2017 Week 9: Episodes 33-36

[Milieva]

This thread is for the discussion of Season 2: episodes 33-36.  Please mind the rewatch rules.

[Somariel]

Finally getting around to writing up my extended thoughts on these episodes, although I'm sure I'll be coming back to this post after rewatching the episodes again.

Episode 33
Ascot just about breaks my heart at the beginning of this episode with how frank he is with Caldina about how he feels about both Umi and his past actions. And then there's his desire to not regret anything anymore that he shares with the Magic Knights.

I really, really, REALLY FUCKING HATE the "Presea's sister" subplot in this season. It's just SO FUCKING STUPID! Nobody possibly could've known that the Magic Knights would return, so that shouldn't have even been a consideration in putting on the masquerade, and I find it incredibly hard to believe that Sierra would, at least at first, care enough about the person who killed Presea to want to ease his guilt over having done so.

Down suggested an AU where Sierra actually is Presea, who got mentally fucked up by being buried alive and pretending to be her own twin is how she copes with it, back during the rewatch chat for Episode 31 and the one exchange in this episode of "What is your real name?" "My name is Presea" really, really makes me want to write it, since it sounds so much like Sierra KNOWS, deep down inside, that she is Presea and is unwilling to make up a name to answer Clef's question.

And of course, the anime then had to go and compound the stupidity of the "Presea's sister" subplot by having both of them be in love with Clef.

I swear, pretty much the entire Nova and Debonair plotline only works because someone surgically attached the Idiot Ball to Hikaru. The case in point for this episode being that in the manga, Hikaru at least understood that the reason they didn't know why Zagato was doing what he did was because Clef didn't tell them. Hell, Clef outright acknowledges this when they return, both in the manga and in the anime.


Episode 34
The entire "reviving her sword" subplot for Hikaru is just so incredibly frustrating. It's not like she needed to be put through a forced willpower boost to be a viable Pillar candidate, given that she does just fine without one in the manga.

I really love how everyone wants to have no regrets this time around. It's just so understandable and one of the handful of things I actually like about this season is how it makes that explicit on the part of so many people.

Honest to God, the conversations in this episode between Umi and Selece and Fuu and Windam just leave me a WAFF-y puddle of goo on the floor. )The same is also true of the similar one between Hikaru and Rayearth in Episode 29, but to a much smaller extent.) I just cannot with how our girls address their Mashin as friends they'd like to get to know better.


Episode 34
Seriously?! Fucking SERIOUSLY?! It's the Umi episode and they couldn't be bothered to give us some Umi before focusing on Hikaru?!!

Honest to God, every time I watch this episode, I just about die laughing from all the snark.

I mentioned this in the rewatch chat, but I'd never actually really thought about the reason for Chizeta not being able to expand into the cone shaped areas on either side before Amboato raised the question during her liveblog of this episode on Tumblr. And it is so much more satisfying to have an actual reason instead of simply being like "Eh, whatever."

Aska is just so utterly ridiculous that it is adorable.


Episode 36
I LOVE how Fuu manipulates Aska into accepting the archery match here simply by being her usual polite and humble self. Like, we all know that she's really, really good at archery, but she's not one to brag about her skill, so she understates it and that makes Aska accept the proposed match. I really have to agree with MokonaLord that Fuu has amazing villain potential.

I will never not love Ascot's epic arrival as the cavalry for Umi and how Umi decks one of the djinn right after Ascot's arrival. I also love how much more careful of his friends Ascot is this time around.

Aska's choice of targets for the archery match is utterly glorious, although they probably did have a small role in her losing the match.

Aska getting jealous over Sang Yung crushing on Fuu is just so adorable.

Fuu's degree of understatement in declaring her win will never cease to amuse me. I mean, honestly, given the actual amounts, saying "It seems I got a few more than you" is rather like saying "I'm bleeding a little bit" when one of your arteries has been cut open.

It is so in-character for Aska to fail to honor the deal she made with Fuu even though Fuu won.

I am completely convinced that it's Fuu's wind magic that lets her shoot in such a way that she's able to tear the clothing without injuring the person wearing it.

Not!Presea narrates the "Coming Next" segment on this episode. The funniest line is "We've gotten a lot of questions about my name. Watch the show 'til the end and you'll find out."