Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

After all, anime aimed at children can only sell up to the level of "a friendship that lasts a lifetime" at most; it's impossible to sell anything more explicit in front of children.

Obviously, since "Magical Girl Crimson" is aimed at an adult audience and is not simply a children's work, yuri elements are openly included.

And the way it's presented makes it impossible for viewers not to be excited.

The first episode ends abruptly with Hitomi Tono's declaration of leaving the group.

After a brief hesitation, Hitomi Tono, the protagonist, admitted that she wanted to leave the team because of relationship problems.

This has sparked considerable controversy.

Some viewers felt that Hitomi Tono, as a magical girl, shouldn't have left the team that still needed her so hastily.

However, another group of viewers believes that even magical girls need to rest.

Moreover, in the setting, the magical girls of Hitomi Tono's generation have been active for longer than other generations of magical girls in the children's series.

After all, being a magical girl isn't a lifelong career—although viewers would love to see such a future, children's magical girl series do have a clear succession of transformation characters.

Logically speaking, it is perfectly reasonable for Hitomi Tono to want to retire.

The only problem is that she seemed to have developed a rift and conflict with her teammates, and her final decision to leave the team was not handled properly.

Viewers are more curious about the person Hitomi Tono wants to marry: who exactly is Mayumi Haga? Because of their curiosity about Mayumi Haga's identity, viewers watched the first episode several times during the week they waited for the next episode, and discovered many details that they had not noticed on the first viewing.

For example.

The villain Abyss Gentleman from Magical Girl Red has become a sought-after horror novelist in Hitomi Tohno's generation.

You can tell from the posters in front of the bookstores that Hitomi Tono passes on her way to school.

This deeply moved many nostalgic viewers.

In the TV series "Magical Girl Red", the eccentric character Abyss Gentleman is quite popular due to his outstanding personality and charm.

Furthermore, her abilities are quite impressive, and she possesses considerable leadership skills, making her one of the top villains in the children's magical girl series.

After the TV series ended, Abyss Gentleman said he would retire from the business, and in the last few minutes of the final episode, there was a scene of him working at a ramen shop.

Unexpectedly, over the past decade or so, Abyss Gentleman's quality of life has improved dramatically, and he has even become a celebrity who is financially independent to a certain extent.

I was truly touched.

There's also the magic clinic in Hitomi Tohno's flashback scenes.

This also seems to suggest that the relationship between the two magical girls from the previous generation has progressed to some extent.

This has made viewers who ship the red and purple couple in "Magical Girl Red" extremely excited. Although there is still no concrete evidence that Sugiyama Rika and Terasaki Ayasa are together, in the viewers' minds, they are already like an old married couple.

One of the apartments next to Hitomi Tono's house has a sign that says "Sugiyama," which is another Easter egg related to the previous magical girl, Crimson.

As we all know, if a series of IP anime can bring back guest appearances from its predecessors in subsequent episodes, even if it's just a simple rehash, it's enough to make loyal fans instantly excited.

Unless they can't even do a good job with the collaboration with their seniors, creating a parallel world, or the seniors' faces and voices don't return, and there's a lot of hype beforehand, just to disappoint the audience.

Of course, the children's magical girl series is not such a reckless IP, and in recent years it has not had the capital to ruin things and wear down the audience's enthusiasm, so in terms of laying out Easter eggs from predecessors.

Magical Girl Crimson did a very good job.

Whether it's longtime viewers who still love the previous series or new viewers who were drawn in by the unusual children's magical girl opening of "Magical Girl Crimson," they all agree that the plot of the first episode is indeed captivating enough.

Whether it's nostalgia or a sense of purpose, it can satisfy both.

There are even twisted lesbian elements, which made the audience who were gambling on blood go wild.

While the audience waited anxiously, the official website for the children's magical girl series released some information about the character [Haga Mayumi], allowing the audience to have a basic understanding of her.

【What? It's a childhood friend? And she won?】【She doesn't look like a magical girl, so she's probably not the additional warrior that the forums are speculating about】【She looks cold and aloof, but she's so beautiful, oh my god】【Haga Mayumi, a cold on the outside but warm on the inside 1, I can't even imagine how well Hitomi can eat】【She looks like the kind of additional warrior who's a villain in the early stages, gets redeemed in the middle stages, and becomes devoted to Hitomi in the later stages】【The gloomy and gloomy magical girl in the class....: she's much more interesting than I imagined】Haga Mayumi's information conceals the fact that she comes from another world, only telling the audience that she and Tohno Hitomi are childhood friends who have known each other since elementary school, and that she is not currently in Miracle City.

This little bit of information, along with the images of them wearing school uniforms and everyday clothes, is enough to spark the audience's imagination.

Bonus Chapter 04. Didn't you say you were friends?

Of course, not all information about Mayumi Haga has been released by the official sources.

Ultimately, it's more valuable to reveal a setting like "a newly born god from another world" as a plot twist later on.

If we were to throw such an interesting premise at the audience right now, they would probably get bored. Audiences these days prefer to play puzzle games with the production team.

For example, right now, because of the official's secretive attitude towards the character Mayumi Haga, and Hitomi Tono's undisguised affection for her, coupled with the fact that the character's design is quite unique in the children's magical girl series, viewers' interest in Mayumi Haga has skyrocketed.

Even though this character didn't appear for a single second in the first episode of the anime, she still managed to top the trending list for "Crimson Girl" based solely on the official character designs and illustrations released by the production company.

[With so many buffs stacked up, could it be a mastermind or something?] [Doesn't seem like it] [It's impossible subjectively, maybe it's passive] However, among these viewers, there was a special little viewer who firmly believed that she knew Mayumi Haga better than anyone else, and supported and liked this character who did not fully appear in the story more than any uninformed viewer.

Even though she had to go to school the next day, she got up in the middle of the night to watch "The Crimson Shrine Maiden," a show that shouldn't be watched by someone her age.

This special little fan is Yukari Hachiya.

Mayumi Haga was once involved in the Desire Fantasy Contest, and Yukari Hachiya was the one who summoned her.

To this day, Yukari Hachiya still believes that Mayumi Haga is a magical girl.

And while other viewers were speculating whether Mayumi Haga was an additional warrior or an ordinary person, he had already quite proudly occupied the high ground of information asymmetry.

Although she doesn't have a penchant for spoilers, Yukari Hachiya still derives an unusual, subtle sense of superiority from the fact that she "knows more than others."

And she could indeed be a little proud, after all, while everyone else was still waiting for "Magical Girl Crimson" to air, Yukari Hachiya had already contacted Mayumi Haga and even received his protection, although something about it felt off.

However, Yukari Hachiya genuinely believes that Mayumi Haga is the true magical girl in the story of "Magical Girl Crimson".

Although the other person's expressions were not rich and their emotions were not outwardly revealed, Yukari Hachiya could feel the sincerity in their heart.

Knowing what Mayumi Haga looks like in person, Yukari Hachiya had been looking forward to seeing Mayumi Haga in the anime before the drama "Magical Girl Crimson" even started airing, hoping to see her favorite hero character.

She couldn't wait even a day, so she got up in the middle of the night and watched the first episode with other viewers.

Then she realized that something seemed off.

Why didn't Mayumi Haga, a magical girl, appear in episode 1? Although the main perspective was Tohno Hitomi, other magical girls also appeared, so why was Mayumi Haga the only one not seen?

Strange, didn't Mayumi say that she was the best friend of the magical girl Shimizu?

Why wasn't the character Miku mentioned in episode 1?

Is there some mistake here? With this question in mind, Yukari Hachiya continued reading.

It must be said that Tono Nozomi is indeed the kind of protagonist that Yukari Hachiya would like.

The first episode of "Magical Girl Crimson" features a large amount of flashbacks. Although Tono Nozomi's battles and adventures only flash by in these flashbacks, Yukari Hachiya still couldn't help but fall in love with the character.

Of course, her favorite was still Mayumi Haga.

When exactly will Mayumi-neechan appear? Yukari Hachiya was caught in a dilemma.

She was hiding under the covers.

I secretly logged into the website using my phone to watch the premiere.

She had planned to go to sleep after seeing Mayumi Haga appear, since her parents might sneak upstairs at any time to check if she was asleep.

However, with the first episode almost over, why haven't we seen Mayumi Haga appear yet? Yukari Hachiya is huddled in her blanket, covering her head with it.

The bed was stuffy and airtight, and she had to lift the covers every now and then to breathe in some fresh air. Not only did her cheeks start to feel hot, but perhaps because the carbon dioxide level was a bit too high, Yukari Hachiya, who was not usually acting out, began to droop her eyelids.

While Mayumi Haga's form does indeed seem like an additional warrior, since Hitomi Tono was already a senior in high school at the beginning of the story, it's impossible that she wouldn't gather all her teammates until she was in college, right? Isn't that setting a bit too far removed from magical girl themes? A magical college student sounds a bit strange.

With these questions in mind, Yukari Hachiya fought off her sleepiness and forced herself to keep reading.

"Married? Married to whom? Married to a magical girl?" The girl's eyes widened, and she stared at the scene in front of her as if she had seen a ghost, huddled in her blankets, thinking that she had misheard or was hallucinating.

However, the series of question marks on the screen, and the fact that she replayed the scene several times after waking up in fright, made her realize that the story did indeed seem to be arranged that way.

Yukari Hachiya was taken aback: "What?"

!

The girl's drowsiness was completely driven away by this line. She sat up abruptly from the bed, completely dumbfounded.

Is there some mistake? Did they splice lines from other anime here? But neither the lip-syncing nor the voice acting feels out of place... Marriage?

Who will you marry?

Then, as the audience meticulously pieced together the clues, Yukari Hachiya saw a familiar name.

【Haga Mayumi】.

When Mayumi Haga's name and Hitomi Tono's name appeared together on the marriage registration form in the anime screenshot, Yukari Hachiya rubbed her eyes, feeling like her jaw was about to drop.

She was now filled with questions, as if a new door to the world was gradually opening. Countless questions filled her mind, eventually condensing into one sentence: "Mayumi-neechan, didn't you say that you and Magical Girl Crimson were friends?"

!

Are you really friends?!

Bonus Chapter 05: The person who clearly didn't want to build this team was you.

Clearly, even children noticed the differences in this new magical girl anime.

At least in the magical girl anime that Yukari Hachiya had seen before, the magical girl protagonist and her friends, although they had a good relationship, would not kiss like lovers, nor would they fill in their names on the same marriage application form.

Although the validity of this marriage application form remains questionable, Hitomi Tono's attitude is already quite clear.

In the past, viewers could also enjoy mixed pairings of the main characters and other characters in children's magical girl anime series.

After all, light yuri anime like this, which features only young girls, doesn't have any official pairings. In other words, all the pairings are unofficial ones that can sell very well.

It's really rare to see a magical girl protagonist like Hitomi Tono who has a fixed romantic partner right from the start.

Generally speaking, shouldn't the normal process be that Hitomi Tono meets a new teammate in each episode and then brings them into the team, with a new couple appearing in every episode?

Furthermore, magical girls can form combinations with each other, such as red-blue combination attacks, red-yellow fusion attacks, yellow-blue combination attacks, and green-blue combination attacks. As long as the characters are in a magical girl team, there is a chance that sparks of friendship can fly between them.

Don't underestimate the weight of "friendship." In the eyes of loyal viewers of children's anime, being in heat can be equated with love at certain times.

However, due to audience limitations, the children's magical girl series did not openly reveal that secret.

Because "Magical Girl Crimson" is an unconventional work and can be considered a children's work aimed at adults, it openly reveals things that have been kept hidden.

This naturally caused a huge uproar online.

Although the children's magical girl series has not been well-known in recent years, and has even been dormant for nearly 10 years, it is not popular in the current market.

But it is also a childhood memory for many people.

With the bizarre development of the first episode of "Magical Girl Crimson" spreading through the current online environment, it has gained a lot of popularity and traffic. Originally, based on the quality of the first episode, it would have only been able to achieve a small breakthrough, but now, with the addition of childhood nostalgia, the attention it has received can be said to have exceeded expectations.

Amidst such anticipation and discussion.

Episode 2 of "Magical Girl Crimson" has finally been released.

Compared to the lack of viewers in the first episode, the second episode of "Magical Girl Crimson" was much more lively in the comments section.

Episode 2 is told from Aya Hanaya's perspective.

Although Arisu Akari and Tono Hitomi had a big argument, and Takajo Yuri and Kagura Yu did not approve of Tono Hitomi's withdrawal, the stubborn magical girl, Miku, still insisted on her decision.

The gathering ended unhappily. Hanaya Aya could smell the anger and disappointment in the air. She watched Tono Hitomi's departing figure but did not say anything to stop her.

She just stood in the corner, sniffing blankly, and vaguely smelled an unfamiliar scent.

She felt somewhat uneasy.

This smell... I feel like I've smelled it somewhere before.

As Hanaya Aya was racking her brains, Arisu Akari sighed beside her, "We can't always let that guy run wild. Takajo is one thing, but you two should at least say something."

"Hug, my time is quite precious. As for Tono-kun, if we leave him alone, he'll recover in about ten days."

"Kagura Yu doesn't seem to have much interest in the current situation."

Rather, she was no stranger to the scene where Arisu Akari would always get furious because of Tono Hitomi, the unreliable captain, and had long since become indifferent to it.

What do you mean by that?

"Arisu Akari was quite dissatisfied. "We are a team, and we should prioritize the team..." "That's what you say, but weren't you the one who least wanted this team in the first place?"

Kagura Yu was puzzled.

[Wow... this smells like gunpowder...] [Why does it seem like these two magical girls don't get along very well?] [Is there some kind of conflict? Shouldn't this conflict be resolved in the main story?]

[After all, human relationships are never static.] Takajo Yuri, standing to the side, was somewhat flustered: "You two...?" What's going on?

Is today some kind of Neijiang-themed party?

These two usually have a good relationship, so why are they suddenly having such a big disagreement today?

Yuri Takajo has been busy taking over the family affairs recently. After all, she is already a senior in high school. In addition to her work as a magical girl, she also has the responsibility of being the heir of the Takajo family.