Mahou Sensou

The world as we know it is actually just half the story, as Takeshi Nanase finds out abruptly one summer morning. On his way to kendo practice, Takeshi comes across an unconscious girl in a uniform he doesn't recognize. Takeshi does the decent thing and saves her, and in return the girl wakes up and accidentally turns him into a magic-user.

As Takeshi finds out, there is the world he lives in and the world of magic users. Most magic users just want to peacefully coexist with non-magicians, but there are some with bigger ambitions. Mui Aiba is a magician enrolled in the Subaru Magic Academy, where magic users can learn to control and channel their powers and how to live in peace with regular humans. After his fateful encounter with Mui, Takeshi and his newly magician friends Kurumi Isoshima and Kazumi Ida decide to enroll in the Magic Academy as well.

All three friends have different reasons for fighting on, whether they're fighting to escape the past or catch up to the future. They wield different kinds of powers, which they must learn to harness in order to fight off the Ghost Trailers, a group of magicians who are willing to use violence to assert their superiority over humans.

Pursued by the Ghost Trailers, Takeshi and his friends must train to become stronger, face the leader of the Trailers, and prevent the beginning of the Second Great Magic War.

Aiba, Mui Main

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Isoshima, Kurumi Main

Seto, Asami Japanese

Nanase, Takeshi Main

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Ida, Kazumi Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Shijou, Momoka Supporting

Takahashi, Mikako Japanese

North, Violet Supporting

Tanaka, Atsuko Japanese

Nanase, Gekkou Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Aiba, Tsuganashi Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Washidzu, Keppei Supporting

Nakai, Kazuya Japanese

Oigami, Takao Supporting

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

WEST GROUND Producer, Theme Song Arrangement, Theme Song Composition

Taguchi, Ayuri Producer

Kaminaga, Keisuke Producer

Itou, Makoto Producer

Reviews

Mar 27, 2014

ShionxChan

Recommended

As I said in my Strike The Blood review, I do not write many reviews for anime so bare with me as I write something for this one. Honestly, I don't see why this anime is getting so many bad reviews its not as bad as people are making it out to be but of course that is my opinion alone. Now onto the review: I found this setting sort of unique from most animes and for the fact this anime wasn't a harem was a major plus, let alone there wasn't much fan service. It kept serious, and stuck with the plot which I ... was glad for.

I was also quite pleased with the main female; Aiba Mui for she tries very hard to fight on her own without the needing to be saved and how she was devoted to save her brother, but I won't get into spoilers for people who haven't seen the show. For a young girl, I thought Mui was strong. I also was quite pleased with our male protagonist Takeshi Nanase; who had grown from the twelve episodes. I love characters who have strong determination. : D

The whole two worlds being separate; sort of gave me a Shakugan no Shana feel for the series which was a nice feel. The music was entertaining, the opening and ending were strong points in the anime as well as the way magic was set up in this series. And I like how Takeshi and crew were transferred into a Magic Academy rather than sticking around in High School; being ordinary the normal thing anime tends to do.

And this anime has a lot of nice twists and turns. But again, I'm not gonna get into that because it will be spoiling. However, I'm not going to give this anime a perfect score; considering it ended in a cliff hanger and these type of series I feel needs 24 episodes or more so characters can have room to grow. And have more time.

Also the art was pretty smooth to look at as well. Another good work by MadHouse. : D

Hopefully it will get a second season!~

I give this anime a 7, I would give it an 8 but a lot of questions are still left unanswered and let alone the cliff hanger. My score would change if this series gets another season. :]

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Mar 28, 2014

lilac677

Mixed Feelings

When I first saw the synopsis for this series, I was extremely excited for it. Unfortunately, my expectations for this series was not met and it left me thinking that this series was a pure waste of my time.

For one thing, the pacing, in my opinion, is just terrible. The series will have an episode with a battle, then an episode with an explanation. All the explaining is extremely annoying. Sure, I like knowing what is going on, but usually the explanations have nothing to do with whatever event is occurring at the moment, and it will still leave me several unanswered questions as to ... what exactly did happen.

Another thing that seriously annoys me are the characters. Takeshi is just extremely gullible, and I found myself calling him an idiot more than once. Kurumi is your typical "damsel in distress" who doesn't seem to really have any useful powers. Ida just acts first without any thought, but we don't even see much of him anyway. Then there's Mui, who I can't really find anything noticeably wrong with her, except that she causes drama between Takeshi, Kurumi, and her.

Then, there's the romance aspect of this anime that I find uncalled for and unnecessary. It provides fan service, I know, but it is not needed at all. The anime would operate just fine without it, and all it does is take up episodes where something important could be happening (or an explanation -.-).

The ending was also rather open-ended, leaving you to try to figure out what actually happened, or happens... I might just force myself to read the manga in order to try and see if what happened is explained, because the ending of the anime just left me with even more questions than before. Overall, this series is something I wish I didn't spend my time to watch. It is not something I would recommend to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 11, 2014

Stark700

Not Recommended

Watching Mahou Sensou (Magical Warfare) is like finding out you just got arrested for something you didn’t even do and get put for jail for it. Confusion is the first word that will come to mind but then comes the anger phase and regret. The term ‘regret’ isn’t for feeling sorry for yourself but rather as how could a show with a tolerable premise can sink to a defiled piece of work. Not that expectations were high coming into this show but Mahou Sensou is an excuse of a damnation.

Mahou Sensou translates to Magical Warfare. As the name implies, the series adapts magical themes ... involving various spells in an ongoing war. The war involves a group of magicians going against beings known as Ghost Trailer from another world. We learn from the first episode that Takeshi Nanase has some sort of mysterious power that allows him to fight on par against some of the magicians in his world. Of course, this doesn’t happen after his life gets turned around forever. Nonetheless, he gets caught in the frenzy when a young girl named Mui became a target by the Ghost Trailers. It’s probable to guess what happens next as Takeshi tries to play the role of a hero and attempts to save her. Not only does this sounds like a trite formula of a typical magical series, it makes little sense at first. Everything happens too quickly as well as all at once. As time goes on, the series attempts to explain itself regarding both worlds, its histories, characters, and everything else in a fashion to hopefully draw viewers in. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t fit right.

The plus side is that the initial episodes blasts off in a quick fashion with the action and drama with little time to waste. Not only does it immediately get to the point with the conflict but it also brings together most of the main characters together in a dilemma that ties with the premise. But here’s the main problem: the pacing. It’s not just rushed but also inadequate. How would you explain a normal boy who resents his family for unknown reasons at first able to fend off a guy nearly twice his size with a large sword? From minute one to the credits proves the show is gimmicky clustered with cliches, gags, and senseless characters. It’s like a hornet nest with everything dancing and flying at once.

Characters in this series ranges from the typical small girl Mui to the more fashioned beauty known as Kurumi Isoshima. The latter is known as a stunning beauty at school but more importantly as Takeshi’s ‘fake girlfriend’. Despite the two pretending to be a couple, it’s obvious that Kurumi might have genuine feelings for her “boyfriend”. There’s also the best friend of the main protagonist, Kazumi Ida, a stereotypical delinquent that comes with the spiky hair, tough personality, and carefree attitude. None of these characters appeal to each other in any way. The worst of them might be Takeshi Nanase who sees to possess no personality. On the surface, he is a caring friend but often is indecisive over various matters. Only does trouble comes will he resent to dramatic action. Trouble comes from the Ghost Trailers whom serves as the main antagonists. They are presented as the epitome of stereotypes with their crafty looks, egoistic attitudes, and cheesy ambitions. Forget characterization. The Ghost Trailers don’t have a ghost of a chance for admirable attributes.

Drama takes in the form of family affairs and conflicts. It serves as a degeneration of a happy relationship because of circumstances. For Takeshi, it’s related to his younger brother Gekkou. Through flashbacks, there’s a clear problem with the boy because of his obsession towards a certain character. It’s an establishment for a bomb to explode soon between family manners. And of course, it does through actions in the way of magic. The way the series progresses this also lacks depth because of its basis. It’s clear as day why Gekkou’s behavior is seemingly justified by his actions. The show doesn’t even need to explain itself because of its clichéd angles. It’s saturated with lifeless emotions because of the weak persona through its characters. The characterization of the main magicians also lacks depth with their purpose. Everything just feels if they need to be there with no sense of morality. It fails to make its point with its collection of platitudes.

As with the concepts itself, mechanics of this show demonstrates some credibility. This is set by the standard of Subaru Magical Academy where students learn magic. It’s a place where characters like Takeshi, Mui, Kurumi and others train to perfect their skill as magicians. On the surface, it touches the basics of magic at a fundamental level. However, everything feels like it progresses far too quickly with its generics. The way magic is acquired is explained in simplicity despite the complex nature of some spells. From the first episode, we witness how our main characters acquire their magic with a taste of fan service involving Kurumi’s enhanced breasts. Besides catching the attention of others, the magic itself is only attractive by its effects rather than its execution. What I mean here is the way how some spells seems be blend to the core with their usage. On a more bright side, the series does focus on training sessions including a magical examination. In essence, it does maintain some degree of trustfulness with this show’s product.

Unfortunately, the romance aspect remains almost tasteless. There’s a lack of chemistry between the main characters. This mainly is focused on the love triangle going on between Kurumi, Mui and Takeshi. It follows an endless cycle of stages with the first stage being misunderstanding, the second stage explanation, and the third seemingly nowhere. Kurumi also gets herself involve with other male characters. We don’t see much progressing between her and them because of her own insecurities. Again, the pacing issue of a one-cour show also plays a role in downgrading Kurumi’s relationships. Furthermore, the chemistry she has with any of the characters just seems lackluster. She’s like a Barbie doll that everyone wants to buy. Her Ken is Takeshi.

Other flaws in the show includes a weak building structure connection both the real world and the magic world. Although it explains itself somewhat with the past and ancestries, the show neglects to explore them in depth. For fantasy writers, a show should demonstrate a decent degree of its world qualities. Unfortunately, this show is not one to serve as an example of that. However, this show does show examples of fan service. Although it doesn’t reach ecchi levels, the clichés reaches its point with swimsuits, compromising positions, and clothes torn by battle damages. The construction of its premise also hardly sounds original with the stereotypical Big Bad wanting to conquer the world and purify its worthless inhabitants. Wait, I heard that somewhere before…

The artwork would be appealing if it demonstrated an imaginative atmosphere. A world with magic and fighting wars between each other sounds attractive but the artwork is not. Character designs are blend and focused mainly on their stereotypes rather than who they actually are. The Ghost Trailers are hardly charismatic either with their lack of personalities. Everything feels forced with their lifeless expressions. Background artwork offers some degrees of admiration although it only ties in with its main themes. The only artistic attributes I find are perhaps the spells as they do offer degrees of diversity. They connect with the magical themes of this show with some degree of limited thought.

Out of all the technical aspects, soundtrack is probably the strongest factor coming from this show. To say the least, the OST is catchy with its hard rock tone and techno-like sensation. It actually connects with the dramatic scenes involved with the battles. Characters also demonstrates their voice mannerisms decently whether it’s feelings of anguish, fear, happiness, regret, solitude, or egoistic. The OP song also has its mood done right despite some of the magnetic movements. Focus should be bought forward to this show’s soundtrack aspects if you decide to get into this show. On the other hand, characters such as Takeshi lacks enthusiasm with his voice while others just feels lifeless.

Mahou Sensou is not just an underwhelming show but is exactly what you’ll expect. Its predictable plot is almost laughable with rushed scenarios, weak characterization, and conglomeration of cliches. It’s shameful that a show with the concept of magic can turn into this cluster of weak thoughtlessness. What you may expect is what you will get in the form of poor writing, romance cliches, thoughtless characterization, and farcical development. Despite the way this show originally set its family feuds into motion with darker aspects, its executions is stale and atrocious. Rather than evoking excitement, it spawns boredom with no redemption. If you really want to check out this show, then be prepared for a magical tale of mediocrity.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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