Tag: Anarchy

Posted on in anime, Anime Orbit Weekly

Anime Orbit Seasonal Check-in: When Did MAGICAL DESTROYERS Stop Being Fun?

Anime Orbit is an irregular column where I summarize a stop along my journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of popular culture over the past week.

Expect spoilers for covered material, where relevant.

It’s always a danger with this kind of show; anything that’s more than 30% or so pastiche by volume will get lost in the weeds if it spends too much time reminding you of other stuff instead of being good on its own merits, but that isn’t really the specific problem that Magical Destroyers has run into as it closes out its first half. Instead, the issues are more basic. It just isn’t much fun anymore; the show’s always-questionable taste, initially a forgivable quirk, has collided headlong with its lacking character writing, incoherent plotting, spotty pacing, and, as of the most recent episode, the visual side of things is also starting to fall apart. None of this is good, and even if the series recovers it will be, if remembered at all, rightly dinged for having a weak middle third.

You can map Magical Destroyers‘ episode quality over time pretty easily. After a strong premiere, an even better second episode that seems likely at this point to be the show’s overall highlight, and a solid third episode, cracks started to show around episode 4, where the entire thing is basically an excuse for some tasteless fanservice. Episode 5 is fine, and even seems to set up some ongoing plot threads for the episodes to follow, but the two that come immediately after it are easily the show’s low points. Episode 6 is a dull and pointless elaboration on the titular magical girls’ barely-there backstory, and episode 7 is just a top to bottom problem.

In episode 7, the girls face the second of the Four Heavenly Kings—gotta have those in an anime, of course—but in contrast to the brainwashed car otaku in episode 3, this guy is….an angry gamer named Adam who cheat at video games a lot until he was eventually banned from every online game. It really must be said, Adam has an unforgivably bland design for a show like this, and his AI girlfriend Eve (of course her name is Eve) doesn’t fare much better.

Adam of course traps our heroes in a virtual world where he has unlimited haxx0rz to torment them as he pleases. Except, he’s not very creative with any of this—which is maybe supposed to be a vaguely meta point about the sorts of people who are inclined to cheat at video games, but it doesn’t really come off that way—and his attacks are mostly limited to generic stuff like rocket launchers and pistols. The SNES-style JRPG mockup segments are a bit more interesting, but given how off-model the rest of the episode looks, they almost feel like an excuse to simply have the characters on screen less often.

While all this is going on, there is a massive battle happening back at the home base of Otaku Hero’s rebels. We’re shown approximately none of this, and despite the threat of Otaku Hero and the magical girls possibly not making it back home in time to save the day, the plot is simply resolved off-screen. This is indicative of the show’s poor writing at this point in general, plot points will be seemingly forgotten about or just dissolve mid-episode, proving to be of no real consequence. Anime in this “otaku action anime” genre do not have to be exquisitely-written, but they do need to have impact, and virtually nothing that’s happened in the past two episodes has had any.

On top of that, it must be said. No one comes to an anime like this for its themes, but watching it—again, especially this weak run of episodes 6 and 7—has made me realize just how well written some of them, in particular Rumble Garandoll, actually are by comparison. That series never lost sight of the fact that people who loudly express disdain for art and those who love it tend to have ulterior motives for doing so. There is a reason its villains were from an alternate timeline where Japan won WWII; they were literal fascists, whose hatred of otaku culture stemmed from it being indicative, in their view, of a weak mindset that did not sufficiently put the nation first. By contrast, Magical Destroyers‘ main villain seems to just hate otaku because they’re otaku. He gives a rather over-wrought speech in episode 6 that makes him come across like the sort of person who spends a lot of time on tumblr ranting about how fanfiction is destroying young writers’ minds. He’s still ultimately wrong, but the ideological scope is not there, and as such his plans—and the show’s entire plot as a consequence—come off as trivial.

Otaku Hero’s ideal of a world where you can “like whatever you want however much you want to like it” is a nice enough idea, sure, but it’s not very specific. Contrast Garandoll‘s broad messages of unity and inclusiveness—even accounting for that show’s own flaws—and you start to see how poorly Magical Destroyers‘ writing holds up even against other anime in its own very narrow genre. When Magical Destroyers began, I saw a few people express disdain at the fact that it took its own conceit seriously. That isn’t the problem; the problem is that it’s not taking it seriously enough to actually articulate any further ideas it might have. And if it doesn’t have any, if the only thought it has truly is “doesn’t it suck when nerds get bullied?” then that’s all the worse.

Finally, the show’s production has begun falling off as of episode 7, and as a result some shots and sequences look astoundingly poor, with low drawing quality and bad composition. One hopes it’s just a hiccup, but it’s genuinely hard to believe that shots like these come from the same anime as episode 2, which still stands as one of the single most visually inventive of the season. And for that matter, the show’s own stock henshin sequences, which stack up to any from any more conventional magical girl anime of the past decade.

Will Magical Destroyers recover? It’s not impossible. There are a few high points of episode 7; a bit where Otaku Hero and Anarchy rescue Pink and Blue sees them walking in on the two mid-Uno game, where Pink is “torturing” Blue by hitting her with a pair of Draw 4s. And there are a handful of good to great shots and cuts, although honestly that’s true of almost any anime (very few anime look uniformly terrible throughout).

And while it probably hasn’t sounded like it from most of this article’s tone; I am rooting for Magical Destroyers, here. I like stuff like this! There’s a real point to be made about how the persecution of art can abet the persecution of people, and while no show in this small genre has ever made it perfectly, they usually at least try. What’s really burning me about Magical Destroyers at this stage is that it feels like it’s not trying anymore. Not to beat a dead horse, but you’re going to go on and on about the glory of anime and manga, and then this My Hero Academia reject is the heat you’re going to bring?

I initially thought there was a method to this anime’s madness, but it really seems like it might just be making it up as it goes after all. For a show where the premise involves a rebelling army of nerd guerillas and a magical girl named Anarchy, it hasn’t really lit the fires of revolution under me.

Nonetheless, because I’m a mark, and because I tend to get attached to shows where my feelings on them change several times over the course of me watching them, if it ever does get its act back together, I’ll be the first person singing its praises. Come on, Magical Destroyers! Give me something to believe in!

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All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in Uncategorized

5 Underrated Magical Girls I Think Would Be Fun Hangouts, Based on Nothing but Their Vibes

I usually write pretty straightforward articles on this site. But I don’t know, I wanted to be a little silly today. So why not, right? Join me as we explore the hangout vibes of five random magical girls who I basically picked out of a hat.

Inori “Buki” Yamabuki (Cure Pine) from Fresh Precure!

Perhaps the least complex of Fresh Precure‘s four main characters, Cure Pine (Akiko Nakagawa) strikes me as a deeply chill person. The only Pretty Cure to ever be given a canonical religion—she’s Christian, in what I assume was someone’s attempt to get Toei some merch money from Japan’s surprisingly large Christian minority—Buki is only lacking in complexity as a character because she’s the Fresh member who least needs it. She begins the show as a pretty well-adjusted person and basically still is one by the show’s end. Her parents are veterinarians, which seems neat. Buki is not the sort of friend you call up because you want to go clubbing, but she is the sort of friend who’d happily be your designated driver after the night is over. That’s called reliability, every friend group needs “the down-to-Earth one.”

Vibes: Peaceful Pineapple.

Special Friendship Skill: Will Pray for You (but Not in a Judgey Way)

Kirika Akatsuki from Symphogear

Is your friend group missing that one person who really seems like they should work at a Hot Topic, even if they don’t? That one friend who knows every single lyric to “My Immortal” and seems like she’d think the main character of My Immortal is genuinely cool? Do you need, also, someone who is a hyperactive ball of energy, a perpetually coiled spring ready to leap to their feet to join in on whatever inane totally badass plan you’ve cooked up for the weekend on zero notice? Well, I don’t know why I’m phrasing this as though she’s a car I’m trying to sell you, but Kirika Akatsuki (Ai Kayano) ticks all those boxes. The second-string Symphogear character is a highlight of the series’ cast, even if she’s occasionally subject to, we’ll be delicate and say, questionable things from the show itself. There is no friend group that would not be improved by adding in this adorable little edgelord. Just make sure you leave room for Shirabe Tsukuyomi (Yoshino Nanjou), the blonde beyblade and her yo-yo girlfriend are a package deal.

Vibes: Says “Death” a Whole Lot

Special Friendship Skill: Funny Noises

Momo Chiyoda (Fresh Peach) from The Demon Girl Next Door

At first blush, the rather reserved Momo Chiyoda (Akari Kitou) might seem like a strange choice for this list. But the real secret here, aside from the fact that much like 90% of anime characters who seem such, she just needs to be around the right people to open up, is that Momo has stories. You see, Momo is in the rare position of being mostly retired by the time we actually join the story of her originating series. Machikado Mazoku is a comedy show, and the big dramatic events that define the lives of most magical girls are several years in the rearview for Momo. She has been places and seen things—we know from the series’ actual text that she probably saved the world once—and in the right setting, she might be persuaded to share some of that wisdom. It’d probably be good for her, too, honestly. Momo is certainly the most emotionally troubled mahou up to this point on the list, even if she doesn’t show it often. (Machikado Mazoku is not usually that sort of series, after all.) Also her cat sometimes mutters ominous things in a deep voice, which is pretty fun.

Vibes: Seen It All

Special Friendship Skill: Property Owner

Asuka Tsuchimiya and Asuka Tsuchimiya from The Girl in Twilight

Easily the most obscure girl on this list, Asuka Tsuchimiya (Tomoyo Kurosawa) hails from forgotten 2018 battle girl anime The Girl in Twilight, the only full-length TV original from little-known studio Dandelion Animation. I don’t have the time or space to give TGiT the writeup it deserves here (despite being seen by just about nobody, the show is actually quite good), but the appeal of Asuka herself is easy to explain. One; she’s just an all-around good girl, an uncomplicatedly kind person who makes every room she’s in that much brighter. Two; she’s friends with a double of herself from another universe who is basically just the same person as she is but more badass, a fact that objectively rules. With Asuka, you get two friends for the price of one. There’s no beating that.

Vibes: Seeing Double

Special Friendship Skill: Ham Radio Expert

But alright, let’s say you’re tired of all the sunshine and quiet wisdom. You want to throw some anarchy and chaos into your friend group. Who do you call?

Anarchy from Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers

So, okay, full disclosure. This show doesn’t exist. Yet anyway. Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers is an upcoming anime based on a small group of characters created by fashion designer Jun Inagawa. We don’t really know what the show is going to actually be yet, the only extant trailer is very vague, as is the plot description. (Which kind of implies to me something vaguely akin to last year’s Rumble Garanndoll, but at this early stage who the hell knows.) But there’s no way Anarchy wouldn’t be a fun hang. Look at her. Look at her name! It’s Anarchy! She has a magic staff with an anarchy A on the tip. There’s no way this girl isn’t a living party-starter. If you want good vibes, you can call any of the other girls on this list. If you want to overthrow a government, you call Anarchy.

Vibes: Rage Against The Machine Fan.

Special Friendship Skill: Will lend you her copy of The Abolition of Work.

So that’s the list. Normally I try to concisely summarize the main point of the article in these closing paragraphs, but, you get the picture by now I’m sure. Did you like this article? Absolutely hate it? Do you want more of these (whatever “these” are) on MPA? I do have to say I feel a little bad that I only got one girl from a “traditional” magical girl anime in there. Perhaps a follow-up is in order? Let me know in the comments below. Also consider donating if you can! See you on Friday for the Kaguya recap, friends.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.