I just want to do a quick discussion on my thoughts on possible ableism
Alright, so we have a show in which one of the main characters is disabled, unable to use her legs and thus in a wheelchair, and for a while that seems fine! Nobody treats her badly for it, shes accommodated, and over all is seen as a normal person. This is super awesome! We get a disabled magical girl who isnt magically cured because of her magical girl transformation, and her clothes/weapon(????) act as sort of a crutch to help her move more freely without having to deal with a wheelchair. Once again, I think thats super awesome!
The downsides and ableism arguments mainly come from 3 sources (technically 2 but i personally wanted to mention this) the first of which is that there is one jab at her for not being as physically capable as the girl talking, which isn’t directed at her in character but is still meant to be about togo (the disabled magical girl) that is evident as the screen shows her during this part of the discussion. This happens once and almost immediately the rude character is proven wrong and while she doesn’t apologize, i personally let it slide because its literally the only time something like this happens.
Secondly, togo is also a kind of fanservice character, her boobs are emphased many times (mainly during magical girl transformation) and are significantly larger than the other girls. Once again, personally, im not sure how this is ‘ableist’ per say, but i do agree it’s unnecessary and even a bit uncomfortable. This is generally an anime trope though, thus i wasn’t super surprised. This is still pretty messed up considering these girls are 12-13 in middle school. I’m not going to expand on this because I don’t feel its fetishizing disabilities, so im not sure its ableist.
Lastly, MAJOR SPOILERS??, the disability is gained magically. We spend a lot of time not knowing this and neither do any of the characters, but eventually we come to learn that by using manki (kind of a second level transformation that uses the gods power and all their energy) they all must sacrifice something. This is not something they are told and is kept vague until the Big Reveal™. The claims over this are mainly ‘the disabilities are suddenly horrific and worst possible thing that could happen!’ But thats not how it feels to me. They become upset because they are told their problems are temporary and nothing to worry about only to find out that the whole time they thought it would get better it was permanent. They have no time to truely ajust to that and of course thats upsetting! One day you can talk the next you’re permently unable to with no warning that you could’ve prevented it. Not only this, but they have to sacrifice peices of themselves to SAVE THE WORLD. The only thanks they get are complimentary foods and a weeks vacation at a nice inn. During which they still didnt know it was permanent. They aren’t upset because “disabilities are the worst thing ever!!!”. They’re upset because they were never told that these sacrifices were apart of the deal and were even told straight up “yeah youre in perfect health it should heal over time”. There are people who don’t get a warning in real life either, and its devestating! You suddenly must change your way of life and come to terms with the fact that you can’t do something anymore. One girl loses her voice only for her sister to find out that three months back (before she lost her voice), her sister sent an audition to become a singer and was accepted! Her sister took care of her for so long and while listening to her audition she finds out that this had become her dream. They took away something from her sister that she would never get back. She isn’t even the one who is extremely upset over it! Her sister is!
Once they know of this, they understand that they need to be more careful and yet still they are willing to take on any this power would take from them if that meant their friends wouldn’t have to suffer. Kirin uses her manki five times in a row. She knows she can’t let her friends get hurt no matter the cost. She loses her vision and hearing but still tells yuki that she needs to go find togo. The disabilities might be considered a “punishment”, but these girls are willing to keep going even if it means getting more of their body functions taken from them.
Anyways, sorry for the rant. I just think people aren’t thinking about whats going on fully?? Idk
