#mahonare

[mahou-furbies]

First time I see pesäpallo mentioned in an anime!

[hothotmiso]

[magicalgirlypop]

another magical girl show premiered! mahonare is also peak so far. it gives little witch academia and witch hat atelier vibes. also its the prettiest show i've ever seen. i'm not kidding, look at this

the artstyle and colours really do give off storybook vibes and its such a delight to look at. i'm definitely gonna be tuning in to this every week too.

[jjs-brainrot]

2 minutes in and The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians already has some of the prettiest backgrounds this season

[tetrix-anime]

Megami Magazine January 2025 Issue (#296) - Mahoutsukai ni Narenakatta Onnanoko no Hanashi (The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians)

[bunnymajo]

Watched the 3rd mg title of the season, "The Stories of Girls who Couldn't Be Magicians"

And I just want to say I'm so proud of this little show?

Like back in 2018 it was announced as the winner of Project ANIMA, an initiative to animate upcoming novels in certain categories. "Mahoutsukai ni Narenakatta Onnanoko Hanashi" was the winner for fantasy and even though the book was released, the only illustration revealed for the anime for years was this

I've had it on my timeline since 2018 waiting for any news to drop about it, I was starting to think it was canceled

But then this past year it was in fact not dead but thriving and looked like nothing I was expecting. It also has one of the most gorgeous art directions this season? I'm interested in how they'll shake up the whole "magic school" setup that's going on.

Of the 3 mg shows this season it definitely has the best opening sequence too (No offense to Acro Trip and Magilumiere, but this kinda stuff is my jam)

Don't sleep on this one magigirl fans, I think it'll be a surprise hit

[oratokyosaigunda]

Maho Tsukai ni Narenakatta Onna no Ko no Hanashi character profiles

[ofdreamsanddoodles]

really fun that there's two different "magical girl" animes about using modern elements to support their magic but in mahonare it's very clearly about how the new technology has kneecapped the population & turned magic into a skill only the elite are able to access instead of being a vital part of understanding your connection with the world around you while in magilumiere the whole POINT of magic is that it's programmable, meaning not only is there open source code & a community of people contributing, it allows you the flexibility to modify your spells to your current situation. even though the magilumiere girls are just using apps as well, the way they channel their spells just makes it seem like they have more of a sense of awareness of what goes into the mahonare kids, who can't even explain how their magic notebooks work

[claidi]

Sometimes anime just gives you some great quotes

[anisongoftheday]

The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians Opening

Collage by PUFFY & TOOBOE

[nijigasakilove]

Oh my god this art style is gorgeous dude mahou shoujo stans eating so good this season.(I know I know technically not mahou shoujo, but it’s still cute girls using magic so whatever) Also the Kingdom Hearts composer is working on this. Might be the most magical show I’ve ever seen! AOTS contender for sure.

The art and aesthetic Truly feels like an otherworldly adventure really draw you in and make you feel like you’re in another world. JC staff have proven they can handle fantastical shows like this with Sugar Apple Fairy Tale so I’m very excited to see where this goes. Kurumi is already very endearing and I find myself wanting to see her succeed and achieve her magical goals. This concept isn’t that novel, but we don’t see it with girls a lot and I naturally prefer female MCs and casts so I’m excited!

Yuzu is the other big thing for me. Her face card is valid, reminds me so much of Nyammy/Yuki from wanpre. I can see a little rivalry arc developing with she and Kurumi before becoming friends and I’m here for it.

The action looked really cool, that battle was great! this is such a creative anime man I love stuff like this and there’s so many cool directions it can go in. The teacher, Minami is def gonna be one of my fave characters I can tell. Roxy, if she was a good character 😂

[mahou-furbies]

Closing thoughts on MahoNare

This ended up being a pretty uneven show, but I still have a lot of good will towards it. Also I never fully got over the fact that this was a lot lighter and comedic than I had hoped, though it's not really the anime's fault.

The story is about a girl who has always dreamed of becoming a magician, but she flunks the magic school entrance exams and lands in the non-magical track instead. However her eccentric teacher starts teaching the class magic anyway, though it's a different brand than what's otherwise used in the school.

I would say that pacing is the biggest issue. We spend quite a lot of time noodling around episodic adventures where the main cast encountered odd magical phenomena, and these events weren't that interesting in and of themselves, but I also felt that we could have gotten more interesting character stuff if we didn't need to spend time on the "let's deal with the mystery of the week" plots. And the story clearly has a lot more going on with its worldbuilding, but it feels we only got to see a sliver of it. And the transforming animals who have some kind of connection to the main character weren't even explained. The post-credits scene teases a sequel, but if we never get one, the dog boy with his mysterious lines is just annoying. And the grand finale had really weird pacing; first we ramp up to an "everyone is in big danger!" hype, but then the final episode just solves everything in the first few minutes and the rest is slice of life.

But anyway regardless of all that I did actually have a pretty good time with this thanks to the characters, the main cast has a nice feel good energy since everyone gets along pretty well. The rival girl should have stayed antagonistic for a while longer though if you ask me, but her turning into a friend was also rewarding. It's also commendable that even though the first episode introduced so many (too many) characters, they were distinct enough that keeping track of who is who wasn't that hard. I do wish this was a 2 cour show so that we could have spent more time with them!

I also really liked the setting, a straight up magic school with no genre aware winks to audience honestly feels refreshing in this day and age, plus I found the conflict between modern and ancient magic interesting (even if the resolution wasn't too satisfying). Finns were also served well with the pesäpallo mention.

The art style is absolutely amazing with the lovely character designs, glowing palettes and painterly textures. Though after a certain point the art style has to hard carry the visuals because the animation is very clearly struggling.

In the end I have to say that the story was kind of weak, but I would still be very happy to see a season 2.

[hothotmiso]

[magicalgirlypop]

reviewing all the magical girl anime i watched this year

2024 was a year i got into lot of media. i decided to expand my horizons by watching more magical girl anime because i realized compared to some mg fans the amount of mg anime i've watched is relatively few. so i set out to make a long watchlist of mg anime and out of those, i've finished a few. so i'm going to review all the magical girl anime i've managed to watch this year. i'm counting magical girl anime that came out this year, and old magical girl anime i watched this year.

magical girl anime that came out this year

wonderful precure

lets start with this year's precure season. wonderful precure was a show i never thought i'd like as much as i did. to be honest i didn't really care for the theme of animals and i wasn't as invested in it at first. i wasn't one of those "it has no physical fights therefore its BAD!!" people but i just wasn't drawn in at first. but it ended up surprising me with how well written it was. mayu's and yuki's episodes in particular were really good. komugi was lots of fun to watch. and i actually ended up liking the m/f romance that i was skeptical about. satoru was a wonderful addition who helped in his own way despite not being a precure and his relationship with iroha developed naturally and was so sweet that i ended up being drawn to them. these last two episodes in particular have been... well, wonderful. i know precure gets into dark territory sometimes but i didn't expect them to cover the topic of a pet dying, which can be so devastating. and episode 45 is probably my favourite in the franchise so far. i'm surprised that i ended up liking this season MORE than hirogaru sky (probably helps that there isn't a baby taking the spotlight from more interesting characters). wonderful precure is a cute and fun show with some heartwarming moments and while i'm excited for an idol themed season next year, i'll be sad to see komugi, iroha, mayu, yuki, and satoru leave.

himitsu no aipri

this is... a mixed bag for me. initially, i was excited for this show because it gave me aikatsu friends vibes, the artstyle was nice, and it was the first idol show i'd watch as it was releasing. it started off pretty strong too and had the potential for some good story beats with the mystery of who tsumugi was. but... it was very slow paced for my liking. i don't mind slow paced, more slice of life stories, but aipri was not meant to be like that. it really felt like nothing was happening in a bunch of episodes. and it lacked that dramatic flair common to all pretty series. i will admit, i adored mitsuki and himari's friendship. and its also not disappointing in the yuri department. ig another thing that makes this show such a mixed bag for me is how long the subs take to drop, which just.. makes me lose interest in the show. but maybe that's a skill issue on my part.

acro trip

probably my favourite show released this year. there wasn't a single episode where i didn't laugh. chizuko is such a cute lesbian bby and her fangirling over berry blossom was adorable. berry herself was really cute, and i love how she acts like a normal teenage girl despite being idolized by chizuko (example, when she didn't let chroma see her hair because she cut her bangs a milimeter too short and was self conscious), and chroma was such a girlfailure of a villain, i love him and i didn't expect that doomed yaoi between him and mashirou. all three mcs were such a joy to watch. i honestly can't think of anything bad to say about this show other than it was too short and needs another season.

magilumiere co. ltd.

a unique take on the genre, where being a magical girl is a job and all the mcs are adults working for a small startup company. it certainly did come out at the right time as this is the year i dealt with Adult Struggles so the mcs were more relatable to me. i enjoy the bond between all of the employees at the company. and i do enjoy those little jabs at capitalism they make with koga's character, with him seeing a profession that's supposed to help people as only a profit making scheme. i'm really glad its confirmed for a season 2.

mahonare

this is the prettiest show released this year, no exaggeration. the pastel colouring and the storybook feel of the show makes it such a joy to watch. its definitely one of the more slower paced shows released but the unique characters make up for it. this show gives me little witch academia and witch hat atelier vibes. i would say that the slow pace of the show works against it being only 12 episodes because there's so many story beats set up that would be unable to complete in a small timeframe without feeling rushed. so i hope this show gets confirmed for multiple seasons.

the magical girl and evil lieutenant used to be archenemies

i only watched one episode of this show and i did like what i saw back then. i almost supported the main couple... until i found out that byakuya was a teenager and shun was a grown adult and then all my interest in the show went down the drain. i wanted to pick it up again but from what i heard its.. not that great. so definitely one of the weaker shows released this year

old shows that i watched this year

full moon o sagashite

this show is what i'd call "almost perfect". the themes of what it means to live and how to live your life knowing you don't have long to live? touching on how the music industry is not a squeaky clean place and how certain people will play dirty to get on top? the dilemma of the shinigami who grow an attachment to mitsuki, who they're supposed to reap the soul of in a year? and the added detail of mitsuki being a mere child? also the amazing music? it has all the ingredients to be a perfect show. the one thing holding it back from being a 10/10 anime is the FUCKINGGGG ROMANCE! there is not a single romance in this show that isn't problematic! i can excuse mitsuki having a crush on eichi because she's just 12. but there is no excuse for eichi, a 16 year old boy, falling in love with a 10 year old girl. and don't get me started on takuto fucking kira. it wasn't enough for him to fall in love with a 12 year old, but said 12 year old was his FORMER BANDMATE'S DAUGHTER! HIS DEAD BANDMATE'S SICK DAUGHTER! if i was aoi i would rise from the dead to beat the shit out of takuto for that. and its not like its a minor thing i can ignore, the romance plays a major part in the series. full moon would've been perfect as a show about living your life to the fullest with the little time you've been given if it just got rid of the awful romance. one thing i will say, that episode with the old man who can see the shinigami and knows he's about to die? its one of my favourite anime episodes period, no exaggeration, its such a beautiful episode that embodies everything i love about the show.

wedding peach

i'm sorry but this show was a chore to get through. i wasn't expecting anything progressive because its a show released in 1994. but even then i really didn't enjoy watching it. i can complain about how heteronormative the show is but i'm gonna excuse it because again, it was released in the 90s. but for what it is? its still such a BOREFEST. for a show all about romance, none of the main couples interested me. yosuke was just another jerkass love interest i just couldn't get into. takuro gave major incel vibes during his whole arc and was only slapped with hinagiku because he couldn't get momoko. yanagiba was probably the most interesting but that's not saying much since i couldn't get invested in him either. but the thing that bothered me the most was how shallow the friendship between the girls felt. see, this is a genre where female friendships are front and center and given just as much importance as romance. but in wedding peach, i didn't feel like the mcs were friends. they were willing to throw each other under the bus for some guy and the only time their friendship comes up is when the plot needs a power of friendship moment. its definitely not the worst mg show i've ever watched but its not one of my favourites either. i feel if i watched this show as a teenager i probably would've liked it more.

yume no crayon oukoku

i'm honestly not sure this counts as a magical girl show but some people do count it as one so i'm including it here. i really enjoyed this show. i love that the main character was really flawed and the point of the show was for her to get rid of her bad habits. it made her feel more real despite the show taking place in a fantasy kingdom with talking animals and objects. and i like how she never completely gets rid of her bad habits either, because she's a child and she can't become perfect overnight. and although i'm tired of jerkass magical girl love interests, something about cloud endeared me. he reminded me of syaoran li from cardcaptor sakura, who's my favourite mg love interest ever. and the villain for the first arc was hilarious, every time he was onscreen was a joy to watch. the show did remind me of ojamajo doremi in a few ways, but when i looked it up yume no crayon came out before ojamajo doremi so, i feel maybe ojamajo doremi was inspired by this show. but anyways this was a cute, feel good show and i enjoyed it.

kamichama karin

this is the most chaotic magical girl show i've ever watched and i loved every minute of it. of course many people know it from THAT frame, but the show itself is as chaotic as the infamous frame makes you expect. the story is just all over the place and normally that would make it frustrating, but there's something so charming about kamichama karin that just makes it work. the plot twist was just a whole mindfuck but that's what i'd come to expect from the show. the villain made for a lot of funny moments in the show. i realize i've become picky about magical girl main couples though because i was not feeling karin and kazune at all. i've grown tired of jerkass love interests, and kazune fits the "guy is an asshole to girl because he likes her" trope which i've come to hate. and his sexism really dampens my enjoyment of the show. i get that he's a child but still. but kazune's jerkishness wasn't so much of a problem that i couldn't enjoy the show because he does seem to grow out of it by the end.

machikado mazoku

and finally the most recent show i've finished. i have to say, shamiko and momo are already one of my favourite mg ships. i really enjoy how they care for each other despite shamiko declaring multiple times she's momo's archenemy. the story was also pretty interesting. i did enjoy how it was the demon girl who had the cheerful personality while the pink magical girl, who we expect to be cheerful and friendly, had a more withdrawn personality before she met shamiko. the mystery surrounding sakura was also interesting. i'm definitely gonna check out the manga someday. i need more shamimomo in my life.

and that's all the magical girl shows i've watched this year. here's hoping next year i have the time to get into more shows.

[jjs-brainrot]

[funny-anime-face-world]