare Skill activated because she was reminded of Misuzu’s death and then thought that Riri had been killed as well. Riri isn’t important for the rest of this discussion, though. Why was Yuyu reminded of Misuzu’s death? Because the HUGE they were fighting was revealed to have the CHARM inside of it that Yuyu ran Misuzu through with.

And this is where we get to my incorrect prediction about this series. An episode or two ago (I think), I mentioned that I believed that while the Lilies and HUGE were connected, the HUGE weren’t going to be the Lilies’ equivalent of Witches to Magical Girls in Madoka Magica.

Yuyu's Rare Skill Lunatic Trancer activating from the anime series Assault Lily: Bouquet
Yuyu’s Rare Skill Lunatic Trancer activating

In my naivety, I assumed that Shaft wouldn’t work on another magical girl anime with the same exact plot twist. Well, it looks like I was wrong and that’s exactly what’s going on.

It’s possible that this HUGE is was the remnant of the one that Yuyu and Misuzu fought that day. It’s possible that after Misuzu’s suicide attack, the HUGE survived and incorporated the CHARM into its body. But I don’t believe that’s the case.

There are three pieces of evidence that support a different theory. First, the CHARM was right in the middle of the HUGE just as it was in the middle of Misuzu. Second, the HUGE seemed to have knowledge of Lily formations such as the Neunwelt Tactic. And third, Misuzu herself said that the only difference between Lilies and HUGE is that they aren’t controlled by Magie.

With all that in mind, I think it’s safe to say that the HUGE they just defeated was formerly the Lily known as Misuzu.

Conclusion

What do you think of Assault Lily: Bouquet episode 6? Do you like the name Hitotsuyanagi for Riri’s legion? Are you okay with plot-convenient events in anime? And, are you surprised that Assault Lily seems to be incorporating the same exact plot twist as Madoka Magica? I’m not really surprised, just disappointed.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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