(L+CR) Mahou Sensou (Magical Warfare)

[ookamigirl]

This one has potential.
The story seems interesting enough.
Characters look nice as well.
Action parts were really good.
I'm gonna be watching this one.

[Feng Lengshun]

So, I try to actually watch this and see if people were right... and I was disappointed that they are. The interaction was very facepalm worthy, it was just... bad, it made no sense whatsoever. I mean, not reacting to guns are one thing, but not reacting to explosion that comes from said gun? WTF? Then there's the whole exposition thing... that had been worse than gabriel blessing's expositions in In Flight, and THAT was bad. And there's the bamboo blade vs steel blade too. Goddammit, that steel blade was some big and solid one and the bamboo blade was just that, bamboo. Even a steel blade as bad as a katana could cut your fingers (though it can easily snap too) but a bamboo blade that didn't snap against a sword THAT big? What the hell?

This anime was a big disappointment, alright... even SAO hadn't been THIS bad when it started...

[Benigmatica]

I've watched this series and it sure has an outstanding cast, as well as the production.

But come to think of it, getting magical powers quickly through exposure felt so cheap... I mean, should the Ghost Trailers just seal their powers so ordinary people won't be exposed?

[Esclair]

I think someone said they basically compressed an entire volume into a single episode. It really shows, the pacing is extremely rushed. Characters all seem to conveniently appear in the same place, and exposition is inserted between action scenes just so they can explain things that probably were spread out over the volume in a single scene.

It'd have been better if they didn't explain anything and instead focused on developing the atmosphere instead.

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by Esclair

I think someone said they basically compressed an entire volume into a single episode. It really shows, the pacing is extremely rushed. Characters all seem to conveniently appear in the same place, and exposition is inserted between action scenes just so they can explain things that probably were spread out over the volume in a single scene.

It'd have been better if they didn't explain anything and instead focused on developing the atmosphere instead.

If that's true then this is the perfect example of what they should not do with Mahouka. I hear that not many volumes are out so maybe they will slow things down and properly develop the characters and atmosphere.

[Kleeyook]

Just watched the first episode. Dropped immediately after seeing Mui shot past Takeshi just because they almost kissed by accident. And she's supposed to be the good guy.

[Ougon]

^I would give this a chance, if I were you.

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by Esclair

I think someone said they basically compressed an entire volume into a single episode. It really shows, the pacing is extremely rushed. Characters all seem to conveniently appear in the same place, and exposition is inserted between action scenes just so they can explain things that probably were spread out over the volume in a single scene.

They covered a volume for this!? that's maddening. Pacing and flow of scene wise. Its all over the place

[Kleeyook]

Originally Posted by Ougon no Kemono

^I would give this a chance, if I were you.

Yeah, but then there'll the scene where bamboo sword can parry against a metal sword. Also later problem with his family. The original LN author must be a sadist to try to torture us anyway possible. Oh, the anime seems to skip and altered from the original LN a lot too from what I heard.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Hahah, I lasted up to 9:48 mins before I had to pause.

I generally consider myself to be quite tolerant of cliché and tropes but wow they sure were hitting all the "chuunibyou" checklist of magic fantasies.

Originally Posted by tsunade666

They covered a volume for this!? that's maddening. Pacing and flow of scene wise. Its all over the place

The production quality felt subpar as well.

Then I saw MF Bunko's label... >_>;

[Ougon]

Spoiler for How much Episode 1 covered of Volume 1:

Nope, they didn't cover the entire volume. It just got mutilated very bad, so it may have given few LN readers a very bad misconception that it covered the entire first volume. Then again, it really isn't that confusing.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

The production quality felt subpar as well.

Then I saw MF Bunko's label... >_>;

At least the execution was way, way better than SutoBura...

[finalfury]

Originally Posted by Ougon no Kemono

Spoiler for How much Episode 1 covered of Volume 1:

Nope, they didn't cover the entire volume. It just got mutilated very bad, so it may have given few LN readers a very bad misconception that it covered the entire first volume. Then again, it really isn't that confusing.

At least the execution was way, way better than SutoBura...

I don't know whether this is a compliment and/or just downright depressing to read.

After SnS Final, convoluted/wacky series are fairly easy for me to follow. :x

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Ougon no Kemono

Spoiler for How much Episode 1 covered of Volume 1:

Nope, they didn't cover the entire volume. It just got mutilated very bad, so it may have given few LN readers a very bad misconception that it covered the entire first volume. Then again, it really isn't that confusing.

I don't think it's confusing to say the least

Originally Posted by Ougon no Kemono

At least the execution was way, way better than SutoBura...

I don't know- Sure Strike the Blood had problems, but imo they sort of 'spread out' the problems over time

Originally Posted by finalfury

After SnS Final, convoluted/wacky series are fairly easy for me to follow. :x

Nothing is too hard to follow after Horizon

[Ougon]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

I don't think it's confusing to say the least



I don't know- Sure Strike the Blood had problems, but imo they sort of 'spread out' the problems over time



Nothing is too hard to follow after Horizon

Spoiler for Reason:

Shhhh, that's where you go along with the flow, and pretend it was confusing. It's called being kind..

.... When did that train wreck ever improve? For my eyes, it's just getting worse episode by episode.. - I think, I should stop talking about SutoBura, since this is straying from the topic.

[ReddyRedWolf]

WTF?! Poor trigger discipline.

Broadsword vs a kendo. It's absurd it lasted that long. He should've made that Tsuki strike right at the beginning.

They are all potential magicians that got turned? That is contrived.

There is a rule they can't harm normal people in the real world lest they lose their magic. What a bunch of idiots.

I have to say I've never seen a first episode with such a bad start.

[Klashikari]

The writing of this episode was quite awful.

To be really honest, clichés or whatnot, the biggest problem I had with Mahou Sensou is how convulated and convenient plot devices were piling left and right, with so many things that break your suspension of disbelief in a flash.

Frankly, it was already difficult to believe a mere shinai could even withstand a single blow of a sword, let alone several of them. But having everyone conveniently together and turned into fresh magicians?
The whole deal with magicians is basically scripted to an unnatural degree, to the point the final showdown was beyond contrived.

The second episode better change the narrative pronto, otherwise it is going to crumble with its own awful start with ease.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I loved episode one, and found none of the inconsistencies a problem. In fact, his indifference to apparently being shot at was one of my favorite scenes. It was certainly striking, but it showed me that I didn't have to worry about him. It conveyed his character's strength.

Anime does not have to be "realistic," in my opinion. In fact, it does fantasy a lot better than reality. And in that particular case, we did find out that what she was shooting was not bullets, but magic. Magic that crunched a wall, of course, but.... Lol. The way I thought of it at the time was that he still didn't quite believe what was going on, so didn't react in a way we might expect. Perhaps they thought that having him cringe or shout or run would not serve the scene or his character development.

As for the bamboo sword, I thought of two things: his angle of attack or defense deflecting the blows sufficiently, or magic. So the sword's unnatural strength didn't bother me much. I mean, if we can accept magic and two worlds, which we all do in anime, then accepting these little things shouldn't be too hard.

As for the writing, I liked the way things and relationships progressed quickly, and I certainly don't demand step by step boring development or explanation, if the emotional result can be achieved more quickly with jumps and coincidences. Like in the novels of Charles Dickens, which are considered classics of popular literature.

[ReinZwei]

Originally Posted by ReddyRedWolf

He should've made that Tsuki strike right at the beginning.

As you can see he only did that Tsuki when he got a chance bec. of Mui's light, in short he doesn't have a chance to use that on the enemy.

I mean, if we can accept magic and two worlds, which we all do in anime, then accepting these little things shouldn't be too hard.

Bingo, it's funny that some people can accept other title's "fantasy" theme immediately while this one can't ...

Yeah it surely felt rushed but I think it's not that bad at all... Just using my own imagination/speculation just to answer those absurd scenes like Kaoru did

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

As for the bamboo sword, I thought of two things: his angle of attack or defense deflecting the blows sufficiently, or magic. So the sword's unnatural strength didn't bother me much. I mean, if we can accept magic and two worlds, which we all do in anime, then accepting these little things shouldn't be too hard.

Originally Posted by ReinZwei

Bingo, it's funny that some people can accept other title's "fantasy" theme immediately while this one can't ...

When a series involve fantasy mixed with reality, you don't magically void all reality elements, otherwise why bother using real life parts, such like gravity etc?

The shinai part is absolutely iffy because
1) it wasn't strengthened by magic at all, since Takeshi's ability is only an evasion type (there is no indication Takeshi could strengthen it, and there is no visual cue for it)
2) several blows are -direct- frontal attack on the shinai, in a perpendicular angle.

As a Kendoka, I can attest that mashing a shinai in that fashion will make it break within 1-2 blows at most, especially you had a sharp heavy sword on the other hand.
While I'm fine with animators not being able to reproduce appropriate kendo moves and shinai hold (i.e you are not supposed to have the hilt over your left hand), there are limits to suspension of disbelief there. The simple fact you can get away with "magic" for fantasy stuff actually makes blunders even less forgivable when non magic stuff is involved. That's consistency, not genre savvy.

[Iron Maw]

Impressive, this one few times where I had actually force myself though an episode and expectations were really low here to start.

So a bunch looking scary guys (including one with a GIGANTIC FREAKIN' MEAT CLEAVER) show up, threatened you and your friends lives and the most pressing issue for one characters is how her "fake" boyfriend knows some random girl's name? Wonderful set of priories she's got there!

Not that this is a unique problem to her unfortunately. Oh, but we did get random breast expansion because uh... why not? Sadly that was probably the best scene of episode for me and it's not because it actually good.

Originally Posted by Ougon no Kemono

At least the execution was way, way better than SutoBura...

Dude, I know how you feel about StB, but come on. At least that show made some sense in itself. Only thing better executed here are the action scenes and that doesn't make up for how terrible everything else is.