This recap contains spoilers for the Magia Record episode “I Won’t Forgive Anybody.”
You wouldn’t need to know how a doomsday machine works to know it’s a bad idea. The same principle is true in “I Won’t Forgive Anybody.” The episode establishes that The Wings of Magius are not “merely” a vaguely fascistic movement preying on the vulnerable. They are a full-on death cult. “I Won’t Forgive Anybody” largely does away with the minutiae that last week’s episode dealt with. We meet the Wings’ doomsday machine here, and suddenly all else feels trivial.
Embryo Eve
We should still start with “all else,” though. “I Won’t Forgive Anybody” reintroduces three more members of the cast. Felicia and Futaba, the hot-and-cold duo from the first season of Magia Record. (The latter of whom starred in one of its standout episodes, the bizarre “A World With Just Me.”) And Kyouko, who had a prominent role both in season one and in the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Like much of the season one cast, Felicia and Futaba seem to have been suckered into joining the Wings. They’re rather fed up with things by the time we meet them again here, and it doesn’t take much prodding for them to join Kyouko, who they happen to meet by chance while she’s stealing a bag full of grief seeds.
Equally important here is the role that Touka plays. Touka Satomi is the leader of the Wings of Magius, and we’ve known that she had some fairly diabolical ambitions as early as the tail-end of last season. What her prominence in “I Won’t Forgive Anybody” itself, named after a line she delivers near the episode’s climax, really puts into perspective how far gone she is.
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The ace that Touka has up her sleeve is the “witch farms” we were introduced to last week. Their goal is to create an artificial, massively powerful witch named Embryo Eve. The apparent idea is simple; set her and Walpurgisnacht against each other. It’s not clear if Touka understands that this is simply substituting one problem for another or doesn’t care.
Either way, the inner machinations of Hotel Faint Hope are entirely devoted to feeding Eve, and we explore them thoroughly here. It puts “I Won’t Forgive Anybody” in the running for the most disturbing episode of Magia Record all by itself.
Toxic Crow
The second half of “I Won’t Forgive Anybody” focuses again on Iroha and Kuroe. The two’s attempts to escape Hotel Faint Hope and stop Touka’s plans ensure that the episode has an action-packed finish. (And a welcome one, at that.) Which is becoming a bit of a trend for Magia Record episodes.
The more subtle character work sprinkled throughout is nice, too. There isn’t much anime casually highlighting a character’s regret by showing them day-drinking like what’s done with Mifuyu here. (She isn’t even old enough to drink, which makes the whole thing even sadder.)
Magia Record is tightly wound enough to slip small moments like this between larger, more bombastic events. Nothing feels lost in the shuffle, which is a testament to just how well-put-together Magia Record‘s second season has been.
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The final minutes of “I Won’t Forgive Anybody” also show Kuroe at her very best, in what is likely the strongest moment she’ll ever have in the entire franchise. As Iroha escapes the hotel, Kuroe stays behind, covering her. We get a dedicated henshin sequence, some stunning combat animation and her Doppel manifestation, all within mere minutes of each other. The last we see of her is a shot of her Doppel form prepared to take on anyone, having just sworn that she’d see Iroha again.
Will she? It’s hard to know. The Wings of Magius’ mad plan has begun to unfold, and as is often the case with Magia Record, we are left with more questions than answers.
Until next time, anime fans.
Stream Magia Record on Funimation, and catch up with our recaps here.
- MAGIA RECORD Season Finale Recap: (S02E08) You’re Not Strong - September 25, 2021
- MAGIA RECORD Recap: (S02E07) You Don’t Know Anything - September 11, 2021
- MAGIA RECORD Recap: (S02E06) This Is Something Only I Can Do - September 4, 2021
