Mashle: Magic and Muscles – Season 1 Episode 11 Recap & Review

Mash Burnedead and the Survival of the Fittest

Episode 11 of Mashle: Magic and Muscles starts with Lord Abel being surprised that Mash defeated Abyss and complimenting him about his potential superiority. However, Abel wants to dispose of those who can’t wield magic and those who shelter the weak. After Mash announces he can’t support Abel’s ideals, Abel attacks Mash with his puppets while Love stumbles upon the two fighting.

After Mash defeats his army of puppets, he asks Abel what he did with Lemon. Abel doesn’t give Mash a solid answer and confirms he’s draining other students of their powers. Abel says he has a right to take from the weak and sends another batch of puppets to fight Mash. Mash defeats them with a swift punch, and Abel acknowledges his growth. Mash says after he beats Abel, he wants Abel to tell him what happened to Lemon.

Abel sends Finn, who has been turned into a puppet, to fight Mash. Although Mash takes a beating from Finn, he uses his gold coin to break Abel’s strings controlling him. Finn transforms back into his former self. Mash delivers a swift attack at Abel, and Abel uses a spell that transforms Mash into a puppet. Abel searches Mash’s robe and thinks he has Mash’s gold coin. However, it turns out to be a cream puff, and Mash attacks Abel and returns to being human, baffling Abel.

Abel speculates Mash’s spinal reflex kicked in, allowing him to attack Abel while under his control. Abel unleashes his final spell, “Marioness Secondth: Harm Puppet,” which can transform anyone into a puppet within a 100m radius when its invisible strings touch them. Abel says these strongs will disable bodily control, so Mash can’t rely on his spinal reflex to save him. Mash defeats Harm Puppet with ease, shocking Abel.

Love says once Mash felt the string make contact with his left side, he grabbed and snapped them before he lost control of his right side. Mash destroys the remaining segments of Harm Puppet and uses his Hell Fall technique to defeat Abel. Abel reflects on his past after being slammed into the ground by Mash. Abel reveals his mother’s kind nature to the audience and says she got stabbed for caring for the underprivileged. Abel says his mother’s demise led him to seek the best talent for his plan.

Abel promises to revert the students to their human forms since he lost to Mash. Mash tells Abel he’s not a bad fellow since he did all this for his mother. Abel frees everyone, and Mash celebrates his victory with Lemon and Finn. Lemon thanks Mash for saving her while Dot rushes over to join them in cheering.

Meanwhile, Rayne finds Lance and attacks him. It turns out this isn’t Lance but Innocent Zero. Zero confirms they’re searching for something important in the school. Zero admits that he entrusted Abel to find this thing but plans to kill him since they deem him useless.

Zero flees and his partner, Jon Pierre, prevents Rayne from pursuing them. Rayne argues that Zero’s power is on par with a Divine Visionary’s and that nobody will stand a chance against him. The episode closes with Mash and his friends cheering while Zero heads their way.

The Episode Review

After the short battle Abel and Mash had in a previous episode, fans wondered how Mash’s real fight with Lord Abel would turn out. While Abel utilized many nifty tricks against Mash, it wasn’t enough to stop Mash’s inner might and quick wit. This episode shows audiences that while Mash is physically strong, he can invent and utilize intriguing plans on the fly.

While some aspects of the battle were contrived and convenient, fans will love seeing Mash slam sense into Abel’s mind. The explanation we receive behind Abel’s actions is relatable to an extent. Based on the short narrative he shared with Mash about his mother, it makes sense for him to devalue people who are less privileged than himself.

As for Innocent Zero, it appears he may be the one who’ll push Mash to his limits. Yet, Rayne told Mash he may not have a chance against Abel, and we see how that fight turned out. Nonetheless, I’m hoping Zero gives Mash and his friends more of a challenging fight since Mash’s fight with Lord Abel, while beautifully animated, felt too easy for our protagonist.

Overall, this was a fun episode of Mashle: Magic and Muscles. We receive more information about Abel, and his reasons for pursuing evil, and get the reveal of Zero, an enemy who may provide Mash with a worthwhile challenge. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all turns out in the next chapter of Mashle: Magic and Muscles.