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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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[series:4819#628] | ||||||
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(Nine episodes watched): This was an amusing show as we see how Byakuya came to be a magical girl and how the evil Lieutenant tries to please her despite being her mortal enemy. He does not have unlimited power and must accomplish something in the war with her in order to please his superiors and hold his position. More fun than another anime which had a similar premise a year or two ago but whose name I have forgotten. It might have been wise to omit the mention that Mr. evil Lieutenant has committed shocking atrocities in the past, even if that was inevitable in order to rise as high as he has. This show is amusing, but not raucously funny and I'm glad the episodes are just twelve minutes long because the show would need some sort of a plot in order to hold my interest any longer than that. Episode two was fun, as Lieutenant seeks to learn more about the mysterious magical girl and is shocked by what he finds. I don't think I gave episode one enough credit--this show is genuinely fun and I suspect I will watch the entire run. In episode three the Lieutenant confronts Byakuya's abusive 'familiar'. Also, another evil officer is assigned to help him fight her and he must think of a way to keep the truth from this guy. "This show is pretty funny!" I said to myself at the end. Due to Mira's lack of progress, a second evil lieutenant is assigned to help him fight Byakuya. This is Fomalhaut, an old acquaintance of his. Fomalhaut greatly admires Mira, to the extent that he trusts him much more than he trusts what he sees and hears with his own eyes and ears when he accompanies Mira to an encounter with her. Mira tries to convince himself to put his duty ahead of his personal feelings, but cannot do so. In episode five we get a surprisingly negative assessment of Byakura's powers from her cat handler/familiar. It says she is always almost at the point of giving up and has never really stood up to anyone (though she does learn quickly). I wonder if she is being given a deep and intriguing personality or if she is just being depicted as weak to arouse male viewers. At any rate, another familiar declares her a failure and says she will be replaced by another magical girl. Mira gets an unpleasant surprise when he learns that the minor soldiers of the evil cause have managed to capture her all by themselves. He (somehow) arranges an escape for her but his prestige and authority will surely take a major hit as a result. In episode six we learn that there are in fact many magical girls, something Byakura was unaware of. The latest one is Hibana, a profane girl whose familiar is 'Mr. Bird', a half muscular human, half bird creature (it turns out that these familiars take human form when reporting to those above them). Hibana has a strange love/hate relationship with Byakuya (they were once elementary school classmates). This whole show is about taking what was once, well, magical, and making it into something all too realistic, with quarelling rivals, poverty, human exploitation and borderline insanity. And it works pretty well. Episode nine, which was about what happens over Christmas, was especially good. It was both touching, as Mira and Byakuya spend some time together and alone, and funny when they are interupted. Byakuya once took down a dragon, didn't she? Since then she has seemed pretty much helpless and hapless, like when she was abducted by the minor soldiers of the evil army. If there is any conclusion to this story at all, I'm guessing that Mira will defect to the good side and replace cat-man as Byakuya's handler. Last updated Thursday, September 26 2024. Created Thursday, July 25 2024. | ||||||||
