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.

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 if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN 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 the next episode is available here.

*Yuri Intensifies*

I expected a bit of yuri from this series. It’s a magical girl anime, so there’s always a hint of yuri involved. But more importantly, there are some serious yuri vibes given off by the ED. However, I wasn’t prepared for the sheer amount of yuri present in this episode.

Look, I get it. Riri’s cute and she has hips for days. But I didn’t expect this many girls to be trying to get in her pants so soon. First Shizo helps her get dressed in the morning, then Araya corners her in the bathroom, and then Kaede is drooling all over her in the bath.

I’m (obviously) not against this inclusion of yuri. But I feel like it’s mostly just going to be fan service bait, which is disappointing.

Now, I say that the yuri is going to be mostly fan service because there does appear to be a yuri aspect that’s central to the story. As I’ll discuss in more detail in the next section, the whole schutzengel and schild relationship is inherently yuri — at least from what we’ve seen.

Some of the yuri encounters Riri had, specifically with Araya and Kaede, seem to stem from them wanting this sort of relationship with her. But, the only pair we’ve seen so far who does have this relationship is also a sign.

Soraha and Kusumi are in a schutzengel/schild relationship, and one thing that’s abundantly clear is that their relationship goes beyond friendship or that of a mentor and apprentice. And if this is the true nature of the schutzengel/schild relationship, we’ll be seeing a lot more yuri as the series progresses.

Schutzengel and Schild

The schutzengel/schild relationship is a fairly interesting concept that Assault Lily: Bouquet has. Typically, magical girl anime focus on a group of girls (usually around five), who work together to defeat enemies of some kind and protect the general population.

But with this relationship in place, it appears that Lillies work in teams of two, not more. This may have a few effects on the future of the series, such as many of the characters never playing a major role. I mentioned last week that we were introduced to way too many characters, and from what I counted, this week introduced seven more.

If the focus of this series is on pairs of girls, though, it’s pretty clear that most of these characters are going to remain in the background. Riri and Yuyu are the main characters, some others like Kaede and Fumi are supporting characters, and everyone else is a background character.

Another major effect this two-Lily team reveal has is that it seems to corroborate my theory from episode 1 about Yuyu’s “roommate” and former partner being deceased.

If Lillies work in teams of two, and Yuyu was working with that other girl two years ago when Riri first encountered her, then we can assume they were schutzengel and schild. This means that there was no third member of their group to have been the one who’s grave we see in the ED.

Additionally, this is why Yuyu doesn’t want to be in a schutzengel/schild relationship with anyone. She lost her former partner and she doesn’t want to go through that again — a classic dark magical girl trope.

And to tie it all together, again we see that the only time Yuyu encounters this girl is when she’s alone in her room. But despite this, the girl knows about all the interactions she had throughout the day which she wasn’t present for. She’s a figment of Yuyu’s imagination.

Magie

The final topic I want to discuss from this episode is the magic system, referred to as Magie. I always like when magic systems are explained in series because those explanations can lay the foundation and limits for what are and aren’t possible.

In most magical girl anime, the magic system isn’t explained very well. At most you’ll usually get a basic understanding of the magic each girl can use, and that’s about it — no real rules are laid out. In those series, we have to rely on what we see, and that’s not always definitive.

Assault Lily: Bouquet didn’t explain everything about Magie, but it did lay the foundation for us so we at least understand the basics. And since this is a magical girl series, I’m not expecting or asking for anything beyond that.

Some key points we learned about Magie are that magical girls create them from within their bodies, magical girls utilize CHARM weapons engraved with spells to control Magie, and Huge are also powered by Magie.

Madoka Magica spoilers incoming.

Originally, I was thinking that the fact that Huge are powered by Magie and magical girls produce Magie was hinting towards a dark connection. And, they still might be connected in some fashion. But, I don’t think it’s going to be revealed that Huge are actually powered by deceased magical girls or anything.

Sure, in Madoka Magica, magical girls are fated to become the witches they fight to destroy. But keep in mind that in that world, magical girls are unknown to the general population. That isn’t the case here as we can infer by there being CHARM weapon manufacturing companies like the one owned by Kaede’s father.

The rest of the world would probably figure out that Lillies are becoming or fueling Huge if that were the case. So, I think their connection is more like: Lillies and Huge need each other to exist; you can’t have Huge without Lillies, and you can’t have Lillies without Huge.

Conclusion

What do you think of Assault Lily: Bouquet episode 2? Did you believe my theory about Yuyu’s roommate after watching episode 1? And if not, has this second episode changed your mind? Also, how do you think Lillies and Huge are connected, if at all? 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 if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN 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 the next episode is available here.

Water Lily: Purity of Heart

Shaft’s latest anime, Assault Lily: Bouquet, is airing this season, so as a self-proclaimed fangirl of the studio I decided to add it to my weekly review schedule. However, before this series began airing, I had pretty low expectations for it. And let’s just say the first episode didn’t change those expectations.

So, with this review of the first episode, rather than going over the events that occurred, I’m going to focus on discussing what I liked and disliked about the episode. And at the end, I’m going to make some early predictions regarding the series that we can compare to when it’s complete.

I guess the first thing I “liked” about the series was that it actually doesn’t seem to be as bad as I feared it might be. I expected it to be pretty average, and that’s basically how I felt coming out of this episode. But, I was aware that it could be bad considering how much the synopsis of the series reminded me of Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka.

The next thing I liked was that it sometimes felt like a Shaft anime. Those familiar with the studio are likely aware that Shaft tends to use certain artistic styles and angles that give their anime that “Shaft feel.” An example is the image featured above.

And because I honestly can’t think of anything else I liked about the first episode, I’ll skip to the end and say that I do really like the ED. I don’t think the OP is bad, but I think the ED is very good. It has a better song than the OP and I think the visuals are a lot more appealing as well.

A Bouquet of Complaints

To get my pettiest complaint out of the way first, the series looks generic. Yes, it had some Shaft spice thrown in. But for the most part, it looked like a pretty standard anime. I’m not saying Assault Lily needs to look like Madoka Magica. I’m saying I’d prefer that it didn’t look like everything else.

My next complaint is that I feel like I’ve seen this all before — and not from an artistic standpoint this time. The problem with subgenres that become saturated is that there generally isn’t that much differentiating series within them.

Every series wants to do something new and unique in order to stand out. But in the end, most of them follow the same basic structure because that’s what works. I already mentioned the comparison to Spec-Ops Asuka, but this series seems to be more like a combination of that and multiple other magical girl and magic academy anime.

What’s going to be unique about it? What’s going to make me remember this series once it’s over?

My biggest complaint about this first episode is the sheer number of characters that were introduced. I can think of at least seven characters whose full names we were told. We were then also shown just about every other character who’s going to make an appearance later on in the series.

I think that was way too much character information considering only three of those characters mattered at all in the episode. We really only needed the full names of Riri, Kaede, and Yuyu at this point. The other four or more named girls could have just been first names. And the rest of the cast who were shown probably didn’t need to be just yet.

It was too much detailed information for the first episode. They’re all going to need to be introduced over again anyway because I don’t remember their names. Did you remember Miliam Hildegard von Guropius?

How Predictable is It?

I’ve said a lot of bad things about this first episode as well as how I don’t expect it to be much better than the average anime. But, just for the fun of it, let’s see how predictable it really is.

As of the time I’m writing this, according to MAL, I’ve completed 399 anime series, seasons, movies, OVAs, etc. So, with all of that under my belt, I’d like to think that I can predict what a magical girl anime such as this is going to try to pull. But, hopefully, when we look back on these predictions later, I’ll have been wrong.

Starting off with something easy, Riri is going to end up being the strongest Lily and is going to be almost solely responsible for defeating the HUGE in the end because of her “protagonist powers.” That may sound obvious, but what I’m really saying is that this series is going to focus a lot less on the “power of friendship” than you might expect.

I’m also going to go ahead and say that Riri’s CHARM or some future CHARM she acquires is going to be inherently more powerful than the norm. I mean, her sword is golden — that seems pretty on the nose.

Moving into less obvious territory, I don’t think any of the main characters are going to die. I know that’s something dark magical girl series like to do, but I don’t see it here. Assault Lily is actually based partially on a line of toys — and toys sell better when the characters they’re based on are still alive.

And the last thing I’ll predict is that the girl we see with Yuyu at the end of the episode is already dead. We know she and Yuyu were on the same team in the past, Yuyu’s personality changed since then, a grave was shown briefly, and the only time this character showed up in the present timeline was when Yuyu was alone.

Now, I know some people are going to say that they probably had a third party member who died, but I think that would be too predictable. That’s a trope in basically every other dark magical girl series. Also, I think the fact that Yuyu was in a dorm room with two beds is just to throw us off.

Conclusion

What did you think of Assault Lily: Bouquet episode 1? Do you think this series is going to be as generic and predictable as I do? Or, are you optimistic about its uniqueness? And which of the girls we’ve seen so far is your favorite? 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 if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN 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 the next episode is available here.