Magia Record Final Season Episode 9

Magia Record Final Season Episode 9

Uwasa Origins

Before I get into the review, I should explain why this is Episode 9 and not Episode 1. You see, the title Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season is a lie.

You may be familiar with how Attack on Titan is going to have 3 parts to its Final Season by the time the series finishes. Well, Magia Record is pretty much doing the opposite. The Magia Record “Final Season” is the remaining 4 episodes that weren’t complete in time for Season 2.

Did you notice that Season 2 only has 8 episodes and the “Final Season” only has 4? Put those together, and you get the 12 episodes in a standard cour of anime. So, it would actually be more correct to call this Magia Record Season 2 Part 2, hence this being Episode 9.

Nemu, Ui, Iroha, and Touka in the hospital from the anime series Magia Record: Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season Episode 9
Nemu, Ui, Iroha, and Touka in the hospital

The season and episode number aside, this episode takes us back to what started the series. That’s right. We finally learn the secret behind the disappearance of Ui Tamaki. And, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a pretty good explanation.

Included in this backstory is a scene of Ui, Nemu, and Touka coming up with various Uwasa. These were the Uwasa encountered throughout the series. The girls came up with the original concept of the Uwasa as a way to leave their mark on the city after they died. They wanted Iroha to remember them.

Remember, all three of these girls are hospital lifers. We don’t know what illnesses they have, but it’s implied that there’s not much of a chance that they’ll recover. In the previous season, from what I remember, Nemu even stated that she doesn’t have much time left.

The Truth of Magical Girls

My favorite part of the episode is when Ui, Nemu, and Touka learn about the existence and truth of magical girls. This took me back to when I watched Madoka Magica for the first time.

Well, actually, I loved everything about this episode. Even Kyubey’s introduction when he appears before Iroha as she left the hospital was great. But, the main part I want to discuss here is when the younger girls meet Kyubey.

The first time they meet him is within a Witch’s labyrinth in the morgue of the hospital in which they’re patients. If that’s not an ominous meeting place, I don’t know what is. And, I should point out that Ui is lucky Nemu and Touka were there. Without them, she likely would have made a contract immediately.

Kyubey from the anime series Magia Record: Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season Episode 9
Kyubey

Nemu and Touka don’t trust Kyubey. But, they do recognize that if Kyubey’s telling the truth, they should consider his offer. If he can grant their wishes, that’s a huge incentive to become magical girls. And so, the girls do some research before confronting Kyubey with some questions.

Kyubey’s interrogation was the best thing about the episode. I love how, as he claims, he never once lies to them in response to their questions. But, he’s very careful with his choice of words. He may not lie, but he leaves all the important information out of his answers.

There’s something about seeing Kyubey masterfully dodge their questions that I love. To me, this scene is as good as the insanely-animated action scenes of Season 2. The psychological aspect of the Madoka Magica series is what makes it so good. And until now, I hadn’t felt like Magia Record nailed that part of it.

We Failed

Alright, so now we’re finally getting to the point of the review when I discuss Ui’s disappearance. Madoka spent a lot of time thinking about her wish. But Ui, Touka, and Nemu put a lot more consideration into their respective wishes.

Even with everything they put into these wishes, they still failed in the end (much like Madoka). Each girl wished to take one of Kyubey’s abilities for themself. Ui wished for the power to collect energy, Touka for the power to transform it, and Nemu for the power to manifest it.

Their wishes strip these powers from Kyubey. But, they also give the girls the combined ability to save all magical girls. Ui takes their negative energy. Touka converts it for magical girls to use. And Nemu gives the energy physical form that enhances their purification’s range.

Touka, Ui, and Nemu as magical girls from the anime series Magia Record: Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season Episode 9
Touka, Ui, and Nemu as magical girls

This is all great. Except, there’s a slight problem. The negative energy Ui is collecting is too much for her own soul gem to handle. In about a minute, she’s already fallen into despair and begins her transformation into a witch.

Luckily, Touka and Nemu are able to extract Ui’s soul, or at least a part of it, from her witch form. Nemu then places it into the empty husk of Kyubey, thus creating the small Kyubey. I predicted a very long time ago that Ui was the small Kyubey, and it turns out I was right to an extent.

The bad news is that this act also erased Ui’s existence from the universe. The only person who remembered her was Nemu until Iroha noticed something was wrong. And since Touka doesn’t realize they lost Ui, she believes their plan was a success.

Conclusion

Magia Record: Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season Episode 9 might be my favorite of the series so far. On its own, I gave this episode a 10/10. But, I do see that the Final Season has a score of 6.83 on MyAnimeList as I’m writing this review.

I’m interested to see what goes wrong to make people think it’s that bad. But, since this is a review of only Episode 9, what do you think of this episode? Did you like it as much as I did? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 10 is available now.

Leave a Comment