Sometimes our own worst enemy is ourself.
What They Say:
With great powers come great responsibilities, and that includes cleaning up the aftermath of your previous adventures. Which means that, instead of getting a break after saving the world, newly changed magical girls Illya and Miyu have to help deal with the side-effects caused by the sealing of the Ley Cards.
Still, that shouldn’t be too hard, right? Wrong! Not only are the ley lines failing, but to make matters worse, Illya somehow ends up with a magical clone… and that sinister clone has plans of her own! Worse yet, since the “dark” version of herself is drawing its power from the same source as our heroine, Illya’s own powers are being reduced proportionately. These are definitely not the kind of problems that the average girl should have to deal with. It’s double the trouble as Illya’s split personalities face off and the personal conflicts get physical in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2Wei!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release is pretty solid as we get the original Japanese language in stereo as well as the new English language adaptation, both of which are encoded using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. The series is one that works the forward soundstage well as there’s a good mix of dialogue, music and action to keep it lively in most episodes. There’s a good design to it overall as we get the characters interacting in both action and general school conversation to allow it to flow well as it moves about. The action steps things up nicely as there’s a lot of impact to many scenes with the way the action unfolds and that has some nice bass in a few sequences to ramp it up more. It’s similar to other shows in this particular franchise as there’s a good mix of what it wants to do and they don’t skimp with it. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout and we didn’t have any problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.
Video:
Originally airing in 2014, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The ten-episode TV series is spread across two discs with nine on the first and one on the second plus the three short OVAs. Animated by Silver Link, the series has a really strong look here throughout with some excellent use of colors and shading in many designs to give it more pop and there’s some wonderful detail to all of it in both character and background. It doesn’t go for the photorealistic backgrounds but it gives them a good bit of life that comes across well. The animation has some really good fluidity to it in the action scenes but generally looks great across the board. The colors are rich and solid throughout and the numerous night action sequences across the darkened cloudy skies stand out well against the brightly colored magical girls and what they’re fighting against.
Packaging:
The packaging for this release is presented in a standard sized Blu-ray case where the two discs are held against the interior walls. The front cover artwork goes appropriately darker here as it works the four main women of the arc, though Bazett doesn’t show up to the final couple of episodes, and it has the right kind of seriousness to it while still providing some upbeat expressions where appropriate. The back cover goes for a brighter and lighter angle with bright blue skies for part of it, some nice pink aspects and a good bit of runes softly in the background to tie it together. There are some nice shots from the show and a good illustration image of Miyu and Illya together as well, though again it pushes the limits with costuming design. The episodes and extras are clearly listed and the premise covers things well with what the series is about. The remainder is given over to the usual production credits and technical grid that breaks everything down cleanly and clearly.
Menu:
The menu design for this release definitely works well to show off the character artwork as the layout has a full static image with the first disc showing off Illya and Miyu in different states but close together with some great color and detail to it that really sets the tone well. The second disc changes things up away from the blues and pinks to more yellows and a more upbeat feeling that certainly works nicely. The logo is kept to the upper right while the navigation is kept to the lower right corner. Unlike the first season set where episode selection had us going into a submenu to see them, this one works in a more traditional manner. Submenus load quickly and everything is quick and easy to get around on.
Extras:
While the last time around the only extras included were the clean versions of the opening and closing sequences, we get those plus a little more here. The TV spots are a nice addition to show off a bit more of the promotion for the show, but the big extra are the three OVAs, which total about twenty-one minutes. These are fun pieces that play to the sillier and sadly sexier side of the series as we get to see the usual bra gags going awry and some decidedly pervy ways to help Kuro get healthy when she’s sick. The last episode kind of redeems it with some plain old silly fun, but by then I was just wary of more ten-year-old boob jokes.
After the success of the first season of Prisma Illya, the second season showed up a year later and made for some good summer fun. It also did it with a third season this past summer and a fourth is on the way, so at least for a few years we get to spend the summer months with some silly and far too well animated fun. I had enjoyed the first season a good deal since it was a fun re-imagining of things and put some of the characters in a cute new context, though it naturally had to throw on a lot of unwelcome sexual fanservice aspects. I don’t know if it’s more or less with this season, but it feels more and a lot more blunt and that took some of the fun off the show. There’s only so many situations I want to see characters this age to engage in like this.
With this season, things are a little more problematic in the story department simply because so much of the foundations have been set up already. We know Illya, we know her family situation with Emiya and all that, and we know her best friend with Miyu. There are a lot of familiar paths it can go but at the same time it’s a series where it feels like they’re padding it out. And that’s at ten episodes. The choice that’s made here is to introduce a new primary character into the mix for Miyu and illya to deal with. And what better kind than a dark clone of Illya herself? When the pair go to deal with sealing a problem with a ley line related to their recovering of the Cards, it goes badly and suddenly Kuro Illya pops into existence. And her sole goal for the first half is to defeat the Illya that has had a right and proper happy life all these years.
There is a richer meaning brought into Kuro’s existence later on, notably because of their mother and what she reveals about the past with the Grail War and the girls place in it, but that’s all presented mostly as things settle down into a routine sense between them. Prior to that, Kuro spends her time looking for ways to eliminate Illya while Illya does her best to be compassionate and understanding as she wants to find a way to help Kuro. It’s very much a part of who they both are and we get that whole different sides of the same coin, but with stronger foundational issues that they share. Kuro’s not evil, she’s just intent on ensuring her own survival in a sense because half the time Illya talks wishfully about wanting things to be normal and like how they were. That’s totally understandable for Illya, but for Kuro it’s a reminder of her own lack of existence and place in the world. There are some deeper ties that exist between the two that makes the relationship a bit more interesting, but it really is just some additional trappings on the core concept.
What this show wants to be about for the bulk of it is just the fun and enjoyment of these girls hanging out and doing things. This means a lot of simple things that go awry easily enough thanks to Kuro for the first half, but it’s stuff like going to school, hanging out at home, dealing with the pressures. Some of it is from Miyu having to deal with Illya’s ways, including her obvious crush on her older brother, and there’s also plenty of bath scenes that crop up as well. The fanservice towards these younger characters is fairly regular and it does get fairly creepy at times since the camera treats them like they’re definitely older and more provocative. The simple stuff does have its moments, such as the dodgeball match in the fourth episode and the time they all end up at Luvia’s for a while. Often, the moments that seem to work the best for me are the ones that involve Luvia and Rin as they give each other grief for different reasons.
But really, the subtext here is all about Kuro wanting to be felt like she’s part of a family, that people would miss her when she’s gone, and that she has a place to call home. It’s honest if simple storytelling that fits for the age of a ten year old (with the mind of one much older) and we do get some heartwarming moments about it that’s right in the wheelhouse for this show. I knew what to expect going into the season in a basic way based on the first and you can tell that they’re not quite sure how to pad it out to ten episodes based on what they wanted to do. I like the core trio of this arc with Kuro, Illya, and Miyu, but it needed a bit more meat on its bones in order to really connect.
As is often the case in shows like this, things do get serious towards the end in order to reaffirm that bonds that now exist after the growth of the first seven or so episodes. This comes in the form of Bazett, a young woman who has come to claim the Cards and is going to do so by force since she was the previous holder for Ruby and totally knows what Illya is capable of. Similar to the first season where they go all out on design and animation, it’s a visually appealing piece with some good fight sequences that, while never feeling like it had true risk, made for some good tension along the way. What draws the most is that it does go back to the original source material to a degree with the abilities, magics, and costume design, and that gives it a richer feeling. The show knows how to execute what it’s doing when it comes to these kinds of sequences with the style and quality, so it was no surprise that it ends on a bigger and more serious note while backing it up entirely.
In Summary:
Though not quite as engaging as the first season, there’s a lot to like here in continuing the journey with these characters. The supporting cast doesn’t get a richer life here but they still have some great fun and add some welcome color and humor where needed. The core story of Kuro and her place in the world that Illya has to learn to accept and embrace is a good one and both of them have their strong moments throughout it. Kuro has the harder road to work since she has to go from angry to familial whereas Illya just has to learn to be accepting. Miyu may have it the hardest as she sees someone else vying for her best friend’s attentions and getting them. Though I may not be as enthusiastic with this season as the first, I definitely had fun with it. Sentai put together a solid release here and the inclusion of the OVAs definitely helps to up the value of it.
Features:
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, 2wei! Shorts, TV Spots, Clean Opening & Closing Animations
Content Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: B-
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: February 16th, 2016
MSRP: $69.98
Running Time: 250 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
To anyone planning to buy this know its missing 2 OVAs