(12 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Magician Lawyers, duh.
Characters
Cecile Sudo, our plucky teenage protagonist, because of course you can’t have anyone over 17 starring in such a series. She’s a “genius”, well-versed in magic law, with a lot of the usual flaws that are supposed to make her endearing : clusmy, later for her first day at work, overenthusiastic… I just want to throttle her. Very late in the episode, we get a glimpse of a second dimension : her mother is incarcerated for some undisclosed magic crime. Too little, too late.
She has a frog familiar, voiced by Norio Wakamoto. Of course she does.
The law partnership she joins if full of one-note clichés : the hardass middle manager, the comprehensive senior partner, the old guy who spouts random “wisdom”, the other newbie who’s very annoyed by everyone else geeking out over the “genius” and giving her special treatment… Anyway, they all specialize in defending cases of magical crimes, despite the law being very strict against magicians.
The Prosecutor’s Office are hardasses, but seem genuinely sincere : magical crimes can escalate horribly (in both casualties and property damage), so there’s a really need to nip it in the bud. Less justified, but understandable : the casual prejudice and harrassment against magicians (even when they don’t actually do anything) from both the population and the police.
This week’s case involves a “customer” killing a bank robber, apparently in self-defense. Cecile has barely started building her case, though, when she gets arrested for using magic against hoodlums attacking her (and they’ve conveniently disappeared by the time the cops show up).
Production Values
Wow, incredible budget ! This is by far the most lavishly animated series of the season, hands down. Everything from the numerous action sequences to the body language to even the hair gets tons of attention, and always moves fluidly.
Overall Impression
How can you screw you up this premise so badly ? Well, just have it star the most irritating protagonist possible. She sucks off any goodwill the awesome visuals and the fun premise could generate. I loathe Cecile, and I refuse to spend one more minute watching her bumble towards success she doesn’t deserve.
