Mato and Maho
I have been anticipating Maho Seishi no Slave for a long time, its like Demon Killer, but set in Heuco Mondo, with TLR-style fanservice. A concept that seems like it DOESN'T work, but it does!
Immediately when I finished reading the manga, I could tell that this show's production faced a few problems:
1) It had to deliver on the ecchi.
We are far from the TLR days where Momo could be few ice-cream onscreen, so I was afraid that the show would have distracting beams of light etc. Turns out that the first episode was quite satisfying! I really enjoyed the kiss moment. It was very sweet, very textbook protagonist stumbles onto a new world, but the comedic timing was done very well.
I guess that some people might say that it really isn't fanservicey enough for a first episode, but the rewards were really just that; rewards! The rewards intensify in later chapters, so hopefully it keeps up!
2) It had to deliver on the combat.
Despite its SUPER INTERESTING leanings, Maho is very story driven. It is a shounen for sure, with a focus on fights. Walking a tightrope between budget for ecchi scenes and combat must have been tough. (its even lampshaded in one of the lines!)
I really enjoyed the little chain CG effects, its a small thing that is very on-theme for this show, shows that there was a lot of love (laugh) put into the making of it, when you could just be lazy and put in a standard cut-in!
3) It had to deliver on the visuals.
Mato really dug into the 'Taisho Era Japan' aspect of the show, the calligraphy effects are cool and VERY reminiscent of Bleach. I also liked how they finally decided on using the dark-black uniform instead of that weirdly colored purple the manga had rocking on. Visually, the characters have very strange hair colors, and definitely not what I expect, but but the show is good enough that I can overlook it.
I can definitely see this show become the top show for the latter half of winter season. (Please don't fuck it up!)
MahoAko
Coincidentally, another show went totally under the radar for me called Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete. MahoAko for short. It is a straight up comedy about Magical Shoujo tropes, with the main girl playing the villainess that abuses the poor magical girls after defeating them. It's very 4-komaish, and I haven't read the manga, but good golly it is funny! I caught Viola watching it while working at her cafe and decided to give it a try too.
Last Word
Watching these two anime got my thoughts thinking again; I had been stuck on /HDG/ because of a lack of ideas for a long time. Seeing MahoAko just flip the script around on magical girls brings a small joy to my undead heart. It is a very promising start to the season, as always, don't fuck it up!
