Guardians of the Uwasa
Episode 1: The Water Station
Ever since Tsuruno mentioned Nemu being a regular at her restaurant Banbanzai, Iroha had been going there everyday to see her. Unfortunately, Iroha would spend so many days there that she had tried every ramen dish on the menu. One day, she eventually orders the vegetable ramen and rates it as a C. She goes into detail about how it feels like an average ramen regardless of toppings. Yachiyo asks Tsuruno to elaborate whether Nemu actually shows up there, but Tsuruno admits that Nemu was more of a monthly regular. That meant they were no closer to understanding where Mifuyu or Ui were, nor did they have any idea what the creature that grew out of Iroha at the Séance Shrine. Hence, it might be necessary that they continue using Grief Seeds to avoid that scenario again.Tsuruno's father goes out to deliver food, and says he didn't need help finding it as he could look up the address. This gives Yachiyo the idea of looking up where Nemu lives with a phonebook, which Tsuruno happens to keep at Banbanzai. Iroha didn't know how to read one, but with Yachiyo's help, she finds four potential households in Sankyo Ward that have Nemu's last name. Yachiyo admits she had work as a model to attend to, so Iroha had to investigate alone. The latter is startled upon recalling Mitama's impression of how Momoko thinks of Yachiyo, that she acted like a stuck-up model. Tsuruno also explains that she needs to tend to the restaurant, so she can't help Iroha either.
By sunset, Iroha had gone to 3 of the households and hadn't find Nemu. She comments to the Lil' Kyubey about how thirsty she was feeling when she notices what looks like a vendor cart that apparently gave out free water. The man at the stall beckoned for Iroha to drink a cup of "wonder water." Just then a schoolgirl with blond pigtails and a red-haired girl with more casual attire asked for a cup. The three of them drink the water and find that it tasted unexpectedly good. The redhead asks if it really was water and not juice, while the blond girl asks for another cup. The man says they could only have one cup a day, so they decide not to trouble him and go their separate ways.
Iroha considers talking to Yachiyo and Tsuruno about the water, when a small paper labeled "24" lands on her face. She shrugs it off and heads for the last house, but is disappointed to find that Nemu didn't live there either. After coming back to Yachiyo, the latter becomes concerned about Iroha coming to Kamihama so often. As it turned out however, Iroha was already planning to move there. Since her father had overseas work, her mother decided to support him while Iroha took care of herself at the school dorm that her mother mentioned. Sadly it turned out the dormitory ran out of rooms already. A paper labeled "22" appears near Yachiyo, which has the two of them very concerned.
Episode 2: Mysterious Papers
The next morning, Iroha woke up to find a bunch of numbered papers on her pillow and tells Yachiyo about it. They find that no Rumor in the Kamihama Rumor Files lines up with what was happening to Iroha, which she ran into a very recent one. Iroha then remembers the Water Station with the Owl Sign, and decides to go back to where she last saw it just as a paper labeled "10" appears. When she gets there she finds that it had not shown up again. She worries that the papers' countdown would reach zero, when the blond girl runs into her. The girl apparently didn't care about what the papers meant so long as she got another cup of the water, nor did she understand what a Rumor was. She initially turns down Iroha's offer to investigate it but decides to follow Iroha if it means getting something in return. Iroha didn't have money so she offers to make dinner for the girl, who accepts the offer and eagerly introduces herself as Felicia Mitsuki.Meanwhile, Yachiyo was investigating elsewhere in Sankyo Ward when she hears an odd voice. She turns to find a bizarre green-skinned figure gibbering about gossip to some girls. She is startled to find that despite looking like a Familiar it is making no attempts to produce a Labyrinth and is spreading a rumor without anyone's awareness. Yachiyo then notices a girl with red hair complaining that the others don't realize what was speaking to them before the creature suddenly vanishes. Yachiyo realizes that if that girl could see what the figure looked like, then she could also be a Magical Girl, so she decides to introduce herself after the strangers left. The girl is perplexed that she would openly say that she was a Magical Girl but nonetheless introduces herself as Kyoko Sakura. She claims she never saw the creature before when a paper labeled "9" suddenly lands on her. When Yachiyo explains that Kyoko might be part of a Rumor, the latter refuses to investigate as Uwasa are not the same as Witches, leaving before Yachiyo could persuade her any further.
Iroha also has trouble convincing Felicia about the Rumors, but they decide to meet up with Yachiyo. Felicia suddenly runs off and Iroha chases after her. Iroha senses a Witch and is warns Felicia to get away. She is stunned when Felicia transforms and goes further toward the Witch. When Iroha goes into the Labyrinth she is shocked at Felicia swinging her hammer with anger and recklessness. The Witch escapes but Iroha begs for Felicia to calm down. She apologizes for her behavior and they decide to go back to looking for Yachiyo.
Episode 3: Black Feather Girls
Yachiyo was not amused about meeting Felicia at Banbanzai, and demanded that Iroha cut ties with her. She elaborated that Felicia had been known throughout Kamihama for branding herself as a mercenary to other Magical Girls, but that her volatile rage towards Witches makes her impossible to cooperate with in battle, and usually switches sides with other girls as soon as they offer a better deal. However, Iroha insists that she promised Felicia dinner. Tsuruno then barges in upon hearing Felicia call Yachiyo an "old bag," before loudly introducing herself just as Felicia asks about her. Felicia retorts that Tsuruno just calls herself the "Mightiest," but Yachiyo manages to deescalate the argument by having them split into pairs. Iroha agrees to take Felicia with her, but is then reminded about the Familiar-like creature by Yachiyo just as a paper labeled "7" appears in front of her and Felicia.Iroha plans to go and ask some people at a store about any rumors they heard and offers to buy Felicia some juice to get her to help. Just then Felicia senses the Witch she saw yesterday and charges off, clearly thinking its worth more than quenching her thirst. Iroha chases her into the Labyrinth and begs her to be careful with her attacks. Felicia finally stops when she realizes she struck Iroha, but exclaims she can't help herself thinking that any Witch could be responsible for her parents' deaths. Iroha sympathizes with her, realizing she had been living alone for a while. She is relieved when they defeat the Witch more calmly, but Felicia doubts that she'll ever know whether her parents are avenged or not. Iroha ponders about how hard it must be for Felicia to live to be easily bribed by food, when Felicia points out the creature that Yachiyo warned them about. Iroha briefly contacts Yachiyo before she and Felicia have a closer look at it.
They are confused about what they are seeing, but keep quiet to listen to it speak. It talks about the Rumor of the Misery Water: a cooler within the basket of a bicycle that is ridden by a man who gives out a free cup of water to drink from. The water is cursed so that the misery washed away would cause a disaster after 24 hours. Felicia shrugs it off thinking her life was already bad enough, but Iroha worries that wherever Ui was, things could get worse for her. They decide to follow the creature, when suddenly some girls in black cloaks appear to stop them. They insist that they mean no harm but Felicia and Iroha decide to fight them anyway for getting in the way.
Felicia is about to knock the strangers aside when Yachiyo and Tsuruno show up to explain that it wasn't worth chasing the creature anymore. It turns out the girls who dragged Iroha and Felicia away planned for the other two to arrive to speak with them personally. They request that the Magical Girls stop getting involved with Rumors. Iroha counters that it would be too cruel for them to let the Rumor of Misery Water do anything bad to them. Tsuruno quickly deduces that the Faceless Goons were only stopping them now because they were about to destroy that exact Rumor, to which they go silent. The four Magical Girls decide that protecting Uwasa was unacceptable, regardless of what their enemies had to gain from it.
Just as they gain the advantage, Felicia remarks that things could be different if her foes offered a good enough price, much to Iroha's horror. Yachiyo has Iroha and Tsuruno retreat for the time being. Iroha is still shocked as she only sees the best in people, but Yachiyo drops the act by saying she promised Felicia a better reward if she pretended to join the enemy as a means of investigating from within their base. Iroha is upset that she wasn't told this sooner, but Yachiyo admits she was enjoying herself, while another paper appears showing that Iroha had four hours left to defeat the Uwasa.
Episode 4: The Wings of the Magius
Iroha and Yachiyo wait for Felicia to report back at a train station for the next two hours, but she hadn't appeared yet. Tsuruno comes back after tracking Felicia herself, but claims to have lost sight of her after some time. Yachiyo wonders if Felicia accepted their bribe, but Iroha doubts this as there was no proof of it. Thus, they have Tsuruno take them to where she last saw Felicia. Meanwhile, Felicia is with one of the hooded individuals who was negotiating with her.Iroha complains about them moving in a zig-zag fasion, leading Tsuruno to admit that she had been following Felicia from the rooftops in a straight line. She suggests they do so again, but Iroha and Yachiyo decide not to risk anyone seeing them do that and becoming online embarassments. They eventually reach the park where Tsuruno lost track of Felicia, and are about to look around when Felicia comes back. It turned out that whatever they offered her was still better than what she agreed on with Yachiyo, so she's decided not to let them through. However Iroha feels that something besides the reward they offered was bothering her. Tsuruno agrees with this sentiment, assuming Felicia was just doing it to see what happens and not knowing what the Rumor is capable of. When Iroha insists that something bad would happen in two hours, Felicia didn't want to hear it, thinking nothing could be worse than losing her parents. Iroha argues that such a disaster could effect other things that are important to her and asks her to think of something important. Felicia brings up the stuffed cow her parents bought at a fair, so Iroha assumes that the Rumor could target that, insisting she didn't want Felicia to ignore any danger. Felicia transforms back, agreeing not to be a nuisance to anyone anymore. And so she leads them to the Uwasa's location.
They arrive at Sankyoin Academy, which had underground sewers within school grounds. Classes were not open at the time, so they freely went inside with only an hour left. Tsuruno and Iroha freak out upon realizing that bats were living in it, much to Yachiyo's and Felicia's chagrin. Their screaming naturally catches the attention of some hooded girls who proceed to attack them. They're stunned that Felicia was willing to reject them, while Yachiyo confirms that they're not backing down without knowing what the goals of these strangers were. One of them decides to explain herself to avoid conflict, despite being told to do so for a select few. She declares that they are the Wings of the Magius, an organization of "Black Feathers" who ensure that their leaders achieve their goals. She vaguely says that this goal is to "save all Magical Girls" from their curse, which leaves Yachiyo stunned. Iroha is concerned, as this sounds eerily similar to what the illusion of Ui said to her at Mizuna Shrine. Yachiyo then calls them out for protecting Rumors despite not knowing how this would help Magical Girls. Suddenly, Kyoko jumps out of nowhere and knocks down the Black Feather while declaring that they were running out of time. A paper appears showing that they have exactly "1:00" hour left. Iroha and Felicia are taken aback upon remembering that Kyoko was the third girl who drank the Misery Water. Kyoko had previously figured out what the Rumor was on her own, and decided to follow Yachiyo and the others into the sewer. They fight to move past the Black Feathers, with Kyoko annoyed that Yachiyo was still trying to talk to them.
Episode 5: A Noble Goal
Iroha considers the potential connections between Ui and the Wings of the Magius and what it means to save Magical Girls. The group finds a large opening in the sewers, which Kyoko rushes toward. Felicia then asks why she stopped, but Kyoko and Tsuruno point out two figures at the other side of the room. Unlike the Black Feathers, these two were draped in white hoods. The White Feathers remark that they overheard the group saying they have an hour left but decide to stop them anyway for the sake of the Magius and all other Magical Girls. The group decide to knock them aside, and Iroha reluctantly agrees despite wanting to ask about Ui. The White Feathers are disappointed about being compared to Black Feathers and decide to reveal their identities. They pull away their cloaks and introduce themselves as Tsukuyo and Tsukasa Amane.Yachiyo is confused about the Amane sisters wielding flutes as weapons, but realize that the large room gave them an advantage. The sounds coming from them prove to be deafening, forcing the group to find a solution around their foes. Tsuruno notices Felicia trying to sneak past the sisters alone and calls her out for abandoning teamwork. Kyoko defends Felicia by arguing that Yachiyo ought to keep the sisters distracted. Felicia and Tsuruno start yelling loud enough for Kyoko to notice, and it becomes apparent to Iroha and Yachiyo that the noise was beginning to drown out the echoes from the sisters' flutes. Yachiyo quickly knocks away their flutes while Iroha backed her up. The Amane sisters still insist on fighting, but Iroha points out that their Soul Gems were growing too dim. But the two girls laugh it off and decide to show them why Kamihama is a place of liberation.
Realizing what they are about to do, Tsuruno asks Iroha to try it too but Yachiyo insists nothing good comes from needing your Soul Gem to be tainted. Aquarium and terrarium shaped objects appears out of each of the sisters, and attacks the group, but the latter is able to endure it. When Yachiyo points out that a strange Witch-like creature had also appeared out of Iroha, Kyoko remarks that she must be the "humanoid Witch" that Mami had told her about. Iroha realizes what this implies, and Kyoko promptly introduces herself to Iroha. Fortunately, Kyoko doesn't think Iroha can be a Witch after seeing it for herself, nor can it simply be a new technique. The Amane sisters elaborate on what they demonstrated, saying it is a projection of their emotions that they call a "Doppel." They say to Yachiyo that she of all people should know what this means. Iroha asks them if this means nobody needs Grief Seeds, and the sisters take this as an oppurtunity to continue discussing it. But Yachiyo sees that they were just stalling Iroha and decides now was the time to get to the Uwasa. But just as more Black Feathers arrive, a paper labeled "0:30" appears.
Yachiyo orders Iroha and Felicia to focus on the Black Feathers while she and Tsuruno deal with the Amane sisters, but Kyoko pulls Felicia aside claiming they have to prioritize the Uwasa. Felicia agrees to go with her, to Yachiyo's surprise. The sisters realize where they are going before realizing they're too distracted with their opponents. Yachiyo deliberately breaks Tsukuyo's leg while Tsuruno strikes Tsukasa hard enough to make it difficult to breathe. With the White Feathers immobilized, they give Iroha the approval of following Felicia and Kyoko towards the Uwasa.
Episode 6: Cup Overflowing With Misery
The three Magical Girls move through the sewers, wondering if they would even find the Uwasa when they suddenly reach its Labyrinth. Kyoko is surprised by how different it was compared to a Witch's Labyrinth, just as the 20 minute paper appears. They start tripping over themselves spontaneously, while a rock lands on Felicia's head. They realize the area they're in is filled with misfortune just as lesser Uwasa begin to fly around them. These Uwasa prove difficult enough for Kyoko to admit that she considered leaving the other two to fight the main Uwasa herself, but that doing so wasn't worth the effort.They reach another large room where a giant cup-shaped creature filled with water is sitting. Felicia moves forward to smash it herself, only for it to throw a large boulder at her which Kyoko had to blast apart. It became apparent that getting close isn't an option but when Iroha tries shooting it with her crossbow, her attacks had no effect. They begin throwing around ideas just as the paper showing they have 10 minutes left appears. Eventually Felicia suggests that she could try blasting herself off a boulder propel herself toward the Uwasa faster than other boulders can hit her. After 10 attempts and 7 minutes, Felicia succeeds in reaching the Uwasa. Her attacks only leave dents on it, allowing to counterattack but Kyoko forms a net to block it. With less than a minute left, Felicia abruptly knocks the Uwasa towards Iroha and yells for her to shoot it.
The labyrinth rapidly fades away, and the Magical Girls are now above the sewers. A strange balloon then appears before Iroha, and she gets scared that they didn't finish it in time. The balloon then pops revealing a paper saying "Congratulations" and some glitter. The three girls express relief that they're free of the curse just as Tsuruno and Yachiyo arrive. The Amane sisters were too injured, and could only give empty threats now that they've failed. Yachiyo says that she'd hate to make them suffer more if they keep fighting, when a familiar voice agrees.
Yachiyo is left stunned as Mifuyu shows herself, while Tsuruno cheerfully throws herself and hugs her. She declares that they ought to throw a party with her at Banbanzai, but Mifuyu quickly refuses. It becomes apparent, but she tells Tsuruno that she was also a member of the Wings of the Magius and that she has to consider herself their enemy if they continue destroying Uwasa. While she is glad that Yachiyo would go through so much effort to look for her, the latter could hardly believe she was facing her best friend. Mifuyu explains that she serves a vital role, acting as an intermediate between the Magius and the Feathers. She was adamant about not leaving because of an incident that happened a year ago, and that Yachiyo of all people should understand. Yachiyo tries to start a scuffle to convince Mifuyu to stop, but the Amane sisters get in her way. Mifuyu transforms back to normal and insists that the sisters retreat with her, which they reluctantly agree to. Before they could leave, Iroha quickly asks Mifuyu if she knows about Ui. Mifuyu sadly claims that she knows nothing about Ui and suggests that she might be one of many Feathers that she didn't know about.
Yachiyo decides they may need to change their plans to account for Mifuyu and the Wings of the Magius. She and Mifuyu had been working together as Magical Girls for 7 years, so she can't give up on her. Iroha agrees to continue working for her knowing the strange organization may be connected to Ui. Tsuruno offers to join in as a friend should, but Yachiyo downplays this by suggesting she works as her pupil like in the old days. Kyoko decides to go back to her territory, but Iroha asks if she could explain to Mami what the misunderstanding was actually about, which Kyoko agrees to the next time they run into each other.
Episode 7: Iroha's New Life…
Now that the Rumor of the Misery Water was eliminated, Iroha and her allies had a new lead for Ui. Felicia was still following them since she expected her bonus Grief Seed as payment for working with them. She begins to argue with Yachiyo who refuses on the grounds that Felicia considered turning against them. Iroha stops the argument, claiming that what Felicia did won't stop her from making her dinner after she decides where in Kamihama to move into. As they continue to walk, Iroha asks if Felicia wants to stop being a mercenary before she ends up becoming everyone's enemy. Felicia rejects this idea because she can't think of any other way to survive. Iroha asks if she could team up with Felicia, but the latter says that even she wanted to she couldn't pay for food. Yachiyo pipes in with the suggestion that she live at her boarding house with her services as payment for rent. Tsuruno then suggests that if Felicia had no money, she could try working at Banbanzai for hourly pay and a free dish. Felicia happily agrees to both offers.Iroha is about to leave at the train station, and promises to let them know where she will be living. Yachiyo asks Iroha to ask her parents if she could also live with Yachiyo. While they were able to convince Iroha's mother to let her stay for one day last time, she asks if she wouldn't be a bother. Yachiyo says that shouldn't be a problem because they're friends. When Iroha points out she's her assistant, Yachiyo gives her 10 seconds to decide, to which Iroha immediately agrees to ask her mother. Tsuruno asks if she could live with Yachiyo too, but she counters that Tsuruno already had a home nearby. Yachiyo goes with Iroha to her house to ask her parents, and they agree to let Iroha stay with her. Iroha suggests that it might be because her mother heard about Yachiyo's model work, and that it almost seemed like fate that things turned out the way they did. Yachiyo is confused by Iroha's room being half-empty, which Iroha points out is because that half belonged to Ui before she disappeared. They agree to bring back Ui and Mifuyu together, before Yachiyo takes her leave.
Tropes:
- Bat Scare: Tsuruno and Iroha have this while exploring the sewers beneath Sankyoin Academy, catching the attention of the Black Feathers.
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Briefly discussed when Iroha, Yachiyo, and Tsuruno debate whether to move across the rooftops to get to Felicia more quickly. Yachiyo is the one most against this idea, pointing out they would be embarrassing themselves online, all while wearing skirts.
- Freudian Slip: When Iroha admits to moving to Kamihama, Yachiyo has this reaction:
