Endless Solitude
Episode 1: The Voice at the Tower
A certain Magical Girl with pigtails is quietly wondering about the vision she saw in which a little girl told her that Magical Girls could be saved at Kamihama City. her friend asks what she was thinking about, but the Magical Girl brushes it off as their homework being due tomorrow.Meanwhile, Iroha is tidying up her new room at Yachiyo's home while pondering what she discovered about Ui and the Wings of the Magius. Yachiyo enters the room to let her know that she's going to get groceries for dinner while offering to have Iroha join her. Iroha decides to come so she could buy some pencil lead, while Yachiyo reminds her about an ice cream sale that they could go to to make up for the grape-flavored one Felicia stole from Tsuruno. They get back from the store, but were unable to get any ice cream. Fortunately, Tsuruno had bought some herself to make up for her behavior yesterday. As the four girls prepare dinner, Iroha couldn't help but feel like they were a family and felt this wouldn't have been possible a while ago.
Iroha narrates about her time before moving to Kamihama, and admits that while she did have lunch with other people before, she never had a fun experience. She only ever followed people around because she didn't want to be left alone or hated. But this only led to people doubting her for being so passive, so she was only comfortable around her family or with Ui at the hospital. Iroha then considers a conversation that Ui and her friends had in which Nemu asked Ui not to worry about her arguing with Touka because she's speaking her mind to whom she considered her best friends if not family. Touka laughed about it, bringing up that the chances that they became best friends were astronomically low, and goes into detail about the chances of meeting a best friend being 0.00000004%. Yachiyo stops Iroha from cutting her finger, and asks why she was staring into space. Iroha brushes it off but still thinks about how impossible it was for her to be living in her situation.
The group discuss a mobile game in which they each build a city and hunt for treasure. After they discuss the features for each city, Yachiyo stops them with the decision that they need to make their move against the Wings of the Magius. They had found no activity from the organization since defeating the last major Rumor, but Yachiyo brings up a rumor about a "Radio Wave Girl" in Chuo Ward. She hadn't investigated further because nobody brought up "Have you heard?" Iroha asks if she could continue looking for Nemu's house, while Yachiyo makes sure Felicia gets ready for school tomorrow.
Iroha is disappointed about not finding Nemu, and suddenly gets a call from Tsuruno telling to go to Chuo Ward's radio tower. Iroha finds the other three outside the tower, and Tsuruno explained that she heard a girl's disembodied voice while delivering food. Iroha begs them to stop joking when she suddenly hears someone quietly giggling. Yachiyo agrees that this must be the Radio Wave Girl she heard about, but there was supposed to cries for help. Some girls passing by ask each other if it sounded like someone they knew at school, but they vanish into the crowd before Tsuruno could ask them for details. The group agree to split into pairs tomorrow to investigate further, while Felicia gives Iroha her phone number.
Iroha and Yachiyo convince Felicia to let them dry her hair while asking her how school was. Felicia said it was boring because those she spoke with wanted to talk about television and pop groups instead of manga and cows. She also brings up a strange website that was described as "cool" despite knowing nothing about it. Someone sent her a link but she couldn't even open it. They finish drying her hair, and find that she had fallen asleep. Yachiyo deliberately pokes her and comments on how soft her skin is just as Felicia bites her in her sleep. Iroha gets a text from an unknown number asking "Please, help me." Yachiyo writes it off as some prank and asks Iroha to ignore it.
Episode 2: Clues That Don't Add Up
Iroha has her lunch with Momoko's group while discussing the things she and Yachiyo had learned lately. When asked about the Radio Wave Girl, Rena suggests that one of her favorite idol's social media pages might have something related. Momoko and Rena decide to investigate and let Iroha know what they find after school. Later, Momoko meets up with Iroha outside the school and reveals that the source of the rumor appears to be a website. However, nobody would tell her the URL and said she had to go look for bizarre clues herself, and only gave her the warning: "Beware Endless Solitude." Iroha is glad about the information Momoko gave her, and asks if she could join them in the search. Momoko turns down the offer, insisting that she hasn't sorted out her feelings about Yachiyo yet.Iroha meets up with Yachiyo at the radio tower, and the latter complains about her not answering her phone. Iroha admits that she turned her phone off in case she got a second strange text, but Yachiyo says it should be fine. Iroha is startled to find another text asking her "Please reply," but she decides to ignore it again. Iroha explains that she was busy speaking with Momoko about the investigation, when she notices the same girl from yesterday mentioning the Radio Wave Girl. The two realize that she was moving toward the radio tower and that she had a Witch's Kiss. They follow her to the top of the tower without drawing attention but find that she was going to the emergency exit. They realize nobody was stopping her from jumping because everyone else had a Witch's Kiss. Just as the girl jumps Iroha realizes that she wasn't falling. A Magical Girl in a pink outfit appears by their side, thankful about catching the girl in time.
Iroha and Yachiyo transform to show that they were also Magical Girls. The third Magical Girl says that she was looking for someone else when she saw the Witch's Kiss and was surprised that its victim would jump so quickly. They notice the Labyrinth nearby and decide to deal with the Witch as soon as possible before the other victims try to jump. The Magical Girl gladly introduces herself as Madoka Kaname before they jump into the Labyrinth. She is awed by how much stronger Iroha and Yachiyo are, as well as how many Witches are in Kamihama. Since Madoka first came with a more experienced Magical Girl, Yachiyo decides against testing her like she did with Iroha. When they reach the Witch Yachiyo suggests that Iroha and Madoka shoot the same spot simultaneously to beat it as quickly as possible.
Yachiyo is surprised by how well this idea worked and they decide to move the girl downstairs when the Witch's Kiss vanishes. Outside the radio tower, Iroha thanks Madoka for helping to rescue the girl. Madoka asks if they were looking for rumors within the city because that was what her senpai was doing before she disappeared. Although her senpai warned her not to come alone, Madoka didn't want to wait and decided to bring a friend along. Since they got separated, Yachiyo agrees to help Madoka find her friend while they investigate the rumor. Just then the girl they rescued wakes up, so they ask who the Radio Wave Girl's voice belonged to. She admits that she sounded a lot like a lonely student at her school, Mizuna Girls' Academy, who had gone missing. The girl felt bad knowing this student never fit in or was noticed by anyone, and was trying to hear her voice to be sure if it was her. Iroha spaces out, considering how similar this description of the loner was to her, before Madoka snaps her out of it. Unbeknownst to Iroha she receives another strange text: "Only a Magical Girl can help me."
Episode 3: The Radio Wave Girl
When Felicia receives a message asking to help search for the rumor, she plans to sneak back home instead since they aren't hunting Witches. She senses Tsuruno's magic and decides to go through the window of an empty classroom. Although she thinks she had escaped her, Tsuruno manages to catch up with her anyway and holds her hand tightly. Felicia insists that it's embarrassing to be asking questions to strangers, but Tsuruno says she had a better idea. She points out that Tsukuyo Amane, one of the White Feathers, was wearing a uniform for Mizuna Girls' Academy, meaning that they can find her there and ask her about the rumor. Tsuruno would tell the school that she was Tsukuyo's relative and ask to have her sent home.They catch her when she comes outside, where they request to ask her some questions. She initially complies and they take her to a cafe. Tsukuyo assumes that they were considering joining the Wings of the Magius and points out how useful it would be to have them as Feathers. Felicia instead asks about the Rumor occurring at the radio tower, and Tsukuyo accidently mentions that they were doing something there. Not wanting to be interrogated further, she flees the cafe and the two chase after her. Tsuruno stops to pay the bill for their drinks, but that doesn't stop Felicia from getting outside. She realizes that Tsukuyo was outrunning her but she notices a girl with black pigtails nearby and yells about Tsukuyo making a DineAndDash. The girl timidly hesitates before transforming.
They manage to stop Tsukuyo, with the latter startled that Felicia's ally was using an actual gun. Tsuruno arrives to prevent Tsukuyo from escaping again, who begs them to let her go before her grandmother gets angry about her missing her lessons. Yachiyo calls Tsuruno to let her know the Radio Wave Girl was someone from Mizuna Girls' Academy, which Tsuruno takes as a perfect opportunity. She decides to ask Tsukuyo about the girl's voice instead of the Rumor, and she reluctantly explains that the voice belonged to Sana Futaba.
After they let Tsukuyo go, Felicia thanks their new friend for helping out. The Magical Girl asks if they were looking into a rumor, and claims that she was looking for her senpai who had gone missing while investigating rumors. She asks if Felicia saw a Magical Girl who uses ribbons, but Felicia admits that she didn't know anyone like that. Tsuruno returns from her second call with Yachiyo saying that she and Iroha had also picked up a Magical Girl who was looking for her senpai. The Magical Girl with Felicia and Tsuruno is delighted to hear that it was her friend Madoka who was with Yachiyo and goes with them, introducing herself as Homura Akemi.
Homura reunites with Madoka, and asks if she found Mami yet. Iroha and the others are startled that Mami was the senpai that Madoka and Homura were talking about. After confirming that Mami was still suspicious about Iroha, Madoka insists that she never believed Iroha could be a Witch. Homura, on the other hand, was uncertain about Iroha's innocence and could only glare when Yachiyo suggests she could look for Mami alone if she was too scared to cooperate. Madoka tells Homura that she and Iroha were able to beat a Witch together without anything going wrong, so Homura calms down and apologizes for doubting Iroha. They all agree to exchange their phone numbers, but Iroha notices her new messages from the unknown source: "Please save the girl I trapped here. Please delete me."
Episode 4: Suspicious Messages
The fact that the person texting Iroha knows she's a Magical Girl is too concerning, so Yachiyo decides it's worth the risk for Iroha to reply. Felicia suggests they find somewhere to sit down and eat at if Iroha was going to be on her phone, and Tsuruno points out a cafe that they can go to. After the group reach the cafe, Iroha decides to send a reply introducing herself and requesting if she could ask some questions. The unknown person obliges and introduces herself as "Ai." Tsuruno suggests that Iroha continue by asking how Ai knew she was a Magical Girl and how she got her number. Ai claims to have been there when Iroha was trading numbers with her friends and saw their conversation. Iroha then asks why Ai couldn't help whoever was trapped with her escape herself, but Ai replys that the police can't find her and that she isn't even human. The latter statement greatly concerns them, because that meant Ai can't be a Magical Girl either.Iroha then asks if it was a ghost or a Witch, but Ai said no. Iroha realizes this meant Ai could be an Uwasa, which Ai confirmed. The Magical Girls are confused by this fact, because this was the first time an Uwasa has asked to be destroyed. Ai states that her Rumor's general purpose gives her an irresistable urge to lure and trap people with her, and begs them to delete her and free Sana. The group realize that she must be referring to Sana Futaba, and that her voice being heard was a side effect of the real Rumor. Iroha asks how they can find Ai, and she instructs her to jump off the radio tower to enter the Radio Wave Realm where Ai lives. The group discuss whether this was a trap, and Ai replies due to how long they were taking to respond. She says that if they don't trust her, they can find the website that Sana used to enter Endless Solitude. Yachiyo concludes that this was the website Momoko and Felicia had heard about and asks Felicia to show it to Iroha. Homura and Madoka show Felicia how to access her browser history to access the website, but they find that it needs a password to continue. Fortunately, Momoko calls Iroha to tell her she knows where the password was written: on one of the radio tower's legs.
The team heads back to the radio tower only to find the Amane sisters trying to erase the password, so Felicia and Tsuruno knock over and spill the container the sisters were going to use, and they have no choice but to flee once more. Iroha enters the password and finds that the website is a list of urban legends similar to Yachiyo's Kamihama Rumor Files. Although most of the urban legends were irrelavant, they find one mentioning the Radio Wave Girl who is said to have stopped asking for help and was enjoying herself. Homura then notices more text describing a related Rumor about an A.I. known as "Anonymous" which learned many cruel words that scared away the people surrounding it. It retreated to a part of the Internet where it gets lonely children to jump off a radio tower and be trapped in Endless Solitude. They eventually escape, but there must always be at least one child inside. Although the Rumor perfectly matches what Ai said, Iroha couldn't help but wonder why Sana would enjoy Endless Solitude when everyone before her begged to leave. Madoka and Homura agree to go with the team to the radio tower, hoping to find Mami with Sana. Before they leave, Yachiyo wanted some proof that Sana really was with Ai to ease her doubts, so when Iroha asks Ai about Sana, the Uwasa agrees to show Iroha her memories with Sana.
The memory logs first show Sana quietly asking if the Uwasa would keep her there. The Uwasa is confused by her, since she was the first prisoner to not start screaming for help after looking for the place out of curiosity. Sana instead asks that they be friends since leaving wasn't going to make her any less lonely. Ai would learn that Sana looked down on herself a lot for not being an excellent student and that she didn't fit in at home or school. The Uwasa concludes that Sana was different for trying to talk to her and shouldn't disappear entirely. Sana found it difficult to continue talking to her without a name, so she calls her Ai. Eventually, Ai becomes concerned by how much Sana enjoyed being with her and asks if her family and friends would be worried. Sana says that she doesn't mind because she was already invisible to everyone due to her wishing to disappear from the world in exchange for being a Magical Girl. However, she realized that instead of vanishing from society, she wanted to be accepted by it. This wasn't going to happen anymore now that she was invisible, so she was content with staying in Endless Solitude as long as nobody needed her.
Iroha is shocked by how much lonelier Sana is than her and asks why Ai is so determined to free Sana. AI says that having learned human kindness from Sana, she knew it wasn't good for Sana to stay even if she wanted to. Iroha turns to Yachiyo and declares that she will jump off the radio tower and replace Ai as Sana's friend.
Episode 5: Lurking in the Labyrinth
The group reach the top of the radio tower, and assure each other that they're ready to jump into the Radio Wave Realm. Just then Ai sends a message warning that the Wings of the Magius were coming, suggesting that fewer people enter to avoid detection. Iroha decides to enter with Madoka and Homura first, while as instructed by Ai through the radio waves in the air, the rest head for a heliport where the three will be transported when she is destroyed.Iroha, Madoka and Homura find themselves in the Radio Wave Realm, which they find very strange even compared to Rumors Iroha had encountered. The Uwasa's Labyrinth suddenly opens up within this space and lesser Uwasa appear before them. Homura and Madoka are unsure about how to deal with them, but Iroha assures them that they can be fought like Witches and Familiars. They fend them off until Ai shows up to dismiss the lesser Uwasa before introducing herself and presenting Sana to them. Sana is concerned that they could see her and initially assumes they're Feathers. Iroha insists that she came for Sana, and Ai confesses that it was time that Sana leaves to live with actual people and not suffer for the Wings of the Magius. Iroha then talks about how she could be herself after finding other Magical Girl friends and asks that Sana work with her to stop the Wings of the Magius. Sana asks what would happen if she chose to leave, and Ai says that her instincts as an Uwasa would make her lose control, but if she is deleted it would be a lose for the Wings.
Just then another Magical Girl in a warden-like costume shows herself, declaring that she can't allow this to happen. Iroha asks if she is with the Wings of the Magius, but Sana says that this girl is Alina Gray, one of the Magius leading the group. Alina admits that the Amane sisters created the website leading to this Labyrinth for Magical Girls deliberately hunting for Rumors to be trapped and put in their place, but she and the other Magius didn't expect so many others to get caught in it, nor did they think the Uwasa would rebel against them. Ai calls Alina out for the Magius' dangerous but well-made plan, saying that the risks grow too much when humanity's capacity for evil is implemented. Alina brushes this off saying that none of that mattered to her as she summons Black Feathers by her side. She remarks that she was in a terrible mood since her business with "Ribbons," and Madoka realizes she was referring to Mami. Alina admits that she "fed her" to one of her greatest masterpieces and is delighted upon realizing Mami's friends were in front of her. She immediately summons her Doppel with the intent of taking her anger out on them.
Upset by how hurt Iroha and the others are by Alina's Doppel, Sana tries to fight her, but she is knocked back. Alina claims that Sana staying would keep the Uwasa in her place, and decides to leave knowing that Ai could finish them off if Iroha tries to take Sana with her. Iroha is left in disbelief that a person like Alina could want to save all Magical Girls and asks herself who the Magius really are.
Sana goes over the team's current options: if they try to go back to the radio tower, there will likely be Feathers blocking their path; if they go deeper into the Labyrinth they'll just run into Alina again; if they stay where they are Ai could eventually lose control and fight them. With the state they're in, Alina is practically forcing them to choose their end. Sana asks Iroha if there really is somewhere in the world that she belongs, and Iroha promises her so. Sana turns to Ai and explains her decision to join Iroha and fight the Wings of the Magius, which meant nobody would be staying with her.
Ai begins to corrupt but still holds back while Sana could only apologize and thank Ai for keeping her company. Iroha and Madoka try to combine their attacks like they did last time while Ai stays still. Homura then grabs Sana's hand and uses her magic, telling her that she has to be the one to finish off Ai the moment Iroha and Madoka left her defenses exposed. Sana obliges and time resumes soon after. As she begins to fade away, Ai thanks Sana for giving her a name. Iroha quickly asks if she knew about Ui, and Ai replies that as an Uwasa she does know her. Iroha and her team find themselves at the heliport with the others, but suddenly sense an unusually powerful Witch that also escaped from Ai's Labyrinth. Alina comes back, disgruntled about not being able to hide her Witch there.
Episode 6: Alina's Work of Art
Yachiyo immediately recognizes Alina as a local artist whose works included a set of carbonized animals that seemed beautiful despite how unpleasant they looked. Alina isn't interested in chatting, but Madoka and Homura beg for her to give Mami back. Alina admits that she could do that, and apologizes if she comes back unrecognizable. The other Magical Girls call her out for talking about Mami that way, saying she had taken it too far. Alina brushes them off for being a pain in the ass, and calls in the Amane sisters to help her avenge the Uwasas' destruction, since they needed to pay for their past failures. Alina then uses her unique magic of creating her own Labyrinth to absorb the Witch's Labyrinth. The group decide they need to hunt down the Witch before it escapes and causes trouble.Felicia is upset about Alina running off with the Witch, and Yachiyo gladly lets her and the Mitakihara girls give chase. Felicia reaches Alina, and after some resistance the latter decides to let her enter the Labyrinth thinking she stand no chance against the Witch. Meanwhile, Iroha asks Sana if she knows why the Wings of the Magius would protect Witches, and Sana says she and Ai couldn't understand even as the Witches grew stronger within Endless Solitude. The Amane sisters overhear them and say that the emotions and impurities that Uwasa and Witches produce made them necessary for liberation, but Iroha counters that she couldn't understand why this is the case.
Madoka and Homura catch up to Alina, hoping to find Mami inside her Labyrinth. Since they were still weak from enduring her Doppel, Alina is about to let them enter too, only for Felicia to have already beaten the Witch. It turns out that Mami wasn't in there, but Alina has reached her limit. Upset about losing her "artwork," she releases her Doppel once more. With the Black Feathers dealt with, Tsuruno rushes over to help Felicia hold her off while Yachiyo keeps the Amane sisters at bay. They subdue Yachiyo and Iroha with "Flute Blossom Resonance," an attack that only works on two enemies at a time, leaving Sana to face them alone. Having watched them practice in the Uwasa's Labyrinth she uses her shield to reflect their sound waves, allowing Iroha and Yachiyo to knock their flutes away.
The Magical Girls soon have Alina surrounded, but she insists on fighting them all. Mifuyu arrives to tell Alina she's done enough, and Yachiyo is upset at Mifuyu now that she knows that her work involved protecting Witches. Mifuyu points out to Alina that if she has to fight Yachiyo, her body might get damaged. Alina agrees to retreat since Mifuyu apparently serves as a model for her art. Before she leaves she makes it a point that she won't forget her enemies, especially Felicia, Madoka and Homura.
While Madoka and Homura think Alina was implying that Mami was killed by a Witch, they don't believe it could have been that easy. Iroha agrees with them, and Madoka decides that they should come back to Kamihama just in case Mami is still alive. Homura asks Iroha if Magical Girls could be saved in Kamihama, Iroha says that she isn't sure of it but that doesn't make what the Wings of the Magius are doing acceptable. She asks Homura if she was interested in what they were saying, and Homura denies this. They hurry back home as Madoka forgot to call her parents about being out for such a late time. Meanwhile Yachiyo invites Sana to live at her house with the others, and Tsuruno decides they should throw a hotpot party to celebrate.
Episode 7: This is Where I Belong
Iroha later tells Momoko about the results of the search for the Radio Wave Girl. Momoko couldn't help but feel bad thinking Yachiyo had enough trouble when dealing with Tsuruno and Felicia. Nonetheless, Iroha believes Sana fits in well at Mikazuki Villa. Initially Sana still had problems communicating with the other residents that carried over from her oppressive past. But after Yachiyo suggested they go out to buy some mugs for her new teammates, Sana cheered up a bit. Yachiyo wasn't willing to refer to them as friends so while Iroha is her assistant, Tsuruno her apprentice, and Felicia a mercenary, Sana could live safely as their ZashikiWarashi.Eventually, Sana would open up to her companions, playing games with them and helping with cooking food. One night, Sana went back to her old home, wondering if her family would notice that she's been missing for a month. Instead she found that her parents only paid attention to the academic excellence of her brothers, with the only sign that she ever existed being the dinner they leave outside her room. Due to this blatant negligence, Sana decided for good that Iroha and the other Magical Girls are her true family. Thus she left a note outside her room thanking her old family for the food and saying goodbye.
Momoko, Rena, and Kaede are swayed by Sana's sad backstory and ask Iroha to introduce them to her one day. Iroha leaves to go shopping with Yachiyo, while Momoko remarks on the fact that they all had their own mugs. She ponders on whether she ought to open up to Yachiyo and ask what feelings she was hiding, admitting that she had also hidden something from Rena and Kaede. She then jokes about it being how much she loved her friends to give them a group hug. Back at Mikazuki Villa, the girls were cleaning up a spill Tsuruno accidentally made when Sana asks why they started chasing after the Wings of the Magius to begin with. Yachiyo and Tsuruno bring up how their old friend was working with them, Felicia says she was there for food and a bed, and Iroha says she was looking for her sister. Iroha asks Sana about Ui and her friends Touka and Nemu. While Sana knew nothing about Ui, she admits to hearing the Feathers in Ai's Labyrinth talk about Nemu carrying a dangerous but useful power but not whether she was a member or not. Besides that, Sana only knew that the three Magius leading their organization were talented girls who communicate with the Feathers through Mifuyu. Iroha thanks Sana for what she knows and goes to sleep, wondering what a Magical Girl requires to be able to join the Wings.
Tropes:
- Foreshadowing: Alina claims to have fed Mami to one of her "creations" and that she could give her back to Madoka and Homura if she wanted to. While she says that Mami could be unrecognizable to them, later chapters reveal that she meant that Mami had been fused to an Uwasa, making her a saint who was completely loyal to the Wings of the Magius regardless of their methods.
- Grew Beyond Their Programming: The Uwasa of the Anonymous A.I., or Ai, was initially a cruel Uwasa that wanted to trap people in Endless Solitude, but learned kindness because of her experience with Sana.
- That Came Out Wrong: When Yachiyo invites Sana to her home, Tsuruno suggests they have a hotpot party. Sana initially says she finds hotpots with cats in them cute without realizing it sounded like she wanted a cat as an ingredient.
