Magikano

Well hello, my Otaku friends. If you are reading this review, then you know what is good for your taste. HAREM! ECCHI! COMEDY! ROMANCE!

Of course, if they are done right. And most of the time, they fail. Maken-ki Two might be a good example for failure. Alas, that is not the case of Magikano. Dear God, wasn't it fun? I literally got myself glued to this anime, and i know why. Let me reason myself below.

I have watched many, many comedy, ecchi, harem anime, since they are (I'm not ashamed to say) my favorite. So it's quite easy for me to say "I'm an ... expert now!" Maybe I am a perverted individual in real-life, (or Usui Takumi). But among those comedy animes I've watched, many have failed to make me laugh. Like, not even a twitch. I just stared at the screen wondering why people would try buy this piece of garbage that producers would like to call an anime.

But I laughed my ass off in Magikano. And I know why. DEAR-GOD-WAS-THAT-SOME-GOOD-VOICE-ACTING. It was WONDERFUL! Brilliant! I just had to watch to next episode after the other, and before i knew it, it was over.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not a deep anime. Half-assed story, character development etc. But that does not matter. Because it's not anime's main focus. It wants you to have fun while watching it. Even if they were not deep, I just fell in love with characters. So, wondefully portrayed! In an amusing way I mean. There are so many animes out there claiming to be fun and amusing.

The MC is a wimp. Yeah he is. But when you watch the first episode, you get the point. He holds some clique demon-king power inside of him waiting to be awakened, so he must not be aware of his powers. So he's a nerd with glasses. But being a wimp, is not being equal to being a dumb cry-bitch. (I'm looking at you Ouma Shu. Fuck you and your Guilty Crown). He got some guts, and he's smart too, for a harem MC. And it was quite refreshing that after the ecchi scenes, it was the girls who got the beating, not the boy. Normally, I hate weak characters, but since it was this shows stone-mile, I let it go, and watched him with a smile on face.

And the sisters. God those sisters. I wish I had them as mine. Not going to spoil this part, watch it.

Summary, it was nothing special, but god it was fun. Enjoyment: 10! Total 10!
Good job Magikano! (Though I'm few years late)

I just finished watching Magikano and throughout the series I couldn't decide whether or not I like the anime, but by the end I found it to be okay.

Story (6):

The story follows a witch Ayumi Mamiya who is cursed to lose her powers unless she awakens the boy she saw in the mirror who happens to be the protagonist Haruo.

It's pretty basic as far as harem anime goes. To be honest, by episode three I wondered if this anime was intended to be a parody of the harem genre by just how over the top it could be with some of these cliches.

The episodes ... that focus on advancing the plot, such as the one with the class play, or the final two episodes, are enjoyable to watch. Had there been more focus on the main plot throughout, the story would've received a higher score. There is a lot of filler and a few cringey episodes to get through, but a good amount of humor makes it possible.

The ending comes out of nowhere and is quite a disappointment.

Characters (4):

A lot of the characters in this anime are unlikeable. To begin with the main protagonist is your run of the mill harem lead. Though to be fair, his obliviousness is not his fault due to his sisters constantly erasing his mind. (This reason for him being oblivious is why I considered this being a parody). However when he finally is able to resist the mind erasing charm, he is legitimately angry, and I would have liked to see more of that side of Haruo, unfortunately that's about as far as it goes. So there's nothing special about the protagonist.

I found every single girl in this anime, except the minor character who has a crush on Yuri, and Rika (pretty much the only two who aren't interested in Haruo) to be annoying. The main character Ayumi is too whiny and selfish. Maika, who is in love with her own brother, annoys me by not allowing her brother to make his own choices. Actually that can be said about all of them. All they are concerned with is getting Haruo, yet not a one considers Haruo's feelings on the matter. Ayumi is the only one who actually has a reason, but as for the others, I don't understand why they're so interested in this one guy, it's never explained.

The best characters by far are Haruo's friends: Sora and Hajime, the boys in the supernatural science club. They are hilarious every moment they're on screen. And they break the pervert best friend trope by actually having hobbies and personalities. In fact I wish they were the main characters.

Art (7):

The art is decent. The animation is decent. It's nothing ground breaking, but it still looks good.

Sound (8):

I love the ending song. It's so catchy and fast paced. The dancing animation that accompanies the ending is fun to watch. It's a song I would listen to on its own as well. The opening song is calming and sweet.

I watched the English dub of this anime and I love the dialogue humor. I laughed so much at all the puns and references throughout. They made many references to other fandoms which earned a chuckle or two. The girls arguing with each other is funny. They speak in modern vernacular in a way that doesn't come across as annoying or trying too hard.

Still the best part has to be the commercials. Whenever Sora and Hajime introduced a new item there was an infomercial type voice over that explained what the item was and included the fast talking fine print and all. Those moments never failed to make me laugh thanks in large parts to the voice actor.

Enjoyment (6):

The enjoyment was hit or miss depending on the episode. There were some good episodes such as the sports day one (with the best surprise ending), the pool episode (again, great resolution), the school play episode, and all the plot relevant action episodes. Then there were a few lousy episodes, the second episode and the one with the talking underwear were too annoying and ridiculous to enjoy.

Mostly it was the humor and the dialogue that made the anime fun to watch. In many cases the episode's resolution did come as a surprise, which I felt added to the enjoyment of that particular episode.

As mentioned earlier, I didn't care much for the overall ending.

Overall (6):

Magikano had potential to be good. As far as overall plot it's decent, and the humor is great. However there were too many cliche and annoying characters to really enjoy it to the max. The fact I didn't root for any of the girls due to their obnoxious personalities (and overall objectifying Haruo) made it a little less enjoyable.

The music and humor are this show's best qualities. However, I'm still going to have to give Magikano a score of mediocre.

6/10

Story: Reasonably entertaining, if mediocre, for much of its run then takes a left turn into suckville. Ending is terrible, and renders it the most pointless anime ever filmed. Honestly it rivals So I Can't Play H for the ending that came closest to me avoiding the genre entirely.

Art: All the characters are distinct, and even background characters are fairly recognizable. However, none of them are all that pleasant to look at which is a drawback in a harem series. Guessing main girl looks better than she's drawn from the reactions of other characters.

Animation seems competent.

Sound: No major complaints.

Characters: MC is an ... everyman who has to be protected by/from his supernaturally inclined harem. He's a bit like Tsukune or Darling-kun minus most of the personality, spine, and baddassiveness. He's one of the weakest harem linchpins I've seen and that's saying something.

He's pursued by the tsundere of curse, the tsundere of self-righteousness, and the brocon of control. Meh. The brocon is sort of interesting, but the others have been done better. Seems like they were knockoffs of the two main girls on Maken-Ki, except the latter were entertaining and likable.

Enjoyment & Overall: Tropes aren't necessarily signs of a bad show. They get that popularity for a reason. Here everything is handled so weakly that at best it would have been a five.

However, the ending is godawful and completely mismatched to the tone of the rest of the series. Tone shifts and swerves aren't automatically signs of a bad show either. But there doesn't seem to be any real point to the change. The story shape that caused this can be effective, but it has to make a point when you use it. There doesn't seem to be one here.

Overall, Magikano felt like the writers went through Allthetropes and stuck things together without ever actually watching any harems, and worked with a company that hadn't done one before.