Transformation sequences have always been integral to Magical Girl anime for quite a long time. From Sailor Moon to Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha to Pretty Cure, many consider the transformation sequence to be as important as the characters themselves. But what if that transformation fails? Rising manga star, Asano, recently tweeted an illustration focusing on a failed magical girl transformation. His chilling portrayal has gone viral and got fans talking.

The conversation that the image evokes include why did she fail to transform? Why did she even need to transform? Maybe there was an enemy who finally got smart and attacked her during the transformation sequence. Who knows? Transformation sequences usually last a minute, and that’s enough time to launch an attack. And more often than not, most villains would do nothing while their Magical Girl opponent is transforming. But whatever the case, this illustration, which used the bright colors that magical girl anime often use, paints a very dark picture, huh? As of writing, the viral twitter post has 9,242 Retweets and 48,117 Likes.

As for the illustrator himself, many consider Asano as an up-and-coming mangaka. His works include Asamiya-san no Imoto, Hana to Uso to Makoto, and hojo A no Higeki. He also occasionally posts illustrations and sketches (such as this one) on his Twitter account.

Source: @asano4124