Anti-Magic Academy

Summary: >

Anti-Magic Academy is a training ground for those who Witches causing chaos in the world. Katsuragi leads the 35th Test Platoon, which hasn't faired well in any assignment given. Two new members join, who are at odds with each other and teamwork seems to be the least likely outcome. But as the girls take an interest in him, perhaps he can become the linchpin leading them to success.

Thoughts: >

I wanted to like Anti-Magic Academy: The 35th Test Platoon because of two voice actors (Yoshimasa Yosoya as Kasuragi and Reina Ueda as Otori) were interesting choices I thought sounded great together. I can't say much else good about it though. While this show isn't as terrible as my lowest rating might imply and there were (small) parts I liked, right now it's one you'll want to avoid. In the future if more is made? Who knows.

Nothing about this anime is especially smart, so don't get your hopes up about the magic system. It's mainly there to provide an excuse to stuff more "features" into the show. The world appears similar to ours, but is mostly trashed due to thugs who use magic. Nothing about the magic system is very deep, nor explained well. "Relic Eaters" are sentient weapons which mainly provide "uber power" to a select few to make them more important. Also Katsuragi's can turn into a girl.. just because.

The characters in this anime are all pointless. And if Katsuragi and Otori weren't romantically interested, they'd be pointless too. Girls are dropped in to provide typical harem antics in the most brain dead way imaginable, but Anti Magic Academy can't even figure out how to justify their role. The sniper girl does nothing but screw up, the magician girl only acts as a magic battery, the scientist girl is a "strategist", but her role could have been taken up by Katsuragi himself (but more girls the merrier right?). Worse than harem shows with girls falling for the guy for no reason, Katsuragi spins this cheesy line about "bearing half your burden", and all the girls swoon over this.

Side stories tend to be of the harem level of stupid, but one part in the middle interested me. The scientist girl was raised to be a genius, with her childhood spent learning, and researching. When exposed to a children's book, she wonders about the meaning of life. This contrasts with her twin sister who doesn't understand this new view. It's not played up in a way that's deep, but it works well enough. Another fair point happens at the end with Katsuragi's sister which wasn't bad, but went on too long for what it was. Most of this anime (4/5) has story content of poor quality.

Is that bad enough for my lowest rating? No. However this anime pushed my buttons right at the end. 1) Annoying evil villain who was obnoxious through the entire show, is still not dead. 2) conspiracy hinted at by "oh so mysterious" people in the backdrop, with little intelligence in existing details suggesting it will be worth the wait. 3) Not conclusive, but hasn't accomplished much thus far.

As completely dumb as much of this anime is, I might have rated it better if it at least did something or ended. With a few small good points, I could upgrade this in the future with more of the story filled in or completed. As it stands now, a waste of time.

Screen Caps: >