Project Otaku Powerlevelling: Part 8
Whew! Let's get caught up again. Our first full series this time, hitting 24 episodes.
Having gone through several OVAs that both I and Traveler thought were...below-par, we switched to a series that I had began on my own back when it initially came out in 2005, but never finished it. One of our later additions, I think I mostly added it because I was curious as to just HOW it ended.
For those of you who have heard of this series already, it's a harem, yes. Deal with it. I watch harems sometimes.
Anyways. Maburaho, to me, has quite a bit going for it. To start off, there's only three girls. The absolute smallest harem one can have and still qualify to BE a harem.
As a result, Maburaho's three girls--Miyama Yuuna, Kazetsubaki Kuriko, and Kamishiro Rin, are all given a chance to develop properly. They begin rather stereotypical but eventually grow to be three distinct characters who come to care about the lead for different reasons that all reflect their own characters. Kamishiro Rin, for instance, develops a love for the lead because of how far he's willing to go to help his friends, reflecting her own feelings on the value of being diligent.
But aside from its characters, Maburaho's "twist" on the harem genre is a pretty good one. On this planet, magic both exists and is commonly used. But there IS a catch. From commoners to elites, people have a given number of times they can use magic. Once used up, a person's body...simply turns to dust. For most humans this is not a problem, particularly for the elites in Aoi Academy (where much of the story takes place), where even "normal" students possess uses in the thousands. For our series protagonist (Kazuki), however, only eight uses are alloted before his body turns to dust. However, his eight uses are extremely powerful, due to his bloodline essentially having every legendary magician ever, and it is presumed that Kazuki's child will most likely be one of the most powerful magicians in existence. (Hence the harem-ness.)
The setting forces the series to skip over typical slice-of-life trappings most harems are stuck with, which is to its benefit, honestly. Instead of hopping from one slice of life plot to the next, Maburaho instead features episodes where the protagonist finds his room haunted by a little girl ghost, then goes to another, more typical episode in which everyone helps the "deadly chef" Kamishiro Rin fix a boxed lunch for the fellow she actually likes. (Long story.) The result is, for people who don't mind a harem anime from time to time, Maburaho is never boring for longer than an episode. (In fact, I don't ever recall being actually BORED with an episode besides the first which I'd seen already.)
Another thing I'm particularly fond of in Maburaho is the show's background cast, which is Kazuki's Class 2B. In most slice-of-life series placed in a school setting, the background cast (the students) are basically a collection of generic student stereotypes. (Generally potential story fodder when the writers wish to throw the spotlight outside the main class.) But Kazuki's classmates make up the worst classroom I've seen since Class 3-4. (Shout out to Onizuka.) They gamble, they double-cross other classes, and spend most of their time scheming ways to get rich, and I love ALL of them.
After coming to terms with the fact that few harems attempt realism for their main characters, to see background characters get actual relationship development is depressing at best. Why NOT make their world just as insane as the main characters--it gives the universe a level of consistency.
Most importantly: I approve of this series for taking the normal harem ending and giving it one giant middle finger. We've all seen the typical "I love you all!" ending, and I don't think ANYBODY likes it. (Seems pointless; the series isn't a hentai! That's not a solution!) I won't go into detail, but Maburaho completely avoids it and offers a different answer to the harem question that, while somewhat of a cheat, matches a series that, to that point, offered ghosts, mages, immortals (watch the series), and summoned familiars.
All-in-all, Maburaho's a solid watch. Shouldn't make anyone's Top [number] list, but its definitely worth the time you'll spend finishing it.
Having gone through several OVAs that both I and Traveler thought were...below-par, we switched to a series that I had began on my own back when it initially came out in 2005, but never finished it. One of our later additions, I think I mostly added it because I was curious as to just HOW it ended.For those of you who have heard of this series already, it's a harem, yes. Deal with it. I watch harems sometimes.
Anyways. Maburaho, to me, has quite a bit going for it. To start off, there's only three girls. The absolute smallest harem one can have and still qualify to BE a harem.
As a result, Maburaho's three girls--Miyama Yuuna, Kazetsubaki Kuriko, and Kamishiro Rin, are all given a chance to develop properly. They begin rather stereotypical but eventually grow to be three distinct characters who come to care about the lead for different reasons that all reflect their own characters. Kamishiro Rin, for instance, develops a love for the lead because of how far he's willing to go to help his friends, reflecting her own feelings on the value of being diligent.
But aside from its characters, Maburaho's "twist" on the harem genre is a pretty good one. On this planet, magic both exists and is commonly used. But there IS a catch. From commoners to elites, people have a given number of times they can use magic. Once used up, a person's body...simply turns to dust. For most humans this is not a problem, particularly for the elites in Aoi Academy (where much of the story takes place), where even "normal" students possess uses in the thousands. For our series protagonist (Kazuki), however, only eight uses are alloted before his body turns to dust. However, his eight uses are extremely powerful, due to his bloodline essentially having every legendary magician ever, and it is presumed that Kazuki's child will most likely be one of the most powerful magicians in existence. (Hence the harem-ness.)
The setting forces the series to skip over typical slice-of-life trappings most harems are stuck with, which is to its benefit, honestly. Instead of hopping from one slice of life plot to the next, Maburaho instead features episodes where the protagonist finds his room haunted by a little girl ghost, then goes to another, more typical episode in which everyone helps the "deadly chef" Kamishiro Rin fix a boxed lunch for the fellow she actually likes. (Long story.) The result is, for people who don't mind a harem anime from time to time, Maburaho is never boring for longer than an episode. (In fact, I don't ever recall being actually BORED with an episode besides the first which I'd seen already.)
Another thing I'm particularly fond of in Maburaho is the show's background cast, which is Kazuki's Class 2B. In most slice-of-life series placed in a school setting, the background cast (the students) are basically a collection of generic student stereotypes. (Generally potential story fodder when the writers wish to throw the spotlight outside the main class.) But Kazuki's classmates make up the worst classroom I've seen since Class 3-4. (Shout out to Onizuka.) They gamble, they double-cross other classes, and spend most of their time scheming ways to get rich, and I love ALL of them.
After coming to terms with the fact that few harems attempt realism for their main characters, to see background characters get actual relationship development is depressing at best. Why NOT make their world just as insane as the main characters--it gives the universe a level of consistency.
Most importantly: I approve of this series for taking the normal harem ending and giving it one giant middle finger. We've all seen the typical "I love you all!" ending, and I don't think ANYBODY likes it. (Seems pointless; the series isn't a hentai! That's not a solution!) I won't go into detail, but Maburaho completely avoids it and offers a different answer to the harem question that, while somewhat of a cheat, matches a series that, to that point, offered ghosts, mages, immortals (watch the series), and summoned familiars.
All-in-all, Maburaho's a solid watch. Shouldn't make anyone's Top [number] list, but its definitely worth the time you'll spend finishing it.
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