Manaria Friends

In short, this anime brings nothing of substance and is just plain boring. Not sure why I see everyone else handing it out a perfect 10.

We primarily follow along two characters named Grea and Anne, as they live in this somewhat generic fantasy world. Anne is a lonely princess, and Grea is a blushing dragon. They attend a school, and... I guess they go places together. Their relationship is either two friends just hanging out, or some sort of yuri bait. There has been no character progression anywhere as far as I can see, except for this paladin dude who is entrusted to protect the ... princess, who loves following her around, and nothing more. Sure this may just seem like your typical slice of life set in a fantasy world, but in all honesty, I don't experience a single enjoyable aspect in regards to any of these characters interactions/adventures.

Direction wise, we are constantly given classical background music and some pretty shots. However, this pretty much makes up the whole show, and there are just so many of these shots that have characters and scenery with nothing going on in them, being standstill in attempt to make something look pretty and or meaningful. Again, classical music played in the background while little to nothing going on in the scene or moment automatically make it beautiful or a 10/10 for the OST. There are also often many unnatural pauses between dialogue and scenes, making it painstakingly boring and just to make me ask the question, why? Perhaps it's seemingly trying to aim for something more than it's worth, but I don't see the value.

Overall, this show is just filled with constant blushing and gasping from a dragon girl, and a non-existent plot that revolves more around some shots of scenery and characters going through things. I know I sound like I am repeating myself by this point, but there really isn't much more to add. In episode five, we are suddenly under attack by serious enemies, and then suddenly in episode six, we are just chilling at the beach. Even when an attempt to represent some sort of adventure or goal in the show, being that Anne has to help Grea in episode two, in the end, it renders useless and wastes time, just like the rest of the show does.

Magical Princess girl flirts with Dragon Girl - The anime.

The premise doesn't sound that bad on paper, I'll be honest. Since that's the main draw of the anime let's talk about why it doesn't work. Plain and simple: Grea and Anne - or whatever the princess' name is - are boring and generic as all hell and WILL bore you to pieces.
This anime is also really misleading. I was waiting for some plot to happen because situations are presented where it looks like the characters are in some serious danger. I thought "Maybe the characters start off flat and boring but get more nuanced ... as more things happen to them" but no, because any time any sort of interesting situation is introduced with any stakes, it is quickly shrugged off and revealed to not be actually anything important, so the characters end up learning nothing from it.
There's this episode where Grea replaces her skin and gets long hair, but the next episode. Literally the NEXT episode she has short hair again because "she cut it again". 0 progress was made - her personality doesn't even change, so what's the point?
The experience above sums up the entire anime. Nothing will happen, so what's the point of watching these two planks of cardboard dick around in a magic school?

Slice-of-life anime usually relies on the character's personalities and relationships with each other to keep you hooked and wanting to see more of them. This anime relies on fucking nothing - there's literally no reason to keep watching other than my friend thinks it's a really funny joke because I said "oh this anime isn't that bad it looks pretty good this may be a hidden gem" after episode 1 because the art was nice and the plot looked like it was going somewhere, but when episode 2 ended I realized what a mistake I had made - but it was too late, now I'm being forced to watch all of Manaria Friends, please send help.

Tsundere dragon and hyper-lesbian princess trying to be cute in what is mostly a slideshow as far as animation goes and lots of "almost-moaning", because it's not like the 2 main character will ever say a single complete sentence to each other. In fact, you will likely never hear them say anything other than each others name with shiny, shy eyes.

Something as simple as pulling up a thigh-high within the first 5 minutes of this anime has very deep philosophical implications and you'll have to be very cultured to understand the underlying existential question imposed by it, such as: "This makes me sad about myself, ... why am I watching this?", "What the fck am I doing with my life?" and "I will never have a thicc dragon waifu tail to use as a pillow, so why even live?"

Clearly, this is Anime of The Year... no, Anime of The Freaking CENTURY.

Anime Review No.1 2019 Version

Manaria and Friends or "Mysteria Friends" still baffle me on what purpose it was made. Nobody asked for this. People wanted to have more high quality epic quest and explosive action but we get the total opposite it still set in the same universe of the title it base around however the only motivation I will have to watch it is that it's related to Shingeki no Bahamut which by the
way a good show and must watch if you have the time after reading this review.


Art ( 6/10) Above Average

Right of the bat that show is already promising in ... production value. Good Color Palette, Interesting character design but sometimes it's feels unoriginal if your going to base their design on certain archetypes. The background is really gorgeous and beautiful. This is my friends what Mysteria selling point and strength is. For a Slice of Life Anime it will actually work well but then it won't blend to much to the character and the setting the universe is base around. Frankly the background design can be shove to any anime with Harry Potter Style of School and nobody will notice the difference and so Manaria Art Style and beautiful setting is also plain forgettable because nothing of impact it delivers both the character and the story which is sad that if this atmosphere dynamic was used properly then Mystria Friends will be a magical of an experience.


Sound (5/10) Average to Fine

The score is great and relaxing no question ask and no denying it matches the art style and atmosphere especially the ending credits feels like your old movies playing in the background really feels like slice of life but that's the only praise this show going to get from me honestly.


Plot (3/10)

If you are looking for an interesting or engaging story you won't get in Mysteria Friends even for an average slice of life where you see character slowly grows and develop while the same time have good grasp of the people or the side character that surrounded them. They did actually tried to introduce this character and have a few seconds and less than 5 minute to know them but sadly the show focus spending most of the screen time on Grea and Anne which only show mild and shallow interest in relationship they blush a lot, stare at each other, give small dialogues on each other and stuff and that's it. Too bad the show did actually present some interesting action but it is not fully utilize a Slice of Life with a few action here and there combo, doesn't actually sound bad, it even make the show somewhat memorable and more enjoyable than dawdling 15 minute breakfast time anime where the moment you finish eating the show ended and of to work. This is how I watch Mysteria actually to be honest.


Characters (3/10)

Mysteia Friends is the title of show so from that I have the first impressions we will get episode by episode that each minor character will be introduce and presented as folks living in the magical school. I expected for each character introduce we will give a brief and clear understanding on how the world and daily living work in Mysteria Friends. I urge to learn how do they learn magic, how different is a magical school from an ordinary school in the real world, how humans, mystical creatures and "DEMONS" interact with each. With this question in mind, Mysteria would be a promising show but in the end as I mention before we get more Grea and Anne spending a huge amount of time on the same place or botch around on a secret place where nobody will ever bother to go there.

For Side Character Impression:
Frankly I don't even know or even remember at this point the names of the side cast. All I can remember is the elf ear girl, the loli racoon looking fox, the sensei who is obsess with cosplay and this cool looking body guard who stalk around in the background. Yes this how I see the character which literally explain how poorly they are portrayed in this series even though they deserve better


Main Cast Impression:
This how I can describe Grea, She is a humanoid dragon princess meaning half human and half dragon that have huge dragon tail and horns. She shed her skin like she is going on mensuration and she blushes around Anne even on the most mundane conversation. She is shy to sleep with other people especially with Anne because she hugs her tail and finally she is very strong because she have dragon blood of course. And that's about it.

And Anne personally I don't see anything new on her personality. She is genius prodigy that can cast high level spell, she is royalty, respected and love by the people. She make rash decision that counter her position as a princess, she can't swim for some childish reason. And lastly she is madly crazy for Grea for no any background reason to tell why they have this so called deep relation ship.


My final thoughts about the characters that they are shallow. Nothing significant changes them in the span of 10 episodes for them. Looking back to episode 1 and episode 10 nothing actually change in the story except for graduation and that's it. I don't get any sort satisfaction on finishing mysteri nor a sense of accomplishment. It only just ends and surely enough this anime will just be forgotten and fans will just watch it because of Rage of Bahamut is attach to it alternative reference. It sad this show can potentially show the other side of the story without the epic battles and quest. But in the end all we get is forgo-table Slice of Life Fantasy anime that people wouldn't care after finishing it, unless your into the lesbian princess x dragon girl fetish.

Errrrr how can I set this anime? Well I think "too simple". Seriously, I like shingeki in bahamut (of the first season, at least), but this anime was only a boring slice of life, the relationship of the two protagonists does not develop easily, and the secondary characters do not add anything. I honestly expected something that would be at least fun, but it was disappointing. Except for Grea, I love that beautiful lady dragon <3

(Pt-BR) Errrrr como eu posso definir esse anime? Bem acho que "simples demais". Sério, eu gosto de shingeki no bahamut (da primeira temporada, ao menos), mas esse anime se mostrou ... somente um "slice of life" chato, a relação das duas protagonistas não se desenvolve com facilidade, e os personagens secundários não acrescentam nada. Eu sinceramente esperava algo que seria no minimo divertido, mas foi decepcionante. Exceto pela Grea, eu amo aquela dragãozinha linda <3

Overall, a terrible show. What you'd expect from a game adaption, and from a 12 minute 10 episode series.


*slight spoiler
Actually, you can tell there definitely was a budget, and the animation was pretty good--no complaints there. However, the characters were hollow, episodes are bland, and the plot is simpleminded and boringly linear. Not to say that a simpleminded plot and character cannot be good, but this was mediocre to the max.
It's not funny, not action packed, and nor is it emotional.
The relationship between the princesses could have escalated, which was the one of the ways this could have not been a waste of ... time but the plot was instead corporate and boring, so the relationship is just platonic. Again, not to say that an anime about a platonic relationship between friends can't be super fun and enjoyable(Daily Lives of High School Boys or something), but let's just say the execution fell extremely flat. I was not invested in either main character, their personalities fitting like a mould for a trope.

Conclusion: I only watched this anime because it was it was part of the same series of bahamut Genesis, which was quite well done, but it fell flat, and this show as a result of being as cheap and bland as possible, it ultimately resulted in a failed execution in all aspects other than animation

While you might say that 2 episodes ive seen is way too little to comment on series, i strongly disagree in this case.
Now, positive is that art and sound are actually very decent and with all honesty, i probably underrated them by giving them 6. But Mysteria/Manara friends is crystal example of how good art does not equal good anime.

Art & Sound:
Like i said, i probably underrate them by giving it 6. Art is absolutely gorgeous here, no question about it. And its legitimately only good part about it.

Story:
um, what story? There literally is no story here. Fantastic example is entirety of episode 2: ... one of the 2 girls is sick, so other girl runs off to forbidden(!!) bit of library to find medicine that supposedly nobody can access (like physically) like its nothing, then runs for 15(!!!) minutes straight trough different areas, finds convinient shortcut back... and it turns out no medicine is needed. At this point i realised how much the show is trolling its viewer

Summary:
if you expect good anime, you are better skipping this one. If you are all about art however, then this might be for you.
2/10

Ok, so first of all is it Manaria Friends or Mysteria Friends??? Cu'z either way the title doesn't make any sense given that this was taken from a game, and by the looks of it , the game itself it's basically a galge game and what we're watching was the animated version of the game. Not surprising since that producer Cygames with the cooperation with Happinet were mostly in the game business and animation was only secondary to them, it didn't help at all with Sentai Film works on the helm of the production , since what we see was more like a yuri relationship ... between 2 princesses , one a human and the other a half dragon/human, now given that this was an anime based from a game, well, definitely there is no story plot around here, in fact any climax you see here will one way or the other be a train wreck cu'z the story part basically flip flops from Grea avoiding Ann , to Grea wanting Ann, and there is Ann at one point would be this female Stalker to this sweet loving lesbian girl. The sound was just as terrible, cu'z Anne's seiyu Hikasa Yoko doesn't sound like Hikasa Yoko, actually it was Grea who sounded like Hikasa Yoko even though the character's seiyu is Fukuhara Ayaka, it would have been better if Grea's voice was done by Hikasa Yoko and Anne's voice be done by Fukuhara Ayaka...or maybe some one made a fucking mistake where the one's who voices who weren't what the info indicated. Ya know jaz watching this was more like a chore than anything else , in which one would be doing some fanservice hunting than anything else. So without anymore BS, here were my ratings:

Story-Poor 3: It doesn't have any, since the plot was just like something taken by some one who is a backseat player of the game.

Art- Very Good 8: Cu'z of all the eye candy and in fact anybody who give this a 10 to 8 were just into them eyecandy and nothing more, since there is only a one time Grea fanservice here.

Sound-Pathetic 1: Cu'z Grea sounded more like Hikasa Yoko than Fukuhara Ayame and Anne don't sound like Hikasa yoko, somebody made a mistake around here.

Character-Poor3: Cu'z even if it was just Grea and Ann all the way, one would feel like that they're just characters in the game, where they both go in circles.

Enjoyment - Pathetic 1: Watching this is like having sex and as one was about to cum, suddenly something or someone ruins it and all that cum starts to rush back into the backstage.

Overall- Poor 3: You're better off playing the game than watching this. jaz saying.