Reviews

I'm going to be honest up-front. If I'm looking at this critically, "Mikagura School Suite" is, with all affection, a total mess. It's tone fluctuates wildly, even within scenes sometimes, the pacing is everywhere, especially in the last few episodes, and the plot is somehow at once very simplistic and a little bit convoluted. It's probably half the length it needed to be, because it races through its story so fast that a lot of the many genuinely interesting concepts and thematic ideas within it just don't get the time to breath.

And yet, I find myself unable to give it any lower than I have, even if it partially deserves it. This show, looking from a perspective somewhere approaching objective, doesn't deserve a 7/10. But I have to anyway, because despite all of the messiness, I had such an incredibly fun time watching this show. Genuinely, I can think of maybe one show in the last year that has given me the same feeling of pure 'this is so much fun' excitement (the fantastic "Sk8 the Infinity", which is admittedly better).

The characters are big and over the top, especially the protagonist, Eruna, a massive ball of hyperactive energy, and I loved all of them; they're often not complicated, even if there are potentially some hidden depths to them that we can see, but everyone has to much personality that I just loved seeing them interact. The relationships between the characters are often simple, in this really fun way where, for the most part, everyone just kinda gets on really well (specific shout out to the show's Drama Club, who I would genuinely watch a whole show of). It's not complicated, there are maybe three character dynamics that have real depth to them, but it's so much fun.

And the battles that the show often revolves around make this even clearer. It's clear where the budget has gone, because the fights are big, and over the top, and very much the best animated part of the show, often devolving into slightly rougher animation that reminds me of the fun style you get from studios like TRIGGER. And all of these fights (as well as the aforementioned rushed, wild story) culminate in a climactic showdown that is probably the most ridiculous, explosive, over the top, 'none of this makes sense and I Do Not Care' climactic fight to a show that I've seen since I saw "Gurren Lagaan", and that is very much a compliment.

If you're looking for a tight story, with complex, well-planned out emotions, look elsewhere. This show, for all of the fun ideas that could be really interesting to explore in isolation, is not going to give you that. But if you're looking for a fun time, and don't mind switching off your brain for a bit? Honestly, I really, genuinely, would recommend giving this show a try. It's so, so much fun.