Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Great Mankai Chapter Episode 2

Hero Training

In case you missed it, my review of Episode 1 dropped yesterday. And although I’m reviewing Episode 2 on a Saturday, my reviews of Episode 3 and beyond will all be on Fridays.

Anyway, Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Great Mankai Chapter Episode 2 was quite a bit better than the first episode was. It actually didn’t jump around between scenes as I complained the first episode (and previous seasons of the series) did.

This episode began with the scene Episode 1 ended on, then transitioned into a flashback from 2 years ago, and finally came back to the “present” timeline. It was a well-structured episode, which I was pleasantly surprised to see. Hopefully, this is what the season is going to be like for the most part.

The flashback portion of the episode focused on a newly introduced character by the name of Mebuki Kusunoki. It also featured my favorite girl, Karin Miyoshi, but she was just a supporting character for this part.

2 years ago, a new hero was needed and so the Taisha gathered the eligible girls together to decide which one of them would receive this honor. Mebuki was the favorite to become the hero, but in the end Karin was selected in her place.

Something to consider is why a new hero was necessary. I still don’t really remember how Karin came to be a member of the Hero Club, but I think she was selected in order to replace Minowa, Togo’s and Sonoko’s teammate who died.

So, if Mebuki didn’t get selected to become a hero, why does she matter? Well, she was the strongest hero candidate. Karin had some quality that made her a better fit. But that doesn’t mean Mebuki isn’t going to be important.

Karin’s Selection

I’m going to venture a guess and say that Karin being more of a team player is what made her a better fit to be a hero than Mebuki. When Karin was chosen, Mebuki lashed out and refused to accept that she wasn’t selected. To me, her actions in that moment perfectly explained why she’s not hero material.

But, I’m also a bit confused about why Mebuki wanted to be a hero in the first place. Her father had told her not to become a stepping stone for the Taisha. Isn’t that exactly what the heroes are? They’re just soldiers forced to fight on behalf of the Taisha.

Perhaps Mebuki thought that she would be able to initiate some change from within once she became a hero. Maybe her true goal was to take down the Taisha from the inside. Or, maybe she simply wants to be revered as the strongest hero whom even the Taisha respect?

I don’t know exactly what Mebuki’s goal is, but I kind of get the feeling she’s never going to achieve it. Rather than becoming a hero in the future, I think Mebuki’s role in this season is to be a foil character for the other heroes. She seems to represent everything the heroes don’t.

Moving back over to the selection itself, I think this was the best scene of the episode. The stark contrast between how Karin and Mebuki behaved when the decision was announced was very powerful. As I already mentioned, that’s the moment that really defined who Mebuki is.

But, there’s one detail that I think detracted from this scene. That, of course, is the fact that the sacred artifact that marks someone as a hero is a smartphone. I completely forgot that there were magical smartphones in this series.

Exploration Beyond the Boundary

Two years after Karin was selected over Mebuki, the Hero Club destroyed the Vertex and saved the world (or something like that). Now, all the girls who failed the hero selection trial have been brought together by the Taisha for a new mission — to explore beyond the world’s boundary.

It’s supposed to be safe-ish out there now that the Vertex are gone. And all the girls need to do is make it to a set of coordinates and attempt to plant some sort of seed. Their mission is simply to investigate the habitability on the outside.

This is where Mebuki comes back into the fold. She’s the commander of this army of hero rejects.

Unfortunately for the girls who are sent out, the Vertex apparently haven’t all been defeated and their ships are attacked. Mebuki saves the day by rallying her troops and using her own magical energy to deal decisive blows to the enemy. But, their ships are damaged in the battle.

Now, we don’t have any confirmation of this yet, but I’m betting that this scene isn’t actually the “present.” I think it’s the recent past, and that all of those girls are still stranded somewhere on the outside.

This would explain why the Taisha showed up before Togo at the start of the episode to ask for her help. They probably need her to lead a rescue mission to save the other girls.

A rescue mission like this also seems to make the most sense for incorporating Mebuki’s character into the plot further. She obviously wouldn’t want to be saved by the heroes she wasn’t selected to join. So there would be some great conflict between her and the heroes who she’s supposed to be working together with.

Conclusion

What do you think of Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Great Mankai Chapter Episode 2? How did this episode compare to Episode 1? Do you think Mebuki will end up becoming a hero herself? Will she die in the end or be saved? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 3 is available now.