There goes the proud walk again.

Note that she stays mindful about her sister, she has always cared for her and doesn't want her own ambitions to harm her.

And once again we see her walking determined while Mai is pensive, slumped and seated in the shadow, her gaze empty & down

As Maki leaves, Mai calls her a liar, the reason for that will be given to us at the end of the episode

"I hate you" as Maki harbors this confident face expression because that confidence is precisely what lead to Maki taking the actions that birthed Mai's hatred

Another showcase of really nice sfx as well as tactics on Maki's side.

I'm in love with this cut where she turns her head and takes a deep breath.

In the following sequence, the OST really shines and we even learn that it is the one also used for the little commercial break transitions

Notice the twitch from her eyelid's muscles? That's a really nice detail to convey the tension and the fact she's trying not to blink.

This sequence is so amazing in every aspect I can only thank Gege for thinking about the bluff with a 6-round revolver and a 7th bullet. And the animators for offering this treat to us.

But Mai's ultimate trump card fails as Maki catches the bullet thanks to her Heavenly Restriction granting her superhuman physical abilities.

We can also see the strain put on Mai's body by her technique with the blood dripping from her nose

Mai then throws herself into desperate fighting, even throwing dirt to blind Maki at the end of this clip

Kinda ironic that shes repeats "Maki has a talent I don't have" when the reverse is also true

Marina Inoue showtime

She is just the best at crying lines out in this fashion (see her work as Kyouko or Sodachi for example)

Also, Maki walking proudly agai while leaving Mai behind her, in her shadow

This particular shot is just so sad to me, they nailed facial expressions in this sequence

Another example of what defines Maki as a charcaters, her personality. She is always looking up, so ofc she would have hated staying at the bottom.

She even adds "That's the only reason why."

And there you have the reason Mai calls her a liar, becasue of this "promise" Maki made when they were younger

As soon as the flashback ends she says it again, as she is left behind, once more.

In her last line "I hate you" we can even feel that she does not fully mean it

And there you go for this thread about the episode itself.
I'm really glad some of the anime onlies have been available to get to know Mai's character and didn't stay stuck on hating her.

Seems like the lesson from Nobara to Momo was learned by the audience in the end

MANGA SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

I will now come back on a few points in this episode that only manga readers would know more about

Scars

As Momo said, scars for female sorcerers are seens as a flaw

Then how about this?
Nobara, if she comes back, gets a good bit of character development by proving that this statement was false.

I'd also like to point out that according to a theory, Nobara may have hit herself with her own nails here to prevent the transfiguration from spreading

Second and last spoiler territory, Nobara's backstory and the mention of Saori

I'd like your feedback on this : what do you think she meant there?

That Saori got treated poorly because the villagers were misfortunate and she wasn't? That they did this behind her back, no one ever presented themselves as the culprit for what she endured?

END OF THE THREAD

Thank you for those who read this until here, I am very glad if you did!

Hope you enjoyed because this took me severaal hours to make it happen

And now let us enjoy the 18th episode where children traumatised by their childhood and parents face off!