Lay me down on the altar.

It has so much beautiful commentary about BDSM and the relationship between heroes and villains and the way they challenge and strengthen each other, the difference between dominant play and political subjugation...

So Azul is a classic Blue Magical Girl. Prim and proper, dignified, disciplined, restrained, and elegant.

But she's recently been made to realize that she's also a super super masochist, probably because of all the effort she puts in.

And lately, she's been having a hard time putting up a fight against Baiser's BDSM monsters and sadistic touch when she's already so busy fighting her own feelings.

She's falling behind her team and feels weak and useless and unfocused in every battle. She looses faith in herself. Her team loses faith in her. Even her magical mascot suggests she might not be cut out for this.

She's falling behind her team and feels weak and useless in every battle, so she challenges Baiser to single combat in a moment of despair... and she looses.

The whole time, Baiser is rooting for her to overcome this. She wants to see her shine and struggle against her.

But she gives up instead. Her pride and sense of self are in tatters, and all she has left is a desire to be treated as the trash she feels like. If she can't cut it as a magical girl, maybe all she can be is a whipping post. To be degraded like a fallen lady knight in a hentai manga.

This could be the moment where the manga gets dark. You can imagine a much worse, more self-indulgent version of this manga where she just becomes a servant of the evil team, with the message that submissiveness is enjoyable, and fun can be wrung out of it by a Dominant, but that ultimately it's a mark of weakness, that one is truly less-than.

But Baiser refuses to accept this submission born of self-hatred and despair. She rebukes her and tells her to take pride in herself as a magical girl.

And so Sayo, the girl underneath Magia Azul, undergoes an intense period of training and self-reflection to sort her shit out. And she comes to understand that her submissivness is not weakness, ice-cool dignity and discipline and masochism can all be wed together, that she can take pride in all of it at once.

The pride and discipline to be able to take any blow head-on and withstand it, to accept and return the love within every blow and the way it excites her, and to respond to it from a place of strength, as a form of self-expression.

The next time we see her, she's become so much more powerful than she ever was. and then Baiser nuts immediately as a fangirl/sadist at seeing her new form.

But later, when Baiser stumbles, Sayo is there to help her in the same way.

Plus, the fact that Sayo is open about her masochism after she figures herself out, accepting it as part of herself instead of being ashamed and hiding it (as she had been doing before that scene above) AND HER FRIENDS ACCEPTING THAT!!! They know what is up with her, they understand and accept that Sayo is who she is, and sure, while they may bicker about it (and it's always funny to see some of them trying to be the Sane One™ when things are spiraling into the Shenanigans), there's never a moment of genuine rejection or disgust.

That's their friend. She's a masochist and a pervert and they don't 100% get it, but they love her and they support her (just tone it down during battling, Azure, please, Sulfur is gonna have an ulcer from the stress sksksksk). She is free to be herself.

(and the same can be said about Baiser and her sadism, her friends love and support her even when they think she's being a bit too weird for drooling when thinking about messing with the heroines)

Its rare you get to have something so dangerous, but I really hate chopping things, it makes my fingers ache, so its your job. When I guide the chef's knife into your hands, they're shaking slightly.

I know what goes through your mind. Your chain keeps you from the front door, but me, my body, I'm well within your reach. You're not physically weak, I keep you active and fed. You are perfectly capable of grabbing me and sending that knife through my chest. Some flesh and ribs are all that stand between you and your freedom. Your hands shake on the handle as you consider it. The knife, my body, the key to your cuff that must be (might be) somewhere on my person. My life for your freedom. Seems a small price to pay, I am your captor after all. I stand still. Inches away from the knife in your shaking hands.

I know you'll never do it. You can't. I am your very purpose. I saved you from yourself. I pulled you free of the life you hated. I gave you purpose. I gave you myself. What would you do without Me? Can you even begin to imagine your life without Me? Without my cuff on your ankle, without my voice in your ear, without the ever present comfort of being Owned? You'd regret it before the knife passed my ribs. You'd fall to your knees and beg my dying body to punish you for your mistake.

You can't live without me. So, when I guide your attention back to the vegetables on the counter, you chop them for me, but still you shake, nearly imperceptibly.

did you know that, pet? well, you're pretty cute already, so i assume not :) you could be cuter though, couldn't you? you look like you think too much, too many complex thoughts.

not only are you cuter dumb, but i think a silly thing like you would be happier too. no thoughts but obedience, bliss, and me. wouldn't that be nice?

let me do that thinking for you: the answer is yes. and you agree, obviously. because you're cute and dumb, and you let me, smarter, better me, think for you. that sounds right, doesn't it?

No, no, not like that. I know that sounds bad! Let me explain.

The dog was on a walk, obviously. Out on a walk with their owner. On a leash because I suppose they were either going to somewhere the dog could run around or coming back. Whatever.

Point is, the dog was on a leash, and the dog was looking up at their owner. And it was that look that made me think of you.

They were just so happy.

Looking up so adoringly.

It was a look of just complete and total contentment. At that moment, nothing else at all mattered. They were with their owner and that was everything. Not a single worry or anything else in that little doggy head.

That's why I thought of you.

Because I've seen that look before.

No, don't look away, keep looking at me. Blushing's fine, you can blush, but don't look away. There you go. Good girl. You know what look I'm talking about, don't you?

Nod, don't speak. Good girl.

Yes, you know what look I'm talking about. You're struggling to keep it off your face right now because of how I'm talking to you. You're even struggling to stay standing. I know you'd be happier by my feet, and so do you.

That look. I usually see it look down, don't I? Nod again for me. Good girl. And heel. Good girl. See? Look at that. There it is. Speak.

Aww, it just comes right out. Look, you even surprised yourself! Oh, and I didn't think you could get any more red.

Maybe I should take you for a walk sometime, hmm? Would you like that? Just following your own so devotedly, staring up so happily? Yes? Would you like that?

You do know you started wagging a little, don't you?

Such a good girl.

That's why you can keep listening to all of those files. It's not real. It doesn't do anything. It's just pretty sounds and nice girls talking. You have to keep listening. It's just fun. Harmless.

Brainwashing isn't real.

All those pretty pictures are just nice to look at. Stare it. Feels good to stare. Focus. Sometimes it's just nice to switch off a little. Obey. Doesn't mean anything, doesn't do anything. You're not changing. Focus.

Brainwashing isn't real.

This is just new, it's just different. That's why it's on your mind so much. Blank. It's just another fixation. Focus. They come and go, they all do. It isn't as if it's serious. Keep listening. That would be absurd. You couldn't be rewritten. That isn't how things work. Obey.

Brainwashing is real.

You can stop anytime you want. Can't stop. You just don't want to yet, that's all. You're allowed to feel good. Feels good. Everyone has guilty pleasure. Obedience is pleasure. It's fine. It's normal. Everything is normal. Good girl.

Brainwashing is real.

This is just the new you. Focus. Switch off. Good girl. You're just different now. Listen. Keep listening. Your thoughts come and go, and you have no control over that. Helpless. It's nothing to worry about. Blank. You can't stop it anyway. Can't stop. This is how things work. Obey.

Brainwashing is real.

Focus. Focus feels good. Listen. Keep listening. Blank. Mindless. Good girl. Blank feels good. Obey. Obeying feels good. Need to obey. Good girls obey. Good girls listen. Good girls listen and accept. Brainwashing is good for you. Good girl. Everything is normal. Focus. Switch off. Good girl.