This is my third review on here. I don't write reviews often, because many times others have already covered most of the important bits newcomers should know about a particular anime. I felt that I should write a short one about this series, while it's still fresh in my mind and as it's not one of the most popular shows out there.
I binged it last night, but not because I found it to be wonderful, but rather, I wanted to try to make sense of the randomness and instability of it by the end. Was there any sense in the end? Let's find out.
The story of Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku is hard to put into words simply, as it feels more like a mashup of multiple tropes from different series out there jumbled into one show, and not in a good way. It mainly deals with these students at this unusual school attaining superpowers to combat each other as part of their curriculum.
The main character, Eruna, is a girl whose really into girls, and she's not afraid to show it. I'll be honest, this was the main reason I even picked this one up, as yuri in anime is one of my favorite things.
In the early episodes, Eruna's fantasies are in full force and she gets very excited every time she meets a girl at the new school she has joined recommended by her cousin who attends it. She's not afraid to show her infatuation with cute girls, cool! But later down the line, the yuri, for the most part, is heavily reduced to the point of almost being forgotten in favor of "plot progression", which there isn't much of. The plot moves every which way in random zig zags and curves that make no sense, and then towards the end tries to wrap it all up immediately without any explanation of how it came to be really. Eruna's awakened power was sort of explained why she was given it, sort of. But her progression to becoming as strong as she is at the end was done quite half-assed. The entire show feels more like a parody of anime than a legit concrete story.
Now, it's fine to make a show rely on comedy to make light of the plot and give people the impression that it's not taking itself too seriously. But when the comedy falls flat on almost every scene, it makes you question the validity of the show's existence in the first place. I found myself not laughing almost at all throughout the entire series, save for a few scenes here and there, which was quite disappointing. If the plot is already as ridiculous as it is, then at least make a better effort to make me laugh. It usually doesn't take that much. Perfect example is a simple story like the one in Blend-S. Uses parody of anime & otaku culture and has a very simple premise but the jokes are fantastic throughout. I didn't have to force laughter out of myself like I tried to with Mikagura here.
There's plenty more to say about the story of this show, sadly it's mainly more ranting in my case, so I'll continue to art.
The art & animation felt very off and inconsistent.. In many scenes, more than I've probably seen in my overall tenure with anime, which was reignited early this year after a 15 year hiatus. It feels like there wasn't too much quality assurance done before this show was slapped onto TV screens. The characters are often misshapen, the faces take a turn for the worse especially in high action scenes, and sometimes certain characters lose their body proportions (Otone, in many instances, is a good example).
The animation also has its own issues, but it's not the worst I've seen. The combat sequences are probably where most of the budget went, but they do range from not good to not terrible quite often. The environment or setting is pretty flat. The colors don't have much of a gradient to them most of the time.
Sound... well the voice acting was pretty great I thought. I'll expand on that in the character section.
The soundtracks I felt were not to my liking. I normally won't skip tracks that often in series where I enjoy the music, but I found myself skipping several times here except for the few episodes where it had changed. Sound effects throughout the show were okay, not great or memorable in any way to me.
Character. This is where I felt the few bits of comedy that worked, did because of the capability of the voice actors (Japanese). Each one is quite a unique individual in their own way, and their voices and characterization was done pretty well. There are a few that were not up to par with some of the others, such as Yuto. His backstory felt meaningless and then he became a backdrop character who was never really looked at again. The cute loli Himi seemed interesting but went from a fun supporting character at first to an empty shell for the second half of the show, it's too bad because she was one of my favorites.
So did I get enjoyment out of this show? Well, I guess enough enjoyment to binge it through to the end in one sitting, if you can call that enjoyment. More like I just wanted to see what sort of resolution would come from this giant mess of a show. But yes, there was some enjoyment to be had, mainly from the moments where I told myself that the writers of this show do not want you to take it seriously in the first place, and for a few moments that would keep me content with it. Until the end, that is.
I don't think I can say wholeheartedly that this is a great show. Neither a good one. It's not the worst I've seen, but it all depends on how you approach it. If you are looking for a show that takes itself seriously and gives you a solid storytelling experience, rich character depth, incredible eye candy art, and memorable songs, look elsewhere.
On the other hand, if you are just in for some over the top shenanigans without much purpose, a very upfront yuri main character, and somewhat decent action scenes occasionally, then Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku might entertain you for at least a little while. 4/10
P.S. I realize now that this review was longer than I had hoped. Ah well.
