Will the other girls be able to finish the last Card capture without Illya? Considering the title of the show, I doubt it, but we’ll see how long it takes before Illya changes her mind about not wanting to be a magical girl.
What They Say:
Episode 9: “I’ll End It Here”
Miyu, Rin, and Luvia head to the Mirror World to defeat the final Class Card, Berserker, however they’re all having a hard time against Berserker’s almost invincible power. Meanwhile, Illya is feeling down as she bathes after running away from being magical girl when her mother, Iri bursts in on her!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Illya is taking it easy enjoying a nice relaxing bath. Ruby calls her an old man, but Illya is happy to have a normal night for a change. It won’t remain entirely normal since the Einzbern house is getting a visitor. Well, not a visitor really, more like a returning member as Illya’s mother Irisviel has come home. This Irisviel fits perfectly as Illya’s mom in this world, as she seems like a cheerful, silly ditz, though obviously that’s not the whole story, as Irisviel immediately focuses in on something unusual having happened while she and Kiritsugu were away (he is not coming back just yet).
While Illya tells her mother about their new neighbor Miyu (not saying everything, of course), Miyu, Rin and Luvia are engaged in a tough struggle against Beserker, who is pretty much impervious to mana attacks. Even a direct physical attack using the Lancer card with Sapphire has no effect, as Beserker has the ability to resurrect himself even if killed. The trio decide to retreat, but instead of running, Miyu sends the others back to the real world and then stays behind. She decides to use the power that Illya once tapped into, becoming an avatar of a Heroic Spirit. She transforms into Saber in order to fight Berserker.
This episode is very much in serious mode, as we have the quiet psychological probing of Irisviel, trying to get at what is bothering Illya, matched with the very serious fight between Miyu and Berserker. Of course, it ends with Irisviel convincing Illya to go and help Miyu, since that’s what she really wanted to do deep in her heart. It’s fortunate for Miyu that Illya comes to join the fight, since even with her transformation, Miyu is incapable of defeating the immortal Berserker. So, one final fight to go.
No points for guessing anything that happened in this episode. There was never any doubt that Illya would come to Miyu’s aid, just as there was little doubt that Miyu would try to take on the final Card capture herself, because she wanted to spare Illya the horror of fighting. It seems that both girls have misunderstood each other’s true feelings. Illya has thought that Miyu wants to do everything by herself, just because she seems capable of doing everything on her own. There is a difference, however, between being able to go it alone and wanting to do so. Miyu’s mistake was in thinking that Illya has no good reason to fight, but Illya has never made it clear to her what her reason is: to help a friend. So, these two misunderstandings do get cleared up by the end of this episode.
The end is near, and it should not be hard to figure out what will happen.
In Summary:
Illya claims to be happy now that she is no longer bound to fight monsters in the night, but there is something troubling her. When her mother Irisviel comes home, leave it to mom to get Illya to open up and reveal what it is: she doesn’t want to leave a friend having to do all of the hard work alone. So, with mom’s encouragement, Illya returns to help Miyu, and just in time, since the last Class Card is Berserker, whom Miyu is not capable of taking on her own.
Episode Grade: B+
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
