Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers

In 2008, the Japanese government began hunting people who identify as otaku in an effort to protect the country's culture. In just one week, the enforcement agency known as the SSC captured almost every otaku by force and confiscated their memorabilia. One passionate man calling himself Otaku Hero refuses to allow this agency to do as they please: he raises a resistance army made up of other displaced geeks who band together to help defend their culture.

Three years later, the fires of rebellion wane as all hope seems lost for otakus. Spurred on by his ally—the magical girl Anarchy—Otaku Hero commands the resistance in an effort to reunite Anarchy with the other two other magical girls: Blue and Pink. By combining the power of this trio, the resistance may be able to defeat the SSC and save otaku culture for everyone.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Anarchy Main

Fairouz Ai Japanese

Otaku Hero Main

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Pink Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Blue Main

Aimi Japanese

Shobon Supporting

Saitou, Souma Japanese

Itasha Driver Supporting

Hiyama, Nobuyuki Japanese

Marcus Supporting

Miyake, Kenta Japanese

Slayer Supporting

Serizawa, Yuu Japanese

Chogo-shi Supporting

Chiba, Shigeru Japanese

Adam Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Ikehata, Hiroshi Director

Motoyama, Satoshi Sound Director

Konno, Taiki Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Iino, Shinya Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Feb 29, 2024

Tik23

Recommended

I just got done watching this after recently also checking out Kiznaiver, though I don't compare the two a whole lot I do have one statement that I think was valuable to warrant this explanation. Kiznaiver is an interesting show and I suggest you watch it if you read this.

Magical Destroyers is a fascinating show that breaks the mold in many ways and while it's quality may be lacking in certain areas like the animation and pacing, it's music, art direction, and story surprised me in many delightful ways. It kept me guessing as to what reality was at every point, and I think the ... messages it portrays are valuable not just to artists like myself, but also those who consume it as well.

As much as I want a season two I understand that it's not what the show is about. I think my real problem however is we just needed more time, with the characters, with their personalities. More time to hint and have characters interact with the overarching narrative would have been a better use of time than the unfortunately lacking beginning. Still, the ending left me pretty emotional and while it was a pretty disappointing show animation wise, the concept is so good I almost hope someone gets inspired to make a spiritual successor that really delivers on the themes and story.

It is admittedly a pretty rough watch though, very boring and not that funny, but there's passion and a real attempt to be more than the sum of its parts. Where Kiznaiver disappointed me by forcing itself into tropes and a by the numbers and really bumming ending, Magical Destroyers has me wishing the show was less afraid to show its hand and give proper buildup to its unique ending.

I've gone through a lot of anime lately that felt like they could've had more time in the oven, leaving me a little bittersweet. Even so, stuff like this is real art, I couldn't see any boardroom making something like Magical Destroyers ironically enough. It's a real experiment, and as they go, while I'm disappointed that its potential wasn't reached, it's gonna stick with me, and likely go on to inspire my own work.

..and for that, it was worth every second.

(And in accordance with the guidelines, you'll probably find it neat.)

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 3, 2023

NyanFishy

Mixed Feelings

Watching shows together with someone to discuss it as (and after) you're watching it is always a good idea. It helps you recontextualize everything. In the case of this one, I decided to watch it together with my brother.
The first two episodes were... confusing, really. Mainly thanks to the pacing, which was awful.
But it gave us something.

Hope.

Hope for a show that could outgrow it's initial clunkiness, and could surpass itself to become something truly great and memorable. It was mainly the visuals and symbolism in the opening and ending, and it's unique premise that gave us this feeling.
However, as we watched on, we quickly noticed ... it was becoming a constant teeter-totter in quality. From the animation, to the story, to well, everything really.
I have genuinely never seen something that so perfectly encapsulates the meaning of "mixed bag" as this.

One thing that never disappointed was the music, but it was ultimately held back by inconsistency, on literally all the other fronts. Animation, tone, story build-up, etc. Every episode felt like a turn of the gachapon dial, never knowing what might come out of that wretched little plastic ball next.
Throughout it's 12 episode run there were a lot of good, and hell, even great concepts. The ones that leaned into the surreal and darker tone that was present in the op and ed genuinely captivated us. We agreed that out of all of them, 2, 5, 8 and 9 were the best episodes, truly showcasing what this show is capable of at it's peak.

So, I hear you asking, was this show any good? And, if not, was it even worth watching?
And to you, I raise,
who am I to tell you what to like, and how much to like it?

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 25, 2024

Lolitroy

Not Recommended

MEH.

As a chronic yapper, this will probably be my shortest review by far. There's little to say, which is ironic, since the show seems so adamant about saying things. What things? The answer is yes.

Art is pretty nice. I can't for the life of me remember anything about the soundtrack. A lot of visuals are interesting and funny and stuff. The opening/ED are the reason why I watched this show in the first place: they're great. Opening is insane in the best way possible and the ending eerie, catchy, intriguing. Good stuff. They're also borderline false advertisement and I feel scammed every time I remember ... them.

The story takes place in an alternate timeline where otaku stuff has been banned. Why? The answer is yes. It has all but been purged from society; however, a valiant group of rebels keep the embers alive on their hideout in Akihabara, aided by three magical girls who showed up as a gift to the MC, creatively named Otaku Hero(TM). Together, they fight the oppressive government who seeks to deploy conceptual erasure upon anime/manga.

Right off the bat, it reminded me of Shimoneta, which has basically the same premise except with dirty jokes instead of anime/manga. Thing is, Shimoneta HAD something to say. It wasn't particularly groundbreaking (authoritarianism bad, brainwashing citizens into mindless obedience leads to stagnation, chronic deprivation can lead to the exact opposite of the desired effect), but it didn't need to be. The appeal (?) was the comedy, anyway. Both aspects complimented each other rather than clash in a tonal disaster like this series.

An unfortunately common trap in gimmicky anime/manga/LN is that, unless the author is very creative, the jokes wear thin after a while, or perhaps the author feels like adding 'complexity', so the tone shifts from silly goofy to serious... until it doesn't, because the author then remembers it's supposed to be a comedy, so as a result, we get intense sequences of one-dimensional characters talking about boring problems in a one-dimensional world, but with jokes. While I get some of this is by design (quirky sparkly concepts sell), many, many authors have been able to sidestep this issue. Why? Easy: they add layers from the start. And this show tried. I think. Or maybe it imitated other shows while failing to understand why they worked? Speaking of unfortunately common traps--

We're digressing. This show started out silly, then failed to evoke emotional appeal due to its cardboard characters, cardboard world, and cardboard exploration of "themes". It's very cool that the girls have strong bonds with Otaku Hero(MC) and stuff, but I feel like I've seen that a few thousand times. What else? Otaku Hero(TM) feels conflicted about the sacrifices the rebels have made for their cause... okay, cool. He also wonders if it's worth it, and to that, having endured the ending, I must concur: WAS it worth it? If the society that wrongs you doesn't seem to care about you at all, and your cause of rebellion could be solved by finding another hobby (learn how to knit idk) then is it worth the loss of thousands of lives and resources?

The show's answer to this plight is that 'it's okay to like anime', which feels almost surreal at that point. People are dying, Kim. They did try to show adverse effects with non otaku society being gray and boring because, like, they enjoy normie stuff... which means they're gray and boring and not unique free thinkers like anime fans. It didn't land particularly well. In Shimoneta, you could actually see the daughter of the evil politician(tm) turning into the complete antithesis of her mom's ideals as a result of such extreme censorship (said daughter doesn't even recognize the unhinged stuff she does). Conversely, there was the other end of the spectrum, which, while theoretically agreeing with the MCs, only cared to spread debauchery as the new norm instead of promoting freedom of thought/expression. This show had none of that, really. The otakus(tm) are all the good guys and the normies(tm) the bad guys who don't respect other people's hobbies damn it mom it's not a phase

On top of the nothingburger of a "theme" (or perhaps, precisely because of this) the sequence of events are so nonsensical and stupid it makes me wonder if they just animated a first draft. Half of these things could've been smoothed over, but maybe nobody cared. Maybe whoever was in charge didn't want their vision to be tainted by silly things like coherent writing. Again, this imitates spectacle while failing to understand intent. Several 'twists' fell flat, or seemed to be there just to be quirky and unique. It's one of those series that makes me appreciate predictable, but coherent over nonsense that tries too hard. This is the latter. There's a reason why formulas exist: they work. There's a reason why deviating from the formula leads to trash like this so often: it's done without meaning.

This has no meaning. The characters are bland and uninteresting. The funny gimmicks wear off fast, both by design and incompetence. The storyline is unpredictable in the worst way possible, which is to say, a cautionary tale about why plot twists need... well... a PLOT to work. A premise is not a plot. A concept is not a plot. Why is that so hard to understand?

When I saw that banger opening and insane first episode, I thought I was in for a treat. There's plenty of underrated shows with insane humor and storyline that work for me yet aren't really popular, and so I figured based on the rating that this would be one of them... but no, you guys were absolutely right. This is a trashfire. Good presentation is meaningless the moment you take off the wrapping. What a waste of time. What a disappointment. It makes me feel for those involved who saw the writing on the wall yet tried their best to the bitter end. You're better off watching Shimoneta or Magical Girl Ore, which is another spoof of the genre with questionable moments yet is a sublime work of art the likes of which appear once a century. I'm only being half ironic here. Much like this anime. Very postmodern. It's not that deep, bro. It's just a shitpost, bro. (More shit than post.)

P.S. Is this even my shortest review? Probably not. Plot twist hahAHahHAhahHAHah

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Mar 24, 2023 2:36 PM by DatRandomDude | Discuss (4 comments)

	Poll: Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Apr 7, 2023	178 replies	by O_OSeeKing »» Oct 24, 1:20 AM
	Poll: Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Apr 21, 2023	75 replies	by P_ikachu_ »» Aug 17, 1:44 AM
	Poll: Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jun 23, 2023	102 replies	by Eggyy »» Jul 18, 7:36 PM
	Poll: Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Jun 9, 2023	33 replies	by katakumplat »» Jun 21, 5:15 PM
	Poll: Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - Jun 2, 2023	42 replies	by katakumplat »» Jun 16, 3:55 AM