It seems like Rental Magica had no/little love from the few raw viewers who have watched it already. Nevertheless, I will reserve my judgment of the show until I reviewed it, also because I love for you to read my thoughts as well (even though they generally do not make that much sense compared to the experts of anime). Oh wait, what experts?
Anyway, Rental Magica, as the name implies, is about a group of magicians that are employed or hired to engage in supernatural missions. They have all kinds of magic including witches, onmyouji, miko and a leader that looks rather weak. Nevertheless, their first mission is to fight against a supernatural dog. Will they prevail? If I have a complain at the start of the show, it is that there are way too many characters, and I cannot remember the names.
Episode summary
Nekoyashiki, the onmyouji was informing the leader about the “dog” that looked more like a carnal beast. As the dog gave chase to the truck, Nekoyashiki apologized for the cheap truck as they had little budget. The leader was ready with a bicycle, and Mikan the loli miko tried to dispel the dog but failed to do so due to the intense hatred within the dog. As the leader tried to put a barrier, the dog attacked the seemingly weak leader, and the witch of the group, Honami gave chase. As the dog broke through the barrier, the leader continued to hold on through a rope. A blond girl summoned Forneus and destroyed it. She was from another group.
Honami and Adilicia the blonde were exchanging heated words and Adilicia insulted the weak leader. As the leader asked whether the girl had a good life (the scattered toy), he collapsed. Back at the headquarters, the group was counting losses. Kunugi arrived after meeting Nekoyashiki and she was the next customer. It seemed that her grandfather disappeared suddenly, even though he was acting strange ever since five years ago. When they arrived at the house, Iba said that the house emitted warmth. Kunugi was surprised and said that her grandfather was obsessed with antiques and ignored her. She did remember that her grandfather doted on her when she was young. One day, he disappeared after a huge flock of crows flew out from her door.
Nekoyashiki and Mikan were checking around the forest, only to find that there was a curse laid on the land, one that aimed to revive the dead. It seemed that the grandfather attempted to do this forbidden arts in order to survive. Kunugi’s grandfather’s powers then went wild, causing side effects. As they returned, the crows were already there. Iba was forced to remove his eyepatch as he suddenly turned deus ex machina and ordered all of them as the fight started. A scene appeared of Kunugi with her grandfather at the death bed, and it seemed that her grandfather was already carrying out the forbidden arts. Nevertheless, he could not bear to leave Kunugi and tried to hold on.
Back to the present, Kunugi was happy to die since she felt she was alone. Iba’s plea eventually released Kunugi and Kunugi’s reassurance to let her grandfather allowed his spirit to rest in peace. Iba’s attempt to use his eye exhausted him completely as he collapsed. Kunugi thanked Iba for all his help and asked for his namecard since he had done something great. In school, Honami and Adilicia were quarreling once again, as they tried to get rid of each other. When Iba said his eye hurt, both of them were extremely concerned. As they left, Kunugi gave a smile to Iba, as the two girls returned back to hit him on the head.
Thoughts
Ok, I really enjoy the show despite the fact that I have absolutely no clue how this will turn out. This is one of those shows where the plot is not exactly the most original, the characters not exactly standing out and the graphics not being excellent. Yet, you cannot pinpoint the reason why you are decently enjoying it after finishing the first episode. Rental Magica’s premise of magic and action makes me understand why some bloggers have called this the action-genre Ghost Hunt.
There is perhaps some element of truth in this description of the series, but I rather see it more like Getbackers with a huge dosage of magic. Nevertheless, I do like some of the characters such as the loli Mikan because she is quite the loli, as well as the squabbling jealous pair of Honami and Adilicia. This feels somewhat like a harem pairing in the mix, and it is really hard not to like females bitching over each other openly for an oblivious guy. Yes, I like bitch fights! On an unrelated note, does Adilicia look like Alicia from Aria in appearance a bit too much?
The graphics of the show is decent, even though there is nothing really great to acclaim about it. There are also no scenes as much as I remember with bad graphical degradation. I find that it will be better if the magic is somewhat differentiated more than merely the difference in uniforms. I mean, people with the love of uniform fetishes will love this (where’s my sailor moon-like sorcerer?). Impz does hope for the magic to be more than beams of light. At least the onmyuji has a slightly different form of magic in terms of using cats but his offensive attack is still a beam of light. Everything are beams of light!!!!!
Lastly, I must say that I do not even remember the music in this show, and the ED is forgettable. I did not even bother to listen to it at all. No, it is rather bad to be honest. The show itself is decent. It is perhaps worth a shot if you like magic, uniforms and a rather decent story plot. I wonder how this will turn out though: a case every episode, or more character centric. Either way, I am still keeping up with the second episode at the very least!
13 Comments
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i am biased with the first few seconds and nekosan have nekos all over him and all i can say is “KAWAIII” lol..(neko shikigami hehehehe)
i agree with it being more like getbackers with magic than ghosthunt with action. Pretty much like most magical harem girls with useless male lead ( in a way) anime but less jokes on love( he is mine, no he is mine, he likes me more, no he likes more etc etc etc) For some weird reason, it sorta reminds me of air gear ( minus most of the ecchi and fanservice ) with magic ( sisters protecting brother versus employees protecting boss)
Let me once again squeaaaaals at nekosan : “kakkkkkoi”
forgot to say this, but i find the part where he gotten his demon eye opened and the 4 of them fighting sequence, reaaaaalllly lame. Somehow i feel that the feel of the anime just got cut dead over there . Compare to the front part when they fight the doggie, i feel that perharps its better if Mr bossman just don’t fight lol..
I couldn’t understand the part where he was calling for the girl to come back…and the part where the crow(?) flew into the eyes….>.
…and also the part where he suddenly returned back to his room???? I think i need to rewatch this episode after my exams..
@Neko79: Hahahaha! For some reason, I am thinking how you will go all crazy since your nickname has a neko inside. The onmyouji is definitely one of the more interesting characters in the mix, but I do wonder whether the powers they will are as limited as it is. I do wish for a more mystery/confusing plot rather than the mission per episode thing.
Well, at least for one, this male lead is not that useless but more like completely oblivious to the advances of the two harem gals. He actually shows that he is generally quite weak until he removes his eye patch.
I actually did not find that part a bit lame, but I guess it is to understand why he covers his eye because his personality completely changed after that.
@Lemonsparkz: Hmm, he was asking the girl to come back because she is being swallowed by the crow creature. The crows also attempted to attack Iba and brought him to the scene where he saw the grandfather morph into something devilish to be with his grand daughter.
They returned to his room because they are initially in the room. They are somewhat transported into a different dimension for the fight.
Wee~ I also felt Adilicia looked eerily similar to Alicia. I mean, especially with the white school uniform + beret, and hair color/style… heck, even the name is almost the same.
Only the personality is a huge difference. LoL
Not that I am complaining though.
I just watched the episode and I thought it was alright. I hope a bigger plot of some kind develops as opposed to it being a “monster of the week” type show. I’ll keep watching to find out.
I didn’t like it very much but i’ll keep on watching it a little bit more to see if it gets better.
@Dark Koji: So I am not the only one. It is almost like she has the looks of Alicia, and the character of Akira. That is actually rather disturbing to be honest, since the image of “Ara ara” goes into my mind, and processes out as O_O
@Kyokii: Yep, I am also hoping for the same time. The issue with this episode is that it is really hard to tell which way they are going to veer toward. I generally hate plots that last for only one episode since it gets old and disjointed.
@Evil: Arr, what are the parts that you do not like about it?
I have to admit that after watching the initial half I did find the second half VERY disappointing. I’m not sure why, but I did find the anime rather disjointed (it’s the first one I’ve seen of this ‘magicy/haremy etc’ genre) and the lead character very uncharismatic. I know the part where he reveals his red eye is supposed to show his latent powers, but for some reason I thought it was a huge let down.
The really good part? The interaction between the two girls over the lead character. I don’t think I’ll be following this show until I read more positive reviews a later date. I agree with the author: the ED is forgettable.
@Mosey: Someone agreed with me! *carrots spread*…
Ermm, never mind. I guess the thing is that it is pretty much too much of a cast, and trying to introduce too much about it. Nevertheless, it is not the most sparkling series out there, with Ghost Hound (a power graphical heavyweight), Clannad (kyoto as usual), Shana II and some others this season.
I felt that there should have been something more with the red eye. When he summoned it, it felt underwhelming. Maybe it’s just me
Tyrenol blocked by anti-spam machine.
My list of to-watch this season includes Rental Magica, Suteki Tantei Labyrinth, Night Wizard, “When Kira Dies More,” and Gundam 00. And it’s hard for me to find raws of RM now.
But atleast it’s not dating-sim-based shows. Especially something like Clannad where some loser gets his butt kicked every other episode.
rental magica are a beauty anime and i like a girl with hair blond but Naruto are a beautiful and nice and extraordinar anime made in tokyo with and rental magica.