Magia Record Episode 12: Why Is This So Unbearable?

Why Is This So Unbearable? どうしてこんなにみじめなんですか
First airing	March 21, 2020
Script	Gekidan Inu Curry (Doroinu)
Storyboard	name
Episode director	name
Animation Director	name

Summary

It is raining outside as Yachiyo looks out the window of Mikazuki Villa alone, the others having left for the Memory Museum. She suddenly hears the sound of a guitar and sees an image of Kanae Yukino sitting on the couch asking her if she should be going after them. An image of Mel Anna then appears, making a reading that comes up as terrible luck. Kanae asks if Yachiyo would regret going and Mel adds that they're her friends, to which Yachiyo denies that they are and that she's never going to make friends again. She then puts on a raincoat and heads after the group (following the same tracker that she put on Felicia in the previous episodes), saying that she can't just stand by and do nothing when someone else is trying to deceive magical girls.

In the museum, Touka Satomi introduces herself to Iroha and her friends with Mifuyu showing up to warn them from trying anything as they are in the presence of a Magius. Upon hearing this Iroha asks if that means she's the boss of the black and white feathers and feels there must be a misunderstanding as she remembers Touka would never do such evil things that the Wings of the Magius does. She goes on asking if Touka remembers Ui, and Touka answers that she has no memory of knowing and being friends with anyone named Ui. Iroha asks if she lost her memories but Touka refutes her saying that her brilliant mind would never forget a friend and that if she doesn't know Ui then they've never met. Iroha says she remembers that she, Ui, Touka and Nemu were all great friends, but Touka restates her previous statements and warns her that if she keeps being a pest an Uwasa will take her away. Mifuyu suddenly interjects her and tells her that she promised to give the group a lecture today and assures that they will listen to it with Iroha saying they will.

Next scene begins the start of the lecture, the first theme being, "Fundamentals of Magical Girls Theory I" in a slideshow while elsewhere Momoko is preparing to tell Rena about what happened with Yachiyo and the others a year ago when Kaede suddenly shows up. The lecture starts on the topic of Soul Gems and details about the duties of magical girls. The next slide has an image of Kanae (named as Girl A) and Touka tells the group that while Girl A was fighting a powerful Witch, her soul gem was crushed. She stops and asks the group a question of what happened to the girl, first asking Sana. Sana answers that it means she can't use magic anymore, but Touka answers it's not the right answer exactly. She then asks for Tsuruno's answer, to which she answers that it means she'll be released from her duties as a magical girl. Touka says it's not wrong but it's still incorrect. She reveals the correct answer: she will die. The slide then shows a fallen Girl A and states that while she had no physical injuries, she died the second her soul gem was destroyed. The scene cuts away to Momoko's group, where Rena asks where Kaede's been as she runs up and hugs her saying she was worried about her. Kaede apologizes for worrying her and tells her to listen to Momoko about the truth about magical girls. Back at the museum, Iroha is shocked to hear this answer and asks why the soul gem being crushed resulted in the girl's death. Touka answers that when they become magical girls their souls are removed from their bodies in order to create the soul gem itself. Iroha is confused by this revelation and Touka says she needs to have a better grasp of it if they're going to continue with the rest of the lecture. The second part covers "Fundamentals of Magical Girls Theory II" and is about Witches. The slideshow stops and Mifuyu offers to take the group for a ride on a gondola through the Memory Museum in order to teach the next lesson through her memories personally. Slowly the group starts to fall asleep as the gondola moves on.

When Iroha wakes up, she finds herself as an observer in the memory of Yachiyo's group in a Witch's barrier. Yachiyo says she can't believe how much stronger this Witch has gotten and Kyubey thinks it's because it had preyed upon many people in the span of a night. Kanae asks if they should leave but Yachiyo says that they wouldn't be able to carry out all of its victims out at once and that they need to defeat it. Kanae is the first to jump into a group of Familiars to clear the way for Yachiyo and Mifuyu, but the latter two get ensnared by the Witch. The Witch fires a huge laser at them but Kanae blocks it with her weapon. She continues to stand down and block the repeated attack. The real Mifuyu appears behind Iroha and quizzes her on the first part of the lecture on the meaning of a magical girl's soul gem. Kanae is still blocking the attack and notices that her soul gem is beginning to crack from the force on it. Using all of her strength, Kanae hits the blast back at the Witch, killing it instantly. After the barrier fades away, Yachiyo comes to Kanae's side where she is shocked to find her lying still and unresponsive. She tries to use a grief seed on her soul gem but finds it has been shattered to pieces and won't react. Kyubey reappears and says that once the gem breaks, restoration of it is impossible and there's nothing they can do now about Kanae. Yachiyo is in denial as she tries to fix Kanae's soul gem and call out to her alongside Mifuyu. The real Mifuyu then asks Iroha what happens to a magical girl when a soul gem breaks. Iroha asks if anything can be done, but Mifuyu says that this is only a memory that they are experiencing and that the past can't be changed. This ends the "Fundamentals of Magical Girls Theory I".

Outside the Museum, Yachiyo shows up and meets Touka, who tells her that she's late as the lecture began at 3:00pm. Yachiyo asks her if she's with the Wings of the Magius to which Touka responds that she's pretty sharp and that her long survival wasn't for nothing. Yachiyo transforms and points her weapon directly at Touka, demanding to know where Iroha and the others are. Touka simply looks in the direction of where the gondola once was and Yachiyo wordlessly breaks down the gate and runs down after them to the other girl's surprise.

Iroha wakes up again in another memory of Mikazuki Villa by the real Mifuyu who tells her the next part will relate to the "Fundamentals of Magical Girls Theory II" on Witches. Going downstairs, they find Yachiyo and Mifuyu's new group consisting of Tsuruno, Momoko and Mel. As Tsuruno talks about Banbanzai, Mel does a reading that tells her today will be the luckiest day of her life. Yachiyo says she thought Mel promised that she wouldn't do readings anymore as her predictions always come true, especially if it's a bad result. Momoko chimes in that if it's just a lucky day for her then there should be no problem with it, and Tsuruno adds if it's a bad one they will everything they can to avoid it. Mifuyu tells Iroha that her and Yachiyo were depressed after Kanae's death but after they made new friends to the group everything went back to normal. The scene then changes to one at sunset with the group about ready to enter the barrier of another Witch. On the phone Tsuruno informs Yachiyo that because Banbanzai has a big reservation for a group of people, she will be unable to help them take down the Witch. The group decides to move on to fight a Witch that came from Daito Ward, having moved through Kosho, Chuo and Mizuna Wards in the past and finally being found in Shinsei Ward. Momoko thinks it's perfect since there's been a shortage of grief seeds and enter the barrier. Inside, Yachiyo works on fighting off Familiars in order to lure the Witch away to let Mifuyu escape with an injured Mel with Momoko clearing a path for them. Momoko objects to Yachiyo taking it on alone, but she assures her that she'll be fine as she's been a magical girl for a long time. While Yachiyo confronts the Witch, Momoko clears some Familiars away and urges Mel and Mifuyu to run but stop when they see Yachiyo cornered and struggling to fight it off. Mel turns back and rushes to Yachiyo's aid in spite of her injuries and attacks to protect her. The scene then cuts away to the group concerned over Mel's condition and her soul gem, having no grief seeds and being unable to get one from the Witch as it fled. Yachiyo begs for Mel to stay with them as she was going to go hunt down that Witch and get its grief seed now as it'd the only way to save her. Mel tells her not to leave as she already knows what will happen to her, and Yachiyo tells her to stop talking like that. She goes on about Mel's reading that this was suppose to be a lucky day when it's actually the worse but Mel tells her that's not true. Right after that, Mel's soul gem becomes fully dark and breaks, turning into a grief seed, the force of the energy knocking Iroha away. When she awakens, she walks up and finds to her shock a new Witch has appeared. The real Mifuyu then asks Iroha the next question on what happens when a soul gem becomes dirty. Iroha utters a Witch and Mifuyu says it's easier to understand when you see it happening yourself. Back with Momoko's team, Rena is taken aback in complete shock over what she has heard over what happened to Mel a year ago. The scene then cuts to the past with Yachiyo, Mifuyu and Momoko confronting Kyubey about Mel becoming a Witch. Momoko asks Kyubey why and what is a magical girl. He recounts his statement from the original series that magical girls become Witches. Yachiyo asks if he's serious and Momoko realizes that all the Witches they've been killing have been other magical girls. Kyubey tries to tell her that it's not as bad as she thinks as the purpose of it is to extend the life of the universe and that in the long term it's a good thing for the human race. Mifuyu states it's the same as with Kanae, that every time one of their friends died they learned a horrible truth, and the longer they survived she kept thinking how unbearable it all was. The narration and slideshow restate that when a magical girl's soul gem becomes completely dark, their gems become grief seeds and they turn into Witches. Another scene appears showing Mifuyu walking along with Momoko, with the latter telling her to forget about what happened because as long as they're careful then nothing will change. Mifuyu asks Momoko if she can forget about what happened and Momoko says it's been half a year since then and that she does feel guilty about them being the only ones who know and have to hide their feelings. Mifuyu suddenly asks her about Tsuruno and Momoko says she won't tell her as she doesn't want to burden her with the same guilt. Up on a tower, Mifuyu wonders alone if she will have to bear this memory for the rest of her life and unable to tell anyone about it. Iroha gasps when she sees that Mifuyu's soul gem was becoming dark like Mel's and starts to break. Mifuyu's soul gem breaks and turns into a grief seed, but suddenly restores itself to normal as Mifuyu gets covered in her soul gem's grief and briefly becomes a Witch before shortly returning to normal. Iroha then notices that the soul gem is intact and purified as if a grief seed was used on it. Touka then suddenly appears and pauses the current memory and rewinds it. She says that Witchification is an irreversible reaction and that any Witch encountered in town can't turn back into a magical girl. But Mifuyu has managed to turn back into a person after witching out and that it's a strange reversible reaction. She asks Iroha that if it's not Witchification then what could it be. Touka reveals her next part of the lecture is "Magical Girls Theory Application I, Doppels". She calls the change that happened to Mifuyu a Doppel, a revolutionary system that she created for magical girls. Iroha asks if she really did create it, and Touka answers that she's smart enough to figure it out as Touka reject the fate of magical girls becoming Witches and that this is the liberation of magical girls that the Wings of the Magius offers. She reveals that the system was made to save magical girls from Kyubey's system and that she hopes to spread it across the world and that she also wants to help liberate Iroha as well.

On the bridge, Kaede comforts Rena as she cries about the truth about magical girls. Kaede expresses sympathy for her and all magical girls and tells her that everything's going to be ok. She tells Rena that if she comes with her, then magical girls can be saved, the same words said by the Wings of the Magius. The scene then changes back to the Memory Museum with the gondola slowly coming to a stop and Mifuyu asking the others to join the Magius.

Translations

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Trivia

• The tarot card that Mel pulls when reading fortunes for the day is #13 of the major arcana, the Death card. Generally, the Death card does not symbolize death as a reality in the context of someone dying. The Death card represents the end of one chapter in life and the beginning of another and actually registers positive news in most readings. This is also the card of change - off with the old and on with the new. Traditionally death only predicts an actual death around the querent when it is with the Nine or Ten of Swords.
  • However, Mel drew the Death card upside down. When a tarot card is drawn upside down, its meaning is reversed. When reversed, the death card means total panic and disruption will be around the querent's life. The reader would normally advise the querent that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that she should keep battling on.
  • Neither the regular or reversed meaning of the Death card indicates luck. It may be that Mel was being optimistic or lying to her friends. If she had had the greatest luck, she would have pulled #19 of the Major Arcana, the Sun card (possibly in conjunction with the Ace of Cups).
• The bridge on which Momoko and Mifuyu walked in memory is possibly Circle Bridge in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• In the English dub of this episode, Raspberry's name in Runes is translated into English. Not counting the instance of Beatrice (Cenci)'s name being written in both Runes and English in Episode 7, this is the first time Runes have been translated in-show.
  • For unknown reasons, although Raspberry's name was translated, no other instances of Runes have been translated for the English dub of Magia Record, including the first witch seen in this episode, Oshiti.

Gallery

See:Gallery:Magia Record Episode 12

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  From left to right the soul gems are Sana, Tsuruno, Iroha and Felicia's

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  Mel's soul gem turning into a grief seed

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  Mel's Witch

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External links

Episodes
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Memory Museum at 3:00 PM	Why Is This So Unbearable?	A Faint Hope