As a lesbian i will watch and even enjoy almost any genre Yuri. This show was phenomenally bad, so frustratingly poorly written in so many ways. I'm going to try to avoid major spoilers about events but I won't be able to avoid talking about the general plot direction.
This show is not about the romance between Anisphia and Euphylia, their affinity for one another basically snaps into existence with zero push and pull and when and whether they make "progress" is almost entirely arbitrary. Euphylia is apparently a genius/prodigy but rarely does she command or even request any respect. The show doesn't build her up
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as capable or impressive at all, she is entirely subordinate to Anisphia.
This show is not about Anisphia's journey as a "magicologist". She figures out flight, apparently a major goal of hers, as early as the first episode if not earlier. After that she doesn't invent a single other novel or interesting thing. There is no quest to gather the parts needed to make something revolutionary. There is no struggling in the workshop to iron out the kinks in a new design. Magicology is not the point of the show at all, it is a plot device alone. An extension of this is that Anisphia despite being a "scientist" does not actually do or say anything that might indicate that she has any qualities becoming of a scientist or an intellectual. She has a cookie cutter personality that's essentially juxtaposed with her apparent genius and we're supposed to feel like that makes perfect sense. If her important deductions and observations didn't get pulled out of thin air, this would bother me less, but it's just jarring that she's got basically the same personality as LycoReco's Chisato but fulfills the role of a revolutionary intellectual.
This show is not an adventure story. The environment of this show is basically a playpen restricted to the royal villa and the forest over yonder. The characters pretty much never go anywhere else. There is no physical journey. Which would be fine, if there was something in place of one. But there isn't. Another show that comes to mind that has a very limited setting is Dr. Stone, which for the first two seasons at least takes place entirely within two and a half locations. This doesn't really matter to anyone, of course, because the most exciting part of the show is watching the protagonist solve both technical and political problems by creating new things. This show was so close to having something similar, a smart, charming protagonist who woos you and the people around them by being crafty and solving problems in ways they're predisposed to through their skills and their character.
This show is not a monarchical fantasy political drama. It suggests that it sort of kind of is a little bit, like it does with everything else, but it's not. There is a vague political tension referred to that exists between people who can use magic and people who can't, but you're basically never given any example of the consequences of this tension. I'm not sure there's a single significant character in the show besides Anis who can't use magic, and obviously Anis is somewhat protected. There are so-called political rivals to Anis's magicology who are relevant for like the snap of a finger and are pretty much entirely dealt with across 2-3 scenes. The buildup is basically unnoticeable and the consequences are arguably trivial. The title of this show alludes to a so-called revolution. A few times in the show it's implied that magicology's success would result in a revolutionary breakdown of the existing social hierarchy. But this revolution does not take place within the show, it's not the focus of the show at all.
This show is not an isekai. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish it was. That would make it more interesting than it is. Anisphia is a reincarnated princess who lived on earth in her previous life. This is mentioned maybe twice in the entire show, even though this seems to have a major connection to why she can't use magic and what drives her to engage with magicology. I don't even know what else to say about that.
So... What is this show about? I don't fucking know. It seems so confused and lost that it can't decide on being anything. This show lacks a basic element of plot mystery. You are pretty much never introduced to a plot question that the story progressively answers as you keep watching, a question that keeps you invested because you want to know the answer. It had so many opportunities to create such questions and each time it decided not to. It implies that Anis's maid has a complex past but doesn't dive into it at all. It implies that there's a system of spirit stones behind magicology but we never dive into that at all. It implies that Anis is from another world but it barely dives into that. It implies that Anis and Euphylia are in love but it doesn't try to center that at all.
Every episode i watched of this show i felt more and more upset and discouraged. I have honestly not felt so disappointed in a very long time. I really really wanted to like this show. There's not a lot of genre Yuri out there, and a lot of what does get animated is super light anyway. I spent the entire winter season waiting for this show to finish airing so I could binge it. I'm so sad about how bad it is. My impression from reading some back cover summaries of 2/3 novel volumes the anime didn't adapt is that there is basically no grander plot, the story never figures out what it wants to be and you just get to watch Anis and Euphylia live happily ever after. The wiki didn't have a page for volume 6 so maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, and quite frankly I'm ready to not care. I'm sorry to all of you who like me were really excited about the prospects of this show. If you're skeptical please do give it a watch. I considered asking my girlfriend to watch this show with me but in retrospect I'm really glad i didn't.
Apr 12, 2023
As a lesbian i will watch and even enjoy almost any genre Yuri. This show was phenomenally bad, so frustratingly poorly written in so many ways. I'm going to try to avoid major spoilers about events but I won't be able to avoid talking about the general plot direction.
This show is not about the romance between Anisphia and Euphylia, their affinity for one another basically snaps into existence with zero push and pull and when and whether they make "progress" is almost entirely arbitrary. Euphylia is apparently a genius/prodigy but rarely does she command or even request any respect. The show doesn't build her up ... |
