Mar 7, 2022
Apart from solid, above-average background work, some interesting cinematography in places, and a unique soundtrack (the battle theme could've been a B-side to a Camellia album), most of what is good in this series comes from the stories it takes inspiration from, bordering on plagiarism. Acknowledging that this is indeed a genre work, where the tropes that define Magical Girl anime cannot be avoided, I think I can identify three main sources of inspiration:
Most of the world-building could have been made from a Madoka Magica mad-lib. Switch out the unique Gekidan Inu Curry art and Witches with painfully obvious monster design choices, the mascot character
...
with two mad scientists, the Barriers with the (afaik) unnamed "parallel worlds", etcetera.
After that, everything else that distinguishes WEP from the rest of the genre offerings are table scraps from the Alien 9 OVA. Anxiety about growing up, becoming an adult, with all of the fear and anxiety that comes with it? Take those themes, dumb them down, and sprinkle in some clumsy explorations of sexuality (attraction to much older individuals, same-sex attraction/transgenderism). For all this series attempts to be progressive in that regard, a specter of Dead Lesbian Syndrome seemed to haunt Momoe from her first appearance onward.
Once the series gets tired of this, and after playing with some alarmingly-dark concepts and story beats that were handled with all the grace and delicacy of a bull in a china shop, it nosedives into tryhard/edgelord territory during the flashbacks at the end of the series. I couldn't help but laugh at several points I knew the writer/director wanted to make gut-wrenching and disturbing because the material was handled so poorly. Succesfully mixing and matching supernatural and sci-fi elements isn't new, and has been incredibly well in other series, but here, WEP reminds me of the worst parts of Mirai Nikki/Future Diary or Elfen Lied.
Top this series off with an unfocused finale and one more final 13th episode several months after the 12th aired, and you're left with an unoriginal production that really isn't worth your time (except for the OST, maybe throw that into your Watch Later on YouTube or your music streaming service of choice).
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
