The girls are all in a hero club where they go around doing plays for children and generally being good people. This club was founded by the senpai Fuu, who has a little sister in the club (Itsuki(.

Turns out the Hero Club is actually a front for them to become magical girls and save the world from an evil slowly encroaching into it people don't know anything about. Fuu was recruited by the 'Taisha' who protects Japan to gather the other girls for when they were needed. (This is apparently an allegory for Japan's role during WW2. The creator of the series is known for being kind of a right wing nutjob

The girls beat the encroaches rather easily and a new girl joins. She (Karin) was a rserve magical girl who knew what was going on before any of the others and is very cold and aloof at first but warms up to them, especially Yuuna, eventually.

Itsuki has a character focus episode which is about how she loves to sing but she has a fear of singing in front of a crowd. With the help of the others, she largely gets over her shyness.

There's a big fight where all the girls excpect Karin are forced to go 'Mankai' and defeat the last of the invaders rather anti-climactically. Mankai automatically activates once the girls take a certain amount of damage and a flower emblem appears on their armour

After this, they start developing odd disabilities. Yuuna loses her sense of taste, Tougo; her hearing in one ear, Fuu gets an eyepatch and Itsuki loses her voice. They're worried but they are assured by their remote link to the Taisha that this is just the after effects of the mankai and it'll go away. They are hailed as heroes and their quality of life improves massively behind the scenes.

Fuu and Karin begin to emotionally unravel when it becomes clear the 'after effects' aren't going anywhere. Fuu bears the guilt of being the one who recruited the other girls (Including her own little sister, of who she's like a mother to because orphans) and Karin has survivor's guilt because she survived the war she spent her life preparing for without any loss and kind of recedes into herself.

Yuuna and Tougo meet a previous hero who is bedridden and wrapped in bandages from head to foot. SHe tells them that she went mankai twenty two times in order to defeat the invaders and it ended up completely destroying her body bit by bit. Now she's worshiped and venerated by the Taisha and the citezenry (Who it appears more and more are in the know, deliberately isolating the girls with wrong information) and praise and riches are lavished upon her and her family.

Yuuna tells Fuu about the previous hero

Tougo calls Yuuna and Fuu around and attempts to kill herself in front of them. Her magical girl mascot stops her and she explains she's tried suicide in every way imaginable but the Taisha refuses to let her die. They have to live with their disabilities for life.

Fuu finds a letter of acceptance for an audition Itsuki ended via tape. Itsuki says on tape that she sings for her sister and she really loves singing and it's her dream to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV34iS2EFPI This masterpiece happens.

Don't ask about the rest of the show. It's garbage and completely fails to come anywhere close to showcasing the ideal of heroism as well as Yuuna does there. It should have ended there. Great humane ending. Fuck Madoka imitation.