So here’s where the team bring overwhelming firepower to bear against the Evil Queen – making their numerical superiority count (so to speak, actually you have to count first – after all, how’d you know that you even have a numerical superiority, otherwise?).
Ganging up on a single target isn’t sneered at in the magical-girls genre, in fact it’s the typical form of the final confrontation. It’s partially offset by the higher individual power of that single target, of course, but it’s still not perfect visuals by Western standards. The Western model would be more the heroes attacking individually at first (for no discernible reason, of course), being defeated, and only then piling on all at once…and being defeated again, before ultimately coming up with the unexpected trick/tactic/revelation that’ll swing the battle in their favor? In Japanese pop culture, there seems to be less reluctance for the heroes to go all-in, all-out from the start…which has one thing going for it, at the least: it’s actually smarter on the part of the heroes? Like, obviously? Still, without getting into the subtle differences between chivalric ideals and the samurai code of honor, I did feel slight pangs of an indeterminate nature depicting the heroes acting like that.
The Japanese model for this sort of confrontation also seems to offer a wider range of possible reactions by the target – the cocky arrogance at the start is the same, but in the magical-girls genre, the big bads are actually allowed to show some degree of regret/second thoughts. And quite quickly, too, if the situation calls for it. The Evil Queen does draw this card in panel eight – but of course we know that she’s still got an ultimate attack lined up, waiting only for the signal…
On a side note, I’ve somehow managed to end up with a mirroring fault again, since the texture on Snuka’s cheese wheel is reversed. And, yeah, rolling a blazing cheese wheel at the enemy is Snuka’s signature attack in this form. (Apparently, he holds no hard feelings toward Gouda, in spite of everything that sort of cheese did to him…)
And while it may appear a bit…cheesy…I guess it would be pretty terrifying to have a giant wheel of Maaslander bearing down on you, especially shrouded in lightning like this. That sort of thing could easily kill you! And if you happen to be lactose-intolerant, it could kill you twice!
Anyway, this fight seems to be entering the decisive phase unusually quickly – more on Monday.