Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Yuusha no Shou

Having fulfilled their destiny during the events of Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru, Sanshu Middle School's Hero Club—consisting of Yuuna Yuuki, Karin Miyoshi, and siblings Fuu and Itsuki Inubouzaki—is back in full swing, helping out those in need wherever they can. They have also gained a new member, a hero from the past named Sonoko Nogi. But eventually they notice that someone who should be among them, Mimori Tougou, is missing; any trace of her existence is completely gone, save for the girls' memories.

With no leads on Tougou's whereabouts, the girls regain the ability to transform and begin the desperate search for their lost friend. But what they find is more shocking than any of them could ever have imagined, and the consequences of their actions begin to change life as they know it.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yuuki, Yuuna Main

Terui, Haruka Japanese

Tougou, Mimori Main

Mimori, Suzuko Japanese

Nogi, Sonoko Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Miyoshi, Karin Main

Nagatsuma, Juri Japanese

Inubouzaki, Fuu Main

Uchiyama, Yumi Japanese

Inubouzaki, Itsuki Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Aki Supporting

Satou, Rina Japanese

Maeda, Toshihiro Producer

Kinoshita, Tetsuya Producer

Kamiji, Tomoyo Producer

Miyagi, Souji Producer

Reviews

Jan 5, 2018

rawrXtina

Recommended

When the Yuuki Yuuna franchise first appeared, it was criticised for its similarities to Madoka Magica, despite itself not being the first magical girl show to turn dark. It was seen as more an attempt to capitalise on Madoka’s success than an original story, which in retrospect I think is really unfortunate. I myself wasn’t particularly blown away by the original series because, whilst it looked and sounded great and had some incredibly cute characters, it definitely felt like I’d seen it all before in some form or another.

I never really expected this show to get a sequel and it would have never been ... my first choice, but I’m really happy it did. Whilst this is a fairly short chapter, being only 6 episodes in length, it quickly engrossed me in its rich story world, likeable characters and emotional themes.

There isn’t so much focus on the vertex battles in this chapter, although what we do get is very tasty. The challenges faced by our characters are much more internal than in the main series, particularly for Yuuki Yuuna herself, who quickly becomes the focus as a result of certain actions she took very early on. I believe this is where the chapter really shines as it puts our heroine into a difficult position that can’t be overcome simply through the power of friendship, believing in yourself or really any trope of the sort. It carries with it an emotional weight that I never got from the main series and really felt very genuine.

Everyone has needed help and support at some point in their lives, whether physically, emotionally or financially, but nothing in this world is really free. Some burdens can be too much to ask of anyone, even when you have friends or loved ones who would do almost anything for your sake. So you go on, pretending things are fine, finding some way to cope while you fight that battle and carry that weight like a hero, or so you think. But you can’t hide it forever - you knew you couldn’t, and people soon start wondering what’s up and why you won’t tell them. Maybe they think you don’t trust them, which increases your frustration and depression and only makes it harder. You know that the truth will only cause more pain, but what can you do?

I was surprised to see this topic brought up in a show like Yuuki Yuuna, but it made me respect the franchise as a whole much more and I think has made me realise how much it has matured and developed its own identity separate from Madoka or any other magical girl anime. As it turns out, being a hero involves a lot more than transforming and using magic spells to fry the big bad. Sometimes it's about selflessness and having the willingness to sacrifice everything in the name of helping others. That’s not particularly original in itself, except that it challenges that status quo by asking: is that even right? Is a system like sacrifices young, promising heros in the name of preserving life and freedom for everyone else really worth sustaining?

Aside from whatever you might take away from the story, the visuals in this series are as vibrant as ever and look absolutely stunning, especially during the climax. The soundtrack also features some of the most beautiful and emotional music I’ve heard in an anime. I’m still not sure I completely understood the ending, but it was such a sight to behold that I’m not sure it even matters. The final episode was a surreal, audiovisual experience of the like I haven’t seen since Madoka: Rebellion.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 8, 2018

Andreikun

Recommended

This review does not contain spoilers but it will cover all the stories that is Washio Sumi arc, Yuuki Yuna Hero arc and sequel.

Many have compared it to Madoka, but I think this is more a Bokurano and Neon Genesis Evangelion combination(was lucky to decide to see the original Evangelion prior to YuYu). Basically we have chosen girls to become magical girls instead of persons piloting the mechas. The enemies are the Vertex (lets call them The Vertex, could be Vertices also, not a native English speaker). The Vertex are similar to the Angels in Evangelion.

The characters and interactions are complex up to ... a point, however not as complex as Evangelion's characters. in YuYu everything revolves around friendship , dreams for the future, family, but mostly friendship. I guess in our real world we would be lucky to have at least a friend like Washio, Yuna, Fu...
The friendship depicted is strong they almost never argue or have qualms with eachother, that's a bit off and takes from the complexity of the characters. The best explored theme is the Hero theme and this is done nicely and this show in total has made me review what means to be a Hero. Take Superman for example, he is a hero, but why because he fights bad guys, always winning and protecting everyone. Yuna and the others are different, sacrifice, friendship is required to be a Hero and a motive of course like your life, family, etc. Of course here comes the best part - Shinju-sama, the God, the system, the ones that manage the system.

The system is never quite fully explained. What exactly is Shinju-sama, what are The Vertex, what is the world they live in, not fully explained yet the brilliance is there. It's a system, and the author decides to break the 4th wall with the system, it's you the viewer who decides if it's evil or not. By the end of the show you will have not an answer from the author but your own opinion. The Shinju-sama system is brilliant however, and you can see it at work in real life in corrupt states or developed nations alike. Of course if your political system provides all, you will fight for it ti protect what you have, if your system is corrupt but manipulates so yo see it as the provider of wealth (communism for example) you will be forced/manipulated to fight against it. If by any chance you rebel, the system will change enough so that you feel a change but you still are oppressed though you have no idea. Shinju-sama is the single best character of the series! The Vertex, not quite fully explained, but again you can choose what they are and what they represent.
The ending of the series is great and fitting, but requires previous knowledge of the YuYu novels and you need to watch it at least 2 times, once preferably after reading what you've seen as it's hard to understand...but so is Madoka and Evangelion.
What could have been done better is the interaction between our Heros and the system, takes a long time for them to figure what the relationship with it is. But of course, it's a society based on God, can you challenge and question God? Well, a certain character does in a monologue, and he's 5 years old, our heroes should do too!

Apart from this, Shinju-sama is inspired from Shinto beliefs, there are Shinto shrines everywhere in the show. There is something regarding the maiden sacrifice that bugs me though, I have not found any evidence of this happening in Japan apart from "building pillars" - human sacrifices to make certain buildings last. I've seen this very concept in Shikabane Hime, so I'm still investigating the roots of this idea.

The art is great, especially during the fight scenes, CGI and animation is blended nicely. The rest of the show in the normal world slice of life, animation is ok, some details are very nice to look at also. There are certain fan service moments, but not all the transformation scenes include such scenes for example, some episodes skip the transformation scenes altogether.

Sound is my biggest complain for this series, YuYu S1 suffers from it a lot, S2 and Washio have corrected this however. Most annoying are the seyuus, they seem to not have experience with the battle scenes, their cries really overpower the beautiful music in the background, something that does not happen with Kana Hanazawa's character. Also crying in this show is very abundant to the point it gets annoying in the loud pitch that they use.

All in all, it's a great show to watch, it's not for younger audiences because of the general theme , some blood, some drama, but it's a good show to reset your views on what means to be a Hero, what's worth fighting for (total opposite to the Nihilism present in Madoka or depression present in Evengelion).

As long as your world provides everything, you might just fight for it although the leaders have no good intentions for you. YuYu manages to raise a moral dilemma without even being labeled as psychological. Definitely an anime that is underrated, but is a must watch if you generally like Evangelion type stories and some themes that make you think about stuff that surrounds us.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 5, 2018

Gippy

Not Recommended

Three years ago, I watched S1 on a whim. I loved it. It and Your Lie in April were the two 2014 shows I gave 9/10. In the end I narrowly chose YuYuYu S1 as my 2014 anime of the year, despite the controversial final episode. I was okay with S1's ending because YuYuYu wanted to forge a hopeful path rather than one of desolation.

The prequel, Washio Sumi, aired earlier in Japanese theatres. Though it never approached S1's greatness, it still mixed the slice-of-life and magical girl elements well. Though it was a straightforward show with a telegraphed ending, I gave it a solid 6/10. ... The first "half" of YuYuYu S2 is the Washio Sumi movie, but repackaged into episodes. The real S2 is this, the Hero arc.

The reason why Washio Sumi went to theatres and not YuYuYu S2, unlike what Madoka Magica did with Rebellion, is simple. YuYuYu S2 is inferior and is completely void of the magic that made S1 so good.

S1 explored each of the characters and still had time for plenty of magical girl action. There were episodes that focused on each club member, allowing the viewer to care for them. So what happened in S2? It decided to not be a magical girl show. In the first five episodes, there is only about 1 minute total of magical girl action. The "new" girl, Sonoko, added absolutely nothing to S2 and was only there just to sell more drama CDs based on the star power of Kana Hanazawa. Itsuki and Fuu became background characters. Karin had one moment alone with Yuuna but that was it.

By episode 5, there is a complete reversal which makes the previous episodes irrelevant, as the show throws away the main plot point. In the final episode, we're given a deus ex machina ending that makes you wonder why this hadn't already happened. How come none of the other girls up to this point had the courage to do this? What makes Yuuna so special? I felt absolutely no emotion as Yuuna delivered her final hero punch.

Some people said that you get more out of S2 by taking in the surrounding media in the franchise, such as the light novel, visual novel, and manga. However, I believe that an anime should be able to stand on its own. While YuYuYu S2 wasn't the worst 2017 anime I've seen, it is by far the most disappointing. I don't know of any other show that completely threw its second season like this. What a damn shame, because I had it pegged as an anime of the year contender. I can only imagine what this could've been had it been 12 episodes like S1.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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