Soushin Shoujo Matoi

Why is it always a cliché and sort of a death flag that when a main character who wishes to be normal, plain and ordinary will soon find himself/herself having great latent powers and then being forced and thrust into a fate of saving the world. Like as though God is bored and heard that one kid who doesn’t wish to stand out and decided to screw it up for him/her. Yeah… Apparently out main protagonist in Soushin Shoujo Matoi didn’t read enough manga or watch her fair share of anime to realize that she possesses all the attributes that would ruin the normal life she yearns for. In this case, she’ll turn into some sacred slayer-cum-exorcist girl (substituted term used for magical girl here) to fight evil spirits from another dimension. And don’t bother praying and hoping for life to turn back to normal till you do your job and live out your destiny. Because you have got to be special to be ordinary. Wait. Say what?!

Episode 1
Western soldiers getting owned by an unknown force. Why they speaking bad English? Here comes this high-tech blonde priestess, Clarus Tonitrus and her partner, Cariot, Anti-Creed from Fatima to show how to exorcise this malevolence spirit called Night, exorcist girl style. Too bad it escapes. At Tenma Shrine, Matoi Sumeragi and Yuma Kusanagi are manning the stalls as miko priestess. Her father, Shingo would have loved to join them but as a police officer he is called in to investigate a murder case in a modelling studio. Flashback shows the owner, Sadamitsu Shimizu who is also a painter kidnapped and killed women for his art but was possessed by a mysterious force possessed him soon after. Haruka Luciela from IATO is at the shrine to request to see the shrine’s most sacred treasure. With those huge boobs, I’m sure Yuma’s dad who is the head priest is willing to show her anything. He takes out a stone believed to be so. She checks it and finds nothing in the database. That’s all. Leaving so soon? Next day as Shingo and his partner, Hideo “Poochi” Tezuka are trying to find a connection in this murder case, Luciela pops up noting the resemblance of a string of deaths in Holland 2 years ago. Apparently the police chief requested her to work on this case so she’s all legal. But she lost me there about this Plasma thingy explanation.

While investigating the murder site and trying to connect it with some occult, it hit Luciela if there are any old building still standing in the area. That would be Tenma Shrine. You mean they have to rush back all the way there now? Hold on to your horses, this girl drifts like the wind! Better be quick because this Shimizu dude has turned into a zombie and is attacking the shrine. Many are down. Before the girls are owned, Luciela drives her car up the steep stairs! Enough time for Shingo to pin him down. However Shimizu grows stronger like the Hulk and tosses him like a ragdoll. I don’t even know why Yuma thinks she can use her family scroll to exorcise him. Apparently Shingo’s stone resonates with Matoi instead and she turns into an exorcist girl! Shimizu is attracted by the stone, ignores Yuma to attack her but Matoi kicks ass and her barrier is impregnable. So powerful the possessing Night escapes. Luciela wonders if this form is Fatima but doesn’t think so because her Divine Union is different. Shingo hugs Matoi as she looks very much like his wife, Shiori. It could have been valid had not his hands were grabbing onto Matoi’s non-existence boobs. Now see him fly across the pond. Matoi runs away and prays to God to return to normal life. Is it too much to ask to just lead an ordinary life? Well, she did turn back. Without her clothes. Damn she should have been more specific.

Episode 2
Shingo is at the hospital treating his wounds. Poochi updates him about Shimizu’s interrogation. He has a case of amnesia and only remembers abducting the victim. Shingo remembers the stone his wife gave to him. She has him promise to look after Matoi till she returns. Matoi manages to find her way back to her house. Still naked. Too bad it is Yuma who is waiting for her. Jealous that she didn’t get those cool exorcism powers, she starts taunting her as an exhibitionist. Suddenly some godly spirit is projected out from Matoi’s forehead. What does she do? Avoid reality and go to sleep! Think this is still a dream? Because that god is still there! Too bad only she and Yuma can see it. So in the school gym’s storeroom as Yuma blabs about the rightful power that should have been hers just because she is from a descendent of exorcists, she proclaims herself as Matoi’s ‘manager’ to practice transform and do exorcism duties. Well, Matoi did transform but not by her own will. Too bad in gym class all the boys see this exorcist girl. Whip out those handphones and start snapping! Matoi, you should know how the internet works because they’re not going to listen to you not to post or Tweet it! Poochi shows Shingo this trending viral video. Luciela also sees this but has to meet up with her colleague, Roy. After explaining her observations on Matoi, he decides to settle this himself.

Matoi has quickly developed a fan base. There are some cases even requesting her to do real exorcism. A bank robbery occurs nearby and somehow it falls on Matoi’s shoulders to stop it. Because Yuma says so. Shingo is on site as he tries to negotiate with the robber. He recognizes him as Kasai, a wanted white collar criminal. However Kasai is not in talking mood and shows that same zombie behaviour Shimizu did. They are distracted when Matoi comes in. And gets shot! Phew. Nothing happened. Suddenly reality turns into another dimension. This is what is called the Gate of Caelum as explained by Clarus and Cariot. They’re here on a mission too. Obviously Matoi gets owned trying to protect useless Yuma. You thought the Night is being pervy but he is trying to extract the stone out from Matoi’s chest. But Clarus’ cuts in between and easily destroys this Night. Matoi is spammed with terms she doesn’t know. Good. Because Clarus is going to kill her! That is when her god appears to protect her. Clarus backs down knowing this is not a Night. She wouldn’t have shown any mercy if it was. Clarus knows Roy is watching (rather, the Night that is possessing him) and warns that she is coming for him. She leaves and advises them Matoi to do the same as the space is crumbling. Oh dear. This means Matoi who is topless needs to run! Unfortunately she is streaking through a sea of people back in reality. Let’s hope they don’t post and Tweet this!

Episode 3
Matoi tries to sneak away MGS style in a card box? She thought Yuma was a traitor leaving her all alone but don’t be too quick to judge. She went to buy some clothes. Matoi’s worst fears come true. She is the new internet sensation and her video has 50 million hits!!! Oh, she’s blaming her god for this? Luciela gets work from her superior that Roy was possessed and thus all intel they’ve got have been compromised. Roy meets up with Creed Killer who is willing to let him possess a better vessel: Dosan Odagiri, a popular medium. Yuma’s dad thought it is a good idea for her to have a tutor. Or maybe he just loves Luciela’s knockers and has her teach his daughter and Matoi some English. Clarus also keeps watch on them but takes no action as since without the Regalia, she is harmless. Luciela hints she is interested in the exorcist girl that is taking internet by storm. Because she look so much like Matoi, right? Then she poses a thought provoking question to Matoi what if there are many dimensions and a higher dimensional being enters a lower dimension, can the lower one see the higher one? Yes, but we see them as gods. That is why most supernatural that occurs without explanation. Shingo is not pleased that Luciela is also helping to cook. He doesn’t like her profiling. She is good and can tell there is somewhat a strain in the father-daughter relationship as Matoi calls him by his first name. He reveals he was a workaholic so his parents took Matoi away to their hometown. It has only been 3 months since they’ve moved here and living together. Shiori was listed as missing. That is why father and daughter decided to wait together till she returns. A Gate of Caelum opens nearby. Clarus moves in to engage possessed Odagiri. She notes he is much stronger. Could it be the latent abilities of the human he is possessing? Matoi and Yuma decide to check it out. Because Yuma wants her to transform and save the day, their noisy arguing attracts Odagiri’s attention. All girls get owned in the commotion. Cariot helps Luciela take Matoi and Yuma away while injured Clarus continues to fight the Night. Matoi wonders why she won’t run away and Cariot explains she has a mission she must complete even at the cost of her life. This won’t do for Matoi as she runs back and her will to stop this violence has her transform. Too bad she got owned again. This isn’t time for talking, Matoi. Clarus easily separates her enemy from the possessed. But now standing before her is Creed Killer.

Episode 4
Flashback 3 years ago, Clarus had a partner named Flors Oriens. However their partnership only lasted for 1.5 years. Clarus continues to attack Creed Killer despite being injured. Creed Killer doesn’t take her seriously and instead targets Matoi. In her bid to save and help Clarus, Matoi somehow opens a Gate of Caelum to absorb them. Inside the other dimension, Matoi manages to open such gates to escape from Creed Killer. When Clarus wakes up by Matoi’s side, she wants to stay by her knowing Creed Killer will appear. She wants to do this to get her revenge. More flashback reveals Clarus and Flors went on defeating Nights in their missions. Flors was saddened that the powers received from God are only to fight. She believed this wasn’t what God wanted despite Clarus trying to explain the humans possessed by Nights no longer become themselves and the only way to keep the number of victims down is to destroy Nights themselves. One day, Flors and Creed Killer faced off. She believed she can talk and reason to him. Too bad she got zapped. She turned into a vegetable with her organs and circulation halted as a strong gravitational field inside her body was opened. Only her Divine Union saved her life. Clarus viewed Flors’ weakness was her sin and her own sin as being too open hearted. She vowed not to make any more such mistakes. Clarus explains to Matoi a few terms like Divine Union (pacts formed with higher dimensional beings) and Nights (evil higher dimensional beings who possess humans and control them). She warns her not to get in the way if she is not willing to fight. Oh good. Here comes Creed Killer. After Clarus destroys his Night, Creed Killer gets mad and opens a Gate of Caelum to throw them back into reality. The free fall could have killed them had not Matoi materialize wings. Clarus doesn’t know why Matoi is helping her despite having no reason to fight. Because she wants to. Good enough for you? Matoi then summons together all the gods (colourful aurora light show?) to impede Creed Killer’s power and enough time for Clarus to defeat him.

Episode 5
What is this time that is making Matoi nervous? Her fellow school mates staring like a dagger at her. Actually they are starring at Clarus who is now a transfer student in her school?! Wow. Such blonde beauty. I can see why some guys are ready to turn into slave masochists. Cariot reports to his higher up about Creed Killer’s defeat. He also reports a very powerful Regalia that Matoi has unintentionally. Naturally they would want to collect it themselves to prevent it from falling into Nights’ hands. However it is deeply imbedded inside her and forced extraction would only kill her. Thus for now they are to observe her and the reason Clarus is staying close to her. Matoi and Yuma take Clarus to Tokyo and have fun like how normal girls should. Well, they can’t avoid all the stares from everyone at how lovely the blonde is. Luckily Matoi and Yuma become her ‘bodyguards’ to turn down guys who dare enough to try ask Clarus out. Yuma then seeks a favour from Clarus. Yeah, it’s that god thingy she thinks she is supposed to have but didn’t get. The only way Clarus can test is her Divine Union as she summons her god to make it pass through her. If she doesn’t have such powers, it would walk right through her. However some crazy barrier seems to be preventing it. When it gets too intense, some seal broke and out comes a fox and a tanuki! Kawaii! These are supposed to be her familiars? Clarus’ deduction is that Yuma was already aligned with a higher dimensional being to begin with. The fox and tanuki transform into their kiddie children form and run away from Yuma. Because of that, they are scaring other people. Matoi and Clarus transform to find the duo in the other dimension. They don’t want Yuma to help seeing they are afraid of her and might do more harm. Of course Yuma isn’t going to sit back and do nothing. Matoi and Clarus get duped by the duo and now they are hounded by people who think they are that internet sensation. Yuma is at the shrine praying. She feels sad that they might hate her. Flashback reveals she had them when she was young so Yuma had fun using their powers. However her grandpa, Seigen viewed it as too early and sealed them. They have been watching Yuma grow up behind the scenes and were always with her. The fox and tanuki sympathize with her, come out of their hiding and the trio start a dancing weirdly.

Episode 6
Yuma is breaking the fourth wall to tell us about her exciting debut as a new exorcist girl. Yeah, she’s even contemplating of changing the show’s name… With 2 gods by her side, Kuu (fox) and Kai (tanuki), Yuma has already created a website to advertise herself for exorcism requests! However with those not of the Nights type, she’ll surely be most disappointed. Because having 2 spirits is very rare, Cariot wants Clarus to add Yuma to her watch list. Yuma gets excited hearing a mascot in town is possessed. Oh, look at this cute little Night thing. Clarus seeks Cariot’s advice since it is doing nothing harmful except for being cute. Exterminate it. To avoid public nuisance, she opens the Gate of Caelum to destroy it. Too bad she didn’t have enough resolve to kill it for good because it was so cute. Now it gets mad and turns into a giant monster rampaging back in reality. Matoi could have done something even if it’s futile had not those fans holding her back and take pictures. Clarus and Matoi are sealed in its cube barrier. Before it can stomp them, Yuma and Kuu try to suppress it back with their barrier. She won’t run away despite they tell her to or else there is no point in becoming an exorcist girl if she can’t protect anyone. When Kai decides to stop being scared, he joins in. Behold! Yuma’s form when she transform. She has best of both worlds as she can switch between defence and offence seamlessly depending on whether she is using Kuu or Kai. With that, Clarus is able to break free and destroy it for good. Matoi and Yuma already wise up about transforming back so they pack some clothes beforehand. They stumble into Shingo who is not happy that Matoi once again went into a dangerous area on her own. Matoi is scared seeing her father’s angry face but he hugs her and is glad she is okay.

Episode 7
Yuma and Matoi pass their test under Luciela’s guidance. Thus Yuma is happy and looking forward to her summer vacation at the beach! Wohoo! And excuse for Luciela fanservice in that sexy bodacious body! No wonder Poochi invites himself along on this trip with Shingo. With Yuma ushering Clarus to join in, we get our variety of blonde bombshell fanservice too. Too bad Poochi, you’re not the guy who is at the centre of the harem. They stay at the near Tenkai Shrine, they are greeted by Yayoi Amane who is the acting miko priestess head of the shrine. She is happy to see Shingo and it took him a while to recognize her. She was Shiori’s student and under her wing was taught how to be a miko priestess. Naturally Matoi would love to ask about her mom. But Yayoi mentions the kind and perfect teacher she was even if it was for a short time. As for how Shiori met Shingo, Matoi would be better off asking her dad. Yuma decides to have the gang play kimodameshi. Poochi is praying so hard to God to be paired with one of the babes but ends up paired with Shingo. Maybe God heard his wish, that’s why… What is scarier than stumbling upon a ghost? Stumbling into a person possessed by a Night! So Shingo runs back to tell Matoi just to get back to the shrine. No buts about it. Yeah, he wants to be a hero and deal with it all by himself. Doesn’t take a genius to tell the cops got knocked out. Clarus will handle this herself. Matoi is in a great dilemma to listen to her father’s words or not so as not to worry him like last time. Yuma understands how she feels but now that she is an exorcist girl, that is why she is going to fight. However the Night is absorbing all their attacks. Before Yuma could be its fodder, a majestic water dragon appears. The Night think it can absorb it too. But can you absorb the entire ocean? Boom goes the Night. Certainly that dragon is not from Matoi but Yayoi who vows to protect Shingo. Otherwise she won’t be able to face Shiori.

Episode 8
As the local police investigate the scene, Shingo confronts Luciela about the exorcist girl and demons. She won’t say as everything is classified. This makes him mad and warns her not to drag his daughter and friend into this. Clarus and Cariot discuss about Yayoi’s Divine Union. They can tell it is dying soon and Yayoi will lose its powers. The head of Tenkai Shrine, Azumi “Azu” Azuma returns. She sees Yayoi who is recovering (she collapsed after her victory) and they discuss about Matoi being unified with the God of Myriads. Luciela talks to Cariot about Anti-Creed trying to recruit Matoi. He assures they aren’t as her religious beliefs are vastly different. With Azu joining in, Cariot wants to know why Nights invade this world. She doesn’t know. Depending on which dimension they came from, their motivations will change. All they can do is take whatever they throw at them till hope arrives. She also warns Clarus about depending on her Divine Union and will hit her limit someday. Matoi talks to Shingo as he reveals this is the place he met Shiori. It was love at first sight. She gave up being a miko priestess to marry him. He doesn’t know why she left so he drowned himself with work despite Shiori telling him to take care of Matoi. He left her alone. He failed as a father. Matoi is glad they’re living together now and will continue to believe in mom. When they see Poochi collapsed after being assaulted by beach babes he is trying to hit on, those babes got possessed by Nights. Shingo again wants to be a hero so Matoi transforms and tells him to believe in her because this is something no ordinary humans can handle. Don’t make your family worry. Daughter telling this to her father? Clarus and Yuma fail to finish the combined Nights. Yayoi intervenes but she has grown weaker. Her god dies once her powers is used up. Matoi saves her and now it’s her turn to kick ass. She summons the powers of all the surrounding gods to create some golden sword and finish off the Night. Yayoi notes this isn’t the power of the God of Myriads but Matoi’s wish. Seigen senses Matoi’s awakening and will be the one who will open the gate to the highest dimension.

Episode 9
The frequency of Nights attacking have increased. A cause to worry for Yuma. Why? Because she’s running out of clothes! So when she comes in her old gym bloomers, Yuma thinks it’s time to increase the quality of fanservice! Sorry, I’m not into bloomers… They’ve gotten so good at their game that Yuma now even leaves cards indicating the exorcist girls were here. Advertising? It seems there is a reason why Cariot is letting the girls fight with Clarus more often. He thought the Nights’ intention was Matoi’s Regalia but now it feels like Nights deliberately planned their attacks to test their powers. To figure out their motive, hence they will be fighting in the front lines. Matoi on her day off tries to buy more cheap clothes! Understandably. She also hangs out with Shingo but it gets awkward because nothing to talk! As they head up a tower, they are confronted by Saphirus, another Night possessing a woman. Shingo wants to promptly tell Matoi to leave but looks like she has already transformed and giving an excuse she has guided his daughter to safety. Saphirus traps them in a barrier and this results the place’s temperature quickly dropping below zero. Matoi is unable to use her myriad powers. So much so she is in danger of losing her clothes as her transformation can’t last! She hides and tells Shingo not to look. This scene reminds him of a very familiar one he had with Shiori. But Shingo collapses from the cold. Meanwhile the rest rush to the scene courtesy to Luciela’s drifting but even so, they cannot penetrate the barrier. So what do they do? First, they have Yuma transform into her defence mode. Then Clarus blasts her through the barrier with all her might!!! Defence against defence? Well, like fighting fire with fire. Can’t argue with that. The warmth return and Matoi is able to use her myriad powers again. For some odd reason, Saphirus returns check on the barrier but Shingo throws a blessed dagger to kill her. Although not entirely dead yet, she finds the current body useless and tries to take over Shingo. However his stones kick her out immediately and she is killed by its spirit that looks a lot like Shiori. This brings tears to Matoi’s eyes as she is now sure mom was an exorcist girl.

Episode 10
Shingo is recuperating in hospital with Poochi by his side. Ludos, Saphirus’ partner is not pleased that his boss, Set sent her alone to fight Matoi and she died. He wants to exact revenge but Set won’t allow him. See that hole in the sky? That’s Cavitas, the gate to the highest dimension. Once it fully opens, it will unify and connect all 24 dimensions into one. This is their objective. Our Earthling side has also noticed the opening of Cavitas. It is a similar event that happened 10 years ago. Thus Matoi and all the related parties are called by Seigen and Azu to talk about what is happening as well as the truth behind Shiori. When Cavitas fully opens, it will connect all dimensions into one, thus all natural laws will collapse when the borders between dimensions disappear. The highest and most powerful miko priestess at that time was sent to close it 10 years ago and she was no other than Shiori. However she never returned after travelling into the highest dimension and they had no way of contacting her. They never knew what happened to her. As a result what could have been the biggest calamity was averted. Which means to say that Matoi is the only one strong enough to close it. Not Yuma even if she volunteers and definitely not Clarus. Their gods aren’t powerful enough to transcend the higher dimensions. Matoi feels all this is too sudden and wants to think about it. The world is going to end and you want to think about it because of your feelings? Anyway, she asks why mom decided to go to the highest dimension. Wait. I thought it was because she was the strongest? Seigen replies she went because he ordered her as the head of the family. This makes Matoi sadder. Yuma feels angry as she throws her weak punches at grandpa, blaming everyone for making Matoi cry and being selfish.

So Matoi is talking to her god about this task she might be doing. What worries her the most that if she is gone, Shingo will be alone. Cariot gets a distressed call from Fatima that Nights have attacked their base. Anti-Creed’s Regalia have been destroyed. This means Clarus is the only Anti-Creed who can fight. But now in Japan they are being attacked by Ludos who is seeking revenge on Saphirus’ death. Using light and flames to melt everything down, he lets these low dimensional beings know they are the ones refusing to accept the creation of a new world as Cavitas is the will of the highest dimensional being. Once Matoi is on scene, Ludos tries to provoke her but Yuma tells her not to fight if she doesn’t want to. Leave it to her to her to handle this. Clarus tries to enter another dimension to find Ludos’ true body and defeat him but he is not scared since her powers are limited and cracks are showing in her armour once she reaches higher dimensions. Before Ludos’ fireball can kill Matoi, her god protects her. Matoi is now fully awakened as she transforms and fight. She thanks Yuma for getting angry on her behalf. Matoi easily defeats Ludos in the other dimension. When Ludos confronts Set about leaving such a powerful girl alone, he is stopped by Phegor (we all know him as Creed Killer) who tells him this isn’t the real Set. Just his corpse. Ludos dies in vain as Phegor tries to find out this imposter’s goal. Well, he’s not saying anything. The plot further thickens when Shingo confronts Poochi and points his gun at him. He wants to know why he is after Matoi.

Episode 11
It seems Shingo has deduced that the exorcist girls are Matoi and Yuma based on the cases that have happened so far. He thought it was odd they were always chasing after the Nights but it all seemed to perfect. He then realizes it is Nights who are after them and someone has to be pulling the strings manipulating them behind the scenes. Poochi panics and despite all his good alibi, Shingo did his homework and found everything traced back to him. He is now asking Poochi of this not as a police officer but as a father. When he fires, a barrier stops the bullet. Poochi shows his true self. Or rather the being that is possessing him. He assures he is never after Matoi in the first place. To cut short all that mumbo-jumbo: The world is going to be destroyed. Only Matoi can save it. Like Shiori did. Shingo can’t believe his wife and daughter have to be implicated. Where’s God when you need him?! Anyway, Poochi will not interfere if they wish to save the world. All he will do is just watch as the fate of the dimensions are decided. Shingo soon calls Matoi for assurance but all he hears is her apology. For what? Cariot and Clarus are contemplating if the latter should go out and fight. The irony is that Clarus is the last battling Anti-Creed so is it wise to stop her from fighting and ‘save’ her? Seigen and Yuma’s dad are lamenting why their women have to bear this cruel fate. They even think of giving up and let the world get destroyed! However Yuma won’t allow that. Or else her exorcist girl dream won’t come true. She’ll protect the world together with Matoi.

Meanwhile Yayoi shows Matoi the stage where they sent off Shiori. She reminds her that their wish becomes their power. Unless you wish something from the bottom of your heart, it won’t come true. Luciela receives word from IATO that they have detected Cavitas stop growing. Although without proof, they believe Shiori is still alive trying to keep things together. This gives Matoi enough motivation to make her decision that she will be going to the highest dimension to fight and bring back mom. Guess what? Her will is so great that she heals all the people who were possessed by Nights lying in coma! Then she goes to mom’s shrine to make her peace. She once hated her for leaving the family but realizes she never stopped being her mom. She even has time to make peace with Shingo the next morning before she leaves for her mission. Shingo lets her go but after that lets go all his tears. Yuma defies her grandpa and dad to meet up with Matoi. Yayoi encourages her because apparently men have no balls for this kind of things! Same case with Clarus to Cariot. However he tells her to stop lying to herself that she is doing this because of her fate and job. It’s because she wants to as a person. As Clarus. The trio get ready to head out into the stage.

Episode 12
As they zoom pass the dimensions, the space gets weirder and more abstract. But halfway they are stopped by Phegor who is of course here to get his revenge on the girls. Clarus will stay behind to take care of him while the duo go ahead. Meanwhile everyone else on Earth isn’t just going to sit back and rely on the trio. They are trying to repel the invading Nights trying to possess the other ordinary humans. However it is a worldwide phenomenon as Nights are attacking everywhere. Clarus has reached her limit as her armour cracks. Phegor doesn’t even need to lift a finger to kill her because she will cease to exist in this dimension once that happens. So what has got a dying girl got to do but remember all the things that are important to her. That turns out to be her wish and power source as she is ‘reborn’ (including obtaining a new dress) to destroy Phegor for good. Heck, even enough to go help stranded Matoi and Yuma being hindered by Nights and continue their journey. Meanwhile Poochi is observing the events as he narrates his fascination with humans trying to protect their lowly puny dimension. As Shiori was the first one to stop this dimension of endless cycle of destruction and rebirth, he then guided Matoi to have her own Divine Union. He is curious to know their source of power. The trio are now just a dimension away from the top. However Nights won’t be their enemy. It is the dimension itself rejecting them. Yuma and Clarus cannot proceed further so they leave their wishes to Matoi. Matoi searches around and when she thinks this giant gate is her mom, she tries to reach her but somehow she can never get near. Poochi tells us Shiori has assimilated with her god and become the gate herself. It is the only thing that prevented the dimensions from combining. But since she is weakening, now Matoi has to make a decision to become the gate.

Matoi sees through the eyes of her mom of her life. She even manages to meet her in person. Yeah, it felt like forever trying to hold the gate, eh? So what does Matoi do? I don’t know what dimension twisting thing she did but she finally manages to bring back Shiori. Everything on Earth reverts to normal like as though the calamity never happened. Yes, it’s a sign Matoi has succeeded. With Cavitas closing, now everyone makes a wish for the safe return of you-know-who. Poochi cannot believe the simple wish of wanting to be normal and then calling all the myriad powers of every dimension to rewrite the fabric of the universe is the source of their power. Yeah, crap, right? He dispossesses Poochi, leaving him stranded. Shingo wakes up at home having this weird dream he wished his ladies come home. Well, that wish has come true and he is not dreaming. Shiori’s home and so is Matoi who calls Shingo her dad for the first time. Matoi’s true normal life begins after her god leaves. In the aftermath, Matoi is happy to lead a normal life. The foreigners return to their country and Clarus to Flors’ side (still a vegetable). Matoi might be getting the shivers seeing her parents getting lovey-dovey in public. Hey, have to make up for 10 years of affection, no? However Yuma has Matoi tag along for another mission. She got word from Luciela there are Night remnants. Time for the exorcist girls to do their work. Can Matoi do it without her god? Oh wait. It returns! Say goodbye to your normal life again.

Episode 13 (Special)
If you are a fan of Yuma and can’t get enough of her, well uhm, this special recap episode has her narrating the important events of the series in her usual cutie voice and a few optimistic wise cracks. Well, I suppose if they can’t give her a spinoff series of her own, a special recap episode will do. At least she ‘took over’ the opening credits animation to make it seem like it is her show.

Sorry For Being An (Almost) Ordinary Magical Girl
“Ordinary is the best!”, says Matoi, right? Well… I wonder if that kind of ending is typically cliché and ordinary to boot with. It’s not that I have foresight or clairvoyance powers because I somewhat predicted this kind of ending whereby our main heroine saves the day with the most simplest and ridiculous reason (rewriting all logic of the universe? Like becoming God?) that perhaps only lowly dimensional beings can understand. Then in a sick ‘twist’, Matoi’s ordinary life is short-lived because she has to go exorcising again. Because circumstances. Which is the irony because for the big part of the series she has been an exorcist girl and that itself is ordinary. See what I mean there? So if Matoi isn’t so keen on this lowly exorcising job, maybe she can leave it to Yuma to take over. It’s her turn to shine since that is her wish, right? Well, keep wishing you Yuma fans if you want to see a spinoff sequel of her.

I don’t really want to blame the story and plot’s originality as being generic and ordinary because this series is an original anime series after all (written by the producers of the anime studio themselves). Not based on any manga, light novel or game. You don’t really have a solid source material to fall back on. While I do not have any proof, I’m guessing that they have taken certain elements from other magical girl genres and try to come up with this average series. I mean, put yourself in their shoes to come up and write a new refreshing magical girl story. Hard, right? Yeah, not my problem… So as a result we’ve got a pretty generic overall storyline and an ending that feels rushed, forced, convenient and clichéd. I mean, get this. Shiori was stuck in the highest dimension trying to prevent all the dimensions from merging. It took 10 years later for her daughter to come and make the earnest wish of wanting to become a normal family again to turn everything, and I mean everything back to normal again. Wait. So mom didn’t actually think about this?! Man, what was she thinking all this time?!

And now that Clarus is the only Anti-Creed left, does this mean Fatima is over? Hell like we care about them. Let’s just hope Nights won’t attack again and Cavitas will not try in opening again in 10 years. I’m sure it won’t because remember, Matoi rewrote everything! I bet she made a side note for higher dimensional beings never to wreak havoc on the peaceful third dimension ever again. Unless she forgot… What?! You forgot the most important thing to prevent history from repeating itself? Oh, that’s pretty normal, forgetting important stuffs. So anything else that is unexplained or cannot be understood, just remember to think Matoi rewrote it all to ease the plot, conclusion and our simpleton minds. Don’t think too much. Ordinary is the best!

Though, I do find it interesting that it touches the subject about different and higher dimension beings and the perception we have when encountering them. I am not sure and don’t remember much of the story or theory that I read long ago about the fourth dimension in which we perceive the higher dimension as some sort of God as our senses cannot fully comprehend their existence. At the same time when a higher dimension being looks down (not as in cocky or arrogant, mind you) upon us, they see everything that defines our existence, which makes it pretty scary. Unfortunately this concept is not really explored here. It just mentions the existence of the different dimensions and the rationale why we believe there are gods and some so far as to think we have encountered them (the supernatural aspect). This series would have been a bit more interesting if they expand on this but you know, anything that can’t be explained, blame it on the supernatural.

The characters are basically a hit and miss. Can you say that the characters here are basically one dimensional? Pun intended anyhow. Despite having such few main and supporting characters, they don’t really make much of an impact in the sense that they are just there for the convenience of the plot. For instance they tried to make Clarus has having some sort of back story with Flors but it feels so forced and flimsy that It would have been as bad if she didn’t have this back story to begin with. Like as though they needed to give her some sort of back story so as not to make her look like some western exorcist without a past. A reason that she needs to keep fighting Nights. A reason to face off with Phegor (twice!), a diversion that could also have been done without. A reason for her to have some sort of a happy ending because her wish came true as we see her sitting next to Flors and there is some little body movement indicating she is still not totally brain dead. And yeah, a reason to have an extra magical girl for kick ass variety.

I’m sure you can guess what I’m going to say about Matoi as the main character already. Pretty generic and ordinary for a middle school girl turned exorcist girl. As though, she is trying too hard to be ordinary and because of that draws attention. You forgot to read the ‘main character’ label on your forehead. So as not to make her into some sort of Mary Sue character, they try to give her some real world issues that perhaps some of us can relate to. Perhaps, daddy issues. Not to say that her relationship with Shingo is very strained but it feels a bit like strangers in the same house. After all, when you have your own daughter calling you by your first name for a big part of life, doesn’t it just feels estranged? I am not sure what kind of promise Matoi made to her mom but if she really wanted to renew her family again, she could have at least start by calling him dad or papa. Being a single parent isn’t really an ideal family but yeah, at least that’s a start she could have made. Perhaps she yearns to be so ordinary that the irony is that she stands out. Heck, she even quoted something like this in the final episode about the need to be special to be ordinary. Not sure if she is trying to play with words. That is why it surpasses logics of higher beings how a simple wish to be normal could just rewrite everything. Because humans. Because we can. And Matoi is your typical main character material. She must have a good ending or else fans will scream their head off.

If you ask me, the best character of the series goes to Yuma. I want to classify her as the same category as Kill La Kill’s Mako but I realize the latter is in a whole different category altogether. Though, I could feel there is some of Mako’s vibes coming off from Yuma. Essentially Yuma’s energetic and lively personality makes this bland and ordinary magical girl series more watchable. She is the cute mascot of the series, even way cuter than Kuu and Kai if I should say. Those spirits felt so redundant that you’d wish they stayed invisible forever. I mean, what is the deal with Kai as he is always shivering and scared of something. Huh? So therefore Yuma is the best, right? You can’t hate her honest-in-your-face goodness as she also tends to make us smile while sometimes breaking the fourth wall. Friendship power, right? It could have been a lot different had she been the main character. This is one of the few instances where the sidekick shines better than the main character. So I guess Yuma too got her wish granted in the end because now she can go exorcising for all she wants. She just dragged Matoi into the whole shenanigan again. Way to go Yuma. Never change.

The rest of the characters come off as bland and just there to fill the role or whatever there is needed for them to be there. Because I don’t see how Luciela’s character plays any important part as she is seen mostly hanging out with the gang and getting her intel from IATO or something. I don’t even remember why she is even assigned to observe them and even so she doesn’t do anything impactful to the plot. It is the same for Cariot who is just like supervising Clarus, that’s all. Poochi is reduced to a comic relief character and dumb idiot (not to be confused with Yuma’s character, please) and to throw us off guard, the reason he got possessed by a higher being who definitely isn’t God.

Seigen, Azu and Yayoi are like needed because you need a family of related exorcists to ramp up some family drama in which otherwise would not have been necessary in the first place and the story would have been cut much shorter. At least Shingo fares a bit better because as a single working parent, he is facing issues of trying to reconcile with his estranged daughter but comes off as a bit awkward. Yeah well, not many guys can have a happy ending of getting their wife and family back in order again. Was 10 years’ worth it? I guess so.

I thought Phegor was going to be like the antagonist of the series and something felt off when he was defeated too early and quickly. Yeah, I don’t know how he survived but my guts are telling me his role exists to give Clarus some sort of motivation and back story as I have said earlier. Otherwise these Nights dimensional beings as we all humans conveniently lump together are a big mystery. Their reasoning on why they attack our human world is a mystery. The reason why they can’t even beat the crap out of our powerless sh*t is also a mystery. And the existence of good gods and spirits that latch themselves to highly spiritual ladies like our main trio is also a mystery. Who the heck they are and why they do so are never really explained. Heck, I was guessing Matoi’s god was Shiori. Even if she became the gate, I thought she transcended time and space and could have existed as another spiritual being. Oh well, at least it saves me from criticising how cliché it would be had it turn out that way. Damn if they do, damn if they don’t.

That higher dimensional being that possessed Poochi also adds more questions and answers. Definitely he isn’t God because he won’t be resorting to this sh*t if he wanted things to go his way. So he is like experimenting and toying with Shingo’s ladies just to find what makes them strong. They’re humans. Enough said. There is more than meets the eye to this mysterious existence but too bad it isn’t fully explored. And whoever from the highest dimensions and why they want to merge everything into one would also be good to know but I feel that we would be disappointed if we ever get to know the reason. So for plot convenience, we don’t.

Another cliché to avoid the series being too boring is to add fanservice. Ah yes. How can you not have a mindless swimsuit beach episode that doesn’t contribute to the overall plot? Heck, this statement is even somewhat parodied in one of Yuma’s lines. Like as though they saw us viewers coming with this ‘critique’ and got back at us first. Nothing gets the horny otaku boys to watch a series like cheap fanservice. This is the only reason why I think Luciela exists because she has got the biggest rack among the ladies. What else would she be doing except going around flaunting her cleavage? I wanted to make some spiritual power joke on this but there doesn’t seem to be a connection…

The mind boggling fanservice would be the one whereby the clothes of our exorcist girls just simply disappear when they revert back to their normal form. It screams WTF. What happened to the clothes they were wearing in the first place? If you’re saying they are temporarily transported to a different dimension for ‘safekeeping’ (like how Fairy Tail’s Erza does with her various armours), shouldn’t they be automatically transported back? Why do they have to be naked when exorcist girl time is over? I figure this would be the series’ running joke of turning Matoi into some kind of sacrilegious streaker in the initial episodes and thus the other running joke of her being an internet sensation. Ah, it is so easy to be famous on the internet these days. Maybe ordinary clothes dissolve in other dimensions, the reason they need to transform and change. Nah. I’ll stick to fanservice reasons.

If you want to stay for the action parts, don’t. It feels like an obligated distraction because why else would you have a magical girl show if you do not have fights with baddies? Oh yeah. That magical girl show, Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desu Kara didn’t have any fighting at all… Anyway, the set moves of the exorcist girls aren’t that spectacular because they’ll cover it up with all the flashy magical effects and voila, you have your typical battles. Sometimes instead of fighting nameless Nights, thus you have Saphirus and Ludos simply created to make it feel like as though they’re fighting a mini boss but alas, they go as fast as they come. Not sure even if fighting Phegor twice was necessary but Clarus needs to flex her skills and transform into her final true form even if it is just for a brief period and overall redundant.

The art and animation style are pretty decent and ordinary too. This is after all coming from the anime studio, White Fox, the one who did Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, Steins;Gate, Akame Ga Kill, Katanagatari and Jormungand. Everything is bright and colourful like the myriad powers that Matoi sucks from the surrounding gods make it look like some sort of neon lights effect. Then there is the other dimensions which seem so abstract that you thought you might have gone into another anime: Flip Flappers. Yeah well, sometimes I feel this is what you might be seeing if you are too high on drugs… Or some failed contemporary artist who got some writer’s/painter’s block. CGI is also used but mainly for the gods and spirits ‘haunting’ the exorcist girls. Just ordinary…

The designs of the exorcist girl outfits don’t look attractive to me. Clarus has a more westernized outfit (inclusive of an automated voice of its own) while Matoi and Yuma have more of an oriental and miko priestess design infused to it. Is it me or does Matoi in her exorcist girl form look like a cross between Madoka and Mami from Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica? As for the designs of Nights, it felt like they had to stick with this protozoa Halloween theme to give that horror look. Is it me or does Phegor look like a cross between a clown, circus ringmaster and an ex-WWE wrestler? Erm… Mr Fuji?! And why do I have a feeling that Luciela’s red streak of hair over her predominantly blonde head is trying to follow Kill La Kill’s Ryuuko’s style?

Voice acting feels pretty ordinary with me recognizing Ayako Kawasumi as Luciela, Haruka Tomatsu as Clarus (full serious mode) and Satomi Satou as Flors (what a waste since she only had voicing roles for a single episode and that itself is very limited). I thought I haven’t heard Sayaka Ohara for a while and when she surprisingly come back making a cameo, guess who she plays? That’s right. Another villainess role, Saphirus. Oh yeah. You can’t run away from that stereotypical villainess voice. I thought Nobuyuki Hiyama as Cariot sounded so tired in his role that he reminds me of a similar sounding character he played in Juuou Mujin No Fafnir. The rest of the casts are Ayaka Suwa as Matoi (Ikumi in Jinsei), Naomi Oozora as Yuma (Satania in Gabriel Dropout), Hiroki Touchi as Shingo (Lily in Fairy Tail), Atsushi Abe as Poochi (Touma in To Aru Majutsu No Index), Ayahi Takagi as Yayoi (Chris in Senki Zesshou Symphogear), Kinryuu Arimoto as Seigen (Whitebeard in One Piece), Mayumi Shintani as Azu (Haruko in FLCL), Masami Iwasaki as Phegor (Itonokogiri in Gyakuten Saiban) and Shintarou Asanuma as Ludos (Tsuda in Seitokai Yakuindomo).

The opening theme, Choumusubi Amulet by Mia Regina sounds rather okay. A rock beat fused with a bit of traditional tune. I think I prefer the ending theme, My Only Place by Sphere. It feels like a slow country music that makes you want to close your eyes on a nice day and think of all the nice ordinary things that you would love to be doing. If you have heard Sweet Home Song, the ending theme from the anime, Asatte No Houkou, you would know what I mean. While I don’t really notice the BGMs of this series, I noticed one sounding like a voice hymn usually played in battles. In short, it just sounds weird. Maybe it fits the supernatural theme but sometimes I just get the feeling that a priestess was nearby singing that chant to make things work.

Overall, this is just an ordinary magical girl anime with supernatural elements trying to be extraordinary in its own way but fell back into its typical ordinary clichés. If you want a really dark and shocking magical girl series, you’re better off watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica and Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku. Still, this series has its own charm but I could only think of Yuma as its salvation. Damn it, Yuma should have rewritten the whole thing instead and we have got a magical series that need not take itself too seriously. Oh wait. You shouldn’t either for this one. Never mind the generic plot. Never mind the generic characters. Never mind the generic action sequences. Never mind the cheap fanservice. Because nothing stands out more than just being ordinarily ordinary. Ordinary is the best!