Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete

This anime was pure art. I found myself watching it after hearing the premise and liking it. Girl that loves magical girls is finally granted powers but she ends up a witch, a good setup for wacky hijinks and a good time. I was warned it was down bad but holy shit did that not prepare me for what was about to happen. In the first minute you get exposed to full frontal nudity and it goes so much deeper than that. Every episode a new fetish or two is proudly displayed in what i can only explain as the total dissolution of the line betweenanime and hentai. I found myself unable to look away in a way i havent since eromanga sensei. Animation was serviceable, the music was mid, the plot was surprisingly okayish and the fights were, well, basically porn. 10/10 dont watch it

Let's get this out of the way first. Whether you like Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete or not ultimately depends on one thing: whether you can tolerate the characters being 14 or not. If you are NOT comfortable with them being underage, this is not a show for you. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm saying this upfront as it's the most contentious part of the show. For those of you who are okay with it: you're in for one heck of a ride. MahouAko's anime adaptation is a mixed bag, speaking as a manga reader. Let's go over the bad points first: - The story isnothing groundbreaking, nor is the premise innovative. It's an ecchi centered around magical girls, and while it does explore topics like sexual awakening, it's still an ecchi at its core. There's a caveat to this, but don't expect anything profound. - The animation is lackluster more often than not. The art style also has a hard time emulating the manga due to the latter's top-notch use of shading. - The characters are hit or miss. Personally I like all of them, but I can easily see some of them coming across as annoying to some. YMMV. - The soundtrack is forgettable, though the OP and ED are quite decent. If you want a riveting narrative or high quality animation, MahouAko isn't a good choice. However, it possses a lot of redeeming qualities: - The story is well-written. It may not be innovative, but it makes up for that by being consistent. I'm not just talking the general tone, I mean this across the board. Plot developments are meaningfully addressed and are amplified through continuity. Characters experience meaningful arcs and their relationships naturally progress (at a swift rate, at that). The worldbuilding is straightforward, but that also makes it easy to understand. Most importantly, though: - The characters are not one-dimensional. Thank god, an ecchi that doesn't forget that its characters are people. Most members of the cast, even minor characters, are filled with personality. Utena is a shy introvert in one moment, a and a sadistic magical girl simp in the next. I do not say this lightly: she's Bocchi, but a closet perv. Where Utena really shines though is in how she comes into her own. As time passes, her dominant side grows more assertive while her shy side opens up. It's not a complete transformation, but there's a clear shift from start to finish. Kiwi is confrontational and possessive, but doesn't overplay her hand. Korisu is quiet and timid, but is also the most expressive of the bunch. On the whole, I'm satisfied with how characters are handled. They play off each other well, they manage to stand on their own, and they each posssess some loveable quirks. They're not the most nuanced characters in the world, but they're quite solid for an ecchi. - This show has many flavors, both in terms of kinks and genres. Genre-wise, it balances a lot of themes be it CGDCT, Ecchi, Yuri, and Seinen. It flips between these as the story demands, but all of them are decently handled. The Seinen aspect struggles the most, but it doesn't detract from the rest of the show. Kink-wise...suffice to say that it manages to tick a lot of boxes. On average, viewers should have at least one kink that the show tackles, but again YMMV. - The ecchi is bold, to the point where you'll sometimes question how even a censored version of the show aired. I can't go into spoilers, but when I say bold, I mean stuff you only see in hentai. To put this into perspective, the producer admitted to recieving complaints from the broadcasting staff for this exact reason. It really manages to push the limit, especially towards the end of the season. - The show is funny, though I can't put a finger on why. Maybe it's the payoff and continuity. The iterative gags, the goofy shots...it doesn't go as hard as Bocchi, but the same spirit is generally there. - The voice acting is quite good, ESPECIALLY from Fuuka Izumi. This is only Fuuka's second role on MAL, yet she absolutely kills it as Utena. She captures both sides of her personality well while rivaling Yoshino Aoyama's (i.e. Bocchi) level of expressiveness. This is a rookie with natural talent, so you'll definitely see her again. Beyond that, Aoi Koga works her Paimon magic as Kiwi while Yuuka Aisaka nails Loco. I'll also shout out Misaki Ikeda for her colorful work as Kaoruko. All in all, a great voice cast. In summary: this is an ecchi that understands what it is and where it's going. It thrives in lewds and memes, but supports this through continuity and character development. Payoff is generally earned, comedic moments stick the landing, and the voice actors have a lot of fun. It's a lot like Blue Archive where if you can put aside the characters' age, the shenanigans are a load of fun. I can honestly call it a good show, though one with a specific target audience. As for comparisons between the anime and manga: the anime is largely faithful, with some swaps and tweaks here and there. It struggles to match the manga's paneling (which plays a lot into the seinen appeal), but makes up for it by doubling down on lewder moments. I fully recommend the manga, especially for those who'd prefer a more serious version. Both the anime and manga are quite good though, so choose whichever you prefer. Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete is a 7/10. It's certainly not for everyone, but it possses its own appeal while being surprisingly competent with its characters. Watch it to have fun, and remember: it's only fiction.

Tl;dr: Cheap, ridiculous, commercialized coomer shit. I gave this series a chance and have reluctantly watched all episodes and read all manga chapters. This is one of those series that is basically porn for porn lovers, not for anything else other than to sell sex by disguising it as a girls-love and a magical girl action show. It’s really not, nor is it anything different from the many other magical girl/fantasy ecchi series. It is one of many series that is blatant commercialized bullshit with little substance that uses yuri just to bring in the money. Before you watch it, understand that it is low budget softcoreecchi porn and a magical girl parody with the occasional laugh. It’s not wholesome. It’s not very funny. It is more of a long commercial/meme than anything. Also keep in mind that the entire show involves the explicit sexualization, subtextual rape and molestation of the characters, including two loli characters. That’s not the reason behind this review, but something the casual viewer should know. It’s not “a little here and there”, it’s the whole show. Whether you’re into BDSM, loli, rape, molestation, tentacle play, ect, this series probably has something that would interest you…for a moment. But, the fetish slapstick stuff gets old very quick. Now, I’m not passing judgement if you are watching this series just for that reason. There are just better ecchi and comedy series out there. Also, if you like magical girls, I cannot recommend this. It’s not a magical girl anime with ecchi, it is an ecchi with magical girls. STORY: Plot in the anime is almost nonexistent. Plot in the manga is decent, but after many chapters of fetish nonsense, you forget about it. There is some lore (in the manga) and the characters develop some, but nothing extraordinary. Each episode has relatively the same pattern. No, the series is not unique. No, it is not a good representation of sexual awakenings or BDSM play. No, it is not a good example of yuri. CHARACTERS: The main character, Utena, is simply unlikable. She’s ugly. She’s mean. She’s obnoxiously meek in her civilian form. She is one of those “lead protagonist but the bad guy” characters, but really never becomes likable as she constantly does off-putting things even to her allies. Every time she does something that redeems herself and she grows from it, I am left disappointed the next time. MC should be likable, not some ugly creep otaku. As for yuri, this series is a slap in the face to it, as mentioned. The relationships are very shallow, and are put in only to fetishize girls’ love. Even in the manga, the relationships are so dull and never develop, except for when it calls for porn. One character loves the main character very much, and the MC just plays with her feelings and leads her on with her insecurities. It is frustrating. As for the other characters, they are mostly cliches and nothing really stands out about them. ART: The art in the anime is significantly watered down from the manga. Almost every frame is a cheap redraw of the manga pages. The anime art style is frankly ugly and dull. Most characters have boring, lifeless eyes. Utena is particularly ugly with a wide mouth and rounded bob. Animation is poor, as it mostly consists of bad redraws of the manga, and many still images – even lazy AI backgrounds in some shots. Transformations were so underwhelming. I understand that story and art is usually rushed and watered down in anime, but this adaptation is exceptionally poor and disappointing. As for the soundtrack, it has a the generic visual kei pop rock sound that is like every other average theme song. For most of the voice actresses, this is their very first role, and they did great, it’s just too bad that this had to be their break into the industry. Might as well be a phone sex operator. Overall, this is just another cheap attention-seeking anime that pops up, then quickly overstays its welcome. The characters and schtick get old so fast, it’s not memorable, and the pacing of the actual side stories are just so slowed down by all the crap. This series could be so much more than that “lewd magical girl parody”, and I kept giving it a chance, but it just keeps leaving a bad taste that the lighthearted jokes can’t distract from. Most of all, the animation and art is so terrible that it really couldn’t bring the battle action scenes or characters to life at all. If this series was adapted by a better studio, it could have been so much better animation wise. Then again, it would still be just a porno. If I can say one good thing about this anime, is that they did a good job advertising it. They seem to have put all of the small budget towards the hype and lewd (which was also disappointing). They tried to make up for it by parading the fact that it is uncensored unlike the manga (as if we’ve never seen nips before), and having two ecchi directors going all out, but it really couldn’t cover the apparent low budget. I understand that sex sells, but did they really have to make it so obvious? This anime has to be the most prime example of the commercialization to shell out cheap merch that is keeping the industry in the garbage.

Here I present to you the best anime of the year. Logically when you look at this photo and these tags on MAL you think that the anime is horrible, I'm glad I had the recommendation of the great Khyleri. The anime is very good, it manages to get a lot of things right and is certainly the biggest surprise of the year so far. Asahi Production has just made the best anime in its company's history. The anime's proposal is brilliant, the way they present the proposal to the viewer and convey it well, is a great success. I also like that the direction is not thatEcchi anime crap, which is normal in the industry, but they managed to make this anime without any fear, they knew what they were doing very well and that brought an extra quality to the anime. The scenes are well done, produced and animated. The anime's art style is also very pleasing and manages to transfer the manga's art to the anime extremely well. You don't owe anything. I didn't expect to be so entertained, but the well-executed script managed to enchant me in this anime. In terms of production and direction, it is one of the best in recent times. My point is reinforced by the magnificent work of Usukura Ryuutarou who worked on Violet Evergarden and Maoujou de Oyasumi. And if you've been watching anime a little longer, you know that at the time To Love Ru was the point of reference when it came to Ecchi anime, that's right, Ootsuki Atsushi, the director of To Love Ru, also worked on this anime! One quality that I love about anime is character construction, and every character manages to have their construction in a balanced way, no character has more or less screen time than the anime needs. It's a very good execution to convey the image of each character appropriately, so as not to be overwhelming or rushed. The characters are charismatic and memorable, which is also another strong point. For anyone looking for an anime to have fun and engage in the story, I highly recommend it.

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