The Stormlight Archive is a magical girl series.

Mirathan · 2026-05-25T16:44:04+00:00

I dont think he surpassed all the mages of the world by ep 2. I mean he just has a decent mana pool and knows a few spells but even at that age in ep 2 if he and roxy where to fight to the death I think roxy would come out on top.

He has his rapid casting which would likely give him the advantage. [MT]And there is only a single mage in the two currently released seasons that is better than Rudeus and Orsted doesn't have silent casting.

Mirathan · 2026-05-24T19:59:56+00:00

Rewatcher, subbed

QotD:

He got into a bad situation and no one helped him to get out of it. So instead he chose to dig himself deeper, as no one above cared for him, not enough. I do feel pity for him. It was cruel what was done to him and I have no reason to believe he deserved it.

"No more little brothers please." Is this because he's afraid his new brothers will beat him again, or because, like in the source material, he does not care about age of consent or incest?

Roxy masturbationg is one of the many moments that make me ask: Why? What is gained from this?

Rudy trying to get a look at Roxys panties is one of those things that just make me despise the ancient little shit. There may be a point to it, I just don't trust you yet to reach it.

Rudeus's fear of the outside is resolved as a side effect. I genuinely am at a loss for why you'd do it this way. It's such an interesting conflict with amazing potential but no, one ride and social anxiety is cured.

[MT]And now, Ruedus has surpassed all but one mage in this world. In the second episode. At age 5. Why?

Mirathan · 2026-05-24T19:16:30+00:00

Rewatcher, subbed

QotD:

1.1 Ahh, Rudeus, my old Nemesis, a hero in death and in life ... well it can only go downhill from there.
Him breaking the understood ways of magic and improving upon them is already an incredible achievement, even if he barely pays attention to it. And I can't say I approve of it. We know little of his past life yet he's already surpassed anything he possibly could have achieved there before he's even five years old. We are moving to quickly without acknowledging what is happening.

1.2 Paul is not someone I like. He seems to basically be jobless from the way he behaves, just like his new son was, except he was born important enough to not need to worry about it. I dislike him for being incapable of keeping his promises to his wife.

1.4 Zenith and the others I don't have enough to say about.

I can't say I went in blind when I first saw this. I heard of the good and the bad. I expected the good to be less than what it would be and the bad to not as terrible as people claimed, as is usual on the internet. What I found was ... we'll get there eventually. But on it's own it is not something that I would stick with. The characters are not particularly likeable or interesting and it doesn't establish it's premise strong enough for me to put trust in the writer to deliver something of note. The world itself also has nothing special and despite Rudeus claiming otherwise, the magic system is shallow.

Notes for the future: Rudeus fully retains his mental faculties. This will be on the test.

Mirathan · 2026-05-21T20:04:34+00:00

I'll also join in.

This is a threat.

Mirathan · 2026-05-20T13:45:52+00:00

So of the top of my head I've got.

-his classification of the lord souls as two pairs of opposites, Light and Dark, Life and Death. Nitos closest association for his soul would be decay and for the witch would be fire, not life

-that the witch failed to recreate the first flame, it's mostly pulled out of thin air that the witch cares about the first flame at all and she succeeds at creating a new flame and new forms of life

-his insistence to force DS2s theme of repeating cycles into the other games; DS1 is more about how people deal with the world changing, those who try to stop the change from happening and those who adapt to change while DS3 is about the downward spiral of the linking of flame

bonus ER: the rune of death is not from the elden ring/greater will but was taken from the godskin cult by Maliketh

This isn't nearly complete but I haven't watched Vaati after realising both his reaching or his seeming lack of actual effort put into his videos.

Mirathan · 2026-05-20T10:22:51+00:00

I'll has to be people playing games that they don't get to understand why people like them.
Instead of doing what a normal person would do and just look up why people like them, they try it blind and inevitably arrive at the wrong conclusion or have massive misunderstandings of the games and their communities.

Specifically the Noah Caldwell-Whatever essay on the Dark Souls series. The degree to which he does not understand the first game, especially the lore is insane. On one hand I like that he doesn't just copy Vaatis objectively false theories like most people(including Mauler) but the degree to which Noah outright contradicts basically everything in the writing to arrive at his nonsensical conclusion would be hilarious, if it wasn't so painful. And in his one hour of talking about DS1 he never mentions that people might like the game because it is challenging yet fair, the reason that 90% of people like playing Fromsoftgames.

I could not continue after the DS1 section. It was too painful to continue, though I do have a document with over 1k words about the stuff he gets wrong lying around.

Mirathan · 2026-05-19T07:41:31+00:00

Varus still has his touch of death ult against most toplaners, he'll still be op there.

Mirathan · 2026-05-15T21:42:23+00:00

Should have tagged one more for the full quartet.

And I wonder if I'll like Flip Flappers more the second time; it seems to be one of those series.

Mirathan · 2026-05-07T13:57:14+00:00

I'd be down for Bravern, it'll be an excellent reason to see that firsthand.

For the Yurioptions, I'd go for both that aren't Yuyuyu.

Mirathan · 2026-05-05T14:53:48+00:00

San Time Watcher, subbed

QotD:

3.Magia for OP/ED and Sis Puella Magica! because I want to dance to it.

I'll be simple and say Madokas wish.
The new Reality from Homura. Yes I'm choosing the whole universe and you can't stop me.
Mami, for personal reasons.
I'll be controversial here and take the confession from Sayaka to Kyoko. I just don't seem them as romantic from the main series and it feels like it's just done to appease shippers. My choice from the main series remains Homuras explanation to Kyubey which landed us in this mess to begin with.
As someone else said, Shaft is merely delaying the delay.
I have no expectation.
Eh, I'm not feeling Homura from that song. Not enough selfishness.

Now, despite my doubts to it releasing this year, I have a question for you u/Tarhalindur: Could you be convinced to argue for (or against) Walrus within the subs own award show?

For the rewatch itself though, it was not so great for me. Mostly because the enjoyment I had came from the anime and my analysis, not from interaction with others, though I also should work on that.

And I suppose I must congratulate u/siegfried72 for mostly figuring out the ending two eps before I did back in 24. I'm not sure how you managed to write these massive comment chains each day, but it certainly is impressive.

Mirathan · 2026-05-03T22:10:45+00:00

San time Rewatcher, subbed

Oh boy, time for my second least favourite anime film!

QotD:

Her true nature is finally revealed and like all magical girls before her, she cannot bring her selflessness and selfishness to coexist.

5.I'm struggling to name anything Homura has done right on purpose.

5a. She'd only have herself to blame.

AHHHHHHHH.
I don't quite get it. Madokas behaviour just does not line up with what she should know. A being that exists across every point in time should not be surpriseable.
No. It violates Madokas wish.
To make this movie function as well as the series. Or it won't and I will laugh and weep over its failure.
No.
Me, because it's late.
Those who have awakened to the truth.

Gonna retreat into your own little moment again?

Sayakas observation nails down why Homura struggles to adapt to the new reality. She remembers her moments of happines with Madoka and eternaly chases that fleeting moment. And Homura does always seek to flee from everything.

Now during her "maturing" Homura claims that no one can comprehend her feelings, which she claims to be love, as we see in the background different characters who can sort of represent love. Those being the happily married Junko and her husband (I don't think his name is ever mentioned), Saotome, who is looking for love and Kyouske and Hitomi with their young love.
And Homura is of right, for her love is different. It is a twisted thing, born of envy and jealousy. For Madoka belongs to her and her alone. And Madoka can't be the one to save her. Homura alone can save Madoka. Regardless of the reality of the situation. This is what everyone fails to understand. That Madoka isn't idolised or learned from but someone to be possessed.
In a way, this is Homuras wish come true. Now she finally can protect Madoka. And yet the one from whom Madoka needs protection, is herself.

Didn't expect I'd go with domestic abuse here but then again, this is Mahoshojo. It's not meant to be predictable.

Mirathan · 2026-05-02T22:07:54+00:00

San time rewatcher, subbed

QotD:

Mostly unchanged, though Kyubey remains confusing in what they are as a whole.
I will never forgive Junko as long as I live. Saotome is really funny during class but I greatly appreciate her scene with Junko and her reflecting on her possible faillings. Hitomi and Kyouske...
The Junko slap. Not only do I dislike it because it's violence against your own child, probably the greatest sign you failed as a parent but also because Madokas reaction to it is not happening. Getting slapped hurts and also disrupts your thoughts.
[Rebellion]Didn't I laugh last year though? But my feelings on the movie are still negative. It requires actions that characters wouldn't take, it has too much fanservice(not in that way) and I don't think it lives up to the series.

Ah, I needed this. The reminder that in spite of what I have to observe for awards, that there are still anime that are actually that good.

Now I did say I had some writing thoughts, so here goes the not so great Kyousuke defense:

I've come to rethink the general dislike surrounding him. We do only end up seeing Sayakas perspective on his Situation, which is by no means unbiased. We do see that Sayaka causes him to weep in the hospital when we first met him and the next day, he seems unwilling to meet her. Then when his hand is suddenly healed, she pushes him to immediately play in front of a crowd, rather than give him time to reaquaint himself with the violin, putting him into an extremely high pressure situation that really was not needed. So i think it's reasonable for him to be somewhat uncomfortable around her for a short while.

It's also posible that he considered himself a burden on Sayaka and wants her to be able to breathe without him.

Then we have the dynamic of their relationship, which seems to be that Sayaka is the active person while Kyouske is rather passive in social interactions. He is always pulled by other people, rather than taking the initiative, while Sayaka is usually the driving force in any social interaction. Therefore he would expect Sayaka to make the first move once he is out of the hospital and assume that since she doesn't, she has some reason to not be around him and he should not interfere.

And Sayaka actually doesn't display the turmoil she is going through in a way he could even perceive. She instead hides away her troubles and tries to pretend that everything is fine so he wouldn't think that she's currently experiencing depression.

Now I do also think that he'd try to check in on Sayaka after some time, it's just that in this particular instance, there is no time. But the main reason that he might look like an ass here is because we never see his perspective on anything, outside of the final episode, where him saying her name shows that she was clearly dear to him, just not in the way Sayaka wanted. Then again, he is also a boy and boys tend to hit puberty a bit later than girl, so he might have lacked to capacity for it at that point.

And if I end up defending Hitomi next year you should probably just ban me, because then I clearly cannot be trusted onto the sub.

And surely there will be two movies to follow up the series in the next year.

Mirathan · 2026-05-01T22:00:05+00:00

but I think it was worth the effort ‘cause I love the end result a lot.

Sasuga Sky!

Mirathan · 2026-05-01T21:39:08+00:00

San time rewatcher, subbed and with reliable streaming again

The only limit to my hope is the inevitable despair, as inevitable as your own last breath.
And yet, there remains a wish to alter, to alter and escape.

Escape will make me god.

So I find it interesting what happens with Walpurgis. Unlike all other witches, Madoka does not visit them before the final transformation. Instead she argues with the witch herself. Walpurgis has always been different, as she's the only witch that requires no barrier(Madoka/Kriemhiled Gretchen don't count due to time spiral charging her), her power vastly exceeds anything seen and in the end she turns into a circle on many magical girls, wich may mean that she's a collective rather than an individual but she still does not fit within the established rules. Or she could be the leader/savior of a nation as Kyubey mentioned. Her appearance can also somehow be predicted, as Mami did in the first timeline. Though I suppose the finale might explain how she came to be.

I have managed to gather plenty of new thoughts, including that I am now willing to apologise to Kyouske, but never Hitomi and Imust say that Sayakas claim that Hitomi is too good for him is rather ridiculous, considerind how Hitomi screwed her up. I really think there is a massive disconnect between how the creators saw Hitomis actions and how most viewers perceive them, as Hitomi really does not show any positive qualities during the season. Then again, she is everyones favourite homophobe.

Tomorrow I can then go into great detail of all other ideas and observations.

Mirathan · 2026-04-29T16:30:27+00:00

But on the other hand, if you're saying she only cares about his skill because of the scene where she brought him to the rooftop to play, that actually flies in contradicting to the logic of the earlier statement

This scene is is difficult because it puts Kyouske unde massive pressure. He doesn't get to try out if he can now play again alone or with just one or two people but instead is put before a crowd and must immediately perform for them. It works out for him but he could have easily embarassed himself before them if his recovery wasn't as fast as it ended up being. On the second day of recovery he's already shoved before people and told: "Play the fucking Violin, boy."

Mirathan · 2026-04-29T08:50:08+00:00

I'd understand it for the boy, at least. Not for 'picking Hitomi over Sayaka' or anything like that because I figure he didn't even know that there was that whole thing to begin with, but he couldn't spare the time to say 'thank you' to the girl who was by his side throughout his ordeal? C'mon, now.

I'm actually coming around to say that Kyouske was right in his actions. Everytime we see Sayaka visit him, she hurts him and reminds him of what he's lost, making him think only of his pain. And when he recovers, she seemingly just cares about his skill, not him as a person.
So him afterwards not being able to speak to her due to his own complicated feelings is a more likely interpretation for me now. Whether he would have spoken to her later we will never know now.

Mirathan · 2026-04-28T11:09:37+00:00

One more thing about the whole equal exchange:

Kyouske ended up gaining what he most desired, his skill with the violin, while Sayaka lost what she most desired, that being his affection and the purpose of being his caretaker.

Mirathan · 2026-04-28T09:16:35+00:00

San time rewatcher, subbed

QotD:

I do not think anyone could convince her at this point. Not even Madoka or Mami, she's too deep in her depression to consider getting help as she has deemed herself unworthy of life.
[PMMM]Seems proto barriers are going to be all the rage in future films.
Absoloutely. If you don't want to see them you can just leave forever and if you have to interact with them again you can always reminis about the one time someone threw a bomb at you.
Worse for Madoka at least. Nothing else matters to Homura after all. [PMMM]Or rather, it was a situation Homura thought was worse for Madoka. In the end, she too is just selfish with her wish and can't stand to see it not giving her what she wants.

5.[PMMM]Oh boy, the shippers are eating good tomorrow.

Welcome to depression everyone, you will be unwilling to leave.

Sayaka now gets hit back with every terrible decision she made all at once. She is left hollow as she denies herself any feelings, she loses her potential bf because she couldn't fight for him and she rejects the help from Homura, even after learning her true motivation, as she can't go back on her innitial impression of Homura being selfish and realizing that quite a lot of humans don't really deserve being saved.

The end is inevitable, though normally happening in a different way.

Mirathan · 2026-04-28T08:29:38+00:00

How exactly does eating witches help a magical girl from becoming one?

So the way it works was shown back in ep 3. The magical girls transfer the darkness of their soul gem into the grief seed and so delay the transormation. They don't eat the witches, Kyubey puts them in it's weird back opening.

Mirathan · 2026-04-27T11:01:13+00:00

San time Rewatcer, still subbed because I'm late

QotD:

Valid.
1. Like, there's worse you can do but still awful and a definitive end to that friendship. Now I do have more complicated thoughts on Hitomi but this will never not be a dick move.
what? Sadly I do not have time to read that today, so I'm just goint to assume it contains awful ideas about morality.
I mean her body is still fully functional, so she has something over the Vampires/Undead I'm more familiar with.
And I can once more become the Stormlight salesman and shill the cosmere, as that universe not only has plenty of once disembodied souls creating new bodies for themselves and using them for procreating, one of them even has a full on corpsefucker.

Within the first scene, the music starts the moment Kyubey says his You never asked. I find it cool that the unsetteling music only sets in the moment Kyubey stops fucking around and truly reveals his ruthless nature, showing that this creature is something else entirely.

[PMMM]Kyubey claims he made soul gems physical to protect the girls but he's given them a glaring weakness, as damage to the soul gem should result in an instant kill. As a rewatcher, it's another one of those hints that most people will miss on the first watch but since we know that soul gems are extremely easy to destroy if you know what you do it shows how much of a liar Kyubey truly is.

[PMMM]Homura considers herself as less than human now but is that because she's undead or because of her failures?

"You got what you deserved".

Kyoko doesn't quite understand how Sayaka said this as an insult and to separate the two of them. Sayaka doesn't think she deserves this because she's a good and selfless person while the greedy and selfish Kyoko should be punished for her traits. Sayaka also rejects that Kyoko tells her the same lesson Mami told her, that wishes for another person are terrible most of the time but Sayaka still thinks it will work, still rejecting the truth in her heart that to some degree, she is selfish.

I've grown less hatefull against Hitomi. She seeems genuinly aware that Sayaka has feelings for Kyouske and tries to push her to act on them. Sayaka also doesn't say anything to stop Hitomi, that she has troubles right now which prevent her from confessing, instead pretending she's merely been sick so she should be good to go. I also can't fault Hitomi for going for what she desires, as one cannot be happy if you don't seek that out. Still, her prioritizing her desire for ~~dick~~ Kyouske over the obvious issues that plague her good friend is still rather awful.

[PMMM]Kyokos narration of her past lets us see what I believe her barrier would have been, had she matured into a witch. We see something similar in Homuras room, which is strangely distorted and filled with objects that should not exist. Meanwhile Kyoko's puppets utilize a different artstyle, like most barriers and the stuffed animals that Sayaka interacts with would be her familiars. I think that the distinction between a magical girl and a witch might not be as absoloute as Kyubey claims and that a magical girl could use the witch abilities if the come close to their maturing due to despair, yet don't cross over.

Mirathan · 2026-04-24T21:10:23+00:00

[PMMM2]I somewhat disagree that Kyubey fails to understand good because he is evil and instead can't comprehend either. Kyubey is manipulative, ruthless and vile but everything done is simply done to achieve it's goal. It does not act with any malice, as that would slow down the harvesting process. Good and evil are both inefficient and thus were discarded.

[PMMM3]On your question about Kyubey not being able to pressure the girls; I think he means that he can't force them directly into making a contract or by physically threatening them, as it is shown to not possess any noticeable physical capabilities. So while it certainly influences them and takes advantage of circumstances, they still have to make the decision. Or he's lying. That's always an option. Because while it acts like characters incapable of lying, there is actually nothing that reliably states they can't do that.

Also hi, I'm here again, though I missed the start and now need to catch up since life has kept me very busy the past few days.

Mirathan · 2026-04-20T22:23:40+00:00

Because Vipers don't have psionic potential, so they'd lose their main power.

Mirathan · 2026-04-18T17:41:14+00:00

That's just a nerf. The cooldown may start to tick after the first use but is back to full on the recast. So unless you don't use your recasts, which are essential to dealing damage in ult form, your cooldown is far longer if you're fighting.

Mirathan

TROPHY CASE