~{Story}~
Musaigen no Phantom World takes place in a world where artificial creatures called phantom are found around in the world due to some virus spreading. People who have supernatural powers help in sealing these phantoms for the peace of the world. The story revolves around a group of high school students that work together to seal these phantoms. First of all, the premise is actually pretty interesting. It isn’t anything unique, but it can work. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver. As an episodic anime, not much of its stories are interesting. The first two thirds of this anime felt very pointless and unnecessary. There were too many gimmicks and not enough substance, which is a shame considering its premise. The series adapted the first volume of the light novels. Normally, when an anime rushes its content compared to its original source, it is considered a flaw. However, with Musaigen no Phantom World, it would have benefited so much more if they skipped some of those lame stories they adapted and moved on to the second volume. The reason why I say this is because the second volume is where the real story starts and it starts taking a really twisted and dark tone. It feels like a completely different series and it’s a shame we don’t get to see that. At least the writing in the last third was pretty good.
Story: 4/10
~{Presentation}~
Musaigen no Phantom World excels in world-building. The world they present, one with phantoms lurking around in the world is really cool and pretty well done. The atmosphere did feel nice. However, everything else about the presentation is lacking. The first and major problem is its structure and its use. Musaigen no Phantom World has an episodic structure. There’s nothing wrong with that as there has been may episodic anime that have excelled very well. The problem is that unlike those other episodic anime, where those tiny stories weaved together to make one larger story, Musaigen no Phantom World feels like a mess. Most of these stories aren’t even remotely interesting and in the end, most of them felt pretty pointless, which is a shame since the anime ended right before it was about to get to the good stuff. If Musaigen no Phantom World did its dark twist in this series, the anime could have been compared to the likes of Madoka Magica in terms of tone, and Steins;Gate in terms of content. But with them sticking to just the first volume Musaigen no Phantom World looks nothing more than your average, cliché fantasy school anime with unnecessarily fanservice.
Presentation: 3/10
~{Character}~
A part of me really like these characters, but a part of me also hates them too. The characters in Musaigen no Phantom World couldn’t be more cardboard cutouts than they already. The main character, Haruhiko, is nothing but a generic high school teenager who falls behind in his skills, meanwhile his much superior team members outshine him in every way. It is interesting hearing his remarks in the beginning of each episode, but they are pretty pointless. At least we know he’s smart. Then you have Mai, who’s body gets more focus that her face. She’s basically the cliché outgoing character who’s just there to add to the fanservice. Then you have Reina, who is that cliché, quiet, but nice female who’s just there to be waifu material. Then you have Koito, that cliché kuudere because some people get turned on by coldheartedness. Also, there’s a loli too because we can’t forget a loli! Oh yeah, there’s this phantom girl that looks like a fairy that’s annoying as hell. Even though I’ve been negative about these characters for a while, let me get to the good part. Most of these characters get their own centric episode to develop them as characters. The one that stood out the most was Haruhiko’s as it actually leaves an impact and can relate to real world problems. In that same episode, Mai gets some good development too (though the same can’t be said about her own centric episode). Ruru’s was also pretty good too. Reina’s and Kurumi’s were pretty lacking though, mainly because their episodes were way too over-the-top, unfocused and too gimmicky.
Character: 4/10
~{Art}~,
Musaigen no Phantom World’s art is fantastic, which is to be expected since KyoAni has a good track record with their production values. The art is really pretty and really well detailed. The colors are really vibrant and eye catching. The backgrounds are very well detailed too. The character designs aren’t anything too special as they are stuff you’ve seen before, but it’s still very neat. Everything looks good and there’s no hiccups in the art. Its art style is also pretty nice too. The color palette only uses vibrant colors and they really add an effect. The phantom designs have this cartoonish look and it’s a nice addition. But even with its cartoony feel, it still doesn’t lack detail. Musaigen no Phantom World proves to be stellar technically.
Art: 8/10
~{Animation}~
The animations in Musaigen no Phantom World is top-notch which again was expected because KyoAni always delivers in these categories. The animations are very fluid and very crisp. The character motions are top notch too. During the action scenes, the fluidity is fantastic and the camera view always works. The amount of work put into the animation is very noticeable. Small little details such as the animations of clothes if pressure is given (for example, when Mai is rubbing herself (because god knows why that’s relevant)). However, the most useless things also get too much effort put into. All those breast physics are very distracting and ruin the more realistic feel to the animation, especially since they got a lot of realism going in the animations (such as the clothes physics). Nevertheless, this is where Musaigen no Phantom World shines.
Animation: 7/10
~{Voice Acting}~
The voice acting in Musaigen no Phantom World is decent, but with such a good cast, more could have been done. Shimono Hiro isn’t anything special as Haruhiko, mainly because his script doesn’t ask for much. Unfortunately, he doesn’t add anything more, he just does what he needs to do. Still, his talent makes him look good. Uesaka Sumire is pretty good as Mai as she the does the senpai character properly. Again, nothing too special, but it gets the job done. Hayami Saori’s a fantastic seiyuu and she has a wide range, but she doesn’t do anything too special with Reina, and at times, he voice for Reina ends up feeling irritating as it feels so cliché. I don’t know what to say about Uchida Maaya, because her character, Koito, barely talk. But from what I’ve heard, she did good. Also Kurumi and Ruru’s seiyuu do a fine job too. In the end, the voice acting works, but none of the seiyuu do more than asked.
Voice Acting: 5/10
~{Music}~
The music in Musaigen no Phantom World is pretty good. The OP, “Naked Dive”, is really catchy and fun. Although it’s the first 20 seconds that I really love (it’s too catchy). The rest of the OP is okay, but the vocals aren’t too fascinating. The ED, “Junshin Always”, is alright. It’s not too catchy or memorable, but the vocals are pretty good in that ED. The background music used in Musaigen no Phantom World is great though. There are wide variety in the music. The best ones are those techno beat-ish music they use during the action scenes. They work so well and they make the scenes more fun. The background music is one of the better things about this anime.
Music: 5/10
~{Enjoyment}~
It’s hard to say whether or not I enjoyed Musaigen no Phantom World. Roughly 1/3rd of the anime is actually good in terms of plot (no not “plot”, but actual plot), which is pretty much the last couple of episodes. The rest 2/3rd of the anime is content that is more miss than hit. However, the world-building and the animations make this anime much more enjoyable. But the characters were too cliché to be likeable. Stupid characters doing stupid things isn’t very enjoyable at all. And the fact that this ticks every box in the list of anime clichés makes this even less enjoyable. If the second volume was adapted however, oh boy would things be different!
Enjoyment: 3/10
In the end, Musaigen no Phantom World isn’t really something worth your time. It tries to make you enjoy it by using its gimmicks and fantastic animations, but when you only have style, but not enough substance, it’s definitely visible. The characters are just a bunch of overused clichés. At least a couple of the characters got proper development. Most of the episodic stories are uninteresting, but it seems like the anime found its way at the end. But unfortunately it spent too much time on volume 1 of the light novel that we couldn’t get to see the much superior volume 2. Overall, Musaigen no Phantom World is only recommended for those KyoAni fans that love their production values, or those who don’t mind a gimmick-filled anime.
+ Interesting premise with very good world-building
+ Great art with vibrant colors complimented by fantastically fluid animations
+ Last third of the anime is much more focused and enjoyable
- Most of the anime is unorganized and doesn’t go anywhere
- Characters are very cliché-driven and unoriginal and some lack development
- Didn’t cover the second volume and the major plot twist, making the series look even more pointless
Overall: 4.8/10
