#but yeah nothing can remedy this being a raunchy hyper comedy

[millennialdemon]

Kind of would have preferred if this was actually true, and the entire adventure was the penultimate case of Kukuri's magic creating entire worlds out of her subconscious desires, as was the case in the city of Alahabica and then again in Lef Island. Kukuri created a Demon King, a goal for her and Nike move towards and a reason for them to be on a wonderful journey together.

But no, this time it wasn't Kukuri, and there actually was a Demon King that they defeated with the literal power of love... hmm. It was kind of lame considering most of the series parodies or subverts fantasy and RPG tropes, and "every character shows up to help the heroes defeat the final boss with the power of love and friendship" is something I actually thought Magical Circle Guru Guru would never do -- not because it isn't at times a very sappy story, but because fundamentally that is like, the biggest opportunity to defy RPG story structure!

And sure, it didn't play it completely straight, but what comedy was thrown in felt like a waste of time because the events overall were exactly that of any other generic fantasy story ending... pretty disappointing. But Magical Circle Guru Guru was a 5/10 for me throughout my viewing experience, because I don't care for the quite dated hyperactive humour that comprises 90% of all of the humour in this series, so I can't say I expected an amazing ending -- just one that made more sense and fell in better with the tone of the rest of the anime.

Most of what I liked about Magical Circle Guru Guru was found when it put aside absurdity for a few episodes, and we got to focus on Kukuri (the actual protagonist, I would say, considering she goes through the most change and faces most of the challenges) going on her own personal adventures, usually alongside a different girl. Episode 3, where she unknowingly uses her magic to create and summon a girl to be her friend, and then later on the island of Lef where she kept herself and her "twin" trapped and reliving the same day over and over because it was such a peaceful and happy time while it lasted. Trapping herself in a tower in a city of her own unwitting creation, finding the ruins of where her tribe of mages once flourished and donning their traditional apparel, becoming a demon for a time because Nike hurt her feelings... Most of the events of the show centered around Kukuri and she carried this entire series on her back by being the only non-comedic, emotional through-line of everything and everyone.

Eventually, whenever the show wasn't completely focused on Kukuri, it become somewhat insufferable to watch. How many times do I have to watch the old man not die, despite myself and everyone else's desire that he finally do? How many times can Gipple interrupt character's speeches and complain about how cheesy they are? How many times do I have to see old men dance and be jokes for existing?

Far, far too many times.

5/10 for a great Kukuri, good art, animation, and character designs, and a pretty damn bad everything else.