But seriously guys, the main conflict of this show is beyond stupid.
STORY
So the story... In my opinion, the show moves through it's story beats relatively well and it doesn't try to be too complicated or sophisticated.
Which,, might be what's the problem here. The conflict in this show is SO melodramatic and #firstworldproblems , it's just plain funny. I wanted Himeno to roast the main villain for her ridiculous motivation so badly, but alas, the plot took itself seriously.
If you are above the age of 14, you probably can't take this story too seriously.
It is very much a magical girl show centered around the romance, so if that isn't your thing, then I'd stay away.
Some of the humour is a bit outdated. Some of it was still funny and a few jokes were a bit yikes (mostly centered around Tanaka, the butler, who isn't against the idea of one of the girls falling in love with him, apparently), but most of it just fall flat to me.
The theming is a bit lackluster in my opinion. So it's based on Snow White,, but only in the sense that her father remarries rich and her new family member don't treat her right sometimes; her father isn't dead or anything. Which, as a setting, I liked surprisingly well, but then you have this whole Leife deal, which brings in a more "everything is alive and connected" type of theming, but it doesn't really do that much with that either? Like I said, this show is mostly about who will become whose boyfriend by the end lol
ART
I REALLY love Himeno's general design and transformations, it's just really iconic. Her hair looks really bright in the pictures on this website, but her hair is such a beautiful soft orange in the show...
Her transformations are very dated and it's not something you'd see nowadays, but that's what I really love about it. It's also more pastel instead of the BRIGHT colours you'd see in say Tokyo Mew Mew a few years later. One thing I really liked about the character designs are her LONG legs
The transformation sequence itself isn't bad, but not my favourite.
SOUND
The opening is really good, I listen to it pretty often haha. It's honestly one of the reasons why I wanted to watch this show.
didn't notice the OST that much, but I did really like some of the voice acting, Himeno's VA in particular. She has a very soothing voice.
CHARACTER
Himeno is a very stereotypical main character. Eats a lot, loud, is physically ridiculously strong, but very sweet on the inside, ect. ect. But I do think it was executed well enough. I liked her and the way she treats the younger characters in the show.
Anyobdy else notice that Hayate is just EXACTLY like Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi? lol
I liked the male characters in this show, I liked their dynamic with Himeno and their designs. Some of them get development, which is good. I liked the younger characters a lot, I think they were very cute!
This show has that one magical girl cliche that was really prevalent around this time, which is good character turns evil~ ooohh,,- I have yet to see this executed well honestly... Like,, brainwashing is fine, but I specifically mean this trope where they are jealous or something and that is their motivation for turning evil haha
ENJOYMENT
Yeah, I enjoyed myself. It wasn't exceptional, but I hadn't really expected it to be that way either. I think it was the perfect length and it had some definite merits (designs and the opening) But i don't think you should watch this if you aren't into shows from this era or into magical girl shows
OVERALL
It's a real 6/10 for me. If it had a better conflict I would have liked it way better, but it's not too long so it's watchable.
