Apr 2, 2024
Season 2 of Mashle was quite disappointing, even though it didn't differ from the first season that much. That is the problem though. Mashle is supposed to be a parody of fantasy tropes and specifically Harry Potter but it fell into the trap most parodies fall into. Instead of actively making fun of the tropes in fantasy media, it exaggerates them as an excuse for the lazy writing.
The writing itself is very simple which isn't a problem as long as there is something else keeping the story interesting. Watching Mash come up with crazy methods to beat his opponents was hilarious in season 1, but
...
now it's already been 24 episodes of the same repeating formula. The formula has also gotten more simplistic from the first season, where the motivations of characters played an important role. Now the characters have been reduced to generic anime trope characters.
Lemon is the love interest, Dot is the generic hothead and Finn is the cowardly self insert and voice of reason. As a parody, having generic characters and then subverting the viewers expectations is fine, but it feels like these characters get barely any time to develop or show how they parody the tropes. Instead of parodying generic characters, Mashle simply repeats those tropes with no added flavor.
All in all the story is extremely generic and is filled with tropes. The fight scenes are great, but a little repetitive. As a parody anime Mashle repeated the same mistakes as others and has turned into what it set out to parody in the first place.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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