Back to marxaac's Profile marxaac's Profile

Magical Girl Incident was a nice motivational read. This short story sends a beautiful message to the reader: even in dark times, a small light of hope can be found. A great example is the protagonist. Ever since he was a child, Hiromi Sakura dreamed of becoming a hero or someone that inspires others. However, he became a salaryman that works in a black corporate company. Sakura’s boss always did power harassment and often gave overtime to his subordinates. While our main character thought all hope for change was lost, an unexpected event would completely turn his life around. He gained a new opportunity to ... live his childhood dream, to become a hero. Receiving a new chance in life is an important theme in the story, and it extends to other characters too. I find that Magical Girl Incident’s best aspect is the moral lessons we learn as a reader.

The plot itself is simple: magical beings defeat nightmares. The magical beings are average people that can turn into magical heroes, while nightmares can be simplified as the manifestation of a person’s dark thoughts. Most of the fights are comical but there serious moments too.

The author also drops a lot of important information about the magical worldbuilding, which was very interesting. Some gave answers, while others left more questions that weren’t there at the first place. By the end of the manga a lot of those questions are left unanswered. While I liked the manga, for that exact reason it felt like the first arc of a franchise and not a standalone story.

On the positive side, Magical Girl Incident caught my eye in the first place because of the really pretty covers. Luckily, you can judge it by its cover. The art style is very nice to look at and fits its magical aspect. The character designs are neat and some pretty, the nightmares sound like their name while still having the simple art style. The paneling was slightly more focused on the dialogue but it’s made in a way that isn’t boring. Although what really stood out was the occasional big panels. Those panels all had dynamic posing and very good composition.

Overall, this manga was pretty enjoyable. It’s comforting to read and short, so it’s easy to give it a chance. The characters are mostly relatable or likable, with the exception of the protagonist’s boss but he’s a foil so it’s expected. The art is also definitely worth checking. For the magical worldbuilding: it’s not bad but could work in some aspects.

If I could describe Fairy Tail: 100 years quest with few words: a decent anime with flaws.

Story: The plot was pretty easy to follow, and the side events didn’t feel so out of place. Even so, the comedy was overtaking the plot and while the gags were funny, it kind of made some ‘serious’ moments seem like another joke. There were one or two exceptions that did feel like they were taken seriously, but those scenes are very few.
Another issue I found in Fairy Tail: 100 years quest is how the fights are handled. In this series and even on the past seasons, ... there are occasions where an opponent could effortlessly overpower the main cast, but is then quickly defeated out of convenience. It unfortunately feels less immersive to know that the threat is all bark and no bite. There is one character that feels very intimidating and I hope that she doesn’t fall in this genre of antagonist.
On the other hand, there was a lot of improvement in romance. 100 years quest was amazing at creating instances of cute romance, some were even touching. I would even say that the romantic subplots are handled way better than the action. There was also an expansion on the worldbuilding which made things more interesting.

Art: Although the art didn’t stand out at all, I do think that the simple pastel shonen look fit well with Fairy Tail: 100 years quest. Since this series is slightly more lighthearted, it makes sense that the art looks softer.
The issue comes with the wonky fights. Wonky might be a harsh word, but looking at J.C.Staff’s other works (like Danmachi) make it seem like they didn’t take the animation as priority. Supposedly hard blows don’t feel impactful, it’s like the character didn’t have intentions to attack at all. It’s the case for quite a big number of confrontations. Even if the animation looks stiff at times, the fighting choreography is fluid and natural. The backgrounds blend well with the characters and look pretty decent, but nothing out of the ordinary.
There isn’t a drastic change in the character design, but I found the Diabolos designs to be memorable and decent. Both the human and dragon forms of the dragons were pretty good too.

Sound: There is not much to say about Fairy Tail: 100 years quest Japanese voice acting, it’s the same VAs for most characters and they know them like the back of their hand. The VAs that voiced new characters did a really good job and felt fitting for their personalities.
The Ost was actually really well composed. But while most songs blend in, there is one song in the action sequence that stood out. I’ll describe it as a music filled with hype that could bring motivation at the gym.
The first opening felt as good as Fairy Tail’s previous openings; it really was a jam. Unfortunately, the second opening didn’t live up to the first and felt forgettable.

Character: Because of the romantic aspect, there was changes, subtle or not, about some relationships. I liked how it wasn’t just fanservice, the characters had more meaningful interactions and we got to see a lot of those, even on side characters. New characters like Mercphobia and especially Suzaku were likable and had solid personalities. I also found Selene’s personality and aura intimidating and powerful. Although some could be kind of annoying, but I’m pretty sure that those unimportant characters were not made to be anyone’s favorite.
Surprisingly, there was a lot of characters that I never thought would show up again but did. The best part is that their appearance made sense and they still had the same charisma.

Enjoyment: It was an ambivalent watch. At moments, I was rolling my eyes and on others pausing the episode out of happiness. I have to admit that some episodes were on the brink of being tolerable and those are more than the ones I enjoyed. Fairy Tail: 100 years quest is an anime that only long-term fans of Fairy Tail can enjoy watching but that’s probably because of the coupling and that we have an attachment to Fairy Tail in general. I’m not confident to say that it’s the same for people that don’t love Fairy Tail or those that expect the same quality as the previous seasons.