OK. I'll fess up to it. I totally wasn't expecting the cereal box mascot witch to bite our lil' would-be butterscotch mentor's little head off. At least that answers the question of why Nick used what looked like a portrait of Cookie Puss for the header image of his review of the movies.
I have a hunch that this probably won't be the first dark twist this show's going take over the course of its half-length run. It isn't quite a shocker on the order of, say, the entire cast of GA-REI-ZERO getting slaughtered in its first episode, but it's a sharp enough of turn that I honestly can't guess which direction this show could go into next. The would-be Magical Girls have just gotten a very vivid illustration of why it probably isn't worth it to make a Faustian pledge with the talking stuffed animal. Hell, the weary veteran who's been telling them to turn away for the past couple episodes just pulled their fat out of the fire. If I were in their size 6's, I'd be inclined to follow her advice about everything, now.
But we wouldn't have a show if this girls just turned away and went back to their normal little lives, would we? Sure, it's anime. It can get thoroughly unpredictable. It can go hog wild with structure. But I really doubt a show's going to spend an hour hinting at the trouble that's obviously going to come from these innocents becoming Magical Girls - - and then not follow through it. Even C-CONTROL, despite its obfuscating ending, pretty much delivered on what you expected to see from a character making a contract with some dandy coated devil.
Also - - Mami's in all the promo images for this show, posing with the rest of the cast in their full Magical Girl regalia. Unless the animation studio took notes about the SCREAM theater posters that spotlighted Drew Barrymore, I don't think they'd go through the trouble of rendering all that art if it wasn't going to be representative of most of the show.
Right? Right? Well, we'll find out soon enough.
Before we wrap up, though, I want to say that the scratchy rendering on the girls' big eyes is tripping me out. Nick was wondering what the point of the movies' "clean up service" was and, honestly, I think a re-do of the eyes would be enough to justify it.
Watch this episode, "I'm Not Afraid of Anything Anymore" here and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
