Mashle: Magic And Muscles

Chapter 126: SPOT, SPOTTY, AND SPOTTINGTON ARE OK! Also, I laughed super hard when the edgy black fire Divine Visionary STILL couldn't turn the key. I went "OH, that's how strong Meliadoul is. Damn, Lemon never even stood a chance against this key." Also, Lance and Dot run into Doom and immediately get destroyed (little disappointed one of them didn't think "it's like fighting Mash", but whatever). WHERE'S RYOH?! Where's the true main character, Ryoh? He was supposed to be taking care of Doom! Don't tell me he ran into Zero!

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Oct 10th 2022 at 8:58:27 AM

Who read the last 3 chapter ?

Interesting that Doom is just running through everyone. I still need to know where Ryoh is. Also, I've been thinking, what are the odds that Innocent Zero pulls out a fourth line and a Fourths spell out of his ass? I feel like that's the only way to make the final boss feel suitably final when the brothers are able to use and outfight Thirds spells.

Mash's character design in the anime:

I like that the anime seems to be using the big hands and feet and thin legs of the later artstyle.

Chapter 129: Kaldo powers up with honey and actually manages to turn the key, albeit very slowly. Doom continues walking through everyone, and this explains why Orter had such a relatively easy time dealing with Famin, they were establishing a pecking order of protagonists for Doom to fight his way through. Lance and Dot < Rayne and Finn < Orter. And Doom outright wonders where Ryoh is, a question I've had, too. I wonder what's up with Doom's hair. It gets really big twice in this chapter for no reason, and that reminds me that we don't know what Doom's magic abilities are. That makes me think his magic is tied to his hair, somehow.

Chapter 130: The main character has arrived!

131: Ryoh gets stronger through combat and Doom is literally Toguro.

Ryoh is doing better than I expected. I thought he would job immediately though that still might happen in the next few chapters.

I'm glad Ryoh is doing well. He's had a good amount of hype, and not just from himself. I still expect him to lose, Mash and Doom need a rematch, but I think Ryoh, maybe with Rayne and Orter's help, will at least push Doom to 100%.

Yeah, Ryoh has been doing way better than you'd expect.

I expect Doom to reach 120% at the minimum.

132 and 133: Ryoh busts out his Secondth, a giant flashbang, but it turns out Doom has been blind the whole time, and Ryoh takes a hit meant for Finn. Everyone then dogpiles Doom at once, but he knocks them all back, ending with Finn hearing that Mash is coming back. Notably, I don't think any of the three Divine Visionaries with us have used a Thirds yet.

In other news, apparently, Rayne's name is supposed to be Rain, according to an official phone wallpaper. Makes sense.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Nov 21st 2022 at 7:42:07 AM

Personally I really enjoy reading this manga.

I wonder when its supposed to end, as the Anime was announced to be a "Complete Adaptation" apparently.

Well, the Hunter x Hunter anime started in the middle of the Chimera Ant arc and ended with the Chairman Election arc, so it's plausible the anime will start before the manga ends and still end at the same point.

That said, I don't think the manga has much further to go. Doom should be the semi-final battle. After him, there's just Innocent Zero. I think Mashle will probably end around chapter 150-160.

Doom is basically Toguro younger than Yu Yu Hakusho.

How long it will last depends on when the final match begins.

134-135: Ryoh unleashes his Thirds, but Doom cuts it in half with 80%. Ryoh makes a speech about the true meaning of being handsome, and right when all seems lost, the door smashes open (probably because the opener of the door forgot whether it was push or pull) and Mash walks into the room. He'll take it from there, and he hands out totally ordinary cream puffs to make everyone feel better.

Those are half-eaten cream puffs mind you.

Man, Mash has been out of this fight for a long time.

It's been 27 chapters now. I'm fine with it, since this isn't a trend or anything, this is the first time this series has pulled "Mash is out of commission until he shows up with a Hero Moment to save the day" (unless maybe you want to count that dimensional box thing, but that was more part of a fight than something like this). Probably the last time, too, given this is most likely the final arc.

I still think 27 chapters of having Mash MIA is a bit much considering this probably is the final arc. Doesn’t help that the clockwork key gag got stretched out too long.

Edited by fillerdude on Dec 4th 2022 at 11:33:16 AM

It gave Lemon her only great moment in the series, and that will always be a plus for me.

Yuji has been absent from his manga much longer than Mash....

Chapter 137: Mash shows how he trained his most powerful muscle: his brain. Now he knows biokinetics.

I think Meliadoul is selling Mash a little short here, he's been shown to know a lot about the various muscle groups and which exercises are good for improving which muscles before. It's not that he was bad at knowing how best to use his body, it's more that he could have been EVEN BETTER.

As an aside, wow have I missed the "how did Mash survive that? well he did something absolutely ludicrous at ludicrous speed that no-one picked up on" gag. Kinda disappointed that Orter was the one to give the exposition, though, that's usually Finn's job.

In a theoretical game, Bio-Mechanics Cannon makes complete sense as a slow full-screen Super with Super Armor.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Dec 18th 2022 at 8:33:08 AM

When I first saw Mash finally enter the stage again, I thought he was just going to overpower Doom with muscles. But this is so much better — Mash using psychical exercises in extreme ways, and totally taking the piss out of his opponents purely by accident.

New trailer for the anime:

It's... okay. It doesn't look bad, but the lack of significant animation is giving me flashbacks to the recent Shaman King. Considering A-1 Pictures is the studio that did both Fairy Tail and Seven Deadly Sins, it could go either way.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Dec 18th 2022 at 9:08:14 AM

138: So, all this time, Doom's magic is mirrors. He's able to create a "reflection" of himself along a line, mirroring his attack from another angle. Guess the percentage of strength thing really is just from his Master Cane. Well, I guess that explains how he beat Mash the last time they fought, but he never used it while fighting anyone else. Guess he doesn't really need it, so he doesn't use it much. Doom might even be bad at using his personal magic, he might not even have a Seconths or Thirds spell. Mash catching Doom's sword with his eyelids is some classic Mashle dumb bullshit, and I love it.

Also, I think my theory about the hair might hold weight. Doom's Master Cane allows Doom to exchange his magic energy for physical strength, and it looks like a bunch of tentacles around a stick, similar to how Doom's hair looks like a bunch of tentacles and it was constantly growing and shrinking over the course of this fight, every time he powered up. Now, at 100%, it looks like his hair is just a gigantic mass of tentacles. Maybe there's some Cthulhu inspiration here with his Master Cane. Also, it's important to remember that Doom has had a constant healing factor throughout this fight due to Zero replacing his heart with a demon heart.