Mahoutsukai no Yome
Short Synopsis: A girl is bought at a slave auction and ends up becoming a Magician’s apprentice.
Lenlo’s Review:
If I had to describe Mahoutsukai in one word, I would say it’s “Intriguing”. The first half starts off uplifted, going from a dark voluntary slavery deal, to wizards apprentice. Meanwhile the second half shows us hints of what’s to come and gives us an idea of the threats in this world. The entire time we are shown beautifully detailed backgrounds/scenes with interesting but not overdone character designs. Mahoutsukai is very colorful, with even the dark underground having greens and blues scattered about the scene. The only gripe I can find with it so far is the quick pacing of the first episode, at the end you understand why it was like they. Mahoutsukai has a lot to setup and introduce, from its world, its magic and its inhabitants. To get all that done without an info dump requires some speed and I think it was done well. With a full 24 episodes this season, Mahoutsukai has room to tell whatever story it wants and I for one am looking forward to it.
Potential: 90%
AidanAK47’s review
Very good stuff, very good indeed. Mahoutsukai manages to capture the intrigue of magic and the atmosphere of the unknown. There may be some that see the setup to be rather concerning as it does involve a man(?) buying a slave girl at an auction. That said it does seem that this series is aiming for the strange discomfort of the idea. In moralistic standards this situation in itself isn’t acceptable but when taking into account the circumstances of the individuals it becomes more reasonable. Mutual benefit really as the magician gets a new apprentice while Chise, a girl who is abused to the point where she agrees to sell herself just in hopes of finding somewhere to belong, gains a new home with a guardian who treats her with respect and dignity. That said it’s not as if this all sunshine and roses as the world of magic does hold dangers for Chise as shown by the fairies attempting to seduce her into joining their world. So far I am loving the celtic inspiration for the magical creatures and the series looks beautiful with a rather nice opening. Not quite slice of life but not a magical supernatural drama. More a stroll into the weird and wonderful. Highly recommend checking this out.
Potential: 85%
Blood Blockade Battlefront: Beyond
Short Synopsis: Leonardo and company return to keep the peace in a supernatural version of New York City.
Mario’s review
Was Kekkai Sensen always this wacky? Not that it’s a bad thing. The first episode of this second season takes the right spirit of the first season, and tone it up a few notches. The whole thing is one crazy fun after another, sometimes with “blink and you miss” moments. The city is a chaos and Kekkai Sensen is extremely good at making things spiral out of control. Leo runs almost entirely in this episode, with a luggage of the Head of the President of US. The rest of the team adds their touch to those wacky adventures and the soundtracks… boy how I’ve missed them. I say that despite the departure of Rie Matsumoto, this show is in good hands here as the direction, the production, and the storytelling scream confident here. Kekkai Sensen earns a solid commendation from me.
Potential: 60%
Wooper’s Review
I remember only two things about the first season: that there was a terrific episode about an alien who loves hamburgers, and that its ending didn’t make a lick of sense. Still, even though my memory of the show is hazy, Kekkai Sensen doesn’t appear to have missed a beat in the handoff from one director to another. The new guy, Shigehito Takayanagi, was an episode director for classic 90’s series like Cardcaptor Sakura and Trigun, and his experience translates well to the frenetic pace of this new project. Hellsalem’s Lot is as beautifully realized as ever, and Leonardo’s fellow Libra agents still have those outsized attacks and personalities. The soundtrack is terrific, boasting a refreshing mix of hip-hop, jazz, and J-rock that fits the show’s half-human, half-alien city like a glove. This is a series that favors style over substance, which is just as well, since it’s easy to get lost in the nonstop mayhem that follows Leo no matter how far he runs. That potential for confusion is the one thing that holds Kekkai Sensen back from greatness, but it’s part of the show’s DNA at this point, so you’re either with it or you’re not. As for me, I’ll be tuning in for the full 12 episodes (and hoping for a better resolution this time).
Potential: 70%
Dynamic Chord
Short Synopsis: Bands play songs and a singer quits.
AidanAK47’s review
Dynamic Chord, if you have a point then could you get to to it. This my friends has to be the worst animation I have seen in a anime in recent years. So many panning shots, the absolute bare minimum of movement and just an ugly show to watch. The plot is nearly incoherent as the majority of the time is taken up with these guys staring blankly, panning shots of the environment and “music videos” which are essentially powerpoint slideshows. Nothing happened here, I mean some bands played some songs and there was some dialogue but quite frankly, nothing happened here. I don’t know who these people are, what their names are or even what the story is supposed to be. It just jumps jarringly from scene to scene without context or a clear time frame. My theory of Otome game adaptations always being terrible is sadly being proven but even with the other two in this season, at least they cared enough to animate it. This is just the most soulless and low effort cash grab of a series. No love was put into its creation and I can tell that no one truly cared about it. Save yourself twenty minutes and pass on this.
Potential: 0%
Mario’s review
After suffering watching the three male idols this season (thank god it finally ends), I am confident to say that Dynamic Chord is the worst one out of the pack. I mean, watching this I have a clear feeling that they make this anime to promote those fictional bands and don’t care one iota for the quality of the anime. The plot is so poorly written that they fill huge chunk in the middle part of those bands playing their songs. And even then they don’t have the energy to properly animate them – they just use some recycle scenes over and over. The male lead, for some weird reasons, has different eye colors. I know real people can have different eye colors but I bet no one has something as bizarre as blue/yellow. It just seriously lost me entirely. There’s no plot, except some details about some paparazzi and a drama about a lead singer of some random band – who we literally spend 3 seconds with – drops out of a band for being emo. Even their music isn’t for my taste so I don’t have anything fond to look back here.
Potential: 0%
