天下制覇

Like there was ever any doubt.

Impressions:

Ah, here's my last light novel with a hapless protagonist paired against his will with a fiery haired fiery tempered heroine for the season. Not the last one though. That goes out to Testament. Anywho, the really surprising thing to me here, and let's face it, there's not a lot that's going to surprise with Yet Another Light Novel Magical School For Magical Fighting Magical Teenagers, is how deeply voiced the main duo are. They both sound like they've been gargling rocks or nursing a four pack a day habit. Maybe my ears are just starting to rebel after all the squeaky nasal yelling. Besides that, the main way this one sets itself apart from its brethren is by the lead pair not having come to a mutual understanding and partnership with handshake and smiles by the end of the episode. Well, and I guess its weak attempts at levity, fanservice, and 'moments of cool' or whatever the hell kids call them these days stand out as completely out of place all the more for how growly and serious it tries to take itself otherwise.

It kind of seems like it might be a little more palatable if it took everything a little more seriously, or at the very least dumped the idiot screaming blonde fanservice machine. All the oohing and aahing from both the peanut gallery and the director over how awesome swords are vs gun too. I'm fine with using bloody garbage cans of mutilated bodies as a reason for Red to lose her crap and create a conflict between the two leads moments after both saving each other's life. Not creative, but tried and true. However, not three minutes prior, we were pastel explosions of cake, fanservice, and flouncing tits. The shift is too abrupt and the more serious side of the episode is a hell of a lot stronger than the other. It does have something of a budget at least. The action didn't look that bad. Nor was the exposition as obnoxiously painful as a lot of things have been this season.

While I don't think that it's going to win any converts or that there was anything here it did well enough for particular comment, it was one of the more inoffensively okay opening episodes. Maybe it's just that it didn't bore me to tears with unneeded exposition, or do anything particularly baffling with the direction besides a handful of moments that felt like they belonged in an entirely different show. Let's call it somewhere between Asterisk and Cavalry overall; Cavalry edging it out in characters and production, this edging Cavalry out in setup and story.