(12ish episodes ?)
What’s it about ?
This is an original project (with tie-ins in other media – light novel, manga, videogame…) which asks : wouldn’t it be funny to do a magical girl series starring a bunch of dudes ?
Characters
This stars five high school students, four of whom have unfortunately very similar voices. They also like to discuss some very boring topics, such as what vegetable they like best in a hotpot. The one who’s a bit distinctive is the perky freshman who likes ugly animals.
He’s in luck, because a pink wombat shows up and gives all of them super-powers, making them magical boys. Cue “hilarity” as they now have frilly outfits and find themselves compelled to pose while making silly introductions.
Our mook of the week is a depressive classmate of them who somehow got transformed into a rampaging asparagus. They beat him by showering him with the power of love… and finish him off with the power of fists.
There’s also a cameo by the aloof trio of the student council, who will probably be rivals or antagonists later on.
Production Values
The visuals at least make a good try at selling the joke : the magical boy outfits walk a very fine line between being bright and frilly while still looking like male clothing.
The episode gratuitously starts in a public bath, although there’s not that much flesh in display.
Overall Impression
And the answer to the above question is… not if that’s your only joke. And that’s unfortunately the case here : it’s mildly funny, but can’t carry a full episode on its own, let alone a series. It doesn’t help that the main characters don’t have much personality, and find themselves having some awfully boring conversations when left on their own devices. (Yes, I get that’s a joke. But it’s still tedious to watch.)
I was open to this series in concept, but the execution is far from strong enough to pull it off. Too bad, but at least it tried something a bit different.
