Review: Naitsu to Majikku
Published 2019-07-21 natively
'Man that was some gay shit, but it was very well done'; that is the proper reaction to the first episode of N&M. Also acceptable answers include: 'Who is this shota trap and why is he so precocious', 'Why are the buildings so fuckin' weird', and 'Why is it three years later and he's still a fucking shota trap'. So basically, it's Yōjo Senki, except more gay.
Is that what moe is? It's uncomfortable but not... unpleasant. So smooth, colorful and innocent... is this happiness? Almost like a gentler, lingering euphoria. Oh and the audio's nice too. Supporting characters serve their roles well. Good variety in voices, attire, hair styles and facial profiles make it easy to differentiate even peripheral characters. Even metallic surfaces are well-lit and contoured. The teaser landscapes in the intro sequence are conventional but still aesthetic enough to elicit inter-
And oh shit the shota's in a mech and my shorts weren't prepared for this. If they used a female VA, I don't even want to know. And are those bagpipes? Oh and there's that landscape I was looking for what the fuck. What the... fuck. Episode two exceeds any expectations given by the first, admittedly disjointed, and defies adequate description.
Twenty seconds into episode three, and I'm nearly having a heart attack again. The writing and all isn't bad either, but... the character design is off the wall. Even the gay-ass intro reel is almost tolerable because of the quality of many individual components, and like the narrative itself focuses almost entirely on the trap-shota-protag. Shotraprotagonist. One wonders how many otherwise nauseatingly-saccharine shows might be tolerable if they featured a Shotraprotagonist instead of some insufferably pithy 'fighter dude' or useless harem-bait.
Even the interactions with other characters are markedly better. Such as Guair-san, who is also adorable, in a different way; a valuable counterpoint to the naive exuberance of the STP. However as a counterpoint, supporting-character twin brunettes are trash and painfully simplistic. Yet when the show finally gets around to good ol' mech-on-mech action, the limitations of such characters become more tolerable by dilution; it's only their chattiness during the build-up 'development' stages that is really irritating. And the combat sequences really can be beautifully-animated, as thrilling as any mech anime should be, and almost as thrilling as STP's shoulder-length, impossibly-colored hair.
Spoiler warning for the later episodes, yadda yadda. The first primary antagonist is even a manipulative big-tiddy thot, who is no match for the slender moral and physical purity of the protag; truly based and rose-pilled. Such a graceless harlot and her gang of beta orbiters make a completely unsympathetic opposition for the righteous, creative, and moderately-androgynous forces of good! It also gives pretty-boy Guair-san an opportunity at redemption, although strangely most of the action sequences are either ellipsized or truncated in favor of narration; while enjoyable, the pacing is not perfect.
Then about through the series a plot device with thick thighs and space eyes appears, and things get weird. STP, having barely graduated middleschool, is still a long way from being legal to masturbate to, and here we are presented with a quintessentially female and legal figure and a dramatic ultimatum. Oh also there's some giant insects or whatever, which are clearly a less existential threat. Because apparently only cynical aryan elves know how to do the best magic, and aesthetic tits are gatekeeping STP out of a disdain for humanity; thankfully, the well-fed-waif yields out of womanish indifference, allowing our mini-ubermensch protagonist to continue driving the plot along.
The next sub-arc is something about an evil skrillex kingdom with a bunch of black knights and white-knighting to save second-best-girl-after-elf-tits. Mostly just an excuse to introduce a lot of variety to the art-style, and a different aesthetic for the combat sequences. As well as a faggot with glasses who enjoys fondling statuary, but is also an inventor and thus kawaii and morally-dubious. Lastly, we get an object lesson in the brutality of intellectual property rights. All of which eventually works its way into the series finale, which is well-executed and satisfying despite the power creep.
One note about K&M that becomes increasingly useful to grep is that its pacing is quite deliberately accelerated, with either short plot-point development or action sequences, with any necessary lapses bridged by narration, and almost no long-form exposition. This keeps things enjoyable on a surface level, and limits the amount any particular thematic or aesthetic defect can weigh down the overall show. While the same pacing dictates that most characters are simple bit roles, they are given little pretense of more holistic relevance and execute their role as a foil for STP with admirable conciseness.
Yet, the demi-magical metaphysical system that is exposed, as a sort of casual justification for the advancing range and potential of the narrative's technology, is nonetheless serviceable, incorporating more of the simple, salient principles of physical engineering than escapist bail-outs. It clearly isn't, and makes no pretense of being, a technical anime or one centered around high-concept technology, or even an intellectual one, but it manages to set out enough substance that the simple enjoyment isn't disrupted by painfully-stupid tropes or omissions, a fault which has made many many animes intolerable to those with a triple-digit IQ.
Overall, given the amount of quality in the fairly-short season, it's very easy to recommend the show to just about anyone who can enjoy the decisively-apollonian protagonist, which the first episode or two should be adequate to establish. If they can't, then consider talking to people who aren't spiritual wiggers. While it is unlikely to stand out compared to either trap or mecha anime, giving only a breezy dusting over their central topics, and thus be unable to satisfy a particularly refined taste, to enjoy it requires very little such effort; the animation and aesthetics meet one more than halfway. Which is N&M's greatest virtue, a significant and effortless payoff, with a moderate premium for slightly more involvement, sustained throughout its brief duration; it may not be high art, but it is high entertainment.
At the least, it's hard not to love Ernie, and love him hard. Sometimes in life, that's all you need.
HH.
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