Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records

Summary: Although the pacing and conflict is sufficient to capture attention, the main protagonist seems to have it too easy in this show, and the supporting cast are reduced to cheering bystanders.

The first episode has to be the weakest in the series, falling into many cliches and being downright cringe worthy at times. The series picks up slightly in the following episodes, with some effort to justify the MC's actions and some background on the supporting cast. However, these efforts seem half-hearted and do not provide a believable justification for the characters. There is little reason why the MC is should be as OP as ... he is, seemingly able to blitz through many of the challenges he encounters, all while having a pair of fangirls in tow. I feel that the characterization is the weakest link in this show.

On the other hand, I found the conflicts/threats to be quite decent. There is good pacing and sufficient action to keep the audience entertained. But good conflict without good characters isn't going to make an impactful series.

Akashic Records Of Bastard Magic Instructor is a fantastic series. The main character and the white cat girl is hilarious. The comedy in this is almost on par with that main protagonist in Steins;Gate. Was my kind of humor and it's consistent throughout the whole series which I love.

It's quite short and I wish they would make more because although it doesn't bring anything new to the table the comedy is quite unique which other animes are lacking especially with the consistency part.

Definitely an amazing anime, really good story and awesome laughs. Would recommend even as one not overly obsessed with anime. :)

Spoiler free review

I welcome feedback on my reviews

We've all had at least one bastard in our life. May they be a classmate, work colleague or a friend of a friend, a certain someone will just appear out of nowhere and make you instantly despise them. It's an unspoken rule that we can't like everyone we meet, but the individuals that grind your gears to a state of disrepair are the unforgivable worst of the worst.

Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor is pretty much about the second half of the title. A new teacher joins Alzano Imperial Magic Academy, and he's a bastard. Big surprise. You'd ... expect a kind of School Comedy with maybe some Action thrown in since they are learning Magic, but Akashic Records decides to give us much more. Too much. The story jumps from arc to arc, which all follow the same boring predictable formula. Obvious villain appears, (like come on could you be any more conspicuous?) pull out some cliches, Glenn and co proclaim their friendship and love as teacher and students, defeat villain. Sure the try and explore some of the main characters and add some suspense inducing drama, but they just fail at keeping us invested or entertained most of the time.

Our main character, Glenn, is a bastard, or at least he tries to be. His act is so forced due to the fact that he's actually a decent person, he just chooses to hide behind his trope shield so the premise of the anime doesn't become irrelevant. The other two mains, Sistine Fibel and Rumia Tingel. aren't much better. One is a tsundere and the other has a heart of gold. That's it. All they're there for is to be damsels in distress so Glenn can save the day. Although we see a couple of times where they help their teacher defeat the bad guy, it just comes down as plot convenience instead of "strong female characters" that can hold their own. Looking past other characters, a sword-wielding kuudere who's also a damsel in distress and an old buddy of Glenn's who helps provide us with exposition and battle support, everyone else is pretty empty. You have an entire class of students, a few teachers, and some more friends of Glenn's, but barely any of them get a hint of exploration. At most, they're all just props for the generic comedy skits the show puts on. (Although I can't deny that I did chuckle at parts of the show)

Now you could say the action is nice. At first, it was pretty amusing watching Glenn use his limited skills to defeat others, but soon it just went downhill. You already know Glenn will defeat them after overcoming a small obstacle, (Power of Friendship everybody!) and the anime makes no effort to try and compensate for that. It just becomes another layer added onto the show as it tries to make up for its run of the mill story.

The title also mentions an "Akashic Records" in it's first half. What is this record you ask? I don't know. They mention it once or twice and just kinda forget about it, and that's how most of the plot points go. We don't find out much about The Researchers of Divine Wisdom, or the Alzano Empire Royal Family, or the Imperial Court Mage Corps. They're just thrown in during different arcs to keep shit interesting. This anime had a decent amount of material they could explore, but it decided to just screw it and hope what they do present is acceptable. (It's not)

Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor is not an enjoyable show. It had its fun moments but they were overshadowed by everything else Akashic did wrong. Maybe if you don't mind all the predictability and cliches, you could probably have fun with this mess, but if you perhaps want some that doesn't dig itself so deep into the norm that it becomes unbearable, avoid this show. Don't be a Fool.

P.S. Just wanna rant about the uniforms the girls wear. Why do they show their lower body for all the world to see? And those skirts. Might as well just force them to dress in nothing but their panties cause you're gonna use them for fanservice either way. What kinda bullshit school lets their students dress like this? What the fuck?

End Rant

All right. So first of all, let me say one thing: a cliche is a cliche for a reason. Though many people go around saying "not unique" "cliche af", I want to say that the reason why ideas and stories are overused is because they are "good". And a lot of people like it. That's why cliches become a thing.
Now, let's talk a bit about the show itself. Well, I do have to say that this show is based upon cliched ideas - but that provides a good foundation for the show. On top of that, the show has some extra touches - or ... that cherry on top of a sundae. Let me make a little Shokugeki no Soma reference. You know that Mimasaka Subaru? who copies dishes and makes it better? That's what this show does.

i was expecting generic self-insert garbage ala mahouka, asterisk wars, chivalry of a failed knight etc. And at first it really seems like that's what you're in for, cause this show REEKS of red flags

the magic school is not a concept that's very original, the uniforms are of course as unrealistic as you would expect of a show of this caliber, the characters have all the standard personality tropes (smart main girl, nice and cute blonde girl, stone-faced blue haired girl, there's even a dude who keep the tipping his glasses like a bastard) the MC is a guy who at first seems really weak ... but has a trump card that makes him one of the strongest in the series. If you feel disgusted or i've scared you off from watching the show then please for the love of god bear with me

the thing is that despite the fact that it's really generic, it's generic done well. The MC's personality is snarky and entertaining and steals the show every time he's on-screen. Despite his trump card he rarely actually gets shit done and is more of a fuck-up than anything. At first glance it might seem like the show is going one direction but then throws a huge fuck you and does something you didn't expect to happen. The show is self aware to the point where it almost parodies shows similar to itself. Yes there's action in the show, but there's also comedy and usually a punchline somewhere in said action to let the viewer know that the show doesn't take itself too seriously. It's sad that most people will merely write this off as some generic garbage after one episode and call it a day.

I'm not a fan of numbered ratings, since it's so vague what you really mean by said number, people who really enjoy a show might just drop a 10 and not think things through enough and that's that. so before you write my 7 off as some fence-sitting middle-of-the-road review know this. This is a genuine 7/10 that i would absolutely recommend people to give a few episodes before they decided if it's their cup of tea or not.

After seeing nine episodes of this series, say that what I have seen I like.
Obviously not the most original story in the world, and less since the appearance of Harry Potter (magic schools there are by thousands now), but at least it can be entertaining. I'm not going to talk about how deep everything is, because that's for other series. This should be seen as something entertaining by itself, not to break it down in search of secret keys.
To be a light Japanese version of Harry Potter, they are doing very well. They do not abuse the absurd humor and although some scenes are very ... clichés, it makes them look natural, or they give a twist of it.
The MC is a jerk, but a nice jerk with a grey heart, that although has power is not a character of "WAAAAAAAAH I ONLY KILL ME ALL". The other pupils, although their characters are stereotyped (there is the pupil ready, the pupil popular, the pupil tsundere, the one who is good with all, the fat one, the muscular one) do not become heavy nor exaggerate its defining characteristic too much.
I hope to see more and make it equally fun.

There's always that anime that seems like it's good but when it's over, the reviews change from giving it an 8 to a 5. This is one of those cases.

When you watch the first episode, it does feel a little underwhelming because if i'm being completely honest...it was pretty irritating. However, after you watch more and more episodes, it begins to get better and better. It has the right amount of suspense that would make you want to watch more but also have some comedy mixed here and there, to not make you completely bored.

The only problem with the anime is it's lack of originality. ... The characters have their own tropes and their personality doesn't really go beyond that. The only one that feels fleshed out is Glenn Sensei. He was probably one of the more better characters in this Spring Season.

Nonetheless, despite the whole cliche thing, the anime itself was still a fun show to watch and really, you shouldn't have any high expectations when watching this. From reading the synopsis alone, you can already guess that this was going to be generic. Doesn't mean it's bad though.

If you like fanservice, comedy, fun characters, and an overall pretty good time then watch this. If you want something more "deeper" then go watch something else as this isn't going to be your cup of tea.

Akashic Records is a trope and cliche ridden series with very few original ideas, however, those original ideas shine bright. As someone on reddit put it, this is the perfect definition of a 7/10 anime. Our main character, Glenn, is a lovable asshole who is a rare competent protag. (Mostly.) Our heroine, Sistine, is a very cute tsundere done right. It takes place in a magical academy where the show shines, showcasing an original and interesting magic system. In fact, one of the early episodes spends the entire time explaining the magic, and it was fantastic. However, what brought this show down was the story. ... It wasn't bad per say, but I wouldn't write home about it either.

The first few episodes spend a ton of time goofing around with your typical SoL stuff, while the last episodes go to a gritty and dark place. Its jarring really, with the sudden tonal shift in between episodes. Art wise, it is a very beautiful show, magical effects are fantastic, characters are cute, and environments are your typical medieval fantasy, but they still look good. Near the end of each episode, a small little chibi short is played as well as a beautifully drawn end card.

The sound department did not do as well however. The opening and ending are forgettable, and only a few songs in the OST really stick out to me. Overall, not very good.

The characters can both be a high and low point of the show. Glenn and Sistine are high points, while Halley (bet it took you a second to remember who that was) and Rumia are low points. Glenn and Sistine are good, complex characters with their own motivations. Halley is literally just a joke character, while Rumia had potential but ultimately fell flat because she was little more than a plot device.

Overall, this show was an enjoyable look into a magical world that had potential but ultimately fell flat due to business decisions (haha go read the light novel if you want to know what happened!) and a poorly paced plot. Had this been a two cour show, this could've been fantastic. Unfortunately, we do not live in that alternate reality. Still though, it is a fairly interesting anime with enough pros that it outweighs the bad things.

*Note: There are no spoilers in this review.*

I saw this anime recently, and at the time this review was written it had a score of 7.54, which is not incredibly high, but it was new so I wanted to try it out. This anime honestly surprised me, and I think this is one of the best anime of the year, if not the last few years. This review may seem like "Oh, he rated all 10's so this is biased" or whatever, but honestly, I have to admit this is one of the best action-comedy anime I have seen.

Story: 9

The story is about a lazy ... mage who starts teaching at the school. The first few episodes do a great job of introducing the characters and making them feel relatable and lovable. But the last few really develop the story well and make this world more interesting. Honestly, this anime is both one of the most epic I've seen and one of the most hilarious. Definitely recommended if you are into action or comedy. The story is not developed well enough in 12 episodes, though, and

Art: 10

The art style, as seen from previews or the poster art, is very modern, but sleek. The characters look cool, and the background is nice. But most importantly, the animation for the fights is amazing. The fights are so epic, I could watch them for days.

Sound: 10

The battle music is epic, the opening is epic, the sounds of the swords clashing and the spells being cast is epic. All of the sounds in this anime contribute to the epicness of this anime. All I can say is that sometimes the ending music does not really fit.

Characters: 10

The characters are super relatable and very fitting. They are very unique, and they contribute to the comedy but also to the action in some scenes. Overall, not much to say,

Enjoyment: 10

This is one of the most enjoyable anime. I would recommend binge watching, as it is so epic you don't want to stop watching it. This anime gave me some of the best laughs, but also some of the most epic action I have seen. All I have to complain about is the story is not developed enough, but that does not reduce the enjoyment one bit.

Overall: 10

I definitely recommend this anime. It's one of the best of the season and of all time in its genre.

Story:
Nothing short of a generic harem with an obvious OTP. That doesn't mean it was bad. It's a typical light novel adaptation. At the very least the main character has a reason to be good at what he does other than being the star pupil but that's about it.

Character:
They weren't anything special. There was nothing about any of the characters that stood out. They had backstories and personalities but sadly, nothing iconic about them.

Art:
This was alright. Unfortunately neither the backgrounds or character designs were spectacular. Just, at least neither one area were bad either. One complaint I do have is the school uniform designs. They ... looked kind of ridiculous.

Sound:
Nothing special.

Enjoyment:
It as decent. I was not the anime I look forward to most each week. It just wasn't the one I decided to drop either.

Who's this for:
-Harem fans
-Moe fans. All female love interests had some degree of moe or another.
-Those who liked the original light novel

Who's this not for:
-If you want a serious AND original plot
-If you were hoping for some higher meaning/theme/exploration/philosophical questioning
-If you don't like harem/tsundere/etc

This anime is unique and extremely funny however, I personally don't believe this to be the case for the sub. The dialogue in the dub completely changes the tone and feel of many key scenes.

A spoilers example of this ----- is when Rumia is tied up and hanging from some torture device. The professor yells "How's it hanging, not my best pun" whereas in the sub he says sorry I'm late or something similarly generic.

I've seen many people complaining about this show and how generic the story and characters actually are and this confused me because the show I was watching had very fun and ... interesting characters.

Must watch but not the sub!

What starts off as a setup with substantial potential in the first three establishing episodes of this series, rapidly devolves over the course of the next nine. Don't get me wrong -- a lot of the elements put in place for this anime are highly cliche and uninspired (and not in a satirical way); however, don't get me wrong in the other direction -- this anime is also not awful. In fact, I'd say the first three episodes led me to believe that it'd be significantly above average.

Enter Glenn Radars -- deceptively versatile, but incorrigibly opportunistic and frustratingly dispassionate. Did this anime attempt to ... make him an antihero but miss its mark? From the moments we meet him, showing absolutely no concern for his female students' right to privacy (and basking to their nakedness before him), to the final episodes, admitting harboring motivation that would see him wedlock out of shallow desire to never work another day in his life (through marrying up in caste), his lazy demeanor and sleazy treatment of other characters doesn't end up being integral to the primary plot (or his development as a character). (If we can even call this a plot -- it's mostly just a disjointed series of "things happening", which doesn't define an actual plot.) An anti-hero is supposed to be someone who acts out of self-interest because of their nature, environment, past experiences, and other context, and that says something about the world around them. For example, Holden Caulfield from A Catcher in the Rye is a true anti-hero; he's disaffected, cynical, and sarcastic because he experiences the alienation and isolation associated with growing into an adult world full of hypocrisy and fakeness. Han Solo from A New Hope is another great example - he does things that advantage him in a galaxy ruled by forced order mixed with unattended lawlessness. And while this Glenn Radars main character has clearly-needed back-story to exposit why he's first shown to detest magic (I suspected it involved tragedy that would be tied directly to the forthcoming narrative), when all of this is revealed it still doesn't explain why he is how he is. Why is he so lazy and so scummy? It only explains why he "doesn't like magic" during the first two episodes of the anime; otherwise, the reasons for his attributes are weakly expounded. He also had clear room to grow as a dynamic character that could face his past in an increasingly mature way while learning from his new experiences in a new position of guiding, teaching, and protecting his students. This also didn't happen. Holden Caulfield remains jaded, but at least he learns things and tells his story with surprising honesty. Glenn Radars doesn't learn anything. Han Solo realizes that there's value in risking his life for a greater cause of liberty and autonomy, through developing connections with Luke and Leia. Glenn Radars always knew that risking his life is worth it (as evidenced by his back-story), so why attempt to make him an anti-hero? If they wanted to do something that made sense with his back-story, the writers should have explored his dealing with loss in a much different way, instead of making him lazy and contemptible. But it's hard to make things funny that way with levity, so they built him into a chauvinistic asshat with little regard of other human beings as people with feelings, even behind the bravado of protecting Sistine's prospects of applied magic, or safeguarding Rumia's life. This lends the anime to funny moments, but also fails to delve into real, human experience of love, loss, sacrifice, withdrawal. Revenge and acceptance. Depression vs drive. It never feels like Glenn is internally vulnerable; he's too sure of himself and the backstory feels too devisive.

But the main character isn't the only flaw. I've already referenced it, but the more egregious problem (which probably ruins the characters in terms of development), is the narrative.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Sakamichi no Apollon. Usagi Drop. If you think of short-form 12-episode anime that are *exceptional*, their compact form justifies their scope and reflects their pacing. Everything starts from a strong foundation of structured, deliberate form, as well as unique storytelling of smartly-crafted character-driven narrative. Characters change. Relationships between them are ephemeral. And, most importantly, the narrative tells a story, through those characters, that means something. Kids on the Slope brings very contrasting characters together through mutual appreciation for the language of jazz. Usagi Droppu explores the challenges associated with raising children. And Madoka Magica is about existentialist themes of dedication and creating meaning. But I'm confused what Akashic Records is about. Is it about finding meaning after loss? Is it about pursuing passion? Is it a critique about just vs unjust use of power? This leads me to the core fundamental problem with this series - it's unfocused. It turns into a rushed jumbled mess. It assaults the viewer with so much sensory resulting in too many unresolved threads, fails to fully address plot holes or tie up plot points, or fully flush out the back-stories so that we can actually care about the characters more than, say, a "5, mediocre" status. We get a main character whose true characteristics (underneath all of the "lazy asshat" facade) are unclear, faced by antagonistic forces whose motivations are under-developed, rushed into the story's plotpoints with little establishment, with arcs that are unnecessary or random. Imagine attempting to cram 25 episodes of some great anime (say, Spice and Wolf or Code Geass) into 12 episodes, but then remove two key episodes and add two filler episodes. That's what this feels like.

It borrows a lot from current hype trends in anime, but it still had definite potential that feels wasted because of poor planning and a rushed structure . But don't tell me that I need to read the manga or wait for another season to come out, in order to have a firmer understanding of this anime's purpose. This should stand on its own merits alone. In the end, it's not meaningful to me, but it's still a fun time. Sistine is a cute, if overdone, tsundere archetype, and Re-L is adorably clueless. I like the way magic is represented in the anime, and the action scenes are competently choreographed and animated. The dialogue is good in general, if you can look past the contextual plot problems. The voice acting is pretty good, as well as other elements of the production value, and it's entertaining even while I'm frustratingly trying to connect with the characters or themes of the show. I won't bother getting into many details about the revealing character designs, the fan service, or the minor inconsistencies and weird plot arcs - this anime had more fundamental issues (than just execution) that I wanted to address, like how they dealt with the anti-hero and how they structured the narrative, and I think other reviewers have talked about these various other problems sufficiently.

Overall, I'd recommend this if:
* you want a new best-girl tsundere that's well animated and voice acted
* you don't mind a confused plot in an overdone magic high school setting
* you could use some light fun with moderately humorous scenes and dialogue
* I have to admit that it's a cute show, even if it's nonsensical - especially the preview cuts at the end of each episode, with this kind of self-referential humor, etc. that this anime doesn't take itself too seriously as an art form

STORY: 7/10
CHARACTER: 8/10
ART: 8/10
SOUND: 10/10
ENJOYMENT: 10/10
OVERALL: 9/10

A surprisingly entertaining anime, never expected that after reading the long title of "Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records"! It starts with a bang, delivering perfect episodes that balances out fresh Comedy with serious Action very well in a Magic Academy setting. Sadly, it can't end on the same note as new arcs with new characters are introduced late in the game that aren't given much exposition. Still they do a good job with explaining the magic of this world logically, making it sound both interesting and realistic. This is further supported by the shows focus on the students ... to NOT just become a bookworm, rather participate willingly to field work as well. However, I would have liked more explanation with the makeup of spells and their mana cooldowns. In addition, I would have liked more types of magic used during combat rather than the few we get to see. And the competition arc needed a bit more flare to it cause at certain parts they came close to mading me felt like I was in Hogwarts! And while the plot is nice, the storytelling is weak which is why some things go unexplained like what’s the use of gems when casting strong magic or what’s the secret behind Rumia being an 'Amplifier' or what is really an 'Amplifier' in this world? The current story arcs don't have a conclusion and they leave an open end to the series, so I would have liked more closure, who doesn't? Plus, the last few episodes felt rushed and I am not a fan of it! We also get to see a lot of blood in this show, but then again the anime isn’t exactly 'Rated R' since it refrains from showing violent deaths. And while they couldn't get their storytelling right, they did a better job with their characters.

The main characters all get fleshed out pretty well and have their moments to shine! But the spotlight wasn't consistent with the girls, since the show would focus on each individual while the others would remain more of a side character like Re=L for instance. She is a weird one who apparently has only 1 strategy on her mind, which is Attack! And I’m afraid no matter how much our MC squeezes her brains out, she will remain a thickhead forever! However, she is scary and despite her deadpan look, her unpredictability can make you her enemy or a friend in a matter of seconds. Removing swords from the ground and stabbing people is all she knows! Rumia, on the other hand, is strongminded but comes across a bit naïve as well as an optimist which is further explored by her insight and desire to help people with magic. Regrettably, she's also the unlucky one who finds herself in the 'damsel in distress' situation all the time which gets boring so I would have liked something else from her. Albert comes across cool and mysterious but turns out to be a good friend who apparently has a thing for cats! And 'White Cat', ahem, I mean Sistine has quite a temper, I particularly enjoyed her frame of inner struggle dilemma which she gladly overcomes. (Side Note: I found her parents funny!) While she comes off as a hardworking student from a prestigious background, her relationship with Glenn is the most interesting thing about her. The have a rocky start but they do warm up to each other eventually. I particularly liked this setup since the 2 are polar opposites of each other so we get to witness the classic romantic tale of Opposites Attract! (Though they still need a lot of work for us to take them seriously) Thankfully the MC is always at the centre of the story cause he's just amazing! I loved his quick remarks and his constant trolling nature despite being a lazy bastard as the title entails! He's very strong as well with a rich yet dark history that's moderately explored but it’s his attitude and resolve as a magician and teacher that helps him in standing out! Radars is hella lot of fun to be around as he makes fun of his students and teachers. Thankfully this is just an outer layer, like a mask, to hide away his true self which is dark, gloomy and bloody. Constantly haunted by his past mistakes, he wants to erase all of that with something useful and positive. And lastly, Celica was left as a background character which sucked cause she’s so powerful, but she seems to have more going on in the next season so I won't complain for now.

Voice Acting is top notch across the board with Josh Grelle stealing the show once again! He just has so much fun with this role and it clearly shows with his Comedic line delivery like ‘Later Nerds!’ or ‘You may now kiss my A**!’ which always springs a smile to my face. Glenn's expressions are on point which helps in delivering his lines across and that makes him a fun Main Character. The smile of Rumia mirrored her mother’s which was a nice touch. Sistine, voiced by Rachael Messer and Celica, voiced by Morgan Garrett had a certain flair to their accents which helped them in standing out. Sistine rages of fit or screams are well done and Celica’s concern for Glenn is shown by the warmness emanating from her which further bands the Big Sis, Little Bro kinda relationship between them. The animation is simple but beautiful when it wants to be, especially the magic casting parts. I liked how healing spells represented bright colours with soothing sound effects while dangerous spells had sharp colours with quick and loud sound effects. The OP is catchy due to it’s upbeat track that can easily be assigned as your ringtone, but I didn’t like the ED very much as it sounded very generic.

This is one of my favs from last year, it even ended up in my Top 5 Anime list of 2017! It’s not perfect as it tries to cram around 4 arcs in just 12 episodes, so you can tell when details are omitted out. Still it's very good for it's 1st season and I have high expectations for S2. I hope they organize their storytelling better and improve the screentime for their characters along with some further development. Also, if they had refrained from rushing their story, this anime would have made a bigger impact with the audience. I also thought the costumes for the girls were too showy which didn't make sense and I absolutely adored the short theatre skits at the end of each episode. Overall this certainly made me laugh and care for the characters and I would love to see their next adventure in the coming season. (P.S. where's the Comedy tag cause this s*** is funny!)

Truly, for me, this is such an underrated anime. It has comedy, action, suspense, romance, and so much more. Based in a classroom setting with a brilliant, unique take on magic use, this show is a must watch. Currently only 1 season so far but there is enough source material to make another couple yet.
The story takes you on a bit of a rollercoaster, with the character development hitting fast.
The art is truly outstanding, the way magic is portrayed artistically is what first drew me to this anime in the first place.

Glenn Radars, the main character, is fantastic throughout by blending the perfect ... amount of seriousness and comedic slapstick necessary for great enjoyment.

I believe this show warrants a 9/10.

Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records by studio LIDENFILMS is based on a Light Novel of the same title as well as a manga, both of which are still publishing.

Setting/Plot/Story 7
The show takes place in a fantasy world, where magic is a thing and primarily taught and used due to its military strength.
The story so far has taken place at the best magic academy of the kingdom, where our MC is just about to teach a class of students to become the best of the best in terms of magi.. that's not how it begins though - since our MC starts of as a very ... laid back guy.
The way magic looks and works in this world is pretty similar to many other shows in that it's magic circle, a chant and a boom. However the difference this show has is that they put a twist on the chants themselves - For a student in magic, casting a spell using a slightly different set of words or versing will cause the spell to have some kind of side effect, and at the same time, a master of magic can cast a spell with only a single word achieving its' full effect. We learn that magic is something that isn't created by the chant itself, rather that the chant is what makes you focus on the "correct..things" to cast the spell.
Our MC has some kind of special magic called "original magic", which is a sort of magic he himself has created that can only be used by him. Original magic is described as something very complicated, however our MC tells us that the magic that they call elementary was also once called original magic, someone had also come up with the spells after all.
We also get to see a castle floating in the sky, but we have no idea what it implies to the story so far, more than that sistine wants to go there.

Art/Animation 7
The art in this show falls in the generic category, much thanks to its setting and the colors used. That is not to say that the art is bad. It is easy to see that most of the effort went into Rumia, Sistine and Celica, Glenn is very bland (He also needs to look bland for the show to use its comedy) and the whole class as well as the bad guys we've seen so far look very normal, much like "extras". The worst part I noticed was that the focus of the characters' eyes were sometimes off target, did the creator not know how to draw well in different angles?

Sound: 7
The OP is a Jrock track "Blow Out" and the ED a Jpop track "Precious You".
The character VAs are all good with one exception - I really don't like the VA they chose for Re=L.

Characters: 5
It is very easy to notice that this is based on a light novel due to the characters. While at first glance they leave a good impression both visually and personalities, however.. the main characters all leave things to be desired when more heavily interacted with. There is very little sign of actual character development more than having a bit of backstory and flashbacks, which I don't consider to be real character development, since there are better ways to go about it.
The only real character development can be seen in the first episodes regarding our MC, to how he changes his attitude toward teaching.
The MC is the kind of MC who "seems useless" to the stupid characters, but always shows up and delivers when needed. He's kind of a grown up tropelord MC from highschool romcom animes in the sense that he gives off the same vibes but has seen all those clichés before and will deliver their opposites every time when encountered.
Rumia - Extremely nice.. Extremely nice.. Always nice.. ... .... ...
Sistine - *Hmph..* *Hmph..* *Hmph..*.... Actually a nice girl, who would've thought?
Celica - The STRONGEST mage alive, can shoot laser beams 2m in diameter, but just turns out to be... completely powerless and not available in every situation they encounter.

Enjoyment: 8
This show delivers 2 things quite well:
The first is how quirky the magic is, the "limitless possibilities" and how they can use those quirks to win fights etc.
The second part is its above average comedy. I really wish they would have focused a bit more on the comedy rather than the forced "feelings" the characters are supposed to have. When characters just start loving MC for no reason, the characters become really stale, and the show becomes hard to watch. The good thing about how they did it is: Our MC is an adult! Which means he can actually notice girls with the "love mc complex" and make fun of them rather than "not notice" and keep the episodes awkwardly boring.

Overall: 7.3
It's not a particularly interesting plot or setting. The art&animation is pretty good, and the characters can be a mess at times.
I've enjoyed this show up until now, but I doubt that it will get much better, or have a good finale.
7.3 for average, but worth a watch.

Real Score:7.25\10

Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records, one of the most popular Anime this season, does it deserve the popularity it gets? Yes...and no. It is a really nice and enjoyable show, with a good MC, a really nice satire on the usual tropes of the Magical High School genre and an amusing side and explanation of magic. But the same Clichès that the show makes fun of in the first episodes come back to bite the overall enjoyment and flowing of the story, some of the characters lose a lot of steam and, of freaking course, it doesn't end, making the entire season a ... bait for future adaptations and for the Light-Novel Series

Story 7.25
The story is surprisingly good, it builds the characters, the world and the villains really well, it has a great variety of situations and the characters actually develop throughout the story, and because of the story only, there are very few flashbacks, the story continues and unfolds not because of a mere FlashBack , the 101 method of all storywriters to develop the story, but because of the story itself, as it evolves the characters adapt to it and respond in many different ways. The short arcs, they're around 3-4 episodes long, may bother someone, i'm not a big fan too, but i found it quite enjoyable: maybe the reason is that the pacing is astonishingly good, is not slow, but not that fast either, is a weirdbalance that may throw someone off, but that captivated me. The problems reside in the overuse of the same old Clichés that we see all the time in the last 2 arcs, granted they aren't that bif of a problem, but after setting up a nice satire in the first 5-6 episodes, it's a shame seeing RokuDenashi fall in the same hole as the other Anime of this genre. The biggest problem is that the story ends too quickly, just when things started to get interesting, this is the same bait, the same method as every light novel adaptation out there, the ending does not exist to make the viewer feel good, or simply to applease it, it does not end with a good cliffhanger too, it just ends, like that, PUF!If you want to see more, read the freaking Novel you dumbass! Listen, i'm not against supporting the producers, we must support them if we want to have constant and quality content over the years, but there are better ways to do it, i should be incline to buy products because it genuinely intrigued me, because i want to know if this show differentiates itself from the Novel\Manga, because I decide to support it; this is forcing viewers to buy the Source Materials. Sorry for the little rant, it is not an attack to Rokudenashi, i enjoyed it and i will definitely read the Novel, i just wanted to say something about this horrible strategy that Publishing companies are using nowadays

Characters 7
The side characters are simple, yet effective, they all incarnate the same guidelines for High school characters, but you can actually get behind them and believe them sa a single class, unity, mainly because of the well-done Tournament Arc, that creates bonds between the class, something that should be done more in School Anime; however it's cut short and they never go any further than that. 2\3 of the main Trio is interesting, but nothing more: Rumia has the most interesting story and has a really nice character, not so naive as it seems, a lot more profound than you might think, but quickly becomes a damsel in distress that has to be always saved by our main character, what a pity. Sistine is, too, an interesting character on paper, and is not your typical Tsundere, but she never has that leap, that breakthrough needed for her personality, it may happen in S2, but here, it doesn't happen. Our main character, Glenn Radars, is hands down the best part of this show, he's got a really amazing and cool backstory, in fact i would 100% see and even support a prequel that follows the adventures of Glenn before going to the Alzano Magical High School Academy, they are build up incredibly well and add a lot to Glenn's character without flashbacks. He's a funny, charming, charismatic and secure protagonist, he's a breath of fresh hair, he's a reliable and secure guy, you can genuinely cheer him up and get behind him.

Sound 7.25
Suzuki Konomi is always awesome to hear and her songs fit the scenery pretty well, they are energetic and pump you up for the viewing. The music is good, never goes out of his way and never becomes something more. The music in the action scenes is well-done and gets its point, that is make them more comfortable and interesting

Animation and Direction 6.75
The art is good but nothing special, the character models are solid for the majority of the Anime, but some of the frames are rather clumsy and superficial, as are some of the textures and details in the backgrounds, who look bland and sloppy at times. The action scenes and the magic scenes are where the animation and direction really shine the colourful spells, the detailed runes and good choreography are really good. Too bad the direction is, well, normal, it doesn't stand out in no manner whatsoever but, at the same time, it's not bad, it's in the middle

Enjoyment 8
I really liked the entire Anime overall, the comedy is really well executed at times and Glenn's personality was just so entertaining. I liked all the Arcs, even though they were short, and i liked the way the story evolves with the characters. The character banter was really good and enjoyable, and i loved the different take on magic, a down to earth and bloody take on magic. I'm totally in for a second season and for a prequel for Glenn's story, a prequel that the character deserves.

I won't lie, this was a disappointment for me, after 6 episodes, i really thought that i would enjoy this a lot more, and maybe give a lot more than 7.25, it's a real shame that the same clichés that it makes fun of in a clever way, brings it way down. The way that it ends may be infuriating but, however, it kinda works, it builds curiosity and makes you wonder what might happen next. It's a nice, i would recommend it this season, for the amazing main character, the interesting take on Magic and interesting story, that doesn't get too tiring, i have high hopes for a future season 2 if they correct their mistakes. Thanks for reading this review, May Our Sweet and Merciful Madoka be with you and don't wander in this Fool's World, and remember the face of our Sweet Lady

This is short and sweet review. I actually had high hopes for this adaptation, but in the end it really was horrid.

If they had more episodes and kept the pace at the beginning few episodes this might have been an enjoyable 6-7 / 10 show.

If you watched this show for the genre of OP MC, save your time and go watch Mahouka. This show's MC is supposed to be strong and OP, but he ends up being helped by students that should show no prowess near his level and are able to be at or beyond his level within the series time frame.

The last 3 ... episodes brought this show to a burning pile of junk. The show tried to pack so much into so few episodes and there was no room for story or character progression.

TLDR
Watch Mahouka, or set your standards extremely low coming into this anime.

STORY: it takes place at an academy where magic is key and used in their everyday lives. It starts off with a substitute teacher filling in for a class, but he doesn't have a lesson planned out for them. Eventually, it has escalated to the point where one of the students has faced him in a duel and won (& told him to step up). But things get more interesting in the anime where an evil organization has invaded the school and abducted one of the students. From there, the anime lets us explore the other side of him (the good side). This anime contains ... a lot of cool battle scenes, the school life, comedic moments and a lot of cliffhangers and twists.

CHARACTERS:
Glen Raders: the substitute teacher who originally had no intentions of teaching magic to the class, but later on we get to see another side to him that is kind, caring and is capable of understanding the class' magic. He can be very cocky and obnoxious too.
Sistine: one of the smartest students in the academy and is part of a rich family. On the outside, she comes off very strong, but on the inside, she is very vulnerable.
Rumia: one of the sweetest, soft spoken students. She wants to use her magic to help others.

OVERALL: I enjoy the anime overall. It was nice, but there are a few flaws. Such as: needing to explore more of Glen's & Sistine's past (aka character development) and learn more information about the evil organization. Personally, I think the school uniform looks like a crop top.

TL;DR – Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor starts off decently enough that you might think to stick around to see if it gets better. It never gets better.

On the list of things the world is lacking, another fantasy high school light novel must rank pretty high. Fortunately, Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor (AroBMI) – so called because Brilliant Bastard wasn't cumbersome enough – is here to provide.

Sistine & Rumia are two friends on their way to the first day of class at the Alanzo Imperial Magic Academy when they have an only in anime collusion with some guy. Said guy turns out to ... be Glenn, a right bastard who mocks their apology & behaves in such a way that means Sistine must yell “baka!” & shoot magic at him. As if the day couldn't get any worse, Glenn turns out to be their new teacher & not only is he a bastard, but an idle one at that.

Cliche beginnings aside, the first episodes of AroMBI showed promise. Glenn, pronounced Gülenn in this universe, being a teacher rather than a student immediately stands out as somewhat of a novelty, though his appearance makes it hard to tell how much older than its students he's supposed to be. Though his cocky & abrasive, not to mention lazy, attitude rubs everyone up the wrong way at first, he soon reveals himself to be much more capable & reliable than he seemed.

The episodes that focus on him as a teacher are the strongest. Taking a Great Teacher Onizuka approach to schooling – even using a similar title at least once – his unorthodox teaching methods gradually win over his students, even if he is openly disdainful of magic as a tool fit only for harming others. Eschewing the conventional methods of rote learning & memorisation, Glenn instead emphasises practical application & experimentation as well as encouraging each student to excel at what they're best at, rather than relying on the top students to carry the rest of the class. The potential was there for the series to at least offer a somewhat novel spin on the genre, even if Glenn still had the usual cliché past & an evil organisation to fight.

Unfortunately, what potential it had is soon squandered by its inability to adapt genre conventions to the new status of its protagonist. It soon becomes apparent that, although a teacher, Glenn is still very much a light novel protagonist. Events all revolve around him, he is the solution to every problem & people just can't help but like him, think about him, or at least blame him for all their problems. Worse is that, while Sistine is your typical tsundere heroine, she is also your typical light novel love interest. There is some effort to explain Glenn's apparent closeness to her as being because she reminds him of someone he used to know. But by the time she's daydreaming about him defeating her plot convenient fiancé & proposing to her, it feels very awkward.

As does Glenn's constant need to rescue his harem...sorry, students with non-brown hair. Normally you expect a teacher character to encourage their students personal growth & ability to stand up for themselves & that does happen with the class as a whole. But when the evil mages show up to cause trouble for the main female characters, it's all on Glenn to save them, once just in time to stop Sistine from being raped.

Rumia is supposed to be some sort of unique magic user, her power to amplify others magic apparently a cause both for her being hidden away by her royal mother & also why the evil mages keep attacking. But it's never established why her power, in a world full of magic, causes that, or why amplifying power is a bad thing while nobody bats an eye at Glenn's power to nullify magic or Sistine's power to drain it. It's just a thing the plot needed to have, really. When another character from his past, Rel (spelled Re=L) joins his class as a transfer student who openly professes her devotion to him, it only furthers the sense that ARoBMI is unable to think outside the box.

Speaking of that near-rape scene, its narrow avoidance leads into another issue with the series: it's terrible sense of comedic timing. Sistine's assault is built up for well over a minute, with her calls for help becoming increasingly desperate as more clothes are torn through. But almost as soon as Glenn strolls through the door the tone does a 180 & witty banter ensues. Even in regular exchanges, jokes often fail to hit the mark, either due to excessive repetition or punchlines taking too long to deliver. It's alright when it's not trying to be funny, but it's almost always trying to be funny & is only made worse by the OST, which uses a cuckoo clock sound effect in the “funny scene” music.

There is also a frustrating lack of continuity & consistency between the three main arcs of the series (one for each girl). The first two build up an evil maid character to be the series' main antagonist, being involved in both Rumia's & Re=L's stories. But the final arc almost completely ignores her so Glenn can do battle with another guy from his past that we haven't been introduced to. It seems pretty basic to think that they would have to fight against the maid henchman before revealing a new, higher ranking enemy, or at least have him say “you sit this one out, I got this.” But that wouldn't fit Sistine's marriage fantasy that's the core of the final arc, with all the unhealthy student – teacher relationship implications that has. By the final episode it's almost like they're flinging whatever they've got at the wall in the hope that twenty minutes of material sticks.

There are issues in the small details as well. For the first half of the series, the setting seems a fairly typical fantasy one, with magic & swords & carriages. But then in Re=L's arc there's suddenly a high-tech laboratory & Glenn's former special mage forces partner Albert hands him his old revolver. It's the only firearm in the series, which begs the question: why are there firearms in a world with knights & magic? The answer is because the director thought having Albert hand Glenn his old gun to symbolise their reuniting for one more case would make a cool scene, implications be damned. It's not the only time where something that worked in a different film is used to poor effect.

As to what the Akashic Record is, well you'll just have to read the novels to find out.

The production of AKoBMI follows the tiresomely familiar pattern of starting with its best foot forward & only getting worse as the series goes on. Putting the usual light novel inevitabilities aside – like silly uniforms & character designs taken from the beginners guide to archetypes – everything seems to look & move fine, with some eye-catching animation sequences in the first few episodes. But things become gradually more static & stuttery as the series progresses, with a notable decrease in the amount of detail put into character art.

There are also a couple of annoyingly obvious continuity errors. A minor but unmissable one is when Glenn has very clearly been stabbed through the lung, complete with bloody wound to mark the spot. But his bandages mostly cover his abdomen instead of his chest, presumably because it looked cooler. A more glaring & irritating one comes later, when Glenn punches an opponent into a wall. When the dust clears, he's in a Jesus Christ pose that the camera is really keen you get a good look at, only for him to be sprawled on the floor in the next cut, no falling animation or even a sound effect. It's eye rolling at best & likely to cause viewers to yell at expletives at the screen for how pretentious it is.

AKoBMI is hardly the first light novel to start with an interesting premise, only to become increasingly unfocused & reliant on overdone tropes & clichés as it progresses. But there have been so many of them, which becomes increasingly unforgivable as each year also produces more shows that buck the trend. The first 5-6 episodes that focus on Glenn becoming a teacher & Rumia are okay enough that they might be worth watching on their own if you're a big enough fan of the genre. But if you really want to watch a light novel adaptation about a magic bastard instructor, just watch Alderamin on the Sky.

Its another harem that justifies its existence solely based upon the male MC always saving the day with pretty girls everywhere loving the shit out of him. It also has magic in it. But even though its the "magical world" there are other anime that do magic better. Here it feels like they didn't want to go with knights or guns so they put magic in it. Its okay.

The beginning is quite good though, unexpected and funny. Even if you dislike harem anime, there is a decent comedy and enjoyment in this. Its nothing new but its not as bad.

The characters are well rounded up, ... classical stereotypes of girls and a seemingly incompetent MC... he isn't that.. he just lazy and unmotivated.. unless its a save the day situation in which everyone in the world disappears and he is the only one that can do it.

The art is awesome so that's gonna carry it if nothing else.

I'd recommend it for any lazy afternoon/night. You can easily blaze through all of it, its all good.