Mcsuper

In an era riddled with isekai with boring power fantasies, overpowered characters, and poor production, this anime was a gem of its genre, although this show is more disconnected from the isekai aspect, and more on the fantasy aspect. I will admit, when I saw this show announced, I thought it would be yet another generic isekai, but just with yuri. Seeing that Studio Diomedéa at the helm, and with their recent anime such as Futsal Boys, and Domestic Girlfriend, I wrote this one off entirely. I eventually did try it out, and following a premiere that stumbled out of the gates, it improved intosomething quite special, with impressive animation, characters, and thought-provoking themes. Stories surrounding royalty always fall into the age old trope of in-fighting inside the palace, and a thirst for the throne and power. Instead, our main protagonist, Anisphia “Anis” Wynn Palletia, is one that seemingly does not care for ascending to the throne, despite being in the royal bloodline. One reason why that might be the case is that in a world filled with magic users, at least among royalty, she is incapable of using magic. Instead, she engages in research called “magicology”, using the world’s resources and her knowledge from her previous life. As she seemingly neglects her place in the royal scheme of things, she is seen as a heretic, and therefore, her brother, Algard, assumes the duties of royalty. At the outset, Algard is in a forced political marriage with Euphyllia Magenta, whom he barely knows. With that, the theme of rebellion is presented for the first time in the show, as Algard spends time with another girl rather than his fiancée, and eventually denounces her in front of a huge crowd, calling off their marriage. This all happens in the first episode, and I’m sure that if you haven’t watched this show yet, you’re thinking to yourself how this is even good. It all seems like contrived drama, doesn’t it? But then, Anisphia comes in, all carefree, to sweep Euphyllia off her feet, in more ways than one, as she flies away from the terrible scene with her on a broom, and gives her the role of being Anisphia’s assistant, which she agrees to. Anisphia and Euphyllia have personalities that can be seen as polar opposites. Anisphia is a very happy go lucky girl who has excellent ideals around magic, whereas Euphyllia is struggling to fit into this casual atmosphere where no one is forced to be polite and ladylike, and can just have fun. In a way, the theme of rebellion shows itself yet again, as Euphyllia is rebelling against the very nature of her world, to change herself into finding her own purpose, to do the things that she wants, just like Anisphia. There’s a parallel to another anime, Lycoris Recoil, that I can sort of see here, with Anisphia resembling Chisato and Euphyllia resembling Takina, as the former breaks the latter out of her shell to push her to act and do things that she wants to do, not just following orders, like she’s done her whole life. Their dynamic was wonderful to see throughout the anime, as they go through the toughest of battles and emotions together. To continue the discussion on rebellion, Algard, as polarizing and divisive as he was, ended up being quite a good character, and a villain who had some depth, and someone who allowed us to sympathize with. The world and its politics aren’t great. Its systems of prioritizing magic for the nobility is corrupt and was fully deserving to be broken down. Algard’s actions during this anime make him look like the villain, but he believed he was doing what needed to be done, which was overthrow the power dynamic in this world. He attempts to use his strength rather than change the policies slowly, and he’ll stop at nothing to achieve this goal. The ends justify the means for him, even if that means people need to be sacrificed to do so. Isekai series struggle with villain writing all the time, and while Algard, as decent of a character he was, he wasn’t exceptionally written in my opinion, but it’s most definitely a step in the right direction. The side cast also added a lot to the cast as well. Tilty and Ilia were amazing characters who kept the main duo true to themselves, and pushed them towards a better relationship with each other. Now, to the production side of things, the animation was generally very well done, with the fight scenes being exemplary, and the cinematography being amazing even outside of the fight choreography. The soundtrack was also very overlooked, and complimented the emotional and epic scenes very well. Studio Diomedéa was really punching above their weight here, and I never expected this studio to pull off something quite like this. The main issue I did see with this show was the pacing, but it’s nothing too egregious, as the story was still generally quite decent overall. It felt a little fast at times, as it doesn’t feel like the world was really fleshed out to its fullest. While there was some world building aspects, it didn’t feel as intriguing as it could have been, in its political world building, or the monarchy in general. That said, the adaptation did what it had to, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. Overall, this show has been quite a joy to watch, with its exemplary cast, solid animation, soundtrack, and themes. It’s a show I never expected to enjoy this much, and while there were some shortcomings, it was a great experience to watch and a great show to discuss about. The second half was quite polarizing among the anime community, but I came out with quite a positive view of it. I assure you, it’s more than just a plain old yuri anime, there was a lot of heart put into this adaptation, so if there’s anything to take away from this anime season, this would be a good choice to watch. I implore you, do give it a fair chance.

TheRockzSG

When I say the word: “Princess.” What kind of impression comes into your mind? Now, take that impression of yours, and throw that in the bin, because this Princess is not your typical fantasy princess. Elegant? What is that? Princess Anis does not give two shits about being elegant while happily walking around the castle in a blood-soaked dress and wearing the head of a monster who is the latest’s victim of Anis’ rampage. Princess Anisphia “Anis” Wynn Palletia is the reason this anime is so enjoyable. Her erratic and unpredictable behaviour brings life into this already amazing show. Her passion for developing magical tools(magicology) is so infectious that it not only affects the character in the anime but the audience itself. You can’t help but love and adore her. Such an amazing character is more than enough to make any show good. However, if you are not yet convinced. I will give you another reason why you should watch this: The story. I know many people who didn’t watch this anime because of the “Isekai” tag. Truthfully, I cannot blame them. Isekai as a genre is always a hit or miss, sometimes you may get to discover some amazing isekai like “Ascendance of a Bookworm”, “Mushoku Tensei” and “That Time I Have Reincarnated as a Slime.”. Or sometimes, you watch an isekai that is so bad that you wonder how it even receives an adaption in the first place. For MagiRevo, I will put it in the “amazing isekai” category. Unlike other isekai, MagiRevo did not start like your typical isekai anime where it shoves the fact that it is an isekai right in your face. MagiRevo slowly sprinkles in small details that signal that this indeed, an isekai. Her invention, like the self-heating kettle, mana sword and magic broom is heavily based on her knowledge of her previous life. Anis occasionally mention her past life experience. Or during the ED where the image of our modern world is shown in a fraction of a second. This subtly allows MagiRevo to develop this unique and enjoyable storyline. The story starts with Anis crashing into the party (literally) amid her brother, Prince Algard publicly calling off his marriage with his ex-fiancée Euphyllia “Euphie” Magenta and denouncing Euphie as a bully. Anis then recruit Euphie as her assistant which she reluctantly agrees to and flies off with her magic broom. Euphie helps Anis in her magicology research and follows her on her adventure. Slowly but steadily, their relationship begins to change and develop. In what way? That is for you to find out! Now, the negative part of the review. The criticism I have with this anime is how they tone down the personality and the relationship of the characters in MagiRevo. Let’s use Anis as an example, Anis is far more aggressive and erratic in the Light Novel and Manga compared to the anime. In the manga and light novel, there are some instances of Anis fly kicking the door wide open. She has been described as a bloodthirsty monster who will not stop anything short of what she wants to do. Compared to anime where Anis, is much more reserved and tamed. Anis’s interaction with other characters has also been toned down. Especially the interaction with Ilia, her maid. In the light novel and manga, Anis and Ilia act more like a pair of best friends than a master and a servant. Ilia will throw a jab at Anis whenever an opportunity arises. She even physically slaps the living soul out of Anis when Anis tried to assault someone. Even with that, there is a strong mutual respect between them. While in the anime, you can tell that there is a barrier between Anis and Ilia. Yes, Ilia is still quite rude to Anis at times, but it is nowhere near the level of the light novel. For me, one of the main reasons why I love MagiRevo so much is because of how Anis interact with other characters. How others interact with our not-so-princessy princess. So, when they tone down their personality and interaction. It feels like the anime missing parts of its soul. By no means, the anime is bad. I know some people do prefer the more toned-down version of Anis. Everyone has their preference. Is just like a cup of tea, the anime version is just like a cup of well-brewed tea, while the more aggressive version of Anis is the sugar cube. Some people prefer tea without any sugar, and some people prefer drinking their tea with a few cubes of sugar. There is no wrong way of consuming tea. Another criticism I have with this anime is how much content they skip. I understand this is a necessary evil to cover 3 volumes worth of content into a 12-episode season as it is almost impossible without skipping some content. Due to how the light novel is written, there aren’t many filler chapters the anime can safely skip without harming the story as a whole. As a result, they are forced to skip some content while sacrificing the world-building and character development aspect of the anime. For example, the light novel explains why Ilia treats Anis in this way. Or Algard’s reasoning behind why he does this or that. There is much more content that has been skipped in the anime, but it will make the review way too long. This skipped content makes the story, and the character looks shallow, and undeveloped and gives an impression to the viewer that the story is rushed. The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, or MagiRevo for short is one of the best, if not, the best isekai in this winter 2023 season. The main character, Princess Anis is one of the most infectious and loveable characters I have ever seen, and the story is not your typical copy and paste but an original, well-written story. Even though it has some issues with the adaption, it is still a must-watch for anyone who enjoys watching isekai or fantasy anime. I will award this anime a strong 9. If you wish to read its light novel, please note that this anime has adapted all the official translated volumes of MagiRevo (As of March 2023). If you wish to continue the story where the anime left off, you must wait until April 2023, when Yen Press release the 4th volume of MagiRevo. However, if you want to read its light novel, I will strongly recommend you to read from the first volume compared than starting at the fourth value (when it’s released). As mentioned earlier in the review, much content has been cut in the anime adaptation. So it is worth starting from the start. If you don’t like reading hundreds of pages of light novels, you can read manga instead. The manga is an extremely good adaptation of the light novel. Where the personality I mentioned earlier is shown in full display. Unfortunately, the official translated version of the manga only covers till around Episode 7 or 8 of the anime. Story: 10/10 Art: 8/10 Sound: 9/10 Character: 10/10 Enjoyment: 9/10 Overall: 46/50 (9.2)