Mahoujin Guruguru (2017) (Magical Circle)

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Alternative Titles

English: Magical Circle

Japanese: 魔法陣グルグル

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 24

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jul 11, 2017 to Dec 20, 2017

Premiered: Summer 2017

Broadcast: Wednesdays at 01:35 (JST)

Producers: TV Tokyo, Square Enix, Lantis, Kadokawa Shoten, AT-X, Magic Capsule, Sony Music Communications

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: Production I.G

Source: Manga

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Magic, Comedy, Shounen

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.88¹ (scored by 7,370 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #690²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #2968

Members: 26,160

Favorites: 221

7.88

Ranked #690Popularity #2968Members 26,160

Summer 2017TVProduction I.G

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Episodes: /24

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Synopsis

The seal that for hundreds of years had confined the demon king Giri has worn off. A young boy named Nike is chosen (against his will) as the hero. Together with Kukuri, a girl who is the lone survivor of the tribe that had used black magic to seal Giri, they set off to save the world, RPG style.

(Source: ANN)

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Mahoujin Guruguru
Alternative version:	Mahoujin Guruguru
Other:	Guruguru Petit Anime Gekijou

More characters
Characters & Voice Actors

Kukuri

Main

Kohara, Konomi
Japanese

Nike

Main

Ishigami, Shizuka
Japanese

Eldol, Udberg

Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki
Japanese

Shunamur, Jujuku

Supporting

Taichi, You
Japanese

Gipple

Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro
Japanese

Reido

Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko
Japanese

Sappari Fairy

Supporting

Taichi, You
Japanese

Bajani

Supporting

Kanemitsu, Nobuaki
Japanese

Miucha

Supporting

Kohara, Konomi
Japanese

Big Boobed Foreigner

Supporting

Nakazato, Nozomi
Japanese

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Staff

Ikehata, Hiroshi

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Aketagawa, Jin

Sound Director

Domeshi

Script

Wakabayashi, Shin

Storyboard

Edit Opening Theme

#1: "Trip Trip Trip" by ORESAMA (eps 1-7, 9-11, 13-16)
#2: "Ryuusei Dance Floor (流星ダンスフロア)" by ORESAMA (eps 17-19, 21-23)

Edit Ending Theme

#1: "Round&Round&Round" by TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND feat. Bonjour Suzuki (eps 1, 3-16)
#2: "Magical Circle" by TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND feat Shoko Nakagawa (eps 17-24)

More reviewsReviews

Dec 19, 2017

24 of 24 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Unowen (All reviews)

45 people found this review helpful

Mahoujin Guruguru (2017) is probably one of the most vivid and frenetic titles to have arrived in recent times. As the year in its name implies, it is a remake of a relatively popular franchise in Japan back in the 90s, that gave birth to a manga that spanned for more than 10 years as well as two anime series of 45 and 38 episodes respectively. Packing into 24 episodes a story that was originally fit into that much material undoubtedly sounds like a recipe for disaster. Therefore, how does this show manage to work (besides removing fillers)?

First of all it is important to note that Guruguru is a goofy but clever, frenetic and never-stopping comedy. It’s a story based on a classic quest to save the world, adorned with constant RPG game references and tropes, which main purpose is making fun of itself. It’s probably the only type of narrative that can manage to move faster than what it used to, and yet only take advantage from it.

When it comes to the main protagonists, they benefit from the fact that they’re both as important and relevant to the whole picture. They also care for each other in an organic and noticeable way, which is rare for this type of shows where the characters tend to be quite flat besides their counted quirks.

In regard to the art, Mahoujin depicts an overly colorful world with an updated but faithful approach to its original character designs. These are peculiar in the sense people appear to be quite short and young, which might be appealing by itself after a while, but also help to transmit emotion and gesticulation in a more fluid manner. Really well animated to keep up with the inherent rhythm of the series, it does take some extra liberties like momentarily portraying the characters and world in a pixellated 2D version, as if they were part of an early 90s Final Fantasy game.

Most anime of this kind has a major inconvenient: it gets boring fast. Gags repeating over and over, episodic approaches, annoying secondary characters one always wants to ignore but can’t... Surprisingly, Guruguru is seemingly free of all these issues, affording the viewer a nice variety of lovely side characters and even villains that work nicely with the main duo, as well as a storyline that both for obligation and determination, moves in the hastiest of paces.

Who knows if bringing back gems like these is an attempt to capture nostalgic people, or simply to make old works available for the newer generations. What is clear is that, if all results were to be like this, nothing left to say but welcome!

Note: Even though this remake adapts the whole original manga and story, since 2012 a sequel manga has been publishing. Considering what the series hinted at the end, there is a possibility we get to see this in the future.

Thanks for reading.

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Dec 19, 2017

24 of 24 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

TakamakiJoker (All reviews)

25 people found this review helpful

To be honest I don’t really like the pure comedy anime that all that much. One of the reasons why I don’t these types of anime because the comedy/gags can get really repetitive to the point where the comedy/gags become predictable, unfunny and at worse annoying. Konosuba 2 and School Rumble, in my opinion, are the worst examples for this because not only they kept the same jokes to the point where they overstayed them welcome but those shows ended up being wasted potential. You can the viewer laugh all they want but if you don’t have any substance to back it up as well read more

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Dec 19, 2017

24 of 24 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Tyumace (All reviews)

23 people found this review helpful

From the promotional art of this show it looked like it wouldn't be more than a boring kid's show, however, after seeing the (2017) besides the title, meaning this is a remake and the original is probably quite popular in Japan and after seeing it's rated PG 13 and after reading the synopsis of the manga I decided to give it a try.

What I expected, as the synopsis suggested, was a cute and somewhat fun show about video game tropes. However, what I got was a show that was far less focused of video game tropes or being cute and much more on comedy...good comedy. This show is absolutely hilarious! In the beginning of the show the parents of MC tell him to become a hero and, when the boy refuses, shoot him of with a giant slingshot! Who thinks of this stuff? This show is comedic gold! And it isn’t just a good joke occasionally; this show is funny constantly. This anime is a remake of a 45 episode show from the 90’s and a 38 episode show from 2000, but this one is only 24 episodes, so they could skim all the fat and as a result this show is dense. There are constantly jokes flying left and right and you’ll find yourself constantly entertained.

The show mostly advertises itself as a show about RPG-tropes, but you don't actually need to have any interest in this subject. Sure, being into old jRPGs helps, but the meat of the story is the personality driven comedy. Old RPGs aren't the subject matter, but the theme. It can be fully enjoyed as a comedy show or even a fantasy show, without caring about RPGs.

The two main characters are a young boy and a young girl around his age (They’re 12 at the start of the story). The boy is lazy and easily seduced, but seems to at least have the heart of the traditional hero. The girl is a typical girl of around her age who is very concerned with her image and who is infatuated with the boy in a very endearing manner. The two are absolutely adorable together. Also, a lot of the comedy around these characters is based on the contrast between them being normal teenagers and the fact that it is expected of them to be capable warriors, ready to take on the big bad and any of his henchmen (which they are not).

One of the first things you'll notice about the show is the art style. The character designs look very young, which will turn a lot of people off, but if you take the time to look at it you will realize they are actually very nice to look at and incredibly cute. Also, a lot of work is put into their outfits. Half of the time they’ll be walking around in their usual clothes, but whenever they go on an adventure they put on cute outfits that look adorable and have a lot of work put into them. And also, because the designs are very simple, they are permitted to constantly be moving and often in interesting ways. The show is constantly animated and oozes style. Besides that, the backgrounds are fantastic and especially the landscapes are incredibly nice to look at. It’s a very visually pleasing show.

Despite all that, the show is still a comedy show and the main appeal of the show is this comedy. If you watch one episode of the show and you didn't like the comedy you'll probably not like the show at all. If you do find it funny, then you'll love the show as it just gets funnier and it stays funny throughout.

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Dec 19, 2017

24 of 24 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

MaskOfIce (All reviews)

21 people found this review helpful

This is possibly the most underappreciated show I've watched. For how good it is, it is criminal that more people have not watched it. If you want to know if you should watch it, the answer is yes. It's consistently funny, the characters are charming, it has enjoyable action, really in most senses it's a worthwhile trip.

The premise is every 80s JRPG ever. Evil lord is risen, go slay it hero! And this series is a deliberate parody of those, from occasionally shifting to a pixilated art style to mocking the tropes of said genre to even the fact that there's 4 elemental swords to collect. (Gee, an epic RPG where you collect four items representing the elements. I've never heard that one before) And while it definitely spends a lot of time mocking those tropes, that's not the only trick in the shows bag of jokes. Trying to describe why the jokes are funny kinda defeats the purpose, but suffice to say they consistently are. I won't say every joke hits bullseye, particularly the ones about bodily functions that pop up every once in a while tend to miss, but there's lots of great ones.

The real meat of the show is the characters, and these two leads are adorable. They both are insanely likable, with Kukuri, the heroine, being more innocent but having a kinda immature streak, but also being really fun and hard to get angry at, and Nike (or Hero as he's called 99% of the time) being a bit selfish and cowardly, but also earnest enough that you love him, and the romance between the two leads is adorable. And then the side cast..... honestly, they're all great. Violent priestess Juju, cynical Gipple, inventor Toma, and perpetually useless Old Man North North are all great. And almost every episode had me with a huge grin on my face, just from watching these characters bounce off each other.

The action is the weakest part of the three I mentioned above, but it's still cool enough to be fun. The best part is how bizarre and unconventional a lot of the fights can be. Like Kukuri's magic manifests in kinda strange spells that are surprisingly effective, and Nike never plays by the rules. Usually the fights are more excuses for comedic bits, but it is genuinely satisfying to see them beat up their opponents.

I'd say the biggest criticism of the show is it's pacing. The show condensed a lot of material into 24 episodes, and there's definitely times where you can feel it. It's rather quickly paced, and while it never drew me out, it can be a bit distracting. Although you never miss plot points because of it and it's MILES better than having everything drawn out forever.

Magical Circle Guru Guru is a great show that got overlooked because.... probably the artstyle, and that's a shame. This is much better than a lot of what I watched this year, and not just that but is something unique and not redundant like so many other shows. At the very least, TRY THIS SHOW. It deserves more attention than it got upon it's initial airing.

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Mahoujin Guruguru (2017)
Magical Circle
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