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Pure fanservice.

Looking for an interesting and deep plot with meaningful and complex characters? Then you’re better off looking somewhere else lol because you’re definitely not getting that here!

Looking for girls with big boobs and shots of their butts? Then you’re in the right place!

Maken-Ki is a very fanservice heavy show. Don’t go in thinking you’re going to get anything of substance here. It’s big boobs, panties, and butt shots all the way through.

Now yes, there is a “plot”, but it might as well not exist. It’s nothing interesting, and the writers may have been better off cutting it completely because it doesn’t really go anywhere, ... and it just takes the focus off the fanservice and the girls, both of which carry this show to the end.

Certain characters can be pretty annoying too, mainly the MC, who says and does some pretty stupid things. It gets a little better I guess, but the show probably would’ve been better off without them.

If you’re a fan of fanservice, you’re in for a treat. Not a fan and think fanservice should not exist? Stay away. Chances are you’re going to despise this.

An overall improvement from last season!

If you didn’t like a lot of the problems from last season but decided to watch anyways, good news, this season feels so much better!

First off, the art and animation in this season looks better when compared to the last. Is it perfect? Nope, but it is an improvement (even if it is a small one lol)! It still has problems, but they’re way less noticeable and jarring this time around. Really, there were like two scenes in particular that rubbed me the wrong way when it comes to the animation, and while there are still CG animated background ... characters (one monster still animated like this too), they show up less often here.

I think the writing improved as well. The last season had a lot of problems when it came to the pacing and writing. Either it tried to explain a lot in a short amount of time, or it rushed through certain points. Does it still have some problems? Sure. Personally, I enjoyed the second half just a bit more than the first half, but that’s not to say the first half was all bad either. It wasn’t my cup of tea I guess, and I enjoyed the plot more in the second half.

That being said though... Keep in mind some more things are switched around in this season. Certain things happen in this season that contradict or even rewrite things that have happened in previous seasons. Of course I'm not going to say what exactly, but I thought I should bring it up, because it's confusing to say the least. You get characters talking about certain things like they haven't happened, despite them having already happened in a previous season, or certain things just being completely rewritten. I get that maybe it was necessary, especially with how the first season was and all, but it could've been done better.

Also, time in this show is a mess to say the least. I swear the writers can't seem to agree how much time has passed across the show. It's something small sure, but it bothers me, and I'm sure it'll confuse others out there. I'll leave it at that...

There’s no denying that the last season had a drop in quality when compared to the previous seasons, but there was genuine improvement this season! I’m not too sure what happened, but I’m glad things have gotten better. After watching this season, I genuinely think it’s on par with the first season, maybe even better... Though that might be a bit unfair as it’s been a while since I’ve watched it, but going purely off memory, I think I enjoyed this season more than the first.

If you stuck through the previous season despite its problems, chances are you'll end up enjoying this one, even if just a bit more. Let’s hope the next season is even better... Fingers crossed.

7 years since the last season... Was it worth the wait? Well... It's complicated.

This season was not made by the same studio as the previous seasons, A-1 Pictures. It was instead made by a much smaller group named Studio VOLN. Now, why does this matter? Because there’s a drop in quality in this season when compared to the last two.

Certain episodes feel rushed, some try to explain so much in a short amount of time. The plot has it’s moments where it can be a pain to follow, due to poor writing decisions, characters making frustrating choices or acting in an annoying way, and some… ... Not great plot twists. Art and characters can look off at times as well, and animation quality really drops in some parts, from weirdly animated background characters, static images of monsters sliding across scenes, and poorly animated CG monsters. It’s a mess, and it’s no wonder why this season got lower rating when compared to the other two.

With all that being said though, I don’t think this season was as bad as most people made it out to be. I got plenty of enjoyment from this season, so much so that I ended up watching the whole thing in a day. However, I can understand why most fans would feel disappointed with this season, especially after waiting 7 years to see a continuation from the Kyoto Saga. The drop in quality is noticeable. There’s no denying that. It’s such a shame A-1 Pictures didn’t work on this season. Maybe things would’ve turned out different, but there’s no changing it now.

If you’re still interested in seeing where the story goes after all these years, and the problems I mentioned above don’t sound too bad to you, give it a shot! I went in expecting the worse, and while yes this season is very flawed, I still enjoyed it overall, despite its problems.

There’s not much to see here. That’s a pretty good way to sum up this show.

This is a show about three high school girls going about their lives, but with zero dialogue. Just sound effects, music, and any sounds the girls might make.

Instead of using dialogue to tell each episode’s story, their actions, expressions, and sounds tell the story. It’s an interesting concept, but pretty strange too.

If you’re in the mood for cute scenes with high school girls, this show has a couple episodes of just that, but there are also episodes filled with fanservice, which was a real surprise when I picked it up, ... but I'm not complaining. Don’t expect anything super lewd though, just some close up’s of a character's thighs and butt. It never goes pass that, but at least you get a great view in multiple episodes.

For what this show is, it’s not bad, just okay. You’re not going to get anything super deep or complicated in this show, just 3ish minutes of cute girls doing cute things together, which is nice and all, but this would’ve been better with dialogue. Having the characters instead make mumbling sounds to provide some kind of communication between them is an odd choice.

Overall, this show is a 6/10. It could’ve been done better, but what we do have isn't completely bad either. It’s okay. Not a show I plan on rewatching anytime soon, but I enjoyed the fanservicey scenes, plus it had it’s cute moments, and kept me entertained for a bit.

I really tried to keep an open mind while watching this show, but I don't get it. It's just another wish fulfillment power fantasy where this useless scrawny dude gets ridiculously overpowered, and now that I've watched the series through, I still find myself wondering what exactly people were so hyped about. If you're here because of all the hype surrounding this show, drop that hype and draw your own conclusion instead, or you may end up disappointed.

Starting with the story it's nothing special. It can be so predictable and just so bland. It somehow takes ideas from similar shows and somehow makes them worse ... here. Obviously not going to say much about it here, but if you've seen other shows similar to this like "Sword Art Online" and "I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too", then you probably know where this is going already. Throughout this whole show we also get this like side story sprinkled in with these side characters who we learn absolutely nothing about apart from the fact that they're supposed to be huge deals in this world... And that's it. This is our introduction to whoever these characters are. Why should we care about these characters when we know nothing about them? And the main story sometimes has to pause in the middle of fights in order to show off this side story. This isn't good writing. This is a terrible way to introduce these characters. It just feels like it's there for padding and eye candy, as for some reason the show focuses a lot on this one female side character, and we end up getting a lot of shots of her from behind if you know what I mean. And by the end you still know basically nothing about her.

Next, the characters... They're nothing special either. I found myself frustrated with pretty much all of them, and now that I think about it, I don't like any characters in this entire show. Like some of them just make such terrible choices that conflict with their motivations. And then the MC, good god the MC. I found them at least likeable to begin with, but they really take a turn for the worse over the course of the show. They had a unique design that set them apart from other power fantasy shows similar to this, but then drops it by changing their design completely, making them look like a generic fantasy protagonist. The difference is so jarring too, especially when you look at them side by side. At first I thought they were a completely different character. Now sure if it was just their design that got changed, then maybe I could've let it slide, but man did they really have to give this dude an ego too? He starts off as just a nice guy trying to do his best and make ends meet... Until he gets OP and gets that ego of his, clearly letting his new power go to his head (reminding me even further of Sword Art Online), and if that wasn't enough, they gave him plot armor too, because of course.

About the only good thing in this show are the fight scenes, because yes they're pretty cool... But that doesn't really last long. The coolness of the fight scenes starts to really wear off once you realize how OP this MC is, and that no matter what, plot armor will save them in some way or another.

Overall, I can't recommend this show. Back when this first started to air, I remember being pretty excited for it! I was going in completely blind but people seemed pretty hyped about it, claiming it had such a good story, cool fights, and great characters... But it left me disappointed, but that's mostly on me for listening to all that hype and taking their word for it. Because this show did not live up to all that hype. Not even close. It eventually got to the point where I would have to force myself to keep going with some people even saying "it doesn't get good yet, keep going". But it never got good.

This is a 4 for me. I really can't give it anything higher than that. If you didn't like Sword Art Online, you're probably not going to enjoy this as they're incredibly similar in some parts.