Magical Girl Apocalypse (Volume 10)

Shinobu has lost control of his body as the blood of a Magical Girl awakens a terrible power. The mysterious researcher unleashes his experiment, Himeji Wataru in the hopes of capturing Shinobu!

Magical Girl Apocalypse (Volume 10)

What happened?

Shinobu managed to find Mikano before he completely lost control, but there was nothing she could do for him. The Magical Girl blood he injected into his body has awakened the demon and with it the power to destroy everything in existence. The explosions ripped through the heart of Tokyo, creating chaos and panic. In the midst of the confusion, the mysterious researcher set Himeji Wataru on Shinobu, determined to capture him and obtain his power.

At first, Wataru seems to be having fun, pounding Shinobu around the streets and through the buildings, but he eventually counters sending Wataru flying. When the dust settles, the researcher sees that Shinobu is unharmed. He doesn’t even have a scratch on him. Now, it’s his turn to attack and it is brutal and relentless. Before long, he blows a hole clean through Wataru’s torso, leaving her broken in body and spirit.

Magical Girl Apocalypse Volume 10 Kogami Kii Dr Fukumoto Sou Shirokane Sayano Kaede Explosion

The Witch has noticed what’s going on and arrives to take care of things. Mikano realises what her mother is going to do and rushes to stop her from killing Shinobu, however, Mikano ends up being attacked, forcing the Witch to care for her daughter first. Shinobu struggles to fight against the demonic voice in his head and then out of nowhere, his power disappears, leaving Shinobu naked and exhausted.

The researcher has seen enough and knows when to retreat. However, he found an ID tag from Wahre Liebe. Who was it that was able to control the demon’s powers? That’s a very useful power to have if you’re trying to create a demon. The Witch takes Mikano and Shinobu away, hiding them in her lair as she attempts to heal them. Although, Shinobu may never recover from what he went through.

Magical Girl Apocalypse Volume 10 Shinobu in demon form versus Himeji Wataru

Several weeks after the incident, Shinobu and Mikano are wanted as the lead suspects in the incident. Mikano’s adopted father hung himself, but Sou Shirokane is determined to get to the bottom of things. However, he has another problem to deal with. Nine researchers have gone missing, all of them women. He contacts Rintaro Akuta in the hopes that he will help him search for them, but he’s more interested in finding the Witch and he has a lead thanks to Mikano’s computer.

Abeno Maria was leaving work after checking in on Sayano Kaede who has barely left the building as she tries to understand what happened when she was kidnapped. She woke in a strange facility, naked and restrained along with the other missing researchers. The person behind it was one of her colleagues, Makabe Keito. He has tested her blood and discovered that she is a Magical Girl and was the one that has the power to suppress the demon. He also reveals that he has created a new Wataru. This time a boy who will be able to wield the power of the demon.

Magical Girl Apocalypse Volume 10 Shinobu defeats Himeji Wataru

What did you think?

Well, that was intense. The fight between Shinobu and Wataru was insane, but that is to be expected from this series by now. That said, they took things to another level with the destruction of the buildings around them. The revelation that Mikano was the daughter of the Witch and not a distant descendant was interesting. It was cool seeing all the connections from the past coming together at that moment.

However, I was worried that the revelation of the person behind everything would be as anticlimactic as when we were introduced to Tonoguya Yuuji and it was. Sure, we may have met Makabe Keito once in the last volume, but that was not enough of a connection for me. I just felt like it should have been someone far more interesting as this guy is basically a throwaway character at this point. If something happened to him, it wouldn’t matter to anyone. The only hope is in the moment he said that it wasn’t his real name. Could he be someone else in a different form? Maybe, he’s Rintaro Akuta from another timeline? Crazier things have happened…

Magical Girl Apocalypse Volume 10 Tokyos destruction

What have you learnt?

One of the things I’ve commented on before is how there are some characters that look similar and that was even more present in these last two volumes as we’ve had Maria and Tsukune wandering around and both are almost identical to the point that I wasn’t sure which one was which in certain scenes. Of course, the fact that they are both descendants of the Witch brings this together and finally makes sense.

I’m curious why Tsukune has the missing piece of the ancient tome that Tonoguya Yuuji is researching and even more curious as to why he randomly tracked her down. It seems a little too coincidental for me, but I’ll go with it because I need to know what else happens here. This series started out as a gore-filled spectacle and now it’s become a thoroughly intriguing story with time travel, witches, demons, and corrupt corporations. You need threads to keep everything in order, but it’s worth it. I’m loving the complexity of it.