Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
ZSugarAnt
Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka belongs in a better time.
We were all there: a bright-eyed teenager comes across anime for the first time and gets immersed in the culture shock of a storytelling medium not tailored to western sensibilities. From there, a deep dive occurs, a voracious search for anything "shocking" or "mature" to sink your still-new permanent teeth into. Blood, sex, drugs, sensitive topics to be treated with care are thrown left and right as awe at their boldness fills the curious mind. Then, the shame. After the initial rush wears down with experience both in the medium and in real life, we come to reject such stories as "tasteless" and "immature". Curiously enough, this rejection comes from a place no more complex than the simple recognition of the same harsh imagery. Some l…
Read at the sourceAeroGunz
“Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka” is what happens when You have a pretty interesting premise but lack the writing skills to elevate it into something great.
War against the magical race called the Disas suffering from a boner for murdering humans ended. Mainly thanks to the efforts of 11 magical girls. Only five of those girls survived. After the conflict ended the squad was disbanded and the girls went their separate ways.
Now, 3 years later, a new conflict is threatening to start.
“Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka” is a show that tries (and mostly fails) to juggle different genres. I went into this show blind and oh boy, do I regret that. I was not prepared for the level of cringe and fuckery I was going to experience. On one side it’s a semi realistic show that uses political drama, military a…
Read at the sourceDeepfry_Water
So what do magical girls do after defeating the big evil?
Ofc, fight terrorists, mercenaries, join the army, special forces, etc.... there is no happy ending here.
That was the basic idea. The fact that they don't really do this and go again to the big evil is stupid.
There isn't any big reason why everything is happening, we're getting scraps about the actual plot and after I finished it I don't really care about it, because the reasons look shallow.
Now, for the parts that I liked. Lesbians, 90% of the girls in the show. And big tits. Huge badonkadonkas. Also, magical spanking.
The eyes of the MC were pretty.
Honestly the anime looks like someone watched Madoka and said: "I can make a sad magical girl show too, with lesbians, huge tits, guns and pokemon". But they didn't really…
Read at the sourceCandleNekra
Story (5/10): A veteran mahou shoujo is a wonderful idea, but the anime did a poor job with the concept. There were too many plot holes which in the end, concluded with many questions not being answered. How were they chosen to become magical girl? Why were the humans the one being used as energy? How did the humans get in touch with these magical being? And so on. Due to the confusion, I could not attach myself to the show nor show any sympathy towards those who died. It was very difficult to continue watching the anime.
Art + sound (10/10): The animation and the voice acting was wonderful. These were the main reason on why I remained until the end. As a person who loves dark and eerie theme, I love how most of the death was animated beautifully well. Also loved how they didn't hold back…
Read at the sourceWillinglyGiven
I went into this show with low expectations, but it still managed to surprise me with its sheer appalling tastelessness.
The constant over sexualization and over-the-top violence make it clear that this show is meant to be an edgy teenage jerk-off fantasy, and as such, I'm sure it does it's job effectively. Where it gets me is the attempts at discussions of real-world issues like terrorism, war, child soldiers, sex slavery,torture, abuse, and trauma, resulting in some of the most jarring tonal shifts I have ever experienced. Its pretensions towards some level of depth and seriousness just make it all the more laughable.
The main character, Asuka, is not really a character at all. She's a bundle of tropes and traumas. Her struggle is ostensibly about her struggling to get back into the m…
Read at the sourceAgent_Redacted
"There are no happy endings in the real world."
[YURI CLARIFICATION] : This show has 100% Yuri, but they do not go to an extent ( meaning that their feelings are confirmed but they don't do things such as kissing or fingering )
Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka is all about magical girls with PTSD fighting terrorists. Add uncensored tortures, oversized-looking breasts, Yuri, banger OP & ED, and you get this fine piece of art which everybody seemingly hates for some reason.
I won't go too far with this review so I'll just tell y'all something. This is fucking edgy and only edgy people could probably understand this show and find it entertaining like I do. This level of edginess is satisfactory, but it isn't enough when compared to magical girls dying. However, though this is merely satisf…
Read at the sourceDeathByJeff
TL;DR: F**k the haters. This is excellent. Like a long lost Nanoha sequel updated for the modern age.
I was rather worried when I saw that this anime I had been looking forward to hadn't been able to even break 7.0 barrier. I almost didn't watch the first episode.
Boy was I wrong.
While this anime can't quite compete with my reigning favorites Madoka Magica and Raising Project, it nonetheless deserves a place among the best dark magical girl shows of recent memory.
Lots of action. Lots of heart. Lots of deliciously disturbing character moments. Excellent worldbuilding. And some excellent humor and fan-service to boot (but not so much that it derails the story or characters!).
The plot while deep is also quite fast paced. It moves briskly and fits a lot of character development into a…
Read at the sourceThe_Walker
When going through MAL and looking at a shows average ratings many people have come to notice quite a few rules. Long running Shounen for example, is generally overrated by a full point. Older anime made before 1999 is often underrated by half a point and a full point for 1980. You get the idea.
One very recent rule I have realized that strangely only applies in the last decade, is that any time you see people in the reviews complaining about a show being "edgy" you can safely add a full point to the average score. This is the case with Mahou Shoujo Tokushushen Asuka, a show that solidly deserves to sit at an average of 7.5, not 6.5. Why people can't stand the idea of a magical girl cutting a soldier into multiple bloody pieces? Who knows. Maybe people have gotten more squeamish. Maybe i…
Read at the sourceWhiteWolfKiba
Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka is another grimdark magical girl anime/"Madoka Magica clone." I've watched so many "Madoka clones" lately I thought I'd give this a shot as well! This show is brought to us by studio LIDENFILMS, who also made Hanebado (epic badminton anime) and Killing Bites (National Geographic meets Gainax). "Asuka" tries to take a more realistic approach and asks what if magical girls used military weapons and actually *worked with* the government to fight monsters? Welll, the result is a mixed bag, and I'm gonna have as much trouble scoring this anime as I did with Magical Girl Site (though that one was WAY crazier).
Magical girls are needed to fight invading monsters (called Disas) because they are the only ones who can break their hexagonal magical shields (similar to A.T…
Read at the sourceEsperi
I'd like to preface this review with a warning. Firstly, I'm somewhat of a magical girl fan, particularly that dark and edgy take on the magical girl series. Secondly, I know not everyone is going to read this entire review, so if you're interested, jump ahead to the tl;dr section where I overview the review in a pros and cons list.
I went in with high expectations, I'll freely admit that. I was looking forward to this gruesome take on the magical girl genre. An anime that wasn't afraid to shy away from the blood and gore of open warfare. An anime that might even push the limits of what's considered taboo (lord knows I love something that takes risks). This anime does certainly deliver blood and gore, but in such a meaningless manner I'm left wondering whether it had a point or if it were…
Read at the sourceTevishSzat
Every once in a while you get a work that's legitimately transformative, taking a stale, stagnant, or just under-explored genre and bringing it to a state that's truly new and different. Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka is not that show. It wants to be, but it isn't. That doesn't mean it's a bad show, but if the show were a rocket it would aim for the moon and hit an urban center with a payload of nerve gas. Did that comparison seem disturbingly excessive? If so, it's the right one for this show.
Because what needs to be gotten out of the way first is that the exploitation value in this show is above and beyond. Or at least beyond, I'm not sure you can call something like that 'above'. And really, it comes off as desperate. The show wants you to feel something, anything, and it doesn't really…
Read at the sourcetimerrabbit
Hear me out: I am a sucker for "mature" (or "seinen"?) mahou shoujo anime and stories. Thanks to Puella Magi Madoka Magica for boosting its sub-genre popularity, plenty of successors and failures after Madoka quickly or slowly show up, and a ton can be a hit and miss! For Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka: This one is a mix-tier, and you will see why for my overall opinion and recommendation call.
STORY - These 12 episodes sums up of one arc, and leave room for a potential second season. Its world takes place three years after a war against the Netherworld's Disas: the typical monster-of-the-week beasts that take form of stuffed animals... Only more nightmare fuel. It takes what Precure looks dotting and innocent (but girls do still get physical damage), and crank up the "edge" level to the…
Read at the sourceRottenOrange
This anime has the potential to be the worst Mahou Shoujo that ever existed, bravo!
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1. Originality: 6
Okay, yeah. The description did sound original, within the framework of Mahou Shoujo of course.
The Mahou Shoujo genre is increasingly repetitive, that's why even magical girls fighting against terrorists sounded more interesting than it was. However, the more the episodes progressed, the more I questioned myself whether this was really a Mahou Shoujo or a hentai of terrorists. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are transformations and magical powers like in any MS, but most of the times that the subject is touched it's so... ridiculous. I will develop it in more depth in the Story Development part.
2. Story Development: 3.5
I will summarize how bad the development is by saying tha…
Read at the sourceSanaeK10
Going into Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka initially without any prior knowledge kind of left me not knowing what to feel beyond some sort of weird repulsion towards the series. However, once I understood that the anime was in fact, more of an 80s buddy action film homage more than anything, my expectations were properly adjusted and I ended up thoroughly enjoying most of the show.
Asuka is a barrage of tonal inconsistencies, sometimes violent, sometimes comfy, sometimes incredibly lewd and sexual. But all the more, these vast tonal shifts just somehow work. Like any good 80's schlock, you have your share of tits, gore, violence (all toned down in the adaptation) and with a healthy dose of lesbians and mahou shoujo thrown into the mix. Coupled with a PTSD-soldier who's conned into doing "On…
Read at the sourceVancomycin
Do you know these kinds of shows, which have relatable protagonists, interesting villains and a strong plotline, but are no fun to watch? Well, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka is the opposite.
As anybody can probably guess by the title, this show is another edgy magical girl show trying to jump on the edgy magical girl Anime bandwagon. Premise of the show is that after the successful repulsion of an invasion of killer-plush animals from another dimension our now retired magical girl protagonist Asuka and must deal with PTSD and her new peaceful life. Wait, doesn’t this sound like this could be a potentially interesting story?
Unfortunately, with the introduction of the antagonists by the end of the first episode I realized I will not be able to take this show seriously. Some things that happ…
Read at the sourceForgottenCake
Have you ever seen those videos on instagram of some shop/cafe/etc in LA that makes these crazy concoctions? Ice cream with cereal, bananas and sprinkles, and then its frozen and fried? That's the best way I can describe this show. While the core idea of a grittier take on the magical girl genre is appealing, the show fails spectacularly in just about every way.
Plot 2-3/10:
In general, the method of how girls become magical girls is hard line to skate between reasonable suspension of disbelief and stupidity. It can be done well which can be seen in the go-to gritty magical girl show Madoka Magica. However the show definitely under-performs here. The backstory is vague for basically every plot point, for how powers are acquired, why some girls are chosen over others or even establishing…
Read at the sourceLegendAqua
Hey what if Magical girls turned into mercenaries?
Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka maybe look like your typical "dark magical girl" that Madoka Magica has still in 2019 has a lingering presences with it's imitators however Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka feels like it fully embraces it's own thing, yes "edgy dark" but still.
Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka looks at Asuka Otorii voiced by Aya Suzaki, a veteran magicla girl who fought in a massive war to defeat the Disas, magical plushies demons out for humanity and with the five that remained at the end, she along with the 4 others were branded as the Magical Five that saved humanity. Now she's a typical high schooler, trying normalize her life and hoping her bloody and torturous war days are over...however with another war gone and done, anoth…
Read at the sourceExemplarCayman
Metal Gear Homura.
Do not be misled by the words “Mahou Shoujo” in the title, this is a military/sci-fi drama about an anti-terrorist unit, it is far more in line with Ghost in the Shell/Metal Gear rather than with any actual mahou shoujo series. In fact, Metal Gear is an almost complete thematic match for this show - gut-wrenching military drama plus “twenty minutes into the future and the world has gone to hell” sci-fi plus wacky tongue-in-cheek comedy.
As a military drama, it touches on the themes of child soldiers (that is, magical girls), terrorism, PTSD of soldiers and civilians (one of the best and most accurate portrayals of PTSD in fiction, btw), the effect of a global war on the world order (the classical Mahou Shoujo battle with monsters was won by the MC several years before…
Read at the sourceStark700
It’s beautiful…is what I would say if Mahou Shoujo Toushusen Asuka managed to bring in a magical girl show worthy of glory. But beautiful isn’t a good way to express this anime. From what I’ve seen from the first few episodes, it’s a show that takes on a darker, edgier, and grimmer side of the magical girl genre. Adapted by LIDENFILMS and based on the manga, this was a peculiar anime to talk about.
For starters, there’s a clear reason why the show airs late at night on the MBS block. Like the manga, this adaptation actually keeps the censoring to a minimal. Here’s an early warning: be prepared for body horror in the form of limbs being blown off, emotional torture, and brutal deaths. I’m not joking. Mahou Shoujo Toushusen Asuka isn’t even a bit afraid of showing how dark and dangerous its…
Read at the sourceSnapshot426
Whelp, here we are again. Another attempt at making a darker, more mature magical girl anime for all those who want one. Last year gave us Magical Girl Site. An anime so over the top and ridiculous that it was unironically funny when all things considered. Now this anime throws its hat into the ring at its attempt. Now the question going into this show was how serious was this show going to be or is it more or less going to be a ridiculous spectacle? So you read the synopsis, watch the trailer and then when you see magical girls wielding side arm pistols, assault rifles and flamethrowers, then you are probably intrigued as to what the f**k is going on.
Sit back, relax and DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY NOW SOLDIER!!! As I present to you the anime review for Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka. Let begi…
Read at the source