Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya

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Fate/Kaleid Liner PRISMA ILYA is a Fate/stay night spin-off. It takes place in an alternate universe, with Ilyasviel von Einzbern being the main character and many previously main characters from the parent series have now minor to very minor roles. It is highly recommendable to watch the anime/read the manga of Fate/stay night or play the Visual Novel (I personally recommend the Visual Novel) to be able to understand the story.

STORY (6/10)
What can we say about the story? Considering what the main story of Fate/stay night was, PRISMA ILLYA is original, but according to many other animes and mangas, the story is unoriginal. Ilyasviel von ... Einzbern is a normal girl who lives with her older brother Emiya Shirou and her maids Sella and Leysritt. Her parents, Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel von Einzbern, are always traveling the world. Ilya is obssesed with Magical Girl anime and manga and, like the plot says, she becomes one, but the question is: why?

Tohsaka Rin and Luviagelita Edelfelt are two magi (plural of magus, which means magician in latin) sent to Japan by the Mages Association in order to retrieve the Class Cards, seven mysterious cards that have the power to materialize Heroic Spirits. The two are given the Kaleidosticks: Kaleido Ruby and Kaleido Sapphire, two magical wands that grab power from other dimensions, giving an endless amount of mana (magical energy) to the user, the rest depending on how much mana the user can hold. However, Rin and Luvia hate each other and fight constantly. During one night, they attack each other in mid-air and are scolded by the Kaleidosticks, who abandon them (in mid air!) to find new masters for them. There's where Ilya enters the story: one night when bathing she sees a mysterious light in the sky and is hit by Kaleido Ruby, who forces a contract on her and transforms Ilya in the magical girl Prisma Ilya.

Can you see originality on this plot? I don't.

ART (8/10)
Ah, the art of this manga is one of the best aspects of it. It manages to look serious when needed and also funny in the comedic scenes. I don't see anything wrong with the art.

CHARACTERS (6/10)
Well... this is what you get when you only have one new character: Miyu Edelfelt. All other characters are from Fate/stay night and so we already know their personalities. Ilya is somewhat different because she wasn't raised by the Einzbern family to be a weapon for the Grail War like in Fate/stay night, but raised by her parents. To sum it up: while F/sn!Ilya is between "Cheerful and Innocent Child" and "Creepy and Evil Child", Prisma!Ilya is completly a "Cheerful and Innocent Child" (Well... if you consider the lengths of her attraction for Shirou as "innocent", because I don't). Miyu Edelfelt is the only new character as mentioned earlier, and is a very enjoyable character, nothing too much to say about her since her backstory isn't (yet) revealed.

ENJOYMENT (9/10)
Despite everything bad about it, I just love Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILYA. I think this has to be because I'm a Fate/stay night fanatic and I love Magical Girls, but you didn't come here to read about my personal likes. My only complain is that the story seems to shift between funny and serious very quickly, but don't let this take away your enjoyment of this series. As I said at the start of the review, it is highly recommended that you read/watch/play the Fate/stay night manga/anime/visual novel (and I say again that I recommend the visual novel) not only to understand the basics of the story: but to understand all references to Fate/stay night that are on this manga, such as Rin reversing the "Are you my master?" line with Ilya when she forces her to be her slave.

Overall (7/10)
Not bad, and not the best of the world. A must read to all Fate/stay night fans and/or Magical Girls fans. Meh, go read it already. Don't let the sugar-coating appearance of this manga fool you, because it can get as serious as Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha and Puella Magi Madoka Magica (but without the horror) when the climax of the story arrives.