Kikansha no Mahou wa Tokubetsu desu

After a decade spent fighting monsters in the Shadow Labyrinth—a growing dark cloud of magic that threatens to engulf the world and destroy all life—mage Desir Herrman and his five companions finally face their last foe: the dragon of destruction Boromir Napolitan. Although the group of heroes manages to slay this formidable opponent, the tremendous amount of mana stored within the dragon's body is released in an unstoppable explosion that annihilates the rest of the world.

However, instead of dying, Desir is sent back 10 years into the past with complete memories of events to come. He enrolls at Hebrion Academy, determined to put an end to the classist prejudice plaguing the magical world that will ultimately lead to the demise of humanity. Unfortunately, his struggle begins early on during the entrance exams; although he is ranked first of his group, Desir is assigned to the Beta Class, the default class for commoners.

Now, Desir's next objective is to rally someone to his cause that he could not save in his previous life: the wind mage Romantica Eru. Then, Desir will have to show his worth to the Alpha Class with his newly formed party if he wants to ultimately save as many lives as possible.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Herrman, Desir Main

Terashima, Takuma Japanese

Schneider, Pram Main

Fujiwara, Natsumi Japanese

Eru, Romantica Main

Suzushiro, Sayumi Japanese

Kingscrown, Azest Supporting

Seto, Asami Japanese

Exarion, Zod Supporting

Hayami, Show Japanese

Brigette Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

von Dorich, Radoria Supporting

Watabe, Sayumi Japanese

Wujukeun Supporting

Yasuhara, Yoshito Japanese

Gabriel Supporting

Yanagita, Junichi Japanese

Kraiken Supporting

Terasoma, Masaki Japanese

Takahashi, Kanako Producer

Furuhashi, Souta Producer

Kwak, Hye-eun Producer

Kawaguchi, Taishi Director

Reviews

Dec 23, 2023

Flacion

Recommended

What would you do if you failed to save the world? What if you had one more chance? What would you do differently? That is what this story is trying to tell, the story of a second chance.

A Returner's Magic Should Be Special is about how Desir failed to save the world and now gets a second chance, by traveling back to the start of his time in a magical academy. We then follow him trying to change what happened originally, to hopefully change the outcome of the world's possible end.

The plot is very much about the growth of characters and to start building up ... knowledge and power, so they can stand together. Through this do you see how Desir hopes to have people more prepared and change the mistakes that originally happened. Which is done through some interesting arcs that help show the world at the academy and a glimpse of how the wider world works.

The characters in itself are based on stereotypes that are seen before, but none of them is done in a really extreme or frustrating way. You explore Desir’s past throughout the season and start to understand why he is making specific choices, so you don't see him evolve that much, but instead learns more about him and his past. The other characters you see grow, overcome obstacles and have a steady progression forward.

This is also a show that sticks very close to the original fantasy vibe, where magic is not explained by levels, but instead is purely based on skill and abilities.

The show also has a specific style of animation that puts much focus on colors, which can especially be seen in the characters' hair, since they have some interesting color schemes.

Overall, is this a good fantasy anime that has a nice plot and some stereotypical roles done right, so i would definitely recommend giving this a watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jan 16, 2024

Shinkuo

Mixed Feelings

Have you ever thought to yourself "Hey, this manga would be great as an anime! Why hasn't it been done yet?"

That was me with this show--- about 5 years ago when I first started reading the Manhwa.
After completing it I can safely say it absolutely FLOPPED and did not live up to expectation like with Attack on Titan or Mushoku Tensei. But looking back on it, the signs were there and realistically even with better animation or editing this was about the level of quality to be expected.

I will put it here if you don't want to read the following ramblings: This is show ... is not very good, is kinda boring, but provides a bit of entertainment if you like Isekai, Fantasy Academy stuff.

I can't comment on the Manhwa since I only read maybe a hundred chapters years ago and honestly don't remember much about it, but I think that in and of itself says something.

Minor Spoilers, if you couldn't figure it out from the title, the main character of the story is Desir, a magician, who goes back in time to save his friends(?) and his magic and his use of it is abnormal, special even one could say. Now, as it sounds this should be a fairly standard I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Isekai fantasy story that feels like an Isekai because of the aforementioned premise, but there were a few points to it that make it, or would have made it, a more interesting story.

First, the protagonist isn't overpowered, sorta. Much like many other stories from Korean authors, Desir isn't overpowered because of some God-Given Gift or power but rather his own intelligent use of his abilities, skills, and knowledge.
Second, he is returning to save people who had died rather than for some self-serving purpose. Instantly makes him a more likeable and supportable character whom has their own autonomy.
Third, a harem. You know it. I know it. We watch these shows because it tickles that little funny part of our monkey brains for a nice dopamine hit. However, this show spices it up by making it a more pseudo-harem feel. Like in his eyes he loves them, as his kids, and not as romantic partners so it doesn't feel weird and makes it more wholesome while having fairly legitimate reasons for them to interact the way they do.

Now putting that all together you get a show just as interesting as you reading me list out all of the interesting things about the show. It's bland, tasteless, but also exactly what you came for while knowing it may or may not have something fun or exciting to read.
Did that blow your mind?
Don't worry, I only noticed after I had written out that entire dissertation and realized it truly encapsulated what the show felt like.

If this review bored the crap out of you, there's your answer. I personally slept through 2 episodes before I noticed and ended up having to rewatch them only because where I woke up at seemed interesting and I had hopes it would eventually get better. It did not.

However, If you found this review piqued your interest in the show or found it mildly informative, then you may like the show. It had its fun points and may scratch that fantasy itch

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 23, 2023

Zxmbie37

Not Recommended

This is a disappointing adaptation, so much so that I felt inclined to write my first review.

The animation is clunky, there’s endless dead time and still frames, with several key details altered or completely discarded from the source material. I genuinely struggle to find anything redeemable from an adaptation perspective.

The fact that they skimmed over 10 chapters of plot and world building in a 30 second montage at the end of the last episode was especially painful.

The only reason I don’t rate it lower is due to the source material.
If this was my first encounter with the series, I probably would’ve dropped it by ... the first or second episode.

Read the manhwa instead, and forget this adaptation exists.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Kikansha no Mahou wa Tokubetsu desu Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Oct 7, 2023	66 replies	by niookookjo »» Oct 5, 1:20 PM
	Poll: Kikansha no Mahou wa Tokubetsu desu Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Dec 23, 2023	63 replies	by ZiedBnHfsia »» Oct 2, 5:06 PM
	Poll: Kikansha no Mahou wa Tokubetsu desu Episode 5 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 4, 2023	26 replies	by Ambeon »» Aug 21, 12:14 PM
	My conclusion of this anime! Kevinjtc - Jul 7	6 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Jul 9, 1:48 PM
	Poll: Kikansha no Mahou wa Tokubetsu desu Episode 6 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 11, 2023	30 replies	by Refridgerater »» Apr 15, 8:19 AM