Walpurgisnacht: Rising with worries
The biggest reason I — and, I suspect, many people — feel excited about the next sequel movie to the PMMM series is not just because I’m always happy to see the Holy Quintet. It’s because I was not satisfied with where we left things at the end of the previous movie, Rebellion, and am therefore hoping that the new film will end with our characters and their storyline in a more satisfying place... even if it’s a bittersweet kind of satisfaction, like the ending of the initial 12-episode series. I think most of us found that to be a great stopping point.
The recent handling of the Magia Record anime adaption has greatly increased my fear that this will NOT happen, though. :( Director/writer Doroinu and the team at SHAFT took the intense-yet-uplifting storyline of the Magia Record mobile game and warped it into a tale of crushing failure and despair.
Luckily, Doroinu is not directing the new movie and also doesn’t seem to be writing it. Instead, it seems Gen Urobuchi (who wrote the PMMM series and Rebellion) returns for this one. But the last decade of his output doesn’t get my hopes up much either. Have you seen those goddamn Godzilla anime movies on Netflix? How about the series Aldnoah.Zero? If anything, “the Urobutcher” is actually getting MORE depressing and bleak with age!
When I take all of these points together, I am genuinely very worried that Walpurgisnacht: Rising will once again drop the overall story (and our Holy Quintet) in a terrible fucking place, leaving me with that “Jesus, grandpa, what’d you even tell me this story for?!” feeling.
I sure as hell hope that I’m wrong about that, though, and things improve from the end state of Rebellion. Even if they only improve partway.
Hey — if nothing else, I’m always happy to see the girls in action again. And no matter what the outcome may ultimately be, the next bits of new information about the movie can’t arrive fast enough for me.
